China consumers to spend more in November 11 ‘Singles Day’ shopping spree: Nielsen

Most online consumers in China will spend more during the Nov. 11 “Singles' Day” shopping promotion this year than they did last year, according to the results of a survey by consultancy Nielsen Holdings made available to Reuters on Wednesday. In a survey of more than 1,000 internet users in China this month, 56 percent said that they would spend more on Singles Day this year compared to 2014

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Messaging software firm Slack plans mass-media push to boost growth

By Eric Auchard DUBLIN (Reuters) – Slack, the group messaging platform valued at nearly $3 billion, plans to accelerate its growth by spending some of its $250 million cash pile on mass-market advertising, founder and CEO Stewart Butterfield said. “We are switching from trying to keep up with growth to trying to generate growth,” Butterfield said in an interview at Web Summit, Europe’s biggest conference for start-ups

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Internet firms must store usage data for one year: UK surveillance bill

Internet companies will have to store customer usage data for up to a year according to a new bill the British government will present to parliament on Wednesday, local newspapers reported. Britain's Investigatory Powers Bill, a renewed attempt to give security agencies powers to track online communications, will also tackle criticism from privacy campaigners by including assurances that any access of so-called Internet connection records would need judicial authorization, the Guardian said.

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British police make fourth arrest in TalkTalk cyber attack

British police have made a fourth arrest in connection with a cyber attack on telecoms company TalkTalk (TALK.L) in which the company said bank details of more than 20,000 customers were hacked. A 16-year-old boy from Norwich in eastern England was in custody and his address was being searched, London police said in a statement on Tuesday. TalkTalk shocked customers last month when the broadband, TV, mobile and fixed-line service provider said it had been hacked, potentially putting the private details of its 4 million customers into the hands of criminals

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Mobile technology and targeted marketing barge in on holidays

By Sarah Young LONDON (Reuters) – Thumbing through guide books for restaurant and shopping tips while on holiday could soon be a thing of the past, thanks to mobile travel technology that knows where you are and what you like and can ping you personalized recommendations. People are increasingly turning to their mobile phones to book flights, hotels and make other travel-related purchases, with $96 billion, or 12.5 percent of global online travel sales, made via the devices in 2014, according to a report by Euromonitor International. Using data from those purchases, travel providers will soon be pushing personalized options for hotels and restaurants via mobile devices, Euromonitor's WTM Global Trends Report 2015 forecast

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U.S. and UK to test financial cyber-security later this month

The United States and Britain will test later this month how its regulators would respond if their financial sectors suffered a major cyber-attack or broader IT problems, a British official said on Monday. The test, for which no date has yet been set, will focus on how regulators for the world's two biggest financial centers in New York and London communicate in an emergency, a spokesman for British government cyber-security body CERT-UK said.

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Batman adversary Harley Quinn tops 2015 Halloween costume search

By Angela Moon and Melissa Fares NEW YORK (Reuters) – America's most popular Halloween costume this year could be Batman adversary Harley Quinn from the DC Comics series, according to Google. Quinn's stock is rising thanks in part to keen anticipation of the 2016 film “Suicide Squad,” which will star Australian actor Margot Robbie as Quinn along with Jared Leto and Will Smith. “Harley Quinn” was the most-searched term in relation to Halloween costumes across the United States, according to Google's Frightgeist, a tool that tracks top queries on the search engine

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SXSW restores talks on gaming harassment once canceled over threats

By Jon Herskovitz AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) – The South by Southwest tech meeting said on Friday it made a mistake when it canceled sessions on video gaming culture, including one on harassment, after facing criticism of dodging its duty by dropping talks on an issue engulfing gaming culture. The organizers of South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive, a major annual meeting of the tech industry held in Austin, Texas, said they have now added a day-long summit on the topic and expanded the reach and participation of its originally planned sessions. “By canceling two sessions we sent an unintended message that SXSW not only tolerates online harassment but condones it, and for that we are truly sorry,” Hugh Forrest, the SXSW Interactive director, said in a blog post.

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