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Site blocks 'Asian' names
Four women of Chinese descent are suing Sephora for allegedly blocking and deactivating the accounts of 'Asian-sounding' customers during a 20 per cent off sale.

Juha Saarinen: Copyright concerns in the Internet era
Tech blogger Juha Saarinen talks about his concerns with copyright in the digital age and reviews the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 10.

WhatsApp moves to encrypt data
WhatsApp, the world's most popular instant messaging platform, has begun encrypting all its data by default.

New York City unveils payphone of the future
New York has unveiled the most ambitious plan yet for the payphone of the future offering WiFi connections, free calls and more.

Matt Heath: Abuse by strangers doesn't hurt me a bit
Matt Heath writes: Who knows why people post mean stuff? Maybe their life is crap or maybe they're psychotic - but before you start crying you need to check credentials.

Movie streaming options
More Kiwis are choosing to stream movies online rather than head down to the local DVD shop - but many may be watching them illegally.

Juha Saarinen: Break the banhammer and cyber-security
Tech blogger Juha Saarinen raises questions about the chief censor eyeing Slingshot over access to unclassified material.

Mai Chen: Technology rules, but it still needs people
I have been getting professional inspiration and a better understanding of where the new disrupters will come from that will pose challenges for law, policy and business.

CV crash: First the council site, now QV
Heavy demand by homeowners desperate to access details about newly released property revaluations has now brought down the Quotable Value website.

Biometrics: the future of payments
Finger print identification, a standard feature on new iPhones will soon be common place, a visiting biometrics expert says.

Why tech giants are buying up wind energy
Google, Yahoo and Microsoft are part of a growing number of firms that are entering into power purchase agreements with wind farms.

Private cams exposed online
Kiwis are among tens of thousands of householders worldwide whose privacy has been breached on a website featuring intercepted live feeds.

Fry takes mystery break from Twitter
So fans of the actor's witty puns, intellectual musings and calls to humanitarian arms will be disappointed to learn that he's decided to temporarily quit the network.

Watson takes show to frozen continent
Talkback host Danny Watson is taking his show to the bottom of the world. The Newstalk ZB personality will broadcast live from Antarctica for three days next week.

Creditors accept offer from ex-Orcon owner
Creditors have accepted a 20c-in-the-dollar proposal from one of Orcon’s former owners but a court has yet to approve the deal.

Censor takes aim at web movie access
NZ’s chief censor is mulling charges against Slingshot and Orcon, which both give customers access to websites with movies that could be either unclassified or banned.

Kirk seeks to raise up to $44m in tech float
David Kirk, chairman of Trade Me Group and Kathmandu Holdings, is seeking to raise A$25 million to A$40 million ($44.5 million) in an initial public offer on the ASX of Bailador Technology Investments, an Australian and New Zealand tech fund.

Paper: Isis offered to pay teen $32,000
A 14-year-old boy suspected of planning a series of bombings in Vienna was reported yesterday to have been offered US$25,000 by Isis to carry out the attacks and claims that two other youths recruited in the same way remain at large.

Facebook $22b WhatsApp deal buys $10m in sales
Facebook paid $22 billion for a startup that generated $10.2 million in revenue last year.

Apple and Alibaba talk marriage of mobile payments
Apple's Tim Cook and Alibaba's Jack Ma said they're open to working together to turn phones into tools for buying and selling stuff.

Juha Saarinen: Tech in Japan and BMW ConnectedDrive
Tech is part of everyone's life in Japan, but doesn't appear to have supplanted their livelihood, even for menial tasks.

Alibaba goes to Hollywood, for content
Alibaba's Jack Ma is on the prowl for entertainment it can sell to Chinese consumers through its set-top boxes.

Sky unveils plans for on-demand TV
Sky TV unveiled plans to upgrade its set-top boxes and roll out a new web-based ondemand video service at its annual meeting today.

Sky shares up as rugby rights renewed
Sky TV has signed a conditional contract to renew its five-year deal with the NZRU.

Jill Goldson: Is Tinder safe?
Tinder: tacky, or just a super-efficient way to meet a match in this new age of need-it-now-ness? wonders relationship expert Jill Goldson.

Chloe Hamilton: 'This sickly sweet girl power brings me out in hives'
Zoella is a beauty and fashion vlogger - the latest creation spat out by the YouTube machine to instruct young girls how to paint on the perfect smoky eye or red lip.

App-maker and video agency win uni kudos
Technology companies helping bring content to life reigned supreme at the University of Auckland Business School Entrepreneurs' Challenge.