Wired Top Stories

SXSW: Comic Bill Hicks Posthumously Rocks Austin

Eliot Van Buskirk — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:27:00 GMT

The North American premiere of American: The Bill Hicks Story delivers a biting dose of the late, great stand-up's routines. But that's just the tip of the iceberg: Fans who've memorized every word will dig the documentary's inventive animation sequences.

SXSW: Dynamo Takes on YouTube for Indie Film Rentals

Eliot Van Buskirk — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 18:51:00 GMT

Promising a mix of revenue and flexibility, the startup will offer independent filmmakers a direct route to movie fans.

Google '99.9%' Sure To Shut China Search Engine: Report

Reuters — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 16:41:00 GMT

Talks with China over censorship have reached an apparent impasse and Google, the world's largest search engine, is now "99.9 percent" certain to shut its Chinese search engine, the Financial Times reports.

SXSW: 'Kick-Ass' Goes to Comic Book Extremes

Lewis Wallace — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 07:59:00 GMT

Funny, fresh and amazingly violent, Matthew Vaughn's big-screen adaption of Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.'s superhero story leaves a packed house laughing at South by Southwest.

SXSW: First Look at Bigger, Nastier 'Predators'

Michael Calore — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 05:43:00 GMT

With trailers, film excerpts and concept art, producer Robert Rodriguez and director Nimrod Antal show off their fierce reboot of the sci-fi franchise at South by Southwest. Here's what the lucky folks at the packed screening saw.

E-Readers Will Survive the Onslaught of Tablets

Priya Ganapati — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 00:50:00 GMT

A slew of new tablets are set to hit the market but they won't kill e-readers. Tablets and E Ink-based reading devices are likely to co-exist, targeting different groups of consumers.

Research Reveals Early Signs of Autism in Some Kids

Bruce Bower, Science News — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 22:45:00 GMT

What if you could reliably diagnose autism at age 14 months? Findings in a new study could lead to better outcomes for autistic kids because of early intervention.

FBI Hoaxes Boost Online Fraud

David Kravets — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 22:38:00 GMT

An FBI report says the amount of reported damages stemming from online fraud has more than doubled to $560 million. And the No. 1 consumer online complaint concerned e-mail scammers posing as the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

McLaren Cribs From Planes, Flutes to Build Faster F1 Cars

Jason Paur — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 22:30:00 GMT

The MP4-25 offers an innovative solution to the age-old problem of maximizing downforce in the curves and minimizing drag on the straights.

Big Earthquakes Cause Premature Births

Alexis Madrigal — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 22:10:00 GMT

Large earthquakes can shorten pregnant women's gestation period by small but significant amounts, a new study finds.

Dual-Screen E-Reader Makes a Half-Assed Debut

Priya Ganapati — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 21:00:00 GMT

Twice the screen but half the quality, the Entourage eDGe is a lofty e-reader that falls short in nearly every area.

A Cooperative Approach to Advance Electric Racing

Chuck Squatriglia — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 20:43:00 GMT

A new form of motor sport needs a new form of governance, one where the teams have a say in making the rules, settling the disputes and share in the profits.

NetFlix Cancels Recommendation Contest After Privacy Lawsuit

Ryan Singel — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:50:00 GMT

To settle a privacy lawsuit, Netflix is canceling a second round of its innovative contest to improve its movie recommendations. The lawsuit claims the anonymized user data given to outside researchers put users at risk of being identified.

Watch Streaming Video on Your Mobile

How-To Wiki — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:30:00 GMT

Chances are, if you have a newer mobile phone, it's a television screen in your pocket. These tiny smartphones are truly smart, and the latest mobiles are connected to the internet and sport a sharp small screen.

Video: Cold, Little Comet Is No Match for Big, Hot Sun

Alexis Madrigal — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:20:00 GMT

A NASA satellite captured a small comet on its way to meet the sun. Things will not turn out well for the comet.

China Warns Google Over Search Censorship

Reuters — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:40:00 GMT

A Chinese internet official refuses to blink in the 2-month-old censorship flap with Google. He said "consequences" would be felt if Google stops filtering search results in China.

Solar Slumber May Have Been Caused by Magnetic Flows

Ron Cowen — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT

The anomalously long lull in solar flares and sunspots during 2008 and 2009 may have been caused by a drop in gas flows at the sun's surface, related weak magnetic fields. The finding may point to a way to better predict solar activity.

SXSauced: Crafty Cocktails at East Side Show Room

Michael Calore — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:22:00 GMT

The "executive drinkist" who concocts adult beverages at this new Austin, Texas, hot spot mixes boutique liquors with vintage inspiration. The first in a series of libation-fueled reports from South by Southwest.

Slacker Radio Secretly Preparing On-Demand Music Service

Eliot Van Buskirk — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:19:00 GMT

Slacker, the critically praised interactive radio service our readers helped us discover in '07, plans to launch an on-demand subscription service combining elements of Pandora, Rhapsody and Spotify in the next few months, Wired.com has learned.

Apple iPad Will Read Books Out Loud, Support Free E-Books

Brian X. Chen — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:13:00 GMT

Apple published two new details about the iPad's support for e-books Friday, including the fact that the iPad will be able to dictate books using a built-in text-to-speech feature. The company also announced support for open EPUB books, including those not sold through Apple's store.

Desperate Efforts to Save Endangered Bats May Fail

Brandon Keim — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:10:00 GMT

Efforts to save the endangered Virginia big-eared bat from White Nose Syndrome by starting a captive colony appear to be failing.

SXSW: See All Austin Check-ins in One Place

Michael Calore — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:04:00 GMT

Cliqset has produced this nifty web app that aggregates status updates and check-ins sent from people in and around Austin to all of the different major location-sharing services — Gowalla, Foursquare, Twitter, Brightkite and of course Cliqset.

With More Than Enough Apps, Apple Pushes for Quality

Brian X. Chen — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:00:00 GMT

Now that Apple has fulfilled its goal of achieving quantity in its App Store, the company is making a hard push for quality. But where do you draw the line between raising quality standards and censorship?

SXSW: First Look at 'American: The Bill Hicks Story'

Lewis Wallace — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 07:26:00 GMT

The firebrand stand-up comic's story is told in this documentary, which makes its North American premiere at South by Southwest this week. Get a taste of Hicks' brutally funny take on drugs, religion and modern life in this trailer for the movie.

March 12, 1790: Batteries Now Included

Daniel Dumas — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Before J.F. Daniell develops a much improved battery, the devices were impractical and downright dangerous. His innovations enable the telegraph and other technology to take off.

The '70s Photos That Made Us Want to Save Earth

Alexis Madrigal — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 01:00:00 GMT

Shortly after the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency, the new organization sent 100 photographers out to document the human and natural environments. After a lively few years, the Documerica project was canceled and the photos were archived. Now, this incredible portrait of America in the mid-1970s is making its way onto Flickr.

Plug and Play: USB Albums We'd Like to See

David Downs — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 01:00:00 GMT

Out with the CD, in with USB drives, maybe in the form of a cassette tape or spork?

NASA's New Jumbo Jet Keeps Giant Eye on Heavens

Katharine Gammon — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 01:00:00 GMT

With a 45,000-foot cruising altitude, the world's biggest airborne telescope will begin collecting data this spring.

Alt Text: Resurrected Movie Gimmicks of the Future

Lore Sjöberg — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 01:00:00 GMT

With 3-D making a comeback, it's time to dig into Hollywood's history and excavate other cinematic technology that was groundbreaking for its time.

Al Franken Jokes, But Google Fiber Is No Laughing Matter

Eliot Van Buskirk — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:56:00 GMT

Minnesota seeks to distinguish itself in the increasingly reality TV-esque race to convince Google to build a high-speed fiber optic network there with a video featuring junior US Senator (and former comedian) Al Franken. It's funny stuff, but also serious business as Google shakes up the notoriously uncompetitive ISP business just by showing up.