Silent Skype calls can hide secret messages

Got a secret message to send? Say it with silence. A new technique can embed secret data during a phone call on Skype. "There are concerns that Skype calls can be intercepted and analysed," says Wojciech Mazurczyk at the Institute of Telecommunications in Warsaw, Poland. So his team's SkypeHide system lets users...

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Football: Messi targets record fourth Ballon d'Or

ZURICH: Record-breaking Lionel Messi is poised to become the first player to win four successive Ballon d'Or awards on Monday, sealing his status as the greatest player of his generation.The 25-year-old is the overwhelming favourite to see off the challenge of Barcelona teammate Andres Iniesta and great Real Madrid rival Cristiano Ronaldo for the prize.It will crown another landmark year...

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Windows laptop sales sink -- but that's just part of the problem

Will businesses and consumers spring for a Windows 8 hybrid priced at $849 that's powered by a relatively pokey Atom processor?(Credit:Hewlett-Packard)Windows 8 PC sales aren't trending well, according to a new report. And consumers' addiction to low cost may be a factor. A blurb on Friday from the NPD Group said Windows 8 holiday sales continue to not impress. "The launch of Windows 8...did little...

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City Answers Gang-Rape Cover-Up Allegations

As Steubenville, Ohio, prepares for the high-profile rape trial of two high school football players, officials, battling allegations of a cover-up, announced the creation of a new website today to debunk rumors and create what they said would be a transparent resource for the community."This site is not designed to be a forum for how the Juvenile Court ought to rule in this matter,"...

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Graphic in-car crash warnings to slow speeding drivers

Paul Marks, chief technology correspondent(Image: Cityscape/a.collection/Getty)"You would die if you crashed right now." Would such a warning make you take your foot off the accelerator? That's the idea behind a scheme to warn drivers of the consequences of speeding developed by engineers at Japan's Fukuoka Institute of Technology and heavy goods vehicle maker UD Trucks, also in Japan. They are...

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Football: Perth Glory in talks with Owen

SYDNEY: Perth Glory are in talks with the management of Michael Owen about bringing the former England player to Australia's A-League, reports said Saturday.Owen, 33, who scored 40 goals in 89 internationals for England and had stints at Liverpool, Real Madrid and Manchester United, is currently playing for Stoke City in the English Premier League.Glory have one spare position in their...

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IonMonkey delivers a faster Firefox

Firefox JavaScript performance on Mozilla's own Kraken benchmark.(Credit:Mozilla)A new version of Firefox released today puts some extra speed into online games and Web apps powered by JavaScript, thanks to a new compiler called IonMonkey.Mozilla stated in a blog post announcing the update to Firefox 18 (download for Windows | Mac | Linux) that the new engine makes JavaScript-powered Web sites run...

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Best Pictures: 2012 Nat Geo Photo Contest Winners

Winner: PlacesPhotograph by Nenad SaljicA full moon illuminates the Matterhorn peak near Zermatt, Switzerland, in the winning image...

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Obama Poised to Name New Defense, Treasury Chiefs

With the "fiscal cliff" crisis behind him, President Obama is poised to name two new key players to his cabinet, with both announcements expected to come next week.Obama will name the replacement for outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta as soon as Monday, sources told ABC News. Former Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel is the likely nominee, they said.Meanwhile, the president is...

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Unique meteorite hints Mars stayed moist for longer

A scorched rock bought in Morocco turned out to be a diamond in the rough. The unusual meteorite may be the first sample of the Red Planet's crust ever to hit Earth, and it suggests that Mars held on to its water for longer than we thought. ...

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Football: Lampard braced for season-end Chelsea exit, says agent

LONDON: Frank Lampard will definitely leave Chelsea at the end of the season, the England international's agent confirmed Thursday, but he will not be tempted to see out his career in China.The 34-year-old Lampard is into the final months of his contract with the European champions and a new deal has yet to be agreed."At the moment, Frank is only thinking of the present. As far as the...

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Windows 8 gains market share in December

Desktop market share in December 2012. The Windows 8 Touch market share -- 0.05 percent -- has been included in Other, bringing the Windows 8 total to 1.77 percent.(Credit:Net Applications)Despite a mixed reaction to its arrival at the end of October, Windows 8 continued to grow in market share by the end of December 2012.New desktop market share numbers released by Net Applications show that Windows...

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Pictures We Love: Best of 2012

Photograph by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/APPowder-splattered, and powder-splattering, runners cross the finish line of The Color Run 5K in Irvine, California, on April 22. Each kilometer (0.6 mile) of the event features a color-pelting station dedicated to a single hue, culminating in the Pollock-esque riot at kilometer 5.The "magical color dust" is completely safe, organizers say, though...

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James Holmes Defense: Was He Insane?

Jan 3, 2013 5:30pm James Holmes appears in court, Centennial, Colo., July 23, 2012. RJ Sangosti/AP Images.ABC’s Clayton Sandell and Carol McKinley report:A judge ruled Thursday that public defenders for accused Colorado theater shooting suspect James Holmes can call two unidentified witnesses at next week’s preliminary hearing to testify about the defendant’s “mental...

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Humble coin toss thrust to heart of multiverse debate

* Required fields * First name * Last name * Country * Email address * Password Password must contain only letters and numbers, and be at least 8 characters * Confirm password...

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Al-Jazeera acquires Gore-founded TV group: report

SAN FRANCISCO: Al-Jazeera has acquired Current TV, a struggling cable channel that will give the Qatar-based broadcaster the access to millions of US homes it has long sought, it was confirmed Wednesday.Terms of the deal for Current, which was founded by US former vice president Al Gore, were not immediately disclosed, but Forbes reported that a possible value of $400 million could net...

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Microsoft buys R2 Studios startup to boost Xbox

Word has it that Microsoft was able to get ahead of Apple and Google and buy the home entertainment technology startup R2 Studios, according to the Wall Street Journal. This acquisition will most likely help amplify Microsoft'sXbox platform. R2 Studios was created by Sling Media founder Blake Krikorian in May 2011. Sling Media developed Slingbox, which let users watch television on their computers....

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Pictures: Errant Shell Oil Rig Runs Aground Off Alaska, Prompts Massive Response

Photograph courtesy Jonathan Klingenberg, U.S. Coast GuardWaves lash at the sides of the Shell* drilling rig Kulluk, which ran aground off the rocky southern coast of Alaska on New Year's Eve in a violent storm.The rig, seen above Tuesday afternoon, was "stable," with no signs of spilled oil products, authorities said. But continued high winds and savage seas hampered efforts to secure the vessel...

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Tax Deal Done - but How Can Obama Sign It?

Jan 2, 2013 6:29pm AP Photo/Charles DharapakCongress officially delivered the bill to avert the fiscal cliff to the White House this afternoon, House Speaker John Boehner’s office told ABC News.Now the question is when will the President sign it?The bill, passed late on New Year’s Day, expires tomorrow at 11:59 a.m. when the current session of Congress concludes....

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In-depth 2012: The best long reads of the year

Read more: "2013 Smart Guide: 10 ideas that will shape the year" Dig deeper, look closer and think harder – these are the goals of New Scientist's in-depth articles. Each one is perfect for saving in your favourite read-it-later...

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US House to vote to avert fiscal cliff

WASHINGTON: After a day of twisting political drama, the US Congress was Tuesday expected to finally endorse a deal to avert the "fiscal cliff" budget crisis that had threatened to unleash a new recession.Hours before many major global financial markets make their 2013 debut, the House of Representatives was to vote on a bid to raise taxes on the rich and put off a $109 billion dollar...

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Anonymous: 'Expect us 2013'

The hacking collective Anonymous has clarified that it has no plans to fade away in the New Year. It issued a statement over the weekend that warned the world to "Expect us 2013." Along with the statement, the group created a video that boasts of its campaigns and exploits carried out in 2012. The video details the group's temporary shutdown of the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI, Universal Music,...

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Space Pictures This Week: Ice “Broccoli,” Solar Storm

Happy TrailsPhotograph by Alex Cherney, TWANAmateur astronomer Alex Cherney captured these star trails as they blazed above Lake Tyrrell, a salt lake in Victoria, Australia in...

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House Plans Up-or-Down Vote on 'Cliff' Deal

House Republicans have agreed to have an up-or-down vote on the bipartisan Senate deal to avert the "fiscal cliff," rather than trying to amend the Senate bill with more spending cuts before voting, according to a senior GOP leadership aide.The vote will likely come tonight despite top House Republicans' earlier opposition to the deal, which the Senate passed in the wee hours...

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2012 review: The year in health science

Read more: "2013 Smart Guide: 10 ideas that will shape the year" The first half of 2012 will be remembered for the saga over whether or not to publish controversial research involving versions of the H5N1 bird flu virus engineered to spread...

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Despite emerging deal, US to miss fiscal cliff deadline

WASHINGTON: US lawmakers missed a deadline to avoid the "fiscal cliff" budget crunch Monday but inched towards a deal to ease the worst impact of the crisis by heading off economy-busting tax hikes.In dramatic New Year's Eve brinkmanship, Republicans and the White House reached an agreement that means only the richest Americans will pay more tax, but were still deadlocked on how to avert...

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