world

The first draft of the World Wide Web has gone missing, with perhaps one of the only copies of the very first Web site floating around the world's drawers or attics on a floppy disk somewhere.

Tim Berners-Lee wrote the first version of the very first Web page back in 1990 as a way for scientists to share information at CERN -- the European nuclear physics lab and particle accelerator site on the border of Switzerland and France. But it wasn't until 1992 that he actually saved a copy of that early CERN page.… Read more

People who write fan fiction could find a paying market for their work courtesy of Amazon.

Unveiled Wednesday, Kindle Worlds is a new publishing venture from Amazon that promises to reward both writers and the original rights holders for new fiction based on existing stories and characters.

Authors who create works of at least 10,000 words in length will receive 35 percent of the net revenue based on the actual sales price, with royalties paid each month. Those who write shorter pieces between 5,000 and 10,000 words will receive a digital royalty of 20 percent of the sales price.… Read more

Brickbreaker-esque game Bubble Worlds will keep you busy through hundreds of levels, even though they all feel the same. Bubble Worlds is polished enough to win a few fans, but the difficultly level goes from zero to 60 too quickly. It's enough to turn a lot of gamers off.

In this game, you shoot bubbles to try to free trapped bananas. When you match three or more bubbles of the same color, they pop and send any connected bubbles flying. It sounds bizarre, but it's actually easy to figure out. You'll be able to breeze through most … Read more

It looks like telecommunications magnate Carlos Slim has lost his grip on the title of world's richest person.

And who to fill his shoes? None other than Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.

With a $72.7 billion fortune, Gates is now $550 million ahead of Slim (who has a net worth of $72.1 billion), according to Bloomberg. This is the first time Gates has earned the biggest billionaire status since 2007.

Gates has seen his fortune grow about $10 billion over the past few months, according to Bloomberg. The increase came not so much from Microsoft stock -- only … Read more

FIFA may be implementing goal-sensing technology in international soccer games, but the World Cup is getting even more high-tech with military robot security.

iRobot announced today $7.2 million in contracts to provide Brazil with military PackBot robots for security at the 2014 World Cup. PackBots have been deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq, and even inside Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant.

As part of the deal, Brazil will get 30 PackBot 510 units, which usually cost about $100,000 to $200,000 apiece. The contracts include services, spares, and associated equipment. … Read more

It's a sign of the times, perhaps, that an award-winning news photo turns out not to have been faked.

Swedish photojournalist Paul Hansen won the World Press Photo of the Year 2012 for his shot of two children in Gaza killed by an Israeli airstrike in November. But Neal Krawetz called the photo a fake on Sunday.

"Hansen's picture is a composite," Krawetz declared, saying that metadata showed multiple photos had been combined into one image, that error level analysis (ELA) showed inconsistencies, that shadows in the scene weren't geometrically plausible.

Photography has always been … Read more

Sid Meier's Ace Patrol is a turn-based airplane dogfighting game that offers an interesting combat system for serious strategy-gaming fans.

As a turn-based strategy game, you'll plan and execute each plane's maneuvers and attacks one at a time, then watch the computer-controlled enemies execute their moves. Though it is fairly slow-paced relative to run-of-the-mill air-combat games, executing a balanced combat plan is definitely satisfying.

Set in World War I, Ace Patrol lets you fly in air combat missions using tactical maneuvers you earn as you level up your pilots. Your starting set of moves includes basic maneuvers, … Read more

If you like sports highlights but spend more time on social networks than watching TV, Twitter and ESPN are going to do their best to meet your needs.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Twitter and ESPN plan to announce tomorrow a deepening of their existing relationship, agreeing on a pact under which the leading sports channel will unveil a wide variety of highlight clips in its tweets. The videos would be available on Twitter "shortly after" they take place live.

Naturally, the new arrangement -- which expands on a pact signed in December under which ESPN began … Read more

The Fostex TH600 full-size headphones' sound is downright addicting. They take you inside the sound of a recording like few other headphones can. Unfortunately, Fostex's U.S. distribution of its high-end headphones is very limited (it's a Japanese company), but Fostex dealer Moon Audio was kind enough to send over a sample pair of TH600 headphones ($1,299) fitted with an extra-cost Black Dragon V2 cable. Fostex also offers much less expensive models, including the $129 T50RP, but the company mostly caters to the pro sound market.

The TH600 has large 50mm drivers, matched with an unusually powerful … Read more