Today’s Tech Sightings:
Wikipedia Denies ‘Purging’ Feminist Editors Over Gamergate Debate
Wikipedia has been under fire since The Guardian and others reported last week that five editors opposed to Gamergate were banned from editing gender or sexuality pages. But according to The Verge, a Wikipedia statement today said that “press stories have mistakenly claimed that Wikipedia has targeted and banned feminist or female editors. This is inaccurate.”
Creating an Old-Girls Network in Silicon Valley
Upward is a new Silicon Valley organization that hopes to push diversity further in the tech sector. Lisa Lambert, a VP with Intel Corp.’s venture-capital unit, says her organization focuses more on old-fashioned face-to-face communications and building relationships and personal networks to help narrow the disparity between men and women executives.
Five Amazing Ways 3-D-Printed Food Will Change the Way We Eat
The tinkering has begun to determine just how feasible it is to 3-D-print food. The effort has so far covered printed sugar and chocolate, although researchers are looking at ways to one day print food for aid and sustainability. It remains a work in progress, albeit with a bright future.
Scary ‘Ghost’ Vulnerability Leaves Linux Systems Vulnerable to Possession
Security vendor Qualys says a vulnerability nicknamed “Ghost” affecting the Linux GNU Library could allow attackers to send malicious email that will enable them to take remote control of the system. Some patches have already been issued; and administrators are advised to install them as soon as possible.
Massive Smartphones Are About to Take Over the World
New research from Juniper projects an increase in shipments of phablets (phone-tablet hybrids) with screens larger than 5.5 inches by five-times the number seen so far in 2015. Researchers expect more than 138 million shipments this year and as many as 400 million phablet-style devices in 2019.
China Watchdog Says Alibaba Sells Shoddy Goods
The State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) has accused e-marketplace Alibaba of fraud bribery and selling fake goods.The watchdog groups says many products on Alibaba’s platforms infringed trademarks, were substandard, illegally imported, banned or endangered public security.
No Magic Bullet for Privacy
Data privacy is quickly becoming a thing of the past as advertisers dig for more customer information and frequent hack attacks dump addresses and various data online. Looking ahead, new privacy enhancements are coming to websites and apps, and companies are eager to assure customers that their information is safe on their servers.
