Winklevoss twins end legal row with Facebook

The Winklevoss brothers, Harvard contemporaries of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, ended their legal battle with the social network yesterday.


They reached a $65m settlement in 2008, after claiming that Zuckerberg stole their idea.


A US appeals court ruled in April that they could not back out of the deal.


The pair had threatened to go to US Supreme Court to overturn the decision but have now said they will not pursue it.

Back in 2008, the Winklevii were awarded a $65 million settlement for commissioning Zuckerberg to design their own social networking site ConnectU in 2003, and an April 11 ruling by a federal judge upheld the decision, telling them their “litigation must come to an end.” However, with Facebook’s IPO evaluation recently estimated at $100 billion, it didn’t come as a surprise that the twins were looking to launch yet another appeal, this time in front of the Supreme Court.

Maybe the twins finally realized $65 million is still an obscene amount of money to get for doing absolutely nothing.

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IMF latest target in string of cyber attacks

The International Monetary Fund says it was targeted by a sophisticated cyber attack earlier this year.

 IMF officials say the attack was a very major breach of its systems.
Cyber security officials say the hack was designed to install software to create a digital insider presence.

The headquarters of the International Monetary Fund in Washington, DC.

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The IMF says its operations are fully functional. The agency holds sensitive economic data about many countries.
The attack took place over several months.

IMF staff were told of the intrusion on Wednesday by e-mail.

 the incident is the latest in a string of high profile cyber security breaches.

In April, the Sony Playstation network was shut down after hackers stole the personal data of about 100 million accounts.
US defence firm Lockheed Martin said in May that it had come under a significant cyber-attack.

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Kate Middleton's Wedding Dress to Be Exhibited at Palace

There's no doubt that the most buzzed-about dress of the decade is Duchess Catherine's wedding gown, and now fans of the royal couple can see the historic garment with their very own eyes beginning July 23.

The dress was kept under lock-and-key along with its details and designer up until the Duchess's entrance at her April 29th wedding to the Duke of Cambridge, 28. The gown, designed by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen, will be on display at Buckingham Palace during the annual Summer Opening, according to a release from the Royal Collection Press Office.

"The Duchess chose British brand Alexander McQueen for the beauty of its craftsmanship and its respect for traditional workmanship and the technical construction of clothing," the Royal Collection Press Office said. "Her Royal Highness worked closely with Sarah Burton in formulating the design of her dress."
Calling it "the experience of a lifetime," Burton explained that "Alexander McQueen's designs are all about bringing contrasts together to create startling and beautiful clothes and I hope that by marrying traditional fabrics and lacework, with a modern structure and design we have created a beautiful dress for Catherine on her wedding day. "The team at Alexander McQueen are very proud of what we have created."

The 29-year-old royal and her gown, made from ivory and white satin-gazar, received praise from some of the fashion world's most renowned designers:

"The dress is classic and goes very well in the Westminster decor," Karl Lagerfeld told Women's Wear Daily. "I love the modest veil with the Queen Mother's Thirties scroll tiara and balanced volume of the whole gown. She's radiant; She never was so beautiful."

"Kate's dress was beautiful," Donatella Versace said. "She looked very regal."

Her shoes, by Alexander McQueen, and her diamond earrings, by Robinson Pelham, will also be a part of the display. Joining the wedding ensemble will be the Duke and Duchess's multi-tiered wedding cake, created by Fiona Cairns, a Leicestershire-based cake designer. The exhibit will be on display through October 3, 2011.

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