Technology

Stefan Kudelski poses with the Ampex-Nagra VPR-5 portable recorder in an undated photograph. The devices were used to record the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico.

Stefan Kudelski, Who Made Sound Recording Portable, Dies

2:29pm February 04, 2013

by April Fehling

Stefan Kudelski, inventor of the first portable professional sound recorder, has died. His Nagra tape recorder, created in 1951, revolutionized film by giving filmmakers the freedom to record scenes at virtually any location.

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A shop in Tahrir Square is spray-painted with the word "twitter" after the government shut off Internet access in February 2011 in Cairo, Egypt.

'Distant Witness': Social Media's 'Journalism Revolution'

2:22pm February 04, 2013

by NPR Staff

When protests broke out across North Africa and the Middle East, NPR senior strategist Andy Carvin followed the events in real time online. In his book Distant Witness, Carvin explains how he cultivated social media sources into a new form of journalism where people on the ground controlled the news.

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Science

Preserving Science News In An Online World

1:49pm February 01, 2013

How can journalists and bloggers avoid some of the pitfalls of communicating science in an online world? Should a website's comments section be moderated, or removed altogether? How has social media changed the blogosphere? A panel of experts joins Ira Flatow to discuss.

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A man sells surveillance cameras at the main electronics market in Tienhe district, Guangzhou, in southern China's Guangdong province, on Aug. 8.

World News

In China, The Government Isn't The Only Spy Game In Town

10:44am January 30, 2013

by Frank Langfitt

Increasingly, China's surveillance state has extended to include Chinese individuals spying on one another. Former journalist Qi Hong has helped ordinary citizens and government officials alike detect bugs and hidden cameras planted by others. In one year, his bug hunt turned up more than 300 devices for a hundred friends.

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The use of security cameras such as these, looking out over Tiananmen Square in Beijing, is on the rise in China. Critics say the government is using them to discourage dissidents.

World News

In China, Beware: A Camera May Be Watching You

8:16pm January 29, 2013

by Frank Langfitt

There are an estimated 20 million to 30 million surveillance cameras in China — or about one for every 43 people. Officials say the cameras help fight crime and maintain "social stability." But critics say the government uses them to monitor and intimidate dissidents.

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A salesperson demonstrates the Apple iPhone 4 in New Delhi, India. While mobile device use is growing rapidly in emerging markets, Apple's current product line may prove prohibitively expensive for many consumers.

As Developing World Goes Mobile, Can Apple Make The Sale?

6:23pm January 28, 2013

by Steve Henn

Up to 1 billion people in emerging markets will buy mobile phones in the coming years, and many will use them in lieu of a computer. While this might seem a natural opportunity for Apple, it may be a struggle for the tech giant to land these new customers.

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Data gleaned from e-readers gives writers a new kind of feedback to take into consideration — or ignore.

Books
Arts

E-Readers Track How We Read, But Is The Data Useful To Authors?

6:23pm January 28, 2013

by Lynn Neary

Data is being collected about your reading habits — what kind of books you read, whether or not you finish them. Publishers say the information could improve how books are written, but some novelists are skeptical.

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Google Explains How It Handles Police Requests For Users' Data

10:11am January 28, 2013

by Martin Kaste

For the first time, Google has posted its policies for when it gives up users' information to the government. It's part of a broader company strategy to push for tougher privacy laws.

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Science

Shakespeare's Sonnets, Encoded In DNA

1:00pm January 25, 2013

Reporting in Nature, researchers write of encoding a variety of files--jpg, mp3, txt and pdf--in strands of DNA. Lead author Nick Goldman says DNA is extraordinarily long-lasting, compared to today's hard drives and magnetic tapes. And if all the world's information were written in DNA, he says, it would fit in the back of a station wagon.

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A wave of racist tweets prompted a Jewish student organization to file a lawsuit asking the American company Twitter to reveal the identities of users sending anti-Semitic tweets. Twitter says data on users is collected and stocked in California, where Fr

World News

French Twitter Lawsuit Pits Free Speech Against Hate Speech

8:48pm January 22, 2013

by Eleanor Beardsley

A French judge will decide this week if Twitter must hand over the identities of users sending anti-Semitic tweets. The case, brought against Twitter by a Jewish student group, is a clash of legal cultures: U.S. free speech guarantees vs. European laws banning hate speech.

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