Now your tweets can be videos, thanks to Twitter’s acquisition of Vine. Privacy activists are asking Skype to be more transparent. They want Skype to be more like Google, which just issued a new Transparency Report. That report gives insight into the data they share with government entities, which could benefit a debate over what information the government can acquire without a warrant. And Joe Biden gave a fireside chat using Google Hangout.

Business and political leaders are gathered in Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting, but they’re also talking about technology. Telemedicine started as a way of reaching those stuck at home. But in the smartphone age it’s taken off, and is saving lives of pregnant women in rural Nicaragua. A new ranking of broadband shows that the U.S. is slow. What’s the city that’s in first place?

Microsoft is reportedly considering investing billions of dollar in Dell, as part of a deal to take the company private. A new outfit called Deep Space Industries is seeking investors for a project to mine asteroids — and eventually establish a long-term human presence in space. Google’s quarterly earnings beat estimates, but its focus is beyond the next quarter. Their data-driven HR department tries to maximize employee happiness, while making sure those policies pay off.

The founder of Megaupload — the file-sharing website shut down after being accused in the largest criminal copyright case in U.S. history — has a new project. It’s called Mega, and it’s a lot like Megaupload. But a new report suggests that piracy on the part of users may not be such a bad thing. Also, the future of libraries seems to be shifting away from books — but not if the library patrons have anything to say about it, according to a new report. 

The Presidential Inauguration Committee has put out an official Android and IOS app. But if you read the fine print, it could be sharing your personal information with political campaigns. It’s an example of how our private information is constantly being shared online. But there are systems to take control, like MyPermissions. Also: Nokia has a new product, a smartphone case you can print out. All you need is access to a 3D printer.

Yelp is partnering with cities around the country to put public data in their restaurant listings: health department ratings. The program is currently rolling out in San Francisco and in a few weeks will begin in New York, though some restaurant owners are nervous at the prospect. Realtors are launching their own “tech accelerator.” And, new research suggests that spending time on Facebook may boost your self-esteem at the cost of your real world self-control.

The suicide of Internet activist Aaron Swartz is having a legal backlash. Rep. Zoe Lofgren has proposed “Aaron’s Law” to scale back what critics call an overly broad law, that allowed prosecutors to threaten Swartz with decades of jail time. But will “Aaron’s Law”  go far enough? Ebay’s PayPal system is widely used for online payments. In a new partnership with NCR, the cash register and automated teller company, PayPal is taking another step toward making payments offline. Soon they may be enabling you to pay for gas using your Smartphone. 

Facebook’s big new effort is a search function that works only within the social media. Could “graph search” actually be a game changer? Perhaps — and the idea that it could may be the reason Yelp’s stock took a dive yesterday. Meanwhile online security experts have discovered a form of malware that’s been operating for five years. Its name? Red October. 

Java is all over the place, and now Homeland Security wants us to disable it. But how do we do that? We talk to Chester Wisniewski of Sophos. Meanwhile the arguments continue over famous Internet innovator Aaron Swartz’s legacy. Swartz killed himself in the face of charges that he hacked a data center at MIT. Last, an amazing technology that could be the next big thing in tablets and smartphones: The magical appearing buttons made by Tactus.