Research into artificial intelligence (AI) continues to evolve, and there is growing concern that uncontrolled AI could have a significant impact on mankind. To prevent this from happening, the Future of Life Institute (FLI) wants AI researchers to sign an open letter to protect humans from intelligent machines.

"We recommend expanded research aimed at ensuring that increasingly capable AI systems are robost and beneficial: our AI systems must do what we want them to do," the letter reads. "The attached research priorities document gives many examples of such research directions that can help maximize the societal benefit of AI. This research is by necessity interdisciplinary, because it involves both society and AI. It ranges from economics, law and philosophy to computer security, formal methods and, of course, various branches of AI itself."

AI is being used in autonomous weapons systems, robots and humanoids, and in autonomous vehicles - raising serious ethical questions that must be answered.

We've reached back to the past for this one. Ryan Hooper from KARMA IT teamed up with ASUS Australia to produce a pretty kick-ass modded system where the chassis was the promotional poster for the actual motherboard itself.

Completed back in 2012, the system components included were the top of the time - however now they're obviously a little dated. Featuring an Intel i7-2600k processor and paired with an ASUS Maxtrix GTX 580 video card all running through an ASUS ROG Maximus IV Extreme, we haven't seen a build like this one before.

The full specification list is as follows:

The virtual reality market is growing, and seems to have drawn the most attention by the gaming community, but still isn't ready for mainstream adoption. However, it's possible that the movie industry has the most to gain from virtual reality, with consumers interested in embracing the unique viewing experience.

"We've said from the beginning we're big gamers, and we started Oculus to deliver consumer VR and revolutionize games," said Nate Mitchell, VP for product at Oculus, in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. "But it may well end up being that VR is more about film than games - [but] it's possible. We don't know what the killer app is."

Oculus is working with developers in the video game and movie industries, and it's possible Oculus VR headsets could also find their way into military simulation trainings. There is a tremendous amount of opportunities for virtual reality in the future, but consumers appear more interested in what can be done sooner rather than later.

To celebrate this week's release of 'The Boxtrolls' on 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVD and digital we have ten copies of the 3D Blu-ray combo pack to give away to readers, thanks to our friends at Universal Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Beneath the charming cobblestone streets of Cheesebridge live the Boxtrolls; quirky, mischievous and cardboard box wearing creatures who crawl above ground at night to scavenge for bits of human junk. The Boxtrolls love nothing more than cheese and an orphaned baby boy named Eggs (Isaac Hempstead-Wright) whom they have warmly raised since his infancy as one of their dumpster-diving, junk collecting own. Despite their timid, good-hearted nature, the Boxtrolls are feared by the people of Cheesebridge, who believe they will steal their children and beloved cheese. Eager to win over the town's affection, evil pest exterminator Archibald Snatcher (Ben Kingsley) and his crew of Red Hat exterminators develop a plan to eradicate the kindhearted band of tinkerers. It's up to Eggs and his feisty new friend Winnie (Elle Fanning) to bring the two world's together amidst the winds of change - and cheese.

To go into the running to take a Blu-ray home, simply answer the following question:

Apple added 9,000 new jobs in 2014 alone, but says it has directly and indirectly led to more than 1 million jobs being "created or supported" by the company. In addition to its Apple headquarters and stores throughout the country, Apple also has generated great interest among app developers within the community.

"This year is off to a tremendous start after a record-breaking year for the App Store and our developer community," said Eddy Cue, senior VP of Internet software and services at Apple. "We're so proud of the creativity and innovation developers bring to the apps they create for iOS users and that the developer community has now earned over $25 billion."

Apple is off to another tremendous start with its App Store, racking up almost half a billion dollars on mobile apps and in-app purchases during the first week of January - and New Year's Day was the highest-grossing day of all-time for the App Store.

Ventriloquist Jeff Dunham is known worldwide for his character Achmed the Dead Terrorist, but what happens when a nation becomes sensitive and expressly prohibits him from performing with the character? Well, Dunham gives him a beret, an accent and a new name and continues the performance regardless!

Dunham said that Malaysia's Ministry of Culture and Arts requested that his act be changed for local sensitivities, including his name, likeness, references to virgins or Muslims. Now released on DVD, the footage from the performance from last May can now be enjoyed. During the setup, Dunham notes:

"While I respect the wishes of our host country, I'm also an American and a firm believer in the freedom of speech. On the other hand, I wanted to avoid Achmed and I getting thrown in jail and being caned. So let's just say that the character that took center stage in Malaysia was strikingly familiar to all in attendance, but it was a last-minute twist that became the highlight of the entire tour. Who knew Achmed had a brother?"

The FBI continues to say North Korea is responsible for a crippling cyberattack and data breach of Sony Pictures, and the Obama Administration vowed revenge, but Washington didn't drop the North Korean Internet, sources claim. However, those responsible for hitting North Korea likely didn't need to work very hard, and future attacks could be imminent.

"It looks more like the result of an infrastructure attack than an infrastructure failure," said James Cowie, chief scientist of Dynamic Network Services, in a statement to the AP. "There's nothing you can point to that says it has all the hallmarks of an attack by a nation state. It could have been anybody."

The entire country of North Korea only has four principal access point to the Internet, and while the US government has the capabilities to impact them, so do multiple other nation states - and smaller hacker groups.

Before Sony Pictures had its data released to the Internet, the Guardians of Peace offered to simply disappear if they were paid a ransom - an extortion attempt that Sony promptly denied. However, this type of criminal activity is overshadowed by the new forms of malware customized to encrypt files and demand payment from compromised victims.

Ransomware attacks tend to get the most attention when a new piece of malware hits the Web, infecting end-users and corporations. The ransoms range from as low as $200 up to thousands of dollars, with a short deadline before the files are permanently encrypted.

Cybersecurity experts warn these types of attacks will continue to increase in popularity, as many victims provide payment to the criminals.

A few years ago, it was unlikely you could find a top of the range PC build in your local computer store, likely having to purchase and install your AGP video cards and Athlon processors yourself - either the store wouldn't support the option or you didn't trust them to complete the task.

Looking at brick-and-mortar and online retail shops as of late, you'll begin to notice a massive trend toward 'gamer' PC's and overclocked systems. There are large retailers now who fully specialize in these kinds of builds, seeing companies like CyberPowerPC and iBuyPower reach massive popularity in the wider gaming market.

But what about the 'general' PC store retailer, or those looking to do a little more than just build and ship gaming products. Australian retailer MWave claims to the be biggest in the business and after a quick search around their website, I stumbled across their beast system simply titled as the "Mwave Intel OverClocked 10.1 Gaming PC."

Eight years is a really long time in the technology world, because around this time in 2007, Steve Jobs was unveiling Apple's first addition to the smartphone market and little did we know what it would amount to today.

With Samsung and BlackBerry running rampant in the smartphone community and with many users still using their trusty flip phones, Apple came in with a bang, instantly winning over millions of devout fanatics and birthing Apple fanboys - but at the same time providing a decent product at a respectable price point.

On January the 9th at MacWorld 2007, the late Jobs unveiled his first addition to the smartphone community - aiming to steal the thunder from CES 2007, he certainly did a good job. Teasing the release by claiming that Apple had produced a "widescreen iPod with touch controls" and a "breakthrough Internet communication device," Jobs produced a 3.5-inch touch-screen offering - set to rock the technology world.