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The company breaks down language barriers a billion times a day, it reveals at Google I/O. On the to-do list: real-time conversation translation. [Read more]    

An anonymous reader writes "In a decision that's almost certainly going to result in this issue heading up to the Supreme Court, the Federal 1st Circuit Court of Appeals [Friday] ruled that police can't search your phone when they arrest you without a warrant. That's contrary to most courts' previous findings in these kinds of cases where judges have allowed warrantless searches through cell phones." (But in line with the recently mentioned decision in Florida, and seemingly with common sense.)

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Sometimes, you love a song and it’s not on the web. That’s just not right, because the three or so generations alive today are largely responsible for making sure that all the important and interesting stuff (and not just cat videos) make it onto the Internet.

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Crave writer Amanda Kooser, a longtime Trekkie, looks at "Star Trek Into Darkness" through the lens of a long "Star Trek" history and (mostly) embraces the new ways. [Read more]    

Even though we don't yet know what the PlayStation 4 looks like or how much it will cost, one of the many details revealed at Sony's February event was that games will be playable even as they download. Now it turns out we won't have to wait for the new hardware to experience that feature on a console -- Steam, for example, does this on PCs with some games -- as The Last of Us leaders Bruce Straley and Neil Druckman told Game Informer the PS3 game will be available as a download the same day it arrives on discs, and is playable once the transfer is 50 percent complete. There's no word whether other developers will have access to the "magic" Naughty Dog worked out with Sony to make it happen, but as least there will be as little delay as possible before you begin exploring its post-apocalyptic landscape June 14th.

Filed under: Gaming, HD, Sony

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Via: Joystiq

Source: Game Informer

leathered writes "The BBC reports that some customers of UK retailer Marks and Spencer have reported that the store's contactless payment terminals have debited their cards despite being in their bags or pockets, sometimes paying twice when they have used another payment method. The cards are supposed to work only when the card comes within 4cm of the terminal. Customers of fast-food chain Pret a Manger have been reporting similar problems, and in both cases cited the customers weren't even aware they had been issued with NFC-enabled cards by their bank."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

There are all kinds of ways to design a table, but most of them don't include resonant frequencies or specially-designed abrasive enzymes, much less both. Bonus Table 571 isn't most tables though, and that's exactly how it gets its very specific pattern.

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The "Bring Your Own Devices" trend has a dual-personality problem on its hands.

How can corporate data and personal data exist on a single smartphone? Companies don't want their deep secrets to get out, while employees don't want to be told how to use their precious mobile gadgets that they bought with their own money.

It's a problem that has stumped the BYOD crowd.

"Companies don't trust that information is contained properly" on a BYOD smartphone, says Nanci Churchill, vice president of operations at Mobi Wireless Management, a software and services provider helping companies navigate mobile adoption.

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Few "lifestyle" speakers tempt discerning audiophiles, but Anthony Gallo Acoustics' latest crop of mini models will challenge their expectations. [Read more]    

As data-transfer shifts increasingly to the cloud, the servers stacked in datacenters handling the data become increasingly crowded. Virtualization means multiple users can share a single server.

This has positive aspects: servers don't sit idle, scalability is less of a concern, and datacenter efficiency improves. But there's a problem with too many users on a single server.

And it's going to get worse.

It's called "the noisy neighbor problem," and here's what happens: disk I/O for one user starts to interfere with the operations of another user on the same server.

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Techmeology writes "In response to declining utility of CALEA mandated wiretapping backdoors due to more widespread use of cryptography, the FBI is considering a revamped version that would mandate wiretapping facilities in end users' computers and software. Critics have argued that this would be bad for security (PDF), as such systems must be more complex and thus harder to secure. CALEA has also enabled criminals to wiretap conversations by hacking the infrastructure used by the authorities. I wonder how this could ever be implemented in FOSS."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

For the most part, we're all happy if we can get Internet that's fast enough to stream some HD video. But faster is always better, and a new, world-record setting network developed in Germany is so blazing fast you wouldn't know what to do with it. It can deliver multiple HD films in a second.

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Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer seems dedicated to remaking Yahoo's image and infusing the company with a new spirit that Tumblr embodies. [Read more]    

The nation's critical infrastructure is vulnerable to cyber attacks and better information sharing is needed to strengthen defenses.

That's the message Charles Edwards, deputy inspector general for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, told a Congressional committee at a public hearing on Thursday.

Since 1990, Industrial Control Systems, which are used to manage components of the country's critical infrastructure, have been connecting to the Internet to improve their operations, Edwards explained in written testimony submitted to the House Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection and Security Technologies.

However, companies hooked their control systems into the public Internet with little regard for security. "[Security] for ICS was inherently weak because it allowed remote control of processes and exposed ICS to cyber security risks that could be exploited over the Internet," Edwards said.

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The Chromebook Pixel may be pretty, but it can't talk to cameras -- among the many problems that keep it from being a prime-time laptop. [Read more]    

Bitcoin is growing up.

The virtual currency that caught the public's attention last month when its value zoomed briefly past $200 kicked off its first Silicon Valley conference Friday evening and shows no sign of losing momentum.

The event is small by Silicon Valley standards, with about 1000 attendees expected and 19 exhibitors, but it's bustling with startups launching new exchanges, software developers looking to strengthen the Bitcoin network, and venture capitalists seeking places to invest.

There's now $45 million a day being traded on the Bitcoin network, or $16 billion a year, according to Peter Vessenes, chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation, who talked at the start of the event in San Jose.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

An anonymous reader writes "This being college graduation season, the insights provided by commencement speakers should be familiar by now: find work in a field you're passionate about, don't underestimate your own abilities, aim high, learn to communicate and collaborate with others, give something back to your community. Billionaire Mike Bloomberg, whose current job is Mayor of New York City, evidently decided to break the mold by advising less academically adept youngsters to consider a career in plumbing. High wages, constant demand, no offshore competition. 'Compare a plumber to going to Harvard College — being a plumber, actually for the average person, probably would be a better deal'. Ouch! And hey, like a lawyer, a plumber can always dabble in politics."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Lasers, bubbles, edge-tracking, and Daft Punk are all pretty awesome in their own separate ways, but put together, they can put one one hell of a useless, random, but awesome show.

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With much of its information obscured it's hard to say what Google has planned for this new device revealed by its FCC filing, but the model number at least indicates someone has a sense of humor. Called an "H840 device" and rocking the model number H2G2-42 (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - 42, the ultimate answer to the question of life, the universe and everything) it has WiFi of the 802.11 b/g/n varieties, but that's all we know for sure. The natural question is whether this is a proper revamp of / follow up to the failed Nexus Q project, particularly with its appearance coming so closely after the unveiling of its Google Play Music All Access subscription. Of course, Google has no shortage of mysterious device projects in store, we're hopeful this one will reveal all of its secrets soon.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD, Google

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Source: TabletGuide.nl, FCC

Artist Rob Buden is itching to create epic oil paintings of vintage Star Wars action figures. How about a 10-foot Hoth scene in your living room? [Read more]