WIRED 20.12 – December 2012 Issue Highlights
COVER: Hacked / pg. 180
______The age of passwords has come to an end. __Think a jumble of characters can keep your stuff safe? You’re wrong. No matter how complex or unique, your passwords can no longer protect you. WIRED’s Mat Honan was the victim of an epic hack attack that destroyed his entire digital life—his photos, his email, his files. Here’s what it taught him about the illusion of online security: It’s time to try something new.
__ Planet TEDx / pg. 196__
TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) was once an annual members-only conclave of leading thinkers and doers, wealthy Silicon Valley and Hollywood types. Then free online talks extended one of the most elite gatherings to millions of viewers worldwide, but virtual access wasn’t enough. People want to see these gatherings in the flesh. WIRED explores how TEDx, the initiative to bring TED-like gatherings to smaller communities, is flooding the globe with big ideas.
The Patent Problem / pg. 202
__Patents were meant to encourage ideas and inventions, __creating a business environment that led to such landmark technologies as the cotton gin, the Xerox machine and the Hula Hoop. __Now they’re being used as a weapon to stop them – exemplified by the global Apple-Samsung lawsuit battle. How one man claimed he owned ecommerce—and how to fight back against a patent system that is shackling the innovation it sought to protect. __
The Manuscript / pg. 210
For more than 200 years, a book concealed the secrets of the Freemasons. What started as a game between two friends eventually engulfed a team of experts to decipher the __coded manuscript. __But cracking the encrypted text only deepened the mystery. WIRED’s Noah Shachtman takes readers on the journey to discover the __arcane rituals of an ancient order. __
The Sixth Annual WIRED Wish List / pg. 127
WIRED serves up 85 jaw-dropping new gadgets, tools, and toys to give—and get—this holiday season. Gifts for coffee snobs, TV junkies, audiophiles, neat freaks, stargazers, dog lovers, and more. Plus: Enter to win 15 drool-worthy prizes (pg. 174).
Plus__:__ Can Best Buy make a comeback, or is the era of big-box retail officially over? (pg. 100); WIRED Icons: James Dyson reimagined the vacuum cleaner and the fan. How the emperor of air makes the ordinary extraordinary. (pg. 110); Winter Treats: How candy canes are made (pg. 59) and what’s inside Southern Comfort Egg Nog (pg. 62)
Media Contacts:
Jonathan Hammond – jonathan_hammond@wired.com
Karen Shosfy – karen_shosfy@wired.com
