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Future of Facebook voting up for vote

Tuesday's CNET Update doubts the vote will be rocked:

Facebook doesn't want policy changes to be put up for a vote anymore. But first, it's letting users have one last chance to make their voice heard on the matter. Facebook lets users vote on policy changes, but the votes only count if 30 percent of all active users participate. Problem is, there has never been enough voter turnout for it to matter. So Facebook now is proposing to end the voting option and also make changes to messages. Users can vote on the Facebook Site Governance app, … Read more

Detecting schizophrenia: The eyes have it

More than a century ago, doctors first realized that people with psychotic illnesses also suffer from impaired eye movements. Now researchers out of the University of Aberdeen in the U.K. have taken that observation and truly put it to the test with high resolution cameras and video software.

The result: a computer model based on a series of simple eye-tracking trials that has distinguished schizophrenics from healthy control subjects with 98.3 percent accuracy.

"It has been known for over 100 years that individuals with psychotic illnesses have a variety of eye movement abnormalities, but until our study, … Read more

U.S. looks to replace human surveillance with computers

Computer software programmed to detect and report illicit behavior could eventually replace the fallible humans who monitor surveillance cameras.

The U.S. government has funded the development of so-called automatic video surveillance technology by a pair of Carnegie Mellon University researchers who disclosed details about their work this week -- including that it has an ultimate goal of predicting what people will do in the future.

"The main applications are in video surveillance, both civil and military," Alessandro Oltramari, a postdoctoral researcher at Carnegie Mellon who has a Ph.D. from Italy's University of Trento, told CNET … Read more

The 404 1,141: Where we feed the dogs (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Zynga and Hasbro announce board game versions of the most annoying Facebook ones.

- Will.i.am and Simon Cowell considering X-Factor style show, for tech.

- New Ninja Turtles cartoon replaces Cowabunga with....

Bathroom break video: Longboarder attacked by a deer.… Read more

ACDSee 15 offers a top photo editing and managing suite with integrated online storage

ACDSee 15 is a full-featured photo editor and manager optimized for home and business users. It shares many features and capabilities with ACD's pro photography applications, including powerful image editing tools that can handle the tasks you need as well as gigabytes of online storage space that you can use to organize and safely store tons of images. You can access your account anywhere, and from any computer or related ACD tool, by simply logging in. But ACDSee 15 is also specifically geared to make it easy to post and share your photos online, create slideshows and CDs, add … Read more

Eye-popping illusion lets you write with gaze alone

Last month, a paralyzed man sent his first tweet using eye movements. A new technology out of France could allow him not only to type, but to draw and sign his name in cursive on a computer.

The technique, described in the latest issue of the journal Current Biology, relies on a novel head-mounted display that uses a camera to track eye movements and then relays that movement data to a computer.

Discovered by a Paris scientist studying optical illusions, the technique tricks the neuromuscular machinery into overcoming a natural phenomenon known as saccadic eye movements. … Read more

Google-style glasses prof turns up the heat on McDonald's

Many who dream of adorning their faces with technology were stunned to hear that Google-type glasses might not be welcome at McDonald's.

Steve Mann, a professor at the University of Toronto, claimed that he had worn his Digital Eye Glass while ordering himself a Ranch Wrap in Paris.

He insisted that the employees did not take kindly to them. He claimed that they had tried to take them off him.

Now McDonald's has declared: "Non."

The company issued a statement, which reads in part: "Several staff members involved have been interviewed individually, and all independently … Read more

Why do my eyes hurt while watching TV?

CNET reader Jerry asks:

I recently bought a 40-inch LED LCD. I like it a lot, but over the past few months I've noticed my eyes hurt after watching the TV. Mostly it seems to happen at night. This can't be normal, right? Before I spend money on an eye doctor (I've never been), I figured I'd ask if there was something about the TV that was causing it. I never had this problem with my old TV.An interesting, and surprisingly common question.

… Read more

Google-style glasses led to attack in McDonald's, professor says

I know those Google glasses make everyone but Sergey Brin look quite odd.

But could they look so odd as to cause someone to rip them off your head?

This question is reverberating around the minds of furious futurists after Steve Mann, a professor at the University of Toronto, was allegedly assaulted in a Paris McDonald's -- by people who allegedly work for McDonald's.

I know that working at McDonald's is extremely stressful. However, Mann's tale, which he committed to his blog, tells of a situation that has caused some indigestion.

Mann says he was wearing … Read more