News Wire Stories for September 2013

By Tim Slavin / News Wire / September 2013 Issue

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/

Tim Slavin

Tim is an award-winning writer and technologist who enjoys teaching tech to non-technical people. He has many years experience with web sites and applications in business, technical, and creative roles. He and his wife have two kids, now teenagers, who are mad about video games.

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Also In The September 2013 Issue

Concepts

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.

People

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..

Language of the Month

Python

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

Code Snippets

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.

Projects and Puzzles

Happy Numbers

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

Notebook

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.

Projects and Puzzles

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