Supporters of the Islamic extremist group known as ISIS operated at least 46,000 Twitter accounts at the end of last year, a new study says, underscoring the challenge facing social networks as they become powerful tools for propaganda and recruitment.

The accounts were in use between September and December, and while not all were active at the same time, the estimate is a conservative one. The actual number could be as high as 70,000, according to the study, which was commissioned by Google Ideas and published by the Brookings Institution, a Washington, D.C., think tank.

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A Linux kernel developer is suing VMware in Germany, alleging the company has not complied with copyright terms for using open-source software.

Christoph Hellwig, who holds copyrights on portions of the Linux kernel, alleges VMware combined proprietary source code with open-source code in its ESXi product line but has not released it publicly as required by the General Public License version 2 (GPLv2). The suit was filed in district court in Hamburg.

The Software Freedom Conservancy, a charity that supports open-source software projects, is funding Hellwig?s lawsuit through a grant, according to a news release.

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Microsoft has already announced that it plans to stream games on its Xbox One console to Windows 10 PCs beginning later this year. Not unsurprisingly, it?s exploring the other direction as well.

In a talk at the Game Developer Conference here, Bill Schiefelbein, a principal program manager lead in the Xbox Experiences team, described the Xbox app (below) that Microsoft has launched for Windows 10, and what the company hopes to achieve for gaming on the PC. 

For now, the Xbox app represents a social network of sorts, bridging the PC and the Xbox One game console by allowing users to connect to friends, post game clips, and track achievements across the various gaming titles. Users will be able to either use their real name, their Xbox gamertag, or both, providing some anonymity if they so choose. In the future Microsoft plans to also add a game DVR function to record clips that can be saved or shared with friends.

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Ever since Microsoft announced its plans to bring the Xbox and PC ecosystems closer together with Windows 10, I've been under the impression that this was more of a play towards giving the console crowd computer-y convenience rather than actually wooing over PC gamers. After a demo of the Windows 10 Xbox App at GDC today, I'm even more convinced.

Except for one truly killer feature.

The new Xbox App will finally make it easy to take screenshots and record videos of games without requiring third-party software. Hitting Windows-G while in-game brings up a contextual menu that allows you to take a screenshot, record the last thirty seconds of video to disk, or start a recording?just like the Xbox. Sort of.

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The development of self-driving cars could spur advancements in robotics and cause other ripple effects, potentially benefitting society in a variety of ways.

Autonomous cars as well as robots rely on artificial intelligence, image recognition, GPS and processors, among other technologies, notes a report from consulting firm McKinsey. Some of the hardware used in self-driving cars could find its way into robots, lowering production costs and the price for consumers.

Self-driving cars could also help people grow accustomed to other machines, like robots, that can complete tasks without the need for human intervention.

Commonly used parts could allow auto mechanics to fix robots as well, said the report, released Thursday. Infrastructure like machine-to-machine communication networks could also be shared.

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Luxury hotelier Mandarin Oriental has removed malicious software that was used to steal credit card data from some of its hotels in the U.S. and Europe, the company said Thursday.

The security codes for the cards were not compromised, it said, although it wasn?t clear if that referred to the cards? PIN (personal identification number) or the three-digit CVV code on the back. No other personal information was taken, the company said in a statement.

An investigation is underway by law enforcement and forensic specialists. An ?isolated number of hotels in the U.S. and Europe were affected,? but none in Asia, the company said.

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The continuing NatWest debacle has highlighted the IT systems risks faced by British banks, springing from a lack of investment in back-office staff and a reluctance to abandon legacy systems

(ZDNet UK - IT Strategy)

The Nexus 7 is the first tablet that Google will sell directly to the public, starting at £159 for the quad-core device running the next version of Android, Jelly Bean

(ZDNet UK - Mobile Devices)

Rony Abovitz is still coy about what Magic Leap will actually look like. But he?s clear about one thing: his company?s technology won?t make you sick like all those virtual and augmented reality goggles.

The post Magic Leap Founder: Microsoft’s HoloLens Will Make You Sick appeared first on WIRED.

Microsoft has a vision for the future of gaming: A unified experience across Xbox One and Windows 10. Xbox head Phil Spencer laid out that plan at the Game Developer’s Conference in San Francisco, where he conceded Windows lost the plot with gamers. The time has come, he said, to change course. “Our goal in […]

The post Microsoft’s Vision for Games: Unifying Xbox and Windows 10 appeared first on WIRED.

Maybe if we start training robots to save people?s lives now, some of them will collaborate with the post-Skynet human resistance later.

The post The Scary-Dexterous Robots of the Darpa Challenge appeared first on WIRED.

A brain-computer interface lets a quadriplegic woman pilot an F-35 flight simulator with the power of her mind alone.

The post Woman Controls a Fighter Jet Sim Using Only Her Mind appeared first on WIRED.

Purists will scoff, but we could be nearing a future where new technologies make art museums come to life. Not hyperbolically, in the sense that virtual reality displays and touchscreen tablets let you interact with art in new ways (we?re already seeing that in spades, thanks to smart renovations at places like the Cleveland Museum […]

The post Projection Mapping Brings an Ancient Greek Statue to Life appeared first on WIRED.

While the games won't be coming to a PlayStation near you any time soon, the ALT.CTRL.GDC exhibit shows how we can break free of controllers and monitors.

The post Clever Games Use Handcrafted, One-of-a-Kind Controllers appeared first on WIRED.