Techno-News Blog

By Jon Fingas, Engadget

Apple gave eco-friendly computer fans a brief jolt this July after it backed out of EPEAT certification, only to restore most devices just days later. While we can’t say we’re completely shocked at the follow-up, EPEAT has confirmed that at least one “ultra-thin” laptop from Apple has just cleared the verification process. The as yet unnamed system is more likely to be a Mac that had already earned the recycling-friendly rating in the past, such as the MacBook Air, rather than a sudden turnaround for the MacBook Pro with Retina Display.

http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/13/apple-other-thin-laptop-makers-pass-latest-round-of-epeat-tests/

By James Trew, Engadget

The fact that ISPs are working with the RIAA in a bid to squash piracy is far from new. A leaked document claiming to be AT&T training materials, however, suggests that the operator is about to stop talking, and start doing. According to TorrentFreak notifications will be sent out to customers on November 28th about the change in policy, with those suspected of illicit downloads receiving an email alerting them of the possible copyright infringement. We’d previously heard of a six-stage notification system, and this, too, is mentioned here with repeat offenders facing access to “many of the most frequently visited websites” restricted. Even stranger, is the talk of having to complete an online tutorial about copyright to get the restrictions lifted.

http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/13/atandt-training-document-piracy/

by BRIAN PROFFITT, ReadWriteWeb

Google’s long-running fight to digitize the world’s written works has closed two more chapters, but the story hasn’t quite reached the end. Despite stakes that include millions of dollars of ad revenue for Google versus the potential loss of revenue and royalties for publishers and authors, however, the epic saga’s climax is turning out to be surprisingly muted. There are three parts to this story so far, with Google Books the protagonist (or antagonist, depending on your point of view) at the center of all of them. Following two separate court decisions this week and last, two of those parts are now concluded, leaving only one more thread of the tale to wrap up.

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/google-closes-two-chapters-in-ongoing-books-fight.php

by David Zax, Technology Review

Here’s something you probably didn’t know you wanted. 3M has come up with a handheld projector—or “picoprojector”—with a Roku Streaming Stick built in. That means the $300 device can function as something of a portable TV, with access to Netflix, Amazon Instant, Hulu Plus, HBO Go, and the like. BGR was one of the first to spot 3M’s press release on the topic a few days back. In it, 3M touted a projector “small enough to fit in your hand, yet able to project an image up to 120 inches,” one that was “perfect for family movie nights, sleepovers and evening backyard parties” with its (claimed) two hour and forty-five-minute battery life. 3M also called the device “first-of-its-kind,” promising a shipping date by October 22. (It can be preordered here, for now with a promo offering a $20 credit from Amazon Instant Video.)

http://www.technologyreview.com/view/429596/a-handheld-projector-you-might-actually-want/

by Tom Simonite, Technology Review

It’s common to compare how many friends you have on Facebook with other people. But a more meaningful measure of your account’s worth is shown by Trove, a search engine that feeds on the entire history of your Facebook account to help you find useful bits of information. It tells you exactly how many items—status updates, photos, and more—you and your friends have uploaded and provides a search box that can trawl through every one of them. Google can’t do that, because it doesn’t make it possible for you to grant its search technology access to your Facebook account. Given the rivalry between Facebook and Google, it’s unlikely that will ever happen.

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/429547/a-startup-finds-a-better-way-to-mine-your/

by Tom Simonite, Technology Review

U.S. defense secretary Leon Panetta warned this week that successful attacks have been made on computer control systems of American electricity and water plants and transportation systems. Panetta didn’t give details about those incidents, but he said they showed that foreign nations or extremist groups could use such tactics to derail trains or shut down power grids. Computer-security experts say those claims are plausible—even if the scenario is not necessarily likely to happen—because of the outdated technology used to operate critical infrastructure.

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/429611/old-fashioned-control-systems-make-us-power-grids/

by ANTONE GONSALVES, ReadWriteWeb

Google and five publishers settled a long-standing legal battle over whether scanning university-library books and using snippets in search results can be done without the permission of copyright holders. While the agreement lets Google continue its work, both sides deliberately avoided tackling the issue at the heart of the conflict: What does fair use mean in the digital age?

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/google-publisher-deal-ignores-elephant-in-the-room-fair-use.php

By Jason F. Wright, NV Daily

For months I’ve wanted to write a piece about disconnecting myself from technology for 24 hours. The hurdle? Actually disconnecting myself from technology for 24 hours. I’m so dependent on my websites, email, Facebook and cellphone that I’ve doubted whether I could survive. What would I miss? Would I have withdrawals? Would my fingers glide across an imaginary phone and send imaginary texts to imaginary friends? My wife, the professional optimist, insisted I could do it and last week encouraged me to finally launch my technology-free challenge. The ground rules were simple: For just one day, from noon to noon, I’d have no cellphone, no computer, no television, etc. Though driving the car was a must, I would even keep the radio and iPod off.

http://www.nvdaily.com/lifestyle/2012/10/the-24-hour-technology-free-challenge.php

by JON MITCHELL, ReadWriteWeb

On August 8, Google showed off a new version of its main Search app for iOS that had the best voice interface I’ve ever seen on Apple’s platform. Google told us the app was not only finished, it had been submitted to Apple. Almost two months have passed since then. So where is it? Well, Apple doesn’t talk about these things, so all we know is that it isn’t out. Google’s PR response to questions like this is that “we’re working closely with Apple” on getting it released. There’s an obvious reason Apple would sit on this app. It competes with Siri. Siri goes out of its way to avoid searching Google, because Google would get tons of precious search data that way.

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/another-way-apples-fight-with-google-is-hurting-users.php

by San Jose Business Journal

Technology is brimming at college preparatory high schools in Silicon Valley. Classes ranging from computer science and engineering to multimedia and digital arts are providing students with exciting opportunities in experiential learning. Beyond structured classroom curricula, special-interest clubs and access to campus-wide technology are allowing students to discover the unlimited possibilities of tech-based studies.

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/feature/students-embrace-technology-at-silicon.html?page=all

By Ben Proulx, Sherwood Park News

Elk Island Public Schools has taken another step towards improved technology, with a wireless Internet pilot project through Bev Facey Community High School. Bev Facey currently has wireless available, but the new system will create a network more in tune to teaching and classroom work, according to principal Peter Barron, who said the current system is sporadic in coverage. “It really doesn’t have the needs we want to have,” he said. “We’re replacing it with a new system, so we’re going to run a stress test… and we’re going to ask all our students to bring in their devices and have experts on hand to sort of monitor how the wireless works when we light up the school. “We’re just going to turn on everything wireless here and see how well it works. If all goes well, then they’re going to roll it out to other schools in Elk Island.”

http://www.sherwoodparknews.com/2012/10/05/schools-embracing-wi-fi

by ScienceDaily

Tokyo Institute of Technology researchers use fMRI datasets to train a computer to predict the semantic category of an image originally viewed by five different people. Understanding how the human brain categorizes information through signs and language is a key part of developing computers that can ‘think’ and ‘see’ in the same way as humans. Hiroyuki Akama at the Graduate School of Decision Science and Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, together with co-workers in Yokohama, the USA, Italy and the UK, have completed a study using fMRI datasets to train a computer to predict the semantic category of an image originally viewed by five different people.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121005134328.htm

by the BBC

Facebook “likes” are being added to webpages even if a user has not clicked a like button, or even visited the page in question, the company has admitted. A US security researcher found that simply sending a web address to a friend using Facebook’s private messaging function would add two likes to that page. Leaving a comment on a story within Facebook also adds to the tally. The site told the BBC that no private information had been exposed. The revelations coincided with the news that the network has surpassed one billion monthly active monthly users.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19832043#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

By Darryl K. Taft, eWeek

IBM, SAP and others leaders in the big data world promote a TechAmerica Foundation report on boosting big data use in the federal government. Education and training are key to bringing the benefits of big data to the federal government, according to a group of industry leaders who recently met in Washington, D.C. Indeed, training the federal workforce about analytics and data science is central to tapping into big data, according to a new report released by the TechAmerica Foundation’s Big Data Commission. The report, “Demystifying Big Data: A Practical Guide to Transforming the Business of Government,” provides the government with a comprehensive road map to using big data to better serve the American people.

http://www.eweek.com/enterprise-apps/education-training-key-to-federal-big-data-adoption/

By Don Reisinger, eWeek

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs died a year ago. There have been no shortage of reasons why Apple, its customers and the IT industry have missed him. It’s hard to believe that it’s already been one year since Steve Jobs passed away after a long battle with cancer. At just 56, Jobs was a man who should have had many more years ahead of him to guide the company he founded and develop amazing new products. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Although it’s only been a year, all stakeholders in the IT industry are already feeling Steve Jobs’ death. Consumers wonder what might have been. Competitors are still wondering how they can match his level of insight, and there are some who question whether Apple is being led by a chief executive with sufficient creative vision to keep Apple at the forefront of its market. Simply put, there are quite a few things to miss about Steve Jobs.

http://www.eweek.com/mobile/steve-jobs-left-a-lasting-void-in-the-it-industry-10-reason-why/

By Darryl K. Taft, eWeek

The Sept. 30 deadline for the IPv6 government public-facing server transition has passed, and the U.S. government is behind, costing taxpayers down the road and inviting the potential for a network disaster. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently released results showing 58 percent of agencies had made little-to-no progress toward moving to IPv6 from IPv4. There are signs that the United States is leading the cause for IPv6 adoption, but with government agencies working with various countries lacking in IPv6 adoption, there are questions on network compatibility. One of the companies keeping a close eye on the move to IPv6 is Akamai Technologies. To date, more than 20 different government agencies have contracted with Akamai to help with the switch to IPv6 and to ensure their data and their networks are secure under the new protocol. Akamai handles more than 2 trillion Web requests a day, giving them a unique vantage point from which to assess IPv6 adoption and traffic levels. On World IPv6 Launch in June, Akamai tracked real-time traffic data, noting a 460-times increase in the number of IPv6 requests as compared to those received on IPv6 day the year prior.

http://www.eweek.com/networking/slideshows/ipv6-transition-key-dates-services-and-issues-for-the-move/

By Michelle Maisto, eWeek

AT&T, Oct. 4, filled three levels of a New York hotel penthouse with devices that could make a seamless transition from wrapping paper to boardroom. Pricing and dates are still to be determined in most cases, but all of the above will arrive in the coming weeks. This season, the event made clear, we can expect Microsoft devices aplenty. On display was Lenovo’s recently introduced Windows 8-running tablet with Intel inside and the ability to run legacy apps; the thin but expansive Samsung Ativ Smart PC tablet, which could no doubt stand in for a laptop; Nokia’s Lumia 920 and 820 and some of the accessories that will go with them; an Asus Vivo Tab RT, the first quad-core Windows RT LTE tablet; HTC’s Windows Phone 8X smartphone and more. For Android fans, AT&T will soon offer a 7-inch Lenovo tablet; Samsung’s Jelly Bean-running Galaxy Camera with 21x zoom; the LG Optimus G smartphone, which has the ability to fade the display to the point that one can see through a video to what’s happening on the home screen; the carbon-colored HTC One X+ smartphone and, James Bond’s phone of choice, the Sony Xperia TL.

http://www.eweek.com/mobile/slideshows/att-betting-on-windows-8-android-smartphones-tablets-this-fall/

By Robert Lemos, eWeek

Hackers allied with the Anonymous movement say they stole files from more than 100,000 accounts stored in poorly secured databases at high profile international universities. But security experts report the claims are exaggerated and the data losses limited. Universities and colleges are not known for their discipline in locking down computer systems. Good schools want debate to thrive and research to be unfettered. That means that academic departments frequently skirt the rules around information security. No wonder, then, that a group of hackers aligning themselves with the Anonymous movement had little trouble in compromising dozens of databases spread across more than 50 universities worldwide. On Oct. 1, the group, calling themselves Team GhostShell, published a list on PasteBin of archives of data allegedly stolen from major universities, such as Stanford University, Cambridge University, the University of Michigan, Tokyo University and the University of Zurich. The hackers claimed that they breached the servers to protest against the rising costs and declining standards of higher education.

http://www.eweek.com/security/anonymous-group-hackers-claim-top-universities-are-easy-targets/

by Tom Simonite, Technology Review

Inside a blocky building in a Vancouver suburb, across the street from a dowdy McDonald’s, is a place chilled colder than anywhere in the known universe. Inside that is a computer processor that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and the CIA’s investment arm, In-Q-Tel, believe can tap the quirks of quantum mechanics to unleash more computing power than any conventional computer chip. Bezos and In-Q-Tel are in a group of investors who are betting $30 million on this prospect. If the bet works out, some of the world’s thorniest computing problems, such as the hunt for new drugs or efforts to build artificial intelligence, would become dramatically less challenging.

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/429429/the-cia-and-jeff-bezos-bet-on-quantum-computing/

by Tom Simonite, Technology Review

This summer Google set a new landmark in the field of artificial intelligence with software that learned how to recognize cats, people, and other things simply by watching YouTube videos (see “Self-Taught Software”). That technology, modeled on how brain cells operate, is now being put to work making Google’s products smarter, with speech recognition being the first service to benefit. Google’s learning software is based on simulating groups of connected brain cells that communicate and influence one another. When such a neural network, as it’s called, is exposed to data, the relationships between different neurons can change. That causes the network to develop the ability to react in certain ways to incoming data of a particular kind—and the network is said to have learned something.

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/429442/google-puts-its-virtual-brain-technology-to-work/

by Rachel Metz, Technology Review

AT&T hopes to get businesses and consumers to subscribe to a new security service for their mobile devices. With malware becoming a genuine threat on smartphones, AT&T is hoping businesses—and eventually consumers—will be willing to pay for an extra subscription service to protect gadgets against viruses and malware with an app and a filtering service that runs on the carrier’s network. AT&T Mobile Security is being offered only to businesses for now, but next year the company plans to make it available to consumers, too.

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/429425/how-about-some-antivirus-with-that-smartphone/