controllers

The United States is responsible for the highest number of botnet servers in the world, according to new data from McAfee.

A map and a list of major countries posted by McAfee yesterday show the greatest concentration of botnet servers to be in the U.S., with 631. That's more than two and a half times higher than the second country on the list -- the British Virgin Islands with 237.

The Netherlands took third place with 154 servers, followed by Russia with 125, Germany with 95, and Korea with 81. Among the Top 10, Canada fared the best … Read more

President Obama's "Ask Me Anything" on Reddit drew more than 5 million views, and now Vice President Joe Biden is going to try his hand at a different newfangled social-media real-time electronic telegraph technology.

In an event dubbed a "Fireside Hangout," the vice president will be hanging out in Google+ starting at 10:45 a.m. PT tomorrow to discuss the recently released White House policy recommendations on reducing gun violence in the wake of a downright awful 2012 that was plagued by a number of mass shootings in the United States. … Read more

Not one to keep his opinion to himself, former presidential candidate Ralph Nader has come down hard on video games. In fact, he has gone as far as to call the companies that make them "electronic child molesters."

In an interview with Politico yesterday, Nader blasted President Obama's gun control package that was unveiled last week. The two-time Green Party presidential candidate said that the president's plan needs to go further in regulating video game creators that add violence to their games.

"Television program violence? Unbelievable. Video game violence? Unprecedented," Nader told Politico. "… Read more

During a press conference earlier today unveiling his proposals for new gun-control regulations, President Obama said he will ask Congress for $10 million to fund a study by the Centers for Disease Control on the impact of video games and "media images."

It's a reasonable enough request. Gaming industry groups have said they'd welcome serious scientific research into the issue, though it's entirely unclear what the results of that research will lead to. And after what happened in Newtown, Conn., everyone -- from video game makers to movie producers to local news outlets to gun … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Some of you may recall that one scene in "Back to the Future II" where Marty McFly travels forward in time to 2015 and plays a shoot-'em-up arcade game. After getting a seemingly great high score, a jaded youth remarks, "You mean you have to use your hands? That's like a baby's toy!"

I couldn't help but remember that quote when I slipped on Interaxon's Muse -- a lightweight headset that turns your mind into an input device by converting your brainwaves into digital signals. … Read more

Leap Motion, the makers of the innovative Leap hands-free motion control system, said today that it has struck its first retail partnership, an exclusive launch deal to sell the device at Best Buy.

According to Leap Motion, Best Buy stores and BestBuy.com will begin taking pre-orders in February and selling the Leap sometime this spring. The deal comes on the heels of the company's recent agreement to bundle the device with Asus PCs once it launches, as well as a $30 million B round of funding.

The San Francisco startup's technology is capable of measuring motion with … Read more

Here's a tip: When it comes to business expenses, "free" is usually the better option. But free accounting; that's the best. Noguska's NolaPro Cloud Accounting leverages the power of cloud-based data hosting and free tools like the Apache database software to give small and medium businesses a comprehensive business suite rivaling expensive solutions like Quickbooks. A browser-based interface gives NolaPro a familiar feel for the broadest range of users, and it makes accessing Cloud-based resources that much easier, too. Recent updates include Windows 8 compatibility.

NolaPro's setup wizard installed and accessed the Apache database, … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Touchless gesture control may soon be possible on Apple's iOS devices, thanks to a startup that will be releasing a software development kit enabling the technology.

For some time, Israeli company PointGrab has been making its technology -- which allows users to control activity onscreen with little more than a wave of the hand -- available on a series of platforms, namely Windows 8, Android, and Linux. And next month, Apple's iOS will join the party.

In a demo at CES here today, Assaf Gad, PointGrab vice president of marketing and product, showed CNET how the technology … Read more