AP Technology NewsBrief at 2:25 p.m. EST

(Associated Press Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Telecommuting: Was Yahoo doing it right NEW YORK (AP) _ Yahoo's leaked edict under CEO Marissa Mayer that calls remote workers back to the office lit the Twitterverse on fire, angering advocates of telecommuting and other programs intended to balance work and home life. A new study from the nonprofit Families and Work Institute shows a tide moving the other way, with more workers now telecommuting _ and men significantly more likely than women to be granted the freedom to work at least partially at home.

White House: cell phone unlocking should be legalNEW YORK (AP) _ An Obama administration adviser says the White House believes smartphone and tablet users should be allowed to unlock their phones and use the devices on the network of their choosing. In a blog post entitled "It's time to legalize cell phone unlocking," R. David Edelman, White House adviser on Internet, innovation and privacy, responded to a petition about the issue by saying the administration feels consumers should be allowed to unlock their phones without civil or criminal penalties, especially if the phones were purchased secondhand or as gifts.

Czech news media face cyberattacksPRAGUE (AP) _ Leading media websites in the Czech Republic say they have come under repeated and powerful cyberattacks. The online editions of Mlada Fronta Dnes, a major newspaper, and of the respected business daily Hospodarske Noviny were among the affected.

Online ivory trade threatens Africa's elephantsBANGKOK (AP) _ Conservationists say there's a new threat to the survival of Africa's endangered elephants that may be just as deadly as poachers' bullets: the black-market trade of ivory in cyberspace. Illegal tusks are being bought and sold on countless Internet forums and shopping websites worldwide with increasing frequency, including Internet giant Google, according to activists. And wildlife groups attending the 178-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species in Bangkok this week are calling on global law enforcement agencies to do something about it.

Mystery of the Chinese zombie YaliesBEIJING (AP) _ U.S. universities have responded to China's exploding demand for American higher education with branch campuses and aggressive recruiting. Now, some are trying to boost their brands by casting photos and other snippets of campus life out into the confounding sea of Chinese social media. How confounding Consider the mystery of the Chinese Yale zombies.

Samsung's $1B bill in Apple case reduced by $450MSAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ The two biggest _ and bitterest _ rivals in the smartphone market will have to endure another bruising trial after a federal judge ruled that jurors miscalculated nearly half the $1 billion in damages it found Samsung Electronics owed Apple Inc. for patent infringement. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh wiped out $450 million from the verdict and ordered a new trial to reconsider damages related to 14 Samsung products including some products in its hot-selling Galaxy lineup jurors in August found were using Apple's technology without permission. Koh said jurors in three-week trial had not properly followed her instruction in calculating some of the damages.

Digital memories fade in death; protect yourselfEstate planning attorney James Lamm who writes the blog "Digital Passing" advises people to plan ahead for their virtual afterlives. Your best bet is to make sure valuable memories and intellectual property are stored somewhere besides a social media account _ so back up your photos on a USB flash drive. Still, given the prevalence of social media in today's world, Lamm advises these four steps as a sort of digital estate planning guide to help ensure your wishes are carried out _ even though, he says, with the law as it stands currently, there are no guarantees.

In death, Facebook photos could fade away foreverBEAVERTON, Ore. (AP) _ A grieving Oregon mother who battled Facebook for full access to her deceased son's account has been pushing for years for something that would prevent others from losing photos, messages and other memories _ as she did. "Everybody's going to face this kind of a situation at some point in their lives," says Karen Williams, whose 22-year-old son died in a 2005 motorcycle accident.

1st Polaroid-branded photo store opens in Fla.DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (AP) _ The first in a chain of Polaroid-branded photo shops opened here Friday, with its backers hoping to reinvigorate the digital world's interest in printed images by capitalizing on an iconic name. Polaroid Fotobar aims to tap into unprecedented interest in photography with its inaugural 2,000-square-foot store. The trick will be to coax consumers who snap pictures on cellphones and other devices to give their memories new life on paper.

Companies struggle to popularize mobile moneyBARCELONA, Spain (AP) _ Mobile money may seem like a hot concept, but consumers aren't warming to it. At the world's largest cellphone trade show, here in Barcelona this week, the 70,000 attendees are encouraged to use their cellphones _instead their keycards_ to get past the turnstiles at the door. But very few people took the chance to do that. The process of setting up the phone to act as a keycard proved too much of a hassle.

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