Computing

The Australian state of Victoria has made it illegal to distribute explicit images without consent. The new law specifically outlaws "non-consensual sexting," which generally takes place when lovers split and there is post-breakup payback in the form of intimate photos of the former partners. The la...

Nokia might be planning a shift away from its Windows Phone base in future smartphones -- even as the mobile phone unit of the business heads to Microsoft. The company is working on an Android phone as part of a push into the low-end smartphone market, according to The Verge. Several sources close t...

More than 5 million students in 167 countries are getting at least one hour of computer coding instruction this week as part of Code.org's Hour of Code initiative, an event designed to promote computer science in educational curricula worldwide. Code.org is providing educators with the resources the...

Scientists in China will use the country's Tianhe-1A supercomputer to forecast and analyze smog in major cities. The Tianhe-1A will be used to create a simulation that will collate data from across more than 100 Chinese cities. Theoretically, this will enable scientists to predict the density of smo...

Microsoft's operating system updates planned for 2015 reportedly have been code-named "Threshold." They involve the addition of a set of common elements -- high-value activities such as Microsoft Office, possibly the coming "Remix" digital storytelling app, Bing, Intune and Workplace -- to Xbox One,...

Instagram and Waze became available Wednesday at the Windows Phone Apps+Games store -- the latest popular titles to join the expanding platform. Facebook-owned Instagram, which already has 150 million users worldwide, allows users to enhance and add filters to their photos and then share them with f...

Windows 8's blah reception from many computer users may have been due at least in part to a peculiar trait that we humans have, and that's our obsession with improvement. Improving our lot has been a fixation throughout virtually all of human history, so it shouldn't come as any great surprise that ...

TECH TREK

Global Cyberheist Reels In $45M

Six people have been arrested for their involvement in a worldwide ATM heist that resulted in the theft of $45 million from two Middle East banks. Five men and one woman, all from the suburbs of New York City, were charged with being members of a cybercrime outfit that lifted debit card information ...

TECH TREK

Microchips May Haunt Tombstone Thieves

A private company in South Africa has created "Memorial Alert," a microchip-based technology designed to thwart tombstone robberies. There recently has been a spate of these crimes in Johannesburg. The microchip is inserted into a memorial. When it is disturbed, it will sound an alarm and send a tex...

A developing technology using an ultra-thin layer of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb structure could start revolutionizing consumer electronics and many other industries in less than five years. Known as "graphene," the material's special strength and conductivity make it an ideal component of ...

IBM plans to open up its Watson cognitive platform, allowing developers to access it in the cloud starting next year. The technology is based on its Watson supercomputer. Participants will build apps incorporating Watson's cognitive computing intelligence. A cognitive computing system is "capable of...

TECH TREK

Italy Investigates Apple’s Hidden Billion

Italian authorities are investigating Apple for allegedly hiding 1 billion euros -- about $1.34 billion -- from the taxman. Prosecutors in Milan claim that Apple didn't declare more than $250 million in 2010 and more than $1 billion in 2011. Apple's Italian subsidiary booked some profits with an Iri...

CROWDFUNDING SPOTLIGHT

Reactive Grip Brings a Magic Touch to Gaming Control

If you think about the failings of existing game controls next time you're playing, you might come up with touch feedback -- the game's tactile responses to your actions. Video has improved over the years partly because of increased computer processing power; audio improvements have been due to impr...

WHICH APPS DO I NEED?

All Things Appy: Top 5 iOS Apps for Musicians

Apple was one of the forerunners in bringing the power of music production to the masses. Recording and music-making gear that used to cost tens of thousands of dollars and occupy dedicated studios first shrank to home-studio-capable sizes when powered by Apple computers in the 80s, and now it can b...

In early September, the United States Federal Trade Commission's first action involving security and the Internet of Things came to fruition. The commission came to a settlement with Trendnet, which makes Internet-connected video cameras, over the firm's lax security practices. The settlement was ov...

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