NASA: Full details on our manned ASTEROID SNATCH mission
NASA is pressing ahead with plans to capture an asteroid, pack it in an orbit around the Moon, and then send up a two-person crew to investigate and take samples, and it has released a video showing how it plans to achieve all this.
Orion asteroid capture mission The two craft involved in capturing a shard of the Solar System …
Yahoo! starts $1.99 'watch list' to recycle old usernames
Yahoo! has begun to recycle old usernames from inactive accounts and is starting a three-year paid service so that users can put dibs on the ones that they want.
In July, Yahoo! said it planned to allow people to change their usernames for something a little more personal and asked for volunteers to sign up for the program. It …
Chinese authorities say massive DDoS attack took down .cn domain
The China Internet Network Information Center (CINIC) has reported that on Sunday it suffered the largest ever DDoS attack it has ever experienced against the .cn domain, an assault that took ten hours to knock down.
In a statement, the CINIC said that attacks began around midnight Sunday on Chinese time and intensified a few …
Top 10 Steve Ballmer quotes: '%#&@!!' and so much more
When it comes to quotable CEOs, Steve Ballmer may not be the best in the business, but he has managed come up with some zingers.
As he prepares to make his transition from top dog at Microsoft, we thought it would be a good time to survey some of the most memorable Ballmerisms of past years, and see how they worked out in …
Silicon Valley slurped millions of NSA cash for PRISM participation
New documents from Edward Snowden published in The Guardian have shown for the first time the financial relationship between the NSA and some of the largest names in the tech business over the PRISM data-collection scheme.
Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, and Facebook are all named in a document, dated December 2012, relating to the …
PayPal fixes critical account switcheroo bug after researcher tipoff
PayPal has fixed a critical flaw that allowed an attacker to delete any account at will and replace it with one of their own.
In April, security researcher Ionut Cernica discovered that US PayPal account holders could add an email address to someone else's account by visiting a PayPal webpage. This then allowed the account to be …
Apple snaffles travel app in quest for way out of Maps debacle
Apple has bought another mapping startup, this time a small firm called Embark that develops public transit maps for download to Apple and Android devices.
Last month, Cupertino splashed out on Canadian startup Locationary and online transit-navigation service HopStop.com to augment its mapping app, and now its Embark's turn. …
NASA restarts WISE telescope to spot potential Earth-killers
In these days of budget cuts and sequesters, it's especially important that NASA gets the most for its money, and so the agency will restart using the decommissioned Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) telescope as part of its quest to map the heavens for asteroids.
WISE NASA kit is built to last
The WISE telescope was …
Bradley Manning is no more. 'Call me Chelsea,' she says
With the WikiLeaks trial now over, former private first class Bradley Manning has announced the intention to transition sex via female hormone therapy and said she wished to be referred to as Chelsea E. Manning from now on.
"I am Chelsea Manning. I am a female. Given the way that I feel, and have felt since childhood, I want to …
UK mulls ban on tiny mobiles to block prison smugglers
UK police and government officials are considering a plan to block the sale of small mobile phones designed to look like car key fobs after confiscating an increasing number of the mini-mobes from prisoners.
Car key fob phone Phone too popular with prisoners
"A range of techniques – including body orifice security scanners …
Manning's lawyer plans presidential pardon campaign, says client will appeal
David Coombs, lawyer of the now-imprisoned Bradley Manning, has told a press conference that he plans to register for a presidential appeal of his client's 35-year sentence next week and will be asking for a reprieve or a reduction in his prison term.
"When I heard the sentence '35 years ' I think to myself, I've represented …
Microsoft fights Google for kids' attention with ad-free Bing for Schools
Microsoft is making a big play for the hearts and clicks of America's youth with the launch of Bing for Schools, which includes an advertising and porn-free search engine, free sponsored lesson plans, and Surface RT fondleslabs earned through a rewards program.
"We already know that search is an important tool for kids in school …
Sony sets dates for US and Euro PS4 unleashment amid Xbox heckles
Sony has used the Gamescom 2013 conference in Germany to announce the launch details of its PlayStation 4 console, price changes, and revamps for older hardware, and to take a few now-customary digs at rival Microsoft.
"Our goals for PS4 are clear, ambitious and unwavering. We set out to build the most powerful gaming platform …
Palestinian Facebook flaw-finder getting $10,000 payday in online appeal
A Palestinian IT student who spotted a serious security flaw in Facebook's coding – but was denied payment for it and booted off the social network – could be getting as much as $10,000 after members of the security community rallied around and set up an online compensation fund.
Khalil Shreateh found a bug that allowed an …
Comcast court docs show Prenda copyright trolls seeded smut then sued
Top copyright troll Prenda Law has been caught red-handed seeding torrenting sites with pornographic films in an effort to drum up business for its copyright lawyers.
The attorneys at Prenda Law specialize in firing out letters to internet users accusing them of pirating luridly-named pornography (Alexis Texas sucks and fucks at …
Snowden journalist's partner gave Brit spooks passwords to seized files
David Miranda, the partner of a journalist at the heart of the Edward Snowden NSA surveillance firestorm, handed over to British intelligence the crypto passwords for digital files they seized from him when he stopped over in the UK en route from a meeting with a US film-maker who was also involved with the Snowden disclosures. …
Apple sucking triple the phone switchers as Samsung – report
The latest market data shows that Apple is winning over Samsung users from Android at three times the rate that the Korean firm is wooing iPhone owners into the open source fold.
The data, based on four quarterly reports between June 2012 and July 2013 from analyst house Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, showed that 33 …
New tool lets single server map entire internet in 45 minutes
Researchers at the University of Michigan have developed a new tool that allows a single server with a gigabit Ethernet port to scan the internet so quickly that it can map 98 per cent of the world's IPv4 connections in under 45 minutes.
Mapping internet nodes is nothing new – companies and researchers have been doing it for …
Curiosity looks up, spies Martian double-mooning
As Curiosity trundles across the Martian surface, the bulk of NASA's interest has been focused downwards at the ground, but the rover has also been looking up and has captured some remarkable video of the two moons of Mars overlapping each other overhead.
The images captured by the telephoto lens in Curiosity's Mast Camera …
Court throws out Icahn's demand to stall Dell shareholder vote
Carl Icahn's quest to delay the shareholder vote on the future of Dell has been knocked back by a Delaware judge, who said there was no evidence that the company was acting improperly.
"This court is not going to be dragged into a tactical game," Chancery Court Judge Leo Strine ruled on Friday. The Dell board had "acted in good …
Microsoft warns of post-April zero day hack bonanza on Windows XP
Microsoft has a Windows XP problem: people still like it and aren't willing to upgrade just yet. So it's warning users that if they don’t upgrade soon, hackers will lie in wait each new Patch Tuesday to reverse-engineer a full set of new vulnerabilities.
"The very first month that Microsoft releases security updates for …
Microsoft cuts number of countries that will have Xbox One by Christmas
Microsoft has said it won’t be able to meet its initial goal of launching the Xbox One in 21 countries before Christmas, and some European buyers won’t see the console until 2014 at the earliest.
At the console's coming-out party at the E3 conference this year, Microsoft said it was planning to get the console out in 21 …
Possessed baby monitor shouts obscenities at Texas tot
A Texas father ripped out the baby video monitor he'd installed to watch over his two year-old daughter after he heard a British or European man using the device to address the child by name.
Father of two Marc Gilbert told ABC News that he heard a male voice coming from inside his daughter's bedroom, calling out her name and …
Google: Cloud users have 'no legitimate expectation of privacy'
A motion to dismiss filed by Google in a court case last month has offered some juicy quotes about the company's privacy policy, but legally it looks like the Chocolate Factory is in the clear.
"Just as a sender of a letter to a business colleague cannot be surprised that the recipient's assistant opens the letter, people who …
Xerox admits there's no fix yet for number-fudging copiers
A flaw in the scanning compression software of some Xerox copiers which changes digits and numbers run through the machine is worse than first thought and will require a full software upgrade, the self-styled "Document Company" has said.
The flaw was first spotted by German computer science student David Kriesel, who discovered …
Obama appoints intelligence boss to run 'independent' review of NSA
President Obama has appointed James Clapper, the US Director of National Intelligence who was recently caught misleading Congress about the extent of NSA surveillance, as the head of the Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies that will investigate the agency.
The president announced the review of US …
Elon Musk unveils Hyperloop – the subsonic tube of tomorrow
After months of hint-dropping, Elon Musk has published the first plans for a high-speed transport system that would take commuters from Los Angeles to San Francisco in 35 minutes at a cost of $20 per person.
Hyperloop plans Hyperloop on the drawing board
Musk's earlier description of the system, dubbed Hyperloop, described it …
20 injured at LG phone giveaway as PR stunt turns into freetard riot
LG has cancelled a series of publicity stunts promoting its new G2 smartphone after 20 Korean consumers were hurt as they attempted to get a free handset.
The PR boffins at LG decided it would be a good idea to release 100 helium-filled balloons, each carrying a voucher entitling the recipient to claim their 950,000 won ($852.54 …
Feds arrest rogue trucker after GPS jamming borks New Jersey airport test
A New Jersey truck driver is facing a fine of nearly $32,000 after leaving the GPS jammer he was using to dodge his bosses active during a visit to Newark, New Jersey's Liberty International Airport.
Gary Bojczak, then an employee of crushed-stone supplier Tilcon, was using a $100 GPS jammer plugged into the cigarette lighter in …
1,100 haiku heading to Mars on next NASA mission
The next NASA probe to Mars will carry a DVD containing 1,100 haiku submitted and voted on by members of the public, with British author Benedict Smith winning first place with this gem:
It's funny, they named
Mars after the God of War
Have a look at Earth
The haiku will be carried to the Red Planet on the Mars Atmosphere and …
Obama proposes four-point plan to investigate US data spooks
In a Friday press conference, President Obama laid out a plan to review the USA PATRIOT Act, secret intelligence courts, and activities of the NSA.
The revelations of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden had nothing to do with the review, Obama insisted, saying that as a senator he had supported more transparency and had spoken of …
DON'T PANIC: Amazon's Chromecast late-ship email was a blunder
An email from Amazon telling customers that they wouldn't be getting their Chromecast dongle until nearly November – at the earliest – was a mistake, the company has said. In fact, shipping will begin shortly.
Amazon, along with big-box retailers like Best Buy, sold out of Google's $35 gizmo within days of the streaming stick …
Xbox One users will have to pay extra for Skype and gamer-gratifying DVR
Microsoft has released the first unboxing video of its forthcoming Xbox One console, along with details on its pricing policy. The bad news is that gamers will have to pay extra for some features, but on the plus side they get a free mono headset.
When the Xbox One was shown off for the first time, Microsoft's Don Matrick, then …
Patching Xerox's number-changing photocopy phlaw will take weeks
Xerox has told its customers that their copiers may continue churning out dodgy numbers for a few weeks unless they change the settings on their hardware.
"To hear and see this frustration and confusion goes against all that's core to Xerox's heritage and future," wrote Rick Dastin, president of Xerox's office and solutions …
Michael Dell accuses Icahn of using court as takeover tool
Michael Dell has accused Carl Icahn of filing "undefined" legal action solely as a tool to help him take over Dell, and said the investor was "grandstanding" in a bid to stop the company from going private.
In a court filing, Michael Dell said the action was "just another soapbox for Mr. Icahn's public spat," and a tactic …
Android approaches 80% smartphone share as Apple's iPhone grows old
Apple's lack of revisions to its iPhone product line has cost it market share and Android now has 79.3 per cent of the worldwide market, according to the latest shipment data from IDC, with over 187 million Android handsets shipped in the second quarter of 2013.
"The iOS decline in the second quarter aligns with the cyclicality …
Obama cancels meeting Putin in Russia, says Snowden 'a factor'
President Obama has cancelled a planned pow-wow with Russian president Vladimir Putin at next month's G20 Summit in St Petersburg, saying the granting of asylum to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden was "a factor."
"Following a careful review begun in July, we have reached the conclusion that there is not enough recent progress in …
US feds: 'Let's make streaming copyrighted content a FELONY'
A report by the US Department of Commerce's Internet Policy Task Force recommends that the government make the streaming of copyrighted material a felony.
Currently, streaming content is a simple misdemeanor that breaches rules on violation of the public-performance right, but the report recommends upping the penalty to felony …
Curiosity sings 'Happy Birthday' to itself on Martian anniversary
In a remote Martian crater over 200 million miles from Earth, NASA's Curiosity rover sung "Happy Birthday" to itself using instruments in the rover's Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) chemistry laboratory.
The SAM unit uses a gas chromatograph, quadrupole mass spectrometer, and tunable laser spectrometer to analyze the soil and air …
Xerox copier flaw changes numbers in scanned docs
A German PhD student has found a flaw in some Xerox Workcentres that fudges the numbers on some scans thanks to poor data compression.
Last Wednesday, computer science student David Kriesel was scanning in some building plans on a Xerox WorkCentre, and when checking the copies he found some of the dimensions of the plans had …
Lawsuit: Infosys abuses visas to discriminate against US staff
A class-action lawsuit filed against IT outsourcing firm Infosys claims that the company is systematically abusing the visa system and actively discriminates against hiring US workers for staff position.
The lawsuit, filed in US District Court in Eastern Wisconsin by VMware specialist Brenda Koehler, claims that up to 90 per …
Leaked docs: SOD squad feeds NSA intelligence to drug enforcement plods
Leaked documents have revealed the existence of a Special Operations Division (SOD) within the Drug Enforcement Agency that receives and distributes tips gleaned by the NSA to arrange arrests, and then hides where that information came from.
"That's outrageous," Tampa attorney James Felman, a vice chairman of the criminal …
Posh potty owners flushed by dodgy Bluetooth password
A high-tech toilet that takes care of everything except wiping its owner has been left wide open to attackers thanks to a basic security flaw.
toilet Bluetooth blunder leaves bollocks prone to blasting
The Satis toilet, a $5,686 (£3,821) appliance built by Japanese (of course) manufacturer Lixil, is designed to open itself …
Geneticists resolve human dilemma of Adam's boy-toy status
The largest-ever study of the male Y chromosome has shown that the so-called "Adam" – the most common genetic ancestor to modern humans – is much older than previously thought, which solves a troubling dilemma for geneticists.
Geneticists have spent a lot of time examining the genes of humans in the hope for finding what's …
Ken Brill, 'the father of data centers', powers down at 69
Ken Brill, founder of the Uptime Institute and the man who literally set the standards for modern data center design, has died at the age of 69 after developing cancer.
"Ken Brill was inspired in his thinking, and resolute in his principles. As a personality and an innovator, he left an indelible imprint on the IT and data …
SAP boss cops jail time plea after Lego barcode bust
A former SAP vice president has struck a plea deal with prosecutors after he was caught running a side business selling Lego kits purchased using home-made barcodes.
Thomas Langenbach, a former VP of SAP Labs in Palo Alto, was caught by store detectives at a local Target after he was observed sticking a new barcode on a Star …
Study finds open-source home 3D printer could save $2,000 a year
A study by Michigan Technological University claims that the average US household could save itself up to $2,000 by printing their own products and parts instead of buying them from the store.
"With the exponential growth of free designs and expansion of 3D printing, we are creating enormous potential wealth for everyone," said …
Moto X: It's listening to you. But can voice control finally take off?
After much teasing, Motorola Mobility has finally unveiled the Moto X phone it's hoping will restore the company's fortunes - and help repay the $12.5bn Google splashed out on the troubled mobile phone vendor.
Moto X
The basic handset has a 4.7-inch, 1280-by-720 pixel AMOLED screen, 2GB of RAM, 802.11a/g/b/n/ac Wi-Fi, no …
Security breach at Opscode as attackers download databases
Opscode, the commercial side of the open source Chef configuration management tool beloved by Google, Facebook, and IBM, has warned customers that a flaw in an unnamed third-party application has left its wiki and ticketing system pwned.
"The attacker gained escalated privileges and downloaded the user database for the wiki and …
Google scientists rebel over company's support for 'climate-hoax' Senator
In 2011 Google appointed 21 Google Science Communication Fellows (GSCF) – academics representing the cream of US climate-change science – and tasked them with exploring new ways of communicating the issue to the public. On Thursday, 17 of the GSCF did just that, and called out Google for its own failings in an open letter.
This …
