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
Posted April 22nd, 2015 at 2:10 pm (UTC-5)
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Google’s New Algorithm; Robots; Drones; Apple’s ‘RootPipe’ Still Lives
Posted April 21st, 2015 at 2:39 pm (UTC-5)
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
Posted April 16th, 2015 at 2:02 pm (UTC-5)
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
Posted April 15th, 2015 at 2:00 pm (UTC-5)
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’
Posted April 14th, 2015 at 2:00 pm (UTC-5)
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
Posted April 8th, 2015 at 2:00 pm (UTC-5)
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 […]
Silicon Valley’s Gender Culture; GitHub vs. China; Drones on a Mission
Posted March 31st, 2015 at 2:19 pm (UTC-5)
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 […]
Tim Cook’s Apple; Cryptoine Hacked; Android Woes; Facebook’s Transformation
Posted March 26th, 2015 at 2:00 pm (UTC-5)
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
Posted March 25th, 2015 at 2:00 pm (UTC-5)
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 […]