Ever tried to create a JSON data structure that includes entities that have a bidirectional relationship (i.e., circular reference)? If you have, you’ve likely seen a JavaScript error along the lines of “Uncaught TypeError: Converting circular structure to JSON”. Or if you’re a Java developer who uses Jackson library, you may have encountered “Could not write JSON: Infinite recursion (StackOverflowError) with root cause java.lang.StackOverflowError”.

User: Siri, call me an ambulance. Siri: Okay, from now on I’ll call you “an ambulance.” Apple fixed this error shortly after its virtual assistant was first released in 2011. But a new contest shows that computers still lack the common sense required to avoid such embarrassing mix-ups. The results of the contest were presented at an academic conference in New York this week, and they provide some measure of how much work needs to be done to make computers truly intelligent.

Microsoft confirms it will offer Windows 10 as a monthly subscription for enterprises, again raising questions of how the model might be applied to consumers, and how Microsoft plans to monetize Windows over the coming years.

WebRTC client works on Chrome OS, too.

Not satisfied with your noisy old PC cooling fan? Then consider upgrading to Corsair’s latest ML-series fans, which use maglev technology in order to bend the very forces of physics to your PC-cooling will. With earlier, now outdated models, wear was caused by friction from the rapid rotation of the fan, which also generated noise and heat. However, the ML-series magnetically suspends the fan blades away from the central bearing of the motor, resulting in a dramatically quieter and more reliable fan even at higher speeds.

You need to find a specific Unicode character? With Shapecatcher.com you can search through a database of characters by simply drawing your character into a box. It can find the most similar character shapes for your drawing.

This is the Ubuntu Unity desktop running on Windows 10 natively, without a virtual machine, thanks via the new Windows Linux Subsystem.

Self-Service portals are being increasingly used to facilitate information from organizations to users. The result is making everyone involved happy.

Samsung Newsroom

AI finally works—we just don’t know how. By Jordan Pearson.

Serverless applications are the source of much confusion of late. For one thing, they’re not “serverless” at all. In fact, it’s more accurate to refer to them as “multiserver apps” since their components are distributed among cloud servers far and wi

And what it could mean for the future of computing. By Philip Ball. (June 22, 2016)

For years everyone has been told that they should run antivirus software on their computer for the best possible protection against the ever growing tide of viruses, trojans and general malware on the…

The FBI has access to nearly 412 million photos in its facial recognition system—perhaps including the one on your driver’s license. But according to a new government watchdog report, the bureau doesn’t know how error-prone the system is, or whether it enhances or hinders investigations. Since 2011, the bureau has quietly been using this system to compare new images, such as those taken from surveillance cameras, against a large set of photos to look for a match.

A Chinese supercomputer built using domestic chip technology has been declared the world's fastest. The news highlights China's recent advances in the creation of such systems, as well the country's waning reliance on US semiconductor technology. The Sunway TaihuLight takes the top spot from previous record-holder Tianhe-2 (also located in China), and more than triples the latter's speed. The new number one is capable of performing some 93 quadrillion calculations per second (otherwise known as petaflops) and is roughly five times more powerful than the speediest US system, which is now ranked third worldwide.

Patch it. Patch it now. Better still, get rid of Flash once and for all, or at least set it to only run when you really want it to run.

The Snap application container system released in April with Ubuntu 16.04 is now going to be opened up to many other Linux distros after a surprise discovery by developers. In a press call to journalists, Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth (accompanied at times by a rather excitable Labrador) explained that shortly after the Snap release several Linux developers, particularly from Arch and Gentoo, approached Canonical with an idea to make Snap a more universal system.

Dell is releasing new Steam Machines, and AMD will release Linux drivers for its new GPUs!

We're just at the beginning of working out the tasks machines will make us better at.

In India, the vast majority of the year's rainfall happens during the monsoon season. When, where, and how much rain falls is vital to the country's agriculture and economy. But predicting the monsoon is notoriously difficult; it's considered the most complex weather phenomenon in the world. The country currently relies heavily on statistical predictions that are shaky at best. So in a bid to finally solve the weather, India is investing $60 million (₹4 billion) in buying a supercomputer to predict monsoons.