Google Maps tackles deforestation with new views of the world's woods
I haven't witnessed the devastation of the Amazon, but I've been fortunate, or unfortunate, enough to travel through the American Northwest, a place where "clear-cutting" ran rampant in the 80's. Today's laws have somewhat subsided that practice, but the Oregon and Washington areas are a small sample size on a vast, global scale.
Now Google Maps takes on the issue that faces everyone today -- we need the space, though less-so the paper, and certainly need the oxygen produced. The search giant has put together a new mapping program that is tracking the forests around the world -- or the dwindling numbers of them.
Microsoft portrays Surface 2 buyers as idiots
In its new "honestly" commercial, Microsoft shows us a man who has just purchased a Surface 2. "This deal was way too good to believe", says the happy purchaser, with a bag tucked under his arm. "Instead of paying too much for an iPad, I got this Surface 2", he adds, before telling the camera it comes with Office (a Surface commercial that mentions that? Amazing!) and Outlook, free Skype calls to over 60 countries, and 200 GB of cloud storage ("others charge for that").
He’s clearly happy with his purchase, so I don’t want to burst his bubble, but I’m going to anyway.
How to mimic quiet hours on your Windows Phone
Audible notifications coming from mobile devices can be annoying in some situations, as they can distract us and bother others. Being informed of a new message on Facebook or a reminder to start playing a game again are some things we can postpone knowing about in the middle of the night or an important business meeting. Some companies offer a feature on their devices that allows users to mute sounds during a certain period of time.
Apple offers this under the name Do Not Disturb on its devices, while some Android vendors and Microsoft refer to it as Quiet Hours. Even though Windows 8.1 offers such a feature, Windows Phone has yet to see a similar implementation. But, fret not, as quiet hours can be brought to the tiled smartphone operating system via third-party apps.
Nokia Lumia Icon -- unboxing and first impressions
Windows Phone, we meet again. I have a love/hate relationship with Microsoft's Mobile OS. You see, I love using it -- particularly the social media integration with Facebook and Twitter. The glance and go philosophy of the platform really appeals to me. I want a smartphone to blend into my life and not dominate it. However, I am heartbroken by the lack of apps, most notably, Google's.
And so, here I am with the Nokia Lumia Icon and I am very excited. This shouldn't be too surprising though, as I declared the Lumia 928 to be my favorite smartphone of 2013, despite the lack of apps. So, what do I think of the Icon? Read on for my impressions.
Bing Health & Fitness launches in beta on Windows Phone
Microsoft is expanding its collection of Bing apps on Windows Phone with the addition of Bing Health & Fitness. The offering, that debuted on Windows 8.1 last year, is meant for "Microsoft testing purposes only", but is available to download for other users as well, provided they want to eat healthy and stay in shape.
"The Bing Health & Fitness app helps you stay on top of health and fitness trends and provides the tools you need to support a healthy lifestyle. Designed for Windows Phone, the Health & Fitness app brings together great fitness, nutrition and health content, along with trackers, tools and other features", says the app's description. Now let's take a look at its features.
Mark Shuttleworth concedes -- Ubuntu Linux to use systemd
Ubuntu is a wildly popular Linux distribution. Heck, it is probably the most well known distro. However, it is also based on Debian. While Canonical undoubtedly puts a lot of work into its operating system, many of the components are developed by others, including the Debian and Gnome communities -- it is a team effort.
Canonical has not exactly been a team player. If you recall, last year the company announced it was not using the Wayland display server in support of its own, called Mir. This angered many in the Linux community. With that said, Mark Shuttleworth, Canonical founder, shocks the open-source world by conceding in his fight against systemd. Yes, he announces that Ubuntu will abandon upstart as a result of systemd being selected by the Debian technical committee.
VoIP service Viber snapped up for $900 million
The world of VoIP services is one packed with various names bustling for attention. One of the biggest names in the game is Viber, which started small but grew impressively as it spread across platforms -- now it has grown to the point that it is deemed worthy of handing over $900 million. At least that is the view of Rakuten, the Japanese firm behind Play.com and the Kobo eReader that agreed to part with this not insubstantial sum of money for an outright purchase of Viber Media Ltd.
With around 280 million registered users, Viber could be quite a money-maker for Rakuten who explained that the service has a "rapidly growing numbers of users, especially in emerging countries". With its fingers already in various online pies -- ebooks, shopping and streaming media through Wuaki.tv -- Viber represents yet another string to Rakuten's bow as the company "aims to be the global number one internet services" provider.
Facebook separates sex from gender
A person's genitals do not define their gender. At least that is what some people believe. As a trained Sociologist, I accept that forces beyond biology define how a person identifies. In other words, a person may identify as a man, despite having female reproductive organs. Maybe they identify as something else altogether.
Like I said, not everyone believes this, but quite frankly they do not have to. Regardless of your comfortability with transgender people, they exist, they have feelings, and they live their lives. However, they face adversity in many facets, including social media. Today, Facebook takes a huge step towards equality in addressing the difference between sex and gender.
TV show uncovers lost 'Steve Jobs time capsule' after 30 years
Time capsules are a cool idea, and they're something many of us put together at school. A box, tin, jar or other container to house keepsakes, momentos, favorites things and other objects that capture the zeitgeist. After 1983's International Design Conference in Aspen, Colorado, the organizer decided to create a time capsule on a larger scale -- a 13 foot pipe that looked a little like a torpedo. Into it were a range of goodies from attendees and presenters. Steve Jobs threw his Apple Lisa mouse and the capsule was dubbed the Steve Jobs Time Capsule.
The plan was to unearth it in the year 2000 -- that iconic year that was seen to hold such promise and power before it arrived -- but it was lost thanks to a combination of landscaping, poor memory and a lack of mapping. The TV show Diggers brought the capsule above ground for the first time in 30 years back in September, but video footage of the excavation has only just been released.
2013's malware trends reveal non-Windows systems face greater threats
Threats to Mac OS X, Linux and Android systems have increased over the past year as the malware landscape has evolved.
This is among the findings of Russian antivirus company Doctor Web which has released its annual overview of threats. Other trends include an increase in the number of programs designed to display annoying ads and a surge in the number of Bitcoin and Litecoin mining trojans.
Radio Search Engine rocks
Growing up in Northern Maine, where the winters are long and the nights bitterly cold, I obsessively listened to the radio. During darkness, AM signals skip hundreds, sometimes thousands, of kilometers. WRKO in Boston, 650 km south, back when the station played music, was a fav -- and WKBW in Buffalo, N.Y. My passion for radio led me to hitchhike, at 17, with a friend to the Federal Communications Commission office in Boston to test for a Third Class license. I would need one to be a radio disc jockey. I flunked, so we hitchhiked a second time. Success!
My radio passion remains. Before the Internet, I used a Grundig Shortwave receiver to listen to news and cultural programs from around the world. Many worldband stations are silent now, choosing to stream on the Internet instead. Domestic radio remains popular, however. For example, according to new Nielsen data released last week, 242 million Americans listen to radio, which reaches more than 90 percent of every age group. Sixty-five-million Americans 18-34 years old listen to radio, spending an average 11.5 hours each week. That's right. The Pandora generation.
Russia implements an outright ban on Bitcoin
You might think that Russia has just about enough on its plate at the moment, what with having the Winter Olympics to host and fending off global accusations of homophobia, but the Central Bank of Russia has found the time to slap a ban on Bitcoin. This is not the first country to outlaw the online currency -- it's something that has already been done by Thailand and it's being considered by others.
The General Prosecutor of the Russian Federation looked into "the so-called virtual currencies" phenomenon and found that there was a risk of Bitcoin being used for money laundering. The damning ruling refers to Bitcoin and other similar currencies as "money substitutes". Citing Article 27 of the Federal Law, the General Prosecutor said that "the official currency of the Russian Federation is the ruble", going on to say that money issued in other forms is prohibited.
Microsoft wants your friends, family to embrace Windows 8.1 and finally ditch XP
Being the go-to tech support guy for my family and some friends usually means I am asked to do a clean install of the operating system and software on their PCs. It does not happen often, but when it does I make sure they are on the latest available versions. This is because there is a lesser chance of malware infections, and developers ensure updates for many years to come. (That being said, I have yet to subject them to Windows 8.x, but that day may come as well.)
Microsoft knows it has many customers who also provide tech support for friends and family, so the software giant is now urging them to move everyone they know away from Windows XP, as support for the old operating system is soon to end, by upgrading to Windows 8.1. In part, this is a sound piece of advice as there are still too many Windows XP users out there who may have to face massive problems due to the lack of software updates. (If my experience is of any indication, those who provide tech support may face massive headaches when attempting to fix those problems, but that is another story).
Apple succeeds where Sony couldn't
There are OMG events, and Sony's selling its PC business surely is one of them.
"It's an historic moment", Roger Kay, Endpoint president, says. "The company Steve Jobs looked up to as the paragon of style leaves the industry he helped found, driven off, at least in part, by him".
BT unveils Android smartphone -- but it's not a mobile
BT has introduced a 3.5-inch touchscreen smartphone that runs on the Android 4.2 Jelly Bean operating system, but it's designed to be used in the home.
The Home SmartPhone S comes with 2GB expandable memory for storing music and photos, a front-facing camera and Wi-Fi connectivity. Facebook and Twitter are pre-installed and you can download further apps via Google Play and Opera mobile store.
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