Month: April 2014

Government Internet

It’s time for the FCC to stand up for Americans instead of ruining the internet

By admin | by admin

As reported on The Verge. By T.C. Sottek Cowardice and capitulation could mess up a vital utility The internet is fucked, and the US government is making it worse. Political cowardice caused the FCC to lose its first battle for net neutrality regulation: the rules that keep the internet as you know it free and open. The idea of net neutrality is that all traffic is created equal — whether you’re a movie streaming from Netflix, or a…

Continue reading

Legal Politics

The FCC’s New Net Neutrality Rules Will Brutalize The Internet

By admin | by admin

As reported on TechCrunch. by Alex Wilhelm Next St Google, AT&T, Verizon And Comcast Each Spent More Than $3M In Q1 Lobbying Congress The FCC will propose new net neutrality rules that at once protect content from discrimination, but also allow content companies to pay for preferential treatment. The news, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, would in fact create a two-tiered system in which wealthy companies can “better serve the market” at the expense of younger,…

Continue reading

Microsoft Tablet

Rumoured Microsoft Surface Mini Tablet Crops Up In Amazon Listings

By admin | by admin

As reported on TechCrunch. by Natasha Lomas  Next Story Uber, SnapCar And Others May Not Be Able To Use Geolocation In France Although it hasn’t happened yet, it’s clearly only a matter of time before Microsoft officially unboxes a smaller form-factor version of its Surface tablet. A Surface Mini has beenrumoured for well over a year – with both 7- and 8-inch options apparently being considered to augment the company’s existing line up of Windows powered tablets with the Surface 2 and Surface Pro…

Continue reading

Culture Engineering

IBM’s Watson supercomputer will soon be your personal shopper

By admin | by admin

As reported on Engadget. BY MARIELLA MOON Watson had been a doctor, a geneticist, a game show contestant and even a chef in the past. But now IBM’s supercomputer has a new career: personal shopping. IBM has partnered with digital commerce firm Fluid to develop a cloud-based app called Expert Personal Shopper (XPS), which uses Watson’s brains to answer buyers’ highly specific questions. In short, the computer with many hats now plays the role of a sales associate when you’re shopping online.…

Continue reading

Art

Lost Andy Warhol artworks discovered on Amiga floppies from the ’80s

By admin | by admin

As reported on Engadget. BY JON TURI Rediscovered artwork like a napkin Picasso or unearthed Matisse can be identified on sight, but pieces crafted in the digital age by pop-artist extraordinaire Andy Warhol and encoded in an outdated format are far more difficult to ascertain. In fact, it took the retro know-how of Carnegie Mellon University’s Computer Club and a team of artists, archivists and curators to wrangle some of Warhol’s lost pixels into the physical world. The…

Continue reading

Article Culture

You might also like this story about weaponized clickbait

By admin | by admin

As reported on The Verge. By Casey Newton Sleazy tabloid links have taken over the web — but their days may be numbered Reading news online over the past year, I came to realize that more or less every story now includes a beautiful woman. Tucked into modules with names like “around the web” or “you might like,” there she is, demonstrating her bosom or backside or pearly-white smile. Often she is a celebrity, talking about…

Continue reading

Apple Culture Engineering Environmental

New Apple Campus 2 Video Shows Eco-Friendly Aspects Of The “Mother Ship”

By admin | by admin

As reported on TechCrunch. by John Biggs The company will supply 1,000 shared bicycles at the new HQ and will use 30% less energy than the typical office building. It will also include solar and other renewable energy sources. Built in the “fruit bowl of America,” the new 2.8-million-square-foot space will house 13,000 engineers and be finished in 2016. Below are some more shots of the amazing new space.  

Continue reading

Politics Tech

Star Trek And The Politics Of Silicon Valley

By admin | by admin

As reported on TechCrunch. by Danny Crichton icy All But Bans The Intelligence Community From Speaking To The Press Let’s get outside of the San Francisco bubble for a little while (trust me, there is oxygen here). I realize in a world saturated with protesters who have all the sophistication and menace of a shipful of Pakleds, it may seem like a protest in front of Kevin Rose’s home is the Biggest News in the Universe. It may seem…

Continue reading

Google Legal

Google offered to help Samsung with Apple patent battle costs

By admin | by admin

As reported on Engadget. BY MAT SMITH Confirming what a lot of us thought already, Google is more than a little interested in Apple and Samsung’s continuing court battle. New evidence revealed by Apple’s lawyers outlines emails from Google that offered to foot some of the damages (if Samsung lost), as well as cover part of the legal costs in the current trial. This would cover two of the five patents that Apple is fighting over. Google…

Continue reading

Design Engineering

Hitachi is building the world’s fastest elevator: 95 floors in 43 seconds

By admin | by admin

As reported on Engadget. BY MARIELLA MOON In 2016, Hitachi will take over Toshiba’s title as the maker of the fastest elevator in the world. The Japanese company’s slated to install two lifts that move at a swift 45mph inside China’s Guangzhou CTF Finance Centre, currently under construction. Apparently, you can reach the 95th floor (the building will have 111 floors in all) straight from the ground in just 43 seconds on one of these zippy elevators —…

Continue reading