Today’s Tech Sightings: Facebook Shifts News Feed, Gives Priority to Friends Facebook has announced that it is reconfiguring its News Feed to help people learn more about what is happening to the friends they care about. Changes will decrease emphasis on sharing and referral traffic and show people only the content that matters to them. […]
Facebook, YouTube Changes; Internet Trolls; Uganda’s Digital Migration
Google’s New Algorithm; Robots; Drones; Apple’s ‘RootPipe’ Still Lives
Today’s Tech Sightings: Disaster Robots Slow to Gain Acceptance From Responders According to the Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue, robots have been used in 43 disasters worldwide, although first responders have been slow to adopt them. But the center is working to change that. Drones, Data Fight New Battle Against Poachers South Africa’s iSimangaliso […]
Moore’s Law Turns 50; Killer Robots; Google vs. EU; Twitter Redesigned
Today’s Tech Sightings: Happy Birthday to Moore’s Law Moore’s Law turns 50 on Sunday. The concept, put forward in the 1960s by Intel’s Gordon Moore, proposed that the complexity of chips doubles every two years as components become smaller, faster and more energy-efficient. Many pundits thought the prediction would falter in a decade. But half-a-century […]
Braille Tutor; Google vs. EU; Coding Hype; Smartphone Aids Chess Cheat
Today’s Tech Sightings: Black Box Teaches Braille to Blind Children in India, Zambia Carnegie Mellon University’s Braille Tutor, part of a program called TechBridgeWorld, is a computerized machine that teaches Braille to elementary school children in poor countries around the world. The inexpensive machine is now in use on in India, Tanzania, and Zambia. GAO […]
The Future of VR; User-Aided Hack Attacks; Android’s ‘Trusted Voice’
Today’s Tech Sightings: Google Malaysia Service Disrupted by Hackers Users of Google’s Malaysia website got redirected Tuesday to a hacked site. A Google Malaysia spokesperson told Reuters the company has contacted the group that administers the domain name to address the issue. Likewise, Chinese hackers are said to be spying on governments in Southeast Asia […]
Ad Malware; Ozzie the Goose; IoT Insecurity; Microsoft Mobile Payments
Today’s Tech Sightings: Malicious, Large-Scale Google Ad Campaign Slams Users With Malware Researchers with Dutch security company Fox-IT found that advertisements distributed by Engage Lab, one of Google’s advertising partners in Bulgaria, redirect users to the Web-based Nuclear Exploit Kit. This particular exploit attempts to install malware on users’ computers by targeting vulnerabilities in Adobe Flash […]
Smartphones vs. Wearables; Flexible Battery; Bitcoin Foundation Bankrupt?
Today’s Tech Sightings: Apple, Google agree Only Wearables Can Save Humanity From Evil Smartphones These two tech giants don’t agree on much, but writer Chris O’Brien argues that Google and Apple, both fierce competitors in the smartphone market, see smartphones as a malady inflicting phone addiction and anti-social behavior on society. And the two giants, […]
Silicon Valley Diversity; S. Korea Lifts Browser Rule; Can Tech Save Failing Aircraft?
Today’s Tech Sightings: Can Technology Steer a Plane Away From Disaster? The Germanwings Flight 9525 that was deliberately slammed into the French Alps last week, killing 150 people, has ignited renewed calls among aviation experts to develop and deploy software that can control an aircraft and automatically steer it to safety if it loses altitude. […]
Creating Shapes in Mid-Air; Apple in China; April Fools’ Gags
Today’s Tech Sightings: New Tech Creates Buttons, Shapes in Mid-Air UltraHaptics, a British company, has come up with technology that uses sound waves to project sensations of tactile, three-dimensional shapes through the air and to the user. So for example, air pressure changes are perceived as suspended, tangible interfaces. That could potentially mean a person […]