President Barack Obama called Saturday for the development of new technologies to help tackle America's energy problems and the scrapping of a $4-billion-dollar tax break for oil companies.

"We've got to develop new technology that will help us use new forms of energy," Obama said in his radio and Internet address.

The Stuxnet computer virus sabotage of Iran's nuclear program was a "good idea" but it lent legitimacy to the use of malicious software as a weapon, according to a former CIA director.

"We have entered into a new phase of conflict in which we use a cyber weapon to create physical destruction," retired general Michael Hayden said in an interview with the CBS television show "60 Minutes" to be aired on Sunday.

More American adults now own smartphones than basic mobile phones, according to a survey released on Thursday.

The Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project survey found that smartphone penetration has increased significantly among nearly every major demographic group in the United States.

U.S. President Barack Obama switched his Facebook page on Thursday to the social network's new "timeline" format and poked fun at the controversy over his birthplace.

The first entry on Obama's revamped Facebook page lists his birthdate -- August 4, 1961 -- and provides a link to a coffee mug that features a picture of his Hawaiian birth certificate.

FBI director Robert Mueller warned a gathering of Internet security specialists on Thursday that the threat of cyber-attacks rivals terrorism as a national security concern.

The only way to combat cyber assaults is for police, intelligence agencies and private companies to join forces, Mueller said during a presentation at an annual RSA Conference in San Francisco.

People around the world share their deep secrets with Frank Warren and he, in turn, reveals them to all.

Confessions drawn, pasted or written on postcards flow relentlessly into his mailbox and Warren provides as many as possible with time in the spotlight at his website,PostSecret.com.

Despite a new crackdown on Internet gambling this week, the U.S. government appears to be easing its stand on many forms of online betting, prompting states to swing into action to tap a new revenue source.

The turnabout by Washington came quietly in December when the Justice Department released an opinion stating that only sports betting should be prohibited under a 1961 federal law known as the Wire Act.

The Australian army vowed Thursday to track down and punish any serving members who posted offensive comments on RAR Buddies, a Facebook page that contains racist, sexist and abusive material.

ABC television revealed that more than 1,000 former and serving soldiers belonged to the site, providing a disturbing insight into the culture that exists inside the ranks.

Megaupload boss Kim Dotcom on Thursday accused U.S. authorities of mounting a "misleading and malicious" case against him, saying there was no way they could win a landmark online piracy action.

Free on bail in New Zealand after winning a legal fight with prosecutors who wanted to keep him behind bars after his January 20 arrest, a defiant Dotcom was confident of beating charges brought by the U.S. Justice Department and FBI.

A coalition of European and U.S. consumer advocacy groups made a last-ditch appeal to Internet search and advertising giant Google on Wednesday to delay changes to its privacy policies.

In a joint letter to Google chief executive Larry Page, the Trans Atlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD) urged Google to delay implementation of the changes which are scheduled to take effect from Thursday.