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You can now open hotel rooms with just your smartphone – and bypass check-in, too

You can now open hotel rooms with just your smartphone – and bypass check-in, too

Over the next few months, Starwood (which owns those three chains) will upgrade 150 of its hotels to allow keyless, smartphone entry to some 30,000 rooms worldwide. Hilton, which is a much larger hotel chain, plans to roll out a similar system next year. Keyless entry via smartphone is obviously more convenient than using a magnetic swipe card (which is easily lost or demagnetized), and probably a lot more secure, too, considering how easy it was to hack conventional Onity locks. Did I mention that keyless entry also means you can skip the check-in desk and go straight to your room, too?

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A Brain-Inspired Chip Takes to the Sky

A Brain-Inspired Chip Takes to the Sky

There isn’t much space between your ears, but what’s in there can do many things that a computer of the same size never could. Your brain is also vastly more energy efficient at interpreting the world visually or understanding speech than any computer system. That’s why academic and corporate labs have been experimenting with “neuromorphic” chips modeled on features seen in brains. These chips have networks of “neurons” that communicate in spikes of electricity (see “Thinking in Silicon”). They can be significantly more energy-efficient than conventional chips, and some can even automatically reprogram themselves to learn new skills.

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“Dark Web” Version of Facebook Shows a New Way to Secure the Web

“Dark Web” Version of Facebook Shows a New Way to Secure the Web

Facebook.com is one of the most frequently accessed URLs in the world, but on Friday the social network unveiled a new one: facebookcorewwwi.onion. That address serves up a version of Facebook’s service accessible only via the Tor anonymity software. Tor users include dissidents trying to avoid censorship, criminals, and U.S. government workers who need to escape scrutiny from foreign security services.

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The 7 quirkiest Kickstarter gadgets

The 7 quirkiest Kickstarter gadgets

Pebble, the first widely available smartwatch, cleared $10.2 million on the site. Ouya, an affordable game console running Android, cleared $8.6 million. Virtual-reality system Oculus Rift got a $2.4 million start, and rock legend Neil Young turned to Kickstarter to fund Pono, a high-quality digital music player, to the tune of $6.2 million.

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