‘Russian’ spyware called a cutting-edge threat
A host of better-known security vendors have confirmed that a bit of malware named Uroburos by obscure German anti-virus company G Data Software AG is a sophisticated, dangerous and widespread tool likely written and controlled by a national intelligence…
America -- but not Americans -- leads world in science
Most Americans are not good with Science, but most of them admire scientists, according to a new survey conducted by the National Science Foundation. More than 90 percent of Americans agree that scientists “are helping to solve challenging problems…
Mathematician Wolfram: Artificial intelligence portrayed in Jonze's 'Her' could be reality
Spike Jonze’s “Her” is billed as science fiction, but a handful of artificial-intelligence experts think the human-like OS at the movie’s center—which is capable of holding a conversation, organizing the protagonist’s email, and even falling…
Watch the official trailer for Spike Jonze's'Her' below:
What do ex-spies do for a living?
What do spies do for a living after they quit being spies? They have to make a living like anyone else. Edward Snowden knew enough to make himself scarce after revealing enough of the National Security Agency’s dirty laundry to start a major scandal…
Bitcoin's new competition: 'Coinye West' crypto-currency 'dropping' on January 11
["Kanye West" via Saffandi on Flickr, Creative Commons Licensed]
Google robot smokes the field in DARPA competition
A 4-foot, 7-inch semi-autonomous bipedal automaton from a Google-owned maker of commercial robots took first place in DARPA’s rescue-robot competition over the weekend. Japanese robot-makerSchaft, Inc.’s HRP-2 outclassed robots from NASA, Lockheed…
You won’t believe how Upworthy became the most cynical site on the Internet
Ah, Upworthy: an online beacon of earnestness and hope, a place where gentle souls find refuge against the casual horrors and bleak humor of the larger Web, a destination for anyone—no, please, come in, all are welcome—who wants to absorb bit of…
Bug-hunter gets $5,000 for ‘high-impact’ Gmail exploit
Google is reporting it has fixed a bug in its password-reset system that would have allowed anyone able to spoof a reminder from Gmail to take over all a user’s Google accounts and threaten any to which they’re connected. The “high impact” security…
Smartphones soon to get real-time 3-D video conferencing: researcher
“Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You’re my only hope.” — Hologram in original Star Wars movie that was too small for real teleconferencing. Despite the obvious success of that hologram SOS message in the original Star Wars movie (and of the movie itself…
Supercomputer helps 80-ton 'virtual reality' Argentinosaurus dinosaur walk
Supercomputers that always seemed too geeky to be really “super” – at least in the five-year-old-boy meaning of the term – have finally done something worthwhile. Scientists at the University of Manchester in England figured out how the largest…
Wikipedia declares all-out war on PR sock puppets
Wikipedia editors are actively engaged in a wide-ranging battle against PR firms attempting to edit the crowdsourced encyclopedia’s entries to reflect their clients’ best interests. Over the past couple weeks, those Wikipedia editors have isolated…
