An ambitious plan to update classic space trading game Elite has hit its funding target.

The game first appeared on the BBC Micro in 1984 but one of the game's original creators wanted to make a modern PC version. David Braben sought £1.25m via crowd-sourcing site Kickstarter to fund the 21st century update. A last minute surge of pledges helped it reach its goal about 48 hours before Friday's funding deadline. Funding squeeze Elite: Dangerous debuted on Kickstarter on 5 November and set itself 60 days to raise £1.25m. In November, Mr Braben said Elite was a game he had wanted to come back to for a "long, long time". Although some early work on the multiplayer title had been done at Mr Braben's game studio Frontier Developments, but needed the cash to turn the code into a finished playable product. If the game did not hit its funding target then development work would stop.

 Getting the cash via Kickstarter was preferable to using an established publisher because it gave Frontier and those who backed it total control over how the final game would turn out, said Mr Braben, The finished game, he said, would keep the central trading, travel and spaceship combat elements of the original but add far better graphics, physics and feature a much larger chunk of the universe for people to play in. Fund tracking site Kicktraq showed that after an initial surge the number of people backing the project tailed off dramatically. On its second day on Kickstarter raised more than £271,000. However, soon after pledge totals rarely got over £10,000. A surge of pledges came forward in the closing few days of Elite's fund-raising drive thanks to an appearance on social news site Reddit by Mr Braben and with the help of comedian Dara O Briain who urged his 1.2 million Twitter followers to back it. "It is really great to have exceeded the goal already," Mr Braben told the BBC. "I was delighted and touched by how many people really want this game to be made, and it was doubly good that it happened on my birthday!" He said the Elite team were now pushing to reach "stretch" goals which would produce a Mac version of the game and add more ships to the game. "It was an ambitious target but that is so that it was set at a realistic level to be able to make the game," he said adding that watching the total pledges get close to the target made for a "tense time".












3 January 2013 Last updated at 11:41
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20897768

Online loans company Wonga has begun offering "buy now, pay later" services directly on retailers' websites.

Until now, loans from Wonga, which have been highly criticised due to an annual interest rate of 4,214%, have been available only through its own site. The company has partnered with furniture firm Cotswold Company to launch its Paylater service. A spokesman for Wonga said it intended to roll out the service to other retailers soon. "Essentially, Paylater is providing an alternative to credit cards," he said. "It takes the cost of your purchase, you pay an upfront fee of 7%, then there are three payments over subsequent months that cover the outstanding costs." It means for an item that costs £100, a buyer will pay an initial fee of £7, followed by three monthly payments of £33.33. 'Legal loan shark' The interest rates on Paylater are considerably lower than on its core business - short-term "pay-day" loans. This side of Wonga's business has been highly criticised, with one MP calling the company a "legal loan shark". Stella Creasy, Labour MP for Walthamstow, also led a campaign to have the firm's advertisements taken off the websites of teams in the Football League. In May, Wonga was criticised by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) for using aggressive and misleading debt collection methods.

Speaking on Wonga's latest offering, debt advice charity StepChange told the BBC: "As with any form of credit, StepChange debt charity would urge people to carefully consider whether they absolutely need to use it. "Crucially, consumers should familiarise themselves with exactly how much they may have to pay back in charges, interest and fees, and whether they can afford to make those repayments." US expansion Wonga's move will see it come into direct competition with the likes of Visa, Mastercard and other credit card companies that have taken their services online. The planned expansion comes ahead of speculation that Wonga has its sights set on breaking into the US market as soon as possible. A report in the Times newspaper earlier this month suggested Wonga had made a swoop to buy On Deck Capital, a US specialist online retailer. But a Wonga spokesman dismissed the report as "rumours and speculation". In 2011, Wonga chief executive Errol Damelin signalled his intent to expand the loan service worldwide. "We built a platform that is definitely extendable and over time we will definitely be expanding the reach of the business to bring the service to customers around the world," he said during an interview with financial news service Bloomberg. "The US has very particular regulatory constraints which make it an awkward market at the moment. We continue to look at the space and we will try and find a way to be able to bring the service to US consumers whenever we can."












17 December 2012 Last updated at 12:57
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20754976

Nasa is to test colour-changing lights on the International Space Station (ISS) as part of efforts to help astronauts on board sleep.

The US space agency will initially swap a fluorescent panel with a solid-state lighting module (SSLM) containing LEDs which produces a blue, whitish or red-coloured light depending on the time. It says the move may help combat insomnia which can make depression, sickness and mistakes more likely. The test is due to take place in 2016. News site Space.com reported that the equipment is being made by Boeing and the project has a $11.2m (£6.9m) budget. Body clock Studies on Earth suggest humans and other creatures follow what is known as a circadian rhythm - a 24-hour biological cycle involving cell regeneration, urine production and other functions critical to health. Research indicates that it is regulated by a group of cells in a portion of the brain called the hypothalamus which respond to light information sent by the eye's optic nerve, which in turn controls hormones, body temperature and other functions than influence whether people feel sleepy or wide awake. The aim of the experiment is to simulate a night-day cycle to minimise sleep disruption caused by the loss of its natural equivalent on the station. When the SSLMs are coloured blue the aim is to stimulate melanopsin - a pigment found in cells in the eye's retina which send nerve impulses to parts of the brain thought to make a person feel alert. Blue light is also believed to suppress melatonin - a hormone made by the brain's pineal gland which makes a person feel sleepy when its levels rise in their blood. By switching from blue to red light - via an intermediary white stage - this process should be reversed, encouraging a feeling of sleepiness.

 Nasa has previously warned sleep problems among its crews on other missions were also common. "On some space shuttle missions up to 50% of the crew take sleeping pills, and, over all, nearly half of all medication used in orbit is intended to help astronauts sleep," it said in 2001. "Even so, space travellers average about two hours sleep less each night in space than they do on the ground." Evidence from Earth Derk-Jan Dijk, professor of sleep and physiology at the University of Surrey, said Nasa's test reflects the latest findings closer to home. "It hasn't been until recently that we started to realise that artificial light, as we see it or are exposed to it in the evening, will have an effect on our alertness and subsequent sleep. "It turns out there are receptors in the eye which are tuned toward blue light. Adding blue light to artificial lights visible during the day can actually help us to be alert, but if there is too much blue light in the artificial lights at night that may disrupt sleep. "So, varying the spectral composition of light does make sense from a circadian perspective, and better regulating artificial sleep-wake cycles may indeed benefit astronauts' sleep in space." Nasa adds there could be spin-off benefits for the population at large. "A significant proportion of the global population suffers from chronic sleep loss," said Daniel Shultz at the Kennedy Space Center. "By refining multipurpose lights for astronauts safety, health and well-being in spaceflight, the door is opened for new lighting strategies that can be evolved for use on Earth."










17 December 2012 Last updated at 13:01
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20753888

International governments are set to agree a new information and communications treaty next month.

 Reports in the Russian press have suggested the Kremlin and others wanted control of key internet systems passed to a UN agency. Internet control currently lies largely with US-based groups such as Icann, which regulates the web address system. The European Parliament has said the UN's International Telecommunications Union (ITU) was "not the appropriate body" to have authority. The ITU has said a new treaty was needed to ensure "the free flow of information around the world, promoting affordable and equitable access for all and laying the foundation for ongoing innovation and market growth". The UN agency is hosting the conference to draw up the treaty between 3 and 14 December in Dubai. Members of the European Parliament backed a resolution which urged member states to reject changes to the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITR) which would "negatively impact the internet, its architecture, operations, content and security, business relations, internet governance and the free flow of information online". 'Equal rights' The ITRs are designed to ensure interoperability of telecoms equipment and services across the world.

 The last major revision was in 1988. The negotiation process surrounding a new treaty has been criticised for being conducted largely out of the public's eye. However, a site called Wcitleaks, run by researchers at George Mason University, has published several document's relating to the new treaty. Among them was a proposal from Russia suggesting that the US should have less control over the internet's operation. "Member states shall have equal rights to manage the internet, including in regard to the allotment, assignment and reclamation of internet numbering, naming, addressing and identification resources and to support for the operation and development of basic internet infrastructure," it said in a document submitted on 17 November. 'Limited access' The European Parliament's objection follows loud opposition from search giant Google, which has invited concerned internet users to sign a petition. "The International Telecommunication Union is bringing together regulators from around the world to renegotiate a decades-old communications treaty," the company wrote. "Some proposals could permit governments to censor legitimate speech - or even allow them to cut off internet access. "Other proposals would require services like YouTube, Facebook, and Skype to pay new tolls in order to reach people across borders. This could limit access to information - particularly in emerging markets." ITU secretary-general Dr Hamadoun Toure has signalled that if there were any serious disagreements he would try to avoid putting an issue to a majority vote. "We never vote because voting means winners and losers and you can't afford that," he told the BBC in July. "Whatever one single country does not accept will not pass."













 22 November 2012 Last updated at 18:26
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20445637

In an email to all members, Facebook said it wanted a "more meaningful" way for users to give feedback. The site has also proposed combining information across its other services, such as photo-sharing app Instagram. Facebook said a vote into the changes could take place, but more than 300m users would need to participate. Under the site's rules, votes have an effect only if 30% of the user base has taken part. The site recently announced its one billionth sign-up. A campaign opposing the changes and calling for more transparency has been launched. The Our-Policy.org website is urging users to comment on the announcement in order to trigger a user vote on Facebook's plans. Under current rules, if there are 7,000 comments on an issue it will be voted upon. At the time of writing, 3,000 members had commented. 'Accountable' In explaining the changes, Facebook said it was looking for ways to more "effectively engage" with its users over changes to the network. "That commitment guided our decision in 2009 to launch an unprecedented process for user feedback," wrote Elliot Schrage, a vice-president of communications. "When we held our second global site governance vote in June, we indicated that we would review our site governance process in light of the growth of both our community - to over one billion users - and our company, which is now publicly traded and accountable to regulators around the world.

" Mr Schrage said the review of the procedure highlighted issues which required a restructuring of the feedback process. "We found that the voting mechanism, which is triggered by a specific number of comments, actually resulted in a system that incentivised the quantity of comments over their quality. "Therefore, we're proposing to end the voting component of the process in favour of a system that leads to more meaningful feedback and engagement." Data merge The new proposals also outlined details of Facebook's plans to combine information across various services it owns. This could potentially include Instagram, the photo-sharing app which the social network acquired for £440m ($700m) earlier this year. As well as a vast library of user-uploaded photographs, Instagram also holds location data on its users - a highly valuable resource. The Reuters news agency has speculated that Facebook intended to unify user data profiles in a way similar to Google's controversial policy changes which took place earlier this year. The move made it easier for Google to serve targeted advertising to its users. The search giant was heavily criticised by EU data regulators, and told that it must do more to explain to users how their information was being used. Facebook has told the BBC that there are currently no plans to merge its services in this way - but did not rule it out from happening in the future. Aside from the privacy-related changes, Facebook also told users it plans to: Add new tools for filtering incoming messages, in response to user complaints that messages from friends were being lost in the "Other" folder. Give better indicators of where posts can be viewed - and by whom. Offer more guidance on managing profiles, including how to request deletion of posts a user has been "tagged" in by a friend. As part of a lengthy list of demands, the Our Policy website criticises the proposal as being too vague. "We want Facebook to use clear and understandable language," the group says. "We oppose that Facebook is using 'like', 'may' or 'could' instead of clear statements. This makes it impossible to clearly know what we consent to."
















 22 November 2012 Last updated at 13:26
 By Dave Lee Technology reporter, BBC News http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20444678

Twitter resets 'hacked' passwords after being compromised

 Some accounts had been compromised, but other users had received the emails after Twitter had unintentionally reset unaffected passwords, the company said. The mass email coincided with incidents involving several high-profile accounts, including at least one account belonging to the BBC. Other media organisations, such as the TechCrunch blog, reported being warned. Twitter gave no indication of the cause or source of the compromise, and would not share details of the size of the issue. In a statement, it said: "When we believe an account may have been compromised, we reset the password and send an email letting the account owner know this has happened along with information about creating a new password. This is a routine part of our processes to protect our users. "In this case, we unintentionally reset passwords of a larger number of accounts, beyond those that we believed to have been compromised.

"We apologise for any inconvenience or confusion this may have caused." Deletions and spam Some users who received the email noticed that some of their tweets had been deleted, while others said spam links had been posted without their knowledge - a typical characteristic of a compromised account. The Twitter account belonging to BBC Radio 4's Today programme earlier told followers it was "trying to get to the bottom" of problems relating to their feed. Other BBC accounts have received the warning email - but it is not yet clear if any more were compromised. Comedian David Mitchell tweeted that he had received the email, and that a tweet he had written publicising his column in the Observer newspaper had been removed. Some users criticised Twitter's email, suggesting it looked like a "phishing scam" - a message that impersonates an official email in an attempt to trick users into giving up personal details.










8 November 2012 Last updated at 17:48
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20256682

Software that can translate spoken English into spoken Chinese almost instantly has been demonstrated by Microsoft.

The software preserves intonation and cadence so the translated speech still sounds like the original speaker. Microsoft said research breakthroughs had reduced the number of errors made by the instant translation system. It said it modelled the system on the way brains work to improve its accuracy. Details about the project were given by Microsoft research boss Rick Rashid in a blogpost following a presentation he gave in Tianjin, China, in late October that had, he said, started to "generate a bit of attention". In the final few minutes of that presentation the words of Mr Rashid were almost instantly turned into Chinese by piping the spoken English through Microsoft's translation system. In addition, the machine-generated version of his words maintained some of his spoken style.

'Dramatic change' This translation became possible, he said, thanks to research done in Microsoft labs that built on earlier breakthroughs. That earlier work ditched the pattern matching approach of the first speech translation systems in favour of statistical models that did a better job of capturing the range of human vocal ability. Improvements in computer technology that can crunch data faster had improved this further but error rates were still running at about 20-25%, he said. In 2010, wrote Mr Rashid, Microsoft researchers working with scientists at the University of Toronto improved translation further using deep neural networks that learn to recognise sound in much the same way as brains do. Applying this technology to speech translation cut error rates to about 15%, said Mr Rashid, calling the improvement a "dramatic change". As the networks were trained for longer error rates were likely to fall further, he said. The improved speech recognition system was used by Mr Rashid during his presentation. First, the audio of his speech was translated into English text. Next this was converted this into Chinese and the words reordered so they made sense. Finally, the Chinese characters were piped through a text-to-speech system to emerge sounding like Mr Rashid. "Of course, there are still likely to be errors in both the English text and the translation into Chinese, and the results can sometimes be humorous," said Mr Rashid in the blogpost. "Still, the technology has developed to be quite useful." Many different technology companies, including AT&T and Google, have similar projects under way that are attempting to do simultaneous translation. NTT Docomo has shown off a smartphone app that lets Japanese people call foreigners and lets both speak in their native tongue.










9 November 2012 Last updated at 11:10
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20266427