The entertainment industry claims it has file-sharing sites on the run. But Sweden-based torrent tracker The Pirate Bay says it isn't going anywhere. And there's a national movement behind the site. By Ann Harrison.
A twist on evolutionary computation called the "hunch engine" promises to let computers produce everything from more-attractive photos to new pharmaceutical candidates, one nudge at a time. By Quinn Norton.
Some game designers are discarding "heads-up displays," trying to create a more immersive environment by providing game data such as a player's health and ammo levels using subtler hints that are truer to life. Big mistake. Commentary by Clive Thompson.
A competition that pits entrants against each other to recite poetry, playing-card order and strings of numbers shows memory can be improved with practice. By Rachel Metz.
Gordon Moore worries that corporate R&D today is more about profit margins than innovation, but was it ever any different? By Frank Rose from Wired magazine.
Some people can't be electricians or pilots because they can't detect colors. A new software program from a defense contractor may help colorblind people see graphs on a computer screen or make sense of a weather map.
A New York school program teaches high-school students about data protection, firewalls and forensics, as well as ethical and legal aspects of security. It's set to go statewide next year.
At assisted-living facilities, health kiosks measure vital signs. In rural areas, clinics use telemedicine to check on folks in isolated areas during winter months. The adjunct to face-to-face medical care is on the rise in several states.
Rumor is another media event is in the pipeline from Apple for its 30th anniversary on April 1, to introduce new iBooks and some kinda iPod iteration. In Cult of Mac.
How Porsche and Lotus re-engineered small, street-legal engines to rival the world's most expensive sports cars in raw power for a fraction of the price. (No, that doesn't make them cheap. But it does make them cool.) Bruce Gain reports from Geneva, Switzerland.
Government officials and Dionysian geeks hang out at an all-night freak fest in Sin City, all in the name of national security. By Chris Anderson from Wired magazine.
A webcam chat administrator gives guidance on how to be a lover, not a loser, in adult chat. Commentary by Regina Lynn. This column is available as a .
New images from NASA's space probe Cassini -- launched eight years ago -- reveal evidence of liquid water just beneath the surface of a Saturn moon. This unique discovery could be the most promising advance in finding life on other planets.
When we share photos on Flickr, our faces -- and our lives -- are ripe for mashing. But does that mean that we give up the rights to our own intellectual property? Commentary by Michael Calore. In Webmonkey.
Shawn O'Keefe, a coordinator of SXSW Interactive, talks with Bryan Zilar about how online communities and Web 2.0 technologies are changing the face of the festival. In Webmonkey. Also available as a <img
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The U.S. government puts a lot of stock in the theory that computers programmed to sift through mountains of private consumer data can spot terrorists hidden in our midst. Too bad it can't work. Commentary by Bruce Schneier.
An adult-oriented internet billing firm linked by security experts to a massive data spill says it's analyzed the stolen database, and the entries don't match up with the company's consumer info at all. By Quinn Norton.
Changes in the sea -- possibly the result of human meddling -- spawn diseases that claim the lives of sea lions, manatees and dolphins. Scientists warn the illnesses could hit humans on land. By Randy Dotinga.
It's never been easier to assemble a versatile personal video recorder, but the entertainment industry is scheming to make DIY boxes less useful. One reporter tries building a homebrew TiVo clone. By Ryan Singel.