Discussion: By using the voice recognition and motion sensor software on Microsoft’s Kinect system for Xbox, TV shows like “Sesame Street” or “Nat Geo WILD” will be able to interact with their young viewers. The new TV/game applications will allow the preschool audience to interact without using a mouse or a complicated controller. Characters from… Read more »
Monthly Archives: September 2012
Women of Wikipedia edit planned
Discussion: The Wikipedia entries for women in technology and engineering are going to be updated as a part of an “edit-a-thon” held at the Royal Society next month. All of the profiles chosen were of historical figures. The day was organized to celebrate the legacy of Ada Lovelace, who worked with Charles Babbage on an… Read more »
Your smartphone will (eventually) be hacked
Discussion: Security experts have warned for years that our smartphones are do for a major cyber attack. Smartphones are virtually unprotected by antivirus software, and yet they hold lots of valuable information just waiting to be accessed by outside users. One of the reasons that this hack hasn’t happened yet is that cyber attackers are… Read more »
New Fitbits sync with iPhones, Androids via Bluetooth 4.0
Discussion: Fitbit One has some new gadgets, hopefully making it appeal to a wider demographic. The new Fitbit, besides being a pedometer that measures footsteps and floors you have climbed, will sync with your computer, or perhaps even your smartphone, monitors sleep cycles and also wake you up with gentle vibrations. The “silent alarm” is… Read more »
Google sued over Bettina Wulff search results
Discussion: The wife of a former German President is suing Google for the suggested search terms that pop up when her name is entered in the search engine. When Bettina Wulff is typed into Google’s search engine, suggested search terms include the words “prostitute” and “red light district”. Google says the auto-generated text resembles what… Read more »
Bing takes on Google with a ‘Pepsi Challenge’
Discussion: Microsoft’s Bing search engine is a distant second to Google, but they believe their search results are better. Microsoft recently launched an advertising campaign, called “Bing on it”, that resembles the “Pepsi Challenge” of the 1980s. The campaign posts results from a query side by side, stripped of any formatting, and ask users which… Read more »
We never talk any more: The problem with text messaging
Discussion: With the increasing popularity of text messaing, our young adults may be missing out on certain aspects of their social lives. Psychologists are worried that America’s youth aren’t developing their social skills the way that they should, and that they may be harming or missing out on certain relationships. By controlling exactly what we… Read more »
Analyze your Facebook data with new Wolfram Alpha tool
Discussion: Facebook’s new Wolfram Alpha tool compiles all the little bits of information about you on Facebook–a picture here, a comment there–and creates a report that shows the essence of you. The report, complete with interactive graphs and statistics, will show your online patterns and habits. Even the trails of information that you may not realize you… Read more »
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