Archive for the 'Technology' Category
Brookings Video Piece on Aquion
February 3rd, 2015Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in NZ. Bring it on. Via: Brookings Institution: More: America’s Advanced Industries: What They Are, Where They Are, and Why They Matter
Apple to Convert Failed Arizona Sapphire Factory to Data Center
February 3rd, 2015Disclosure: I bought a single Feb27 put option on Apple last week. The better to see you with, my pretties! Via: ComputerWorld: Apple on Monday confirmed it will convert a failed sapphire factory into a data center that will also double as the hub to control the company’s other server farms. “We’re proud to continue […]
Uber Opening Robotics Research Facility In Pittsburgh To Build Self-Driving Cars
February 3rd, 2015Via: TechCrunch: Driver-on-demand service Uber is building a robotics research lab in Pittsburgh, PA to “kickstart autonomous taxi fleet development,” sources close to the decision have confirmed to TechCrunch. They say the company has hired talent from Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute, including lead engineering and commercialization experts.
‘Get Your Loved Ones Off Facebook’
February 1st, 2015Via: Saintsal: It’s not just what Facebook is saying it’ll take from you and do with your information, it’s all the things it’s not saying, and doing anyway because of the loopholes they create for themselves in their Terms of Service and how simply they go back on their word. We don’t even need to […]
Senior Abbott MP Concedes Australians Ready to Leave the Grid
January 31st, 2015Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in NZ. Via: RenewEconomy: A senior member of Australia’s ruling Coalition has conceded that Australian consumers are ready to leave the grid, and rely instead on solar and storage, and suggested that state-owned assets such as electricity networks need to be sold quickly before they lose too much value. […]
Office Puts Chips Under Staff’s Skin
January 30th, 2015Via: BBC: Want to gain entry to your office, get on a bus, or perhaps buy a sandwich? We’re all getting used to swiping a card to do all these things. But at Epicenter, a new hi-tech office block in Sweden, they are trying a different approach – a chip under the skin. Felicio de […]
AI Will Not Kill Us, Says Microsoft Research Chief
January 28th, 2015Via: BBC: Microsoft Research’s chief has said he thinks artificial intelligence systems could achieve consciousness, but has played down the threat to human life. Eric Horvitz’s position contrasts with that of several other leading thinkers. Last December, Prof Stephen Hawking told the BBC that such machines could “spell the end of the human race”. Mr […]
‘Super-Secure’ BlackPhone
January 28th, 2015Your what hurts? Via: Register: The maker of BlackPhone – a mobile marketed as offering unusually high levels of security – has patched a critical vulnerability that allows hackers to run malicious code on the handsets. Attackers need little more than a phone number to send a message that can compromise the devices via the […]
Experts Unmask ‘Regin’ Trojan as NSA Tool
January 27th, 2015Via: Spiegel: Just weeks ago, SPIEGEL published the source code of an NSA malware program known internally as QWERTY. Now, experts have found that it is none other than the notorious trojan Regin, used in dozens of cyber attacks around the world.
How the CIA Made Google
January 27th, 2015This is a really good one. Via: Medium: Google styles itself as a friendly, funky, user-friendly tech firm that rose to prominence through a combination of skill, luck, and genuine innovation. This is true. But it is a mere fragment of the story. In reality, Google is a smokescreen behind which lurks the US military-industrial […]
