This Child Didn't Notice When Her Parents Vanished While Driving. Would Yours? Violence and guns in best-selling video games – interactive | World news. Thieves Stole $45 Million From ATMs Because The U.S. Uses Absurd 40-Year-Old Technology. Yesterday, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn revealed that an international team of thieves had stolen close to $45 million in the biggest ATM fraud case in history. The heist required some hacking and a lot of orchestration, so news organizations and police forces have been calling it high-tech and "sophisticated. " Which it isn't, really! It's possible because the US--yes, specifically the US--is wildly behind the times in terms of transactional security, relying on a 50-year-old technology. How did they do it? Hackers first broke into the system of a company in India that handles pre-paid debit cards, kind of like gift cards. The thieves evidently had a magnetic card reader/writer, the same kind hotels use to imprint code on magnetic room keys.
The thieves shipped these new cards out all over the world. How is this possible? Magnetic stripe cards work by changing the magnetism of tiny iron-based particles, kind of like a Woolly Willy. The chief vulnerability of the EMV system? Violence and guns in best-selling video games – interactive | World news. When did addiction become a good thing? I am a behavior designer. I take a deep understanding of human psychology and emerging research in the behavioral sciences to build products that change user behavior in planned and predictable ways.
However, these days I’m somewhat dismayed by the persistent chatter about building “addictive” products. When did addiction become an admirable thing to cultivate? As members of the tech industry, we need to ask serious questions about the behaviors that we are promoting. Are we really helping people live better lives? Or, are we promoting suboptimal habits and aptitudes? At best, many of the products we’re building are time wasters. With Web products, the general assumption is that user attention can eventually be turned into money, so revenue models are often postponed. I worry that by promoting constant task switching and multitasking, the Internet is changing our attention. So what do we do? I’m not trying to be the crotchety, out-of-touch naysayer. I don’t have the answers. 'The Demise of Guys': How video games and porn are ruining a generation.
Video games can go wrong when the person playing them is desensitized to reality, the authors say. Authors argue that video games and porn create "arousal addictions"Young guys are digitally rewired in a new way that demands constant stimulationVideo games go wrong when the person playing them is desensitized to reality Editor's note: Psychologist Dr. Philip Zimbardo is a professor emeritus at Stanford University and is world-renowned for his 1971 research, the Stanford Prison Experiment. Zimbardo teamed up with artist and psychologist Nikita Duncan to write "The Demise of Guys: Why Boys Are Struggling and What We Can Do About It," released Wednesday by TED Books. (CNN) -- Is the overuse of video games and pervasiveness of online porn causing the demise of guys?
Increasingly, researchers say yes, as young men become hooked on arousal, sacrificing their schoolwork and relationships in the pursuit of getting a tech-based buzz. Video game and porn addictions are different. Dr. E3 Day Zero: When Game Violence Becomes Vile. By Nathan Grayson on June 5th, 2012 at 5:00 pm. One of the most striking scenes of yesterday’s E3 press conference gauntlet didn’t take place on a stage or a screen. It wasn’t rehearsed or pre-planned, and it most certainly wasn’t expected. I sat in a jam-packed arena-sized auditorium and watched a game demo unfold on a screen bigger than my hometown. OK, that wasn’t the surprising part. I’d been doing that all day. This one, though, came to a rather abrupt halt when – mere inches away from the camera – a man’s head erupted into a volcano of hyper-detailed gore after a point-blank shotgun blast.
And then: deafening applause from hundreds of people. This was the blaring exclamation point on the end of a day of gleefully grotesque neck-shanking, leg-severing, and – of course – man-shooting. Obviously, over-the-top killing in games isn’t new. Seriously! Responsibility is the key, and there’s been a tremendous lapse in that on all sides of this issue. Do Violent Games Speak to a Lack of Creativity or Lack of Conviction? from 1UP. Everal developers may be aiming to add meaning and context to the violence the dominates gaming's most popular titles, but fans of senseless virtual slaughter needn't worry: This year's E3 offers plenty of opportunities for savage, imaginary brutality.
In fact, Monday's press conferences pounded the concept of violence into our eyes, ears, and minds with relentless persistence. Why were this year's E3 press briefings -- Microsoft, Sony, Electronic Arts, and Ubisoft -- so laser-focused on visual savagery? Is the idea of gaming as a virtual charnel house the best way these developers and publishers know to cover their failure to come up with more nuanced approaches to game design? Or do the bloody shootings, stabbings, and dismemberments speak instead to publishers' lack of confidence in gamers' willingness to support a game that doesn't pander to their most vicious instincts? Then again, maybe not. Darksiders II God of War: Ascension Injustice Splinter Cell: Blacklist Tomb Raider Halo 4.
Four ways the Internet could go down. David Eagleman believes we need a backup security plan for the human knowledge that underlies the Internet. Like any system, biological or man-made, the Web has the potential to failA major solar event could theoretically melt down the whole Internet in momentsFuture cyberwarfare will target not only military and industrial targets but Internet connectivity Almost all global Web traffic is dependent on deep-sea networks of fiber-optic cables Editor's note: David Eagleman is a neuroscientist, Guggenheim Fellow, and New York Times bestselling author.
His latest books are "Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain" and "Why the Net Matters. " (CNN) -- The Internet was designed to be robust, fault-tolerant and distributed, but its technology is still in its infancy. The fact that the Web has not stopped functioning in its initial decades sometimes encourages us to assume that it never will. But like any system, biological or man-made, the Internet has the potential to fail. 1. 2. 3. 4. Why Does Apple Inspire So Much Hate? The lovefest known as the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference starts Monday. As with any such event that involves Apple announcing new products, the global outpouring of love will be matched by a rising outpouring of hate.
Some people hate Apple. Other people hate people who hate Apple. Many of these haters have turned pro, leading to a lucrative “hater industrial complex.” I know, because I’ve been the target of hate from both sides. Passion in technology, flame-wars, fanboyism and its discontents are nothing new. I’ll tell you why below. Also, it needs to be said: Haters are rare. But first, let’s understand once and for all who hates, how they hate, and why. There’s No Hater Like a Pro-Apple Hater For decades, the most vocal, active and vicious haters were Apple fans. The main rival and object of Apple-fan derision, Microsoft, Windows and Windows users, had the luxury of remaining more aloof in the platform wars because Windows’ dominance was so absolute, or appeared to be. Why? Related. Why can't Windows PCs catch up to the MacBook Air?
The PC world is buzzing lately about how laptop manufacturers are struggling to compete with Apple’s MacBook Air, which has exploded in popularity since the introduction of the third-gen model in 2010. This year’s fourth-gen update is proving to be the must-have laptop of the year. For every laptop manufacturer not named “Apple”, the race is on to make new super-thin and super-light laptops. Intel calls them Ultrabooks, and the name is catching on, despite being sort of silly. Here’s a question for you: why didn’t HP, Dell, Acer, Samsung, or some other huge PC manufacturer build the Air before Apple?
The answer is: they did. My point here is not simply that PC manufacturers are quitters. Building a better Air - or even just a cheaper one - is proving to be difficult. There are other pretenders to the ultrabook throne coming this fall. If you aim at a fast-moving target, you’re sure to hit behind it. Here’s a bit of free advice for the PC manufacturers: lose the optical drive. Apple thrives on its consumers' love affair. By Andy Vuong The Denver Post Posted: 01/24/2011 01:00:00 AM MST|Updated: 3 years ago What is driving the consumer love affair with Apple? The company didn't create the MP3 player, the smartphone or the tablet computer, yet Apple products dominate each of those categories.
The iPod is so prevalent that it's commonly used as a generic name for any MP3 player. An iPhone is a status symbol of sorts, like a Louis Vuitton handbag, even though one version of the smartphone is now sold for $49. And the iPad reinvigorated a long-struggling category and turned this year's International Consumer Electronics Show into a tablet fest. Apple fanboy? Consumers generally point to two aspects of the Cupertino, Calif. The former is connected to the hardware, the latter to the software. Google's Android mobile operating system has surpassed Apple's iPhone iOS in market share, but the online search giant doesn't make handsets, partnering with manufacturers such as HTC, Samsung and Motorola. Tweet-back: Why 2012, despite privacy fears, isn't like Orwell's 1984.
Despite fears about online privacy, 2012 is nothing like Orwell's dystopian novel, "1984," Pete Cashmore says. Cashmore: The world of 2012 is reminiscent of Orwell's vision and radically at odds with itToday's online world is indeed allowing our every move to be trackedBut self-improvement is easier when you're able to track your own activitiesThe Internet gives citizens a valuable tool to combat overreaching governments Editor's note: Pete Cashmore is founder and CEO of Mashable, a popular blog about tech news and digital culture. He writes regular columns about social media and tech for CNN.com. (CNN) -- Last week was a remarkable one for the Web: A week that proved George Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty-Four" incredibly prescient yet woefully incorrect. The online world is indeed allowing our every move to be tracked, while at the same time providing a counterweight to the emergence of Big Brother.
Or how about the Fitbit Aria? Pete Cashmore is the founder and CEO of Mashable.com. NSTIC Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) 1. What is the role of the Federal Government in developing the Identity Ecosystem? The role of the Federal Government is to: Advocate for and protect individuals; Support the private sector’s development and adoption of the Identity Ecosystem; Partner with the private sector to ensure that the Identity Ecosystem is interoperable, secure, and privacy enhancing; Provide and accept Identity Ecosystem services for which it is uniquely suited; and Lead by example and implement the Identity Ecosystem for the services it provides internally and externally.
For an update on the role of the Federal Government and progress made since the Strategy launched, click here. For regular updates on progress and initiatives, follow the NSTIC Notes blog here. 2. How is the White House involved in NSTIC? 3. Only the private sector has the ability to build and operate the complete Identity Ecosystem (IE) as described in the NSTIC. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. DARPA Has a Simple Solution to Authentication: Reading Users' Minds. Having contributed in large part to the Internet's very existence, DARPA is now setting out to make its secure networks more secure.
But rather than relying upon the conventional notion of a password--a complex string of letters and numerals that an individual must remember--the agency is looking to create a "cognitive fingerprint" for individuals that constantly authenticates that person for the duration of the time he or she has access to a network. DARPA's approach relies on biometrics, but not the usual brand of biometrics we're used to seeing, like iris or fingerprint scans. DARPA wants to employ what it calls software-based biometrics--biometrics that don't require any extra equipment and can be deployed on any computer via a software package--to recognize individual humans. That means identifying humans not by a physical characteristic, but via a blend of mental or behavioral traits that are inherent in the way the person interacts with the terminal and the network.
[Layer 8] The Unsplittable Bit. A countryman came into a telegraph office in Bangor, Maine, with a message, and asked that it be sent immediately. The operator took the message as usual, put his instrument in communication with its destination, ticked off the signals upon the key, and then, according to the rule of the office, hung the message paper on the hook with others that had been previously sent. ... The man lounged around some time, evidently unsatisfied. "At last," says the narrator of the incident, "his patience was exhausted, and he belched out, 'Ain't you going to send that dispatch? '" The operator politely informed him that he had sent it. "No, yer ain't," replied the indignant man; "there it is now on the hook.
"—Harper's New Monthly Magazine, 1873 A hard lesson to learn was the difference between a message and the paper on which it was written. In our sophisticated age, we process it with computers, we store it in "the cloud," and we carry it about in our portable devices and our very cells. To Write Is To Think. When I started my career on Wall Street in the 80′s, I remember reading everything I could about Peter Lynch and his “invest in what you know” strategy. Peter managed the Fidelity Magellan Fund from 1977 to 1990, during which time the fund’s assets grew from $20 million to $14 billion. More importantly, Lynch beat the S&P Index in 11 of those 13 years, achieving an annual average return of 29%. Two of his most successful investments of all time were Hanes (yes, the same one Michael Jordan pitches) and Dunkin’ Donuts.
Lynch invested in Hanes in the 1970s because his wife bought and loved its new L’Eggs pantyhose line — the first department-store-quality pantyhose sold to American women via supermarkets. So what does all this have to do with Google+? Let me share a story with you. “Facebook? My mind was fully blown. Try wrapping your head around that. Peter Lynch became one of the greatest investors in history in spotting trends before others. Like this: Like Loading...