Hostage Data; Watch and Learn; and more [Weekly Computing Newsletter]

February 5, 2015 Weekly Computing Newsletter

NEWS Ransomware Is a Booming Business Online Thousands of people will have their personal files held hostage this year, by software that uses virtually unbreakable encryption.       NEWS Startup Clarifai’s Machine-Learning Software Can Understand What’s in Your Videos Software that understands what it sees in video could lead to new forms of advertising, or make video editing easier.

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REVIEW Letter from Silicon Valley: “This Town Used to Think Big” Capital and engineering talent have been flocking to seemingly trivial mobile apps. But would we really be better off if more startups instead went directly after big problems?     NEWS FCC Chief Hopes to Keep the Mobile Net Neutral, Too Planned regulations would govern the openness of the Internet, no matter if you’re surfing the Web on a laptop or a smartphone.     NEWS Obama Precision Medicine Plan Calls for Million-Person Study An Obama initiative seeks to channel a torrent of gene information into treatments for cancer, other diseases.     VIEW Seven Stories You Shouldn’t Miss (Week Ending January 31, 2015) Another chance to catch the most interesting, and important, articles from the previous week on MIT Technology Review.     VIEW Recommended from Around the Web (Week Ending January 31, 2015) A roundup of the most interesting stories from other sites, collected by the staff at MIT Technology Review.     SEE MORE STORIES »