Tens of thousands of Gmail users had a rude shock recently when they logged in only to find all their messages had vanished. Google has restored their e-mail from tape backup by this week, but the inadvertent deletion (during a software upgrade) must raise concerns over security and trust in applications that share remote databases beyond the control of individual users. There were no reports that

The assemblies of Okinawa Prefecture and two cities in the prefecture ― Naha and Urasoe ― on Tuesday unanimously adopted resolutions protesting comments by a U.S. official that allegedly disparaged the Okinawans. Other Okinawan assemblies will follow suit. In an off-the-record lecture in Washington in December before 14 students who were about to visit Tokyo and Okinawa, Kevin Maher, head of the o

In the annals of fashionable timing, Prada SpA’s trip to Asia deserves a mention. It’s blowing off Milan and taking the largest initial public offering of a family-owned Italian company since 2006 to Hong Kong. The reason investors in Prada’s hometown must reach 5,800 miles away to buy the stock: Asia’s hot, Europe’s not. It gets even better for Prada. The $2 billion IPO will hit the investment ca

Apple Inc. suffers from a Steve Jobs discount, and it’s not fair.Ever since Jobs, the chief executive officer, disclosed that he had a rare form of pancreatic cancer in August 2004, Apple’s stock has been underpriced. That assertion may seem absurd, given that the shares have risen more than 2,000 percent since then and the company’s market value of $325 billion is second only to that of Exxon Mob

The turmoil in much of the Arab world has grown into more than a regional protest by peoples seeking to overthrow repressive regimes. Successful uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt have spurred demonstrations from Morocco to Iran and now, tragically, conflict in Libya which increasingly looks like civil war.The criminal acts of that country’s leader, Moammar Gadhafi, demand foreign intervention. With t

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Charlie Sheen is taking his show on the road.A spokesman for the outspoken actor said tickets go on sale Saturday for shows in Detroit and Chicago next month called “Charlie Sheen Live: My Violent Torpedo of Truth.”Publicist Larry Solters said Sheen is promoting the show himself and has already begun rehearsals. Solters said he does not know the nature of the show or whether add

By Robert W. Butler, McClatchy NewspapersWatch the skies. They’re coming to get us all.“They,” of course, are aliens.Not from South of the Border. From outer space.Hollywood is in the midst of an alien invasion unequaled since the paranoid Cold War fantasies of the early 1950s.At theaters now you can enjoy “I Am Number Four” (alien teens outwit intergalactic pursuers) and, opening Friday, “Battle:

Informing is not communicating ― not only the title of Dominique Wolton’s latest work, but also the subject of his lecture Friday.Organized by the French Institute, the cultural wing of the embassy, the lecture will examine the author’s theories concerning the building blocks of communication.The book, “Informer n’est pas Communiquer (Informing is not Communicating),” is available in Korean.The ta

Inside Canada, the Canadian Embassy’s Korean-language blog, is looking for five Canadians residing in Korea to volunteer as contributing editors. The embassy is looking for interesting stories about Canadians living and working in South Korea aimed toward the local young generation in a section called “Korea is my second home,” to be launched in April. The stories, one a month for a six-month term