Osama

Teen interrogated after Facebook bin Laden post

Sometimes, when we see words written down, we get the wrong end of the stick. Things tend to get worse when we take that stick and wave it around at someone.

This might well be the case in the story of Vito LaPinta, a 7th-grader from Tacoma, Wash.

It appears that he wrote something after the death of Osama Bin Laden as a Facebook update. The account offered by Vito to KCPQ-TV seems quite simple. "I was saying how Osama was dead and for Obama to be careful because there could be suicide bombers," he said.

From the … Read more

How bin Laden evaded the NSA: Sneakernet

Far from being a technological recluse, Osama bin Laden was a prolific e-mail writer who reportedly relied on flash drives, couriers, and sneakernet to keep in touch with his correspondents.

Although bin Laden's hideout in Pakistan lacked phone and Internet connectivity, the al Qaeda leader used his computers to prepare messages and save them on flash drives, which would be passed to a courier, according to the Associated Press. The courier would head to a far-flung Internet cafe, send the outgoing messages, retrieve the incoming ones, and then return to Abbottabad with the responses.

That physical couriering of data, … Read more

Bin Laden's death and the Web response (roundup)

News that U.S. special forces had killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden traveled fast via Twitter and other Web outlets.

How bin Laden evaded the NSA: Sneakernet Reports offer details about trove of digital data found in his Pakistan hideout, like that it included a stash of "electronically recorded video" porn. (Posted in Privacy Inc. by Declan McCullagh) May 13, 2011 1:42 PM PDT

Visualizing how Twitter spread news of bin Laden's death A detailed visual look at how a single Tweet spread like a virus across Twitter within minutes--and scooped the president. (Posted in … Read more

The 404 816: Where we only buy American (podcast)

The 404 is finally back together again after Wilson's departure last week for San Francisco. Now that he's back, we get to hear all the reasons why the CNET office in San Francisco is better than ours.

There are lots of stories to talk about today, like banned arcade machines, iPad 2 riots in Beijing, and custom Abbottabad levels in Counter-Strike, but we're also launching a Twitter contest today for a chance to win one carbon fiber BodyGuardz skin for the iPad 2 or two codes worth $30 at the site.

To win, just follow @The404 and @BodyGuardz and mention both of us in a Tweet, and that's it! There's one prize winner, but the two runners-up will each get a $30 credit for anything on the site.

The 404 Digest for Episode 816

Massachusetts town continues 1982 ban on coin-operated arcade machines. iPad 2 Beijing release causes riot. New Counter-Strike map of Osama bin Laden's hideout. Real magazine issues coming to the iPad from Hearst, Conde Nast. Steven B.'s 404 sticker in a U.K. telephone box!

Episode 816 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

German TV: 'Star Trek' terrorists killed bin Laden

Sometimes our eyes are wide shut. In moments when we think we see one thing, we see quite another.

This often happens when our emotions are high and our thinking faculties subdued.

Sympathy, therefore, must be ladled toward the German news station N24, which was extremely keen to tell the world about last week's killing of Osama bin Laden by the U.S. Navy's SEAL Team Six.

Unfortunately, in its haste to offer a SEAL logo, someone at the station actually mustered the logo of the "Star Trek" Maquis Special Operations Seals Team VI--a bunch of … Read more

Visualizing how Twitter spread news of bin Laden's death

Thousands of words have been written this week about how Twitter had the first reports that the United States had found and killed Osama bin Laden, but a start-up called SocialFlow has published a fascinating visual look at how the news originated and spread on Twitter.

At the center of the bin Laden Twitter storm that erupted Sunday night is Keith Urbahn (@Keithurbahn), the former chief of staff to Donald Rumsfeld who tweeted at 10:25 EST, "So I'm told by a reputable person they have killed Osama Bin Laden. Hot damn."

Despite being relatively unknown outside … Read more

The 404 815: Where we don't owe you any cheese (podcast)

It's Wilson's last day Skyping in from the CNET office in San Francisco and he'll be in the office on Monday. Unfortunately, there's not much we can do about that, so we just get into the stories of the day, like Jon Stewart's quote about the Osama Bin Laden photos, which rappers are suing our parent company, and how much it would cost to buy the house from "Home Alone."

The 404 Digest for Episode 815

Jon Stewart voices opinions about the Osama photos. Rappers are suing CNET. "Home Alone" house in Winnetka, Ill., on sale for $2.4M. 23-year-old makes $120,000 off Osama's death in 48 hours. Google Maps will soon give you the powers of Superman. Third attack planned on Sony.

Episode 815 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Bin Laden's computers will test U.S. forensics

For the U.S. government, the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan represents a unique opportunity to test advanced computer forensics techniques called "media exploitation" that it's developed over the last few years.

The military's acronym for the process is DOMEX, which one Army team in Iraq cheekily sums up with this motto: "You check their pulse, we'll check their pockets."

The electronic gear hauled away by an assault team of Navy SEALs reportedly included five computers, 10 hard drives, and scores of removable media including USB sticks and DVDs. … Read more

Sohaib Athar on Twitter fame after bin Laden raid (Q&A)

As U.S. special forces assaulted Osama bin Laden's walled compound in Pakistan, a Twitter user was already recording a rough outline of the events to come.

Sohaib Athar, who describes himself as a 33-year-old programmer and consultant "taking a break from the rat race by hiding in the mountains with his laptops," happened to be staying up late at the time. And, from an account called Really Virtual, he live-blogged what he heard.

Athar's real-time dispatches and self-effacing follow-ups have transformed him into an instant online celebrity. He's received at least one marriage proposal--through … Read more