Discussion: Could our connected mobile devices hurt our ability to form personal relationships? Professor Sherry Turkle says yes. Because our mobile devices are always on and always on us, as a culture we never get any solitude. Solitude nurtures relationships because it allows us to reflect on our relationships and form real attachments. The devices promote… Read more »
Monthly Archives: May 2012
38 Studios: Broke Rhode Island now owns a video game company
Discussion: Rhonde Island, and its citizens, are now investors in software company, 38 Studios. The goal of 38 Studios and its founder, Red Sox pitcher Carl Schilling, was to bring in skilled jobs to the fiancianally struggling state. However, the company laid off all of its 400 employees on Thursday, without pay, and cancelled all of their… Read more »
Coding and Red Bull: Facebook holds all-night hacking session
Discussion: On the night before their $16 billion dollar IPO, Facebook employees participated in its traditional 31st annual all night “hackathon”, instead of drinking champagne and celebrating. The only requirement is that employees work on a project that they would normally not do during their day job. The reward for the all night “hackathon” is a t-shirt,… Read more »
Cable companies to expand free Wi-Fi
Discussion: Cable companies are going to begin to allow subscribers to use free Wi-Fi hotspots if they travel outside of their home network area. The companies are working on ways to store users credentials so that they will be immediately logged on, thus making it extremely easy to use. The companies believe that Wi-Fi is… Read more »
Yahoo CEO out after resume scandal – reports
Discussion: In the last several days, it has been brought to the public’s attention that the CEO of Yahoo padded his resume. He has since resigned from his post as CEO. Scott Thompson added three untruthful words, “and computer science”, to the phrase, “graduated with his B.S. in accounting and computer science.” The sticking point… Read more »
US town’s police ban pedestrians texting and walking
Discussion: A town in New Jersey has recently instituted a ban on walking and texting at the same time. In the town, there have been more than 20 accidents since the beginning of 2012 caused by pedestrians not watching where they were walking, and in just six weeks they have fined 117 texters. Those that… Read more »
London to test ‘smart city’ operating system
Discussion: In a neighborhood in London, there is an operating system being tested that will connect utilities and services with citizens. The ‘smart city’, located in the Greenwich peninsula, is testing an operating systems that aims to connect services such as water, transport, and energy with the people who live in the area. Smart lamp posts… Read more »
Intel wants to plug a smartphone into your brain
Discussion: Intel recently released a paper on mobile computing that stated that connected devices, such as smartphones, will inevitably begin to interface with the human brain. Before this can happen, there are a few technological advancements that need to be made. The first is a lag-free operating system that anyone can use intuitively to preform any computing task…. Read more »
Itsy-bitsy teeny cell towers are coming
Discussion: As smart phone and tablet usage soars, the capacity of cell towers is being overloaded. In order to remedy this problem, cell phone companies have come up with mini-cell towers placed in more frequent locations. The small cells are much more efficient at utilizing the diminishing wireless spectrum. The tiny towers can cut down… Read more »
Descriptive camera developed by student Matt Richardson
Discussion: A student at New York University developed a “camera” that prints a verbal discription of a photo, instead of a picture. Though the full technology might not currently exist, the idea is to have the camera recognize what it is taking a picture of and to print out a detailed description. The printouts can then become… Read more »
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