Tech News

Over a year after posting a call for astronaut applications, NASA introduced the 2013 astronaut candidate class on Monday, half of which are female, the highest percentage ever selected in one group by NASA. Over 6,300 people applied for the eight available positions, which begin training Aug.1 at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, home of the astronaut corps and Mission Control.

This marks the 21st class of NASA astronaut candidates, all of whom had to undergo a rigorous interview process that included medical, language aptitude, and mobility tests. They'll join the current 49 other active NASA astronauts in the organization's future pursuit of the first manned mission to an asteroid in the 2020 decade, with the goal of one day putting humans on Mars. Currently, the US astronauts' main mission is supporting the global efforts of the International Space Station.

As a NASA representative said during a Google+ Hangout to introduce the eight candidates, the four women chosen were not deliberately chosen to represent an equal gender pool, rather they were the most qualified group of people, and a "tribute to women today." Here, an introduction to the impressive women of the 2013 astronaut class.

Christina M. Hammock

Nicole Aunapu Mann

Keep reading to meet the national women's rugby player and the Harvard medical professor that may one day man space missions.

Google's beloved RSS feed aggregator, Google Reader, is heading to the cyber graveyard on July 1. But there's no need to lament, since Digg, the up-vote, down-vote social news site that was forced to shutdown in 2010, is returning to the web with a reader of its own!

The Digg engineering team posted the first screenshots of its Google Reader replacement, which launches publicly on June 26.

When Digg announced their reader in March, they hoped to "identify and rebuild the best of Google Reader's features" and anticipated a late 2013 release date. Apparently, production was sped up to roll out Digg Reader ahead of Google Reader's July end date to make migration as seamless as possible.

What can you expect from the new RSS feed aggregator? A site that's simple, fast, optimized for any screen size, free (with premium paid options later in the year), and as socially conscious as Reddit, Tumblr, Twitter, and Facebook.

Sign up to be notified when the new Digg Reader has arrived, or if you need an alternative right this second, turn to one of these RSS aggregators fit for headline grazers.

Be sure to export your Google Reader data (subscriptions, bookmarked items, notes and all) before July 1 at dataliberation.org.

On June 6, The Washington Post published documents revealing a data collection program that allegedly retrieved private user information from the servers of the world's top tech companies.

Facebook, Microsoft, and Google denied any knowledge of the top-secret PRISM program but, in the interest of transparency, released the number of national security-related requests they have received soon after the news broke. This week, Apple shed some light on what type of data from personal computers and iOS devices the top-secret NSA program can and can't see.

According to the company's disclosure, Apple received between 4,000 and 5,000 requests from the US government (federal, state, and local) and information from between 9,000 and 10,000 accounts were specifically asked for. Robbery, missing person, and suicide prevention investigations are the most common reasons for request. The specific data needed for these investigations were not disclosed, but the most interesting revelation was the user information Apple can't retrieve for authorities, which include:

• iMessage conversations (which are encrypted)
• FaceTime data (also encrypted)
• User location (not stored in servers)
• Map searches (not stored in servers)
• SIRI requests (not stored in servers)

While the company did not reveal the exact user information it can hand over to the authorities, Apple's own privacy policy may provide a clue as to how our personal and nonpersonal data is collected from iOS devices.

Personal Information

This type of data is affiliated to you, your name, and your username. Children under the age of 13 (as denoted by Apple ID) are exempt from personal data collection. Data is largely gathered in two ways:

• From an Apple ID: Name, mailing address, phone number, email address, contact preferences, and credit card info.
• From gift certificates or share button: Info on those people, such as name, mailing, address, email address, and phone number.

Nonpersonal Information

This type of data is generally aggregated with other users, making it anonymous. It is not typically affiliated with any specific individual.

• Occupation, language, zip code
• Unique device identifier, location, and time zone where Apple product is used
• Customer activity on Apple website, iCloud, MobileMe, and iTunes store
• Information about which parts of Apple's websites people have visited as procured by cookies

Government surveillance is still largely a mystery, but details on information requests are being revealed slowly. While much remains to be seen, we do know that there is an emphasis on collecting metadeta (information about communication transactions), as unveiled in the original Guardian article, rather than data of the actual content of conversations. After all of these NSA request disclosures from tech companies, do you feel any better about your digital privacy?

• Conan shares an intimate moment with Glass — Geekosystem
• The one thing babies and monkeys have in common — Cracked
• Netflix set to be the Dreamworks TV network — Newser
• Social network notifications are getting smarter (and bigger) — FWD
• How Samsung phone owners win big with Jay-Z's new album — HuffPost Tech
• This is the first GIF to go to space! — The Daily Dot

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• The Mythbusters guys explain how Superman can possibly shave — Geekosystem
• Watch your Twitter life flash before your eyes — ReadWrite
• The top World of Warcraft characters are actually all the same — Cracked
• Unfortunate uses of hashtags that will make you cringe — FWD
• Yahoo! tried to fight NSA spying Newser
• How to not involve your mom in your online dating schemes — The Daily Dot

IPhone users have been begging for the ability to take their Excel, PowerPoint, and Word documents on the go since, well, the iPhone was created in 2007. Today, productivity dreams came true as Microsoft announced Office 365 for iPhone users. Available for download from the App Store on Friday, Office 365 Home Premium and ProPlus subscribers can use the app to view, edit, and comment on documents for no extra charge.

The iPhone app makes use of the cloud-based Office 365, available for $100 per year to be used across five devices like your work and home computers, or any other mobile devices. Using SkyDrive, the app syncs Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents to wherever you left off when previously logged in to Office 365. Documents are organized in the most recently opened panel, and can be identified by type with icons for Excel, Word, or PowerPoint.

• Super crafty students can win the chance to pilot robotics on the International Space Station — Geekosystem
• Commonplace technologies movies still get wrong — Cracked
• What Instagram taught one photographer about life — ReadWrite
• Flying bikes are closer thank you think — Newser
• Comic strips that totally reinvented themselves — Mental Floss
• Watch Google search results as they happen — FWD
• A Raving Rabbids children's movie adaptation is in the works — Screen Rant

Adventure is out there and, while you're out in the wild finding it, Samsung wants you to take your smartphone along for the ride. The South Korean company announced a more rugged, waterproof version of its latest Galaxy phone, the Galaxy S4 Active, last week.

On Thursday, AT&T said the phone will be available for preorder starting June 14. Head over att.com/galaxys4active (the page won't be live until June 14) to purchase the phone in Urban Gray or Dive Blue for $200 with a two-year contract.

With dust-proof casing, the ability to be submerged in water up to three feet deep for 30 minutes, and a water-resistant headphone jack, the Galaxy S4 Active was built specifically with rugged, outdoors-types — and clumsy fingers — in mind.

The Active shares many of the futuristic features of the original Galaxy S4, including air-gesture recognition, eye-scrolling, and touch sensitivity, even if the user is wearing gloves, but with the added bonus of water protection. Like the S4 Active, the flagship Galaxy S4 costs $200 with two-year contract on AT&T.

Water-resistant tech is having a moment this year: Sony's H20-friendly Xperia Z made a splash at CES, and is due to hit shelves any day now. When the Galaxy S4 Active arrives on June 21, it'll directly compete with the large display, Android-powered Xperia.

Looks like Samsung's new waterproof phone will arrive just in time for this season's beach-bound techies. If you're considering the Galaxy S4 Active, see all the color options and technical specifications after the break.