Facebook intros dark Web site

In this edition of the Worldwide Wrap, Facebook has introduced a version of its Web site that runs the anonymity software Tor; and an app known as Deadline, which claims to be to predict the user's death, has been launched on Apple's iTunes.

Facebook has never had much of a reputation for letting users hide their identities online. But now the world's least anonymous Web site has joined the Web's most anonymous network.

The Silicon Valley giant introduced a Tor hidden service, a version of its Web site that runs the anonymity software Tor. The new site, which can only be accessed by users running the Tor software, bounces users' connections through three extra encrypted hops to random computers around the Internet, making it far harder for any network spy observing that traffic to trace their origin.
Via: Wired

An app has been launched on Apple's iTunes which claims to be able to predict the user's death. Known as Deadline, the app uses statistical information to attempt to determine your "date of expiration".

This information includes Apple's HealthKit data such as blood pressure, sleep patterns and number of steps walked, as well as vital statistics such as age, gender and height.
Via: Telegraph

Sean Rad, co-founder and CEO of dating app Tinder, is reportedly getting demoted. Internet company IAC, which owns a majority stake in Tinder, has decided to replace 28-year-old Rad as CEO, though it has invited him to stick around to "focus on product".

Forbes reports the demotion is connected to a lawsuit filed earlier this year by Tinder's former vice-president of marketing, Whitney Wolfe, against Tinder and IAC. The suit accused Tinder's former chief marketing officer, Justin Mateen, a close confidante of Rad's, of sexual harassment and discrimination.
Via: Huffington Post

Japanese researchers have revealed artificial intelligence (AI) software so smart it can beat most real students in a high school test.

Known as To-Robo, the AI software scored higher on the English section of Japan's standardised college entrance test than the average Japanese high school senior, its developers said.
Via: Daily Mail

A "hook-up" app for gay men in China has secured $30m funding from venture capitalists DCM. Blued, created by social media site DanLan in 2012, claims to have 15 million active users.

Homosexuality in China was illegal until 1997, and defined as mental disorder until 2001. Xiaofeng Wang, an analyst at Forrester Research, said in a report for the firm that data-light services such as messenger apps enjoy high popularity in China because mobile Internet speeds are slow.
Via: BBC

From May next year, all mobile phones sold in Japan will either arrive unlocked or be able to be unlocked.

An order from Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has stipulated that mobile phone operators will have to unlock phones free of charge if the customer requests it. This is aimed at making the pricing more competitive.

Phones in Japan, as in many other countries, are sold subsidised and locked, typically on two-year contracts.
Via: Register