Archive for the 'Technology' Category
The End Of Net Neutrality
April 25th, 2014Via: Huffington Post: The new rules would allow companies like Netflix to pay Internet providers to stream their videos and other content more quickly. That could create two lanes on the Internet, fast super-highways that big tech companies can afford and a bumpy backroad where less fortunate websites dwell, consumer advocates say. Verizon, which sued […]
Apple, Google to Pay $324 Million to Settle Conspiracy Lawsuit
April 25th, 2014Via: Reuters: Four major tech companies including Apple and Google have agreed to pay a total of $324 million to settle a lawsuit accusing them of conspiring to hold down salaries in Silicon Valley, sources familiar with the deal said, just weeks before a high profile trial had been scheduled to begin. Tech workers filed […]
Feds Beg Supreme Court to Let Them Search Phones Without a Warrant
April 24th, 2014Via: Wired: American law enforcement has long advocated for universal “kill switches” in cellphones to cut down on mobile device thefts. Now the Department of Justice argues that the same remote locking and data-wiping technology represents a threat to police investigations–one that means they should be free to search phones without a warrant. In a […]
Smart Wind and Solar Power
April 24th, 2014Via: MIT Technology Review: Big data and artificial intelligence are producing ultra-accurate forecasts that will make it feasible to integrate much more renewable energy into the grid.
#myNYPD Twitter Campaign Backfires, Promotes Photos of Police Brutality Instead of Positive Encounters with Public
April 23rd, 2014Via: New York Daily News: An exercise in social media outreach turned #epicfail Tuesday when users flooded the Twittersphere with some of the NYPD’s most infamous moments of brutality. The NYPD, through its Twitter page, innocuously asked people on to post pictures of themselves interacting with New York’s Finest — complete with the hashtag myNYPD. […]
The Pittsburgh Startup That Has Big Plans for Batteries
April 22nd, 2014Via: Guardian: From cell phones to laptops to electric cars, the world is becoming increasingly dependent on batteries. Unfortunately, this convenience comes at a cost: some common battery materials are toxic and require special treatment after their end of life. A new company is hoping to combat this cycle: It has begun using more benign […]
Introducing AISight: CCTV Network Completely Run by AI
April 22nd, 2014Via: ITProPortal: BRS Labs’ AISight is different because it doesn’t rely on a human programmer to tell it what behaviour is suspicious. It learns that all by itself. The system enables a machine to monitor is environment, and build up a detailed profile of what can be considered “normal” behaviour. The AI can then determine […]
Pentagon’s Superpowered Autopilot Will Do the Work of 5 Crew Members
April 22nd, 2014Via: Wired: Some think that the Defense Department couldn’t possibly reduce its forces as much as it claims it will. After all, who would fly the planes? Now DARPA has an answer. The Pentagon’s research arm is developing a sophisticated, drop-in autopilot that can replace as many as five crew members of a military aircraft, […]
Man Prefers $50 3D Printed Prosthetic Hand to One That Cost $42,000
April 21st, 2014Via: 3dprint.com: After some time had passed, Simon decided to meet up with Delgado once more, this time to work on the setup of the tendons within the Beast. To his amazement, Delgado had told him that the 3D printed hand has been functioning better than the myoelectric device, and he had preferred it to […]
How Silicon Valley Entrepreneurs Are Rushing to Cash in on Cannabis
April 18th, 2014Via: Wired: After Charlotte began taking an extract from the brothers’ strain in 2012, her seizures dropped from 300 a week to three or four a month. It was a revelation. The Stanleys named the strain Charlotte’s Web in her honor. As word of the drug’s antiseizure effect began to spread, families from across the […]
