Articles by Richard Adhikari

Researchers from several universities recently developed a technique to record the quantum mechanical behavior of one electron in a nanoscale defect in diamond The team, led by David Awschalom of the University of Chicago, used ultra-fast pulses of laser light both to control the defect's entire quantum state and to observe how the state of one ele...

Clickbaiting may soon come to an end on Facebook, which has launched an effort to deal with the problem Posts with clickbait headlines get higher placement in News Feeds -- but 80 percent of the time, users prefer headlines that help them decide whether they want to read a full article before having to click through, a Facebook survey indicated....

The United States National Security Agency secretly shares the communications data it has amassed over the years with nearly 24 U.S. government agencies using a search engine resembling Google Search, The Intercept reported Monday That's more than 850 billion records of phone calls, emails, cellphone locations and Internet chats....

Sony's PlayStation and Sony Entertainment networks were taken down over the weekend by a distributed denial of service, or DDoS, attack. The hackers, who call themselves the "Lizard Squad," also forced authorities to divert a plane Sony Entertainment president was on by tweeting that there might be explosives on board....

SoundCloud on Thursday launched On SoundCloud, a program that will facilitate advertising on the site Membership initially is by invitation only; SoundCloud will roll it out to a select number of artists....

A conflict between Google's push to make the Web more secure and its Trusted Store program may be costing at least one business money Pegasus Auto Racing Supplies, which encrypts all the pages on its website, has had its application for Google's Trusted Stores program turned down, according to The Wall Street Journal....

Barnes & Noble and Samsung on Wednesday jointly announced the Samsung the Galaxy Tab 4 Nook It is essentially the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 tablet, rebranded and preloaded with B&N's content....

HTC, which in recent years spurned Windows Phone for Android, on Tuesday returned to the Microsoft fold with the launch of a Windows Phone version of its flagship HTC One (M8) smartphone The HTC One (M8) for Windows debuted as a Verizon Wireless network exclusive. The two-year contract price at Verizon Wireless is $200. AT&T also will carry the ph...

The banking industry is up in arms over the United States Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) plan to publish consumer complaint narratives about financial institutions on the Web Consumers would have to opt in to have their complaints published. The CFPB would strip out all personally identifiable information. The idea is to expand the e...

Photos and specs of the forthcoming Moto 360 smartwatch from Motorola appeared briefly on a Best Buy Web page this week, sparking increased chatter about the device Concerns about price -- the watch was listed at US$250 on the page -- tempered the usual gasps of delight from geeks. Amazon lists a Samsung Galaxy Gear for $150, a Gear Live for $180, ...

Intel on Friday announced it is working with rapper Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson's SMS Audio to develop earbuds that will monitor users' heart rates The SMS Audio BioSport In-Ear Headphones will have an earhook and will be powered by the user's smartphone....

Apple has begun ramping up for an incursion into the healthcare market, two months after announcing its HealthKit app at WWDC The app will collate all a user's fitness and health data....

A deluge of hateful tweets after the suicide of actor Robin Williams earlier this week forced his daughter Zelda to publicly quit Twitter and Instagram "We will not tolerate abuse of this nature on Twitter," Del Harvey, the company's vice president of trust and safety, said in a prepared message sent to TechNewsWorld in response to our request for ...

Apple on Thursday reiterated its commitment to safe working conditions in its supply chain, and announced stricter rules for the use of benzene and n-hexane, two toxic chemicals It also published its Regulated Substances Specification (RSS), pointing out that it sets occupational exposure limits for the two toxic chemicals that follow standards bod...

Millions of users were unable to access the Web Tuesday, according to reports The websites of eBay, Amazon, Autotrader, LinkedIn, Time Warner and Verizon were among those hit....

The United States National Security Agency is working on a new program codenamed "MonsterMind" that will automate the monitoring of traffic patterns on the Internet to look for attacks, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden told Wired. When it detects an attack, MonsterMind will automatically block it from entering the U.S. cyberinfrastructure....

The United States Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has issued an advisory warning consumers about the risks of Bitcoin and other virtual currencies The bureau "is working to identify and understand potential consumer protection concerns raised by these emerging technologies to determine what action, if any, may be necessary to protect co...

A grassroots group calling itself "I Am The Cavalry" has published an open letter to the automotive industry offering its services in ensuring security and safety "Modern vehicles are computers on wheels and are increasingly connected and controlled by software and embedded devices," the letter reads.

Amazon, which has for some time been locked in a battle with publishing giant Hachette over the pricing of e-books, has broadened the battlefield to take on Disney. It has stopped taking preorders of Disney DVD and Blu-ray discs Amazon earlier this year stopped taking preorders for Hachette books. It also lengthened delivery times and reduced disco...

IBM has announced the latest version of its neurosynaptic processor -- that is, a processor whose workings are inspired by the human brain Built on Samsung's 28nm process technology, it has 5.4 billion transistors and an on-chip network of 4,096 neurosynaptic cores....