Blog post and video from Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit about company efforts to stop the Rustock spambot. Bloomberg West profiles Ed Summers, who, as head of accessibility at international software company SAS, “has made it his mission to help other visually impaired people unlock the power of the iPad.” Summers is traveling around the United States to teach educators how to maximize the device’s built-in accessibility features in their classrooms. Bloomberg notes that tablets are growing in popularity among educators, and Summers says iPad is “opening up a whole world” for visually impaired students. “We’re working to make sure that students and professionals of all abilities can succeed in the classroom and the 21st-century knowledge economy,” Summers says. Fighting in the strategic city of Qusayr brought rising casualties for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah as it joined its biggest battle yet in support of Syria’s president.     BETHLEHEM, PA—With numerous disagreements on topics ranging from who was supposed to make dinner reservations, to the unexpected high cost of the hotel, to who was to blame for arriving late to the ceremony, over 90 percent of the audience members a... WASHINGTON—While stressing that he has no plans to mount such an insurrection, Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Martin Dempsey told reporters Friday that if he really wanted to, he could probably carry out a sweeping military junta that would oust Pre... Apple has announced that customers have now downloaded over 50 billion apps from the App Store. The 50 billionth app — Say the Same Thing by Space Inch, LLC — was downloaded by Brandon Ashmore from Mentor, Ohio, who received a $10,000 App Store Gift Card to commemorate the milestone. “The App Store completely transformed how people use their mobile devices and created a thriving app ecosystem that has paid out over nine billion dollars to developers,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “We’re absolutely floored to cross this milestone in less than five years.” In an annual report, the State Department singled out nations that abused laws on blasphemy and apostasy to harass political opponents.     Psychologists are beginning to unravel the mystery behind this brand of American political paranoia.     Apple has announced that music fans have purchased and downloaded more than 25 billion songs from the iTunes Store. “We are grateful to our users whose passion for music over the past 10 years has made iTunes the number one music retailer in the world,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. The 25 billionth song, “Monkey Drums” (Goksel Vancin Remix) by Chase Buch, was purchased by Phillip Lüpke from Germany. As the downloader of the 25 billionth song, Phillip will receive a €10,000 iTunes gift card. HARRISBURG, PA—Speculating that the rest of her day will now definitely take a turn for the worse, local mother Nicole Mendlow confirmed Friday that an incoming call she is currently receiving from her 4-year-old son’s daycare center can... Apple has announced the launch of the iBookstore in Japan. The iBookstore has a wide selection of emerging and established authors, including Shyotaro Ikenami, Jiro Akagawa, Atsuko Asano, and Ryu Murakami. “We’re excited to launch the iBookstore in Japan with a wide selection of Japanese publishers and authors,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “We think customers are going to love how engaging and interactive the books are to read, and how beautiful they look on iPad.” The Chelsea Flower Show is permitting the use of previously banned gnomes in exhibits this year, its 100th anniversary, but many find them creepy.     Getting That Perfect Souffle In A World Of Uncertainty And Pain The cover of the January 28 issue of The New Yorker features work by Jorge Colombo, an artist who creates his pieces exclusively on the iPad. He started out in 2009 working on the iPhone, but now enjoys the larger format of the iPad. “I became more proficient on the tablet and started using more lines and more detail,” he says. His illustration for The New Yorker, titled “Newsstand,” is the first piece Colombo created on the iPad. ABOVE CONCORDIA, KS—Her pen mercilessly slashing its way through a stack of handwritten pages, the middle school English teacher grading papers next to you on your flight from Los Angeles to Cleveland sure isn’t pulling any punches, sources co... David Karp, 26, whose mother responded to his high school boredom with a suggestion that he try home-schooling, played a role in several start-ups before founding Tumblr.     Sasha Obama becomes suspicious after doing a little digging around on Benghazi, this has to be the year a local miniature golf course goes out of business, and a dude with a knit hat at a party calls beer 'libations.' It's the week of May 17, 2013 SUNNYVALE, CA—Finally overcoming competition from the likes of Google, Microsoft, and AOL, internet corporation Yahoo firmly re-secured its place as an industry leader after Sunday’s purchase of millions of blogs written by 13-year-old girls. CLEVELAND—Claiming they want to impose their will against the competition, Cleveland Browns head coach Rob Chudzinski announced Friday that the team is gearing up to aggressively punt the ball down opponents’ throats this season. In this video report from CNN, documentary film director Malik Bendjelloul talks about how he used a $1.99 iPhone app to finish shooting his Oscar-nominated film, “Searching for Sugar Man.” The film tracks the rise to fame of the Detroit musician Rodriguez, who never made it big in the United States but became a legend in South Africa. Bendjelloul started shooting the movie on film, but with just a few shots remaining, he found his budget depleted. That’s when he turned to an iPhone app called 8mm by Nexvio, which gave his video a retro feel. “It looks like real film,” says Bendjelloul. “You can’t tell the difference.” “Searching for Sugar Man” has garnered praise at the Tribeca film festival, SXSW Film, and the Los Angeles Film Festival. According to the latest Consumer Reports reader survey, Apple tops the list of brand-name computer manufacturers for the quality of its tech support, far surpassing other large companies. The report points to “ease of contacting staff, clarity of advice, technical knowledge, patience, and time for follow-up” in the phone and online support areas. Service at the Genius Bar rates equally highly. In addition, Apple improved on its own scores from last year’s survey.