Stories by Michael Cooney

In Pictures: Skylab, NASA's first space station marks 40 years

NASA's first space station was a pacesetter for current International Space Station and a trendsetter for scientific experiments in space

NASA smartphone satellites beam clear images of Earth

The trio of Android smartphones NASA blasted into orbit recently have ended their journey by burning up in the atmosphere, but not before snapping shots of Earth -- and the pictures don't look too bad.

White House program targets IT jobs for service members

The Obama administration this week teamed with Cisco, Microsoft, HP and others to roll out what it called an "IT Training and Certification Partnership" designed to get thousands of service members into the information technology world.

NASA, Air Force define cutting-edge next-generation space computer

It's not every day a customer wants a computer that can do everything from direct a landing on the surface of Mars, to control descent onto a speeding asteroid or coordinate a flight of satellites - but NASA and the Air Force's space group aren't everyday customers.

Madeleine Albright: 'There's a special place in hell reserved for women who refuse to help one another' in the workforce

Speaking at the CIA Women's History Month Celebration this week former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright offered a number of career advancing suggestions for women in the workforce.

IRS uncorks Dirty Dozen Tax Scams for 2013

The Internal Revenue Service today reminded taxpayers that there are plenty of scam artists and cybercriminals that want your money.

In Pictures: The hot art in the CIA’s cool art collection

The CIA has a collection of paintings that depict historic agency actions

FTC dumps on scammers who blasted millions of text messages

The Federal Trade Commission today said it has filed eight court cases to stop companies who have sent over 180 million illegal or deceptive text messages to all manner of mobile users in the past year.

In Pictures: NASA's hot radiation mission

NASA is set to launch its Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) to explore the most intense areas of radiation around Earth.

In Pictures: What is so infinitely cool about Mars?

Interest in exploring the Red Planet is at an all-time high -- from millionaire private space-goers to world-wide space programs and scientists

FTC: Identity theft retains its throne as No.1 worst scourge in Top 10 consumer complaint list

Identity theft has been the top consumer complaint to the Federal Trade Commission now for 13 years running.

In Pictures: Celebrating doomsday past and future

A look at a couple other doomsday options and how people celebrated the last one.

End of an era: Kodak sells patent portfolio for $525 million

With an eye toward emerging from bankruptcy in 2013 Kodak today said it sold its formidable patent portfolio for $525 million to a consortium that will ultimately license pieces of the collection to other companies such as Apple, Google and Facebook.

FTC hits up 9 data brokers for info on how they collect and use private data

The Federal Trade Commission today said it orders to nine data brokerage companies to report how they collect and use data about consumers.

IBM: In the next 5 years computers will learn, mimic the human senses

IBM today issued its seventh annual look at what Big Blue researchers think will be the five biggest technologies for the next five years. In past prediction packages known as "IBM 5 in 5" the company has had some success in predicting the future of password protection, telemedicine and nanotechnology.