John Lister

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)

Elon Musk, the head of Tesla Motors and several other companies, has unveiled a design for a train that could get from Los Angeles to San Francisco in just half an hour. Musk described the solar-powered 'Hyperloop' train as a cross between a Concord ... jet and an air hockey table. Musk says he came up with the design because he was disappointed by the California government's plans to spend $68 billion on a more traditional high-speed rail link that would make the LA-San Francisco trip around two hours and forty minutes long. He argues that's too much time given the project's enormous cost. Musk' ... (view more)

Microsoft has unveiled new mouse and keyboard packages that feature special keys designed to make accessing Windows 8 features easier. The unusual-looking accessories are also designed to combat carpal tunnel syndrome and other injuries. The ... package, known as 'Sculpt Ergonomic', includes a mouse, a keyboard, and a separate number pad. The keyboard has a large wristpad, but the keys themselves are arranged in two blocks angled towards one another. The four rows of numbers and keys are split about a third of the way across (between the 6 and 7 keys, the T and Y keys, and so on), with a gap of ... (view more)

Fisher Price has been accused of producing misleading advertisements for 'educational' applications aimed at children. The allegations come from the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC). It has filed formal complaints with the Federal ... Trade Commission (FTC) against Fisher Price and Open Solutions. The CCFC says Fisher Price claims its 'Laugh and Learn' range of apps can help young children advance their math and language skills. Open Solutions makes similar claims about apps featuring reading and spelling challenges. According to the CCFC, "neither company offers any evidence to ... (view more)

Xerox has admitted that some of its scanners mix up numbers. It's a problem that could prove costly for business users. Surprisingly, the problem isn't related to optical character recognition, which turns a scanned document into text; instead, the ... mixed-up numbers are right there on the scanned image. David Kriesel, a computer scientist in Germany, discovered the problem when scanning construction documents. The documents Kriesel scanned were related to three rooms of different sizes. However, after making the scan Kriesel found the document showed all three rooms as the same size -- a clear ... (view more)