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Decades Later, Governments Still Wary of Social Media

Posted July 28th, 2017 at 11:35 am (UTC-4)
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Social media has become a rallying ground for global citizens at odds with their governments. And while many governments have learned to coexist with this new reality, others still see it as a potential threat. Things used to be simpler with early digital communications back in the ’70s and ’80s. Members of early pioneering social hubs […]

Gamers, Computer Users Push Limits of Scientific Research

Posted July 21st, 2017 at 11:30 am (UTC-4)
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Gamers and computer owners are joining forces with EVE Online’s Project Discovery and IBM’s World Community Grid in what could be a future avenue for accelerating underfunded scientific research. Nearly 50,000 people are hunting for new planets outside Earth’s solar system in the massively multiplayer game EVE Online, thanks to a recent tweak from developer […]

Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Give Away Your Cellphone Number

Posted July 14th, 2017 at 11:30 am (UTC-4)
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Cellphone numbers are slowly becoming personal identifiers – a role all-important social security and national numbers have fulfilled for decades. But these mobile gateways to your life are left unprotected in an age of hacking, data mining, and sheer negligence. For the past 50, 60, 70 years, social security numbers have been the key that […]

Techtonics will return on July 11

Posted July 4th, 2017 at 11:00 am (UTC-4)
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App Roundup: RedZone; Medici; Life of Dad

Posted June 30th, 2017 at 11:30 am (UTC-4)
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Techtonics is always on the lookout for apps that have the potential to improve people’s lives – or save them as the case may be with two of the three notable apps that recently crossed our path – RedZone, Medici, and Life of Dad. RedZone RedZone is a navigation app that provides real-time insights into […]

‘OMG!’ How Technology Is Changing Personal Interaction

Posted June 23rd, 2017 at 11:40 am (UTC-4)
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Snippets of text, emojis, likes and dislikes are upending social interaction. While offering immediacy and convenience, they are taking away face-to-face body language and nonverbal cues, crucial for human communication. Technology is changing the way we communicate, “dramatically” shifting the way people relate to each other to channels like social media – a “2-dimensional medium […]

Uzbek, Other Video Game Bans Straddle Cultural Divides

Posted June 16th, 2017 at 11:30 am (UTC-4)
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Uzbekistan recently joined a long list of countries that ban video games for one reason or another. And while some games will get banned no matter the argument, an industry expert says a delicate balance is needed to satisfy local market expectations without sacrificing artistic expression. Video games may be a product of Western society, […]

AI Ethics Missing as Machine Learning Advances

Posted June 9th, 2017 at 11:53 am (UTC-4)
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Teaching a computer to “think” the way the human brain does means feeding it huge amounts of real-world data so that it can learn, analyze, predict, and solve problems. But in this brave new world of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, there are no ethical guidelines, no regulations, and no parameters to govern how […]

‘CrowdGuard’ Fights India’s Sexual Violence, Bystander Apathy

Posted June 2nd, 2017 at 11:30 am (UTC-4)
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India has witnessed some harrowing acts of sexual and gender-based violence in recent years, some occurring in front of witnesses who watched, but did nothing. To combat this apathy, a social enterprise has come up with a crowdsourced solution that harnesses a trusted community to help people under attack. Philip Sunil Urech has seen it […]

Tech Giants Tap Into Autism Community for Fresh Talent

Posted May 26th, 2017 at 1:30 am (UTC-4)
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One percent of the world’s population is on the Autism Spectrum Disorder, a group of complex brain development disabilities. Most are unemployed or under-employed. But several tech companies are now actively courting autistic workers for their unique skills, particularly suited for computing. Adults on the Autism spectrum excel with analytical skills. They have an eye […]