Remember Watson, the computer that beat Ken Jennings on Jeopardy? Well, both Watson and its creators could be taking their talents to the healthcare field to do some revolutionizing. [The Atlantic]
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The Politics of Tech Two Chinese workers who are employed by Apple in a Suzhou, China factory who were poisoned by toxins due to working conditions have written an open letter pleading with consumers to push for reform. [BGR] Finally a company got the touchpad on laptops right. Thanks, Razer. [engadget] “How Target Figured Out A Teen Girl Was Pregnant Before Her Father Did” [Forbes] Microsoft is beginning a new ad campaign that is not shy about attacking Google. Wait til you see it. [BGR] Zynga, the game maker known for mega-popular social games like “Farmville”, has committed a gaming sin. After their game “Dream Heights” received many negative reviews two of Zynga’s employees were caught offering their own reviews. [toucharcade]
Scientists and statisticians use this formulation to determine when the proximity between two events is sufficiently close to establish a causal relationship. It’s an important concept. Just because two events occur close to one another doesn’t necessarily mean they are related–i.e., the former “causing” the latter (“the cock crows and the sun rises”). On the other hand, often they are linked and we need to make this important distinction (e.g., smoking leads to heart disease)–and adjust behavior accordingly. Monday I was scanning my iPhone apps and noticed “Find my iPhone.” I hadn’t thought about this app in nearly 3 months when I lost my iPhone and searched unsuccessfully for an hour before this app led me to my right pocket, where the iPhone was safely hidden. Well, lo and behold, on Tuesday I lose my iPhone and have to use this app again to find it again. This time it only took about 8 minutes and it was located in my jacket pocket. Which made me wonder, Did seeing the iPhone app the day before “cause” me to lose my phone the next day? The human mind is a complicated mechanism. I think there was “causation.” And if some scientist tries to claim my analogy is more like the “cock crowing causing the sun to rise,” I’ll be the first to point out to the know-it-all that the sun rising is just an optical illusion. I really did lose my iPhone. The Politics of Tech Some members of Congress have been identified by IP addresses as having used torrents to illegally download content, all the while fighting for anti-piracy legislation. [DailyTech] “The Pirate Bay’s Peter Sunde: It’s evolution, stupid” [Wired] Canada’s government is pushing for warrantless Internet spying. Their opponents? Obviously supporters of child pornography. [ars technica] A picture of a Google maps car taking a picture of someone taking a picture of a Google maps car. [picture] This is a big, amazing instrument made by Intel. That’s really all I can say to describe it. [YouTube]
Facebook just told me I’m about to max out on “friends” and they soon won’t allow me to make any new “friends” unless I delete a current friend to make room for the new one. Wow! Really, Mark? Think of the confusing issues you will now force people to deal with. Can I still make friends outside of Facebook? If so, will they feel less of a “friend” since they can’t be a FB friend too? Is there a name for these new FB-friendless friends? Are there tips on how to navigate these relationships so these “friends” with asterisks, so to speak, don’t feel further marginalized? Is it insulting to introduce non-FB friends to other non-FB friends bc their non-FB friend status gives them something in common? Are non-FB friend friends less demanding on us? Can we use the ” FB max out” excuse to avoid making a new non-FB friend we are uncertain about? If I delete a current FB friend to make room for a new non-FB friend I’ll like better, what kind of fall out can be expected? If I’m wrong and the new non-FB friend is a disappointment, can I switch back without the old deleted FB friend knowing? How do I delete Tom, the guy in a white shirt who was my first and an automatic friend for all FB new users? I don’t even know who he is! Oh wait, that was MySpace. Maybe my new excess friends can meet on MySpace. But how do I explain Tom to them? C’mon, Mark! Making friends virtually shouldn’t be this hard. Maybe those guys in the movie Social Network who claimed you stole their idea know some ways to have more friends on FB. Unless you really are that much smarter and can figure it out first. (That was mean for me to say….but not as mean as you forcing me to tell people they can’t be my friend “just because.”)  The Politics of Tech AT&T math: 250MB < 350MB < Unlimited < 3GB < 5GB [Mac Rumors] Apple might be on the hook for a cool $1.6 billion. A Chinese company has won a lawsuit against Apple for trademark infringement related to their use of the name iPad. Apple is currently appealing. [Business Insider] The controversial Wikileaks organization is said to be in the process of buying a boat that could house their servers and allow them to operate in international waters. [CNET] With the launch of Windows 8 in the fall Microsoft may get rid of one of the most recognizable symbols in the computer world: the Start button. [Extreme Tech] The German government has officially endorsed Google Chrome as their preferred browser. [Computer World]  The Politics of Tech If you have not yet heard, the file sharing site MegaUpload has been taken down by the FBI. Seems like they didn’t need SOPA and/or PIPA after all. [TechCrunch] Users of MegaUpload are planning on suing the FBI as the feds are planning on deleting all the data associated with the file sharing practices of the website. [TorrentFreak] Universal Music Group has abused Youtube video takedown powers because it seemingly stopped a rap group from uploading its own songs. [The Hollywood Reporter] Neil Young has waded into the piracy debate stating “Piracy is the new radio.” [The Verge] Here is a pretty interesting report that includes that IM chat of Mark Zuckerberg in which he hashes out his ideas for Facebook. It’s amazing that this was only in 2003. [Business Insider] Finally, a cool article on why e-books cost what they do. [MSN Money]
The Politics of Tech Raspberry Pi, the $25 PC, is back in the news. This time as it is show to outperform (double) the performance of an iPhone 4S. [Geek] Microsoft is calling for Washington state to legalize gay marriage. Microsoft argues that it is hard for them to hire their preferred candidates because they are based in a state that discriminates against them. [The Atlantic] Some people out there are tech savvy enough to jailbreak their phones. However, this practice could soon become illegal. Again. [Gizmodo] Actor Wil Wheaton has called out Chris Dodd regarding the claimed job losses due to piracy. [techdirt] Europe is considering a sweeping new law that would force Internet companies to obtain explicit consent from consumers about the use of their personal data, delete that data forever at the consumer’s request and face fines for failing to comply. [NY Times]
1)Physiological Needs-Health, food, sleep 2) Safety Needs–shelter, removal from danger 3) Social Needs–love, affection, belonging to group 4) Esteem Needs–self esteem and esteem from others 5) Self Actualizatioin–achieving individual potential 6) Latest Apple product–iPhone 4S, iPad 2 The Politics of Tech Surely by now you have heard that some sites around the Internet went black yesterday in protest of SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act. Here is a list of some major websites that participated in the protest. [Geek Sugar] Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales spoke to CNN regarding his website going black in protest of the bill. [CNN] Here is a photo gallery showing what the blacked out sites looked like. There are some pretty cool designs in there. [LA Times] Results are in: SOPA blackouts led to 10 Senators withdrawing support of the bill. [NY Times] Support for PIPA is also cracking. 18 Senators are opposing the bill after Internet blackouts. [ars technica] Were the blackouts an “abuse of power?” [Twitter]
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