John Lister

Facebook is planning to use profile pictures to automatically recognize users when they appear in photos taken by somebody else. The firm has also made it clear to users that it has every right to use members' pictures in its own advertisements ... without compensating them in any way. The proposed changes are detailed in a Facebook post that, following a court order, more clearly explains how the site uses data from its users. Facebook already uses facial recognition software but in a more limited manner. Once you have been "tagged" in a photograph (that is, somebody has labeled you as being one ... (view more)

A University of Washington scientist has transmitted his own thoughts over the Internet in order to make another man's finger move. But he insists this breakthrough isn't quite Star Trek-style Vulcan mind control. The project is designed to explore ... the way the brain operates with electrical signals. (Source: washington.edu ) Professor Rajesh Rao wore a special cap that monitors the electrical signals, or brainwaves, in the skull. Although he didn't physically move, he imagined moving his finger. To make the thought "more powerful", he did so while looking at a computer screen showing a video ... (view more)

Hackers thought to be loyal to the Assad Syrian government have seized control of The New York Times website and have disrupted Twitter service. It seems they've adopted a new hacking tactic that requires advanced technical skills. The hacking ... appears to be the work of the Syrian Electronic Army hacking group, which supports the Assad regime. Analysts are split over whether the group is officially working on behalf of the government or is simply made up of sympathetic members. (Source: slate.com ) In the past the group has attacked media sites by using phishing tactics, which involve sending ... (view more)

Several high-profile online services, including Netflix, have been temporarily unavailable due to a problem at Amazon. It's another demonstration of the risks involved in having so many sites dependent on a single service provider. The problem took ... place on Sunday, August 25, and affected movie site Netflix and photo service site Instagram. Other affected sites included video sharing site Vine and vacation rental service Airbnb. These sites were either intermittently unresponsive or completely inaccessible. (Source: techspot.com ) The problem: Amazon's cloud services system was experiencing ... (view more)

Researchers in the United States have developed a tool that can help you get more balanced political information on the Internet. But it's not yet proven that it can change your mind. The idea is to counter the "echo chamber" effect. The theory is ... that people tend to look at online news sources and follow social media users who share their own views and attitudes. As a result, people tend to see a similar viewpoint all of the time, in turn reinforcing their prejudices and meaning they never have to see material that might challenge their stance. Over the long term, they get the false ... (view more)

Researchers in the Middle East say Twitter could be a useful tool in predicting violent riots. The Qatar Computing Research Institute says that although you can't read too much into a single 'tweet' from a single user, when you gather the data from ... thousands of users you can detect certain trends. By piecing that data together, researchers say they can predict when and where violence will occur. To test the theory, the Qatar researchers developed what they call the 'Political Polarization Index'. They analyzed all Twitter posts by Egyptian users and gave each user a rating between 0 and 1 ... (view more)

Both Google and Amazon experienced significant outages a few days ago, and the ripple-effect these issues have caused has been no less than astounding. Amazon's site went down for somewhere between 20 and 45 minutes on Monday, August 19, 2013. Only ... the amazon.com and amazon.ca sites, aimed at US and Canadian visitors, were affected. Other Amazon national sites, along with some specialist sites the company owns, remained online. Sources estimate the outage cost Amazon almost $5 million. That's based on the length of the outage and the average amount of money the company makes in sales every ... (view more)

People who regularly use social networking site Facebook are prone to negative feelings, a new study finds. But there's some question over the cause and effect involved. Researchers at the University of Michigan studied 82 Facebook users with an ... average age of 19 to 20. The researchers started by asking the subjects a series of questions to check their levels of self-esteem and / or depression. They then sent the subjects a text message five times each day over a two-week period. (Source: plosone.org ) The message linked to a survey that asked the subjects whether they felt positive or ... (view more)

A Google court filing says users of its Gmail service and their contacts have no right to expect privacy. It's a controversial position that will undoubtedly catch the attention of privacy-minded consumers and Google's main rival, Microsoft. The ... filing is a response to a class action lawsuit brought by action group Consumer Watchdog, which has complained about the way Google automatically scans emails and uses the contents to decide which advertisements to show a Gmail user when he or she logs in to the site. The case focuses on Gmail users and the terms and conditions they agree to before ... (view more)

Samsung has developed a 3D HDTV set that allows two people to watch different shows -- in full screen mode -- at the same time. The feature uses active 3D glasses, which work by alternating between showing frames designed for the left eye and the ... right eye. The individual lenses have filters that block the light from getting through and these filters switch on and off so that you always see the intended frame at any moment. Your brain then combines the two differing sets of information coming into your eyes to create a 3D picture. Different Glasses Show Different Pictures The Samsung ... (view more)