Today’s Tech Sightings: Floppy Disks Control US Nukes and Missiles? An IBM Series/1 computer introduced in 1976 controls some of the United States’ ballistic missiles and nuclear bombers, according to a new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). The 40-year-old machine, which sends and receives emergency action alerts, still stores data on nearly-obsolete […]
Floppy Disks Control US Nukes; Microsoft Retracts Malware-like Ploys
Posted May 26th, 2016 at 12:15 pm (UTC-5)
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Twitter Eases 140-Character Limit; Google Toys With Killing Passwords
Posted May 24th, 2016 at 11:49 am (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Twitter Makes Important Changes to Its 140-character Limit, Ditching ‘@mention’ Twitter is moving forward with changes to its 140-character limit that take links and @replies out of the word count. Pictures and other attachments will no longer count toward the 140-character count. A retweet button will also be added to personal tweets. […]
Foxconn Nabs Nokia Dumbphone Brand; LinkedIn Data Posted for Sale
Posted May 18th, 2016 at 11:48 am (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Why a Taiwanese Company Is Paying $350 Million to Build Nokia Dumbphones Microsoft announced Wednesday it is selling its featurephone Nokia brand to Foxconn, a Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer best known as the manufacturer of iPhones. Old fashioned featurephones, also known as dumbphones, are still very popular around the world and show no […]
Chinese Proposals Tighten Internet Control; Law Firm Hires AI Robot
Posted May 17th, 2016 at 11:26 am (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: US: Proposed Chinese Regulations Could Fragment the Internet China is planning to push forward with new proposals requiring domain names to be registered through government-licensed providers. If the new rules are approved, they would also prevent some websites whose content is broadly defined as prohibited from registering. In a statement, U.S. officials […]
Drones to Take Over More Human Jobs; FBI Eyes Messaging Encryption
Posted May 12th, 2016 at 12:00 pm (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Drones Could Replace $127 Billion Worth of Human Labor Drones could take over human jobs in infrastructure, agriculture and services sectors by 2030. A new report from PwC predicts drones, already on the job in some fields, could replace $127 billion worth of human labor. Evidence suggests robots could replace about 50 […]
India Rebuffs Apple; Scientists Seek Gamers to Battle Dementia
Posted May 4th, 2016 at 12:37 pm (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Apple Rebuffed as New Delhi Pushes ‘Make in India’ Initiative Indian government officials have rejected Apple’s plan to import refurbished iPhones at a discount, citing rules against importing used electronics. A government spokesman said India “does not encourage dumping or recycling of hazardous materials.” But the development also coincides with New Delhi’s […]
US Teens Addicted to Smartphones; 50 Life-changing Gadgets
Posted May 3rd, 2016 at 11:44 am (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Half of US Teens Think They’re Addicted to Smartphones Fifty percent of U.S. teens aged 12-18 feel they are addicted to their smartphones, according to a new poll conducted for Common Sense media, a non-profit organization that helps negotiate media and technology. Up to 59 percent of parents said their teens were […]
It’s Elementary. The Problem With Artificial Intelligence Agents
Posted April 29th, 2016 at 11:55 am (UTC-5)
The rapid advance of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies could change the landscape in health, education and social interaction. But it is also a cause for concern in the absence of safety regulations or a code of ethics to govern the use of humanoids. They are already on the job – AI helpers in factories, hotels, […]
Autism Groups Look to Tech for Help; China Unveils Zapping Robocop
Posted April 27th, 2016 at 11:16 am (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Autism Advocates Look to Tech but Cash Is Tight Technology could hold the key to help individuals with the autism spectrum disorder, but autism advocates lack the funds to pursue this avenue. Parents and advocates hope apps, robots and wearable devices can open up the world to autistic children and help them […]
Augmented Reality Takes on the PC; Your Newscast in Virtual Reality
Posted April 19th, 2016 at 11:59 am (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: This Mysterious Startup Wants to Kill Computers for Good It’s called Magic Leap – a new startup that is developing a headset or goggles it hopes will do away with computer screens for good. The plan is to use the headset to add an augmented reality layer to the real world view. […]