London police trial gang violence 'predicting' software (BBC news)

Police in London have tested software designed to identify which gang members are most likely to commit violent crimes.

The 20-week pilot study is thought to have been the first of its kind in the UK, although similar experiments have been carried out elsewhere.

It used five years worth of historic data, but the idea would be to analyse up-to-date details if it is deployed.

Civil liberty campaigners have voiced concerns.

But Accenture - the firm that developed the software - highlighted the potential benefit it offered.

"You've got limited police resources and you need to target them efficiently," said Muz Janoowalla, head of public safety analytics at the company.

"What this does is tell you who are the highest risk individuals that you should target your limited resources against."

Flagging threats

The software works by merging together data from existing systems already used by the Metropolitan Police and carrying out predictive calculations.

Read the article here

12 moments in the keyboard's history

At some point in the day, we all smash our fingers against some form of keyboard -- whether it's of the physical or virtual variety. In this week's Rewind, we take a look at how the keyboard's grown beyond its humble typewriter beginnings and taken on a life of its own.

Click to view gallery of keyboards

Science Museum exhibition explores the 'information age' (BBC news)

One of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken by the Science Museum has been opened by the Queen in London.

The Information Age gallery, which has taken three years to plan, takes visitors on a journey through the history of modern communications, from the telegraph to the smartphone.

Exhibits on show at the gallery include the first transatlantic cable which connected Europe and North America, the broadcast equipment behind the BBC's first radio programme in 1922, and Sir Tim Berners-Lee's NeXT computer, which hosted the first website.

Click here to see the BBC's Rory Cellan-Jones report.

Could robots become too cute for comfort? (BBC)

By Radek BoschettyThe Forum, BBC World Service

Humans instinctively respond to the human-like features of many robot designs

Continue reading the main story

Would you share your innermost secret with a robot? And if you did, would you be comfortable knowing that the secret might be stored online in the "cloud"?

Read more here

ONE OF APPLE’S VERY FIRST COMPUTERS FETCHES RECORD-BREAKING $905,000 AT AUCTION

If you think Apple’s new 5K iMac is pricey at $2500, wait till you hear how much one of its first PCs sold for this week.

At an auction at Bonhams in New York on Wednesday, one of the tech giant’s few remaining Apple-1 machines fetched a whopping $905,000, around double the amount seller John Anderson of the Cincinnati-based AppleSiders Apple user group had been expecting. The sale also set a new record for the price paid for an Apple-1, of which only only 200 were made. The previous record was set at an auction in Germany last year when the same model fetched $671,400.

Read more (Digital trends)

Robot will beam live Moon pictures to Oculus users

Scientists at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a robot which they plan to land on the Moon to act as eyes for Earth-bound space enthusiasts.

The project is part of a $30m prize from Google offered to a team that can send video back from the moon.

Read the complete article

How the world came to be run by computer code (BBC)

The power of code

From the scythe to the steam engine, we've always used technology to control the world around us. But our ability to shape our environment has been transformed by one machine more than any other – the computer.

What makes computers so powerful is the code they run. It's incredibly flexible, controlling games one moment and spaceships the next. It came to do this thanks to individual genius, invention driven by necessity, and the power of human imagination.

Click to find out more

7 things you didn’t know your Web browser could do

The most-used program on your computer is your Web browser, but there's a good chance you don't know much about it besides how to visit your favorite sites. There are a lot of myths about browsers, some of which I've dispelled in the past, but today I want to help you get the most out of your browser with a few simple tricks you really need to know.

1. Choose your home page

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What's the first thing you see when your browser starts up? If you're using Internet Explorer, it's probably MSN's website. Chrome loads up a modified Google page. Firefox has its own start page.

But if you always head to the same site first, why not just start there?

In Chrome, click the icon on the right with the three horizontal bars and choose Settings. On the left column, choose Settings and then look under "On Startup."

Set it to "Open a specific page or set of pages" and then click the "Set pages" link. Type in one or more Web addresses and then click OK. The page – or pages – will load when Chrome starts.

In Firefox, click the icon on the right with the three horizontal bars and choose Options. On the General tab, set "When Firefox starts" to "Show my homepage." Then under that, type in the address you want for your home page. Then click OK.

In Internet Explorer, click the gear icon on the right and select Internet Options. Go to the General tab and under "Home page" enter the Web address you want to see on startup.

In Safari on Apple, go to Safari>>Preferences. On the General tab, go to "Homepage" and type in an address. Done!

Another good way to open your favorite sites is by using bookmarks. Click here to learn the ins and outs of this unappreciated browser feature.

2. Pin tabs

This is for Chrome and Firefox users who have favorite sites they leave open all day. Load up the site, right-click on the browser tab and choose "Pin Tab."

The page will appear as a smaller tab on the left side of the tab bar. No matter how many tabs you have open, it will still be sitting there. It will even reappear when you restart the browser. To unpin a tab you don't want anymore, just right-click and choose "Unpin Tab."

3. Middle-click to open tabs

If you're using a mouse that was made after the mid-2000s, then it probably has a scroll wheel. Did you know that if you press down on the scroll wheel it acts as a middle mouse button?

OK, you knew that. But did you know that clicking on a Web link with the middle mouse button opens that link in a new browser tab? Give it a try; it will change your life – or at least your browsing. Click here for even more mouse and keyboard shortcuts you should know.

4. Zoom text

Have you ever visited a page with text that was too small? If you've ever leaned in close to a computer monitor to read, you need to know this.

To zoom text – and images – in any browser, just press CTRL and the plus key at the same time. Hit it a few times to zoom way in. Too far? Hold CTRL and hit the minus key to zoom back out. CTRL and the zero key resets the zoom. Click here for even more handy computer shortcuts you can't live without.

You can also hold down the CTRL key and spin your mouse's scroll wheel. That will zoom in and out quickly.

5. Browse privately

Don't want your significant other knowing what his or her birthday present is? Want to make it hard for snoops to know where you're going online? Just fire up your browser's privacy mode.

In every browser but Chrome, press CTRL+SHIFT+P (COMMAND+SHIFT+P on a Mac). In Chrome use CTRL+SHIFT+N (COMMAND+SHIFT+N on a Mac). On Safari, private browsing is available under SAFARI in the menu bar. You'll instantly be in a separate private browsing window. Click here to learn more private browsing tricks and the limits of its privacy.

6. See if your browser needs updating

An out-of-date browser is very dangerous. It might have unfixed security flaws that hackers can use to take over your computer. Or you might just be missing out on some of the latest and greatest Internet sites that use newer Web standards. Either way, keeping your browser up to date is essential. Click here to find out instantly what browser you're using and if there's a newer version.

See your online accounts and passwords

Do you remember every online account you’ve ever made? I know I sure don’t.

Your browser does, though. That's great when you want to review your old accounts and passwords. It's not so great when a snoop gets on your computer.

Learn how to see your saved passwords and secure them against hackers.

Could a big data-crunching machine be your boss one day? (BBC news)

Could Amelia, the "learning cognitive agent", be your boss one day?

Continue reading the main story

I'm on a date with Amelia. She's neatly dressed, emotionally intelligent and whip-smart.

But she's a little too virtual for my tastes.

Amelia is a "learning cognitive agent", according to her creators IPSoft - like one of those virtual customer service helpers that pop up on corporate websites.

Only not so dumb and a lot less irritating.

But one day, she could end up being your boss, her makers believe.

Machine learning

Amelia can swallow textbooks whole, speak 20 languages, understand concepts and learn from her mistakes. And she can be replicated any number of times.

On my screen I see her absorb a complex engineering manual in 14 seconds then immediately answer questions such as "What are the symptoms of a bent drive shaft?" and "What causes high power demand?"

This may be a far cry from Scarlett Johansson's uber-intelligent operating system Samantha in Spike Jonze's sci-fi film, Her, but it's the future, says Chetan Dube, IPSoft's chief executive.

Are there any limits to what robots could do in the workplace?
Read the article here

Mars mission: Could US girl, 13, be first on red planet? (BBC NEWS)

Alyssa Carson has big dreams. At the age of 13 she is determined to be the first person to land on Mars.

But this is more than wishful thinking - Nasa thinks she stands a chance and she is already in training.

Alyssa is studying science and several languages and became the first person to attend all three of Nasa's world space camps. Her call sign at the US space agency is "Blueberry".

The teenager from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, says failure is not an option. And her father says he has the next 20 years of work planned out.

Alien attacks and Fifa 15 chants: The art of video game noise

Sound design is often the unsung hero of video games. But when developers get it right, primal instincts are triggered, helping immerse players in the action. Below, the brains behind the soundscapes of five of this year's biggest releases discuss their art in exclusive interviews with the BBC:

Read article here

Big robot fleet takes to UK waters (BBC news)

Drones of the Deep

A fleet of marine robots is being launched in the largest deployment of its kind in British waters.

Unmanned boats and submarines will travel 500km (300 miles) across an area off the southwestern tip of the UK.

The aim is to test new technologies and to map marine life in a key fishing ground.

In total, seven autonomous machines are being released in a trial heralded as a new era of robotic research at sea.

Two of the craft are innovative British devices that are designed to operate for months using renewable sources of power including wind and wave energy.

The project, led by the National Oceanography Centre, involves more than a dozen research centres and specialist companies.

Read the article and video footage 

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3D-printed hand first for Inverness girl

Five year old Hayley Fraser, from Inverness, was born without fully-formed fingers on her left hand.

Her parents David and Zania Fraser sought help from US-based E-nable, a network of volunteers who design and make prosthetics mainly for children.

Hayley's pink hand was designed from a plaster cast made by her parents.

E-nable's members include engineers, artists and university academics.

Printing in 3D has been described as the "future of manufacturing" and is increasingly being used to make everything from film props to food.

The technology is also being used to make aerial drones for use in civilian roles and parts for motor racing cars.

Getting units right

Getting units right is important. Scientists from NASA will tell you this. In 1998 a space probe called the Climate Orbiter was launched to track climate changes on Mars. The Orbiter failed to stop at the atmosphere of Mars, and instead carried on going, only to burn up and disintegrate. On investigation it was found that the company that built the spacecraft, Lockheed, were using the Imperial units of measurement - miles, feet and inches - while the people running the missions at NASA were using the metric system - kilometres, metres and centimetres. Calculations by Lockheed and NASA didn’t match at all and the mission failed miserably - costing more than $125 million and years of effort.

Source  future learn course Electrify (University of Liverpool)