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Elect the best machines for the Robot Hall of Fame

If robots could run for president, which would you vote for?

Nobody doubts that machines would make better leaders than meatsack politicians, but there are so many to choose from. Carnegie Mellon University is helping out by letting us humans elect inductees for its Robot Hall of Fame.

The prestige has been awarded to real robots such as Honda's Asimo, as well as characters like C-3P0 and R2-D2 from "Star Wars." The unprecedented public participation in choosing the members follows years of inactivity at the hall, which was created in 2003 but last added new robots in 2008. … Read more

Surveillance device uses Wi-Fi to see through walls

Researchers in England have created a prototype surveillance device that can be used to spy on people inside buildings and behind walls by tracking the frequency changes as Wi-Fi signals generated by wireless routers and access points bounce off people as they move around.

The device, which is about the size of a suitcase and has two antennae and a signal processing unit, works as a "passive radar system" that can "see" through walls, according to PopSci.com. It was able to successfully determine the location, speed, and direction of a person behind a one-foot-thick brick wall, but can not detect people standing or sitting still, the article said.

The U.K. Ministry of Defence is looking into whether the device -- designed by Karl Woodbridge and Kevin Chetty of the University of College London -- can be used in "urban warfare" for scanning buildings, PopSci reported.

… Read more

Humbug, Wall Street: Marissa Mayer is making the right moves

Wall Street does not like Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer at the moment. But I'd bet on Mayer over Wall Street any day of the week.

Yahoo's stock has dropped 9 percent over the past week. The reason: the tech giant recently announced that it might not return to shareholders the billions it stands to earn from selling its stake in Alibaba. As a result, short-term investors started dropping Yahoo shares almost immediately.

I feel for Yahoo shareholders, especially the long-term ones. You've gone through one mediocre CEO who couldn't move the needle (Carol Bartz) and one … Read more

The 404 1,105: Where we light the future (podcast)

As an expert on the subject of LED lighting, Sal Cangeloso of Geek.com helps us understand the challenges facing early adopters of the technology, the cost and performance advantages of LED bulbs, and the creative ways that people are using them, from the Occupy movement to the opening ceremony at the London Olympics.

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Check out Sal's book, "LED Lighting: A Primer to Lighting the Future."

- Follow Sal on Twitter.

- How to make your own LED throwies.

- LED lights shine at the London Olympic opening ceremonies.

- LED wallpaper is the nerd's ultimate nightlight.… Read more

Improve the Windows Firewall with TinyWall

With so many free firewalls to choose from, products need to stand out in some way. TinyWall emphasizes simplicity, flexibility, and unobtrusiveness. This free firewall is designed to harden and add more control to the existing firewall in Windows 7 and Vista. Instead of constantly hitting you with pop-ups asking you to allow or deny access to a program or Internet address, TinyWall lets you quickly add allowed sites to your white list in several ways. For example, you can use a hot key and click any open window to add that app to your white list, or you can … Read more

Why Facebook's CEO ought to tell Wall Street to Zuck off

I'm sure Mark Zuckerberg won't lose any sleep about Wall Street's ongoing hissy fit about Facebook -- nor should he. More about that in a moment.

Following the disappointment over the company's second-quarter earnings, Facebook shares fell another 11.7 percent Friday, despite the market-lifting euphoria over the European Central Bank chief's plans to bolster the Euro.

An extreme sell-off, for sure, but not surprising for a stock that's tumbled almost 38 percent since its star-crossed debut on the NASDAQ in May.

Given how this outsize company has infiltrated popular culture, Facebook's fall … Read more

Twitter appeals ruling in Occupy Wall Street lawsuit

Twitter has decided to appeal a recent ruling in the legal battle between the social network and New York State over the tweet records of an Occupy Wall Street protester. According to All Things D, Twitter announced today that it's not giving up protecting the rights of its users.

The melee began in May when New York County Criminal Court Judge Matthew Sciarrino Jr. subpoenaed Twitter to hand over three months of basic user information and tweets from one of its users, Malcolm Harris. Harris is currently being prosecuted for disorderly conduct at an Occupy Wall Street protest on … Read more

Next iPhone 'will have thinner screen': WSJ

The next-generation iPhone will feature a thinner display that incorporates in-cell technology, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

In-cell technology would mean the iPhone's touch sensors and LCD are combined into a single layer, doing away with the need to have a separate touch-screen layer.

As well as enabling thinner screens, in-cell panels are also thought to be cheaper to produce than the current two-layer set-up.

LCD screen makers Sharp, LG Display, and Japan Display are mass-producing the in-cell panels for the screen, according to the Journal. Apple's use of in-cell technology is seen as … Read more

Google responds to WSJ guest post; defends search algorithms

Google has struck back against The Wall Street Journal after the newspaper published a rather scathing guest opinion piece lambasting the Internet giant.

Nextag CEO Jeffrey Katz wrote on Thursday evening that Google has ballooned into a monopoly, pegging its closest competition -- at least in the search space -- as one that has no hope of competing. (Interestingly enough, that's Bing, the search entry for Microsoft, which has had its own well-known monopoly-related issues in the past.)

Katz does have some solid evidence here, which is mainly statistics proving Google's dominance in the search field as well … Read more