Technology

National

Is All The Talk About Cyberwarfare Just Hype?

10:00am March 15, 2013

by Tom Gjelten

U.S. officials and security experts regularly highlight the cyberthreat, but they also note that the prospects of a major cyberattack are remote. Cyberespionage and "nuisance" cyberattacks may be a problem now, but all-out cyberwar is not.

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Google employees play chess at the company's Russian headquarters in Moscow. Experts say tech companies are using "serendipitous interaction" in their workplace design to promote idea sharing and communication between employees.

'Serendipitous Interaction' Key To Tech Firms' Workplace Design

6:44pm March 13, 2013

by Steve Henn

Executives have recently focused attention on Silicon Valley's workplace culture. While companies like Google, Facebook and Yahoo operate by their own set of rules, what happens there may influence how many Americans work. The key components? Interactive learning and fun, one expert says.

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A screenshot shows game designer Mike Mika's Donkey Kong: Pauline Edition he created for his daughter show she could play as a female hero.

Dad's 'Donkey Kong' Hack Recasts Female As Hero For Daughter

6:42pm March 12, 2013

by Steve Mullis

In an industry full of damsels in distress, game designer Mike Mika hacked the classic game to let his 3-year-old play as the female hero. His story is becoming part of a larger conversation about gender roles in the video game industry. But Mika says he didn't set out to push a feminist agenda or statement.

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Researchers found that exposure to uncivil comments can polarize opinion on news issues.

Science

The 'Nasty Effect': How Comments Color Comprehension

5:56pm March 12, 2013

by NPR Staff

At its best, the Web is a place for unlimited exchange of ideas. But the uncivil discourse that unfolds in comments sections can be poisonous. A study in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication suggests that rude comments on articles can change the way we interpret the news.

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Noah Zandan shows off his Zeo sleep-tracking headband. His other self-tracking devices are on his wrists. Noah and his father, Peter, are both part of the growing "Quantified Self" movement.

Self-Tracking Apps To Help You 'Quantify' Yourself

11:11am March 12, 2013

by Elise Hu

Technology is making it easier than ever to track everything from your sleep cycles to the food you eat — and even your amino acid levels.

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Op-Ed: We Need More Aaron Swartz-Style Hacktivism

3:58pm March 11, 2013

When Internet activist Aaron Swartz committed suicide, he faced federal charges for illegally downloading and releasing articles from JSTOR, the digital library of academic journals. Northwestern University professor Peter Ludlow says Swartz was right to fight for public access to scholarship.

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Op-Ed: There's An App For Everything, And That's A Problem

2:58pm March 11, 2013

Technology companies are constantly developing new apps and tools to make our lives easier. In an op-ed for The New York Times Evgeny Morozov, author of To Save Everything, Click Here, argues that Silicon Valley's quest for perfectionism is problematic.

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Economy

The Life Cycle Of A Social Network: Keeping Friends In Times Of Change

12:32pm March 08, 2013

by Steve Henn

Facebook has unveiled a redesign of its News Feed, but any social network knows that drastic changes come with risks. Just look at Friendster, a site that fizzled after changes to the interface and a subsequent exodus made it less valuable to users.

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Rats share information via brain implants, say researchers.

Science

Researchers Connect Rats' Minds Via Internet

3:31pm March 01, 2013

by Bill Chappell

An experiment that used rats to create a "brain-to-brain interface" shows that instructions can be transferred between animals via cortical implants, according to scientists. The research could help create "novel types of social interaction and for biological computing devices," says Miguel Nicolelis of Duke University.

Science

Robert Langer, Father Of Invention

1:03pm March 01, 2013

Biotech pioneer Robert Langer has over 800 patents to his name and has launched two dozen companies, which develop everything from tumor-fighting nanoparticles to anti-frizz hair products. Yet Langer says his proudest accomplishment is teaching some 500 students and post-docs, now professors and start-up leaders themselves.

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