12 February 2012 12:00 AM
This year marks an unusual 30th birthday. It was in 1982 that Scott Fahlman, a computer scientist at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University, suggested that users of his college's online messageboard combine a colon, hyphen and bracket to highlight sarcastic posts and curb misunderstandings. Thus, the online "smiley face" was born.
09 February 2012 12:00 AM
Security personnel tend not to challenge the public to sneak unnoticed into buildings they're guarding, preferring to give the impression that the entrances are impregnable and they themselves are invincible. But the "keep out or else" approach doesn't work online, where cyber attacks are rampant and the task of thwarting them is too colossal for stretched IT departments.
09 February 2012 12:00 AM
David Crookes finds out how much stolen Twitter accounts, hacked eBay pages and more are really worth.
02 February 2012 12:00 AM
We all know the feeling. You've bought a shiny new PC or laptop and within months it's ground to an infuriatingly slow pace...
02 February 2012 12:00 AM
Mark Piesing looks at the contenders hoping to plot a fresh navigational path.
02 February 2012 12:00 AM
Zaarly – terrible name, quite brilliant idea
26 January 2012 12:00 AM
The computer's influence should alter how we teach the next generation, says Rhodri Marsden.
26 January 2012 12:00 AM
It's rare that charity shops provide much in the way of inspiration for the Ideas Factory, so it was a pleasure to discover, while rooting through the shelves of my local Oxfam bookshop, a handful of old copies of Wired. And not just any old copies, the first three ever produced.
25 January 2012 12:00 AM
(1) iTrailMap3D
£2.99
Hit the lodge after a hard day's skiing, grab a beer and compare your routes and tracks with your friends using this 3D map and tracking app. When you get home, you can export the info to Google Earth.
17 January 2012 05:07 PM
David Phelan reports from Vegas on the latest gadgets revealed at the world’s largest electronics trade show
13 January 2012 09:00 PM
From magic mixers to wonderful whisks, Kate Watson-Smyth finds kit that rises to the challenge
12 January 2012 12:00 AM
You may find this hard to believe if you feel inundated by web links to unamusing videos and spittle-flecked blog posts, but apparently we're not sharing enough stuff online.
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