Current Events – Page 31

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3 Pressing Questions Facing the Future of Social Media

June 3, 2011

Social Media connects us in ever changing ways.

The conversation about social media in our society is shifting significantly. We’re no longer asking questions like, “Will people use social media?” or “Are sites like Facebook and Twitter simply trends that will soon lose steam?” After billions of tweets and 600 million people on Facebook, it’s settled: People want to share online. And with Facebook moving toward a $100 billion valuation, there is money to be made.

The emerging conversation is not if we will be connected but is instead, “How can we effectively and productively connect?” Now that we can get constant updates on just about every aspect of our friends’ lives, how do we receive that which is relevant?

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Acid Oceans Turn ‘Finding Nemo’ Fish Deaf

June 1, 2011

Hearing loss detected in Clown Fish

Clownfish, the spectacular tropical species feted in the movie Finding Nemo, appear to lose their hearing in water slightly more acidic than normal.

At levels of acidity that may be common by the end of the century, the fish did not respond to the sounds of predators.

The oceans are becoming more acidic because they absorb much of the CO2 that humanity puts into the atmosphere…

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Business, Current Events, Entertainment, Twitter

Twitter Is Launching Its Own Photosharing Service

May 30, 2011

A new view is coming to Twitter

Twitter has been completely emphatic about where developers should stake a claim, with Twitter Platform Lead Ryan Sarver warning the ecosystem to stay away from building “client apps that mimic or reproduce the mainstream Twitter consumer client experience.”

Well if Sarver stays true to his word the Twitpics and Yfrogs of the world can just give it up now. According to multiple sources, Twitter is on the verge on announcing its own built in Twitpic competitor…

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Analysis, Business, Current Events, Money Talk

IBM Now Worth a $1 Billion More Than Microsoft

May 23, 2011

IBM overtakes Microsoft

IBM overtakes Microsoft to become the second most valuable technology company in the U.S., ending a 15-year reign for the software giant.

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Anti-Piracy Measures Could See NZ Libraries Switch Off Internet Access

May 21, 2011

Anti-Piracy measures in New Zealand could change its libraries forever.

Governments around the world are trying to figure out ways of cutting down on piracy. Some governments have already implemented controversial monitoring and three-strike rules. Such rules may look like they solve the issue in theory, but its a very different outcome in practice.

France was one of the first places to attempt to implement the three-strike rule, which sees an Internet connection represented by an IP address monitored through an ISP. If an infringement is identified a strike is given, get three strikes and the connection is terminated and/or you face prosecution or fines. However, it never made it past the French National Assembly…

But that same system has made it into law for New Zealand, and will be turned on come September…

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Are We One Step Closer to Pricing Nature?

May 17, 2011

The tragedy of the commons in action.

One of the most perverse tenets of the economic model that most of the globe adheres to is that extracting natural resources or doing damage to ecosystems is “free”. Bottled water companies don’t pay for the water they extract, lumber outfits don’t pay for the trees they chop down, automakers don’t pay for the air pollution they generate, Big Oil doesn’t pay for the oil it extracts, and so on and so forth. This problem, known as the tragedy of the commons, is one that’s been an ugly thorn in capitalism’s side from the get-go. For the most part, we deal with it by imposing restrictions on how much companies can pollute, creating environmental protection agencies to enforce such restrictions, and by designating nature preserves to shield nature from corporate claws. But it’s not working…

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CDC Confirms Lemon Eucalyptus Oil as Effective as DEET

May 14, 2011

Mosquitoes can be a huge problem.

It’s easy to say you’ll never use DEET, that is until you come down to South Carolina. My home state boasts mosquitoes that rival your house pet in size and stature. But even still, many fear the toxicity of DEET and try to avoid it even with those mini-monsters landing on you noon and night. According to the CDC, lemon eucalyptus oil could be a much safer and more natural weapon.

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Anonymous Infighting

May 11, 2011

When a headless organization attacks itself, change is in the air.

While Sony is busy pointing the finger at the hacker group Anonymous for the on-going PSN and SOE hacks, Anonymous has problems of its own. This weekend AnonOps, an IRC network where some of the members congregate and plan operations, found itself under a denial-of-service attack. That attack finally ended with a number of its IRC servers being taken over.

The culprit: one of their own, a former IRC Operator (IRCop) named “Ryan.” Depending on who you believe, Ryan was power-hungry and wanted control over AnonOps for himself, or he was tired of the autocracy of the few Anonymous members who made up the group’s loose leadership structure…

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For The High-Tech Naturalist: LeafSnap Identifies Leaves Using Your iPhone’s Camera

May 8, 2011

Leaf identification in a snap!

This is just plain fantastic. The LeafSnapapp for iPhone identifies any leaf you take a picture of, as long as it’s in their library. Right now it’s limited to trees native to the Northeastern US, but they’re working on expanding that. The best part is it’s free! Hopefully this will get me to finally learn the names of the trees around here. All I know is “pine” if it has pine cones and “not pine” if it doesn’t.

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Federal Judge Affirms Open WiFi Doesn’t Make you Liable for Your Neighbors’ Misdeeds

May 4, 2011

Although unwise an open WiFi does not legally allow guilt by mere association.

A Federal judge in Illinois has once again rebuffed a copyright troll’s request for easy court orders to allow him to connect IP addresses with people. The judge said that open wireless networks and other factors make the connection between IP addresses and defendants difficult, and that making it easy to connect people and IPs would invite extortionate legal claims…

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Pandora Is Now 10 Billion Thumbs Strong

May 3, 2011

Thumbs are important to Pandora’s listeners.

Personalized radio service Pandora has reached a major milestone: last week it recorded its 10 billionth thumb (and it was a thumbs up).

Avid fans of the popular service already know what that means — for the rest of you, Pandora lets users mark the song that’s currently playing with a Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down. The effect is pretty straightforward: hit a thumbs up and Pandora will try to play more music that sounds like the song you’re listening to, thumbs down and Pandora will immediately jump to the next song and send a minor electric shock to CTO Tom Conrad…

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Finally, You Can Kiss People Over the Internet

May 2, 2011

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PspagsTFvlg&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

Tactile communications: it may not sound too exciting, but it’s precisely the field of research that produced a device which lets users “transmit the feeling of a kiss” long-distance.

The Kajimoto Laboratory at the University of Electro-Communications has created a device which consists of a hardware receptacle which is placed into the mouth, and software that remembers the movements of your tongue and sends them to the other connected device, which moves accordingly.

Of course, there’s more to a kiss than just the movement of the tongue, and the folks from Kajimoto plan to recreate them all…

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