Today’s Tech Sightings: Cameroon’s Internet Outage Is Draining Its Economy Cameroon is under international pressure to restore internet services. Up to 20 percent of Cameroon’s population has been denied internet access since January, and the problem persists. By all accounts, the internet disruptions are thought to be politically motivated, targeting long-marginalized English-speaking populations in the […]
Cameroon Internet Blocked; Hidden Sensors Track Employees
Posted February 14th, 2017 at 12:55 pm (UTC-5)
Leave a comment
Tech Volunteers Build Internet Lifeline for Amatrice’s Survivors
Posted September 2nd, 2016 at 10:49 am (UTC-5)
Internet connectivity has become a way of life, so much so that its loss has deprived many survivors of the August 24 earthquake in Amatrice, Italy of their lifeline to the world. But a team of IT volunteers is on the ground to help fill the gap. The Internet has become “so ubiquitous” that, for […]
Autism Groups Look to Tech for Help; China Unveils Zapping Robocop
Posted April 27th, 2016 at 11:16 am (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Autism Advocates Look to Tech but Cash Is Tight Technology could hold the key to help individuals with the autism spectrum disorder, but autism advocates lack the funds to pursue this avenue. Parents and advocates hope apps, robots and wearable devices can open up the world to autistic children and help them […]
US Tech Firms Fight Encryption-limits Bill; Free Wi-Fi Networks Unsafe
Posted April 20th, 2016 at 12:48 pm (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Groups Representing Google, Netflix, Microsoft, Apple Slam Latest Bill Aiming to Curb Tech Security Both houses of the U.S. Congress are looking at bills that could seriously limit building strong privacy measures into tech devices and social media messaging services. But this week, a host of groups representing major tech companies published […]
Apple Encryption Battle Could Boost Security; Tor Users Treated Differently
Posted February 24th, 2016 at 11:55 am (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Apple Encryption Fight Could Speed Development of Government-proof Devices Apple’s refusal to obey a court order to decrypt an iPhone belonging to a California mass shooter faces some public opposition, but also has the support of many like-minded tech firms. But the showdown has already triggered a move toward developing more secure […]
Indonesia Fights Same-sex Emoticons; 25 Percent of Mobile Apps Insecure
Posted February 11th, 2016 at 11:10 am (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Indonesia Warns Messaging Apps to Drop Same-sex Emoticons The government of Indonesia, where homosexuality is a sensitive topic, is demanding that instant messaging apps remove stickers and images that express support for bisexual or transgender orientations. The move follows a backlash on social media over same-sex stickers on popular messaging app Line […]
Mozilla Blocks Flash; Nadella’s Microsoft; Google’s Photo Mishaps
Posted July 14th, 2015 at 3:09 pm (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Mozilla Blocks Flash Player on Firefox Mozilla has blocked all versions of Adobe Flash Player in its Firefox browser due to its vulnerability to attack. Last week’s breach of the Italian company Hacking Team was made possible by a Flash Player bug that hackers exploited. While Adobe issued a patch, there appear […]
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 […]
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 […]