Showing Archived Posts

Smart Tech Can Fight Gun Violence; Non-Verbal Autistic Users Get New App

Posted December 10th, 2015 at 11:57 am (UTC-4)
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Today’s Tech Sightings: Smart Tech Offers Ways to Reduce Gun Violence Writer Preston Gralla argues that technology might hold the key to helping save some lives from the vicious cycle of gun violence in the United States, so long as gun fanatics can be reigned in. He suggests introducing smart-gun technology with fingerprint readers that […]

VTech Under Fire; Apple’s Awkward Battery Case Raises Eyebrows

Posted December 8th, 2015 at 11:50 am (UTC-4)
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Today’s Tech Sightings: VTech Slammed for ‘Unforgivable’ Security Lapse Toy maker VTech is in the crosshairs following the November hack attack that compromised account data for more than six million kids in the company’s app store. Some experts claim a lot of the stolen information was available online for a while before it was taken […]

Dropbox Malware Found; Google Denies Deception in Tracking Kids

Posted December 3rd, 2015 at 11:55 am (UTC-4)
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Today’s Tech Sightings: New Malware Found Hidden Inside Dropbox Account Researchers at U.S.-based security firm FireEye have discovered a new malware in Hong Kong that hides its Command and Control server in Dropbox accounts. The hackers, called ‘admin@338,’ are thought to have ties to the Chinese government. The malware targets media organizations and creates a […]

Microsoft, Apple Share Holiday Cheer; Is Google Tracking Kids?

Posted December 2nd, 2015 at 12:06 pm (UTC-4)
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Today’s Tech Sightings: Microsoft Employees Serenade Apple Employees for ‘Peace on Earth’ Tech rivals Apple and Microsoft have been at each other’s throats for decades. But as the season of giving approaches, Microsoft’s Manhattan store employees took a special message to their old friends at a nearby Apple store in New York. Google Accused of […]

Digitally Preserving Syria’s History; Vonvon Defends Facebook Word Clouds

Posted November 26th, 2015 at 11:50 am (UTC-4)
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Today’s Tech Sightings: The Digital ‘Monuments Men’ Are Fighting IS Devastation They are called “Monuments Men.” And they are in a race to save the world’s cultural heritage from destruction by Islamic State zealots. Working with non-profit group CyArk, they are using all available tech means to digitally preserve endangered structures by scanning them, then […]

2015’s Biggest Tech Turkeys; Windows 10 Kills Some Third-party Apps

Posted November 25th, 2015 at 12:40 pm (UTC-4)
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Today’s Tech Sightings: The Biggest Tech Turkeys of 2015 Writer Roger Cheng conjures up scary images of Halloween ahead of Thursday’s Thanksgiving Day as he offers a brief look at some of the biggest tech fiascoes of 2015. Post Deletion Stress Disorder Is Real What is Deletion Stress Disorder (PDSD), you ask? Well, if you […]

Dell Apologizes for Certificate Fiasco; Amazon’s Bezos Joins Twitter

Posted November 24th, 2015 at 12:30 pm (UTC-4)
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Today’s Tech Sightings: Dell Apologizes for HTTPS Certificate Fiasco, Provides Removal Tool Dell has issued an apology after shipping PCs with a certificate that makes it possible for hackers to impersonate HTTPS-protected websites. The company also released a tool that helps users of affected machines remove the faulty security credential. Dell officials said the certificate […]

China, India Dominate Internet Market; China’s Kids Take Up Coding

Posted November 18th, 2015 at 12:18 pm (UTC-4)
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Today’s Tech Sightings: Report: India Set to Become World’s Second-Largest Internet Market A new report from the Internet and Mobile Association of India and market research firm IMRB says India’s Internet users are expected to exceed 400 million by the end of this year, making the Indian Internet market the world’s second-largest after China. Latest […]

Retailers Lights Have Eyes; Google Launches ‘About Me’

Posted November 12th, 2015 at 2:01 pm (UTC-4)
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Tech Sightings: Editors Note: Techtonics is taking November 13 off. Will return next week. We’re Watching You: Carrefour Lights Have Eyes Almost three-quarters of British retailers are using new technologies, including facial recognition software, to track customers in stores. French retailer, Carrefour, started using a marketing tool that tracks your movements and beams data to […]

Goodbye Betamax; Hackers Charged in ‘Largest Theft of Consumer Data’

Posted November 10th, 2015 at 2:00 pm (UTC-4)
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Today’s Tech Sightings: That’s A Wrap: Sony To Kill Off Betamax Tapes It’s the final chapter in a long-running “format war” which began in the 1970s. Sony announced it will stop selling Betamax video cassettes in March 2016. New tapes have been available only in Japan for several years — even though the company discontinued Betamax […]