A presentation due to be shown at the Black Hat security conference at the end of the month will show that many of the routers used for residential internet connections are vulnerable to attack by hackers. The attacks would allow traffic to be redirected and intercepted, in addition to giving hackers access to victims' local networks.

Many of the plans for addressing climate change rely on 20- to 50-year roadmaps of increased efficiency and use of renewable energy. But, as Nobel Laureate Robert Laughlin pointed out in his talk at the Lindau Meeting, we're going to have to deal with alternative technologies on that time scale no matter what—many projections indicate we're going to be out of oil within 60 years (usable coal will last a century and a half longer, give or take).

"AT&T was insanely profitable in 2009, with $34.4 billion in revenue and $12.5 billion in net income. The company even returned most of this cash ($9.7 billion) to investors as dividends. So why did the US government direct $435 million into the company's coffers?

Readers periodically contact me to ask why I no longer write the kinds of in-depth CPU architecture articles I once did. In light of the current discussion happening about editorial content at Ars, it seemed appropriate to comment on how I see things in 2010.

In a nutshell, I can sum up my take as follows: "computing" has changed radically since 2003. CPUs have not.
The good old days

Earlier we reported on the widely experienced phenomenon of the iPhone 4 dropping 3G signal when gripped in the left hand. The problem is caused when the skin bridges the left and bottom antennas that also happen to be the device's stainless steel outer bezel. We asked Apple if it was aware of the issue, and on a lark copied CEO Steve Jobs since the flaw contradicted his statements about the "brilliant" antenna design during WWDC.

Internet Fraud Alert, a new global cybersecurity project, aims to fast track the reporting of stolen consumer data, including username and password login information for online services, credit card numbers, and other miscellany researchers find online. The service also alerts banks and online services when accounts they oversee are compromised.

"Microsoft Office 2010, Visio 2010, and Project 2010 are hitting store shelves today. Office 2010 can be purchased from more than 35,000 retail stores worldwide, including directly from Office.com. The productivity suite hit RTM last month in 14 languages, with 10 currently available to consumers (94 will eventually be supported). Office 2010 is the first release that comes in 32-bit and 64-bit flavors, all on one DVD.

Quantum computers scarcely exist yet, but scientists have already begun working on shrinking them down by creating smaller components. A group of researchers have devised a way to use an LED to generate the entangled photon pairs needed for quantum teleportation, computing, and encryption. While the LED is not quite as reliable as lasers, its smaller footprint should help make quantum applications a bit more practical.

"Microsoft has pumped out voice recognition software for years, but the company has a curious aversion to publicizing the fact. With Windows 7, Microsoft's speech recognition has become a decent productivity tool and one that the company should be proud to proclaim as an OS feature. For the casual speech recognition user, nothing beats free—especially when one considers the $100+ price points for third-party software.

The first Crackdown was a nice surprise. It came seemingly out of nowhere and offered up fun, over-the-top, open-world gameplay that was a refreshing change of pace. You could throw cars and climb to the top of skyscrapers. It was a game that truly made you feel like an overpowered superhero. So how do you top that feeling of power and freedom?

Simple: just add zombies.