Ars Technica (via Mowser)

BrailleTouch keyboard allows typing on a phone without looking

Published February 17, 2012 8:10 PM - by Ryan Paul | Posted in: Gear & Gadgets

Researchers at Georgia Tech have developed a chorded text input system for touchscreen devices that allows users to type without looking at the screen.

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ITC hands Apple another patent win against HTC

Published February 17, 2012 5:00 PM - by Jacqui Cheng | Posted in: Infinite Loop

The International Trade Commission has dismissed HTC's original complaint against Apple, saying that it found no patent violations.

Comment (35)

Malicious backdoor in open-source messaging apps not spotted for 3 months

Published February 17, 2012 4:05 PM - by Dan Goodin | Posted in: Uptime

If you downloaded one of three messaging apps from the Horde Project's FTP server between November and February, you may be wide open to attacks. It's not the first time a trusted developer of open-source software has been hacked.

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A flag no more: Microsoft unveils new Windows logo

Published February 17, 2012 3:47 PMLast updated February 17, 2012 4:08 PM - by Peter Bright | Posted in: One Microsoft Way

Microsoft has unveiled the new Windows 8 logo. Gone is the flag motif, replaced by, er, a window.

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Nanopore tech brings rackmounted genome machines, USB-based DNA sensors

Published February 17, 2012 3:22 PMLast updated February 17, 2012 3:44 PM - by John Timmer | Posted in: Nobel Intent

Oxford Nanopore has announced it will be selling its rackmounted DNA sequencing machines this year, adding to the competition for fast, cheap genomes.

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Android 5 rumored for Q2 launch, could potentially converge with Chrome OS

Published February 17, 2012 2:43 PM - by Ryan Paul | Posted in: Gear & Gadgets

DigiTimes reports that sources in the supply chain have indicated that Android 5, codenamed Jelly Bean, could launch in the second quarter of 2012. The report also says that it will have "Chrome system functions" built in.

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Litigation between SCO and IBM to resume

Published February 17, 2012 12:45 PMLast updated February 17, 2012 1:08 PM - by Ryan Paul | Posted in: Law & Disorder

The litigation between SCO and IBM, which was stayed by the courts during SCO's bankruptcy proceedings, has been reactivated and will now continue.

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Mac developers: Gatekeeper is a concern, but still gives power users control

Published February 17, 2012 11:30 AMLast updated February 17, 2012 12:38 PM - by Chris Foresman | Posted in: Infinite Loop

Developers will have hundreds of new APIs to dig into with Mountain Lion, but the big topic of discussion is whether the new Gatekeeper security system is a step in the right direction or just another step toward locked-down Macs.

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Anonymous Antisec hackers break into and bring down FTC website

Published February 17, 2012 11:05 AMLast updated February 17, 2012 11:28 AM - by Sean Gallagher | Posted in: Uptime

Hackers defaced the websites of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, posting an anti-ACTA message, and protesting the FTC's lack of action on Google's changes in privacy policies.

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Google hit with FTC complaint, says circumventing Safari privacy features accidental

Published February 17, 2012 10:50 AMLast updated February 17, 2012 11:07 AM - by Jon Brodkin | Posted in: Law & Disorder

Google has disabled functionality that let it install advertising cookies on Safari by circumventing the browser's default privacy settings. But Google faces an FTC complaint for forcing users to share more information.

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Your questions and answers about Messages beta on the Mac

Published February 17, 2012 10:22 AMLast updated February 17, 2012 12:37 PM - by Jacqui Cheng | Posted in: Infinite Loop

Lion users are eager to try out the new Messages beta that lets them send and receive iMessages from the Mac. We received a number of questions after the app became available on Thursday, so here are the answers to some of the most common ones.

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Location tracking of GSM cellphones: now easier (and cheaper) than ever

Published February 17, 2012 8:47 AMLast updated February 17, 2012 10:57 AM - by Dan Goodin | Posted in: Uptime

GSM networks leak unique identifiers of cellphones for anyone to see. A team of computer scientists has figured out how exploit the weakness to glean key information about the mobile device's location.

Comment (22)

Preorders begin for Spark, the open KDE tablet

Published February 17, 2012 2:39 AMLast updated February 17, 2012 3:09 PM - by Ryan Paul | Posted in: Gear & Gadgets

Preoders for the Spark tablet opened today at the Make Play Live website. The open device will ship with KDE's Plasma Active shell.

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The Vita game guide: impressions of 14 launch titles

Published February 16, 2012 8:00 PMLast updated February 17, 2012 9:00 AM - by Kyle Orland | Posted in: Opposable Thumbs

We take a look at 14 titles from the Vita's launch lineup, giving you our thoughts on whether they're worth your time and money

A neutron star that's a fast particle accelerator may lie at the heart of the Crab Nebula

Published February 16, 2012 5:00 PM - by Matthew Francis | Posted in: Nobel Intent

The pulsar in the Crab Nebula may be one of the most studied examples of its kind, but we still can't explain all the details of its high-energy emissions. A new model suggests that it can accelerate particles more quickly than we'd expected.

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Takedowns run amok? The strange Secret Service/GoDaddy assault on JotForm (updated)

Published February 16, 2012 4:44 PMLast updated February 16, 2012 5:40 PM - by Nate Anderson | Posted in: Law & Disorder

When the Secret Service asked GoDaddy to suspend the domain of a major online forms site yesterday, the company agreed—and a significant online business was suddenly damaged without notice and without being charged with a crime. What is going on with the US domain name takedown process?

Comment (161)

Older Macs voted off the Mountain Lion island

Published February 16, 2012 4:23 PM - by Jacqui Cheng | Posted in: Infinite Loop

Are you the type of Mac user who likes to hold onto old hardware? If so, you may want to check the compatibility list for OS X Mountain Lion before deciding whether to pay for an upgrade.

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Google has released Dartium, a Chromium build with a Dart VM

Published February 16, 2012 3:56 PM - by Ryan Paul | Posted in: Uptime

Google has announced the availability of Dartium, a new Chromium build that has an integrated Dart virtual machine.

Comment (36)

Oracle claims new MySQL Cluster does 1 billion queries per minute—in NoSQL

Published February 16, 2012 3:20 PM - by Sean Gallagher | Posted in: Uptime

Using the DBT2 flexAsynch benchmark, Oracle's MySQL team claimed an 8x performance boost over the previous version of MySQL Cluster. But just how it measures up against NoSQL contenders is unclear.

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Floppy Bose Einstein condensates oscillate free of theory

Published February 16, 2012 2:45 PMLast updated February 16, 2012 8:27 PM - by Chris Lee | Posted in: Nobel Intent

It turns out that the density of a Bose Einstein condensate fluctuates in a pretty strange way that existing theories don't describe well at all. Physicists show that these fluctuations might make an excellent thermometer.

Comment (11)

Hands-on with iMessage beta on the desktop: a good start with beta bugs

Published February 16, 2012 2:08 PMLast updated February 16, 2012 2:51 PM - by Jacqui Cheng | Posted in: Infinite Loop

It has only been four months since Apple rolled out iMessage as part of iOS 5, but the company released a beta version of its remade Messages app on Thursday that brings iMessage to the Mac desktop. Ars went hands-on and liked what we saw, even if we did find some serious (and not so serious) bugs.

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Slide for injunction: Apple wins against Motorola over "slide-to-unlock" in Germany

Published February 16, 2012 1:50 PM - by Chris Foresman | Posted in: Infinite Loop

Apple can now stop sales of Motorola's Android handsets in Germany for too closely copying the iPhone's "slide-to-unlock" feature.

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Exotic XSS bug in Adobe Flash controlled users' Web accounts

Published February 16, 2012 1:34 PMLast updated February 16, 2012 3:16 PM - by Dan Goodin | Posted in: Uptime

Universal cross-site scripting bugs are "kind of rare and extremely powerful." Adobe squashed one in its widely used Flash media player, but only after reports it was exploited in real-world attacks.

Comment (7)

New Max Payne 3 trailer shows a game that's Payne in name only

Published February 16, 2012 12:13 PMLast updated February 16, 2012 12:46 PM - by Kyle Orland | Posted in: Opposable Thumbs

Even though Max Payne is right there in the title of the upcoming Max Payne 3, it's hard to consider the game anything but a completely new franchise, given the dramatic changes to the character and story shown in a new trailer.

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Is Megaupload "a lot less guilty than you think?"

Published February 16, 2012 12:00 PM - by Timothy B. Lee | Posted in: Law & Disorder

In past coverage, we've suggested that Megaupload CEO Kim Dotcom and his associates face long odds in court. But at least one prominent legal observer argues the government's case is weaker than it looks. Ars investigates.

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Load more stories

BrailleTouch keyboard allows typing on a phone without looking

ITC hands Apple another patent win against HTC

Malicious backdoor in open-source messaging apps not spotted for 3 months

A flag no more: Microsoft unveils new Windows logo

Nanopore tech brings rackmounted genome machines, USB-based DNA sensors

Android 5 rumored for Q2 launch, could potentially converge with Chrome OS

Litigation between SCO and IBM to resume

Mac developers: Gatekeeper is a concern, but still gives power users control

Anonymous Antisec hackers break into and bring down FTC website

Google hit with FTC complaint, says circumventing Safari privacy features accidental

Your questions and answers about Messages beta on the Mac

Location tracking of GSM cellphones: now easier (and cheaper) than ever

Preorders begin for Spark, the open KDE tablet

The Vita game guide: impressions of 14 launch titles

A neutron star that's a fast particle accelerator may lie at the heart of the Crab Nebula

Takedowns run amok? The strange Secret Service/GoDaddy assault on JotForm (updated)

Older Macs voted off the Mountain Lion island

Google has released Dartium, a Chromium build with a Dart VM

Oracle claims new MySQL Cluster does 1 billion queries per minute—in NoSQL

Floppy Bose Einstein condensates oscillate free of theory

Hands-on with iMessage beta on the desktop: a good start with beta bugs

Slide for injunction: Apple wins against Motorola over "slide-to-unlock" in Germany

Exotic XSS bug in Adobe Flash controlled users' Web accounts

New Max Payne 3 trailer shows a game that's Payne in name only

Is Megaupload "a lot less guilty than you think?"

The Vita game guide: impressions of 14 launch titles

High Orbits and Slowlorises: understanding the Anonymous attack tools

From encryption to darknets: As governments snoop, activists fight back

A new standard in design: in-depth with the PlayStation Vita

Step 1: give every kid a laptop. Step 2: learning begins?

Don't panic? Windows 8 and the "ribbonification" of Explorer

Can porn be copyrighted? One file-sharing defendant says no

The Great Disk Drive in the Sky: How Web giants store big—and we mean big—data

Mega-man: The fast, fabulous, fraudulent life of Megaupload's Kim Dotcom

Maniac Tentacle Mindbenders: How ScummVM's unpaid coders kept adventure gaming alive

etc

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