Rome Lab's supercomputer is made up of 1,700 off-the-shelf PlayStation 3 gaming consoles

Supercomputing, fast and cheap. As with most supercomputers, the
system runs Linux.

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2011/03/rome_labs_supercomputer_is_mad.html

Is Believing In God Evolutionarily Advantageous? : NPR

As reported on NPR

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129528196

Clara Lazen, Ten-Year-Old Fifth Grader, Discovers New Molecule (VIDEO)

10 year old discovers a new molecule, gets published in a major
chemistry journal.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/02/ten-year-old-discovers-chemistry-molecule-published_n_1250825.html?ref=canada&ir=Canada

DARPA-Funded Hacker's Tiny $50 Spy Computer Hides In Offices, Drops From Drones

http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2012/01/27/darpa-funded-hackers-tiny-50-spy-computer-hides-in-offices-drops-from-drones/

"Brendan O'Connor is trying a different approach to spy hardware:
building a sensor-equipped surveillance-capable computer that's so
cheap it can be sacrificed after one use, with off-the-shelf parts
that anyone can buy and assemble for less than fifty dollars."

Smarter password checker lets you compare with others

http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/onepercent/2012/01/smarter-password-checker-lets.html

"...researchers at INRIA in Rocquencourt, France and Ruhr
University Bochum in Germany have come up with a more advanced
strength checker that rates passwords relative to those already
stored in a site's database. Rather than vague strength messages,
their system can tell users their password is amongst the weakest 5
per cent on the site, encouraging them to try again with a stronger
alternative."

The Apple Bug That Let Us Spy on a Total Strangers iPhone

http://gizmodo.com/5880593/the-apple-bug-that-let-us-spy-on-a-total-strangers-iphone

"Every single iMessage to and from this mans iPhone—his friends
call him Wiz—has been sent to us by accident. We know about his
job, sex life, and address. Apple, you might want to fix this."

Satellite phone encryption cracked

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/9058529/Satellite-phone-encryption-cracked.html

"German academics said they had cracked two encryption systems used
to protect satellite phone signals and that anyone with cheap
computer equipment and radio could eavesdrop on calls over an
entire continent. Hundreds of thousands of satellite phone users
are thought to be affected."

German gov't endorses Chrome as most secure browser

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9223957/German_gov_t_endorses_Chrome_as_most_secure_browser

"Germany's cyber security agency today recommended that Windows 7
users run Google's Chrome browser, citing the application's sandbox
and auto-update features.

"In a security best practices guideline, Germany's Federal Office for
Information Security, known by its German initials of BSI, said Chrome
was the best browser."

Romney and Gingrich Pull Songs After Complaints

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/04/arts/music/romney-and-gingrich-pull-songs-after-complaints.html?_r=1

"When you think about every iconic song that has emotional
resonance for millions and millions of Americans, in almost every
instance, Republican candidates can't use the song because the
artist is not supportive," said Steve Schmidt, a Republican
campaign strategist who was Senator John McCain's campaign manager
in 2008 and worked on the re-election campaign of President George
W. Bush.

The hot tech gig of 2022: Data scientist

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2012/01/06/data-scientist-jobs/

"A decade from now the smart techies who decided to become app
developers may wish they had taken an applied-mathematics class or
two. The coming deluge of data (more on that in a moment) will
create demand for a new kind of computer scientist -- a gig that's
one part mathematician, one part product-development guru, and one
part detective."

Programmer personality types: 13 profiles in code

This article best read with tongue in cheek.

http://www.infoworld.com/d/application-development/programmer-personality-types-13-profiles-in-code-185343?page=0,0&source=IFWNLE_nlt_daily_2012-02-06

"Anyone who has worked with the machines knows that programmers
arent just one undifferentiated group, but a club with a wide
variety of subspecies. From those who will go to any length to
avoid documentation to those who deploy code like duct tape, refuse
to use libraries, or cant help but rewrite their apps in the latest
experimental programming language, programmers are a colorful lot
-- particularly in their perspectives and habits -- though
collectively comrades in code."

A Mormon church in need of reform

From the Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-mormon-church-in-need-of-reform/2012/01/27/gIQA3s44aQ_story.html

Start-ups hindered by software patents

You'll be amazed at the patents awarded to obvious techniques taught
in any CS program and utilized by any competent software practitioner.

http://www.stormdriver.com/blog/start-ups-in-the-maze-of-software-patents/

Why Can't U.S. Students Compete With the Rest of the World?

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2011/08/28/why-can-t-u-s-students-compete-with-the-rest-of-the-world.html

It's time to make poor coding a felony

File this under it'll never happen.

http://www.infoworld.com/d/data-center/it-might-be-time-make-poor-coding-felony-417?source=IFWNLE_nlt_daily_2011-07-11

Anonymous hackers intercept conversation between FBI and Scotland Yard on how to deal with hackers

One wonders at the wisdom of entrusting cyber security to an
organization that cannot keep its own communications secure.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/9059580/Anonymous-hackers-intercept-conversation-between-FBI-and-Scotland-Yard-on-how-to-deal-with-hackers.html

H-1B workers are better paid, more educated, study finds

From Computerworld:

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9223947/H_1B_workers_are_better_paid_more_educated_study_finds

"H-1B workers are better educated than U.S. born workers and earn
more, according to a new study by an independent research group."

Dueling Debt Deceptions

Dissembling on both sides:

http://factcheck.org/2012/02/dueling-debt-deceptions/

The great JavaScript debate: Improve it or kill it?

http://www.infoworld.com/d/application-development/the-great-javascript-debate-improve-it-or-kill-it-173674?source=IFWNLE_nlt_daily_2011-09-23

Do You Like Online Privacy? You May Be a Terrorist

It seems the computer security course I used to teach was an
inadvertent terrorist training camp.

http://publicintelligence.net/do-you-like-online-privacy-you-may-be-a-terrorist/

"A flyer designed by the FBI and the Department of Justice to
promote suspicious activity reporting in internet cafes lists basic
tools used for online privacy as potential signs of terrorist
activity.  The document, part of a program called "Communities
Against Terrorism", lists the use of "anonymizers, portals, or
other means to shield IP address" as a sign that a person could be
engaged in or supporting terrorist activity.  The use of encryption
is also listed as a suspicious activity along with steganography,
the practice of using "software to hide encrypted data in digital
photos" or other media.  In fact, the flyer recommends that anyone
"overly concerned about privacy" or attempting to "shield the
screen from view of others" should be considered suspicious and
potentially engaged in terrorist activities."

The SOPA War: Why the GOP Turned on Piracy (Opinion) - The Hollywood Reporter

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sopa-hollywood-gop-piracy-286648?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+thr/news+(The+Hollywood+Reporter+-+Top+Stories)

"For Republicans, opposition to intellectual property laws is
starting to look like a political winner, and that should terrify
Hollywood as it misreads where the pop-culture power base now
lies."

Android and Security - Official Google Mobile Blog

Security related changes to Android:

http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2012/02/android-and-security.html