News Wire Stories for September 2013
Image by NASA/JPL
Interesting stories about computer science, software programming, and technology for the month of August 2013. More stories can be found at the News Wire link at the top of every page of this site.
Think web browsing has hit a wall? Futureful's design-led approach proves otherwise
New application helps you browse and discover web content without visiting the same content twice. Plus save stories to Pocket, another app useful for saving stories to read offline at your convenience.
http://gigaom.com/2013/08/02/think-web-browsing-has-hit-a-wall-futurefuls-design-led-approach-proves-otherwise/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OmMalik+%28GigaOM%3A+Tech%29
Devices Connect with Borrowed TV Signals and Need No Power Source
Devices that can make wireless connections even without an onboard battery could spread computing power into everything you own.
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/518111/devices-connect-with-borrowed-tv-signals-and-need-no-power-source/
Buying 120,000 Twitter Accounts Reveals New Way to Block Spam
Researchers spent $5,000 buying Twitter accounts from spammers in an attempt to learn how to outwit them.
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/518471/buying-120000-twitter-accounts-reveals-new-way-to-block-spam/
The Paradox of Wearable Technologies
Can devices like Google Glass augment our activities without Âdistracting us from the physical world?
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/517346/the-paradox-of-wearable-technologies/
From House Elves to Hunger Games: Labor Issues in Sci-Fi and Fantasy
Most sci-fi — at least most good sci-fi — is a metaphor for something that’s happening, or has happened, in the real world: war, inequality, fear of the “other.” And yes, every so often, labor issues.
http://www.wired.com/underwire/2013/08/sci-fi-labor-issues/
Visualize London's Underground With This Mesmerizing Interactive 3-D Map
http://www.wired.com/autopia/2013/08/london-underground-3d-map/
http://brunoimbrizi.com/experiments/#/07
http://cargocollective.com/brunoimbrizi/
Invent to Learn
Using technology to make, repair, or customize the things we need brings engineering, design, and computer science to the masses. Fortunately for educators, this maker movement overlaps with the natural inclinations of children and the power of learning by doing.
http://www.inventtolearn.com/
https://www.facebook.com/inventtolearn
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZE0t-H-u9K0
Debugging Modern Web Applications: Part 1
Good overview of the debugging process for web applications using the Chrome web browser tools.
http://tech.pro/tutorial/1404/debugging-modern-web-applications-part-1
Swimming Robot Tested for Billion-Mile Trip to Saturn Moon
Where do you get a robot ready to visit a lake a billion miles away?
http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/08/05/swimming-robot-tested-for-billion-mile-trip-to-saturn-moon/
Also In The September 2013 Issue

1 and 0
Binary numbers, based on 1s and 0s, reflect the practical essence of computer hardware: electricity is either on or off. Learn how to write in binary numbers, and the (not so secret) code to transform English language letters into binary numbers and back again.

Simon Haughton Talks about Kids, Python, and Computer Science
Simon recently wrote a short ebook, A children's guide to Python programming, to teach kids ages 5-8 computer programming with Python..

Python
Named after Monty Python, this language is designed to be simple yet powerful, easy to code with lots of features.

Variables
In most or all software programming languages, variables work like containers to hold numbers, phrases, or other important stuff used in several places in your code. Here's how they work in several common languages.

Happy Numbers
Some numbers simply have a positive attitude. They're fun to play with.

Local Coding and Technology Groups
Girls Who Code, CoderDojo, and other local groups are great places to learn how to program, meet people, and help others learn.

How to Build a Computer
Building your own computer is a great way to not only save money, and get more processing power, but also to learn about the less obvious parts of software programming.

News Wire Stories for September 2013
Interesting stories about computer science, software programming, and technology for the month of August 2013.

Online Coding Schools
There are plenty of places online to learn one or more software programming languages. Here's a short list with some guidelines to evaluate all your options.
Computer science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes, biology about microscopes, or chemistry about beakers and test tubes. Science is not about tools. It is about how we use them, and what we find out when we do.

Learn More Links for September 2013
Links from the bottom of all the September 2013 articles, collected in one place for you to print, share, or bookmark.

Claude Shannon
His work ties together two topics for this issue of the magazine: binary numbers and circuit design. Without Shannon, computers and computer science could have been very different.