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Bitcoin

Submission + - Bitcoin currency surpasses 20 national currencies in value (foxnews.com) 1

Submitted by Velcroman1
Velcroman1 writes: More than $1 billion dollars worth of bitcoins now circulate on the web – an amount that exceeds the value of the entire currency stock of small countries like Liberia, Bhutan, and 18 other countries. Bitcoin is in high demand right now — each bitcoin currently sells for more than $90 U.S. dollars — which bitcoin insiders say is because of world events that have shaken confidence in government-issued currencies. “Because of what's going on in Cyprus and Europe, people are trying to pull their money out of banks there,” said Tony Gallippi, the CEO “BitPay.com,” which enables businesses to easily accept bitcoins as payment. “So they buy gold, they put it under the mattress, or they buy bitcoin,” Gallippi said.
Your Rights Online

Submission + - Stricter COPPA laws coming in July (foxnews.com)

Submitted by Velcroman1
Velcroman1 writes: The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) was enacted in 1998. In 2011, the FTC beefed up the measure, preventing sites from collecting personal information from kids such as name, location and date of birth without a parent's consent. This July, new amendments for kids under 13 will go into effect, approved by the FTC in December. The rules are targeted at sites that market specifically to kids. However, even a site like Facebook could be fined for allowing minors to post self-portraits, audio recordings of their voice, and images with geo-location data. There are also new restrictions on tracking data, with cookies or a unique identifier that follow registrants from one site to another. http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/03/19/coppa-stricter-rules-july-underage-kids-on-facebook/">About time, said Denise Tayloe, the CEO of PRIVO, a company that makes an age-verification system called PrivoLock."Somebody damn-well better do something to communicate with parents [so they] understand what their kids are doing," Tayloe said.
Google

Submission + - Our Google Maps based game, Pursued! (nemesys.hu)

Submitted by
backinside
backinside writes: "What does Slashdot think of our Google Maps based web game, Pursued? You must use your wit and surroundings to figure out where you are before your captors do! We know everyone is a techie here, and we were curious of what this community thought of our concept! Give it a play in the provided link."
Android

Submission + - Is Apple Running Scared After Galaxy S4 Launch? (ibtimes.co.uk)

Submitted by
DavidGilbert99
DavidGilbert99 writes: "Apple has long seen Android as something it trod in and needs to wipe away from the sole of its highly polished boots. However the last week has shown that the tide is turning and Samsung is clearly got Apple running scared. First was Apple's VP of Marketing Phil Schiller making speculative remarks about the Galaxy S4 — which turned out to be totally untrue — followed by Apple launching a Why iPhone? website specifically to convince people to buy an iPhone.
Apple has never felt the need to convince people to buy an iPhone before, but it's also never had a challenge like this ever before."
Software

Submission + - Software lets scientists program new life forms (foxnews.com)

Submitted by Velcroman1
Velcroman1 writes: Biochemical engineers can now download a piece of software and with a few simple clicks, assemble the DNA for new life forms through their laptops. “With the proper computer tools, biologists can write their own genetic code — and then turn that code into life,” said biochemist Omri Amirav-Drory, who founded Genome Compiler Corp., the company that sells the software. He demonstrated for FoxNews.com at a Starbucks early one morning by manipulating a bacteria's genes on his MacBook. The synthetic biology app is still in beta; on Jan. 15, the company added an undo feature and support for new DNA file formats. Building creatures is increasingly like word processing, it would seem. But such is the strange reality in the age of cheap genome sequencing, DNA synthesizing and "bioinformatics."
NASA

Submission + - Missile defense tech leaked out of NASA Ames Research Center (foxnews.com)

Submitted by Velcroman1
Velcroman1 writes: A four-year FBI investigation into the transfer of classified weapons technology to China and other countries from NASA’s Ames Research Center is being stonewalled by government officials, sources tell FoxNews.com. Documents obtained by FoxNews.com, which summarize these and other allegations and were given to congressional sources last week by a whistle-blower, described how a “secret grand jury” was to be convened in February 2011 to hear testimony from informants in the case, including a senior NASA engineer. But federal prosecutor Gary Fry was removed from the case, which was then transferred from one office in the Northern District of California to another where, according to the documents, “this case now appears to be stalled.” “The information is staggering,” the whistle-blower said.
The Internet

Submission + - Internet Still Under Attack by UN, FCC Comish Fears (foxnews.com)

Submitted by Velcroman1
Velcroman1 writes: At a United Nations conference in December, 89 countries voted in favor of international government regulation of the Internet. Specific regulations have not been agreed upon, but FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell said he fears the U.N. may seek further rulings at a 2014 conference in Busan, Korea. "You’ll have international bureaucrats making engineering and business decisions," McDowell said. The U.N. has no power to force the United States to adopt any Internet regulation, and the U.S. refused to sign the December treaty, along with 55 others countries. But if a large number of countries agree on regulations, the Internet could become fragmented, with very different rules applying in different regions of the world. "That becomes an engineering nightmare," McDowell said.

Submission + - How the Super Bowl will reach US submarines (foxnews.com)

Submitted by Velcroman1
Velcroman1 writes: Ever wonder how troops serving abroad in remote locations and even underwater might get to watch the Super Bowl? The very same highly advanced technology used to pass classified drone video feeds will be deployed this Sunday to ensure U.S. troops can see the Super Bowl — - no matter how far away from home they are. The broadcast is the result of a unique media, government and technology partnership with the American Forces Radio and Television Service, Raytheon and the U.S. Air Force. The Global Broadcast Service (GBS) may be normally used to disseminate video, images and other data, but major sporting events have been broadcast over it as well. The system will be “as small as a laptop, and [equipment] the size of a shoebox and umbrella” yet “in other places will be projected onto large screens in hangers” like aircraft carriers out at sea, explained Raytheon Intelligence and Information Systems’ chief innovation officer Mark Bigham.
Twitter

Submission + - Twitter's New Transparency Report: Governments Still Want Your Data (slashdot.org)

Submitted by
Nerval's Lobster
Nerval's Lobster writes: "All your Tweets are belong to us... with a court order. Twitter’s second transparency report reinforces what many already know: governments want online user data, and to yank select content from the Internet. Twitter’s first two transparency reports cover the entirety of 2012, so there’s not a deep historical record to mine for insight. Nonetheless, that year’s worth of data shows all types of government inquiry—information requests, removal requests, and copyright notices—either on the increase or holding relatively steady. Governments requested user information from Twitter some 1,009 times in the second half of 2012, up slightly from 849 requests in the first half of that year. Content-removal requests spiked from 6 in the first half of 2012 to 42 in the second. Meanwhile, copyright notices declined a bit, from 3378 in the first half of 2012 to 3268 in the second."
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft to launch the new Office commercially on January 29 (zdnet.com)

Submitted by alancronin
alancronin writes: Microsoft released Office 2013 to manufacturing on October 11, 2012. The company made the final bits available to MSDN and TechNet subscribers, as well as volume-licensing customers, before the end of last year. Recently, Microsoft made $10 versions of the final Office 2013 bits available to volume licensees with Software Assurance as part of its Home Use Program.

Microsoft officials have been saying for a couple of months that Redmond planned to make the final bits commercially available in the first calendar quarter of 2013.
Your Rights Online

Submission + - Why you'll pay for Netflix -- even if you don't subscribe to Netflix (foxnews.com) 1

Submitted by Velcroman1
Velcroman1 writes: At the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show, Netflix announced Super HD, an immersive theatrical video format that looks more lifelike than any Web stream, even competing with Blu-Ray discs. But there’s a costly catch. To watch the high-definition, 1080p movies when they debut later this year, you’ll need a specific Internet Service Provider (or ISP). Those on Cablevision or Google Fiber are in; those served by Time Warner or a host of smaller providers will be out of luck. But regardless of whether you subscribe to Netflix, you may end up paying for it, said Fred Campbell, a former FCC legal adviser who now heads The Communications Liberty & Innovation Project think tank. “Instead of raising the price of its own service to cover the additional costs, Netflix wants to offload its additional costs onto all Internet consumers,” Campbell said. “That’s good for Netflix and bad for everyone else in the Internet economy.”
Games

Submission + - Paki-ban: 'Call of Duty,' 'Medal of Honor' Banned in Middle East (foxnews.com)

Submitted by Velcroman1
Velcroman1 writes: “Call of Duty: Black Ops II” and “Medal of Honor: Warfighter” are war-themed games where the player gets to shoot enemies and, according to the shop owners, show Pakistan and the country’s prime intelligence agency, the Inter Services Intelligence, as supporting Al Qaeda and jihadi organizations. They have been ordered removed from store shelves in Pakistan, after shop owners there complained that the games portray their country as an incubator for terrorism. The circular, written in Urdu, Pakistan’s national language, reads, “The Association has always boycotted these types of films and games. These (games) have been developed against the country’s national unity and sanctity. The games (“Medal of Honor: Warfighter” and “Call of Duty: Black Ops II”) have been developed against Pakistan, and the association has completely banned their sale. Shopkeepers are warned and will be responsible for the consequences if found purchasing or selling these games.”
The Internet

Submission + - The Problem with Internet Dating's Frictionless Online Market

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens writes
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "Peter Ludlow writes in the Atlantic that the internet has turned the online dating marketplace into a frictionless market that puts together buyer and seller without transaction costs. And that's a bad thing. "Finding a partner used to be expensive, and the market was inefficient. If you lived in a large city, there were always people looking for partners, but the problem was how to find them." But one advantage of inefficient dating markets is that in times of scarcity we sometimes take chances on things we wouldn't otherwise try while in times of plenty, we take the path of least resistance (someone who appears compatible) and we forgo difficult and prima facie implausible pairings. The secret is that great chemistry isn't about putting together people who are on the same page—it is about putting together people who are different and making it work. Another problem with frictionless online markets is that assume we know what we are looking for, but sometimes we simply don't know what we are looking for until we stumble across it in a search for something else says Ludlow. "The result is often unexpected and beautiful. So it is with relationships; compatibility is a terrible idea in selecting a partner." concludes Ludlow. "We often make our greatest discoveries and acquire our greatest treasures when local scarcity compels us to be open to new and better things.""
Google

Submission + - Google's Schmidt plans trip to North Korea (foxnews.com)

Submitted by Velcroman1
Velcroman1 writes: Google's executive chairman is preparing to travel to one of the last frontiers of cyberspace: North Korea. Eric Schmidt will be traveling to North Korea on a private trip led by former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson that could take place as early as this month, sources told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The sources, two people familiar with the group's plans, asked not to be named because the visit had not been made public. The trip would be the first by a top executive from U.S.-based Google, the world's largest Internet search provider, to a country considered to have the most restrictive Internet policies on the planet. North Korea is in the midst of what leader Kim Jong Un called a modern-day "industrial revolution" in a New Year's Day speech to the nation Monday. He is pushing science and technology as a path to economic development for the impoverished country, aiming for computers in every school and digitized machinery in every factory.

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