Technology - AP

SAN FRANCISCO - Laura Fitton's ascent has been staggering: In less than a year, she's become mayor of nine different places in several different states, all without giving any speeches or kissing any babies.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - Google Inc. has snapped up another startup in its quest to sell more visual advertising on the Web.

MONTREAL - A Canadian woman on sick leave for depression said Monday she would fight an insurance company's decision to cut her benefits after her agent found photos on Facebook of her vacationing, at a bar and at a party.

NEW YORK - Retailers are thinking beyond Cyber Monday — a holiday marketing promotion many push for the Monday after Thanksgiving — and trying to spin their discounts into into Cyber Weekends or even Cyber Weeks.

SEOUL, South Korea - Apple Inc's iPhone is coming to South Korea this week, a local carrier announced Sunday, bringing the iconic communications device to one of the world's most sophisticated mobile phone markets.

SAN FRANCISCO - While U.S. newspapers are losing subscribers at a staggering rate, a few dailies stand out because their circulation is rising. But they aren't necessarily selling more copies.

ATHENS, Greece - The chief executive of Fox Filmed Entertainment said Monday the U.S. should join France in cutting off the Internet connection of users who repeatedly download copyright-protected films.

BOULDER, Colo. - A leading climate change scientist said hackers breaking into a university's computer server and then posting documents online show the nasty politics of global warming.

NEW YORK - Consumers who haven't yet ordered Barnes & Noble's electronic book reader, the Nook, won't see one before Christmas.

TOKYO - Sony's new online service connecting the whole range of its gadgets to downloadable content like movies and games should help build brand loyalty, a top executive said Friday.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Increasing numbers of English-language Web sites are spreading al-Qaida's message to Muslims in the West. They translate writings and sermons once largely out of reach of English readers and often feature charismatic clerics like Anwar al-Awlaki, who exchanged dozens of e-mails with the Army psychiatrist accused of the Fort Hood shootings.

STORRS, Conn. - Nathaniel Lester scored 19 points and Hofstra held off Yale 68-63 in the first round of the NIT Season Tip-Off on Monday night.

LOS ANGELES - Selling a home without a real estate agent can save thousands of dollars in commission fees, but it can also be a painstaking, confusing task.

PHILADELPHIA - A deal for Comcast Corp. to buy a controlling stake in NBC Universal and create one of the most powerful media companies in the world is taking longer than expected as the current owners tussle over price.

SAN FRANCISCO - Yahoo Inc. is jumping on the Twitter bandwagon in its latest attempt to get people to use its Internet search engine more frequently.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A pair of astronauts zipped through the third and final spacewalk of their mission Monday, helping to install a 1,200-pound oxygen tank at the International Space Station and accomplishing everything else on their list.

SAN FRANCISCO - Some of the computer industry's biggest players — such as IBM Corp., Intel Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. — have wowed Wall Street this fall with stronger-than-expected profits.

WASHINGTON - Think of it as closed captioning for the new media world.

SAN FRANCISCO - One area where Hewlett-Packard Co. is expanding aggressively is computer networking, the home turf of market leader Cisco Systems Inc. Earlier this month HP announced plans to buy Cisco competitor 3Com Corp. for $2.7 billion to supplement HP's own line of networking gear.