The NSA's Secret Spy Hub in Berlin  —  According to SPIEGEL research, United States intelligence agencies have not only targeted Chancellor Angela Merkel's cell phone, but they have also used the American Embassy in Berlin as a listening station.  The revelations now pose a serious threat to German-American relations.

LG's curved-screen G Flex smartphone coming to South Korea with 13MP camera, Snapdragon 800  —  LG officially announces curved-screen G Flex smartphone  —  After a series of leaks, LG has announced officialdetails of its curved-screen smartphone, the G Flex.

Amazon and the “profitless business model” fallacy  —  [DISCLOSURE: As always when I write about Amazon, I'll note I worked there from 1997-2004 and that I still own some shares in the company.  I still have many friends who work there, though I have no more idea what Amazon is working on now than any of you in the public.]

Barge in SF Bay may be a marketing center for Glass if Google gets a waterfront permit  —  Massive Barge On San Francisco Bay Likely Secret Google Facility  —  SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) — The U.S. Navy had its share of secrets on Treasure Island, but few were better kept than what's taking place …

The Battle for Power on the Internet  —  Distributed citizen groups and nimble hackers once had the edge.  Now governments and corporations are catching up.  Who will dominate in the decades ahead?  —  We're in the middle of an epic battle for power in cyberspace.

AI Startup Vicarious Claims Milestone In Quest To Build A Brain: Cracking CAPTCHA  —  Can machines think?  Not yet.  But there is one at least partial test: the CAPTCHA, or “Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart,” those distorted characters you have to type …

Disappointed with application-driven AI, Douglas Hofstadter seeks to recreate mind in software  —  The Man Who Would Teach Machines to Think  —  Douglas Hofstadter, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Gödel, Escher, Bach, thinks we've lost sight of what artificial intelligence really means.

Historical Software Archive lets you use vintage software in your browser  —  The Internet Archive's new Historical Software Archive brings old software to your browser through the magic of JSMESS emulation.  —  The Internet Archive has protected and preserved old software for a while now …

Samsung Pursues Developers, Seeking Orbit of Apps  —  This week, Samsung Electronics Co. plans to hold its first global developers conference at a hotel in San Francisco, a big step in the South Korean smartphone maker's effort to cultivate a host of software and services for its devices that can compete with those offered by Apple Inc.

Upcoming Nexus 5 leaks in white, Nov. 1 launch date reported  —  After leaking a clear image of the black model yesterday, prolific leaker @evleaks has posted a render of the upcoming Nexus 5 in a white color option.  As can be seen in the image above, the white model is actually a two-tone device …