Archive for the 'Technology' Category
More Books Sold Online Than in Brick-And-Mortar Retail
July 2nd, 2014Via: Book Industry Study Group: In formats, eBooks hit record volume numbers while revenue was flat; downloaded audiobooks hit all-time highs in both revenue and units. In sales channels, publishers’ net revenue from sales of digital and print content via online retail is now ahead of revenue from brick-and-mortar retail.
PayPal Froze Account of Secure Email Startup ProtonMail Due to “Technical Problem”
July 2nd, 2014Via: Gigaom: About 6 weeks ago my colleague Barb Darrow covered a new secure email startup called ProtonMail, which was set up by a bunch of MIT, Harvard and CERN researchers who are annoyed with the NSA’s intrusive ways. The team’s Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign has done pretty well in the last 2 weeks, thus far […]
The Military Is Already Using Facebook to Track Your Mood
July 2nd, 2014Via: Defense One: Critics have targeted a recent study on how emotions spread on the popular social network site Facebook, complaining that some 600,000 Facebook users did not know that they were taking part in an experiment. Somewhat more disturbing, the researchers deliberately manipulated users’ feelings to measure an effect called emotional contagion. Though Cornell […]
McDonald’s Testing Order-Ahead and Payments App
June 30th, 2014See: Seattle Hikes Minimum Wage to $15 Per Hour: Cashiers and food service workers: You’re pretty much screwed. … Notice how companies in Seattle have between three and seven years to start paying the $15/hour rate? *wink* Will this be a ready-the-robots phase? I don’t know, but it wouldn’t surprise me if that’s what happens, […]
Google: Better Than 50% Chance That Loon Becomes a Reality
June 30th, 2014They also have drones: Google Buys Drone Maker Titan Aerospace. Via: Wired: Cassidy has always contended that by providing the Internet to unserved areas, his project could help make those dreams achievable. A year after the project’s public launch, he’s confident that Internet service enabled by high-altitude balloons is more than a possibility. “We’ve definitely […]
Facebook’s Secret Mood Manipulation Experiment
June 28th, 2014Via: The Atlantic: Facebook’s News Feed—the main list of status updates, messages, and photos you see when you open Facebook on your computer or phone—is not a perfect mirror of the world. But few users expect that Facebook would change their News Feed in order to manipulate their emotional state. We now know that’s exactly […]
Google Pulls Robot from Military Competition to Focus on Commercial Product
June 27th, 2014Via: The Verge: The $2 million Robotics Challenge, run by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), is a competition for the most advanced robots in the world. The three-year competition is less than halfway over, but there was already a clear frontrunner: the Japanese team Schaft, which posted videos on YouTube of their incredible […]
Predictive Policing
June 25th, 2014Via: Guardian: The algorithm at play is performing what’s commonly referred to as predictive policing. Using years – and sometimes decades – worth of crime reports, the algorithm analyses the data to identify areas with high probabilities for certain types of crime, placing little red boxes on maps of the city that are streamed into […]
Robot Truck Convoy Tested In Nevada
June 25th, 2014A human steers, but drafting is automated. Via: Popular Science: Like Olympic skiers racing in single file to reduce air resistance, two 18-wheeler trucks in Nevada recently proved that uncomfortably close convoys can save drivers fuel and money. The key, instead of bold Olympic athleticism, is robotic assistance. A computer-assisted truck was able to follow […]
U.S. Army MAARS (Modular Advanced Armed Robotic System)
June 25th, 2014Via: Bloomberg: One of the most advanced breeds of pint-sized robotic tanks is currently being tested by the U.S. Army. MAARS (Modular Advanced Armed Robotic System) is a 3-foot tall, remote-controlled ground vehicle that can assist in anything from camera surveillance to launching grenades. MAARS can take on the riskiest of tasks, like disarming IEDs […]
