Tweets still must flow  —  One year ago, we posted “The Tweets Must Flow,” in which we said, … As we continue to grow internationally, we will enter countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression.  Some differ so much from our ideas that we will not be able to exist there.

Tim Cook responds to claims of factory worker mistreatment: ‘We care about every worker in our supply chain’  —  This morning, The New York Times published a lengthy report with details about the harsh conditions of working in the factories of an Apple parts supplier or Apple product manufacturer.

HTC Sense 4.0: First Impressions  —  We recently had the opportunity to check out a non-final build of HTC Sense 4.0 which will be likely be first seen on the rumored HTC Ville (pictured above) and the HTC Edge.  For HTC, Sense represents a point of differentiation among a sea of Android devices …

Page Rage Escalates As Google Cancels Twitter Android Meeting  —  We've heard from insiders that Google's PR strategy to the Don't Be Evil toolbar bombshell- which exposed just how much the search giant is meddling with search results- is just to stay quiet until it blows over.

Dear Google: Crappy Results Like This Don't Give The Impression You Care About Search  —  The debate about what should — and shouldn't — show in a Google search result for “santorum” has been well-documented, at this point.  But I'd like to use this now famous search to illustrate something else …

Samsung loses second German 3G patent lawsuit against Apple  —  One week after dismissing Samsung's first German patent infringement lawsuit against Apple, the Mannheim Regional Court also rejected Samsung's second complaint.  —  Either complaint related to the 3G/UMTS wireless telecommunications standard.

Polish Politicians Don Guy Fawkes/Anonymous Masks To Protest ACTA Signing  —  There's been lots of talk today about how various EU governments are agreeing to sign ACTA (which still needs to be ratified by the EU Parliament).  It's gotten the most attention in Poland, where there were mass protests …

Warner Bros. now adding restrictions to your Netflix DVD queue  —  Giant media company Warner Brothers might be taking further steps to ensure that its updated distribution strategy for newly released DVD movies has the maximum effect — regardless of how petty the company may seem as a result.

Google's “Trusted Photographers” Turns Business Photos Into A Self-Serve Product  —  Google is hoping to expand its Business Photos product with the launch of a new service called “Trusted Photographers” that essentially makes the process entirely self-service.

Setting the record straight about our privacy policy changes  —  A lot has been said about our new privacy policy.  Some have praised us for making our privacy policy easier to understand.  Others have asked questions, including members of Congress, and that's understandable too.

Samsung 2011 Q4 earnings official: $42 billion in sales, $4.7 billion operating profit  —  It might not be making as much money as the competition in Cupertino, but that doesn't mean Samsung isn't raking in cash at an astonishing clip.  We reported earnings estimates a few weeks ago …

Analyst: Kindle Fire, Nook Tablet Have 40% of Android Tablet Sales  —  Strategy Analytics raised a lot of eyebrows earlier today with a report that said Android tablets accounted for 39 percent market share in Q4 2011, up from 29 percent a year ago.  The iPad's share dropped from 68.2 percent to 57.6 percent.

Techmeme has redesigned.  Drudge Report is now indisputably the web's ugliest news site  —  In the beginning, links on web pages were underlined, because that let us know they were links.  And it was good.  But all those underlined words started to afflict the eye, particularly on pages with many links.

Hawaiian politician backs away from Web dossier law  —  A Web site attacking Hawaii Rep. Kym Pine that appears to have given birth to the H.B. 2288 dossier bill  —  A Hawaii politician who proposed requiring Internet providers to record every Web site their customers visit is now backing away from the controversial legislation.

Apple Estimated to Retake Title of World's Largest Smartphone Vendor  —  Research firm Strategy Analytics today announced its estimates of the global smartphone market for the fourth quarter of 2011, finding that Apple narrowly squeezed by Samsung to retake the title of world's largest smartphone vendor as measured by unit shipments.

Google: “Ads Are Just More Answers”  —  When a user searches Google, the ads are just as important as the answers.  —  At least that's what Google says in its annual financial report filed with the SEC this afternoon.  —  The company lists new ad formats as one of the big things it changed in 2012:

New RIM chief tries rival devices, vows ‘a lot’ of change  —  RIM CEO willing to try opponents' devices, more  —  New info trickling out from a CrackBerry interview with new RIM CEO Thorsten Heins may assuage some early fears that he was locked into his predecessors' management style.

Say Goodbye to the Menu Button  —  Before Android 3.0 (Honeycomb), all Android-powered devices included a dedicated Menu button.  As a developer, you could use the Menu button to display whatever options were relevant to the user, often using the activity's built-in options menu.

Symantec: We Didn't Know in 2006 Source Code Was Stolen  —  Anti-virus giant Symantec says it did not know back in 2006 that source code for its software was stolen when it experienced a breach at that time.  —  The company surprised the public last week when it disclosed that hackers …

Steam hits iOS and Android for buying, but not playing games  —  Steam Mobile live for iOS and Android  —  Valve has partly fulfilled one of the most common wishes of gamers Thursday by posting Steam Mobile.  Versions for both iOS (App Store) and Android (Market) lets users both keep up with their Steam chats and groups while away.