Articles about Digital Lifestyle

A handful of London residents unwittingly agreed to give up their first-born child when signing in to a public Wi-Fi hot spot as part of an experiment carried out by the Cyber Security Research Institute.

A "Herod clause" was included in the T's and C's, which promised free Wi-Fi if "the recipient agreed to assign their first born child to us for the duration of eternity".

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Facebook has issued an apology to "drag queens, drag kings", and the LGBT community for forcing users of the social network to reveal their real names or face having their pages suspended. The social network also bowed to pressure, saying that users will not necessarily have to use their real names in the future. Chris Cox, Facebook's Chief Product Officer, made a statement in an online post that admits the negative response to the policy "took us off guard". Why the sudden interest in real names? It seems that one person may have been to blame.

Facebook caused something of a storm of controversy recently when it forced many users to reveal their real names. Large groups of people were affected by this, but it was a number of drag artists who were most vocal in their complaints -- numerous petitions and campaigns, including #MyNameIs, started up. While it was drag queens who hit the headlines, Facebook's sudden enforcement of its long-standing real names policy also affected performers such as musicians -- fans and friends were confused when seemingly new people appeared in their friend list. Despite the backlash Facebook faced, the social network stuck to its guns, remaining adamant that the policy was here to stay, and dismissing complaints out of hand.

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I preordered Apple's new smartphone on September 12, and it wasn't easy. Few months back, I went "Microsoft All-In" for the summer, purchasing the Nokia Lumia Icon on contract from Verizon. So I didn't qualify for the discounted, upgrade price. But when there's a will, there's a way -- and a generous family member helps make something special happen.

My iPhone 6 review begins with such disclaimer. Like iPad Air, I paid for the device. Apple didn't send me a review unit, but I did ask, and I am not on the preferred list of writers who get early access to "iDevices" and who presumably are more likely to rave. Such qualification is necessary, because iPhone 6 is an exceptionally satisfying handset, and I don't want to be mislabeled fanboy for stating such. That's a brash conclusion coming from someone abandoning a competing smartphone with better specs and satisfying user experience.

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This year's Ryder Cup in Scotland is one of the most technologically advanced golfing events, thanks to the introduction of Radio Frequency Identification Technology (RFIT).

Spectators receive a special wristband with their tickets which allows them to take part in various activities around the course, such as the BMW car display, the Ryder Cup Experience with Standard Life Investments and the 'Walk the Course' competition from Active Scotland.

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http://youtu.be/1jzHcXZFJMw

Microsoft has created a four-foot high interactive art installation for Seattle's Decibel music and arts festival.

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Pickpockets targeting contactless payments are set to multiply following the decision by Transport for London to roll out the technology to London Underground stations and Bitdefender has outlined a number of precautions to take.

The company has detailed the different types of attacks that could take place including skimming, eavesdropping, hacked terminals, replay attacks, and cross-contamination.

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Intel’s wireless charging bowl is on track to be released by the end of the year with the company still tight-lipped on how much the revolutionary device will end up costing.

CEO Brian Krzanich confirmed as much during a speech at MakerCon in New York when he said that the device will be "on the market right around the end of this year," according to CNET.

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Not so very long ago virtual reality was the stuff of science fiction but it's increasingly emerging into the real world.

A new infographic produced by collaboration specialist PGi explores the current state of virtual reality and the possibility that it will soon be appearing in the world of work.

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Twitpic will no longer close on 25 September as the photo sharing service has found a buyer. There's not yet any word on who is behind the acquisition, but the takeaway news is that photos should be safe as Twitpic will live to fight another day.

Just a couple of weeks ago, founder Noah Everett posted the news that Twitpic was to close following something of a legal tussle with Twitter. But things have taken a turn for the better. After users scrabbled to download their images to ensure they were safe, it now transpires that the service is not going anywhere.

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The use of technology within the sporting world is extensive. Players on the pitch or court, or in the pool, make the most of sports science in their diets and training. Strength and conditioning equipment is state-of-the-art, with some of the biggest names in professional sport investing huge sums of money in training facilities.

Even the kit worn by athletes uses technological innovations to provide every advantage possible. For teams, an inch or a split second can prove vital and kit needs to reflect this.

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New analysis shows that the increase in the average Internet speed over the past five years is generally much smaller in politically divided states than in states controlled by a single party.

Democrats and Republicans both have stats to point to when touting their policies about high-speed Internet, but just because America’s two biggest political parties have had individual success with their high-speed Internet policies, doesn’t mean they’ve learned how to work together.

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How do you view BetaNews and other websites? While desktop browsers are still the most popular way of accessing the web for most of the world, mobile internet use is rapidly gaining in popularity.

According to independent website analytics company StatCounter, the use of mobile devices to access the internet has increased by 67 percent worldwide over the past 12 months, from 17.1 percent to 28.5 percent (as you might expect, with its tech-savvy audience, BetaNews has a higher portion of mobile users, but more on that later).

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News Corp, Rupert Murdoch's media behemoth, is the latest source of criticism of Google. Robert Thomson, the chief executive of the company -- responsible for the Times and the Sun in the UK as well the book publisher HarperCollins -- has written to the European Commission to complain that the search giant is "a platform for piracy". Thomson pulls no punches as he lays into Google, saying that the company was in the hands of a "cynical management" and was "willing to exploit its dominant market position to stifle competition".

The letter, addressed to Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia, is bitter in tone as Thomson complains of Google's "egregious" practices. It is Google's dominance of the search market that is seen as particularly problematic. News Corps feels that Google's power "increases with each passing day" -- a claim that many have leveled at Murdoch's corporation in the past -- and fears that this "will lead to a less informed, more vexatious level of dialog in our society". But this is far from being the only accusation that Thomson fires at Google.

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I’m a big fan of fitness apps and wearable gadgets -- anything that can help make working out more interesting and fun is a big plus in my book, which is why I love apps like Zombies, Run! and Superhero Workout.

I’m not alone either -- one in four smartphone owners use a device to track health, diet or exercise, and fitness apps are among the fastest growing niches in the app market, rising by 49 percent in 2013.

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The use of technology in sports has historically been a contentious issue. "Video reviews will slow down the game" and "unfair advantage" are some of the complaints that get thrown at sporting bodies the world over when technology comes under scrutiny. Just look at the controversy with full-body swimsuits being banned in Olympic swimming. In this case records were broken, but so were rules.

Sport is big business. The latest European football transfer window only closed after £835 million ($1,356 million) was spent by British Premiership clubs. That's the highest spend ever seen within the league. Football clubs operate like any other business, meaning that cash flow and business documentation are vital processes. With so much money, hundreds of jobs and scrutiny from millions of fans worldwide reliant on actions on and off the pitch, things needs to run as smoothly as possible. That's why I believe that clubs need to embrace digital technology off the pitch. However, what about technology on it?

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