In The News

Google's Vint Cerf Warns of “Digital Dark Age”

Pallab Ghosh February 18, 2015
Creators of all types, whether in businesses or universities, rely on computers for storage of countless documents and images. But computer hardware and software quickly become obsolete, warns Vint Cerf, a Google vice president, and many items could be lost before their value is even recognized. Users often neglect to make backup files, and viruses could destroy documents, too. “Vint Cerf is...

China’s IPhone 6 Craving Leads to Fistfight in Connecticut

Doni Bloomfield September 25, 2014
Companies can drive global hype with a slow release of a new product. The iPhone 6 is assembled in China, but consumers in that nation may have to wait months for the device to appear on store shelves. Enterprising traders in the United States see an opportunity to snap up phones for resale in China at four times the price or more, but some stores limit sales per customer. Traders accrue a large...

Google to Spread the Web With $1 Billion Worth of Satellites

Kris Holt July 4, 2014
Google is in a hurry to extend its reach and connect the world to the internet by installing a fleet of satellites. The company that started by providing a popular search engine is investing in a range of other technologies, including alternative energies and driverless vehicles. The company also aids internet use with Project Loon, a network of high-altitude balloons, quick to build and...

US Secret Service Wants Sarcasm-Detection Tool for Twitter

Sophie Curtis June 23, 2014
Understanding the tone and trends of social media is essential in the modern world. The US Secret Service monitors the short, fast messages in search of security targets and has put out a request for proposals on a software system that can analyze social-media data with the ability to "detect sarcasm and false positives," reports Sophie Curtis for the Telegraph. “As well as detecting...

IT-Savvy Army Takes Modi’s Campaign to New Levels

Victor Mallet May 19, 2014
Candidates who gain the early support of young workers in the IT and finance industries can distribute their messages far and wide. High-tech projectors and satellite dishes allowed Narendra Modi, now India’s prime minister-designate, to address more than 100 simultaneous meetings each night. “The nationwide deployment of 10-foot high holograms of Mr Modi – requiring scores of shipping containers...

Sharing NHS Data Saves Lives

Jeremy Farrar January 15, 2014
Governments increasingly promote digital health records to ensure better tracking of individual patients and public health trends. A dilemma has emerged about who controls such data: Some argue that healthcare funded by taxpayers should be subject to review; others focus on patient privacy. Writing for the Telegraph, physician Jeremy Farrar explains how children are rarely used in randomized...

US Tech Firms Look Abroad for Engineers

Kim Gittleson June 27, 2013
US tech companies have long complained that most slots in some US university math and tech programs are filled by foreign students, many of whom cannot stay in the country to work. The US reserves 65,000 H-1B visas for workers deemed “highly skilled” – covering not just engineers but teachers, telemarketers and outsourcing staff – and another 20,000 for foreigners with graduate degrees. Conducted...