In the battle for privacy on the Internet, even the most helpful tools designed to fight bank fraud and even find missing children could be used for much more nefarious purposes.
Just in time for the Super Bowl, U.S. military personnel can use a free app to talk about the big game with their family and friends -- and a few football players themselves.
AP - Figuring out how to pack a processor and other electronics into a machine gun bullet has been a challenge for engineers at Sandia National Laboratories, so weapons experts say the miniature guidance system the lab has developed is a breakthrough.
Appolicious - The other day, TechCrunch tipped us off to a hot new last-minute ticket-selling app called WillCall. The app currently lets users choose their purchases from a select list of concerts, but will soon expand to include tickets to plays and symphonies as well. WillCall is currently only available in San Francisco but will expand to Los Angeles and New York City in March.
Russia's space agency and training center for cosmonauts is launching a campaign to choose a new team of cosmonauts to train for a special mission, most likely for the moon this decade, Pravda.ru reported
AP - Heather Peter's computer crashed under the onslaught of messages following her unique victory over Honda in small claims court — a win the California woman is hoping will lead other consumers to reject a class action settlement over defective hybrid cars.
LiveScience.com - A one-of-a-kind fossil shows that so-called bat flies — tiny vampire insects that survive on the blood of bats — have been parasitizing the winged mammals and spreading bat malaria for at least 20 million years, scientists report in a pair of studies Friday (Feb. 3).
ContributorNetwork - COMMENTARY | They may not be the power company, but you won't find too many threats to their dominance. All three are not only at the top of their game, they have few, if any, competitors. And the law helps keep newbies out of the market.
Appolicious - The touchscreen keyboard gets an upgrade with TouchPal's Keyboard for Android tablets. It lets you easily switch between swiping and tapping, as well as gestures to get the most out of your finger follies. This week also brought some big name updates to the Android Market, including special upgrades from McAfee Security and Mint's personal finance app. Salesforce debuted its Rypple app this week, as did Eventbrite for managing events on-the-go.
Reuters - Canada will set up a new environmental monitoring system for the northern Alberta oil sands as it seeks to fend off harsh international criticism following revelations that oversight of the huge petroleum development has been insufficient.
AP - Even in their Texas hideout, Jim and Donita Clark are terrified that wildlife agents from their home state of Louisiana will descend on their motorhome and seize the four Capuchin monkeys they've reared for 10 years.
SPACE.com - A NASA probe on a five-year mission to Jupiter fired up its rocket thrusters this week to better aim itself at the largest planet in our solar system.
A group of Russian scientists plumbing the frozen Antarctic in search of a lake buried in ice for tens of millions of years have failed to respond to increasingly anxious U.S. colleagues -- and as the days creep by, the fate of the team remains unknown.
Thanks to its record-breaking quarter of shipments, Apple has jumped into the third spot in the list of the world's top five mobile phone manufacturers, an International Data Corporation (IDC) report claimed.
Reuters - The U.S. Agriculture Department on Friday awarded $40.2 million in grants to farmers, ranchers and farmer-controlled rural business ventures aimed at spurring locally produced food supplies and renewable energy ventures.
AP - NASA says it still has confidence in the quality of Russia's manned rockets, despite an embarrassing series of glitches and failures in the Russian space program.