Today’s Tech Sightings: Social Media Is Killing Discourse Because It’s Too Much Like TV Writer Hossein Derakshan argues social media now represents the ascendance of television over other media. As video and graphic content replace text and hypertext, he says social media is recreating television, albeit with new problems. On social media, he argues, algorithms […]
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 […]
3-D Printing Recreates Rembrandt; The Woman Behind Microsoft’s Tay
Posted April 6th, 2016 at 11:28 am (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Computer, 3-D Printer Create Perfect Rembrandt Painting ‘The Next Rembrandt’ – a collaboration between historians, software developers, scientists, engineers and analysts – has recreated the work of Dutch painter Rembrandt using a computer and a 3-D printer. The team spent months studying the master’s works in order to create an algorithm that […]
Leap Second; 3-D-Printed Building; VPN Leaks; Apple Price Fixing
Posted June 30th, 2015 at 3:20 pm (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: The Leap Second Is Coming to Confuse the Internet Today It’s June 30; and that could be a problem. Just before midnight in London tomorrow, the world’s atomic clocks will gain a second before reverting back to 00:00:00. The extra leap second is needed to keep the clocks synced with the Earth’s […]
Tech Sightings, August 7, 2014
Posted August 7th, 2014 at 2:15 pm (UTC-5)
Can an African Virtual SIM Gamble Pay Off? The New Delhi-based Bharti Airtel, in a deal with UK-based Movirtu, hopes to do away with handsets, which are often shared among family members in Africa. Using a technology called Movirtu Share, Airtel hopes that the shared family phone could benefit from its virtual SIM, which allows […]
Tech Sightings, May 29, 2014
Posted May 29th, 2014 at 2:00 pm (UTC-5)
Google Releases Its Diversity Numbers Google says it has been shy about publicizing its employment numbers, but has now decided that it’s time to reverse that decision. And the company admits it is not where it wants to be, given the numbers – women at 30 percent, blacks at 2 percent, Hispanics at 3 percent, […]
Tech Sightings, April 15, 2014
Posted April 15th, 2014 at 2:53 pm (UTC-5)
Are Touchscreens Melting Your Kid’s Brain? Touchscreens continue to proliferate, but researchers know very little about what effect they might have on children. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, kids under the age of two should not be using touchscreens, while older kids should limit use to two hours. Heartbleed Heartache: This Was Not […]
Can Wireless Electricity Power the World?
Posted March 28th, 2014 at 2:00 pm (UTC-5)
Remember the last time you wanted to recharge your cellphone only to discover that you forgot the electric cord somewhere else? And if you are hopelessly dependent on your cellphone and there is no replacement charger in sight, then you have a problem. It doesn’t have to be that way, says Massachusetts Institute of Technology […]