By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Thu Dec 1, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
An Android app developer named Trevor Eckhart has offered what he believes to be conclusive proof that millions of smartphones are monitoring key presses and other information. If true, this is certainly a bombshell. [The Register]
NBC Universal is certainly in favor of SOPA. [Techdirt]
Elvis Costello to fans: my label is gouging you on my new box set; don’t buy it. Buy Louis Armstrong music instead, and download my stuff by “unconventional means.” [Elvis Costello]
The smallest V12 engine in the world. Amazing! [YouTube]
The NYPD is using a new piece of tech called the Panoscan to review crime scenes. Warning: some graphic crime scene images in the link. [NY Times]
Here’s a cool story about a DSLR camera that was lost at sea for over a year until it was found washed up on a beach. The finder used Google+ to post recovered pictures and locate the original owner. [Engadget]
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Thu Nov 24, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET  The Politics of Tech This week we are back talking about SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) again. Now it appears that Microsoft is opposing it, a very good sign. [CNET]
Opposition to the proposal is also gaining international traction. Check out this blog post from Sweden. [.SE]
Just an FYI, back in June the United Nations declared access to the Internet a human right. [The Atlantic]
One last bit on SOPA: Nancy Pelosi and Ron Paul both recently expressed their opposition. [ars technica]
Switching gears now – take a look at Canada’s new $100 bill. Very fancy. [LA Times]
A student at MIT is developing a lie detector to be used for the Internet. Genius. [The Next Web]
A cell phone with a 2.5GHz, quad-core processor?! This could be the HTC Zeta. [engadget]
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Thu Nov 17, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
We talked a little about Internet censorship last week. You can get more than enough information on the bill and what it could mean for the future of the Internet here. [American Censorship]
Ron Paul has come out in opposition to SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act). [Tech Dirt]
Here is a summary of what SOPA would do to the Internet from one of the most popular tech sites out there. [ars technica]
Here is an update on where SOPA currently stands. Google and Facebook appear strong in their opposition. Important stuff happening in the tech world, people. [CBS News]
More from Google fighting the good fight: the RIAA recently requested they take down a music downloading app from the Android app store. Google refused. [PC Mag]
Google officially opened its music store and looks to go head-to-head with the Apple iTunes store. [Guardian UK]
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Thu Nov 10, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
IBM recently named Virginia Rometty as its new CEO, making her the first female CEO in the company’s history. [NY Times]
Check out this incredibly touching video that shows science and technology allowing a 29-year-old woman who was born deaf to hear for the first time in her life. [YouTube]
Do you remember the Women’s World Cup this past Summer? The U.S. women’s team had a thrilling run making it to the finals before losing to Japan. Did you know that the finals game broke the record on Twitter for most tweets per second? It generated more than the announcement of the death of Osama bin Laden. [Huffington Post]
While women have made strides in Silicon Valley and the tech world, there is still progress to be made. [Washington Post]
“Scholarship Sponsorships for Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing Announced by the Anita Borg Institute” [The Wall Street Journal]
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Thu Nov 3, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
Could the Blacklist Bill effectively kill user-generated content on the Internet? If so, would Twitter, Youtube, and similar sites die? [Demand Progress]
There is also the Stop Online Piracy Act, as “Congress has declared war on the Internet.” [gigaom]
One more – this one is called the E-PARASITES Act (renamed from the PROTECT IP Act). Ugh. [Tech Dirt]
There is a White House petition to stop the E-PARASITE Act. Check it out and sign it if you agree with its goal. [WhiteHouse.gov]
Google was asked by a U.S. law enforcement agency to remove a video of police brutality from its search results. Google refused. Put one in the win column for the good guys. [Huffington Post]
On a lighter note – Heads-up navigation display for cars. Yes please! [PHYSORG]
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Thu Oct 27, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
You know those little label stickers that come on your apples? Well these fruit labels turn into soap when you wash them. Genius. [Amron Experimental]
Motherboard City [picture]
The case for piracy – a must read. [ABC.net.au]
Mac OS is no longer impenetrable. Mac users are seeing more and more malware. [Technoblog – MSNBC]
Flashback: This week 10 years ago Apple released their first iPod which debuted at $399 and was only compatible with Macs. [NY Times]
The Amazing ‘Throwable Panoramic Ball Camera’ – make sure you check this out. [The Atlantic]
By Andrei Cherny, on Tue Oct 25, 2011 at 8:30 AM ET The American Jobs Act is dead. It’s time for the “Steve Jobs Act.”
In the wake of the Senate’s blocking of his jobs package last week, President Obama took to the road to campaign for passage of smaller chunks of his plan. While Congress should do just that, this piecemeal approach highlights a deficiency at the heart of Obama’s plan: it is a series of good ideas disconnected from any big idea.
True, Americans struggling to put food on the table and pay the mortgage are not looking for grand notions; they need the kind of immediate relief Obama’s proposals would provide. However, an America struggling to find its way in a bewildering, humbling world needs something more — a sense of larger purpose and direction.
The eulogies and encomiums delivered to Apple founder Steve Jobs seemed to capture some of this longing. They were celebrations of greatness and vision in a middling, small moment. At the end of a decade that saw Iraq, Katrina, and Lehman Brothers become watchwords of American weakness, they were paeans to someone who believed, with Thomas Paine, that we had it “in our power to begin the world over again.” But, perhaps most of all, in a floundering economy, they spoke to a sense that it is entrepreneurs and innovators — and not merely infrastructure spending and payroll tax cuts — that are needed to rebuild the engine of economic growth.
Read the rest of…
Andrei Cherny: The Steve Jobs Act; Why It’s Time to Invest in Entrepreneurs
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Thu Oct 20, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
Quantum Levitation. Unbelievably cool. You want to see this. [Youtube]
That’s one website you’ll never have to visit again. [picture]
Here is a preview of the Task Manager in the the upcoming Windows 8. Good stuff. [MSDN Blog]
A lawsuit filed in federal court by a Mississippi woman has accused Facebook of violating US wiretapping laws. This is based on the woman’s claim that Facebook tracked her browsing history even when she was not logged onto the site. [The Register]
This is hilarious: in a federal court hearing Samsung lawyers were unable to immediately distinguish the product they were defending (the Galaxy Tab 10.1) from the Apple iPad2. /facepalm [Digital Trends]
This is ridiculous. In Australia a fellow pointing out a glaring security flaw in a company’s website. How did they repay him? By claiming he broke the law, possibly created the bug, and then billing him. [Tech Dirt]
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Thu Oct 13, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
Dennis Ritchie, the creator of Unix and C has died at the age of 70. [OS News]
This is a super cool video that demonstrates Photoshop managing to “unblur” images by mapping the trajectory of the camera while the photo was being taken. [9to5Mac]
Following the death of Steve Jobs last week: “What Everyone Is Too Polite to Say About Steve Jobs” [Gawker]
More on the legacy of Steve Jobs, a thought-provoking article in the New York Times labeling Jobs the “Enemy of Nostalgia.” [New York Times]
Netflix has decided to abandon its plans to separate its streaming service with its DVD service. They have also thrown out the name Qwikster, leaving them with only Netflix once again. This announcement comes after fan and customer uproar and push-back. [Media Decoder blog, NYT]
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Thu Oct 6, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
Steve Jobs, one of the most important figures in technology of our generation has died at age 56. [CNN]
Steve Jobs will leave a legacy as an innovator. “The iRevolution.” [Huffington Post]
This was written a while back, but here are 10 things you may not have known about Steve Jobs. [The Altucher Confidential]
After three months Google+ is still chugging along and appears that it will be around for good. CEO Larry Page seems to be in favor of making it the flagship product of the Google brand. [gigaom]
Facebook tracks you even after you log out. Yep, they just got sued for it. [CNET]
Check out this robot used for prostate surgery as it peels the skin off a grape. [Wired]
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