Tech Culture

The CIA used a Star Wars fan website to secretly communicate with spies

Through the looking glass: The internet has seen its fair share of weird, but a Star Wars fan site secretly run by the CIA to communicate with overseas spies might top the list. StarWarsWeb.net looked like any other 2010-era fan page, complete with lightsabers, Yoda quotes ("Like these games you will"), LEGO ads, and hyped-up mentions of games like Battlefront 2 and The Force Unleashed II. But behind that nostalgic facade was a covert login system. If you entered the right password into the search bar, you'd unlock a secure line to CIA handlers. Or at least, that was the plan.

Tesla's humanoid robots aren't the right fit for factories, says former Optimus lead

"One Big Beautiful Bill": House backs Trump plan to freeze state AI laws for a decade

Elden Ring live-action movie confirmed to be in the works at A24 with director Alex Garland

SilverStone is making another 80s-style case, this time a mid-tower

Kansas woman sues porn sites after teenage son accessed adult content on old laptop

Survey science is in crisis: facing the dual threat of AI agents and falling human participation

New Orleans used AI surveillance without public knowledge or full oversight

If one PC creates 20dB of noise and another makes 40dB, how louder is the second PC?

Texas is pushing a bill to block under-18s from joining social media platforms

Italy fines thousands as crackdown on pirate IPTV targets viewers

Which one of these features was available on the 1982 Epson HX-20 notebook computer?

Silicon Valley's era of open debate fades as companies clamp down on employee dissent

Through the looking glass: As the tech industry continues to tighten control over employee speech and activism, a culture once defined by open dialogue and political engagement gives way to one marked by silence and fear of reprisal. "It's different now; employers feel they can get away with stuff," said a former Google employee.

Student demands $8,000 refund after catching professor using ChatGPT in class materials

A hot potato: Recent reports suggest that students' use of generative AI to cheat on school assignments is approaching endemic levels. While many worry that tools like ChatGPT erode young people's critical thinking skills, some students have also caught teachers using the same tools, often with unsatisfactory results.

Walmart prepares for a future where AI agents do the shopping

Bungie caught using stolen art assets in Marathon, promises it will not happen again

Superwood aims to replace steel and concrete with a sustainable alternative

Forward-looking: As InventWood prepares to bring its first batches of Superwood to market, it stands as a testament to what can happen when scientific innovation meets entrepreneurial determination. If successful, Superwood could mark a turning point in the quest for greener, stronger, and more beautiful buildings.

Which mobile app was the first to hit 1 billion active users?

Inside job at Coinbase leads to massive data breach, $20 million ransom demanded

Woman divorces husband after ChatGPT reads his coffee grounds and predicts affair

John Carmack suggests the world could run on older hardware – if we optimized software better

CERN researchers create gold from lead in breakthrough nuclear experiment

Philips Fixables program lets you 3D-print spare parts at home

Google's 'G' logo gets a gradient refresh after nearly a decade

Who coined the term "nanotechnology" and in what year?