Vittorio Hernandez

Local shares were up by as much as 0.84 per cent after a few hours of trade, however steadily declined from midday onwards. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) slipped by 0.46 per cent and has slumped by 2.5 per cent in just two sessions due to concerns relating to the Eurozone's third smallest economy, Cyprus.

Too much connectivity with their workplace caused by the availability of high-tech gadgets is causing health problems for many Australians. Health experts identified insomnia and disturbed sleep as among the negative impact of bedrooms doubling as work-from-home offices and home theaters.

An Australian dog in Adelaide broke the Guinness World Record for the loudest bark by registering 113.1 decibels. It was made by Charlie, a six-year-old dog at the Purina Bark in the Park event in Rymill Park, Adelaide.

The Australian share market is making an impressive rebound in early trade, following yesterday's 2% drop which was sparked by Eurozone worries.

Australia's sharemarket shed 2 per cent on Monday over investor worries on the Cyprus bailout problem. The All Ordinaries index declined 101.9 points or 1.99 per cent at 5,027.4, while the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index dipped 104.8 points or 2.05 per cent at 5,015.4.

With the abdication of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI on Feb 28, he also left behind to his successor the weight of problems that he had been bearing the past eight years as head of the Roman Catholic Church.

The humorous side of Pope Francis is showing up just days after his election as leader of the 1.2-billion strong Roman Catholic Church. As the world once more focuses its eyes at the Vatican for the inaugural mass of the pontiff on Tuesday, March 19, there was a remarkable increase in papal cartoons over the past few days in social networking sites.

Australians could by the cheaper-priced Chromebook for as low as $299 from retail outlets and the Google Play Store beginning March 19.

Despite the 1989 ban on uranium by the then Queensland government, the current state administration is not ruling out the possibility that they may give uranium mining the green light.

Canadian tech firm BlackBerry rolled out the Z10 model in Sydney on Monday a month after the global launch of the device and four days after Samsung unboxed the Galaxy S4 in New York.

A controversial levy imposed on financial institutions in the European island of Cyprus sent shockwaves through local markets today, as investors bet the Eurozone debt crisis is far from over.

Two male prisoners in Saint-Jerome, Quebec, Canada, who escaped on Sunday their jail James Bond style, are now back in jail by early Monday.

The Australian sharemarket has wiped out most of last Friday's impressive gains, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) down 1.3 per cent or 66.2 pts to 5063.1. Cyprus, the Eurozone's third smallest economy has received a €10 billion assistance package, backed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). A one-off tax of as much as 10 per cent on Cypriot deposit accounts has created some concerns of bank runs.

The global markets are anticipating a dive in currency values and share prices following the delayed vote on austerity measures in Cyprus which could result in depositors in the island losing some of their savings.

Stun guns or Tasers are being illegally brought in Australia despite the protection device being prohibited in the country. In 2012, about 2,600 such devices were illegally shipped to Australia hidden in 1,200 shipments but were discovered by border guards.

Tech analysts said over the weekend that South Korean giant Samsung's latest flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S4, would likely continue to attract buyers, particularly Asians.

Philips has beaten South Korean tech giant Samsung in rolling out the world's first transparent TV for commercial sale. TP Vision, which is a joint venture between Philips and TP Technology, unboxed on Thursday the PDL8908 DesignLine television sets which feature a unibody glass chassis from the top to the floor.

Australia's largest gambling business, the Crown Casino in Melbourne, lost $32 million to a foreign high-stakes gambler who used an Ocean Eleven-style heist, reports said.

Online file-storage service Dropbox announced over the weekend its purchase of the new iPhone email application Mailbox.

Will Pope Francis wear the traditional red papal shoes when he celebrates his inaugural mass on Tuesday, March 19? That is the question which Vatican followers are asking after observing that in the first two days of his papacy, the new pope has opted to wear an ordinary pair of worn-out black shoes.

Has 16th century doomsday prophet Nostradamus reincarnated in the person of a 22-year-old Spanish man named Alejandro Rodriguez de Cabo? The question is now tickling the Catholic and Twitter worlds since Senor de Cabo appears to have correctly predicted the election of Argentinean Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as Pope Francis.

The Australian sharemarket rose by 1.7 per cent today, largely making up for three consecutive days of weakness. Even when taking into account today's gains, the All Ordinaries index has slipped by 0.16 per cent over the past five sessions. Since the start of January 2013, the local market has jumped by 9.96 per cent, making it the best start to a new year in 21 years. Today was the biggest daily improvement for the All Ords since mid-July 2012.

A study by Flurry Analytics found that apps the average smartphone user spends two hours daily with app, twice the amount of time spent in 2011. While many apps are considered productive, one alarming discover of the report is that 43 per cent of the apps were for games such as the popular Angry Birds.

Since Pope Francis is the hottest newsmaker for now following his surprise election as pontiff of the 1.2-billion member Roman Catholic Church, it would not be unexpected that some movie producers would think soon of making a bio-epic about the Argentinean cleric.

Security systems that use biometrics such as fingerprint scanning are not fool-proof after all. This was proven by a Brazilian doctor who used silicone digits to sign in fellow physicians who were absent from work.

After three sessions of losses, local stocks are back in the black today, being lifted by another win on Wall Street and strength in European markets.

The two most popular social networking sites, Facebook and Twitter, are adding features to their Web sites in a bid to improve user experience and entrench their hold on the market.

Australian flag carrier Qantas (ASX: QAN) is determined to regain its lost glory as the country's premier airline. In a bid to get a larger slice of the domestic market it partly lost to Virgin Australia, Qantas said it will double the capacity for every plane that Virgin deploys.

Had estranged Rinehart daughter Hope Welker listened to her younger sister, Ginia, she would not have complained of having only $60,000 in the bank and no funds to hire a cook and nanny as well as money to send her children to school in New York.