The first smartphones running Firefox OS went on sale last month, and it looks like Mozilla is now adding the builder of some of the world's most popular devices to its coalition. Engadget reports that Mozilla and Foxconn Technology Group have confirmed a joint press event in Taipei on June 3rd,...
Foxconn needs more than just Apple
Google has recently come under fire in the UK for alleged tax avoidance — last November, UK legislators talked to high-level executives about an apparent discrepancy between Google's global profits and their UK income taxes, and it was reported...
A patent application filed in 2011 has revealed that Microsoft may plan on bringing achievements to TV watching — including use of its Kinect camera system to monitor the behavior of TV viewers. As a an application, the patent doesn't provide any definitive evidence that Microsoft plans to bring TV achievements or viewer monitoring to the Xbox 360 or the Xbox One, but it's an example of where...
Having apparently concluded that traditional security cameras are no longer fit for the task, German railway company Deutsche Bahn plans to deploy surveillance drones in an effort to thwart rampant graffiti vandalism affecting its train cars. Each small drone will be equipped with an infrared camera and dispatched for overnight shifts at Deutsche Bahn's largest train depots. Flying nearly 500 feet overhead for up to 80 minutes at a time, they'll attempt to catch graffiti vandals in the act, recording their activity for use as potential evidence. As for why it's taking such a drastic approach, the rail company says it sinks millions of dollars each year into cleaning up after the perpetrators. To assuage public privacy worries, Deutsche Bahn insists the drones will only be flown over its own private property, though it's unclear how...
Going to extremes
Drawing from the recently published Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking, philosopher and scientist Daniel Dennett breaks down the rhetorical signals that can indicate a shifty argument ("surely" and "rather" among them), the mental "programs" that can help people better dissect the world around them, and how these systems allow humans to expand their thinking beyond what Dennett refers...
"The Bible says: 'In the beginning was the Word' — no, no. The word was a very recent development." Daniel Dennett
Mojang has finally set a hard date for when the digital trading card game Scrolls — the company's first title since Minecraft — will be released to the public. In exactly one week, on June 3rd, the game will be available in beta for $20 on Windows and OS X. Though the company missed its release window by about a month, it still plans to follow the same practice it used to launch Minecraft....
New weekly shows. New fascinating guests. New exciting antics. Absolutely no pants.
Blue is the Warmest Colour, a French drama about a lesbian love affair, took home the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival Sunday, marking the first time that a movie based on a comic book has won the prestigious Palme d'Or. Written and directed by Abdellatif Kechiche, the film stars Adèle Exarchopoulos as a 15-year-old girl who falls in love with a woman named Emma, played by Léa Seydoux. The film has received largely glowing reviews from critics, as well as a fair bit of controversy, due to its reportedly explicit sex scenes.
The nearly three-hour movie is based on Julie Maroh's Le Bleu est une couleur chaude ("Blue is a hot color"),...
Researchers have discovered a way to dramatically improve the reliability of high-speed internet. Fiber optic lines use light waves to transfer data, but sending high-speed long-distance communications requires a lot of power. The more power used to transmit a signal, the more interference, or...
Rumors have been flying around about a major visual redesign to Apple's iOS ever since Jony Ive took on an interface design role following the departure of senior VP and mobile software head Scott Forstall. Most of those rumors have focused on a new, "flat" design that would remove many of the...
The European Commission is scrutinizing Apple's iPhone sales practices to find out whether the company is unfairly squeezing out competitors, according to the Financial Times. While no formal antitrust probe has been opened, the FT saw a...
Apparently Yahoo has some deep pockets: the company has reportedly bid somewhere between $600 million and $800 million in its quest to assume ownership of Hulu. Those figures come from All Things D, which first reported Yahoo's interest in the video streaming site last week....
At midnight last night Netflix released the highly-anticipated fourth season of Arrested Development, and series creator Mitch Hurwitz has now posted an open letter thanking fans for their support — and offering some viewing suggestions as well. In the handwritten note — made out to "our...
An official from the Fox television network this week confirmed that officials from the Justice Department notified its parent company nearly three years ago of plans to seize the telephone records of James Rosen, a Fox News correspondent who allegedly revealed top secret US intelligence on North Korea. As the Wall Street Journal reports, the Justice Department told parent company News Corp. of the investigation...
Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing this week said his China-based company is aiming to bring its smartphones to the US market within a year. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Yang described the mobile market as the next frontier for Lenovo,...
As the Xbox 360 aged, rumors swirled around Microsoft’s next-generation console. Would we see an Xbox 720? An Xbox Infinity? A Nextbox? All those rumors turned out to be wrong: in Redmond today, Microsoft unveiled the Xbox One, set for release by the end of 2013. While the name was kept...
We all know the feeling. You're sleepless in the sad hours of the night or stumbling around early on a hazy weekend morning in need of something to...
Reddit's r/gonewild community is a pretty good microcosm of the site as a whole, an illustration of the extreme positives and negatives that its huge userbase are capable of. The subreddit's...
For some years now, the ubiquitous "handicapped" symbol — a blue and white logo of a person leaning back in a wheelchair known as the international symbol of access — has come under fire from...
Adding to a spate of recent infiltrations of major media outlets, the Syrian Electronic Army appears to have compromised the Twitter account for the British Sky Broadcasting Group, spreading fears...
Universal has announced a new Simpsons-themed area for its the Universal Orlando Resort is almost ready. Building on the 2008 launch of The Simpsons Ride and Kwik-E-Mart store, "Springfield" will...
There's no doubt that the late night TV scene is a cutthroat one — we all still remember the epic Conan vs. Leno battle for the seat of The...
The Japanese government has issued a formal statement denying knowledge of rumors that the prime minister's official residence is haunted by ghosts. Shinzo Abe is yet to move into the dwelling five months after he assumed power in December, prompting lawmakers to question the new prime minister's thinking.
