Digital Life

Rachel Star Withers says that video blogging about schizophrenia and depression has helped her manage the disorders.

Would You Tell The World You Have Schizophrenia On YouTube?

4:38pm January 27, 2016

by Angus Chen

Rachel Star Withers decided to let people know what was going on inside her head: the hallucinations, the voices. She says going public has helped her deal with schizophrenia and helps others, too.

Marvin Minsky, Who Pioneered Artificial Intelligence Research, Dies At 88

6:47pm January 26, 2016

NPR's Robert Siegel speaks to Ray Kurzweil, the inventor and futurist, and founder of Kurzweil Technologies, Inc., about Marvin Minsky. Minsky, who was a founding father of artificial intelligence, has died at the age of 88.

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For Some Schools, Learning Doesn't Stop On Snow Days

7:01am January 26, 2016

by Stan Jastrzebski

It doesn't matter if they get 3 inches or 3 feet of snow — schools in Indiana can bring students into a virtual classroom if their physical classrooms shut down.

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An image from a YouTube video shows a robot (right) that uses a computer to quickly analyze and solve a Rubik's Cube.

Don't Blink: Robot Solves Rubik's Cube In Just Over 1 Second

6:20pm January 25, 2016

by Bill Chappell

Some of the times registered by the robot built by two engineers in Kansas City are under 1.2 seconds; they'll go for a world record next week.

Presidential Campaigns Find Texting Key In Getting Out The Vote

4:13pm January 25, 2016

by Scott Detrow

A week before the Iowa caucuses, one strategy campaigns are going all in on is texting as a way to communicate with and mobilize supporters.

The Yik Yak app allows users to post anonymous messages, and to read anonymous messages posted in their current location.

Yik Yak Tests Universities' Defense Of Free Speech

6:12pm January 23, 2016

by Tasnim Shamma

The social media app allows users to post anonymous comments visible to others in the same area. It's become a breeding ground for racial and violent threats, and some colleges may ban the app.

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A new app based on Winston Churchill's tweak on Solitaire was designed with the help of Donald Rumsfeld.

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Tries His Hand At App Development

11:53am January 23, 2016

by Camila Domonoske

The former secretary of defense who grappled with "unknown unknowns" in the war in Iraq is back in the news. He worked with a team of developers to design a Winston Churchill-themed card game app.

Twitter's Support and other services were unavailable early Tuesday.

Twitter Goes Down Early Tuesday

12:46pm January 19, 2016

by Bill Chappell

The company hasn't provided details about what went wrong; some features such as search and direct messaging were still presenting problems Tuesday morning.

On Wikipedia's 15th Anniversary, A Look At The Most-Edited Entries

4:31pm January 15, 2016

Wikipedia has been online for 15 years. All Things Considered takes a look back at the site's most-edited entries.

The Cedid atlas was "the first Muslim-published world atlas based on European geographic knowledge and cartographic methods," the Library of Congress writes. The National Library of Norway just discovered a previously unknown copy in their collection, aft

Norway's National Library Discovers Rare Atlas — With A Little Help From Reddit

4:19pm January 15, 2016

by Camila Domonoske

The Cedid was one of the first printed atlases from the Muslim world. There were 14 known copies in existence — until a Norwegian reference librarian with a fondness for /r/MapPorn noticed something.