Archive for the 'Technology' Category
3D Printing: Engineering World on Cusp of Major Historical Change
January 7th, 2015Via: AFP: 3D printing will revolutionise war and foreign policy, say experts, not only by making possible incredible new designs but by turning the defence industry — and possibly the entire global economy — on its head. For many, 3D printing still looks like a gimmick, used for printing useless plastic figurines and not much […]
FBI Says Search Warrants Not Needed to Use “Stingrays” in Public Places
January 6th, 2015Via: Ars Technica: The Federal Bureau of Investigation is taking the position that court warrants are not required when deploying cell-site simulators in public places. Nicknamed “stingrays,” the devices are decoy cell towers that capture locations and identities of mobile phone users and can intercept calls and texts. The FBI made its position known during […]
Our System Is So Broken, Almost No Patented Discoveries Ever Get Used
January 5th, 2015Via: Wired: We all know the patent system is broken. But most people believe that the biggest problem with it is abusive litigants who extort so-called “license fees” from small businesses unable to pay the cost of standing up to them in court. Their activities, of course, have no more in common with real patent […]
Writers Say They Feel Censored by Surveillance
January 5th, 2015Via: New York Times: A survey of writers around the world by the PEN American Center has found that a significant majority said they were deeply concerned with government surveillance, with many reporting that they have avoided, or have considered avoiding, controversial topics in their work or in personal communications as a result. The findings […]
Robots Can Now Learn to Cook by Watching YouTube Videos
January 3rd, 2015Via: Venture Beat: Researchers have come up with a new way to teach robots how to use tools simply by watching videos on YouTube. The researchers, from the University of Maryland and the Australian research center NICTA, have just published a paper on their achievements, which they will present this month at the 29th annual […]
The Rise of The 1099 Economy: More Americans Are Becoming Their Own Bosses
December 31st, 2014Via: Forbes: While the economy has been miserable for small business, and many larger ones as well, the ranks of the self-employed have been growing. According to research by Economic Modeling Specialists International, the number of people who primarily work on their own has swelled by 1.3 million since 2001 to 10.6 million, a 14% […]
New Solar Power Material Converts 90 Percent of Captured Light Into Heat
December 31st, 2014Via: Physorg: A multidisciplinary engineering team at the University of California, San Diego developed a new nanoparticle-based material for concentrating solar power plants designed to absorb and convert to heat more than 90 percent of the sunlight it captures. The new material can also withstand temperatures greater than 700 degrees Celsius and survive many years […]
Fish Farming in Aquapods
December 30th, 2014Via: Vice: Whether it’s found on a plate of sushi, grilled in our backyard, or thrown on pasta, seafood is a staple for many diets around the world, and demand is growing. And as the commercial seafood industry booms, fish stocks worldwide face perilous declines. We’ve surpassed our capacity to sustainably fish wild caught fish, […]
Who Is Watching You?
December 29th, 2014Via: Medium: We are living in a Dragnet Nation?—?a world of indiscriminate tracking where institutions are stockpiling data about individuals at an unprecedented pace. The rise of indiscriminate tracking is powered by the same forces that have brought us the technology we love so much?—?powerful computing on our desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. Before computers […]
Google’s Gmail Blocked in China
December 29th, 2014Via: Reuters: Google Inc’s Gmail was blocked in China after months of disruptions to the world’s biggest email service, with an anti-censorship advocate suggesting the Great Firewall was to blame. Large numbers of Gmail web addresses were cut off in China on Friday, said GreatFire.org, a China-based freedom of speech advocacy group. Users said the […]
