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 […]
Gamers, Computer Users Push Limits of Scientific Research
Ransomware Payouts on the Rise; STEM Stigmas Start as Early as Age 6
Today’s Tech Sightings: Symantec: Cyber Extortion Demands Surge as Victims Keep Paying Hackers are getting bolder as more of their victims are willing to pay hefty sums to free their computers from malicious software, according to cybersecurity firm Symantec. The trend is encouraging cybercriminals to demand increasingly hefty sums from users. The average amount tripled […]
Emojis Tackle Language Disorders; Parsing Future Tech From Fiction
Today’s Tech Sightings: Samsung Develops Emoji-based Chat App for Language Disorders More often than not, people use emojis for fun when they chat. But for those with language disorders like aphasia, which makes reading, writing and talking difficult, emojis might be just the thing to help facilitate communication. To address the gap, Samsung’s Italian subsidiary […]
Twitter Restricts Abusive Users; IBM, VISA Team Up for IoT
Today’s Tech Sightings: Twitter Starts Temporarily Restricting Abusive Accounts Twitter will now temporarily restrict users who engage in abuse and sexual harassment online so that only their followers are able to see their tweets. The move also prevents these tweets from being retweeted to non-followers. This is the latest in a series of measures Twitter […]
Evernote Takes Liberties With User Data; Drone Deliveries Makes History
Today’s Tech Sightings: Evernote ‘Privacy’ Policy Update Allows Employees to Read Your Notes If you are using the Evernote app to take notes, you might want to reconsider. Evernote’s latest update to its “privacy” policy lets some of the company’s employees read your notes in the interest of improving machine learning. It bears mentioning that […]
Facebook Reassures Thai Users After Arrests; UK Hospital Hires Watson
Today’s Tech Sightings: Facebook Tells Thai Users Their Data Not Given to Government Recent arrests for violations of Thailand’s Computer Crime Act have sparked fears Facebook might have failed to protect user privacy from the country’s military government. But Facebook issued a statement to reassure users it has not shared their information with the government […]
US Congress Targeted With Ransomware; Facebook Denies Censoring Content
Today’s Tech Sightings: Congress Warned About Cybersecurity After Attempted Ransomware Attack on House The U.S. House of Representatives’ technology staff warned legislators that their third-party email apps were increasingly being targeted by malware attacks. In an internal email obtained by TechCrunch, the staff advised legislators that access to YahooMail and Gmail will be blocked on […]
Spy Hacking Group Targets Asia; Elderly Find Refuge in Technology
Today’s Tech Sightings: Spy Hacking Group Targeting Asian Governments Spotted Microsoft’s latest Security Intelligence Report says hackers have been spying on Asian governments since 2009. Dubbed PLATINUM, this particular hacking group has carried out a number of cyber espionage campaigns against government and private targets in Asia, according to Tim Rains, security editor of the […]