New discovery in tracing IP addresses

IP address can now pin down your location to within a half mile On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog—but they might now have an easy time finding your kennel. In a research paper and technical report presented at the USENIX Networked Systems Design and Implementation (NDSI) conference at the beginning of April, researchers from Northwestern University presented new methods for estimating the exact physical location of an IP address tens or hundreds of times more accurately than previously thought possible. Ars Technica

The promise of rapture for the high-tech elite Ray Kurzweil, the influential technologist, came to the Palace of Fine Arts theater in San Francisco a few days ago to promote his vision of "the Singularity." One attendee admiringly described it as "the cult Rapture of the Nerds." It was a much more fitting prelude to the Easter holidays than Mr. Kurzweil would like to think. The Singularity, as he explains it, is a point in the near future when rapidly escalating technological advances will allow the most evolved humans (i.e., Mr. Kurzweil and his early-adopting followers) to incorporate technology into their bodies. The NY Times

Freedom on the net 2011 - A global assessment of Internet and digital media Over the past decade, and particularly in the last few years, the influence of the internet as a means
to spread information and challenge government-imposed media controls has steadily expanded. This mounting influence directly corresponds to the growth in the number of users around the world: over two billion people now have access to the internet, and the figure has more than doubled in the past five years. Freedom House (PDF)

Ubuntu Linux boosted by 10,000 seat PC win Canonical has taken the wraps off a morale-boosting deal that has seen German insurance giant LVM Versicherungen convert 10,000 PCs to use Ubuntu Linux across the company's operations. The project included the conversion of 3,000 desktop and laptop computers in LVM's Muenster HQ with a further 7,000 in the company's agencies around Germany. ITWorld

Japanese robots await call to action Japanese robots designed for heavy lifting and data collection have been prepared for deployment at irradiated reactor buildings of the Fukushima No.1 nuclear power station, where U.S.-made robots have already taken radiation and temperature readings as well as visual images... The Japan Times

Anonymous denies responsibility for PSN attack, taunts opponents Anti-Sony hacking group Anonymous has once again denied any responsibility for this week's PSN outage in the UK and US - whilst taunting their opponents. In the group's video, released on YouTube under the banner 'Message to PSN users', a disguised voice reads... CVG

A breakthrough on paper that's stronger than steel UTS Scientists have reported remarkable results in developing a composite material based on graphite that is a thin as paper and ten times stronger than steel. UTS

In the know: Should the nation's unemployed be buying new Apple computers? Panelists discuss how owning a top-of-the-line MacBook or an iPad 2 is actually essential to finding a new job. Onion News (satire)