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Study: Facebook Fatigue Prompts Breaks from Network

More than half of U.S. Facebook members have taken breaks from the leading social network, with the top reason being they are just too busy, according to a study released Tuesday.

About 61 percent of U.S. users said they had taken time off from Facebook at some point, with 27 percent planning to spend less time on it in the coming year, the Pew Research Center said.

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Twitter Buys Firm Tracking Social Network TV Talk

Twitter announced Tuesday that it has bought Bluefin Labs to ride the trend of viewers using smartphones or tablet computers to chat at social networks about shows they are watching.

Born out of research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Bluefin combines cognitive science and machine learning to measure how much people are talking about broadcasts in real time on Twitter, Facebook and other forums.

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Study: Internet Users Seeking more 'Invisibility'

Consumer efforts to protect personal data and remain "invisible" online is leading to a "data blackhole" that could adversely impact digital advertisers, technology research firm Ovum said Wednesday.

The move to seek "new tools that allow them to remain 'invisible' -- untraceable and impossible to target by data means" will impact advertisers who rely on that information to target their audiences, Ovum said.

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Google Wins Australian Sponsored Links Case

Internet titan Google was cleared Wednesday of allegations it hosted deceptive advertisements, with Australia's highest court saying it was not responsible for companies who diverted users from their competitors' sites.

Australia's competition regulator had taken Google to court, alleging that adverts using keywords for Honda, Harvey World Travel, Alpha Dog Training and Just 4X4 Magazine published by Google had led consumers to rival firms.

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Instagram Website Frames Users' Pictures

Facebook-owned Instagram on Tuesday began letting a freshly launched website serve as a gallery for images taken by users of the smartphone photo-sharing service.

"Instagram, at its core, is about seeing and taking photos on-the-go," company co-founder Kevin Systrom said in a blog post.

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Pioneering Videogame Firm Atari Gets Lifeline

Atari, the pioneering video game company mired in bankruptcy proceedings in both France and the U.S., said on Tuesday it had found a last minute buyer after the latest leading shareholder gave up on turning the company around.

Atari SA "supports the proposed acquisition of the BlueBay Funds' interests in the Atari group by a longtime videogame professional and a fund advised by Alden Global Capital," the videogamer said in a statement.

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N. Korea Video Shows U.S. City Under Attack

North Korea, poised to conduct a nuclear test any day now, has posted a video on YouTube depicting a U.S. city resembling New York engulfed in flames after an apparent missile attack.

The footage was uploaded Saturday by the North's official website, Uriminzokkiri, which distributes news and propaganda from the state media.

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Court again Blocks Philippines Cybercrime Law

The Philippine Supreme Court has again stopped the government from enforcing a controversial cybercrime law, officials said Tuesday, amid concern it would severely curb Internet freedoms.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said a fresh "temporary restraining order" (TRO) issued by the Supreme Court meant the law passed last year could not take effect.

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New BlackBerry to be Released in U.S. in Mid-March

The chief executive of Research In Motion said he's disappointed the new BlackBerry won't be released in the United States until mid-March, but he said early data suggests sales in the U.K. are above expectations.

Thorsten Heins said in an interview Monday with The Associated Press that he was disappointed in the mid-March U.S. release date. But he said the U.S. and its phone carriers have a rigid testing system.

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Study: Online Search Ads Expose Racial Bias

Ads pegged to Google search results can be racially biased because of how certain names are associated with blacks or whites, according to a new study.

Harvard University professor Latanya Sweeney found "statistically significant discrimination" when comparing ads served with results from online searches made using names associated with blacks and those with whites.

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