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Latest by G. McMillan

Reminder: Kickstarter can pull the plug on your project for no reason

Kickstarter's Terms of Service states it can shut down a project whenever it pleases - but does it have to explain why?

Amazon Storyteller will turn your screenplays into a visual storyboard

Amazon Studios continues to streamline the movie-making process with Storyteller, a new tool that semi-automates screenplays into finished storyboards.

China builds the fastest computer ever without even trying

Chinese scientists have built a new super computer that is so fast, it has utterly decimated the previous record for the fastest computer ever constructed.

Now you can Google which movies will be a hit

For some, the ability to tell if a movie will be a hit is the stuff of arcane math. For Google, it's just a matter of finding patterns in search data.

Just what your fridge needs: A special ultraviolet room for strawberries

If you often forget to eat food before they go bad in the fridge, maybe you need a fridge compartment with ultraviolet LEDs to keep things fresh longer.

Computers are gaining the ability to remember what things look like

Computers have a lot of trouble recognizing what things look like. At least, they did until a Ph.D student created a work-around that solved that problem.

Shazam predicts ‘Sounds of Summer’ based on user requests

If you're already thinking about what music you'll be listening this summer, Shazam has already released a list of songs it thinks will dominate the season.

Zap, boom, pow! DC Comics debuts new interactive digital format

DC Comics' legendary superheroes getting a technological upgrade with the publisher's announcement of DC2, a new interactive digital comic format.

Disney launches Digital Copy Plus program for those who need DVD cloud backups

Disney's new Digital Copy Plus program allows DVD and Blu-ray owners to own a digital copy of their analog discs via Amazon, iTunes, or Vudu.

AOL sells shuttered blogs to former AOL boss

Townsquare Media has purchased four of the blogs closed by AOL in a move that reunites said sites with the man responsible for their creations.

China censors Wikipedia ahead of Tiananmen Square anniversary

Just days before today's anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, Chinese authorities blocked the HTTPS encrypted version of Wikipedia.

From LCD Soundsystem to building a brand new sound system

LCD Soundsystem frontman James Murphy has a new musical ambition: Building his own sound system so that clubgoers can hear music the way he intends.

Google, Facebook, Bing under fire for not enough anti-child porn funding in the U.K.

Google, Facebook, and Microsoft are coming under fire in the United Kingdom over the amount of money they've donated to a charity to stop child pornography.

Touch-sensitive robot arm can navigate through a field of clutter

A new combination of a robotic arm and "electronic skin" has created a prosthetic that can sort itself through any obstacle.

Google wants to help you make healthier food choices

Google's search function now adds a table of nutritional data on various food items each time you search for something food-related.

Despite Netflix availability, the world illegally downloaded ‘Arrested Development’

Despite easy access for the price of a Netflix subscription, more than 100,000 people torrented the new "Arrested Development" on its first day of release.

Chinese military to launch cyber war games next month

China's official news agency announced that the country's People's Liberation Army will launch a new round of war games to test its military readiness.

Fatigue Monitoring System detects when workers are too sleepy to run heavy machines

Heavy machinery should not be operated while drowsy, and one invention aims to track the operator's eyes to make sure they're not too tired to function.

Daft Punk takes the Spotify crown for the second time

Spotify announced that Daft Punk's new album, Random Access Memories, has already become the most-streamed new album in the service's five year history.

Anonymous steps into Kaitlyn Hunt story

Internet collective Anonymous gotten involved with the ongoing prosecution by Indian River County authorities of a Florida teen for having a girlfriend.

Netflix to double exclusive original series in 2014

If you've enjoyed original content on Netflix, including this weekend's Arrested Development: Good news. There might be twice as much on the way next year.

3D printed device saves baby’s life

Prepare to drop all cynicism towards 3D printers with this story of a child who may literally have died without the technology.

Discovery reinvents itself for the Internet with TestTube

Discovery Communications has launched TestTube, a video network of science-related programming with fifteen series available online and media streamers.

Amazon monetizes on the fan fiction cult with ‘Kindle Worlds’

When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. Amazon is taking fan fiction to a legitimate, for-profit endeavor with a new program called Kindle Worlds.

Millennial chick tweets about hit and run, turns out cops read Twitter too

Emma Way might have gotten away with a hit and run, but instead chose to brag about it on Twitter which resulted in local authorities hunting her down.

The future of air travel doesn’t need pilots

A successful test flight for a drone system of passenger planes suggests that we may one day have pilotless planes.

‘Welcome to Sandition’ webisodes let viewers decide the fate of unfinished Austen novel

Following " The Lizzie Bennet Diaries," that web series' creators are now letting fans finish the abandoned "Sandition" novel via a crowdsourcing platform.

Apple has a lengthy waiting list for police requests to unlock iPhones

Authorities ask Apple to decrypt their devices for ongoing investigations so often that the company has had to create a waiting list for federal agencies.

YouTube confirms subscription model, and here’s what you’ll need to pay to see

YouTube has launched its long-awaited paid subscription model, with more than 50 channels offering premium content.

Don’t throw away your old DVDs! They could help diagnose HIV

Researchers have developed a way to repurpose DVDs as a medical tool to test blood for HIV infections.

Researchers develop a smartphone app that can help the blind take pictures

A new app built by researchers at the University of California in Santa Cruz will literally talk the vision-impaired through the process of taking a photo.

David Bowie’s new video gets censored by YouTube

David Bowie's new music video gets temporary taken down by YouTube, only to reappear with an age restriction despite a fairly Safe For Work content.

Germany sentences Torrent.to owner to nearly four years in jail

A German court has sentenced the founder of a file-sharing site to almost four years in prison. Now all they have to do is physically catch him.

Your email is open to government snooping, if it’s old enough

Documents from the FBI and U.S. Attorneys Office's claim that authorities do not need a warrant to read your email if it's been unread for six months.