The Christian Science Monitor
Innovation
Horizons Blog
Chris Gaylord

Chris Gaylord

07.23.08

Update: A city locked out of its own data network

Another plot twist develops in San Francisco’s bizarre, modern struggle between city officials and a disgruntled computer engineer thrown in jail for withholding computer access codes. A story already reminiscent of “Office Space” and “Die Hard 4″ now involves a secret meeting between the accused programmer and the charismatic mayor in the Hall of Justice […]

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Innovation Briefs

07.16.08

Lingro: Foreign-word widget

When Artur Janc attempted to read “Harry Potter y la Piedra Filosofal” with his rudimentary Spanish in 2005, he grew so frustrated at constantly referring to a dictionary that he decided to perform some wizardry of his own.
Mr. Janc, then a Polish student at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, created Lingro, a widgetlike online dictionary […]


07.10.08

Ancient Indian basin beat the cold

Scientists in the US and India appear to have kicked back the age of a prominent feature in India – the Vindhyan Basin – by half a billion years. In the process, they may have removed one of the stumbling blocks to the so-called “snowball Earth” theory. The theory posits that Earth’s surface was covered […]


07.09.08

Water on the moon?

The moon’s interior may harbor water at concentrations higher than found on Earth. That’s the implication of measurements scientists have made on beads of volcanic glass in rocks that astronauts brought back during the Apollo moon missions.
The results, the team says, represent the first evidence that the moon had – and may still have – […]


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07.23.08

A water pump for the people

Inventor Martin Fisher designs easy irrigation tools for African farmers.

07.23.08

Fish hum, grunt, and growl to get their message across

Scientists listen to one deep sea swimmer, seeking new insights on the evolution of communication.

Columnist Robert C. Cowen discusses new research that may allow us to communicate better with animals.

Columnist Robert C. Cowen

07.22.08

A city locked out of its own data network

Officials in San Francisco charge that one of their own employees gave himself exclusive access to key switches on the city’s computer network.

Reporter Ben Arnoldy discusses why some companies may have vulnerabilities in their computer systems.

Reporter Ben Arnoldy

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07.22.08

Efforts to rein in online fight videos

Pressure builds on social-networking websites to do more to block such content. Legislation is afoot, too.

Reporter Stacy Teicher Khadaroo discusses how one school is using video to promote good behavior.

Reporter Stacy Teicher Khadaroo

07.18.08

Can plug-in hybrids ride to America’s rescue?

The engineer behind many electric-car advances says oil’s days may be numbered.

07.17.08

Online tales of everyday heroes

New website seeks to inspire kindness by promoting past good deeds.

Reporter Huma Yusuf outlines a project designed to bring heroism into our everyday life.

Reporter Huma Yusuf

07.16.08

Pittsburgh is robot country

Growing out of its industry roots, Pittsburgh is now the Silicon Valley of droid design.

07.16.08

Rise in lawsuits against bloggers

Since 2004, 159 court actions have targeted citizen journalists for libel and other charges.

Contributor Huma Yusuf discusses bloggers being sued and hit with 'cease and desist' orders.

Contributor Huma Yusuf

Previous headlines

07.15.08

The FCC scolds Comcast, but there’s still a long Internet fight to come

07.11.08

The field narrows for e-books

07.10.08

BP creates a greener place to pump gas

07.10.08

U.S. defends laptop searches at the border

07.09.08

ISPs enter the targeted ad game

07.09.08

In Silicon Valley, an economic rebound

07.08.08

Scientists challenge General Relativity. And Mr. Einstein wins again.

07.07.08

Politics on Facebook brings trouble for young Egyptian

07.03.08

Sonar enters the third dimension

07.02.08

In Olympian swimsuits, threads of history

07.02.08

Study abroad through Second Life

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07.01.08

Planes, trains, and automobiles – the Internet hits the road

06.27.08

Wanted: inner-city supermarkets

06.26.08

Space tourism is ready for takeoff

06.25.08

New pieces in the climate-change puzzle

06.23.08

Donors warm up to online giving

06.22.08

Marriage counseling moves online

06.19.08

Military inventions hit the civilian market

06.19.08

No one lives in this submarine

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06.18.08

Web’s effect on politics: big bucks, big turnout, and big scandals

06.18.08

MIT team plays with fire to create cheap energy

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