On The Radar

1. American slimdown

   Slim PS Vita hits North America this spring with Borderlands 2

   $200 bundle includes system that's 20 percent slimmer and 15 percent lighter.

   by Matt Swider Feb 11, 1:10 am UTC

2. ok glass

   Virgin Atlantic passengers get Google Glass customer service

   Concergies are now part cyborg, and they'll act like it too.

   by Casey Johnston - Feb 10, 11:45 pm UTC

3. ONLY THREE YEARS TOO LATE

   Nokia to release an Android phone this month

   The DOA device will just squeak out the door before Microsoft takes over.

   by Ron Amadeo - Feb 10, 8:30 pm UTC

4. AT LEAST THINGS CAN'T GET ANY WORSE

   HTC hopes midrange phones and better ads will save it in 2014

   An event for a new flagship phone will likely be announced in two weeks.

   by Ron Amadeo - Feb 10, 7:32 pm UTC

5. So long, farewell

   Struggling Barnes & Noble fires some of its Nook engineering staff

   B&N; desperately needs to retool if it wants a chance at catching Amazon, Apple.

   by Cyrus Farivar - Feb 10, 6:46 pm UTC

6. Buyer beware

   Thousands flock to eBay to sell iPhones with Flappy Bird installed

   Suspicious listings abound as people try to cash in on the discontinued game.

   by Andrew Cunningham - Feb 10, 6:35 pm UTC

7. Who's down with BTC?

   Bitcoin price tumbles as Mt. Gox claims core glitch prevents transfers

   Lead devs aren't buying it: say this flaw is "well-known since at least 2011."

   by Cyrus Farivar - Feb 10, 4:50 pm UTC

8. mo bitcoin mo problems

   Florida prosecutors file legal charges against heavy Bitcoin traders

   Trader moved more than $110,000 without proper licensing, say prosecutors.

   by Joe Mullin - Feb 10, 3:00 am UTC

9. Ars Editor’s Picks The web worth reading.

   1. The NSA’s Secret Role in the U.S. Assassination Program The Intercept
   2. Apple’s iPhone, the New International Currency BloombergBusinessweek
   3. New surveillance technology can track everyone in an area for several hours at a time The Washington Post

10. Still on track

    Payments experts assure Senate that swipe-and-sign cards will disappear in 2015

    Maybe too late, but retailers need better security after this season's breaches.

    by Megan Geuss - Feb 9, 2:00 am UTC

11. high voltage

    Oscar-nominated Dallas Buyers Club sues 31 over BitTorrent downloads

    It's an unusual case of a well-received movie filing copyright lawsuits.

    by Joe Mullin - Feb 7, 8:40 pm UTC

12. lethal e-injection

    New bill demands that smartphones have “kill switch” in case of theft

    California bill could become a de facto national rule if it passes.

    by Joe Mullin - Feb 7, 7:24 pm UTC

13. The Week's Top Stories

    1. Neither Microsoft, Nokia, nor anyone else should fork Android. It’s unforkable.
    2. Ham on Nye: The high cost of “winning” an evolution/creation debate
    3. How we ruin social networks, Facebook specifically
    4. Talking past each other: Bill Nye vs. creationist Ken Ham on evolution
    5. French journalist "hacks" govt by inputting correct URL, later fined $4,000+
    6. Meet the Asus Chromebox, a $179 fanless mini-desktop
    7. Comcast customer surprised to learn new router is also public hotspot
    8. A turbo-charged, quad-core mini desktop: Gigabyte’s Brix Pro reviewed
    9. Dread Pirate Roberts 2.0: An interview with Silk Road’s new boss

14. Wait, what?

    Report: NSA bulk metadata program doesn’t cover cellphones

    Controversial dragnet “only collects data for about 20 percent” of US calls.

    by Cyrus Farivar - Feb 7, 5:23 pm UTC

15. Yeah, ok, fine

    Secret court approves Obama’s small tweaks to phone metadata collection

    Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ruling to be published soon.

    by Cyrus Farivar - Feb 7, 4:45 pm UTC

16. Sell! Sell!

    IBM reportedly considering sale of chip manufacturing operations

    Move should shed expenses without forcing IBM to exit high-end server business

    by Jon Brodkin - Feb 7, 3:59 pm UTC

17. Chrome for business, Chrome 4 lyfe

    Chromebox for meetings, a $999 video conferencing system from Google

    Google expands its business hardware beyond Chromebooks and Chromeboxes.

    by Jon Brodkin - Feb 6, 8:49 pm UTC

18. brace for impact

    Spectacular new Martian impact crater spotted from orbit

    Somewhere between July 2010 and May 2012, Mars got a good smack.

    by John Timmer - Feb 6, 3:52 pm UTC

19. dept. of divisiveness

    Mega-patent troll’s first court battle ends in mega-mistrial

    Jury splits as world's biggest "patent troll" faces off with Google-owned Moto.

    by Joe Mullin - Feb 6, 9:00 am UTC

20. Game-azon

    Amazon purchases Killer Instinct maker Double Helix Games

    Move adds fuel to rumors of a coming Amazon-powered game console.

    by Kyle Orland - Feb 6, 5:01 am UTC

21. 1-800-TURN-IT-OFF

    Comcast customer surprised to learn new router is also public hotspot

    Routers broadcast public Wi-Fi signals, unless you ask Comcast to turn it off.

    by Jon Brodkin - Feb 5, 11:47 pm UTC

22. #sorryaboutthat

    Twitter reports it lost over $645 million in 2013, stock price plummets

    In first quarterly earnings since going public, Twitter is off to a rocky start.

    by Cyrus Farivar - Feb 5, 11:00 pm UTC

23. Bullseye

    Target hackers reportedly used credentials stolen from ventilation contractor

    KrebsOnSecurity: Feds probing theft of 40 million payment cards call on HVAC firm.

    by Dan Goodin - Feb 5, 8:17 pm UTC

24. Hello, Mr. Phelps.

    DARPA funds IBM development of chip that will self-destruct

    To ensure enemies can’t capture tech, DARPA wants chip that turns to dust.

    by Sean Gallagher - Feb 5, 8:05 pm UTC

25. Perde pecuniam

    The Dealmaster can save you $150 on that Alienware gaming laptop

    We've got some high-resolution monitors in the mix, too.

    by Andrew Cunningham - Feb 5, 6:00 pm UTC

26. Prime factor

    Newegg’s answer to Amazon Prime: $50 per year for expedited shipping

    Meet "Newegg Premier," which also includes free and no-fee returns and more.

    by Cyrus Farivar - Feb 5, 4:25 pm UTC

27. Xbox can you hear me?

    Next week’s Xbox One update promises improved voice commands

    Feb. 11 system update also brings internal storage, controller battery monitors.

    by Kyle Orland - Feb 5, 2:00 pm UTC

28. Stop in the name of the law

    Patriot Act author: Absent reform, we’ll halt bulk metadata program renewal

    Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner has said vast data dragnet is "unbounded in its scope."

    by Cyrus Farivar - Feb 5, 12:10 am UTC

29. priceless

    Senior Congressman calls Greenwald a “thief” who sold NSA documents

    Greenwald: Tough talk aims to instill "climate of fear for journalism."

    by Joe Mullin - Feb 4, 11:42 pm UTC

30. Wheels of justice

    Ross Ulbricht indicted for Silk Road narcotics trafficking, hacking

    Formal indictment kicks off legal process for Ulbricht.

    by Cyrus Farivar - Feb 4, 9:05 pm UTC

31. EXPLOIT GONE WILD

    Adobe releases unscheduled Flash update to patch critical zero-day threat

    Attack code for integer underflow bug is already circulating in the wild.

    by Dan Goodin - Feb 4, 6:28 pm UTC

32. Watch out watch dogs

    Ubisoft fighting fraudulent abandonment order for Watch Dogs trademark

    Company says fraudster forged CEO's signature in attempt to destroy mark.

    by Kyle Orland - Feb 4, 5:15 pm UTC

33. Heat map

    Now you can enjoy Google maps tagged with climate data

    Or, if you prefer, you can read the planet's temperature in Google Earth.

    by John Timmer - Feb 4, 4:37 pm UTC

34. It's back, in box form

    Meet the Asus Chromebox, a $179 fanless mini-desktop

    Box includes Intel Haswell CPUs, good selection of ports, Chrome OS.

    by Andrew Cunningham - Feb 4, 3:45 pm UTC