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 […]
Silicon Valley’s Gender Culture; GitHub vs. China; Drones on a Mission
Tim Cook’s Apple; Cryptoine Hacked; Android Woes; Facebook’s Transformation
Today’s Tech Sightings: Tech Giants Call for Mass Surveillance Reform A slew of leading tech companies, including Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Facebook, Dropbox and others have banded together in a Reform Government Surveillance coalition to call on U.S. Congress to end government agencies’ bulk collection of communications data. The coalition has also attracted civil rights groups […]
China’s 3-D-Printed Car; Google’s Gmail Pay Plans; Persson’s Crazy Mansion
Today’s Tech Sightings: Beijing Official: Chinese Have No Need for Blocked Websites A Chinese official said Wednesday that if Beijing wins the bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, then foreigners attending the games will be able to access the Internet unhindered. But he said that is not an issue for the Chinese because they “don’t […]
Google, Facebook Vie for Africa; AI Threat; Kaspersky Denies KGB Ties
Today’s Tech Sightings: Battle for African Internet Users Stirs Freedom Fears Africa is expected to have as many as 360 million smartphones and 50 percent Internet penetration by 2050, according to data from McKinsey Consultants. And Google and Facebook are paying attention and offering controversial freebies as they vie for the continent’s Internet users. […]
App for Ringing Ears; MusicGlove; Ethical Robots; Trust in Facebook?
Today’s Tech Sightings: Musical Glove Helps Stroke Patients Use Their Hands Again Part of the problem of rehabilitating stroke victims is that many of them don’t keep up their physical therapy. In an effort to change the situation, Nizan Friedman, founder of Flint Rehabilitation Devices, has come up with a wearable device called MusicGlove […]
FREAK Bug, Smart Glasses Still Alive; Windows 10 Piracy; IoT Future
Today’s Tech Sightings: Internet of Things: Sillier, Scarier and Coming Your Way Wearable, connected devices and “smart” everyday gadgets are slowly making their way into people’s homes, turning everything from the cellphone to the fridge to Barbie dolls into a connected, Internet of Things tech challenge. While using your cellphone to turn on or […]
Cuba’s First Free Wi-Fi; Printed Prosthetics; Steve Jobs Legacy?
Today’s Tech Sightings: Non-Profit 3D-Prints $100 Arm for Boy in Sudan Back in 2013, California-based non-profit Not Impossible Labs built its own 3-D printer prosthetic lab in Sudan — the world’s first. Now, the group has printed a prosthetic arm for Daniel, a 14-year-old boy who lost both arms during a bombing attack. Contemporary […]
Internet’s Human Side; Smart Devices Vex Users; 3-D Cool Bricks
Today’s Tech Sightings: Internet Offers Help to Homeless Sierra Leone Athlete Whose Family Died of Ebola Jimmy Thoronka, a top athlete from Sierra Leone who went to Britain to participate in the Commonwealth Games, ended up homeless after losing his family in Sierra Leone to the Ebola virus. But as he was being prepared […]