Italian computer engineers have come up with software that will crack crossword puzzles, according to Nature. The program, called Web Crow, reads crossword clues, surfs the web for the answers and fits them into the puzzle. Computer engineers Marco Gori and Marco Ernandes at the University of Siena in Italy say a prototype should be … Read more
Just been chatting with Michael M Ross, the man behind TaskTracker, software I’ve recommended several times here (it’s on the list to the left of this post) and in the column. It’s Real Useful Software in that you save time, you don’t waste time trying to figure it out, and in the end it all … Read more
I couldn’t help wondering about the privacy implications of airlines calling out people’s names over the airport PA system. In Sydney and Melbourne airports recently I lost count of announcements along the lines of ‘Would Mr and Mrs X of flight X to X please go to gate X where their plane, and hundreds of … Read more
RFID tags? Sinister chip or harmless piece of plastic and wire? I’ve been on the side of the former for some time, but in the face of some objection from readers. A listener to a piece I did on the BBC World Service a few weeks back about the danger that RFID tags would give … Read more
I’ve never got on well with banks. I thought I had found a good one in FSharp, an offshore banking unit of the Bank of Ireland, but they were so good they couldn’t possibly survive and they didn’t. I also have an account bank with a rather odd outfit in Hong Kong (that I won’t … Read more