Tag Archives: The New Scientist

Counting the Words

I’ve been looking recently at different ways that newspapers can add value to the news they produce, and one of them is using technology to better mine the information that’s available to bring out themes and nuances that might otherwise be lost. But does it always work? The post popular page on the WSJ.com website… Read More »

How To Infect An Airport

Could it be possible to use Radio Frequency ID tags, or RFID, to transmit viruses? Some researchers reckon so. Unstrung reports that a paper presented at the Pervasive Computing and Communications Conference in Pisa, Italy, the researchers from Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, led by Andrew Tanenbaum, show just how susceptible radio-frequency tags may be to malware.… Read More »

News: Microsoft Takes on Google’s Customisable News

 Microsoft is taking on Google, at least in its news. The New Scientist says Microsoft is testing a a news-gathering web site that tailors the stories selected to individual users. Once MSN Newsbot is fully functional, Microsoft says the site will personalise results within 10 minutes of a user starting to browse.   Microsoft is… Read More »

News: Sony Goes It Alone, Again

 Sony, as usual, is developing its own version of something we thought everyone else had agreed on. This time it’s Bluetooth. The New Scientist says that Sony’s Interaction Laboratory in Tokyo is working on “point-and-connect” technology, a camera-based system that lets users instantly transfer data from a laptop or handheld computer to a device in… Read More »

News: Don’t Laugh, Your Email’s Coming

   Not sure whether to laugh or cry at this one. Or tiptoe quietly away. Researchers at Australia’s Monash University, the New Scientist reports, are working on software that would that automatically log you onto the nearest computer by listening out for your voice, or laugh, or footsteps. Microphones on each computer, Rachel Nowak writes, would… Read More »