Online retailer dreams of printing off bespoke shoes at home

By Emma Thomasson BERLIN (Reuters) – The co-founder of Australian online retailer Shoes of Prey, which allows customers to design their own footwear, hopes to one day allow customers to print out pairs at home as technology improves and consumer demand grows for personalized products.

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Tencent, eBay join Kakao bid for new South Korean Internet bank

Kakao Corp, the operator of South Korea's largest mobile messaging app, said Tencent Holdings Ltd and eBay Inc have joined its bid for a new South Korean Internet bank license. Tencent and eBay will make their investments through subsidiaries, which are expected to take stakes of 4 percent or less in the bank should a license be gained, a Kakao spokesman said.

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Hillary Clinton aides worried about private email use in 2011

By Jonathan Allen and Megan Cassella NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A hacking attack on Google's Gmail service in 2011 prompted Hillary Clinton and her aides to worry about the security of private email accounts widely used by government officials who found their “antiquated” government-issued laptops inefficient.

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Cricket-Ashes rout branded ‘day of infamy’ in horrified Australia

Australia’s stunning dismissal for 60 runs on day one of the fourth Ashes test prompted incredulous headlines in local newspapers on Friday along with calls for the citizenship to be stripped from the entire team. “What a disgrace,” was a front-page headline on Sydney’s Daily Telegraph, above a picture of embattled Australia captain Michael Clarke

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Vanderbilt football team apologizes for ‘don’t need your permission’ tweet

(Reuters) – Vanderbilt University’s football team apologized for tweeting on Thursday “we don’t need your permission,” a phrase that raised concerns about its attitude toward sexual assault two years after four former players were first accused of rape. The full tweet, which has since been removed from the team’s Twitter account, read: “We are relentless, tough and intelligent and …” above a graphic that read, “We don’t need your permission.” “We apologize for today’s tweet.

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Rocket Internet to close grocery delivery service in Germany

German start-up investor Rocket Internet is closing down its grocery delivery service Shopwings in Germany due to a lack of cooperation from retailers and regulatory hurdles. A Rocket Internet spokesman said the business that only launched last year in Berlin and Munich would focus instead on expanding in Australia as well as in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines. Europe's largest Internet company prides itself on needing only 100 days to go from concept to launch of a new firm, establishing dozens of start-ups from online fashion to home furnishings and food delivery since it was founded in 2007.

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Tennis-Tennis Australia apologises for putting Tomic in ‘Hall of Shame’

Tennis Australia has apologised for a ‘clerical error’ in a media release that said estranged local player Bernard Tomic was playing in a ‘Hall of Shame’ event against compatriot John-Patrick Smith. The media release said Tomic, who was dumped from Australia’s Davis Cup team after a rant against officials, was playing Smith in the ‘Hall of Shame Tennis Championships’, causing a stir on social media networks.

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California cancer patient with amnesia faces identity crisis

By Marty Graham SAN DIEGO (Reuters) – A woman with amnesia who has been undergoing cancer treatments since she was found semiconscious in Southern California has turned to social media and law enforcement as she struggles to rekindle memory of her own identity and any family she may have. “The amnesia I have is called retro amnesia, and doctors have said they have seen this before with the kind of antibodies from the volleyball-sized tumor that was on my ovary,” she wrote on her Facebook page.    “I have been getting chemotherapy treatments, and have lost all of my hair ..

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Visa joins MasterCard, AmEx in ending use for Backpage sex ads

By Mary Wisniewski CHICAGO (Reuters) – Visa Inc said on Wednesday it is joining MasterCard Inc and American Express Co in barring its credit cards from being used to pay for ads on Backpage.com following a request from a Chicago sheriff who said the site is used by sex traffickers. Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart said that “escort” ads on Backpage.com and similar classified advertising sites make up the foundation of a sex-trafficking industry that preys on the young and vulnerable. Earlier this week, he asked both Visa and MasterCard to cut off any association with the Backpage.com “adult” section.

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Australian web provider iiNet in possible database hacking

By Matt Siegel SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian Internet provider iiNet Ltd has urged more than 30,000 customers to change their passwords after claims emerged online that hackers had been attempting to sell personal information stolen from one of the firm’s databases. News of the potential data breach at Australia’s third-largest web provider first emerged on Twitter, where it was alleged an unnamed hacker was offering to sell a database that included client passwords, home addresses and telephone numbers. As a precaution, however, iiNet CIO Matthew Toohey said the company had contacted almost 31,000 customers and asked for the password change to prevent unauthorized access to accounts.

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