SINtistical SINificance

According to geographers at Kansas State University, I live on the edge of the "Contentment Belt." The Midwest contains a belt of low scores for Envy , Lust , Pride , and Wrath . They also ranked 10 casino markets across the country.

How April Fools' worm could affect you

How April Fools' worm could affect you
Remember the dire predictions surrounding the 'millennium bug?' The doom-and-gloom scenarios bandied about by security analysts on how computers could act when their clocks turned to January 1, 2000?

Tech Firms Seek to Get Agencies on Board With Cloud Computing
Consumers save their e-mail and documents on Google's data centers, put their photos on Flickr and store their social lives on Facebook. Now a host of companies including Amazon and Microsoft wants government agencies to similarly house data on their servers as a way to cut costs and boost...

Officials ponder strange light, boom in sky

Officials ponder strange light, boom in sky
The mysterious burst of light in the sky and loud booms witnessed Sunday night by residents along the Mid-Atlantic coastline was likely caused by a Russian rocket booster re-entering the atmosphere, said an official at the U.S. Naval Observatory.

Is Twitter's growth causing a backlash?

Is Twitter's growth causing a backlash?
More and more online users are learning to love the "fail whale" -- that cartoon whale Twitter users see when the site has failed to load. The conversational Web site, which lets users post 140-character microblogs, saw a 1,374 percent jump in unique visitors between February 2008 and February this year.

U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Review Rejection of Virginia Anti-Spam Law

China dismisses cyber-espionage claims
Analysts in China are dismissing claims that nearly 1,300 computers in more than 100 countries have been attacked, and have become part of a cyber-espionage network apparently based in China.
Conficker Scanners Developed for Detection of Infected Networked PCs
Both the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the non-profit Honeynet Project have developed methods for determining which PCs on a network are infected by Conficker, which makes the work of scanning a system of networked PCs a lot quicker and easier.
U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Review Rejection of Virginia Anti-Spam Law
The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday declined to consider reinstating Virginia's tough anti-spam law, leaving in place a lower court ruling that threw out the measure as unconstitutional.

Flaw in Conficker Worm May Aid Cleanup Effort
Experts have discovered a security hole in the computer code that powers the Conficker worm , an aggressive contagion that has spread to more than 12 million Microsoft Windows systems worldwide. The security community is treading lightly with this news, because while the discovery could make it...

CNET: Skype for iPhone -- it's official

CNET: Skype for iPhone -- it's official
Months after teasing us at CES with an announcement of Skype's native VoIP client for the iPhone, the free Skype for iPhone will finally be available to download from the iTunes App Store sometime on Tuesday.

Doctors treating virtual patients in Second Life

Doctors treating virtual patients in Second Life
Medical students in London learn by navigating a hospital where they see patients, order X-rays and make diagnoses. It's an interactive, hands-on experience -- and none of it is real. These prospective doctors are treating virtual patients in the Internet world Second Life. Is this the future of education?

60 Minutes: "The Internet is Infected"

Reports: Cyberspy network targets hundreds
Nearly 1,300 computers in more than 100 countries have been attacked and have become part of an computer espionage network apparently based in China, security experts alleged in two reports Sunday.
60 Minutes: "The Internet is Infected"
60 Minutes is a great show, for the most part (and let's not forget it has Andy Rooney!), but a report Sunday night on the Conficker worm titled "The Internet is Infected" is probably the definition of hyperbole.
Kim Hart's The Download
The federal government is in spending mode. That means a host of new business opportunities for Washington technology firms -- even those that have not typically sold services to agencies. Companies that have traditionally focused on creating Web services for consumers and energy-saving technolog...

Morbidly Obese Sedentary For 99 Percent Of The Day

The findings show that the tested population was sedentary for more than 99 percent of the day and, on average, walked less than 2,500 steps per day afar below healthy living guidelines of 10,000 steps per day.

iPhone OS 3.0 to Give Safari a 3x Javascript Speed Boost

Shuttle lands after first try scrubbed
NASA engineers announced they have set 3:13 p.m. Saturday as the time for the space shuttle to land at Kennedy Space Center.
iPhone OS 3.0 to Give Safari a 3x Javascript Speed Boost
In terms of speeding things up, Javascript has been the focus of the latest PC browser releases (beta or not). Most of the latest releases have bragged about how much the speed of Javascript has been increased, whether it's TraceMonkey (Mozilla), Nitro (Safari) or V8 (Chrome). And testing of the beta version shows that iPhone OS 3.0 will show a definite speed increase.
U.S. Naval Observatory Hosts Open House
The U.S. Naval Observatory will hold a rare open house Saturday as part of a celebration of the International Year of Astronomy marking the 400th anniversary of Galileo's first examination of the heavens with a telescope.

Microsoft's Latest Ad Emphasizes the "Apple Tax"
Microsoft has made quite an issue of the "Apple Tax," the premium that Apple buyers pay, and that Microsoft's Steve Ballmer says "buys you a logo." On Thursday, Microsoft unveiled their latest series of ads, called "Laptop Hunters," which will follow real people as they hunt for a new laptop.
Help File: Combating Conficker; Relighting a Dim Laptop Screen
Q How can I tell if my computer has been hit by Conficker? How would I remove it?

21st-century life's too short for dial-up

21st-century life's too short for dial-up
I recently had someone ask me how I could justify paying what, to her, seemed like an exorbitant amount of money for my broadband Internet connection.
Tell Your Neighbor: Lights Out!

What would happen if a billion people turned off their lights and sat in the dark for an hour in the middle of "prime time"?

NVIDIA Countersues Intel, Claims Breach of Contract

In February, Intel filed sui t against NVIDIA,alleging that the 2004 cross-licensing agreement the companies signed ''does not extend to Intel's future generation CPUs with 'integrated' memory controllers, such as Nehalem." NVIDIA fired back then with a press release, and now with a lawsuit.

New video game concept: losing one's virginity

New video game concept: losing one's virginity
In an industry dominated by men, leave it to women to come up with the winning idea in a contest to create a concept for a video game about losing one's virginity. That's what happened this week at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.

Conficker: Doomsday, or the World's Longest Rickroll?

Tesla rolls out new, all-electric sedan
While automakers lay off staff and shut down plants in response to the economic downturn, one automaker announced Thursday that it will open a manufacturing plant in the United States, potentially creating hundreds of jobs in the area eventually chosen.
Windows Mobile Marketplace to Charge Devs $99 for App Updates

Microsoft's Windows Mobile Marketplace, a sort of WinMo version of the App Store, is expected to arrive in Q4 along with WM 6.5. But Microsoft has already committed a faux pas, although they have plenty of time to fix it: they plan to charge developers $99 each time they update an application.

Conficker: Doomsday, or the World's Longest Rickroll?
When it comes to criminal hackers, establishing motive is usually a no-brainer: In a majority of cases, computer worms and viruses are little more than tools that bad guys use to make money. But every so often, a prolific and sophisticated worm or virus emerges that isn't so obviously connected to a...

Could App Store Refund Policies Clean Out Devs' Wallets?

A close look at the refund policies clearly written into the developer agreement that devs must sign before being able to sell applications in the App Store shows that if it wanted to, Apple could demand a developer refund the entire amount of a sale to the company, if a customer managed to persuade Apple to give them a refund.

Ninety years of birdwatchers' notes going online

Ninety years of birdwatchers' notes going online
More than 100 years ago, J.A. Loring had his eyes on the California sky and his hand on a pen. He was one of about 3,000 "citizen scientists" collecting data on bird behavior. Now, some 6 million note cards completed by people like him are going online and giving a glimpse into global warming's effect on our feathered friends.

Stink-Free Underwear Tried Out on ISS

Stink-Free Underwear Tried Out on ISS
Stinky underwear. Where could the worst possible place for something like that be? Someplace enclosed, where you can't just open a door to air things out. Someplace like the --- International Space Station. And thus, Koichi Wakata, the first Japanese astronaut to live on the International Space Station, is testing J-ware.
Making Money Online
If you see these words in a Web browser, you didn't pay to read them. And that should be OK.

Blockbuster, TiVo Announce Video-on-Demand Deal
Still playing catch-up with Netflix, Blockbuster announced on Wednesday it has inked a deal with TiVo to add its OnDemand service to TiVo's DVRs. TiVo already has deals in place with Netflix and Amazon.com, and those deals will be unaffected by this new pact.

YouTube blocked in China

YouTube blocked in China
China has blocked the popular video-sharing Web site YouTube but did not offer a reason for the ban.

Refraction And the Speed of Light in Beer

Colbert tops poll to name NASA space module
Comedian Stephen Colbert, who unsuccessfully tried to get on the ballot of the South Carolina presidential primaries, aimed higher and won this time.
Refraction And the Speed of Light in Beer

If you haven't the infinite ammo of the late Hunter S. Thompson or the lightning-fast trigger finger of a recent Vice President, it actually takes considerable skill to shoot a fish in a barrel...

Mac OS X Top Target in Browser Beatdown
Legendary bank robber Willie Sutton was made famous for allegedly explaining why he robbed banks with the answer: "Because that's where the money is." So why do cyber crooks attack Web browsers? Because that's where the user is. But maybe a more accurate answer is: "Because that's where the...

Half of U.S. Smartphone Web Traffic from iPhone: Report
AdMob's latest Mobile Metrics Report (.PDF), released Tuesday, shows that 50% of the United States smartphone web traffic is coming from iPhones.

Fans keep Wozniak 'Dancing With the Stars'

Fans keep Wozniak 'Dancing With the Stars'
What he lacks in technique, Steve Wozniak makes up for in geeks.

20 Years Later: Exxon Valdez Spill Lingers

Just after midnight on this day in 1989, the oil tanker Exxon Valdez crashed against a reef off the coast of Alaska. And now, two decades later, the after effects of the Valdez spill linger.

Can new software make my PC run faster?

Can new software make my PC run faster?
I've had my computer for about two years and I've noticed its performance has gotten...clunky. Programs take longer to open than they used to, drop-down menus aren't fluid, finding files seems to take forever, and even though I've got a broadband Internet connection, "surfing" the Web feels more like wading in tide pools. I've seen a number of ads hawking software designed to miraculously speed up my PC, but what's the real scoop? Can such software make a difference, or are these just empty promises?

UK population must fall to 30m, says Porritt

Alaska's Mount Redoubt erupts
Researchers have raised the alert status at Mount Redoubt, a volcano in southern Alaska, after another increase in seismic activity.
UK population must fall to 30m, says Porritt

JONATHON PORRITT, one of Gordon Brown's leading green advisers, is to warn that Britain must drastically reduce its population if it is to build a sustainable society.

Developer explores softer side of video games

Developer explores softer side of video games
Kellee Santiago wants to tap into the kinder, gentler side of gaming. The co-founder of thatgamecompany is finding success with video game titles like "Flower," "Flow" and "Cloud," whose mellow, interactive experiences are a marked departure from the more violent games on the market.

At-home entertainment is booming

At-home entertainment is booming
When Christopher Moore isn't jumping rope, shooting baskets or playing the board game Chutes and Ladders, the 8-year-old can often be found at home using his ninja fighting skills, protecting the world from would-be enemies.

Kim Hart's The Download -- No Money, No Buyers For Struggling Biotech Firms
Times are tough in the biotechnology sector. So tough that some companies are looking for ways out.

Being BlueOLED Lights 25 Percent Closer To Prime Time

Cops help dream up high-tech police car
Imagine the Batmobile busting bad guys in Bismarck or "Knight Rider's" KITT corralling criminals on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Carbon Motors Corp.'s new high-tech cop car prototype might not be quite up to superhero specs, but some police say it could be a welcome addition to their arsenal.
Being BlueOLED Lights 25 Percent Closer To Prime Time

Solid-state lighting offers tremendous potential to improve the situation a ' once major research challenges are overcome.A The most promising technology is the organic light-emitting diode, or OLED.

D.C. Homeless People Use Cellphones, Blogs and E-Mail to Stay on Top of Things
To the usual trappings that help many homeless people endure life on the streets -- woolen blankets, shopping carts or cardboard box shelters -- add the humble cellphone.

Could It Be? A Truce In Science Versus Humanities Culture War
The worst offenders in the post-modernist group are people like, for instance, Bruno LaTour, the French sociologist who wrote a critique of Einstein’s theory of relativity based on a comical misunderstanding of a book Einstein wrote for the general public.

Language of music really is universal, study finds

Native African people who have never even listened to the radio before can nonetheless pick up on happy, sad, and fearful emotions in Western music, according to a new report published online on March 19th in Current Biology , a Cell Press publication.

A Twisted Case of Cyberharassment Reveals a 'Void in the Law'
First came the phone calls: men, strangers, telling Barbara Goddard they'd seen her ad on Craigslist and were eager to come over for her promised "casual encounter."

Study finds brain speed linked to intelligence
Are human brains basically organic computers? If they are, then a recent publication by Dr. Paul Thompson, professor of neurology at UCLA's School of Medicine may make sense. The study finds that not only are smart people smarter, but they actually think faster.

Engineers prove that carbon nanotubes are superior to metals for electronics

Engineers prove that carbon nanotubes are superior to metals for electronics

In the quest to pack ever-smaller electronic devices more densely with integrated circuits, nanotechnology researchers keep running up against some unpleasant truths: higher current density induces electromigration and thermomigration, phenomena that damage metal conductors and produce heat, which leads to premature failure of devices.

Help File: Using Hotmail With Regular Mail Programs
Q How can I download Hotmail messages to the regular mail program on my computer?

Jailbreakers Begin Work on iPhone OS 3.0; OS is "Breakable"
With the announcement of the iPhone OS 3.0 on Tuesday came the obvious question for many: can the new OS be jailbroken?
FTC Takes on Freecreditreport.com
If you watch television, chances are you've seen the jingles where the young guy sings a campy song about his troubles with identity theft, in a bid to pitch a site called freecreditreport.com. Well, now the Federal Trade Commission is getting in on the act, running a series of hilarious public...

Turning toxic coal ash into bridges, buildings

Turning toxic coal ash into bridges, buildings
The massive December spill of coal-ash sludge at a power plant in Tennessee has caused the federal government to change its policies, while advocates say it highlights the benefits of creative thinking.

Gmail Gets an "Undo Send" Feature

Using optical tricks to create 'moving' murals
A huge mural greets visitors to the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center in Boston. It's a memorial to the building's namesake, who died unexpectedly in 1993.
Gmail Gets an "Undo Send" Feature
How many times have you hit "Send" on an email, only to realize you goofed. More often than you want to admit, right? Outllok has a recall feature that works on Exchange ... some of the time. But basically emails sent via the Internet, once you hit "Send," they're gone. Until Gmail's "Undo Send" feature, that is.
Metro to Post Schedules, Routes on Its Web Site
Metro plans to post all its bus and rail schedules and routes on the transit agency's Web site starting Monday, a long-awaited move that will allow third parties such as Google Transit to use the data to offer online tools to help riders navigate the system.

Prosthetic Ear Held In Place By Magnets

A surgery at Loyola University Health System made it possible for Houdek to be fitted with a prosthetic ear that looks just like the real thing.

Will EveryBlock come to your block?

Will EveryBlock come to your block?
Some interesting "hyperlocal" Web sites have emerged in the past few years, the idea behind them being to provide news at an extremely local level. Prominent among them is EveryBlock.com, launched last year in Chicago.

Recession squeezes recycling

Recession squeezes recycling
When Lynn Heinisch and her neighbors in Atlanta, Georgia's Lake Claire neighborhood take their recycling to the curb for pickup each Thursday, they cross their fingers and hope for the best.

Milder Atlantic hurricane season predicted

Milder Atlantic hurricane season predicted
The latest prediction for the 2009 Atlantic hurricane season agrees with three previous ones, forecasting a season that will be at least a bit milder than last year's.
Earth's Crust Melts Easier Than Thought

Mt. Rushmore granite crystallized from magma that formed 1.7 billion years ago. Credit and Larger Version March 18, 2009 Earth's crust melts easier than previously thought, scientists have discovered.

Computer model predicts NCAA's winner

Computer model predicts NCAA's winner
Here's a hot tip: The University of North Carolina is going to win the NCAA men's basketball tournament. At least that's the prediction of Joel Sokol, a Georgia Tech professor whose statistical model correctly selected the Final Four, championship game and winner of last year's tournament.

"Google Mistrials" Become More Common as More Jurors Look to the Web

Keep a job or get a raise by going online?
After spending 10 years in the U.S. Navy, Kenric Scarbrough got a sobering start to his civilian career. He was laid off in January, just months after he found a job as a boiler technician -- one of the victims of the worsening economy.
"Google Mistrials" Become More Common as More Jurors Look to the Web
Recently I wrote that a mistrial may be declared in a civil case because a juror was using Twitter to broadcast trial information while the trial was still underway. I hadn't seen a case like this before that, but the New York Times has found that this sort of "Google Mistrial," as they called it, is becoming more common.

Computer model predicts NCAA's winner

Computer model predicts NCAA's winner
Here's a hot tip: The University of North Carolina is going to win the NCAA men's basketball tournament. At least that's the prediction of Joel Sokol, a Georgia Tech professor whose statistical model correctly selected the Final Four, championship game and winner of last year's tournament.

Space shuttle blasts off with bat stowaway

Space shuttle blasts off with bat stowaway
A bat was last seen clinging for dear life on the foam of the external tank of the space shuttle Discovery moments before its Sunday launch, NASA officials said.
Why Life Is Left-Handed: Amino Acids From Space, Says Astrobiologist

Over the last four years, a team carefully analyzed samples of meteorites with an abundance of carbon, called carbonaceous chondrites.

Robot Fashion Models Near the Japanese Catwalk

Movie site hopes to stream its 1 million titles
IMDb founder Col Needham said the massively popular movie database has set as its major goal for the future to add one-button streaming for all of the 1.3 million titles it indexes.
Robot Fashion Models Near the Japanese Catwalk
Japan isn't just the "land of the Rising Sun," it's also the "land obsessed with robots," but often for practical reasons, as with an aging population much of what the country is aiming for is a robotic support system for seniors. In this case, not so much.
Personal Tech
The Washington Post's Rob Pegoraro discusses recent reviews and answers your personal tech questions.

Laser gun to take aim at mosquitoes

Laser gun to take aim at mosquitoes
Scientists in the U.S. are developing a laser gun that could kill millions of mosquitoes in minutes.
Newsflash: Local Man Launches Virus Epidemic
Malware authors are beginning to personalize virus attacks sent through e-mail, blasting out fake news alerts about shocking events that supposedly happened in or around the recipient's home town. This latest innovation comes compliments of the Waledac worm , widely seen as the successor to the...

Nokia to lay off 1,700 worldwide
HELSINKI -- Nokia Corp. said Tuesday it will lay off 1,700 people worldwide to cut costs, as the global economic downturn strikes deeper into the mobile phone sector.

Where does consciousness come from?

Space station won't need to dodge debris
A piece of an old Soviet-era satellite spinning through space could threaten the International Space Station overnight, NASA said Monday.
Where does consciousness come from?

Consciousness arises as an emergent property of the human mind. Yet basic questions about the precise timing, location and dynamics of the neural event allowing conscious access to information are not clearly defined.

Research Center's Role Faces Scrutiny
A Pennsylvania defense research center regularly consulted with two "handlers" close to Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) as it collected nearly $250 million in federal funding through the lawmaker, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post and sources familiar with the funding requests. The...

Space shuttle Discovery launches

Space shuttle Discovery launches
The space shuttle Discovery lifted off Sunday night on a mission to the international space station, where Discovery will deliver supplies needed to expand the station's crew to six people.

The addictive world of "Football Manager"

The addictive world of "Football Manager"
It's the phenomenally popular virtual football game that has been accused of taking over players' lives -- even reportedly wrecking relationships and careers.
Local Tech Community In Uproar Over Labor Rights Bill
A labor rights bill backed by President Obama has become one of the most hotly contested issues in local technology circles.

China Tightens Grip as Tibet Revolt Hits 50-Year Mark

Space shuttle Discovery launches
The space shuttle Discovery lifted off Sunday night on a mission to the international space station, where Discovery will deliver supplies needed to expand the station's crew to six people.
Boxee iPhone Remote App Approved, Now in the App Store
Way back in July of 2008, it was a feature request: an iPhone "remote" app to control Boxee, the freeware media center software. And now, after weeks of App Store review (no kidding; check the submission date on the app) the Boxee remote app is live in the App Store, for the excellent price of free.
China Tightens Grip as Tibet Revolt Hits 50-Year Mark
XINING, China -- First came the armed checkpoints. Next, China Mobile sent word to customers in Tibet that text messaging would be interrupted for nearly two months. By Tuesday, police armed with guns containing rubber bullets stopped buses traveling to the capital of a Tibetan prefecture in Qinghai...

Space shuttle set for Sunday launch

Space shuttle set for Sunday launch
The space shuttle Discovery is on pace for a Sunday launch after NASA engineers repaired a leaky venting system, officials said Saturday.
New Type of Superconductivity Spotted
Superconductors, materials that carry electricity without resistance, can be divided into two broad groups depending on how they react to a magnetic field--or so physicists thought.

TrendLabs Warns Over TinyURL Phishing
TinyURL is a popular URL shortening service which is frequently used to reduce the length of a URL to something more manageable. Security firm Trend Micro has warned that TinyURL phishing, first reported in February, is becoming more popular and spreading across different languages.

Shoe-thrower fans unite online

Shoe-thrower fans unite online
They've sung his praises on social networking pages, calling him a "hero," "the greatest man of our time," "a legend." The man many hundreds of thousands of Facebook users honor is no other than Muntadhar al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who was sentenced Thursday to three years in prison for hurling his shoes at then-U.S. President George W. Bush.
Corpse Microorganisms Help Forensic Investigators

A preliminary study on the application of thermo-microbiology and its relation to time of death has been released by Professor Isabel Corcobado and colleagues at the University of Granada.

Book Review: 'Stealing MySpace: The Battle To Control the Most Popular Website in America' By Julia Angwin
STEALING MYSPACE The Battle To Control the Most Popular Website in America By Julia Angwin

The addictive world of "Football Manager"

The addictive world of "Football Manager"
It's the phenomenally popular virtual football game that has been accused of taking over players' lives -- even reportedly wrecking relationships and careers.

Police keep public informed on Twitter

Police keep public informed on Twitter
Police and fire departments across the country are tapping into social networking to disseminate information to the public."We think the police department has an obligation to get information out to the community through whatever means or mechanisms we have at our disposal," said Lakeland Police Assistant Chief Bill LePere.

Palm, Sprint Detail Pre Service Plans, Little Else

School killer gave warning on the Web
The teen gunman who killed 15 people in a shooting rampage in two small German towns told someone in an Internet chat room hours before the attacks that "he'd had enough."
Palm, Sprint Detail Pre Service Plans, Little Else
On Thursday, Palm and Sprint had a webcast to go over --- what else? --- the Palm Pre. Unfortunately, the information we all wanted to hear, meaning pricing and availability, was not revealed. What they did dish on were the service plans.

Congress Moves to Makes Pi Day Official

Google tries to rewire phones
Google plans to unveil a service called Google Voice on Thursday that indicates Google wants to do with your telephone communications what companies such as Yahoo have done with e-mail.
Congress Moves to Makes Pi Day Official

Hot on the heels of Square Root Day and 1234567890 Day comes Pi Day (which would, quite naturally, be 3/14).

Congress has taken it upon itself to try to create an official National Pi Day. No, there wasn't any interest in making it a holiday, sorry to say.

Guarding the border, from suburban New York

Guarding the border, from suburban New York
When her baby girl takes an afternoon nap, or on those nights when she just can't sleep, Sarah Andrews, 32, tosses off her identity as a suburban stay-at-home mom and becomes something more exotic: a "virtual deputy" patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border.

Space shuttle Discovery launch canceled

Space shuttle Discovery launch canceled
The planned Wednesday night launch of space shuttle Discovery has been cancelled due to an apparent leak in the giant external fuel tank, the Kennedy Space Center said.
U.S. engineers find way to build a better battery

U.S. engineers have found a way to make lithium batteries that are smaller, lighter, longer lasting and capable of recharging in seconds.

Apple Deals Out a New iPod Shuffle

Inside Kennedy Space Center
Going behind the scenes at Kennedy Space Center is like visiting another planet. The employees working on the shuttle fleet speak their own language -- a language made up of acronyms.
Apple Deals Out a New iPod Shuffle

Apparently tiny wasn't enough of a description for the iPod Shuffle, as Apple on Wednesday unveiled a new miniscule version of their smallest iPod.

Team braves minus 39 degree temps to measure ice caps

Team braves minus 39 degree temps to measure ice caps
It could be the ultimate test of human endurance: Three British explorers are risking their lives in subzero temperatures to measure the melting Arctic ice cap.

DNA proves all of Russian czar's kids died
One of the most enduring mysteries of the 20th century has been put to rest: DNA analysis of bone fragments revealed that two of Czar Nicholas' children believed to have escaped were killed with their royal family during the Russian Revolution.
Security Fix Live
Security Fix blogger Brian Krebs answers your technology questions and offers ways to protect yourself from online security threats.

AOL Hands Out Pink Slips, Plans to Cut 10% of Staff

N.C. officials: 2,116 state sex offenders on MySpace
More than 2,100 registered North Carolina sex offenders were found on the social networking site MySpace, the state attorney general's office said Tuesday.
Infinite SMS Closes Down as Google Shuts Off I Access
Well, it was too good to last. Infinite SMS, the iPhone app which I wrote about earlier, and which offered an infinite number of SMS messages by utilizing the SMS chat feature of Google Talk, is no more, as Google has closed off those Is from third-party developers.
AOL Hands Out Pink Slips, Plans to Cut 10% of Staff
Once the cornerstone of a booming local tech economy, AOL yesterday executed its second major round of layoffs in two years amid a weakening online advertising market. The company is shedding 10 percent of its workforce by the end of this month.

Biology Lessons of the Holocaust

Which social network should I join?
With all the MySpaces and Facebooks and Twitters and so forth out there but only so many hours in the day with which to waste on them, what social networks are the best ones to join?
Biology Lessons of the Holocaust

A newly launched curriculum integrating study of the Holocaust with the science of DNA is a great free gift for teachers who believe in cross-curricular instruction but have few resources for practicing it.

Cherries & Health: Ripe Or Hype?

Couples use YouTube, Facebook to find a baby
With a high demand for domestic infants, adoption experts say the wait for a baby can be months or years. To gain a competitive edge, a growing number of adoption-minded couples are using Web sites like YouTube and Facebook to sell themselves as parents.
Cherries & Health: Ripe Or Hype?
It seems that cherries are the new ‘super food’ to strike a craze in the US. Citing the effects of cherries to slow aging due to antioxidants, they contain a class of free-radical fighting agents called anthocyanins, which are not just found in cherries.
Stimulus Dollars Energize Efforts To Smarten Up the Electric Power Grid
ERLANGER, Ky. -- One gizmo allows you to run the dishwasher when electricity is cheapest. Another decides when to fire up the water heater if you plan on a 6 a.m. shower. Another routes solar energy from a rooftop panel to a battery in your garage and the wiring in your house.

Security Fix Live

Plastic bottle boat to make ocean voyage
Imagine collecting thousands of empty plastic bottles, lashing them together to make a boat and sailing the thing from California to Australia, a journey of 11,000 miles through treacherous seas. That's exactly what David de Rothschild is planning to do.
The Great Tinkertoy Computer: Tic-Tac-Toe Domination
The term “computer” was first used by Sir Thomas Browne in 1646 AD, or 329 BB (Before Bill) according to the Gatesian calendar.
Security Fix Live
Security Fix blogger Brian Krebs answers your questions about the latest computer security threats and offers ways to protect your personal information.

Small wind turbines to start spinning

Small wind turbines to start spinning
The gale force of President Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus package could breathe new life into an emerging industry: small wind turbines.

Plastic bottle boat to make ocean voyage

Plastic bottle boat to make ocean voyage
Imagine collecting thousands of empty plastic bottles, lashing them together to make a boat and sailing the thing from California to Australia, a journey of 11,000 miles through treacherous seas. That's exactly what David de Rothschild is planning to do.

On Twitter, is it 'he or she' or 'they' or 'ip'?

On Twitter, is it 'he or she' or 'they' or 'ip'?
Twitter users may value brevity in their messages, but that doesn't mean they don't think about the social implications of language.
Games Comprise Nearly 1/4 of the App Store
We knew the game category was popular at the iPhone / iPod Touch App Store, but this popular? According to iPhone app tracking site MobClix, that number now exceeds 6,000.
Obama Aims to Shield Science From Politics
When President Obama lifts restrictions on funding for human embryonic stem cell research today, he will also issue a presidential memorandum aimed at insulating scientific decisions across the federal government from political influence, officials said yesterday.

Scientists closer to making invisibility cloak a reality

J.K. Rowling may not have realized just how close Harry Potter's invisibility cloak was to becoming a reality when she introduced it in the first book of her best-selling fictional series in 1998.

A New Battle Over Used Video Games
In the past couple of weeks, my mail carrier has brought me nearly new copies of Gears of War 2 and the latest Call of Duty, a couple of video game blockbusters released this past holiday season.

The Ten Most Revealing Psych Experiments

Psychology is the study of the human mind and mental processes in relation to human behaviorshuman nature.

Spacecraft blasts off in search of 'Earths'

Spacecraft blasts off in search of 'Earths'
Calling it a mission that may fundamentally change humanity's view of itself, NASA on Friday launched a telescope that will search our corner of the Milky Way galaxy for Earth-like planets.
Stephen Colbert Tries to Take Over Space Station

NASA's naming contest for a new space station module now faces a fresh challenger in the form of comedian Stephen Colbert.

Obama to Lift Ban on Funding for Embryonic Stem Cell Research
President Obama is planning to sign an executive order on Monday rolling back restrictions on federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research, according to sources close to the issue.

On Twitter, is it 'he or she' or 'they' or 'ip'?

On Twitter, is it 'he or she' or 'they' or 'ip'?
Twitter users may value brevity in their messages, but that doesn't mean they don't think about the social implications of language.

Energy-gobbling city has biggest solar roof

Energy-gobbling city has biggest solar roof
With its energy-gobbling casinos, Atlantic City, New Jersey, isn't exactly known as a city that conserves electricity. Its motto: "Always turned on." But on Thursday, officials were to commemorate the city's convention center, newly powered in part by the largest single-roof solar-panel array in the United States.

Obama Names Vivek Kundra the Nation's New Chief Information Officer

Spacecraft set to seek Earth-like planets
The U.S. space agency NASA will launch its first ever mission Friday to find Earth-like planets in our region of the Milky Way.
Obama Names Vivek Kundra the Nation's New Chief Information Officer
Barack Obama has named the nation's first CIO, selecting Vivek Kundra, CTO (now former) of the District of Columbia.
Apple Store's Windows Get Georgetown Board's Okay
Apple is on its way to Georgetown. After ordering the computer company to revise its plans four previous times, an architectural review board embraced Apple's new design yesterday for a store it plans to open on Wisconsin Avenue.

Laptops bring lessons, maybe even peace

Laptops bring lessons, maybe even peace
Earlier this year, Matt Keller sat down with officials in Afghanistan -- not to discuss troop deployments, suicide bombings or opium traffickers. He was there to talk about getting laptop computers into the hands of little girls.

Energy-gobbling city home to biggest solar roof

Energy-gobbling city home to biggest solar roof
With its energy-gobbling casinos, Atlantic City, New Jersey, isn't exactly known as a city that conserves electricity. Its motto: "Always turned on." But on Thursday, officials were to commemorate the city's convention center, newly powered in part by the largest single-roof solar-panel array in the United States.

Tech Expert: How to make phone calls online

Tech Expert: How to make phone calls online
What is this VoIP I keep hearing about? Is it some government agency like the FBI? The CIA? The IRS? Should I be worried?
Cost overruns plague U.S. space agency
NASA can land a spacecraft on a peanut-shaped asteroid 150 million miles away, but it doesn't come close to hitting the budget target for building its spacecraft, according to congressional auditors. NASA's top officials know it and even joke about it.

Should hunters switch to 'green' bullets?

Should hunters switch to 'green' bullets?
Three years ago, Phillip Loughlin made a choice he knew would brand him as an outsider with many of his fellow hunters:

Personal Tech

Tiny moon discovered orbiting Saturn
International scientists have announced the discovery of a tiny moon orbiting Saturn.
Chameleon Guitar Can Be Any Wood You Want
Natural wood is what gives traditional acoustic instruments warm and distinctive sounds, while the power of modern electronic processing provides an unlimited degree of control to manipulate the characteristics of an instrument's sound. Now, a guitar built by a student at MIT's Media Lab promises to provide the best of both worlds.
Personal Tech
The Washington Post's Rob Pegoraro discusses recent reviews and answers your personal tech questions.

CNET: Online music, beyond iTunes

CNET: Online music, beyond iTunes
A torrent of bad economic news is pouring down on Web 2.0 music sites, just like everywhere else. What's surprising is that even amid the horror story that is our economy, some online record stores have impressed music-industry poobahs, say insiders.
1.73205081! Party Like It's Square Root Day!

Hot on the heels of "1234567890" day comes Square Root Day. This rare "holiday" occurs when the day and the month are both the square root of the last two digits of the current year.

Apple unveils new Mac Pro, tweaks iMac

Apple unveils new Mac Pro, tweaks iMac
Apple on Tuesday announced a new Mac Pro high-end desktop powered by Intel's "Nehalem" processor, a new and more graphics-intensive Mac Mini machine and updated iMacs that include the lowest price point yet for the consumer desktops.

50 Cent releases new video game

50 Cent releases new video game
Most fans picturing rapper 50 Cent operating a joystick would probably envision the hip-hop star blasting away opponents in his latest video game release, "Blood on the Sand."

Nokia Confirms XpressMusic 5800 3G Issues in U.S.

Nokia has confirmed to more than one media outlet that its North American XpressMusic 5800 cell phones are indeed having issues with 3G connectivity.

Growing excitement for green jobs corps

Growing excitement for green jobs corps
When Rita Bryer sees 300-foot-tall wind turbines sprouting up from the prairie near her home in western Oklahoma, she can't help but wonder about the view from the top, where blades the size of semi-trucks spin.

Can a 'smart grid' make us energy efficient?

Can a 'smart grid' make us energy efficient?
Think of the future of green energy and the mental picture you may conjure up is one of vast solar plants glinting like a beetle's eye in the sun, or ranks of wind turbines turning in the breeze.

Judge Rules Defendant Must Decrypt His Laptop Hard Drive

Judge Rules Defendant Must Decrypt His Laptop Hard Drive
I wrote about the case against Sebastien Boucher, charged with transporting child pornography on his laptop across the Canadian border, in late 2007. He used PGP to encrypt his hard drive, and refused to give it up. At the time, U.S. Magistrate Judge Jerome Niedermeier ruled that the Boucher had a Fifth Amendment right to keep his PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) key, well, private. But a different judge has reversed that ruling.
Kim Hart: The Download
There's no shortage of events in the Washington region that bring together tech-minded people to mingle and hopefully make deals. But once they arrive at a crowded venue and obtain a frothy beverage, how do they make sure they meet the right people and get the most out of the evening?

MacChat: Safari 4 more polished than Chrome

MAC users might still be awaiting their own version of Google’s web browser, but Apple may have just removed any incentive they had to “go Chrome”.

Last week’s release of a public beta of Apple’s Safari 4 browser incorporates several Chrome features, and then someSafari now touts 150 features all up, according to Apple.

Safari 4 beta takes its cue from Chrome, and before that Opera, in moving its tabs to the titlebar, above the address field. This is more logical, as the address field, buttons and bookmarks are now contained within the active tab, but it may take some getting used to for longtime Safari users. Already command-line hacks have emerged, enabling users to move the tabs back to their previous position.

Safari 4 beta introduces some familiar Apple visual effects. The new “Top Sites” feature displays a wall of your most frequently visited pages, in the curved black reflective style of Front Row and Apple TV. You can customise the number of pages displayed, and pin your favourites there.

And you can now flip through your recently visited web pages using the CoverFlow view from iTunes and the OS X Finder.

One of the biggest improvements in Safari 4 beta is browsing speed. Its “Nitro Engine” delivers a massive performance increase, with HTML loaded three times as fast as IE and Firefox. And as javascript becomes increasingly important in the new breed of web applications, Safari 4 beta has a major advantage, with javascript rendering times a whopping 30 times faster than Internet Explorer, three times faster than Firefox and 1.2 times as fast as Chrome.

Importantly, Safari 4 beta is the first browser to score a perfect 100 in the Acid 3 test for open standards support.

Other noteable features of Safari 4 beta include support for OS X’s VoiceOver screen reading technology, full-page zooming with OS X Multi-Touch support (with the option to enlarge text only), smart address and smart search fields that throws up multiple options or recent search terms as you type, and a full history search that indexes the content of web pages you’ve visted.

So far from the browser wars being over, it appears they’re just now hotting up, with the cool upstarts Apple and Google getting serious about taking on the dominant players, Microsoft and Mozilla.

Safari 4 beta is a free download for OS X Leopard/Tiger and Windows Vista/XP at http://www.apple.com/safari/download.

A New Disease, Just for You PlayStation Gamers

A New Disease, Just for You PlayStation Gamers
Another day, another disease developed by gamers. Remember "wiiitis," sort of tennis elbow for the Wii? Now we have "PlayStation palmar hidradentitis."
Connecting a Computer To an HDTV; Replacement System-Recovery Discs
QWhen I plug my laptop into my HDTV, the computer's screen image gets stretched weirdly across the TV's screen.