Internet

One of the Internet's greatest assets is also perhaps its biggest curse—it never forgets. Except in the European Union, where a court last month ruled that people have the right to have certain sensitive information about themselves deleted from Google search results.

How secure do you feel on the web? It seems like every day there are more revelations about the government tapping your phone calls, reading your email, and watching what you do online. In this week's episode, Tech Talker will be talking about the dark side of the web that Google won't show you

Books and recommendations from Scientific American

A trove of billions of tweets will be a research boon and an ethical dilemma

The FCC has asked for comment on whether the Internet should be reclassified as a public utility to preserve net neutrality—but the motion faces political and legal hurdles

Humans are gradually becoming cyborgs—and that’s a good thing

In 1995, Ivan Goldberg, a New York psychiatrist, published one of the first diagnostic tests for Internet Addiction Disorder. The criteria appeared on psycom.net, a psychiatry bulletin board, and began with an air of earnest authenticity: "A maladaptive pattern of Internet use, leading to clinically significant impairment or distress as manifested by three (or more) [...]

Editors note: Craig Fay will be appearing live at the Laughing Devil Comedy Festival in New York City May 14-18. Here's a theory for you: ignorance is bliss.

The United States is not the greatest country in the world, at least when it comes to information and communication technology. Last month, the World Economic Forum released its 13th annual Global Information Technology Report, which ranks the nations of the world by their "networked readiness" - that is, how much each country can use [...]

Today is Annalee Newitz‘s birthday (well, it’s still today in the most relevant time zone – uh, hers not mine). Annalee has been writing about the intersection of science and technology and culture for many years.

So many people are stifled by their own preconceived beliefs about what they can and can't do. That's a shame and in our household we try hard to remove "can't" from our vocabulary. The biggest tragedy is when someone is afraid of, or steered away from, trying by stereotypes and social norms that are in a large [...]

Looking up information about prescription medications used to mean thumbing through the pages of the big blue Physicians' Desk Reference (PDR), or more recently, searching the PDR website.