L'Oreal ads of Julia Roberts banned for airbrushing

Retouched advertisements are certainly nothing new, but The British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has been cracking down on companies they believe have been heavy handed with the airbrushing wand.

According to BBC News, Member of Parliament Jo Swinson has been lobbying against digitally altered images and she raised the red flag on two L'Oreal advertisements she claimed were "not representative of the results the products could achieve."

One ad features actress Julia Roberts for Lancome Teint Miracle foundation, while the other shows supermodel Christy Turlington for a Maybelline foundation called The Eraser.

As evidenced by the ads, the results of these products, both owned by parent company L'Oreal, are just a little too flawless.

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Facebook Could Become Adults Only

In Australia, there are ways to force Facebook to give parents access to their kids' profiles, and this has been discussed by state and federal attorneys-general in a meeting that will also examine an 18+ Facebook age limit.

The idea was first proposed by a South Australian Family First MP, Dennis Hood, and is being championed by South Australian Attorney-General John Rau. Rau argued that giving parents assistance to supervise their children on Facebook would help protect against online predators and limit access to unsuitable material.

Facebook's terms of use currently requires users to be aged at least 13 but there is no proof of age requirement and kids regularly lie to gain access.

At their meeting today, the country's top lawmakers will consider requiring proof of age checks and even raising the age limit to 18, federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland confirmed.

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OMG, Entire Fake Apple Store in China

China, long known for producing counterfeit consumer gadgets, software and brand name clothing, has reached a new piracy milestone — fake Apple stores.

An American who lives in Kunming in southern Yunnan province said Thursday that she and her husband stumbled on three shops masquerading as bona fide Apple stores in the city a few days ago.

She took photos and posted them on her BirdAbroad blog that show staff in blue T-shirts with the Apple logo chatting to customers in a white-walled shop with minimalist decor and signs advertising the iPad 2.

The three stores are not among the authorized resellers listed on Apple Inc.'s website. The maker of the iPhone and other hit gadgets has four company stores in China — two in Beijing and two in Shanghai — and various official resellers. Apple's Beijing office declined to comment.

The proliferation of the fake stores underlines the slow progress that China's government is making in countering a culture of a rampant piracy and widespread production of bogus goods that is a major irritant in relations with trading partners.

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Man Builds His Own Bugatti Supercar by Hand

He used fiberglass and composite material to create the Veyron's iconic lines, and laid it all over a tubular steel frame. After a professional paint job and plenty of buffing, the car was ready for the showroom, but Duff wasn't done yet. He then took to the Cougar's interior, covering everything from the seats to the dashboard in genuine leather. When we spoke with him, he said the project took him a full 9 months from start to finish.

The detailed doppelgänger even sports usable back seats, which is something the real million-dollar ride completely lacks. Speaking of price, that's another area where this fantastic fake beats out its original counterpart. Duff currently has the vehicle up for sale with a price of $89,000 — less than 1/10th the price of a genuine Veyron.

Unfortunately, while that price will buy you the looks of a barely-legal race car, it doesn't buy you the performance. Under its gorgeous exterior, the "Cougatti" is still distinctly pedestrian, and remains equipped with its original 2.5-liter V6 engine that produces roughly 170 horsepower. This is in stark contrast to the 8-liter 16-cylinder powerplant of the real car, which produces a neck-snapping 1,000 horses.

Still, for the price of a Porsche, there's not much you can complain about when the car is a nearly indistinguishable replica of the fastest road car in the world. Not to mention the fact that some other Bugatti tributes can cost an order of magnitude more, and are never meant to leave your office.

Is It Safe to Bank Online?

Bank Online is one transaction that many could not resist as it offers many benefits nowadays, but is it safe to do this type of transaction? Here are 10 steps consumers to take to make sure their information is safe:

1. Don't talk to cyber-strangers, and don't click on hyperlinks within emails from strangers. "That's the easiest way to download malware to your computer," says McNelley.

2. Treat your smartphone like the computer it is. Downloaded apps can contain malicious codes, warns McNelley. "You have no idea who created that app, and very little code-checking goes on," she says.

3. Treat social networks like dark street corners. You never know who's lurking among your friends and acquaintances. Hackers have targeted Gmail, Facebook, and LinkedIn, and users of those sites should be especially wary of clicking on embedded links, even those "recommended" by friends.

4. Use the Net to your own advantage. If you bank online, you don't have to wait until the end of the month to check your statement. You can log in anytime and make sure nothing is amiss. An errant charge is often one of the first signs of identity theft, so check statements carefully and alert your bank immediately of any problems.

5. Get free help. Many credit card issuers offer free and automatic identify-theft protection to customers. (That's one advantage credit cards have over debit cards.) If you see erroneous charges on your statement, call your credit card company, which should investigate on your behalf.

6. Think of a new word. Consumers are tasked with remembering dozens of passwords for various retailers, banks, and accounts, making it almost impossible to remember them all, especially since they often include mixes of numbers and letters.
7. Never, ever give your Social Security number to anyone online. If a site asks for it during the checkout process, it's probably a scam site.

8. Shred or safely store financial mail. Bank statements, investment documents, and other financial paperwork can give thieves clues about account numbers, Social Security numbers, and other personal information.

9. Fight back quickly. If you are hacked, step one is calling your bank, says McNelley. That's because banks have sophisticated systems in place that can immediately begin closely monitoring your account for signs of identity theft.

10. Trust your gut. "You often hear, after consumers used an ATM with a skimming device, they had a bad feeling about it. If you do have that feeling, listen to it," says McNelley, and remove yourself from the situation.

Taking these simple steps is like remembering to lock your door at night, or turn on your alarm system. Says McNelley, "Bad guys go for the house that's unprotected. If you take the basic measures, then generally you have less risk about getting compromised."

The Next iPhone: iPhone 5 or the iPhone 4S?

The Wall Street Journal independently confirmed reports that the next generation iPhone will be on the way in the third quarter of this year. According to sources close to the supply line, Apple's next iPhone is expected to trim down the famously svelte iPhone 4, making it both lighter and thinner than the current model. While plenty of other technology outlets had published similar details previously, the credible new report solidifies what we can expect from Apple's next generation smartphone.

While we still don't know if the device will be named the iPhone 5 or the iPhone 4S, such significant improvements point to the former, which would make it an entirely new model, unlike the upgrade from iPhone 3G to the iPhone 3GS.

The report also suggests that the next iPhone will have a camera upgraded to 8 megapixels, a resolution boost up from the iPhone 4's 5-megapixel sensor and a confirmation of an earlier rumor from Bloomberg. Bloomberg's sources also suggested that the smartphone will sport the same powerful A5 processor as the iPad, which would yield a significant a speed boost for the device.