Tech News From AOL News

Active Topics:

Microsoft Corp Sarah Palin Google Inc Yahoo! Inc Sony Corp Apple Inc Arlen Specter

Facebook's New Privacy Guide Explained

one minute ago |Switched

ShareResponding to user backlash, Facebook today unveiled its overhauled Privacy Controls. On first look, it's a radically different set of tools with a redesign control setup than what you're used to. The now "classic" granular settings are still in place, but a new set of umbrella options lets you quickly change several options at once as a first line of privacy defense. The strategy appears to be centered on making users more comfortable with their sharing settings, while providing more control over their online profiles. History has shown us that Facebook changes like this are never easy, so while the changes won't roll out for a few weeks, read on to learn how to use the new controls when they arrive.

With DiddyBeats, Monster Cable Proves Itself the Place Old MCs Go to Die

one minute ago |Switched

Don't get it twisted. We have love for Puff Daddy. (Although not nearly enough to keep up with all these name changes. We knew Ol' Dirty Bastard, and you, sir, are no Ol' Dirty Bastard.) Undeniably, we have fond memories of the era when his pre-'Godzilla Soundtrack' summer jams dominated the airwaves. But, if we can't forgive the man behind one of rap's greatest groups and one of rap's greatest albums for his shoddily made, overpriced headphones, we sure can't overlook Puff Daddy's DiddyBeats for the sake of 'Mo Money Mo Problems.' (We did give a relatively positive review to Monster Cable's Beats by Dre a year or so ago, but that was before they totally crapped out a month or two later.) Might we suggest to Monster Cable that it take a little bit of that endorsement budget, and put it into making headphones? [From: Engadget]

IBM's Zombie Traffic Lights Could Control Your Car

1 hour 10 minutes ago |Switched

With hopes of preventing traffic accidents, IBM's latest patent could actually take control of your engine. As scary as that sounds, according to Engadget, the patent application is for a stoplight system that tells a car when to stop and go by sending remote signals to its engine. When you roll up to a red light, IBM would send a "stop-engine notification" to your vehicle. We're assuming there would be some override for emergencies, but the idea is that you can't go anywhere until IBM sends a "start-engine notification" to your vehicle. These green-light signals would be staggered over time, starting with the first car, then the second, and so on, to prevent fender benders.

While it's a neat idea, commuters don't exactly like the idea of somebody else controlling their cars, especially when there's the potential for hackers to exploit the system. Besides privacy and security concerns, many cities have a hard time keeping regular traffic lights in working order. We doubt many local governments will be keen on installing completely new, fancy, robotic lights at every intersection. [From: Engadget]

Valve Parodies Apple's '1984' Ad for 'Half-Life 2' Release

2 hours ago |Switched

Earlier this month, Valve's online game download service, Steam, became available for Mac OS X users. Since then, new games have been released each Wednesday, and this week, Valve decided to ramp up the hype for one of its most anticipated releases. As Mac Rumors reports, Valve created a teaser trailer for 'Half-Life 2' that parodies Apple's Macintosh Super Bowl commercial. Valve's extremely popular first-person shooter is coming to Steam for Mac users 6 years after the game's initial release.

Apple's original ad was, in fact, an homage to George Orwell's novel '1984' -- so Valve is being extra meta. Both feature a Big Brother-controlled future and a woman running from menacing foot soldiers in order to smash a large video screen with a blunt object. But the 'Half-Life 2' spot, obviously, is computer generated, while the Mac ad has a grainy, vintage look. Watch the original Mac ad here and the Valve take after the jump, and compare and contrast for yourself. [From: Mac Rumors]

Scientist Installs Virus-Infected RFID in His Body

2 hours 45 minutes ago |Switched

Dr. Mark Gasson, a senior researcher at the University of Reading, has become the first human to be 'infected' with a computer virus. Gasson embedded himself with an RFID tag, similar to those that are used to track pets, and willingly loaded it with malware. The experiment was meant to prove that computerized implants carry dangers as well as benefits.

Medical implants, such as pacemakers, are increasingly likely to be able to communicate with computers and machines outside the body. This makes it easier for doctors to monitor patients, but Gasson is concerned that it also leaves life-sustaining devices vulnerable to hackers and viruses.

The research has brought plenty of media attention to Gasson and the university, but not all of it is positive. Graham Cluly, a senior consultant at security firm Sophos, called the research "the very worst kind of scaremongering." While Cluly has acknowledged in a blog post that it is technically possible for a medical implant or RFID tag to be infected with malicious code, he has also said that it is highly unlikely and very difficult to accomplish. He points out that RFID tags normally have code read from them, not executed on them, so for such an attack to be effective, the device reading the tag's information would need to have a "serious security hole."

Facebook Overhauls Privacy Tools, Simplifies Controls

3 hours 27 minutes ago |Switched

ShareToday in Palo Alto, Mark Zuckerberg and crew unveiled a drastically reworked set of privacy controls for Facebook, prompted by weeks of backlash (including a push for the Federal Trade Commission to investigate). The changes, as discussed with Senator Chuck Schumer and other consumer advocacy and privacy groups, are designed to give users much tighter and simpler control over what they share and with whom.

In the coming days, Facebook will roll out a new one-control system that sets a default level of privacy for sharing with friends only, friends of friends, and everyone. In addition, the options for controlling what apps and sites have access to your information have been simplified, and a one-stop, full opt-out option has been added for the Instant Personalization features (as well as for apps and website sharing). Users will also have more granular control over information-sharing than they currently have, but those options have been condensed to a single page for simpler navigation. Any changes to your settings are effective retroactively, as well, hiding any information you've made public in the past, but wish you hadn't.

Video Game Movies Don't Work: A History, From Raul Julia to a Not-So-Persian Prince

4 hours 2 minutes ago |Switched

ShareProducers and directors, take note: the video game movie -- and the inevitable franchise that follows it -- will never succeed as a film. Sure, that may sound hyperbolic, especially since movies like 'Tombraider' and 'Pokémon' have had significant box office success, but the formula, as it is, it will never work.

At Switched, we are the video game generation. We grew up with NES, we cut school to procure 'Goldeneye,' and we are all buddies on Xbox Live or the PlayStation Network. Furthermore, we, like the rest of America, like a good, solid blockbuster. Poetry isn't needed, but an engaging story and maybe a character that makes us smile are. 'Iron Man' succeeded, and, hell, some of us cite 'The Dark Knight' as one of the best movies of the past ten years, so we have no problem with films that look to geekdom for inspiration. But video games, well, they are interactive. As participants, we guide, direct and connect with the character and their plight directly. The player becomes the avatar, allowing us to connect directly to the game. This means, as blockbusters like the 'Final Fantasy' series have demonstrated, a certain suspension of disbelief is possible. And that's necessary, because even though the gameplay is great and you've been snuggling up to the character for 30 hours, the plot -- if not flimsy in the first place -- only becomes more convoluted and hard to follow.

So, here is a thesis. The cinematic history of the video game adaptation has been appalling. Its evolution has occurred in phases, with each one being more heinous than the last. The current phase is no exception to that rule, as evidenced by the steaming pile of horse bile that is 'Prince of Persia.' We'll point out what went wrong, and perhaps how, if ever, these movie mistakes can be remedied.
Next >>

GOP's 'America Speaking Out' Tries (Fails?) to Bring Online Voting to Public Policy

4 hours 52 minutes ago |Switched

The Republican effort to allow its rank and file members to craft the party's platform has officially launched in the form of America Speaking Out, built on top of Microsoft's Town Hall platform. Users can sign up directly with America Speaking Out or use Facebook Connect to log on. Once a member, you're only a few mouse clicks away from wielding influence over what issues and policies will form the foundation of the 2010 Republican party platform -- at least, theoretically.

Users are supposed to submit, vote for or against, and critique ideas. Unfortunately, the site is so slow and buggy it is completely unusable. We're not sure whether the GOP's IT department or Microsoft itself is at fault here, but few of the features work as advertised. Voting took several clicks to register, if it did at all. Page load times ranged from 20 to 30 seconds (even though they contained only a handful of submissions, and even fewer comments). Often, the site froze for several seconds at a time.

Biofuel Cells Power Pacemakers With Sugar and Air

5 hours 42 minutes ago |Switched

ShareEveryone's worried about energy, right? Whether it's the thought of a peak-oil catastrophe (while a zillion gallons fester in the Gulf), or just an ecological desire to go green, we've become a country that frets about our future power sources. And what about pacemakers, or artificial kidneys? We can't very well expect those to go solar, but it turns out that a sugary diet might be able to fuel the medical devices that keep you going.

Researchers at Joseph Fourier University in Grenoble, France have successfully implanted the first glucose-based biofuel cell (GBFC) in an animal. Current devices operate on batteries, which must be surgically removed when they run out of juice. Not so with these GBFCs, which are about the size of a couple of pennies stuck back-to-back (much smaller than current batteries). The graphite-based cell is wrapped in a clear dialysis bag, and contains on each side different enzymes that digest oxygen from air and sugar from food, respectively. As the enzymes break down those molecules, they create an electrical charge.

Droid Shadow Caught in a Verizon Gym, Google's Pac-Man Eats Productivity

6 hours 30 minutes ago |Switched

Highlights from this morning's other big tech headlines.... Apple's numerous gadget leaks have earned the company more than a month's worth of high-profile media attention. Apparently feeling somewhat overlooked, Verizon and Motorola just joined the lost gadget fray; the next incarnation of the Droid, the Droid Shadow, has mysteriously appeared. The device was reportedly left in a Verizon company gym (which sounds a little better than a public watering hole), and features 16 gigabytes of memory, an 8-megapixel camera and a 4.3-inch screen. [From: Laptop Mag] Google's playable 'Pac-man' has sparked a Web frenzy of procrastination. The site's homage, in honor of the seminal game's 30th anniversary, has created such a fever that people apparently logged 4,819,352 hours playing the game. That reportedly equates to $120 million in lost productivity, and, by our own estimation, a whole lot of quarters. [From: Neatorama] The Foxconn factory in China, which produces numerous Apple gadgets, recently experienced its ninth employee suicide, and an undercover intern just released a video depicting an oppressive working environment. Apple has finally responded to the devastating events, stating in a press release, "[We are] independently evaluating the steps they are taking to address these tragic events and we will continue our ongoing inspections of the facilities where our products are made." [From: Daily Tech] A massive, and seemingly coordinated, assault crippled the Media Temple Web-hosting service yesterday for over two hours. The distributed denial-of-service attacks originated in numerous countries, prompting Media Temple to block traffic from Asia, South America and Mexico. The company, which provides services for a variety of major companies including Adobe, ABC, NBC, Sony, Volkswagen and Starbucks, stated that its "network health is normalizing." [From: CNET] Facebook's unceasing changes and privacy issues continue to foster public mistrust, as certain demographics have lost interest in the site, politicians have used it for negative campaigning and some nations have even blocked access to it. Overall traffic reportedly remains incredibly high, though, as Comscore attests that usage escalated from 411 million users last September to 519.1 million as of April. Zuckerberg must be hiding a golden horseshoe somewhere. [From: Bloomberg] Apple's business practices frequently inspire complaints about unfair advantages. The Justice Department is now reportedly investigating Apple in regards to antitrust issues. The inquiry concerns allegations that Apple used its standing to influence record companies not to provide rival Amazon with early and exclusive rights to song releases. [From: The New York Times]

Microsoft Shakeup Finds Xbox and Devices Chiefs Retiring

7 hours 22 minutes ago |Switched

A changing of the guard will soon take place in Microsoft's gaming and mobile divisions. Kotaku confirmed yesterday that J. Allard (above, right), who has served both as Chief Experience Officer and as Chief Technology Officer of Entertainment and Devices Division, and Robbie Bach (above, left), who has been President of Entertainment and Devices Division, will both retire from the company this fall. In short, this news means that two of the main men who helped to make Microsoft a gaming giant through its Xbox brand and pushed the Windows OS onto mobile phones will no longer be with the company.

CEO Steve Ballmer, who made the surprising announcement in a memo to employees, says executives Don Mattrick and Andy Lees will report directly to him on all gaming and mobile matters starting July 1st. Apparently, it's part of a larger reorganizing effort within the company that will continue through the end of the year. While Ballmer praised Allard and Bach, this announcement smells like a firing to us. After all, according to a Reuters report on MSNBC, Windows appears on just 10-percent of the smartphones around the globe. Plus, as Geekosystem points out, Microsoft's Courier tablet, which was Allard's pet project, was canceled about a month ago. Allard, however, claims that development had nothing to do with his decision, and in an eloquent goodbye note, he speaks of focusing on the 5-percent of his life not consumed by Microsoft.

Moon Zoo Crowdsources 'Citizen Scientists' to Map the Moon

8 hours 12 minutes ago |Switched

It's not quite as good as walking on it, but amateur space enthusiasts can now help scientists learn more about the moon by studying detailed, super high-resolution photographs. In fact, the pictures transmitted by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) are so fine and multitudinous that there is simply too much information for scientists to handle.
According to NPR, Oxford University astrophysicist Chris Lintott has created a website for people who want to study pictures of the moon's surface, lending a hand to science and earning some geek cred in return. By signing up at Moonzoo.org and watching a few tutorial videos, anybody can research the moon. Lintott is asking volunteers to point out boulders, measure the width of craters and document any other objects, like space debris, that might appear in the photographs. Lintott says the resulting data is "as good as you would get from an expert."