researchers

Researchers in the Middle East say Twitter could be a useful tool in predicting violent riots. The Qatar Computing Research Institute says that although you can't read too much into a single 'tweet' from a single user, when you gather the data from ... thousands of users you can detect certain trends. By piecing that data together, researchers say they can predict when and where violence will occur. To test the theory, the Qatar researchers developed what they call the 'Political Polarization Index'. They analyzed all Twitter posts by Egyptian users and gave each user a rating between 0 and 1 ... (view more)

People who regularly use social networking site Facebook are prone to negative feelings, a new study finds. But there's some question over the cause and effect involved. Researchers at the University of Michigan studied 82 Facebook users with an ... average age of 19 to 20. The researchers started by asking the subjects a series of questions to check their levels of self-esteem and / or depression. They then sent the subjects a text message five times each day over a two-week period. (Source: plosone.org ) The message linked to a survey that asked the subjects whether they felt positive or ... (view more)

Security researchers at the University of Texas have reportedly used global positioning system (GPS) technology to remotely take control of a ship. Shockingly, they pulled off the scheme without being detected by the ship's crew. Fortunately, the ... attack was part of a controlled experiment carried out with the permission of the ship's owners. The researchers were able to use bogus GPS data to control the ship's navigation. It's the first time researchers have been able to successfully alter GPS data rather than simply blocking or "jamming" a signal. The researchers say they were able to change ... (view more)

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) say they've developed a system that could help speed up the Internet. The research is designed to find an alternative to the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) system. TCP is the set of ... rules that govern the way data moves around the Internet. Whenever data travels online, it's broken down into small chunks known as 'packets' (in effect, info packets!). Often, these packets take different routes around the various connections that make up the net, then get reassembled at their destination. Net Currently Favors Accuracy Over Speed ... (view more)

Outsourcing has become a popular way for big companies to save money. One example: offering 'bug bounties' that encourage independent researchers to help prevent security nightmares. According to a new study completed by University of California ... Berkeley researchers, it's far cheaper for technology firms to use these freelance security experts than expand an existing in-house security team. The study examined the bug bounty programs (otherwise known as vulnerability reward programs, or VRPs) used by two of the Internet's biggest firms: Google and Mozilla, makers of the Chrome ... (view more)

Think you're a safe driver because you use hands-free technologies to communicate with friends and family while behind the wheel? Think again. The American Automobile Association (AAA) is recommending drivers not use such tools at all while driving ... their vehicles. The recommendation follows a study by a cognitive distraction researcher and his team at the University of Utah. The researchers carried out a series of tests that showed drivers could still be distracted when using hands-free communications tools. AAA chief Robert Darbelnet said the group's suggestion to avoid the technology might ... (view more)

Researchers in California say they've developed a way to use brain signals as a form of digital security. It could solve several major problems with current password systems. Existing log-in tools are limited by the ability of the user to remember a ... password. In turn, that tempts people to use simpler passwords that are easier for humans to guess or machines to figure out by trial and error. The University of California Berkeley School of Information has been working on an alternative. Staff there believe reading a person's brainwaves represents a more reliable and secure system. They've ... (view more)

A team of researchers in Kyoto, Japan, claim to have developed software capable of reading dreams by analyzing brain activity. In a recent study, scientists from the ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories connected three test subjects to an EEG ... (electroencephalogram) and had them sleep inside an MRI machine to measure their brain waves during the first few minutes of sleep. Researchers Build Brain Wave-Image Correlation Database The participants were then awakened and asked to identify the images seen in their dreams. This practice was repeated 200 times, during which researchers built a ... (view more)

A new study commissioned by Microsoft and carried out by researchers at IDC has found that most counterfeit software includes some kind of malware. The researchers also estimate that the total value of the counterfeit software market now exceeds ... $100 billion. IDC recently published its findings in a report titled "The Dangerous World of Counterfeit and Pirated Software: How Pirated Software Can Compromise the Cybersecurity of Consumers, Enterprises, and Nations ... and the Resultant Costs in Time and Money." Most Counterfeit Software Laced with Malware In that report (which can be viewed in ... (view more)

A new study shows that it's possible to use mobile phone location data to find an individual. Researchers say that, in most cases, getting four confirmed locations for a person is enough to identify their handset. The study's findings appear in the ... latest edition of Scientific Reports. According to the researchers, most users understand and accept that mobile phone service providers track their locations. Customers are usually 'OK' with this because the data is kept confidential and only provided to law enforcement authorities after a warrant has been issued. (Source: nature.com ) Anonymous ... (view more)