Fairphone’s CTO explains how and why the Dutch company builds a different kind of smartphone. Smartphone longevity didn’t used to matter. In the past, before you could wear out or break a phone, there was always some shiny new thing to buy. Today, we expect our smartphones to go…
Over 1 million Game Pass subscribers will have to pay more for their heavy streaming use. In 2020, Microsoft announced that Game Pass Ultimate subscriptions would include unlimited access to its new Xbox Cloud Gaming service (then still known as Project xCloud). Now, that kind of streaming buffet service…
Open source, commercial, single-hop, multi-hop, mixnet? The array of options is dizzying. A prominent US senator is asking the National Security Agency to provide guidance to the general public on best practices for using virtual private networks to secure their communications from spying by foreign adversaries. VPNs funnel all…
Pro soccer team’s CTO points to “issues with the Broadcom takeover.” Tottenham Hotspur, a professional soccer team that’s part of the Premier League, has saved over 85 percent in licensing fees by replacing its stadium’s VMware instance with Hewlett-Packard Enterprise’s (HPE’s) Morpheus VM Essentials (VME) virtualization software. Tottenham hasn’t…
Insect-inspired “sparse coding” does fast learning, avoids catastrophic forgetting. Fruit flies aren’t exactly famous for their brainpower; you’ve probably drowned more than one in a wine glass left too long on the patio table. And yet, working with roughly 140,000 neurons—a brain smaller than a poppy seed—Drosophila can sort…
The annual award ceremony features miniature operas, scientific demos, and “24/7” lectures. It’s that time of year again, when we learn which lucky scientists are among the winners of the Ig Nobel Prizes. This year, the prizes honor research on designing the perfect splash-free urinal; using mosquito proboscises to…
Congress pauses the OMB’s attempt to rewrite how research is funded. On Tuesday, the House of Representatives passed a stopgap measure that would continue funding the US government through early December. While the measure still requires the signature of President Trump, it’s widely expected that he will act to…
The FBI is reportedly investigating a massive data breach that is unfolding in real time. Not long ago, I rented an SUV from a well-known car rental company. Within hours of an employee scanning my driver’s license, a high-resolution scan of my ID was available for sale on the…
The DOJ proved to the court that Google acted illegally, but it won’t get the big win it wanted. A US federal judge has sided with Google, ruling that the company will not have to sell its online advertising exchange (previously known as AdX). The US Department of Justice…
The Army says its laser system can track and destroy hostile drones. This week, the US Army used a high-energy multipurpose laser to shoot down three drones near the US-Mexico border, which official reports claimed were “posing a physical threat to US military personnel and CBP partners,” referring to…
