Today’s Tech Sightings:
FILE – A sculpture depicting a princess from the ancient Syrian oasis city of Palmyra is displayed at the city’s museum. Non-profit organization CyArk is in a race against time to digitally-scan endangered heritage sites in Syria before they are destroyed by IS fundamentalists. (AFP)
The Digital ‘Monuments Men’ Are Fighting IS Devastation
They are called “Monuments Men.” And they are in a race to save the world’s cultural heritage from destruction by Islamic State zealots. Working with non-profit group CyArk, they are using all available tech means to digitally preserve endangered structures by scanning them, then turning them into 3-D models.
Majority of Singapore Smartphone Users Don’t Have Antivirus Installed
A new survey from Infocomm Development Authority shows that about 96 percent of homes in Singapore accessed the Internet on mobile phones in 2014. But only 30 percent of the polled individuals and households had antivirus protection on their mobile devices. About 8 in 10 PC owners had antivirus software and current security updates.
Vonvon CEO Defends Privacy Practices of ‘Most Used Words on Facebook’
An app that creates clouds compiled from words Facebook friends use most has privacy and consumer advocates up in arms. The company that created the app – Vonvon – is now defending the practice. Critics claim the app collects personally-identifiable data about users.
Promising ‘Smart Screen’ Could Make Battery Issues a Thing of the Past
Smartphone screens are the biggest drain on battery life. To address the issue, Bodle Technologies, which spun out of the UK’s Oxford University, has come up with an alternative screen. Using phase-change materials, which can change from an amorphous to a crystalline state, the technology sends electrical pulses to transparent layers for crisp viewing in direct sunlight while using very little power.
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