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Android’s Location Data Jackpot; Google Search Adds Privacy Controls

Posted June 1st, 2016 at 11:20 am (UTC-4)
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Today’s Tech Sightings: Police Filing Warrants for Android’s Vast Store of Location Data If you use Google Maps on your Android device, you should know the software has a feature that builds a comprehensive history of the places you visit. Google’s Location History system collects the information, which is then used in Maps. The resulting […]

Foxconn Nabs Nokia Dumbphone Brand; LinkedIn Data Posted for Sale

Posted May 18th, 2016 at 11:48 am (UTC-4)
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Today’s Tech Sightings: Why a Taiwanese Company Is Paying $350 Million to Build Nokia Dumbphones Microsoft announced Wednesday it is selling its featurephone Nokia brand to Foxconn, a Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer best known as the manufacturer of iPhones. Old fashioned featurephones, also known as dumbphones, are still very popular around the world and show no […]

US Teens Addicted to Smartphones; 50 Life-changing Gadgets

Posted May 3rd, 2016 at 11:44 am (UTC-4)
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Today’s Tech Sightings: Half of US Teens Think They’re Addicted to Smartphones Fifty percent of U.S. teens aged 12-18 feel they are addicted to their smartphones, according to a new poll conducted for Common Sense media, a non-profit organization that helps negotiate media and technology. Up to 59 percent of parents said their teens were […]

Philippines Suffers Massive Breach; Your Next Car Needs a Firewall

Posted April 7th, 2016 at 12:01 pm (UTC-4)
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Today’s Tech Sightings: Megabreach Leaves 55 Million Philippine Voters Exposed The database of the Philippines’ Commission on Elections has been compromised in what could be the biggest government-related breach ever. Researchers at cybersecurity firm Trend Micro found sensitive information, including passport and fingerprint data, among the compromised files. Officials played down the incident, saying sensitive […]

3-D Printing Recreates Rembrandt; The Woman Behind Microsoft’s Tay

Posted April 6th, 2016 at 11:28 am (UTC-4)
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Today’s Tech Sightings: Computer, 3-D Printer Create Perfect Rembrandt Painting ‘The Next Rembrandt’ – a collaboration between historians, software developers, scientists, engineers and analysts – has recreated the work of Dutch painter Rembrandt using a computer and a 3-D printer. The team spent months studying the master’s works in order to create an algorithm that […]

Palmyra Triumphal Arch Comes to Life in 3-D-printed Display

Posted April 1st, 2016 at 10:55 am (UTC-4)
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The Triumphal Arch of the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra – destroyed by Islamic State (IS) militants last October – is being resurrected, thanks to digital technology and 3-D printing. The replicated structure is going on display around the world on April 19 in a fitting tribute to the city’s recent liberation from IS control. […]

Apple Warns of ‘Surveillance’ Future; New Ransomware Impossible to Crack

Posted March 17th, 2016 at 11:35 am (UTC-4)
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Today’s Tech Sightings: Even CEO Tim Cook is Suggesting Apple Could Be Forced to Build ‘Surveillance OS’ Apple CEO Tim Cook, in an in interview with Time, warned that the future could very well herald a scenario where the government can force tech companies to develop software to spy on their users. The comment comes […]

Smart Tech Can Fight Gun Violence; Non-Verbal Autistic Users Get New App

Posted December 10th, 2015 at 11:57 am (UTC-4)
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Today’s Tech Sightings: Smart Tech Offers Ways to Reduce Gun Violence Writer Preston Gralla argues that technology might hold the key to helping save some lives from the vicious cycle of gun violence in the United States, so long as gun fanatics can be reigned in. He suggests introducing smart-gun technology with fingerprint readers that […]

Dell Apologizes for Certificate Fiasco; Amazon’s Bezos Joins Twitter

Posted November 24th, 2015 at 12:30 pm (UTC-4)
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Today’s Tech Sightings: Dell Apologizes for HTTPS Certificate Fiasco, Provides Removal Tool Dell has issued an apology after shipping PCs with a certificate that makes it possible for hackers to impersonate HTTPS-protected websites. The company also released a tool that helps users of affected machines remove the faulty security credential. Dell officials said the certificate […]

Data Access Fight; 3-D Printing the Bronze Age; Mobile Dominance

Posted September 3rd, 2015 at 4:16 pm (UTC-4)
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Today’s Tech Sightings: How Microsoft’s Data Case Could Unravel the US Tech Industry Backed by a host of tech giants, Microsoft again heads to court next week to fight a U.S. Department of Justice search warrant seeking to access data stored in Ireland in a case related to international drugs. The case will determine if […]