MonsterMind
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Snowden: The NSA's building Skynet to fight wars online
More than a year after Edward Snowden first spilled the beans on the NSA's digital surveillance practices, you wouldn't think that he had much left to reveal. In an interview with Wired, however, the former spy has revealed that the agency is building an autonomous online defense system that will, not only crush digital attacks on the US, but could also launch digital retaliations in the blink of an eye. The in-no-way-ominously-named MonsterMind is designed to scour metadata databases, analyzing the traffic patterns in a way that'd make malicious traffic stand out. Foreign attackers launching DDoS or malware attacks against financial institutions, infrastructure or government systems could then be identified, and blocked.
Monstermind: Bossa's first game lets you lay waste to Facebook friends
If you know Bossa Studios at all, it's likely for lead designer Mike Bithell who made the thoughtful Thomas Was Alone and conceptualized a Source Code game. But after today, the studio will likely be synonymous with its first project: A Facebook release called Monstermind that goes into open beta today. In a concept that had to have been borne of frustration with Facebook game tropes, Monstermind lets you build a town with its own thriving businesses, homes and citizens. Then, it lets you buy a monster and lay waste to the towns of your friends until they're less thriving and more writhing in agony. It's a heck of an idea, and one that we've had trouble pulling away from long enough to write this post. Considering how well its first game works out of the gate, it's understandable that Bossa was purchased by News Corp, who says it'll keep the developer focused on social games. Judging from how long we've been tormenting one another in Monstermind, it seems like a wise choice.
