Today’s Tech Sightings: Drones Help Nepal Earthquake Relief Effort As the death toll from Nepal’s massive earthquake surpassed 5,000, experts from Ontario-based GlobalMedic are using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to map disaster areas. The survey helps provide a better picture of needs on the ground and identify flooded areas, blocked roads, damaged infrastructure and population movements. […]
UAVs Aid Nepal; ‘Renaissance’ Games; Microsoft Embraces Android, iOS
Posted April 30th, 2015 at 2:39 pm (UTC-5)
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3-D Printing; VR; Fighting Cancer With Games; Apple vs. Tattoos
Posted April 29th, 2015 at 2:36 pm (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Your Next Hand Brace Could Be 3-D Printed Two firms – MHOX and CRP Group – have come up with an additive manufacturing process that allows them to 3-D-print flexible, waterproof material that can be used to create custom-made rehabilitation devices. How Virtual Reality is Being Used to Tackle Prejudice Prejudice runs […]
Reaching Out to Nepal; Robots Rising; the Tweeting Pope; WordPress Woes
Posted April 28th, 2015 at 2:12 pm (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Earthquake Rocks Internet in Nepal The devastating earthquake that struck Nepal on Saturday claimed more than 4,000 lives and affected more than eight million people. It also took a toll on Internet connectivity. While international links survived, the same cannot be said for connectivity on the ground in areas where underground fiber […]
The Homeless Need Cell Phones Too
Posted April 24th, 2015 at 2:11 pm (UTC-5)
They may not be able to afford them, but homeless people need cellphones too. Those who can afford them tend to be disconnected after a while for not being able to pay their bills – a problem that takes them out of the social services loop. But a recent hackathon from a Silicon Valley non-profit […]
YouTube Turns 10; Video Sharing Wars; ‘Project Fi’; PC Graveyards
Posted April 23rd, 2015 at 2:10 pm (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: YouTube Marks 10 Years of Uploads With New Studios for Filmmakers A decade after its launch, YouTube still gets billions of views each day. To improve content, YouTube is investing in “YouTube Spaces,” or studios similar to what it has in Tokyo that give filmmakers access to everything they need to create […]
Facebook, YouTube Changes; Internet Trolls; Uganda’s Digital Migration
Posted April 22nd, 2015 at 2:10 pm (UTC-5)
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. […]
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 […]
Who Says the Internet is Bad for Morality?
Posted April 17th, 2015 at 2:03 pm (UTC-5)
The Internet has changed people’s lives in many ways over the years, particularly in developing countries. In addition to those who see it in a positive light, a recent Pew Research Center survey found many others who view the Internet as a negative influence on morality – depending of course on how you define morality. […]
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 […]