It's a robot unlike any other: inspired by the world's fastest land animal, controlled by video game technology and packing nifty sensors — including one used to maneuver drones, satellites and ballistic missiles.

The robot, called the cheetah, can run on batteries at speeds of more than 10 mph, jump about 16 inches high, land safely and continue galloping for at least 15 minutes — all while using less power than a microwave oven.

Watch out world, the Girl Scouts are going digital to sell you cookies.

For the first time in nearly 100 years, Girl Scouts of the USA will allow its young go-getters to push their wares using a mobile app or personalized websites.

The Supreme Court is considering the free-speech rights of people who use violent or threatening language on Facebook and other social media.

The justices will hear arguments Monday in the case of a man who was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for posting graphically violent rap lyrics on Facebook about killing his estranged wife, shooting up a class of young children and attacking an FBI agent.

Germany has approved BlackBerry's purchase of encryption firm Secusmart after signing a "no-spy" agreement with the Canadian smartphone maker.

Duesseldorf-based Secusmart provides special smartphones to German government officials that are meant to be safe from eavesdropping.

The European Parliament voted overwhelmingly for the break-up of Google Thursday in a largely symbolic vote that nevertheless cast another blow in the four-year standoff between Brussels and the U.S. Internet giant.

In a direct challenge to Google (Xetra: A0B7FY - news) , MEPs assembled in Strasbourg approved a resolution calling on the EU to consider ordering search engines to separate their commercial services from their businesses.

China's version of Twitter, Weibo, has effectively banned users from promoting the country's most popular messaging app WeChat on its platform as the two Internet giants battle for users.

Nasdaq-listed Weibo said in a statement it would crack down on users disseminating QR (quick response) codes -- a type of barcode -- and other marketing information.

Twitter on Wednesday said it would begin tracking which other applications people have installed on their mobile devices in a bid to better target ads and content.

"We are collecting and occasionally updating the list of apps installed on your mobile device so we can deliver tailored content that you might be interested in," Twitter said in a blog post.

That selfie stick in your hand. A harmless memory-maker? Or a potentially chaos-inducing electromagnetic radiation emitter?

In South Korea, it seems, it could be both and anyone selling an unregistered version could face a $27,000 fine or up to three years in prison, the Science Ministry announced last week.

Most people can recognize Microsoft founder Bill Gates and know that hashtags belong in tweets, but are confused about whether having a privacy policy means that a company actually keeps consumer information confidential, according to a new Pew Research study released Tuesday.

The results underscore what many techies say is a growing problem for the U.S.: a generation reliant on the convenience that technology brings, but with little understanding of the risks of conducting nearly every transaction using zeroes and ones.

Twitter is expanding its reach into commerce with a new tool called "Offers."

Advertisers can post promotions and discounts in users' Twitter feeds, whether or not the users follow those merchants on the short-messaging service.