The Federal Register, the daily journal of the United States government, still uses floppy disks to carry out important tasks, including the transfer of the text of executive orders, proposed rule changes, and presidential proclamations. Yes, floppy disks.
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Journalist Andrew Blum’s deep spelunking tour through the geography of the internet—the crawlspaces and warehouses where the wires and cables really go, the actual, physical "tubes" of international data transfer
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Google Now’s a solid product, but it’s reach is also fairly limited… compared to Google Search, anyway. Now, the company’s voice element in Search — which was updated in a major way back at I/O in May — is gaining some of that Now flair. In the coming days, Google will be rolling out a smarter Search to all US, English-speaking users on desktop, tablet and smartphone, regardless of platform. You’ll need only to tap the microphone icon instead of typing in a search query, and then ask humanistic questions about your upcoming flight(s), reservations, purchases, plans and photos.
Naturally, you’ll need your flight confirmations sent to Gmail and your photos stored in Google+, but if you’re already neck-deep in Google’s ecosystem, the newfangled functionality ought to serve you well. For a few suggestions on questions to try, check out the company’s official blog post. (Hint: don’t ask what your Facebook friends are doing tomorrow.)
Source: Official Google Blog
Despite the fact that the government seems more enthusiastic than ever about gathering data, its taste for making it classified seems to be waning. This year’s Information Security Oversight Office report reveals that, in 2012, the total number of "original classification" decisions fell over 40 percent.
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Despite carrying user-generated content, Wikipedia has often been criticised for being tough to edit – even by its co-founder Jimmy Wales. But researchers have found another way in which the Web 2.0 wonder might leave people gnashing their teeth: it’s much harder to read than that old favourite of doorstep salesmen, Encyclopedia Britannica. More »
Google’s working on building a new kind of mobile search tool, one which pre-guesses what you’re likely to be looking for and pings you a little update before you ask. Sort of like a clairvoyant butler arriving with a bacon sandwich when you need it most. More »
Wikipedia is a wonderful resource, the kind of website that makes you marvel at what the internet can achieve. But it’s only as good as its contributors and, while some are extremely committed, the sad truth is that the project is running out of editors and new admins. More »
Visualizing how the world’s ideas fit together is no mean feat. But now you don’t have to struggle, because Brendan Griffen has mined Wikipedia to create a map of how the world’s greatest thinkers influenced each other. More »
If you think your home Wi-Fi connection is fast, think again. Scientists have been working on a new way to transmit data wirelessly, and they can now transfer a scorching 2.5 terabits of information per second. More »
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