Geek Weekly: Our top weird tech stories for 15 January

Technology Decisions’ weekly wrap of IT fails, latest tech, new must-have gadgets, ‘computer says no’ moments and more.

Computer poker on the cards. Researchers say they’ve worked out an algorithm that could enable a computer to out-poker a human poker player for the first time. While computers have long been able to play chess, checkers and so on - where the program knows where every piece is on the board - poker is different in that each player holds cards that the other player knows nothing about.

Cloud used to rain on ants parade. A cloud-based, real-time data sharing system is being used to try and prevent an invasion of introduced fire ants from spreading in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. “The new cloud-based system was developed to enhance the state’s capacity to deal with biosecurity threats and emergencies,” The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Primary Industries Minister Katrina Hodgkinson as saying. The system enabled surveillance teams to “assess and upload data into the system from 600 properties within one day, a process that previously would have taken weeks”.

UK PM gets snappy with Snapchat. Concerned that apps such as Snapchat and WhatsApp that use encryption are helping terrorists and criminals evade surveillance, Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron has called for them to be banned unless intelligence agencies are able to gain access. “Are we going to allow a means of communications which it simply isn’t possible to read?” he asked rhetorically during a recent campaign speech. “My answer to that is: ‘No, we must not.’”

Houston, we have a watery problem. An ambitious plan to land the discarded first stage of a Falcon 9 rocket on a landing pad barge came to nought when the rocket failed to touch down correctly. “Rocket made it to the drone spaceport ship, but landed hard,” tweeted CEO Leon Musk. “Close, but no cigar this time. Bodes well for the future tho.” Early indications are that the rocket ran out of hydraulic fluid during the descent. More will be added for the next test flight.

Image courtesy Images Money under CC