Today’s Tech Sightings: UN Report: Encryption is Important to Human Rights The United Nation’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said digital security and privacy are essential for freedom of expression around the world. A new U.N. report said encryption and anonymity tools help “provide the privacy and security necessary for the exercise of […]
Digital Human Rights; Abuse Emojis; Google’s I/O Show; the Robot Wars
Printed Prosthetics; Green Chips; iPhone Blues; IoT; Instagram
Today’s Tech Sightings: Google Pledges $20 Million to Give 3-D Prosthetics a Helping Hand The Director of Google’s non-profit Google.org, Jacquelline Fuller, announced the launch of the Google Impact Challenge: Disabilities project in a blog post, with $20 million in funding. The project is intended to support people with disabilities and push the development of […]
Mobile vs. PCs; ‘Chucky’ the Teddy Bear; Smartphone Cold Wars
Today’s Tech Sightings: Mobile Isn’t Killing the Desktop Internet The PC is dead? No, wait, it’s not dead – yet. Pundits have been going on for years about how mobile is killing the desktop PC and how people are increasingly using their mobile phones to get online. But according to comScore, mobile use might not […]
Gaza Hacks VoIP; Postcards From North Korea; Java Turns 20; 3-D Printing
Today’s Tech Sightings: Stuck in Gaza, Hackers Open Lines to the World Tech-savvy Gazans isolated from the rest of the world by an Israeli and Egyptian blockade are now using Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) hacking to rout international calls for a fee. The practice requires dedicated servers to collect as many IP addresses as […]
YouTube Kids; Gaming for Charity, Logjam; @POTUS; Mobile Malware
Today’s Tech Sightings: YouTube, Google Under Fire for Adult Content in Kids App U.S. consumer groups have updated a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission after finding adult-themed videos on the Google-owned YouTube Kids app for Android and iOS. Google was already criticized in April for allowing ads to mix with content geared for kids. […]
Smartphones Detect Cancer; Venom Fixed; Apple Watch Flaw
Today’s Tech Sightings: Smartphones Can Detect Eye Cancer Believe it or not, smartphones can actually diagnose Retinoblastoma, a rare type of aggressive eye cancer that develops as a tumor in the retina and almost exclusively affects children. Those suffering from this disease often have a white glow around their pupils that shows up when photographed with […]
Hacking to Aid Nepal; ‘Venom’ Bug; Unforgettable Searches; ‘Bleep’ Goes Live
Today’s Tech Sightings: Nepal’s Aid System Is Broken. So These Lifesavers Hacked It As Nepal’s government and NGOs struggle to cope with the devastation of the country’s second major earthquake in less than a month, a group of young people armed with Facebook, open source mapping technology and a lot of nerve have come together […]
Kinect for Parkinson’s; IBM’s ‘Light’ Chip; Privacy; VR
Today’s Tech Sightings: New Kinect Controller Could Be a Game-Changer for Parkinson’s Patients Dr. Konstantinos Banitsas and PhD candidate Amin Amini Maghsoud Bigy of Brunel University London have altered the Kinect game controller to help Parkinson’s patients counter some of the symptoms of the disease. The scientists developed a system that connects Kinect to a […]
FINDER Saves Lives in Nepal; Tech Diversity; Brain Spying; Iran’s Bieber Headache
Today’s Tech Sightings: New Device That Detects Heartbeats Saves 4 Lives in Nepal Prototype devices provided by NASA – called FINDER or Finding Individuals for Disaster and Emergency Response, have located four people trapped under the rubble of Nepal’s devastating April 25 earthquake. Using microwave radar that specifically zeros in on human heartbeats, FINDER devices […]