This is our new Friday Digest! Every Friday, this weekly news round-up gives us the occasion to share with you news from various topics: politics to arts, entertainment, media, science, sports, fun and less fun news… This digest is a list of news published this week on the Internet (Friday to Friday), selected by the Sama Team, and it is by no means exhaustive.

If you want to suggest a news to be added in the next Friday Digest, contact us.

The list goes from oldest to newest news.  See you on Sunday, for our weekly Twitter Sunday!

Google TV Already In Trouble? Sony Offering 25% Off Blu-ray Google TV Units
Google TV might be in a bit of a pickle if a Best Buy and Sony sale is any indication. The platform launched a few weeks ago with the Logitech Revue and Sony Internet TV. Both are loaded with the same system and so both are suffering the fate of Big Media’s blockade. It’s a sad story, really.  Google TV aimed to bridge the span between subscription-based TV and Internet content, but so far said bridge…
http://techcrunch.com/2010/11/27/google-tv-already-in-trouble-sony-offering-25-off-blu-ray-google-tv-units/

Haiti Election Marred by ID Card Problems
With some candidates already crying fraud, and the delivery of voter identification cards mired in delays and confusion on Saturday, Haiti braced for one of its most pivotal presidential elections in decades. Official public campaigning ended Friday, but hours before the first ballots were to be cast Sunday, many of the 19 candidates and their representatives took to social media and old-fashioned news conferences…
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/28/world/americas/28haiti.html

Bioencryption can store almost a million gigabytes of data inside bacteria
A new method of data storage that converts information into DNA sequences allows you to store the contents of an entire computer hard-drive on a gram’s worth of E. coli bacteria…and perhaps considerably more than that. The idea of storing data inside bacteria has been around for about a decade. Even very simple bacteria have long strands of DNA with tons of bases available for data encryption…
http://io9.com/5699767/bioencryption-can-store-almost-a-million-gigabytes-of-data-inside-bacteria

For PayPal, the Future Is Mobile
When Scott Thompson, the president of PayPal, chats with executives at its parent, eBay, he is diplomatic about the size of his business compared with eBay’s marketplace. “I hope — honestly, genuinely — that we never get bigger than you,” he tells them. But in fact, PayPal, the online payment service, is quickly narrowing the gap. By adding legions of new users and online retailers, PayPal is threatening to overtake…
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/29/technology/29paypal.html

Wikileaks’s unveiling of cables shows delicate diplomatic balance with Pakistan
The latest document dump from WikiLeaks reveals the diplomatic high wire the United States is often walking in its relationship with countries that are considered crucial allies in fighting terrorism, such as Pakistan. Cables that pertain to the U.S. relationship with Pakistan show the extent to which U.S. diplomatic officials think the American agenda is often undermined by the poor standing of the superpower…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/28/AR2010112804266.html

Cancun climate change summit: UN considers putting mirrors in space
UN scientists are to consider moves such as putting mirrors in space and sprinkling iron in the sea in an attempt to cut global warming, the head of the IPCC said. Speaking at the climate change conference in Cancun, Dr Rajendra Pachauri said the next report on global warming by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will not only look at the threat of rising temperatures but so-called “geo-engineering”…
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/8169039/Cancun-climate-change-summit-UN-considers-putting-mirrors-in-space.html

WikiLeaks documents focus on health of leaders in Iran, North Korea
For U.S. diplomats trying to understand the goings-on in countries with no diplomatic relations with the United States, snippets of information about the health of leaders can be valuable. The latest group of documents released by WikiLeaks included a report from an un-named informant that Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme religious leader has terminal cancer and is “expected to die in months,”…
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/11/29/wikileaks.health/index.html

Google’s Gambit for Groupon Raises Concerns
Google’s $6 billion bid for Groupon, an online coupon start-up, is an aggressive move by the company to dominate local online advertising and help with its long-sought move into social networking. Google has offered Groupon $5.3 billion, with the promise of $700 million in performance bonuses for management, according to a person knowledgeable about the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity…
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2010/11/30/googles-gambit-for-groupon-raises-concerns/

Protest artist to mark Liu’s forbidden Nobel with London parade
China’s Liu Xiaobo, this year’s recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, is praised around the world for his pro-democracy campaigning and human rights work. To his native government, however, he remains a dissident and a subversive. Liu is serving an 11-year prison sentence in China for incitement to subvert state power. And while his presence in Oslo on 10 December will be marked by an empty chair…
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/protest-artist-to-mark-lius-forbidden-nobel-with-london-parade-2148024.html

Rosa Parks’ legacy endures decades later
An act of civil disobedience 55 years ago — Rosa Parks’ refusal to move to the back of a city bus — made the seamstress in Montgomery, Alabama, a pivotal symbol in America’s civil rights movement. Wednesday marks the 55th anniversary of the civil disobedience on December 1, 1955. Parks did not intend to get arrested as she made her way home from work that day. Little did the 42-year-old seamstress know that…
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/12/01/rosa.parks.anniversary/index.html

Outrageous! Beloved ‘Seinfeld’ character reborn
More than a decade after “Seinfeld” ended, one of the TV series’ most beloved characters has been reborn online. Jackie Chiles, the fast-talking attorney whose civil lawsuits were dependably foiled by Kramer, is starring in his own series on the comedy video website Funny or Die. Chiles is played by Phil Morris, a 41-year-old Los Angeles actor who never wanted to fully relinquish the role. After “Seinfeld” ended…
http://hosted2.ap.org/ILSPR/ec2d8a4c1614477db0610df17d4a39ce/Article_2010-12-01-US-Seinfeld-Character-Returns/id-ea5d845125a549b8afb4acd40b8b601b

Authorities close border as Ivory Coast election stalls
The Army closed all borders in the Ivory Coast as a security precaution as the country waited Friday to get a resolution to its stalled presidential election. A military spokesman announced the border closure on Ivorian national television Thursday night. “The air, land and sea border of the country are closed to all movement of people and goods starting this day, Thursday, December 2, 2010 from 8 p.m. local until further notice,”
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/12/03/ivory.coast.election/index.html