One carrier is willing to step outside the two-year mindset and give phone droppers and eager upgraders something sweeter than a kick in the wallet

Protein-folding might not sound like an especially exhilarating way to spend a weekend, but puzzle mavens and scientific researchers alike rallied behind the game's innovative take on crowd-sourcing public ingenuity to tackle scientific conundrums. The effort has long since paid off, but this year the game adds another feather to its cap: taking top honors at the ninth annual International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge, with a first place win in the Interactive Games category.

As data grows out of control, it's easy to overlook the high price of maintaining BC/DR solutions to keep all that data safe.

Linux is free, Linux is ubiquitous. What cxould that mean for distributions, interfaces, and the future of mobile platforms?

The latest juicy gossip out of the rumor factory has Google introducing a new consumer electronics device that will, at a minimum, help you stream music throughout your house. And depending on who you ask, it may be capable of doing much more.

Some folks say Do Not Track will kill off Internet advertising and cause some Web sites to die off or be forced to charge for content. I'm not buying it.

Here's some homework for over the weekend. If you haven't yet read this week's article "Smartphone Data Shakeup: The End of 'Unlimited'," you should. The points that Computerworld author JR Raphael make are central to your ability to budget for mobile devices and their usage going forward.

The Linux Mint project has made quite a splash in the Linux world over the past few months, not just for the growing popularity of its user-friendly operating system but also for the launch of Cinnamon, its brand-new desktop alternative.

The crafty folks over at Droid-Life have discovered that, through the sorcery that is the Android browser, you can install apps that were previously blocked by carriers. This means that you can get Google Wallet on a none-Sprint phone, as well as any apps that allow you to (illegally) tether.

Kinect hacks are a dime a dozen these days, but this one has a health-care twist. A hacker named Benjamin Blundell is using a Kinect, a set of VR goggles, and some gyroscopes to help treat patients effected by phantom limb syndrome.

If any category of social networking site should have decent privacy it would be online dating sites. Who wants the world to know the details of what we look for in a mate (though Julian Assange's leaked out). Unfortunately, privacy isn't on the agenda at most dating sites.