king

Twitter users in Bahrain jailed for allegedly insulting tweets

The Bahraini government started the process of revising its penal code last month to allow officials to jail anyone who insults King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, according to Amnesty International.

It appears that the government is now taking action.

Six people were sentenced to one year in prison on Wednesday for allegedly insulting the King on Twitter, according to Al Jazeera.

The criminal court ruled that these people were "misusing the right of free expression" and their tweets were "undermining the values and traditions of Bahrain's society towards the king on Twitter."

Bahrain, which … Read more

Crushing competition, Candy Crush creator crowns itself King

King.com, the company behind Facebook's No. 1 game Candy Crush, is rebranding and changing its name to simply "King."

It's fitting, considering that the 10-year-old company, relatively unknown just two years ago, is a top game for Facebook.com and in mobile, thanks to its 5-month-old candy-themed puzzle game.

"It's not a .com company, it's a multi-platform company," according to King CEO Riccardo Zacconi. King announced today that its games are played 12 billion times a month. King's games have more than 108 million monthly players on all platforms, desktop … Read more

Burger King Twitter account hacked, defaced

The Twitter account associated with the fast-food chain Burger King was suspended after an apparent hack defaced the page with messages that the account had been sold to McDonald's.

The @BurgerKing account name was changed today to "McDonalds" and the Golden Arches logo was added to the page, as was a message that the account had been sold to McDonald's "because the whopper flopped."

The page has since been taken down, but images of the defacement are still visible on Web cache.

Before the feed's suspension, hackers posted tweets that included racial epithets … Read more

Amazon to stream CBS show based on Stephen King novel

Amazon has scored the rights to stream a new CBS TV series called "Under the Dome."

Based on a Stephen King novel and produced by CBS and Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television, the new show will air on CBS TV starting June 24. And just four days after that, the series will be available for streaming to Amazon Prime members.

The deal between Amazon and CBS (which is also the parent company of CNET) means that Amazon Prime Instant Video will be the exclusive online home for "Under the Dome." Amazon Prime subscribers will be able … Read more

King's Landing from 'Thrones' gets the Minecraft treatment

Do you love "Game of Thrones"? Do you eat, sleep, and breathe to the tune of the epic HBO television series based on George R. R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" novels?

I know times are tough, especially since the new season doesn't start until March 31. But we might have something to tide you over until then. … Read more

Facebook 'Likes' King.com's new mobile puzzle game

King.com, a fast growing developer of Facebook games, unveiled its second Facebook synchronized mobile game tonight, displaying the type of gaming experience Facebook says its wants more of.

King said that Candy Crush Saga, which has nearly 5 million daily active players and 15,600,000 monthly active players on Facebook, launches on mobile in November.

Sean Ryan, Facebook's director of games partnerships, said the game is an example of how popular Web games can successfully translate to mobile games. Candy Crush Saga will be available on iOS devices and synchronized with Facebook. This means players can pick … Read more

The 404 1,113: Where there's a ghost in the wires (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Restaurant offers a 5 percent discount to eat without your phone.

- China is building an army of noodle-making robots.

- Melky Cabrera (SF Giants) created a fake Web site to explain failing drug tests.

- Infrared palm scanners at elementary school are the Mark of the Beast.

- Teenager uses fake ID with picture of Bobby Hill to buy alcohol at six different shops.… Read more

The 404 1,093: Where we're monitoring that scan you just interfaced (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 show:

- Guy gets butt kicked for wearing digital eye glasses inside McDonald's.

- Burger King employee stands on lettuce, gets busted by Internet.

- This is how you paint a 150-foot Batman.

- Does this photo of yesterday's storm in New York deserve an Instagram filter?… Read more

Web exposes Burger King employee standing on lettuce

When it comes to humor, you can't always have it your own way.

Well, you can, as long as you don't post it online.

My evidence for this thesis comes from a Burger King employee who thought it would be amusing to stand in two large plastic tubs of lettuce and have a photo taken.

Was he or she wearing shoes? But of course. Was this funny? But of course the lettuce-stomper must have thought it was. That is, until Anonymous members of 4Chan thought it would be just -- and, perhaps, funny too -- to find this … Read more

The 404 1,073: Where it could use some more bacon (podcast)

Piggybacking (waka waka) on Jeff's encounter with a candied bacon ice cream sandwich at the Sony E3 press conference last week, we can't help but indulge in Burger King's new bacon-topped sundae.

And even if Jeff's dietitian won't let him have it, we can still stare longingly at the press shots and tell you about our own favorite encounters with the swine.… Read more