Internet

China has a new censorship tool that is causing alarm. It's known as the "Great Cannon." The University of Toronto's Citizen Lab identified the tool in a report released last week. The Great Cannon was first used in March, to launch a large-scale DDoS attack on GitHub and GreatFire.org, Citizen Lab ...

Guitar Hero Strikes Back

Activision on Tuesday took the wraps off Guitar Hero Live, setting the video gaming stage for a battle of the bands. Though Guitar Hero's original developer left the group years ago to work on Rock Band, the series is in capable hands. DJ Hero developer FreeStyle Games has been prepping Guitar Hero...

Stanford University researchers on Tuesday revealed they had stumbled onto a breakthrough that could lead to the adoption of fast-charging, long-lasting batteries in the near future. The turning point occurred when the researchers were trying out materials to serve as a cathode, and they began exper...

GADGET DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES

Gadget Ogling: Dashing Buttons, a Plug-In PC and a Smart Teakettle

Amazon Dash is a series of WiFi connected buttons you dot around your home for various products. Once you run out, hit the button, and Amazon will ship out more of what you need. Run out of things like trash bags, razors, detergent, diapers, paper towels, dog food or toilet paper, and Amazon can shi...

Roku on Monday unveiled its new Roku 3 and an updated Roku 2. The Roku 3 brings voice search and private listening via a headphone jack on the remote control. The Roku 2 received a buff so that its speed falls in line with the company's latest flagship streamer. Roku's share of the streaming hardwar...

Comedian John Oliver boldly went where few journalists from the mainstream media have dared to tread, grilling whistle-blower Edward Snowden about his leaking of thousands of NSA documents to the press. He raked Snowden over the coals for not having read every one of the documents, insisting there's...

The Supreme Court of India last week struck down a law that curtailed the freedom of online speech. The law permitted arrests for posting "offensive" content online. The highest court in India ruled that Section 66(A) of the Information Technology Act was unconstitutional, and in its ruling said it ...

Xbox and 343 Industries on Sunday released two live-action trailers for Halo 5: Guardians to encourage Xbox One owners and holdouts alike to "hunt the truth." The trailers aired during the season finale of The Walking Dead. In one trailer, the story catches up with Master Chief scorning an injured a...

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg this week told an audience at the F8 conference for Facebook developers that the company's future lies in its family of apps and in giving the network's members the ability to share what they want, where they want. "We're building this family so we can offer unique, wo...

The Internet has been good for education but bad for morality, according to a study by the Pew Research Center. Researchers conducted face-to-face surveys with 36,619 people in 32 developing countries. A median of 64 percent of respondents said the Internet has had a good influence on education. On ...

Twitter on Thursday unveiled Periscope, the live-streaming app developed by a company it acquired earlier this year, reportedly for just under $100 million. It's a big bet for an app that's in a genre that already has matured, but Twitter is counting on the mobile world's appetite for more video. Pe...

Tesla CEO Elon Musk last week said that the company's line of high-end electric cars will get some autonomous driving capabilities via an over-the-air software update this summer. The new features will let drivers give their vehicles control of certain tasks on major roads, possibly even highways. O...

President Obama on Monday announced $240 million in new pledges from private businesses, schools and foundations across the country for STEM -- science, technology, engineering and math -- education. The president also announced that a national goal set four years ago to provide 98 percent of Americ...

Facebook on Monday issued a new set of community standards, including provisions designed to clamp down on revenge porn, bullying, threats and other forms of online harassment. "We have zero tolerance for any behavior that puts people in danger, whether someone is organizing or advocating real-world...

Twitter this week updated its rules to combat online abuse and revenge porn, in the wake of continuing outrage among netizens. The most significant change is a new statement that users may not post intimate photos or videos that were taken or distributed without the subject's consent. Sounds good, b...

Technewsworld Channels