Techno-News Blog

By Lee Gomes, Technology Reviews

This is a tough time to write a book about Google. The first part of the story we pretty much know: Two Stanford brainiacs come up with an algorithm that reinvigorates Internet search. In the process they create unimaginable wealth for themselves and many others. For a time in the 1990s, it seemed like Google was destined to rule the Web forever. Then we started hearing about a new kind of website that had little use for the algorithmic authority of Google, but instead emphasized chilling with your friends. While Facebook and other social media companies might be enjoying a bubble right now, there’s still a reasonable chance that they could permanently shrink the economic value of Google-style search, and with it, of Google itself.

http://technologyreview.com/web/37560/?p1=MstRcnt

By David Talbot, Technology Review

Over the past week, the White House has announced two big plans for improving Internet security. One is an international policy that seeks to promote Internet freedom while cracking down on the theft of intellectual property. The other is a domestic legislative proposal whose key features include tightening data-breach notification laws. In recent years, dozens of cybersecurity bills have been introduced. One would have required the White House to generate detailed reports on the extent of cybercrime emanating from each nation.

http://technologyreview.com/computing/37602/?p1=MstRcnt

By Katherine Bourzac, Technology Review

Sales of 3-D TVs could increase fivefold this year, as more televisions come with the technology built in, and the range of available content steadily increases. A report published this week by market research company In-Stat suggests that sales of 3-D TVs could increase by 500 percent in 2011. Last year, only 1 or 2 percent of the 210 million TVs sold worldwide were 3-D-capable.

http://technologyreview.com/computing/37599/?p1=MstRcnt

By Katherine Bourzac, Technology Review

One of the first working full-color quantum-dot displays was shown off at a conference this week by a startup company that is working to commercialize the technology. Quantum dots are nanoparticles made of inorganic materials that very efficiently emit a specific color of light (depending on the size of the dot) when they’re excited either by a beam of light or by an electrical current. Quantum-dot displays promise low power consumption and rich, beautiful color, much like organic light-emitting diode displays (OLEDs). But QD Vision, the company that demonstrated the prototype display, believes they will also prove less expensive to make than OLEDs at the huge scales favored by display manufacturers.

http://technologyreview.com/computing/37594/?p1=MstRcnt

by Technology Review

Senate committee sorts out the technical and legal challenges in trying to control how apps track users. Third-party apps are the weakest link in user privacy on smart phones. They often get access to large quantities of user data, and there are few rules covering how they must handle that data once they have it. Worse yet, few third-party apps have a privacy policy telling users what they intend to do.

http://technologyreview.com/communications/37614/?p1=MstRcnt

By Julian Dibbell, Technology Review

“We are Legion. We do not forget. We do not forgive. Expect us.” So goes the cartoon-villain tagline of Anonymous, the amorphous collective entity that started as an ad-hoc identity for Internet trolls and pranksters and, in the last year especially, has become an increasingly politicized engine of online agitation and digital “hacktivism.”

http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/37572/?p1=A4

by Ada Brunstein, Technology Review

The exhibit hall at this year’s IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) was chock full of disembodied robotic arms, humanoid robots that bumped into things they were supposed to avoid, and Lego-like parts for assembly into everything from robotic dogs to calligraphy machines. If the gathering in Shanghai was any indication of our technological future, robotic arms are the next big thing. Some, like Yaskawa’s arc welding Motoman, will be used in factories (though at the exhibit two arms on display were carrying out a carefully choreographed light saber duel; video at the bottom of this post). Other companies, like Barret Technologies, build “assistive robotic arms”, one of which, the rep tells me, is currently being used as a surgeon’s aid in knee surgery. The idea is that the surgery is pre-programmed and since the robot’s movements are more precise than the fallible human hand, the robot guides the surgeon’s hands through the surgery. That’s right, the robot guides the surgeon. The arm has 7 degrees of freedom and runs about $150k.

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/guest/26767/?p1=A3

by Christopher Mims, Technology Review

Google’s new laptops will handle times without 3G service or WiFi access with features standard in HTML5 but not supported by all browsers. Some of Google’s new Chromebooks will have 3G connectivity, but it will be paltry — 100mb a month. Some won’t even have that, and will be WiFi only. So how are you going to use Gmail and Google Docs when you’re not in range of a hotspot, or you’re 35,000 feet in the air, racing to finish something for work? To some extent, HTML5 has you covered. Versions of Google Mail and Google Docs that will come out in June will be able to access two elements standard in the HTML5 specification.

http://technologyreview.com/blog/mimssbits/26770/?p1=blogs

by Christopher Mims, Technology Review

Google’s new Chromebook, which is essentially a laptop that runs Google’s Chrome web browser and nothing else, is already catching the attention of industry and educators. But will it catch on with the wider public? The answer to that is straightforward: it all depends on whether or not Google can offer users a sufficiently rich ecosystem of “web apps” — since those are the only kind that run on a Chromebook. It’s exactly the same problem that Google faces with adoption of its Android platform: its apps simply aren’t up to the standard of its primary competition. As the generally platform-agnostic tech uber-pundit Robert Scoble put it, “I have modern Android devices and I like iPhone more. Why? Apps are superior.”

http://technologyreview.com/blog/mimssbits/26765/?p1=blogs

By Julie Anderson, WORLD-HERALD

Back in January, the public schools here got a late Christmas present from one of its neighbors, the Internet giant Google. The California-based company, which has a data center in the city, gave the Council Bluffs School District 500 notebook computers — prototypes featuring its new operating system, called Chrome. The school district became one of five nationwide to participate in a pilot program testing the operating system. Google conducted similar tests in businesses and among consumers. Starting next month, consumers worldwide will get a chance to see what Council Bluffs high school students have been trying out. Google said Wednesday at an annual conference in San Francisco that its new line of notebook computers — Chromebooks — will go on sale online June 15 in the United States and six other countries.

http://www.omaha.com/article/20110512/NEWS01/705129852/0

By Mitch Fryer, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

There was an invasion of robots at the Dayton Elementary School on Wednesday. The programmed, remote-controlled, motorized, metal machines grabbed candy off tables, raced recklessly around classrooms and did their best to take over the school. But no one was in any danger; the students had them under control. The Dayton third-, fourth- and fifth-grade students were teaming up with physics students from West Shamokin High School and computer-aided design and drafting/pre-engineering students from the Lenape Technical School to learn new skills while building and trying out robots during a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Robotics Day program.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/leadertimes/news/s_736698.html

By Sharon Schmickle, Minnesota Post

When a windstorm knocked out the Internet service on the Swenhaugen farm near Walnut Grove, the call for help rang on a phone just behind the library at Red Rock Central High School. And Leonard Runck knew where to find technicians in a hurry. They were coming out of morning classes. “They are going to take off with a tool box and make it back in time for their next class,” said Runck, the school’s technical adviser.

http://www.minnpost.com/ruralmn/2011/05/12/28215/on_the_cyber_frontier_high-school_seniors_maintain_internet_network_in_southwestern_minnesota

By: Fahmida Y. Rashid, eWeek

The Obama administration has unveiled a cyber-security plan to provide protection for critical infrastructure, data-breach-notification laws and cyber-defense. The plan closely endorses the bill sponsored by Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada that is currently under consideration in Congress. The White House proposal addresses how to protect critical infrastructure, including electric grids, financial systems and transportation networks, from cyber-attackers. The Department of Homeland Security would take the lead role in working with states and businesses to respond to cyber-attacks and provide immunity to organizations that share cyber-security information, according to a fact sheet posted May 12 on the White House blog.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/White-House-Unveils-CyberSecurity-Proposals-to-Guard-Critical-Infrastructure-237236/?kc=rss

By: Chris Preimesberger, eWeek

New industry research reports that businesses lose an average of about $5,000 per minute in an outage. At that rate, $300,000 per hour is not something to dismiss lightly. Data center managers and CTOs already know that system downtime can be very expensive for an enterprise, but it’s possible they may not know the real extent of that expense when servers, networking and storage suffer a major outage.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/IT-Infrastructure/Unplanned-IT-Downtime-Can-Cost-5K-Per-Minute-Report-549007/?kc=rss

By: Nicholas Kolakowski, eWeek

Microsoft’s Skype acquisition could allow the company to boost its fortunes in smartphones, and appeal to more decentralized, lightweight businesses. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is known for his public exuberance, punctuating keynote addresses with the sort of high-decibel verbal fireworks commonly associated with high-school coaches trying to goad a touchdown. “Developers! Developers! Developers!” is one of his more famous refrains.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/VOIP-and-Telephony/Microsoft-Skype-Deal-Could-Exploit-Synergies-with-Nokia-Enterprise-257068/?kc=rss

by the BBC

The earthquake in Japan left many people with long-term health problems without medication. In the aftermath of the earthquake in Japan, Twitter is proving “an excellent system” for communicating with chronically-ill patients, say doctors. In letters written to The Lancet, Japanese doctors say social networking sites have been vital in notifying patients where to get medication. Although telephone networks were disrupted after the earthquake, internet access remained reliable. But Japan must now strengthen its primary care system, they said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13373535

by the BBC

The proposed law aims to limit web access to counterfeit goods sold online. Websites that link to pirated music and movies or sell counterfeit goods could soon be blocked in America. US politicians are about to consider legislation which includes a raft of measures to clamp down on such sites. The Protect IP bill gives government and copyright holders tools to stop Americans reaching illegal material. Digital rights groups said they were “dismayed” by the proposals and feared the effect the final law would have on the internet.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13387795

By Robert Plummer, BBC News

Facebook’s dispute with Google is unlikely to hit the courts, lawyers believe. Facebook’s campaign to plant negative stories about Google is not the first such behind-the-scenes tactic employed by a major firm, and it is unlikely to be the last. In the quest to gain a competitive edge over rivals, many a company has resorted to what have been perceived as underhand methods, with damaging consequences for its image when the truth emerged. At the same time, other businesses have done well out of publicly knocking their rivals, proving that the right kind of negative campaigning can pay dividends.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13387807

by Computeach

Those using online computer training to better their skills can have a positive impact on large groups of peers in a relatively short period of time, according to the 2011 XpertHR learning and development budgets survey. The survey showed managers can benefit from cost cutting in online functions and an improvement in delivering results. XpertHR said businesses are pursuing their cost cutting measures by encouraging employees to take up computer training online with 59 per cent of participants saying they are doing so. The study also revealed 57 per cent have increased the involvement of line managers in training delivery.

http://www.computeach.co.uk/IT-news/IT-Computer-Technology-News/Computer-training-Learning-online-rising/800523443

A By Lauren Cox, MIT Technology Review

Big technology companies like Netflix and Facebook make clever use of the digital traces we leave online: their algorithms can make connections between data and then offer suggestions about movies to watch or people to get in touch with. Now much smaller companies—even ones that don’t consider technology their specialty—might be able to do something similar. Several everyday business tools, such as customer relationship management (CRM) software, are gaining analytic functions that make it easier for any company to crunch the data now found everywhere—not just in customer records but also on the open Web, in contexts like tweets and online help forums.

http://www.technologyreview.com/business/37500/?p1=BI

By David Zax, MIT Technology Review

In many ways mobile technologies are derivative of their desktop brethren. Your iPhone’s e-mail app is like the e-mail client on your desktop, for example. The mobile world is the desktop world in miniature, a “lite” version. But the mobile world is no longer just following; it’s leading. PC sales are sagging, while sales of mobile devices—smart phones and tablets—are on the rise. As the operating systems that power these devices become the new norm, we can expect to see certain aspects of desktop and laptop operating systems start imitating the little upstarts that had initially imitated them.

http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/37532/?p1=A2&a=f