Today’s Tech Sightings:
Women in Silicon Valley Objectified, Paid Less Than Male Counterparts
Technology trade shows have a name for them: so-called booth babes, meaning scantily-dressed women hired to tout tech gadgets. Now, some associations are banning this culture, saying it is demeaning to women. Adding insult to injury, a recent study from research group Joint Venture Silicon Valley showed that women in Silicon Valley get paid on average 39 percent less than their male counterparts.
Google’s New Robot Project is All About Your Body
A new partnership between Google and Johnson & Johnson seeks to advance surgical robotics using Google’s robotics companies, some of which have created rescue bots of all kinds. The partners hope to build a better system to help surgeons get real-time analytics for a more informed decision-making process.
How Drones Are Helping Make the World a Better Place
They might be on their way to becoming an aviation nuisance in some parts of the world, but drones are putting up a good flight in others. Unmanned aerial vehicles are helping monitor and protect wildlife, deliver medicines to remote areas and enhance emergency response, among other good things.
An App That Makes Farming More Efficient
Start-up DroneDeploy, who wants to make farms and other businesses more efficient, has launched a new mobile app that is compatible with the world’s most popular drones. The app allows for the automation of drone flights, data-crunching and delivery, and basically makes it less of a chore to operate a commercial drone.
How GitHub Apparently Ended Up in Crosshairs of Chinese Hackers
A relentless distributed denial of service attack (DDoS) targeted code repository GitHub for days. Normal service was restored Monday. And while no group has taken responsibility for the GitHub attacks, there are indications that the attackers – China or its sympathizers – didn’t appreciate dissidents using GitHub to host software that helps people get around China’s Great Firewall.
IBM Invests $3B in Internet of Things
Joining the Internet of Things (IoT) bandwagon, IBM will invest three billion dollars over the next four years to build an IoT unit. The new unit’s first task will be establishing a cloud-based open platform that will make various services and tools available to developers and manufacturers.
