Facebook's new application vetting program is designed to help you decide which Facebook apps to trust — but the program bears a striking resemblance to basic, mob-style extortion schemes and might leave you wondering why it's necessary.

The 222,000-student Tennessee public university system is bracing for layoffs and class reductions as part of a $43.7 billion budget shortfall, but Tennessee lawmakers have approved a $9.5 million measure requiring university internet filtering to prevent the sharing of copyrighted music and other works. The Recording Industry Association of America hailed the nation's first-of-its-kind measure.

Even though GM and Chrysler are pulling out of the expo, the L.A. Auto Show promises a look at some new hybrids, electrics and muscle cars.

Jury selection began Tuesday in the trial of Lori Drew, a Missouri woman accused of making unauthorized use of MySpace to cause emotional harm to a 13-year-old girl, who committed suicide.Experts say the government's novel use of federal anti-hacking law to target Drew could have dark implications for the internet if it succeeds.

The Nintendo DSi upgrades the company's popular dual-screen portable with two cameras, an SD card slot and the ability to download new games wirelessly — but it's only available in Japan, for now.

The Navy wants a smarter bomb. Not just a bomb that can land within a few meters of the bull's eye -- but a bomb that can do so, with just the right amount of blast.

The European aircraft company joins the University of Southampton in a commitment to cut aircraft noise emissions 50 percent by 2020.

With everything from businesses to the military dependent on computer networks, the Obama White House needs a coherent strategy for coping with cyberattacks. The third installment of the Danger Room Debriefs series on security issues facing the new administration features John Arquilla, professor of defense strategies at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School.

1883: U.S. and Canadian railways adopt five standardized time zones to replace the multiplicity of local times in communities across the continent. Everyone would soon be operating on "railroad time."Noon on a well-made, properly paced sundial is whenever the sun is highest right there. The advent of mechanical timekeeping in the Middle Ages didn't change that. Noon in your town was whenever the s...

Jerry Yang has always been viewed as one of the great visionaries in Silicon Valley. Thirteen years ago he started a company with a funny name that changed the world, became a billionaire, and always seemed smart enough to leave the actual running of the place to someone else -- until one day a little more than a year ago he utterly lost his way.

As soon as Yahoo appoints a new CEO, Jerry Yang will leave his post at the company, according to a prepared statement released by the company.

Several million people ride Tokyo's subway system each day -- it's one of the world's biggest and busiest. It's also a piece of cake to use.

Who makes sure the hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute is appropriate? Ordinary users are counted on to do the work of flagging videos. How will this be done in the future, and will flagging be an example of the wrong way we did things in the past?

A conservative think tank on Monday attacked the Minnesota federal judge who declared a mistrial in the nation's only RIAA file sharing case to go to trial. The Washington-based Progress and Freedom Foundation said U.S. District Judge Michael Davis' decision overturning a $222,000 jury verdict in the Jammie Thomas trial was "unreasoned,""unreasonable" and "injudicious."

Intel's latest 45-nanometer quad-core processor called Core i7 is available now for high-end and gaming desktops. Intel is now ahead of its rival AMD by more than a few months as AMD's comparable desktop processor isn't scheduled to launch until early next year.

Home test kits used to be for things like finding out if you're pregnant or checking the hot tub's chlorine level. Now over-the-counter chemical tests can tell you if your spouse is cheating or if your new home ever doubled as a meth lab. Yes, science now makes house calls.The Kit (left) Tests for STDsSome ailments are too embarrassing for the family doc. This kit, part of the CDC's Infertility Pr...

The SEC charges Mark Cuban with insider trading, according to several published reports. The Wall Street Journal says Cuban learned of a private offering of Momma.com that would decrease the value of his shares. CNBC says he saved $750,000 by the timing of his sale, in 2004.

A new urine-recycling system delivered to the International Space Station by the Space Shuttle Endeavour will help increase the number of astronauts who can live on the station at once and could be critical to future manned space travel to Mars or the moon.

1749: Nicolas Appert is born. He will invent the modern food-canning process while trying to help Napoleon conquer Europe.By 1795, France was in an expansionist mood and quarreling with its neighbors. As the army and navy found themselves increasingly embroiled in foreign entanglements, the realization that an army travels on its stomach began forcefully hitting home. Looking for a way to efficien...

: Conveying the excitement people feel about music in a still image can be like describing sight to the blind. The 10 reader-elected finalists of our music photo contest may not make you hear music, but they expertly capture a musical moment.Blair takes home the gold with his photo "The Horn Player" at left. Click through the gallery to see the contestants who were nipping at his heels.Since we ha...

Mirror's EdgeScreenshot courtesy Electronic ArtsBy now you have probably heard the warning: Playing Mirror's Edge will make you vomit.The hot new videogame is a sort of "first-person runner": You're a courier who travels across the rooftops of a locked-down, police-state city, delivering black-market messages by using acrobatic feats of parkour. You're constantly leaping over gaps 40 stories in th...

Check out 10 incredible animal videos featuring a polar bear, an octopus, a rhino and more.

The Asus M50Vm-B4 is a desktop-killer, with HDMI, eSATA, a 10-key number pad, and a 2.53-GHz Core 2 Duo processor. Wonderful, but leave it plugged in — battery life is a paltry 1.5 hours.

Video sharing service YouTube has rolled out a new search feature that returns video results based on location. The site gets your current location using optional controls inside your browser, and it gives you a list videos with nearby geotags.