FBI: We need wiretap-ready Websites - now The FBI is asking Internet companies not to oppose a controversial proposal that would require firms, including Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo, and Google, to build in backdoors for government surveillance. In meetings with industry representatives, the White House, and U.S. senators, senior FBI officials argue the dramatic shift in communication from the telephone system to the Internet has made it far more difficult for agents to wiretap Americans suspected of illegal activities, CNET has learned. CNET

Pornography online: David Cameron to consider 'opt in' plan The government is to consider introducing new filters for online pornography, in a move likely to be fiercely resisted by internet service providers. The tough measures will mean that millions of internet users will be forced to opt in if they wish to view pornography online. Prime minister David Cameron is expected to consult in the next few weeks on whether ISPs, such as BT and Virgin media, should block adult material as a default for customers. The Guardian

Machine politics - The man who started the hacker wars In the summer of 2007, Apple released the iPhone, in an exclusive partnership with A.T. & T. George Hotz, a seventeen-year-old from Glen Rock, New Jersey, was a T-Mobile subscriber. He wanted an iPhone, but he also wanted to make calls using his existing network, so he decided to hack the phone. Every hack poses the same basic challenge: how to make something function in a way for which it wasn't designed. In one respect, hacking is an act of hypnosis. As Hotz describes it, the secret is to figure out how to speak to the device, then persuade it to obey your wishes. The New Yorker

Interview: Klei's Anderson talks upside of EA's "indies" Earlier this week, EA launched an indie bundle. Not-so-coincidentally, the Internet proceeded to explode, and I'm now typing this while holding a tin can with a piece of string attached next to my PC. I even said some things about it, though admittedly, mostly to kick off a discussion about an only partially related topic. However, off the back of that, I ended up getting in touch with Klei Entertainment technical designer Nels Anderson, who directly worked on four of the six games (both Deathspanks, both Shanks) featured in EA's bundle of befuddlement. Rock Paper Shotgun

Most popular video games are dumb. can we stop apologizing for them now? A few weeks ago, the Atlantic magazine published a profile I wrote of the developer Jonathan Blow, a man known in gaming circles as much for his criticism of the mainstream game industry's intellectual shortcomings as he is for Braid, the outstanding game he created. To put it mildly, this article pissed a lot of gamers off; in fact, given the tenor of the comments by gaming enthusiasts on Twitter and on fine websites like this one, it seems that many people believe my talents might lie less with game criticism and more with, say, janitorial technology. Kotaku

Dumbness in games, or, the animal as a system Taylor Clark writes about why he called most games "dumb," exhorting us to make them smarter. His main criticisms are around aspects like story, characters, "insipid dialogue," and the like (when you are a writer, every problem looks like a writing problem). He cites the example of Vanquish as a mechanically good game that sinks under the weight of its own ridiculous plot and abrasive stock characters. Why can't we change that around? Magical Wasteland (response to Kotaku article)

June cover revealed: The Elder Scrolls Online Long rumored and much anticipated, The Elder Scrolls Online is finally being unveiled in the June issue of Game Informer. In this month's cover story we journey across the entire land of Tamriel, from Elsweyr to Skyrim and everywhere in between. Developed by the team at Zenimax Online Studios, The Elder Scrolls Online merges the unmatched exploration of rich worlds that the franchise is known for with the scale and social aspects of a massively multiplayer online role-playing game. Game Informer

Intel wants to plug a smartphone into your brain Show off a new gadget to your friends or family and inevitably one person in the group will declare, "Soon they'll just plug these things directly into your brain!" And everyone will laugh, as if they've never heard that joke before. It's no joke. An Intel-commissioned white paper released Wednesday on the future of mobile technology concludes that connected devices interfacing with the human brain is an inevitability. CNN (also, Verizon reps push 4G Android over iPhone)

AT&T Chief regrets offering unlimited data for iPhone When Randall Stephenson, AT&T's chief executive, spoke about the state of the wireless industry at a conference this week, he shared some surprisingly frank comments about the iPhone. In particular, he said that he wished the company had never offered an unlimited data plan for the device and that he loses sleep over free texting services like Apple's iMessage. The NY Times

EVGA's GTX 690 hits Newegg.com Newegg.com has finally added the GTX 690 and although it is still not available, the EVGA GTX 690. Judging by the 04G-P4-2690-KR part number, this is a standard GTX 690 and as such we are looking at a total of 3072 CUDA cores, 915MHz GPU base and 1019MHz GPU boost clock, a total of 4GB of memory clocked at 6008MHz and paired up with a 256-bit memory interface for each GPU. Fudzilla

They finally made a real lightsaber! What the hell? Wicked Lasers has actually made a lightsaber. I mean, not one that can cut you in half, but one that looks and acts like the actual Jedi weapon! At least, that's what they claim: "LaserSabers are energized by the light of Wicked Lasers, harnessing the power of the force. The LaserSaber features an ultra smooth magnetic gravity system that can 'power up' and 'power down' the blade." Gizmodo

The tangled tale of Aakash, the world's cheapest laptop Last October, with much fanfare, the Ministry of Human Resources Development unveiled "Aakash," a new, $35 computer built for Indian students. More than six months later, with tens of thousands of university students still waiting, the tale of the Aakash looks a bit like an Indian soap opera, complete with a convoluted storyline, multiple characters, and massive personality clashes. The NY Times (also, part two here)

Apple security blunder exposes Lion login passwords in clear text An Apple programmer, apparently by accident, left a debug flag in the most recent version of the Mac OS X operating system. In specific configurations, applying OS X Lion update 10.7.3 turns on a system-wide debug log file that contains the login passwords of every user who has logged in since the update was applied. The passwords are stored in clear text. ZDNet

Gimp 2.8.0 released GIMP 2.8 is the result of three years of hard work and collaborative development. This version of GIMP is equipped with a wealth of new features, including some highly requested ones. Keep reading to find out exactly what GIMP 2.8 has to offer you in areas such as the user interface, tools, and plug-ins. TechSpot Downloads