Free Republic

Have you seen it? If so, did it remind you of Election 2016 and the Trump campaign? It did me!

BOSTON (MyFoxBoston.com) -- Apple has removed nearly 300 apps from the iTunes store because they secretly gathered personal information from users. The apps were made in China and allowed a Chinese ad company to display their ads inside the apps. The software was designed to gather people's email addresses and iPhone serial numbers. Apple says it will no longer accept apps from the developer. Most of the apps are games, including the popular Angry Birds 2.

When a smartphone user opens Angry Birds, the popular game application, and starts slinging birds at chortling green pigs, spy agencies have plotted how to lurk in the background to snatch data revealing the player’s location, age, sex and other personal information, according to secret British intelligence documents. In their globe-spanning surveillance for terrorism suspects and other targets, the National Security Agency and its British counterpart have been trying to exploit a basic byproduct of modern telecommunications: With each new generation of mobile phone technology, ever greater amounts of personal data pour onto networks where spies can pick it up....

The NSA and its British counterpart are tapping popular smartphone apps such as Angry Birds to peek into the tremendous amounts of very personal data those bits of software collect -- including age, location, sex and even sexual preferences, according to new reports from the New York Times and The Guardian. Citing confidential documents provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden, the reports detail efforts to supplement data collection from cell phone carriers and smartphones by tapping into “leaky” apps themselves. “Some apps, the documents state, can share users' most sensitive information such as sexual orientation – and one app recorded in...

The National Security Agency and its UK counterpart GCHQ have been developing capabilities to take advantage of "leaky" smartphone apps, such as the wildly popular Angry Birds game, that transmit users' private information across the internet, according to top secret documents. The data pouring onto communication networks from the new generation of iPhone and Android apps ranges from phone model and screen size to personal details such as age, gender and location. Some apps, the documents state, can share users' most sensitive information such as sexual orientation – and one app recorded in the material even sends specific sexual preferences...

Can anyone tell me the difference between playing Angry Birds and getting hooked on methamphetamines?

When it comes to fearless battlefield feats – there can be few to match that of the crab that amputated its own claw. Filmed on the remote Pacific island of Clipperton, the crustacean is initially part of a raiding party on the nest of a group of Boobie birds. However, he gets separated from his comrades and comes under a vicious attack. The angry birds relentlessly peck him and in the end badly injure one of his claws. But this is no defeat for the crab. Instead of feeling sorry for himself he courageously cuts off the limp limb and...

The most “sought after” adult Halloween costumes of 2011 are Angry Birds, of Rovio mobile app fame, this according to Buy.com, the massive online retailer that has 60,000 costumes to choose from.

Taking a cue from Bugs Bunny knocking Hitler in the head with a mallet, YouTube user Egor Zhgun created a short animated piece based on the recent revolts in the Arab world. The short video, entitled 'Three Big Pigs', uses melodies from Walt Disney's The Three Little Pigs and characters from Angry Birds to re-enact the rebellions in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya. With the public as the birds in the spoof, the pigs are represented by Tunisian ex-president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Egyptian ex-president Hosni Mubarak, and Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi. After outing the former Tunisian and Egyptian leaders,...

<p>Tens of thousands of users of Android-based smartphones have downloaded applications capable of taking over their phones with malicious software designed to steal data or send expensive messages, security experts have warned.</p> <p>The apps mimicked legitimate programs and carried such names as Chess, Bowling Time and Super Guitar Solo, but allowed the developers to exploit a security flaw in most versions of Android.</p>