7/14 defcon: murdoch's watergate, military meltdown & more

hacking scandal could be murdoch's watergate*

video: rupert murdoch's son could be prosecuted by US*
video: murdoch papers could have hacked US phones as well*
update: news corp uk newspaper ceo brooks resigns*
washington post website jobs section hacked*
anonymous hacks monsanto computers; posts employee info*
hackers claim they exposed booz allen hamilton data*
'military meltdown monday' - 90k military usernames, hashes released*
how digital detectives deciphered stuxnet, the most menacing malware in history*
stuxnet timeline shows correlation among events*
wi-fi–hacking neighbor from hell sentenced to 18yrs*
smart meters deconstructed*
zuckerberg & google elite hit google+ privacy button*
google turning us into forgetful morons*
cbs faked 4th of july fireworks display*

2/24 defcon: transhumanism & you

video: human 2.0 - where biology & technology merge in 2029*
continuing saga of data security firm hbgary: air force ordered software to manage army of fake virtual people*
patent: nervous system manipulation from tv monitors*
internet 'kill switch' bill gets a makeover*
voice of america site knocked off by iranian cyber army*
india plans to tighten rules for cyber-cafes*
ibm's watson supercomputer goes to work for you*
as users move to smartphones, so do cyber-criminals*
british court rules assange to be extradited to sweden*

man v machine: final solutions company destroying humans again

despite reports, ibm programmers now backpedaling & saying that 'watson' did not crash during 'jeopardy!' 4hr taping...
from john c. dvorak of no agenda: When Watson failed to answer the Final Jeopardy! question correctly during the Tuesday Jeopardy! game show, yet still won the round, I realized my Monday column, predicting that the humans would be victorious, was wrong. While there is no doubt that this machine is a fantastic accomplishment, the Jeopardy! competition is skewed in favor of the Watson's fast buzzer clicker. I'd like to see a show consisting of nothing but Final Jeopardy! Q&A. You could clearly see the two men pushing their buzzers once the question was read, but the giant computer was getting the question electronically and could react faster than the other contestants. I mean, it's not as if the two men don't know the answer to these weird questions. So at the end of the last round tonight, you can be certain that the computer will have amassed a huge amount of money, unless they do something very strange like ask the questions in Pig Latin. Meanwhile, I cry foul because this contest gives an edge to the machine by making response time a key element. People versus machine, insofar as response time is concerned, is unfair. Make the machine have to read the question with a camera, and then it would be fair. Anyway, what IBM has done is quite remarkable. I now have no doubt that the machine will be the winner. My assertion on Monday was wrong, and I know why it was wrong. It's rigged.

video update: watson supercomputer wins at 'jeopardy!'*
machines beat us at our own game: what can we do?*

11/4 defcon: cybercom, holograms & chatbot

it begins: military's cybercom is fully operational*
military ready for war in cyberspace*
russia to wikileaks: we could break you*
china takes supercomputing lead*
myanmar hacked before election*
denver voters reject tracking space aliens*
insider claims US govt funds 'the event'*
groups fear huge health database*
hologram messaging coming of age*
prize-winning chatbot steers the conversation*
'internet of things' is on the way*

defcon 5/13: web tax, hacks & output jacks

fcc lets hollywood turn off your output jacks*
fcc sets plan for limited broadband control*
big brother is watching in high definition*
video: are spies controlling your pc's web cam?*
rogue satellite may impact cable tv in US*
world health org moving ahead on billions in internet & other taxes*
richard clarke says cyber attack will wreck US in 15min*
why former anti-terrorism czar believes a cyber attack could bring US collapse*
white house adviser says no evidence of cyber attack in wall street plunge*
pentagon turns to brain implants to repair damaged minds*
russian generals want their space weapons, too*
the militarization of outer space: the pentagon 'space warriors'*
the ever-growing problem of space junk*
jupiter loses a stripe*
prosecutors cite confidential informant in iphone probe*
nintendo ceo: apple is the 'enemy of the future'*

internet overtakes print in US news consumption

from arstechnica: The Internet has surpassed newspapers as a primary way for Americans to get news, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project. That makes the Internet the third most popular news platform overall, with many connected users taking advantage of nontraditional consumption methods such as social media postings, personalized news feeds, and getting their news on-the-go. National and local TV stations still dominate the news cycle for most Americans, but the Internet now stands third in the list, ahead of national and local newspapers. Additionally, the majority of news consumers say they use two to five websites per day to get their fix - a number we think sounds about right - but a surprisingly high number (21%) rely on that one favorite site to get everything they need.

download: 'understanding the participatory news consumer' [2.7mb PDF]