Research explodes myth that older programmers are obsolete
Old dogs can learn new tricks, if they're allowed to
There's a prevailing ethos among IT hirers that younger is better when it comes to programmers, but a study by academics in North Carolina suggests that employers might be missing a trick by not hiring the grizzled veterans of the coding world.
Research into how our brains evolve over time suggests our intelligence functions …
EFF report identifies which internet firms 'have your back' on data
Twitter is tops, but big-name fails from Verizon, Apple, and others
The annual Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) report on data protection among online firms has shown lax privacy standards among some of the biggest names in the business when the government comes knocking at the door.
A total of 18 companies were assessed on their privacy policies and T&Cs, stated procedures for handling …
Opportunity rover stuck in standby mode after Martian blackout
Updated Have they tried turning it off and then on again?
NASA is trying to reactivate its Martian rover Opportunity after it switched itself into standby mode during a communications quiet period, but engineers have had no luck as yet at restoring control.
The space agency hasn't been communicating with its Martian rovers for the last few weeks as there has been a solar conjunction, …
ESA retires Herschel space telescope as too hot to handle
Lonely star-spotter stranded 1.5 million km from Earth
The European Space Agency has formally retired the Herschel space telescope after nearly four years of operation, and has placed it in a parking orbit that will keep it out of Earth's way.
Herschel's at rest at last Herschel's at rest at last
Hershcel, along with the Planck space telescope, was launched on May 14, 2009, and …
Feds want to fine companies that refuse wiretap requests
Apparatchiks whine that technology's making it too tough
Draft legislation to impose fines on companies that refuse to provide wiretap facilities to US federal agents is in the planning stages, government officials have told the Washington Post under condition of anonymity.
Initial plans are for an automatic fine for refusal in the range of tens of thousands of dollars, an amount that …
Surprise! Republican bill adds politics to science funding
'Forget peer review, let's get the experts at Congress involved'
The chairman of the US House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, Lamar Smith (R-TX), is planning new legislation that would limit the scope of the National Science Foundation (NSF), the biggest research-funding organization in the US, and bring funding decisions under political oversight.
Smith - you might remember him …
LG beats Samsung to OLED flexi-TV with hella pricey 55-incher
Norks get another excuse to invade the South
At this year's CES, both LG and Samsung proclaimed that concave OLED screens are the next big thing in televisual entertainment, and promised working systems. Now LG has began taking orders for a 55-inch model and will begin deliveries next month.
LG's 55-inch curved OLED TV screen Great curves, shame about the price
The …
NATO proclaimed winner of Locked Shield online wargame
Games without frontiers, war without tears
NATO has – not surprisingly – been named the winner of the Locked Shield online wargames held last week at the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence in Tallinn, Estonia.
The 48-hour exercise, which has been held annually for the last five years, simulates a coordinated attack by "Red" forces (a continuing …
LivingSocial admits major hacking attack on customer database
Credit card info is safe, company insists
Up to 50 million customers of the Amazon-funded daily deals site LivingSocial are getting an apologetic email from CEO Tim O'Shaughnessy explaining that their information may have been stolen.
"LivingSocial recently experienced a cyber-attack on our computer systems that resulted in unauthorized access to some customer data from …
Police arrest suspect in BIGGEST DDoS ATTACK IN HISTORY
Dutch suspect snatched in Spain
The Dutch police have confirmed the arrest of man suspected of taking part in a massive DDoS attack against the anti-spam group Spamhaus back in March.
The 35 year-old man is a Dutch national but was arrested at his home in Barcelona under a European arrest warrant, the Netherlands National Prosecution Office told the BBC. His …
Senate clears bill to block warrantless email searches
But CISPA still trumps it
The Senate Judiciary Committee has cleared the way for an amendment to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) that will require the police to get a warrant before rummaging through your emails.
Under the existing terms of the 1986 EPCA legislation, police investigators only need a subpoena, which can be issued without …
Study suggests US companies use overseas workers to cut wages
Skills shortage? What skills shortage?
An extensive study of the US labor market has shown that the skills shortage which technology firms are constantly complaining about is overstated and firms may instead be using overseas workers to drive down wage costs.
In a paper for the Economic Policy Institute by Hal Salzman of Rutgers University, Daniel Kuehn of American …
Student falsely IDed by Reddit as Boston bomber found dead
Online lynch mob unlikely to be responsible
Sunil Tripathi, the 22 year-old Brown University philosophy student mistakenly identified as a suspect in the Boston bombings by amateur investigators on Reddit, has been found dead in the Providence River, his family has said.
Sunil Tripathi Sunil Tripathi, center, in happier times
"This last month has changed our lives …
Google report shows record rise in government takedown requests
Politicians can dish it out but can't take it
Google's latest transparency report has shown requests for content removal by governments around the world rose 26 per cent in the last six months of 2012, with complaints about defamation being by far the most common reason.
"As we've gathered and released more data over time, it's become increasingly clear that the scope of …
Want a coffee with Tim Cook? Better start saving now
Apple boss chin-wag will cost $100,000+
Anyone with a suitably large checkbook will be able to sit down and have a coffee (or the beverage of their choice) with Tim Cook or meet Elon Musk for a personal tour of the SpaceX headquarters later this year.
Cook, Musk, and other well-known names have donated their time to an auction in aid of the Robert F. Kennedy Center …
Court orders Visa partner to allow donations to WikiLeaks
Credit card blockade begins to crack
WikiLeaks may soon be able to accept donations again, now that the Icelandic Supreme Court has ruled that the blockade on donations imposed by local Visa partner Valitor is illegal and has ordered the company to pay huge fines if it doesn't change its ways.
In its ruling, the court upheld an earlier court decision that cutting …
MetroPCS shareholders approve sweetened T-Mobile merger
$1.5bn cash offer seals the deal
Shareholders in US mobile minnow MetroPCS have approved an improved offer from Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile USA subsidiary after the Germans sweetened the terms of their offer.
Institutional investors had balked at the merger, saying it loaded the company down with too much debt. But Bloomberg reports they have accepted a deal …
Apple beats revenue estimates but margins are falling
Plans $100bn share buy-back bonanza for investors
Apple has beaten some of the gloomier analyst expectations in its second quarter's results filing, with revenues of $43.6bn for the quarter generating $9.5bn in profits. But margins are falling and the company warned that next quarter it may clear only $33.5bn to $35.5bn in revenues – its biggest fall in a decade.
The company …
Hacked AP tweet claiming White House explosion causes Dow dip
Pro-Assad Syrian Electronic Army claims responsibility
A group calling itself the Syrian Electronic Army is claiming that it successfully hacked the official Twitter account of the Associated Press and is responsible for a tweet that briefly wiped billions off the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Tuesday.
The tweet, issued from AP's main account, warned that there had been two …
US Air Force beats off competition in NSA hacking fight
Training to defend, and attack
A four-day hacking competition run by the National Security Agency (NSA) to find the top military system designers and administrators has awarded the 13th annual Cyber Defense Exercise (CDX) prize to a team from the US Air Force Academy.
"CDX offers an unparalleled opportunity for some of the nation's top students to showcase …
Hedge fund invests $2bn in Microsoft, thinks Redmond is undervalued
'Microsoft could be the largest cloud company in the world'
Microsoft's quarterly earnings report last week did little to reassure the markets that the company is on track to regain its former stock valuation, but a $2bn buying spree by a US hedge fund prompted an uptick in its share price on Monday.
At an investor conference Jeffrey Ubben, founder ValueAct Capital Management, said that …
US Senate vote to add internet sales tax this week
Foreign companies prepare to cash in
The US Senate is set to vote on the Marketplace Fairness Act (MFA) on Monday, legislation that would force internet retailers to collect state and local sales taxes while giving overseas online sellers a financial leg-up.
MFA, a bill (for once) not tortuously reworded to a snappy acronym, gives businesses 90 days to set up …
Chinese firm deluged with applications for e-smut appraising job
$32,400 a year to find the obscene online
A Chinese company has received 5,000 resumes and 300,000 emails expressing interest after it advertised for a "chief appraiser" of pornography.
Safety Alliance, a company looking to offer web filtering in the already-restricted Middle Kingdom internet, is recruiting five people to check for obscene or "harmful" content online, …
Microsoft betting on smaller Windows 8 devices and subscriptions
Plans for double-digit decline in traditional PCs
Microsoft's current financial team has been laying out the company's future strategy, and is hoping that a new rash of smaller Windows 8 PCs and cloud revenues will secure Redmond's future.
During a call with financial analysts after reporting Microsoft's financial results for its third fiscal 2013 quarter on Thursday, departing …
Microsoft CFO quits as quarterly results fail to sparkle
Klein steps down, Ballmer's future looking uncertain
Microsoft has released its financial results for the third financial quarter of 2013 and the results make uncertain reading for CEO Steve Ballmer, who is also about to lose his chief financial officer Peter Klein.
Redmond reported revenues of $20.49bn for the three months ended 31 March, up 17.2 per cent year-on-year, and …
US House of Representatives passes CISPA by 288-127
Co-sponsor dismisses opponents as '14 year-olds tweeting'
The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) has been approved by the US House of Representatives, despite a last-minute gaffe from its co-sponsor.
#CISPA passed the House with a decisive bipartisan vote of 288-127 with 92 Democrats supporting. This is a good day for Americans.
— Dutch Ruppersberger (@ …
Applicants sought for one-way trip to Martian Big Brother house
Must be willing to die off-planet and on-air
A Netherlands-based non-profit group called Mars One is seeking video applications from pioneers willing to take a one-way trip to Mars and become stars in a new interplanetary reality show.
"This will be the biggest thing that humanity has ever done. In 15 years people will still be watching," Mars One's co-founder Bas Lansdorp …
Malware and domain-squatters target Boston Marathon bombing
Tragedy inspires threats both true and false
The scummier end of the online community has been quick to use Monday's bombing of the Boston Marathon as bait for multiple malware dispersals, plus a spot of old-fashioned online fraud along the way.
Within 24 hours of the blasts, the ISC reported that 234 potentially fake domains have been registered featuring mention of the …
Google erects tech specs tech specs, APIs hit the decks
First head-mounted Glass gear roll off production line
Google's much-hyped Project Glass spectacles are inching closer to launch and the Chocolate Factory has released an application programming interface (API) guide and management software for the headgear.
The first techno-specs, dubbed Google Glass Explorer Edition, are already rolling off the production line, the firm said in an …
Desultory figures from Intel as Otellini makes his last call
Expects data centers and touch to revive fortunes
After 39 years at Chipzilla and over 80 earnings calls Paul Otellini has just finished his final one before stepping down in May. He didn't so much leave with a bang as a whimper.
The company booked $12.6bn in revenue for Q1 2013, down nearly a billion from the last quarter, and profits dropped 25 per cent to $2bn, over half of …
CISPA cybersecurity legislation vote due in next 48 hours
All your data are belong to us
The US House of Representatives has scheduled to vote on the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) for Wednesday or Thursday, and the pro and anti camps are marshaling their forces to try and sway the result.
#CISPA slated for House Floor on Wed & Thurs (April 17 & 18)
— House Intel Comm (@HouseIntelComm) April …
Silent Circle adds private email to hush-hush communications
Demand for secure comms brings government invitation
Silent Circle, the private communications venture set up by the founders of PGP and two former US Navy SEALs, has added encrypted emails to its protected text and voice services.
Silent Circle email Keeping comms quiet
As expected, the new email application uses custom code developed by Phil Zimmermann, Jon Callas, and other …
British designer builds $15m iPhone for Hong Kong mogul
Home button is a 26-carat black diamond
Conspicuous consumption is a sign of booming times, and a Hong Kong businessman may have broken records for it after buying a custom-built "iPhone 5 Black Diamond" encrusted in gold and precious stones. The tab? An eye-popping $15.3m (£10m).
iPhone 5 Black Diamond For the man who has everything – except taste
"This beautiful …
Sprint/Softbank mobile merger in doubt after Dish bids $25.5bn
Analysis Clearwire complications add to financial fandango
Dish Network has thrown a counter-offer into the ring to buy Sprint-Nextel, the third-biggest mobile provider in the US, in a $25.5bn cash and stock bid that outspends rival Softbank by well over 10 per cent.
"The DISH proposal clearly presents Sprint shareholders with a superior alternative to the pending Softbank proposal," …
Mars orbiter finds remains of pioneering Soviet Mars 3 probe
Red Planet's first semi-successful visitor spotted
A crowdsourcing effort by Russian space enthusiasts appears to have found the remains of the first probe to successfully land on Mars, using images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).
The Mars 3 mission, consisting of a satellite and landing vehicle, was sent to the Red Planet by the then-Soviet Union in 1971 and …
Tech titans team up to push immigration reform
Analysis Zuck calls for changes in H-1B, education, patents
Some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley have formed a political lobbying organization, dubbed Fwd.us, to press for more H-1B visas for industry, a comprehensive revamp of the US education and patent systems, and a pathway for talented people now in the US illegally to gain citizenship.
"In a knowledge economy, the most …
Researcher hacks aircraft controls with Android smartphone
This may give the TSA some ideas
A presentation at the Hack In The Box security summit in Amsterdam has demonstrated that it's possible to take control of aircraft flight systems and communications using an Android smartphone and some specialized attack code.
Hugo Teso, a security researcher at N.Runs and a commercial airline pilot, spent three years developing …
Google brings in blue-chip VC firms for 'Glass Collective'
KPCB and Andreessen Horowitz commit VC funds
Google is hoping its Project Glass augmented-reality headsets will be the next big thing and has convinced two of the most venerable VC firms to put their money behind the venture, creating what they're calling the "Glass Collective."
Glass Collective Welcome to the Collective
"We've formed the Glass Collective, an investment …
ACLU documents shows free access to emails for IRS tax police
If it's opened, or old, then no warrant needed
With the US Tax Day less than a week away, the ACLU has released a not-very-comforting Freedom of Information Act request return from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) showing just how easy it is for the tax agency to read people's online communications without a court-issued warrant.
Last year, the ACLU asked the IRS for data …
NASA-backed fusion engine could cut Mars trip down to 30 days
FDR for the stars
NASA, and plenty of private individuals, want to put mankind on Mars. Now a team at the University of Washington, with funding from the space agency, is about to start building a fusion engine that could get humans there in just 30 days and make other forms of space travel obsolete.
FDR Fusion drive Rocket fuel is just so last …
Google goes big with Play store redesign
Apps for a bigger-screen world
Google is rolling out an update to its Play storefront from Tuesday, with bigger images for Android 2.2 users and an improved checkout system to help them pay for what they fancy.
Google Play redesign
Bigging it up (click to enlarge)
"The new design focuses on bigger images that jump off the page," enthused Michael …
Silent Circle aims for email that's as secure as it gets
PGP and Navy SEALs take on privacy
It's been 22 years since Phil Zimmerman, Jon Callas and the rest of the PGP crew brought encryption to the masses for free, and now the same team – augmented by backing from a couple of former Navy SEALs – has expanded into a new privacy concern that will launch an email service in a couple of weeks.
Silent Circle came out of …
Microsoft Xbox gaffe reveals cloudy arrogance
Comment No, we're not all online all the time
On Thursday afternoon a Twitter conversation between Adam Orth, creative director at Microsoft Studios, and a developer friend about the contentious issue of server-connected gaming sparked something of a storm after being posted on Reddit.
"Sorry, I don't get the drama around having an always-on console," Orth tweeted. "Every …
German ransomware threatens with sick kiddie smut
IWF warns of scheme to shock victims into 'police' payment
Security technicians at Sophos are poring over a new piece of ransomware that uses images of purported child sexual abuse to extort money from internet users, a discovery that has prompted an alert from the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF).
The malware activates when a user is online, and opens a browser-locking screen that …
Rackspace sues 'the most notorious patent troll in America'
Sounds like a job for SHIELD
Texan hosting firm Rackspace is going on the offensive with a legal challenge to non-producing entity (or patent troll, as they are more commonly known) Parallel Iron – a firm Rackspace describes as "the most notorious patent troll in America."
Rackspace is still feeling cocky after its victory last week in the Eastern District …
Gates and Allen reshoot historic 1981 Microsoft photo
Holding back the years
One of the most iconic photos from the history of Microsoft, featuring a lanky young Bill Gates perched next to his coding mentor (the way he tells it) Paul Allen, has been recreated at Seattle's Living Computing Museum.
Bill Gates and Paul Allen 1981 Stand back ladies, form a line
In a 1981 publicity shot for the then …
Leaked memo: Apple's iMessage crypto has DEA outfoxed
Analysis Feds want more back-door access
An investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in February was temporarily thwarted when the surveillance targets began using Apple's encrypted iMessage system, according to a document leaked to Cnet.
The intelligence note entitled "Apple's iMessages: A Challenge For DEA Intercept," reported on an investigation by …
Chinese search king Baidu testing Google Glass competitor
'Baidu Eye' is watching you
Baidu, the search firm that handles the requests of over three quarters of China's internet users, is trying out a wearable headset of its own – but it's hardly the svelte headset Sergey Brin's so fond of showing off.
Baidu Glass prototype Sophisticated it ain't
The first photos of the prototype on Sina Tech show a clunky …
Scottish SF master Iain M Banks reveals he has less than a year to live
Asks partner to do him the honour of being his widow
One of Britain's most popular fiction and science fiction authors Iain Banks, or Iain M Banks for lovers of his science fiction, has revealed that he has cancer and is unlikely to live longer than a year.
"The bottom line, now, I'm afraid, is that as a late stage gall bladder cancer patient, I'm expected to live for 'several …
FTC splits $50,000 robocall killing tech prize
Mobile apps and cloud checks to silence spammers
The Federal Trade Commission is awarding $25,000 apiece to two inventors who have come up with methods to defeat the hated robocaller, and has tipped its hat to Google for also putting in a good suggestion.
Last October, the FTC announced it would offer $50,000 for workable solutions from individuals or companies with less than …
