Today’s Tech Sightings:

Google Pledges $20 Million to Give 3-D Prosthetics a Helping Hand

The Director of Google’s non-profit Google.org, Jacquelline Fuller, announced the launch of the Google Impact Challenge: Disabilities project in a blog post, with $20 million in funding. The project is intended to support people with disabilities and push the development of high-tech prosthetics.

Global Internet Users to Hit 3.2b By Year-End

According to the International Telecommunication Union the number of Internet users worldwide is expected to rise to 3.2 billion by the end of this year. But developing countries still lag behind with Internet penetration of less than 10 percent.

Computer Chips Made of Wood Promise Greener Electronics

A group of researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have created semiconductor chips made of wood-derived materials. Researchers said the chips are cheaper to produce than conventional semiconductors. The semiconductor layer is made with a flexible cellulose substance with suitable electrical properties.

The Internet of Things: a Surveillance State in Disguise

Internet of Things (IoT) devices just keep coming. And they are all connected and transmitting information about you to someone else who probably doesn’t need to know your life story. Writer John C. Dvorak argues that the IoT age could very well herald a new era of surveillance.

A Tiny String of Text Can Disable iPhone Messages

Users of Apple devices have discovered that certain messages using a string of text characters can crash their iPhones or lock them out of apps. If users do not know who sent the string, chances are they will have to wait for Apple to fix the problem or find another way out of the mess.

Your Instagram Photos Aren’t Really Yours

If you have pictures you don’t want seen, then don’t post them on the Internet. Painter and photographer Richard Prince this month displayed giant screenshots of other people’s Instagram photos without warning or permission in New York and sold most of them for thousands of dollars.

Microsoft Has Hijacked Android in a Hostile Takeover

A new partnership will allow Microsoft to pre-install its Office and Skype apps on Android devices. The tech giant announced Tuesday it has entered strategic agreements with 20 Android manufacturers to install its products on tablets running the Android operating system.