Are there reasons for returning exception objects instead of throwing them?
There are a few situations where not throwing an exception is appropriate.
Top Post: The Navy’s newest warship is powered by Linux
In-Depth Reports
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Store-bought is not enough: My first hard cider homebrew
I enjoy beer and cider so much, I decided to start rolling my own.
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Mapping the mutations of twelve major cancer types
Tumors from different tissues can have common genetic features.
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“Aren’t you a little too old for that?” 14 years of playing Pokémon
My deep dark secret: I want to be the very best, like no one ever was.
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Are partisan news sources polarizing Americans?
Ars reviews the new book Changing Minds or Changing Channels.
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Meet the genomically recoded organisms
Whole genome editing lets researchers swap a fake amino acid into bacteria.
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Prenda’s massive trolling take revealed: $1.9 million in 2012
Steele and Hansmeier are said to have taken in 70 percent of that sum.
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The top 5 things we’ve learned about the NSA thanks to Edward Snowden
And the top 5 things that have happened as a result of the whistleblowing.
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The Navy’s newest warship is powered by Linux
The USS Zumwalt will be a floating data center—armed with missiles and robot guns.
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New wave of online peer review and discussion tools frightens some scientists
Getting research torn apart publicly isn't fun, but stonewalling the Web isn't an answer.
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The Fifth Estate: Come for the Cumberbatch, not WikiLeaks insight
Review: Film has some fun merit, just don't expect new angles on a complicated subject.
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Building the robots of Mars—and running them from Manhattan
From piano repair to NASA mechanic.
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ACLU sues feds for hiding NSA spying from terror defendants
Administration has never divulged to a single defendant that they were targeted.
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Contrary to public claims, Apple can read your iMessages
Control of keys gives Apple ability to read iMessages, despite end-to-end encryption.
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Gravitational waves show deficit in black hole collisions
Not as many gravity waves from supermassive black hole collisions as we expected.
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You’re infected—if you want to see your data again, pay us $300 in Bitcoins
Ransomware comes of age with unbreakable crypto, anonymous payments.
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The Stanley Parable review: You are in a room. There are two doors
A masterful second-person narrative goes well past “Choose Your Own Adventure.”
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Statistical models can predict a Kickstarter’s success within 4 hours
How people tweet about your Kickstarter matters a lot in this model.
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Jello-making protein could help make cheap fuel cells
Serves as a template for building a carbon-catalyst framework.
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Windows 8.1 includes seamless, automatic disk encryption—if your PC supports it
A handy feature, but stringent hardware requirements limit it to newer systems.
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New York City is getting wireless EV chargers disguised as manholes
Uses resonance charging instead of inductive charging used by phones, tablets.
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To pay off webcam spies, Detroit kid pawns $100k in family jewels for $1,500
Video was so embarrassing, theft seemed the better option.
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Researchers uncover holes that open power stations to hacking
Hacks could cause power outages and don't need physical access to substations.
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Secret court argues (again) that it’s not a rubber stamp for surveillance
FISC judge tells Senate Committee that the court required "substantial changes."
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Strongly magnetic pulsar could explain anomalous supernovas
Magnetars may drive super-luminous supernovas in the local Universe.
Feature Story
Windows 8.1: What a difference a year makes
Review: Not perfect, but 8.1 is an OS that actually works for desktop, mobile.
On The Radar
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Very careful veep
Dick Cheney altered implanted heart device to prevent terrorist hack attacks
Former vice president said defibrillator-targeted assassination was credible.
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Whoops!
Windows RT 8.1 update temporarily pulled due to a “situation”
Some devices left unbootable after installing the update.
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Take deep, calming breaths
Flowy: Panic attack reduction game wins social tech funding
Idea is to use tech to tackle social problems and challenges.
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Download failed, retry?
Snowden’s NSA post in Hawaii failed to install “anti-leak” software
Insider threat management package went uninstalled because of low net bandwidth.
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The new shiny
Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 7” shipping now
Buy your Sully costume while watching Monsters Inc, all from your tablet.
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Developmental traffic jam
Planned PS4 launch title DriveClub delayed until 2014
Delay comes less than a month before the system will hit stores.
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"and boy have we patented it!"
Status quo all over again: “Steve Jobs patent” revived by USPTO
Apple blogs quickly intone one blogger's "death to Android" analysis.
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Now with Kit Kat!
Nexus 5 leaked on Google Play: $349 for 16GB
Cutting-edge hardware, for a lot less than you'd expect.
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letter from russia
Snowden breaks silence to insist he didn’t help foreign agents
Famed leaker tells the NYT his decision to leak built up slowly.
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A solid state of mind
Apple issues firmware fix for Toshiba SSDs in 2012 MacBook Airs
The company will also replace drives rendered defective by the problem.
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The boob tube
Netflix taking another path to your TV—through your cable box
You'll still need a subscription, but there's one less step needed.
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peer-to-peer can't win
BitTorrent search site IsoHunt will shut down, pay MPAA $110 million
The BitTorrent search site had "red flags," got no "safe harbor" from judges.
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meet my friend, inter partes review
Powered by the crowd, EFF attacks infamous “podcasting patent”
Patent is pre-dated by early Internet efforts by Carl Malamud, CBC, and CNN.
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heir to the throne
NSA chief Keith Alexander and top deputy will abdicate in coming months
The changeover could create a shift in the way the US spy agency does business.
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For immediate release
Hackers hit PR Newswire, data shows up alongside recently stolen Adobe code
Krebs on Security hints these aren't the only companies with hacked data on the servers.
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From Germany with Love
Thanks to NSA, German e-mail providers see flood of new customers
But remember, they may not be as safe as you think.
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Pirate Radio
Avast! New hacks could steer ships into pirates’ grasp
An international maritime communication system is vulnerable to spoofs.
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by the way, you still owe me
Square drastically simplifies Internet cash transfers
No verification process, no waiting period; it just needs a debit card number.
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Just add heat
Kindle Fire HDX 7” gets the iFixit treatment
Before you pull out your spudger, you might want to call Mayday.
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Broadwell unwell
Intel’s next-generation Broadwell CPUs delayed due to yield problems
14nm chips will now begin production in Q1 of 2014.
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Let's take a peek
New effort to fully audit TrueCrypt raises $16,000+ in a few short weeks
Crypto prof: "We have nearly, but not quite enough to get a serious audit done."
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No more meeting in parking garages
Aaron Swartz’s unfinished whistleblowing platform finally launches
SecureDrop was heavily audited by Bruce Schneier, Jacob Appelbaum, and others.
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Better late than soon?
Watch Dogs release pushed back from November into Q2 2014 or later
Late-stage delay suggests unignorable problems with development.
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Target acquired
Need a textbook in a hurry? Startup will send it by drone
Australian textbook rental company launches hexacopter delivery in Sydney.
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*crickets*
Sony Xperia Z1, Z Ultra LTE, and SmartWatch 2 now available in the US
A phablet, giant phablet, and smartwatch come to Sony's online store.
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It can't go worse than last time
Apple ends year-long search, hires Burberry CEO to head up Apple Stores
The position has been empty since John Browett left last October.
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You got served
Google Fiber now explicitly permits home servers
Commercial servers still off limits, but a business product is in the works.
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yeah, let's not have a hearing about this one
Gov’t moves to keep NSA surveillance lawsuit away from Supreme Court
Gov't doesn't want critics of NSA spying to take their case to the high court.
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THE WIRE
How NSA breakthrough may allow tracking of “burner” cell phones
Tool routinely accessed call database to "identify a phone number of interest."
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hold this for me
A Library of Congress for the Internet? Perma CC gives pages a good home
Authors, publishers can select links for permanent preservation.
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God keep our channels unbundled and free
Canada might force cable providers to unbundle TV channels
Sick of buying 100 channels to get the one you want? Solution: Be Canadian.
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Omni resolutione
Monday Dealmaster’s Dell monitor blowout craziness
We've got 25% off a whole slew of 23"-29" LCD monitors—today only!
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Feature Story (2 pages)
Ubuntu 13.10 review: The Linux OS of the future remains a year away
Saucy Salamander has hatched, but Mir and next-gen Unity are still incubating.
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Feature Story (2 pages)
Review: In Windows 8.1, Mail is finally usable on tablets and desktops
Windows Mail is awful no more. Skype, Calendar, and People aren't bad either.
Ars SmartStream
Exploring the smarter Internet
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IBM | 10/18/13
The IOS7 Effect and the Mobile Enterprise
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Dark Reading | 10/18/13
Big Data Detectives
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Ars Technica | 10/16/13
Upgrade your PCs, servers, and phones: Ubuntu 13.10 lands tomorrow
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Ars Technica | 10/14/13
Arduino creator explains why open source matters in hardware, too
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IBM | 10/04/13
Five Steps to Building a Better Cloud
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Stay in the know with
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Feature Story (3 pages)
Checking in on North America’s first video game college, 25 years later
Seattle's Digipen is more than just where the Portal guys went to school.
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Feature Story (4 pages)
Entrapped! When Craigslist predator stings go too far
Everyone thinks they've been "entrapped" by police, but some men actually are.
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Ars Feature Story Archive →