Wash Post Technology

Fast Forward: 'Augmented reality' fuses your world and the Web

Rob Pegoraro — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

The cameras on some new phones don't show the world as you've known it.

@Play: At libraries, fun and games now the lure

MIKE MUSGROVE — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

Nine-year old Cody Wallace and his seven-year-old brother Justin spent the day at the library last weekend, but for once they weren't working on book reports. They were playing video games.

Help File: Garmin and MSN Direct; Blu-ray movies on computer monitors

Rob Pegoraro — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

Q: I am thinking of replacing my four-year-old Garmin GPS unit with a newer Garmin that includes free lifetime traffic data and MSN Direct. Would that ease my holiday drives?

In the trenches on climate change, hostility among foes

Juliet Eilperin — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

Electronic files that were stolen from a prominent climate research center and made public last week provide a rare glimpse into the behind-the-scenes battle to shape the public perception of global warming.

New technology, tight budgets hinder sex-offender monitoring

Jerry Markon — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

The pursuit of Lee Shelton began the moment the convicted sex offender was released from prison.

Safety issue raised in Dulles rail bridge project

Lisa Rein — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

Thirty-two years ago, the Virginia transportation department drove dozens of steel pilings 50 feet into the ground near the West Falls Church Metro station. Encased in concrete, the pilings formed foundations that one day could hold up a bridge carrying Metro trains across Interstate 66 to Dulles...

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Hackers steal electronic data from top climate research center

Juliet Eilperin — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

Hackers broke into the electronic files of one of the world's foremost climate research centers this week and posted an array of e-mails in which prominent scientists engaged in a blunt discussion of global warming research and disparaged climate-change skeptics.

AOL plans to cut a third of workforce

Mike Musgrove — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

AOL said Thursday that it plans to reduce its workforce by a third over the next several months.

Business Digest: Judge backs revised Google Books deal

Post — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

A federal judge granted preliminary approval Thursday to a revised settlement between Google and authors and publishers over the Internet giant's effort to create a vast digital library.

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In wake of breach, ban on file-sharing software proposed in House

Paul Kane — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

Weeks after an embarrassing security breach revealed details of dozens of ethics investigations, a House committee chairman introduced legislation Tuesday that would forbid federal employees to use popular file-sharing technology that was involved in the leak.

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American Express to enter market for online payments

Frank Ahrens — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

American Express on Wednesday said it had agreed to buy the online person-to-person payment provider Revolution Money for $300 million, the latest move by one of the credit card giants to add a service that has been increasingly in demand by consumers, especially younger ones.

The virtual doctor visit: Health monitoring at home

Elizabeth G. Olson — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

Every morning at 10 a.m. sharp, Juanita Wood, 87, taps "okay" on a screen to start up a device that takes her blood pressure and transmits the information to her medical clinic. At 10:30 a.m., her husband, Arthur, 91, touch-starts his own device, neatly lined up next to hers. The machine calculates...

U.S. teens report 'frightening' levels of texting while driving

Ashley Halsey III — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

A graphic British public service video that portrays a fatal accident caused by a texting teenage driver has been the talk of Facebook and other places where young Americans congregate, but a study suggests that it hasn't done much to change their habits.

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Experts: Smart grid poses privacy risks

Brian Krebs — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:41:34 EST

Technologists already are worried about the security implications of linking nearly all elements of the U.S. power grid to the public Internet. Now, privacy experts are warning that the so-called "smart grid" efforts could usher in a new class of concerns, as utilities begin collecting more granular...

Security Fix Live

Brian Krebs — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST

Security Fix blogger Brian Krebs answers your technology questions and offers ways to protect yourself from online security threats.

Hydrogen-powered car still seems improbable

Curt Suplee — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

Just in time for Thanksgiving, a familiar techno-turkey is back on the national policy table: the hydrogen-powered car. The Obama administration had flatlined funding for President George W. Bush's pet initiative, briefly but heavily touted a few years back as the driving force toward a future "h...

Microsoft warns of Windows 7 security hole

Brian Krebs — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:11:34 EST

Microsoft has confirmed reports of a security flaw in its Windows operating system that hackers could use to temporarily destabilize Windows 7 PCs. The software giant also acknowledged that blueprints for exploiting the flaw are now available online. At issue is a so-called "denial-of-service"...

Makers of electric cars address shortage of recharging station

Peter Whoriskey — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

As their manufacturers see it, the electric cars entering U.S. showrooms as early as next year will be engineering marvels: stylish, battery-operated, zero-emission wonders.

Obama backs non-censorship; Beijing, apparently, does not

Keith B. Richburg — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:20:00 EST

BEIJING -- President Obama, taking questions Monday from government-selected students at a town hall-style meeting in Shanghai, called himself "a big supporter of non-censorship." But the Beijing government, apparently, is not, and most Chinese never got to hear or read what Obama said.

Copyright overreach goes on world tour

Rob Pegoraro — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

Some of the better ideas in the computing industry never make it into stores, and not because of expensive hardware, complex code or inadequate bandwidth. You can blame laws that keep otherwise desirable products off of the market.

Google relents with revised digital books settlement

Cecilia Kang — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

In a move to allay its critics and the Justice Department, Google filed in federal court a revised legal settlement that would allow it to distribute millions of digital books online.

Help File: Whatever happened to Microsoft's MSN software?

Post — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

Q: I'm having issues with the MSN software Verizon gave me. Is there a newer version, or should I get another program?

Electronic games turn slots casinos into 'Vegas lite'

John Wagner — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

When Maryland legalized slot machines last year, the state stopped short of welcoming blackjack, roulette and other table games because of qualms about building full-scale casinos.

Crashed satellite detects water at moon's pole

Joel Achenbach — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

Water on the moon, once a wild conjecture, appears to be solidifying into a scientific fact. Jubilant NASA scientists announced Friday that they have found the telltale signature of significant quantities of water, in the form of ice and vapor, in a shadowed crater at the moon's south pole.

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HP's 3Com takeover marks a shot at Cisco

JORDAN ROBERTSON — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:03:55 EST

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Hewlett-Packard Co.'s $2.7 billion takeover of 3Com Corp. is a shot at networking leader Cisco Systems Inc. - and a sign of how old relationships are being frayed by a flurry of maneuvers by technology heavyweights.

AOL expects more layoffs in spinoff

Associated Press — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

New regulatory filings suggest that more layoffs could be coming at AOL as the Internet company separates from Time Warner by the end of the year.

Tiny car has big potential

Post — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

The tiny Nano cars made by India's Tata Motors are starting to hit the road in that country after a land dispute forced the relocation of the car's manufacturing plant and delayed its launch. Analysts say the Nano could rock the international auto industry and put millions of new Indian drivers o...

Technology increases chances to see porn in public

Monica Hesse — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

Quick poll. Watching porn while on public transportation is:

Googling can mislead people seeking health information

Carolyn Butler — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

It always starts out innocently enough -- for example, with an eye twitch. It's just a little tic, but it keeps coming and going over the course of a few weeks, and so I decide to do a little medical investigation online. I plug "recurrent eye twitch" into my friendly search engine and, after sev...

Discovery Communications launches science news Web site

Mike Musgrove — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

Silver Spring-based Discovery Communications announced Monday that it has launched a new Web site dedicated to reporting science and technology news.

China's 'netizens' holding officials accountable

Keith B. Richburg — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

A severed finger sparked an online uproar that went viral. And very quickly, rattled authorities here took note.

The computer gets more like the TV every day

Mike Musgrove — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

The online video service Hulu added a long-overdue feature last week: A "coming soon" page designed to give the site's millions of users a heads-up about when they'll be able to watch the next new episode of "Fringe" or "Parks and Recreation" in their Web browsers.

Microsoft plugs 15 holes in Windows, Office

Brian Krebs — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:11:35 EST

Microsoft on Tuesday released software updates to fix at least 15 security flaws in Windows , Windows Server and Microsoft Office . One of the patches addresses a flaw so serious that users could find their Windows PCs compromised just by visiting booby-trapped Web sites. Richie Lai , director of...

China proves to be an aggressive foe in cyberspace

Ellen Nakashima and John Pomfret — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

One day in late summer 2008, FBI and Secret Service agents flew to Chicago to inform Barack Obama's campaign team that its computer system had been hacked. "You've got a problem. Somebody's trying to get inside your systems," an FBI agent told the team, according to a source familiar with the inc...

Personal Tech: Gadget News and Reviews

Rob Pegoraro — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST

The Washington Post's Rob Pegoraro discusses recent reviews and answers your personal tech questions.

High court considers whether business methods can be patented

Peter Whoriskey — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

The post-industrial evolution of the U.S. economy has aroused multibillion-dollar questions over what kinds of inventions deserve patent protection, and on Monday the Supreme Court joined the muddle over whether new ideas and strategies do.