alphadogg writes "The Federal Communications Commission has released a map showing which counties across the U.S. lacked coverage from either 3G or 4G networks and found that wide swaths of the western half of the country were 3G wastelands, particularly in mountainous states such as Idaho and Nevada. This isn't particularly surprising since it's much more difficult for carriers to afford building out mobile data networks in sparsely populated mountainous regions, but it does underscore how large stretches of the United States lack access to mobile data services that people in the Northeast, South and Midwest now take for granted."
First time accepted submitter rolakyng writes "I got a call from a recruiter looking for software test engineer. I'm a software engineer and my job is development and testing. I know I mentioned testing but I'm pretty sure it's totally different from professional testing practices. Can anyone shed light on what a software test engineer's day to day responsibilities are? They said they'll call me back for a screening and I want to be ready for it. Any tips?"
An anonymous reader writes "In the Stanford Law Review Online, authors Frankel, Brookover & Satterfield discuss an ongoing lawsuit against Facebook where plaintiffs claimed the social network's 'Sponsored Stories,' displaying advertisements on Facebook including 'the names and pictures of users who have "Liked" a product,' violated the law. Facebook responded by asserting that '(1) Plaintiffs are "public figures" to their friends, and (2) "expressions of consumer opinion" are generally newsworthy.' The authors discuss the substantial impact this case might have on online privacy going forward: 'The implications are significant and potentially far-reaching. The notion that every person is famous to his or her "friends" would effectively convert recognizable figures within any community or sphere, however small, into individuals whose lives may be fair game for the ever-expanding (social) media. If courts are willing to find that nontraditional subjects (such as Facebook users) are public figures in novel contexts (such as social media websites), First Amendment and newsworthiness protections likely will become more vigorous as individual privacy rights weaken. Warren and Brandeis's model of privacy rights, intended to prevent media attention to all but the most public figures, will have little application to all but the most private individuals.'"
An anonymous reader writes "A skin cancer drug may rapidly reverse pathological, cognitive and memory deterioration associated with Alzheimer's disease, according to new research published on Thursday. Bexarotene, a drug that is currently used to combat T cell lymphoma, appeared to reverse plaque buildup and improve memory in the brains of mice with Alzheimer's disease by reducing levels of beta-amyloid plaques in the brain that cause mental deficits in Alzheimer's disease."
New submitter linjaaho writes "I work as lecturer in a polytechnic. I think traditional exams are not measuring the problem-solving skills of engineering students, because in normal job you can access the internet and literature when solving problems. And it is frustrating to make equation collections and things like that. It would be much easier and more practical to just let the students use the internet to find information for solving problems. The problem: how can I let the students access the internet and at same time make sure that it is hard enough to cheat, e.g. ask for ready solution for a problem from a site like Openstudy, or help via IRC or similar tool from another student taking the exam? Of course, it is impossible to make it impossible to cheat, but how to make cheating as hard as in traditional exams?"
thecarchik writes "The new, all-electric Tesla Model X crossover, which was introduced on stage by Tesla CEO Elon Musk (also the man behind SpaceX), isn't exactly a step toward the mass market. But it does take on premium utility vehicles with three rows of seating for up to seven, better maneuverability than a Mini Cooper, and a 0-60 mph time of just 4.4 seconds—that's faster than a Porsche 911, Musk jeered. But the real oohs and ahs of the evening came when Musk showed the Model X's much-anticipated 'falcon doors' — essentially gullwing rear doors, behind normal hinged front doors." The expected price before tax-credit shenanigans? $60,000-$90,000.
itwbennett writes "As details about new features in Windows 8 started to be discussed in the Building 8 blog and bandied about in Linux/Windows forums, Linux users were quick to chime in with a hearty 'Linux had that first' — even for things that were just a natural evolution, like native support for USB 3.0. So ask not 'did Linux have this first', but 'does Windows 8 do it better?'"
Sparrowvsrevolution writes "Ahead of the anniversary of Iran's revolution, the country's government has locked down its already-censored Internet, blocking access to many services and in some cases cutting off all encrypted traffic on the Web of the kind used by secure email, social networking and banking sites. In response, the information-freedom-focused Tor Project is testing a new tool it's calling 'obfsproxy,' or obfuscated proxy, which aims to make SSL or TLS traffic appear to be unencrypted traffic like HTTP or instant messaging data. While the tool currently only disguises SSL as the SOCKS protocol, in future versions it will aim to disguise encrypted traffic as any protocol the user chooses. Tor executive director Andrew Lewman says the idea is to 'make your Ferrari look like a Toyota by putting an actual Toyota shell over the Ferrari.'" Reader bonch adds: "A thread on Hacker News provides first-hand accounts as well as workarounds."
First time accepted submitter willodotcom writes "Germany has joined Latvia, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia in delaying their signing of ACTA, citing 'time to carry out further discussions' as the reason."
lukehopewell1 writes "IMAX Sydney has replaced its screen — the largest in the world — at a cost of $250,000. Weighing over 800 kilograms, painting the screen took over 12 days and 350 kilograms of paint. Lifting the massive screen and installing it took a year of planning and 31 riggers. A neat photo gallery is included so you can get an idea of just how big a job this was."
itwbennett writes "A report from viaForensics makes clear that, despite efforts by Google to tighten up security after a poor evaluation in December, Google Wallet still stores data in too many places and could make it available too easily to be a secure way to make purchases using smartphones."
Zothecula writes "Some readers might remember the Mr. Fusion unit in Back to the Future that Doc Brown fills with household garbage, including a banana peel and some beer, to power the iconic time-traveling DeLorean. While we're still some way from such direct means of running our cars on table scraps, researchers at Fraunhofer have developed a pilot plant that ferments the waste from wholesale fruit and veg markets, cafeterias and canteens to make methane, which can be used to power vehicles."
karthikmns writes "It turns out that Google uses the number of o's in a lol to weigh how funny a video is. In a blog post Google explains how they came up with an algorithm to gauge a video's comedic potential. So if you want to watch funnier videos, make sure to add some extra o's or help them by visiting their Comedy Slam and voting."
ackthpt writes "Sir Tim Berners-Lee traveled to a courtroom in East Texas to give his testimony on how, if upheld, the Eolas Technologies & University of California patent on Web Interactivity could prove to be a major threat to the Internet as it's known today. The Jury deliberated only a few hours before invalidating the patent in question. In a victory Tweet Berners-Lee said, 'Texas jury agreed Eolas 906 patent invalid. Good thing too!' Google, Amazon, Apple, Adobe and a host of other companies, with representatives present, must have given a Texas-size sigh of relief."
Mitten in Zürich werkeln acht Jungs an der Zukunft der Videospiele. Das Zauberwort heisst «Location Based Gaming» - die Vermischung von realer und spielerischer Welt. Verwirrt? Lesen Sie weiter!
Nokia hat ein angestaubtes Handy-Betriebssystem? Das war einmal. Mit einer runderneuerten Benutzeroberfläche soll der Exodus zum iPhone und zu Android gestoppt werden.
Genau ein Jahr nach dem iPad 2 soll das Nachfolge-Modell vorgestellt werden. Wie es aussieht und was es kann, weiss offiziell noch keiner. Wir sagen, welche Gerüchte praktisch schon Gewissheit sind.
Grosser Touchscreen, Augmented Reality und tonnenweise Games: 20 Minuten Online konnte die neue Spielkonsole PlayStation Vita bereits vor dem Verkaufsstart am 22. Februar antesten.
«Eigensinnig, fleissig und getrieben», sogar als «Genie» wird Steve Jobs in den jetzt publizierten FBI-Akten beschrieben. Doch auch weniger Schmeichelhaftes wird bekannt.
Die Schweizer Piratenpartei ruft zur öffentlichen Kundgebung gegen ACTA auf. Der Parteipräsident erklärt, warum das Anti-Piraterie-Abkommen gefährlich ist und was man dagegen tun kann.
SOPA, PIPA und jetzt ACTA. Das freie Internet ist angeblich in Gefahr. Wir haben die wichtigsten Fragen und Antworten zum umstrittenen Anti-Piraterie-Abkommen zusammengestellt.
Vor der Tür ist es zu eisig, um die Nase hinauszuhalten. Gemütlicher ist Wintersport in der Wärme. Deshalb stellt 20 Minuten Online die coolsten Wintergames vor.
Facebook-Gründer Mark Zuckerberg zahlt sich knapp eine halbe Million Franken pro Jahr aus. Seine Top-Manager müssen sich mit gut der Hälfte begnügen.
Millionen vertrauen Instant Messengern auf Handys ihre intimsten Geheimnisse an. Doch die beliebten Apps sind viel schlechter gegen Missbrauch geschützt als die gute alte SMS.
Eine Millionenvilla des deutschen Megaupload-Gründers Kim Dotcom in Neuseeland ist beschlagnahmt worden. Das teilte das Ministerium für Wirtschaftsentwicklung mit.
Googles Webbrowser gilt auf dem PC seit Jahren als schnelle Alternative zum Internet Explorer oder Firefox. Nun kommt die mobile Version für Smartphones und Tablets mit dem Betriebssystem Android 4.
Kein Kabel anschliessen, keine Speicherkarte einstecken: WLAN-fähige Kameras und SD-Karten schicken Fotos direkt auf eine Online-Plattform oder an eine E-Mail-Adresse.
Laserlicht soll die Datenspeicherung auf Computer-Festplatten tausendmal schneller machen. Mit der neuen Methode wäre es möglich, tausende Gigabytes pro Sekunde zu speichern.
Apple hat einem spanischen Wissenschafts-Magazin den Aushang am virtuellen Zeitungskiosk verweigert. Das Problem ist eine Cover-Geschichte über das männliche Glied.
Tablets und Smartphones haben nicht nur die Erwachsenen fest im Griff. Schon Kleinkinder legen ein Suchtverhalten an den Tag: Nimmt man ihnen die Gadgets weg, fühlen sie sich traurig und einsam, so eine Studie.
Wem gehört die Twitter-Fangemeinde eines Mitarbeiters und was ist sie für die Firma wert? Diese kniffligen Fragen müssen von einem US-Gericht geklärt werden.
Für den angekündigten Börsengang hat der Facebook-Chef eine Menge Unterlagen eingereicht. Darunter befindet sich auch ein Essay, in dem er beschreibt, warum Hacker gut sein können.
Google, Facebook und andere Tech-Grössen haben ein System entwickelt, das E-Mails von Betrügern einfacher erkennen soll. Damit sollen vor allem Spam- und Phishing-Mails blockiert werden.
Wenn selbst Läuse die Flucht ergreifen: Wir präsentieren die schlimmsten Verbrechen auf der Schädelplatte der grössten Game-Heroes. Wählen Sie den Pixel-Held mit der besten Haartolle.