First came the smartphone. All the rage in 2014?will be?smart watch and Google Glass. Have you ever heard of smart contact lenses?
Today, Google is launching a sensor system, a chip of some sort,?that can be put in a contact lens. It’s geared toward diabetes patients. It’s supposed to measure blood sugar/glucose?in the tears. It’s supposed to be a better alternative to the needle sticking and device monitoring. Now don’t go rushing to your drug store or your technology store looking for this potential smart contact lens. This is more of a publicity stint, showing the world it can be?done, for now. But they’ve already brought some lenses to the US Food and Drug Administration. Apparently, some at Microsoft have already been working on this for years.
I don’t care who is working?on it, I see a lot of great potential in this. If these lenses can help fight diabetes, which around 380 million people are diagnosed with worldwide, then bring it on. If it helps bring some comfort to those who have to stick themselves daily in the name of health, bring it on. Personally, I hope this gets out of the research stage and into the action stage sooner than later. If it ever comes to that, I hope this technology is used and not abused like some technology is. If you or a loved one was in need of a service like smart contact lenses, would you use them?
Remember what browsers and old school software used to look like? I’m having flashbacks of Oregon Trail and Commodore 64 right now. Now, there’s a movement to make that happen.
A society called the Internet Archive brings us Historical Software Archive. They’ve preserved software going as far back as the 1970s. Don’t worry about not functioning in 2013 with old school software. The Internet Archive runs Multi Emulator Super System (MESS), which runs smoothly with any other modern browser. Yes, many systems allow you to play vintage video games, but Historical Software Archive, in the eyes of most in the tech community, is a name we can trust. Plus, you can bring all old school software back, even games like Pitfall.
Too bad only 29 systems are available for Historical Software Archive. But more are coming. I wonder if professional write will be one of them (remember those days?) But some of these programs include Word Star Word Processing, Chess, Microsoft Adventure, Apple Presents, and the original Pac Man. I think this will be a fun thing to do. I was worried about how this would mess up my modern browsers because like all of you, I got stuff to do in 2013 and need 2013 technology to do it. It would be fun to get that reminder of how things were like back in the day. This can be an education process as well. Show the younger generation what it was back in the 20th century. I bet it will give them a new appreciation of what they have. Plus, it’s just fun to go back down memory lane. What’s your favorite software/game from the old days?
HTC is soon to release their One Max, a 5.9 inch smartphone that could pass as a tablet. The release date is unknown, some say October 15. Some say October 17. But some extra could come with this newly released device.
According to Chinese social media website Sina Weibo, the HTC One Max has a fingerprint scanner. They’re showing leaked images of the scanner with a missing back case. The scanner sits between the SIM slot and the camera. This has been confirmed by Verizon testers of the One Max. In fact, there are photos going around of this scanner by an avid Verizon blogger.
I know what many people are thinking. They copied this from Apple 5S. I must admit, there are similarities. But there are differences. The Apple 5S uses the thumb as a scanner. The One Max calls for the forefinger. You can use the 5S to unlock your screen and make Apple store transactions. To this day it’s not certain you can unlock the One Max screen with the fingerprint scanner. I highly doubt you’ll be able to make Apple Store purchases off of it. But if you can’t unlock your screen with One Max, then what good is it? So I don’t think this is copying. I think this is good competition on HTC’s part. Do you think fingerprint scanner will be a good selling point for the HTC One Max?
At a Microsoft Summit, Bill Gates didn’t limit his conversation just to Microsoft. He shared quite a bit of himself and what he thought of America and issues?education, science and the importance of giving.
Gates addressed the American crisis of education and where it stands. He pointed out we have the highest college drop-out rate of all first world nations. According to many articles, lower aspects of education aren’t doing much better. His Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has raised over $470 million dollars for educational matters. Gates is a huge advocate for online courses, and wants to do more so online education can reach it’s full potential.
Gates was very optimistic about computer science, claiming we live in the golden age of that field.??He believes most of us aren’t using Microsoft to it’s full potential; but to him, that’s where the excitement comes in. He looks forward to seeing how smaller and smaller devices can bridge the gap between what humans and machines can do. This?can get pretty scary of where we can go, but that’s just me. About philanthropy, Gates says, “It’s a work in progress”. Keep in mind the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is one of the largest non-profit organizations in the world. He credits billionaires like Warren Buffet for helping his charity. He also knocks US giving down a notch. Gates said that rich Chinese are more giving because there are many first generation millionaires out there. In other words, new money in China is having a huge impact on the non-profit scene.
Now comes the so what factor. Why do I even talk about what Bill Gates think? Obviously, he’s one of the most powerful men in the world. If you use anything Microsoft, you can thank Bill Gates for that. Not only is he one of the great businessmen and innovators of all-time, he’s one of the great philanthropist of our time. Is it really making a difference? Well at least he’s trying, unlike some billionaires out there who do nothing, except when it makes them look good (they know who they are). So when Gates speaks, people listen. I guess my only question is: Is he speaking the right things?
Hackers often get a bad reputation. And often times, rightfully so. But there are time when hackers try to do the good things, like wise up governments. Or at least, that’s what they want us to think.
Nations like Malta, South Africa and South Korea are hiring hackers to break codes for several reasons. One main reason is security. Smaller nations want to know what bigger and more powerful countries are up to. Unfortunately, it’s rumored the NSA has hired hackers to help them spy on us. Hackers call these zero days: coding flaws in software that can be bought by a competitor or rival. Not long ago, companies like Microsoft would buy them off, but now, who can turn down the offer of a national government? A few years ago, the US and Israel attacked Iran technologically with a computer worm called Stuxnet due to concerns over their nuclear program.
A former White House security advisor says, “Governments are starting to say, ?In order to best protect my country, I need to find vulnerabilities in other countries’.” The biggest zero days buyers are Israel, Russia,?Great Britain, and India. The Middle East nations?use these tactics also. Hackers can charge anywhere from $35,000 to $160,000?for these services. I know that may ?sound cheap, but just 10-15 years ago, many hackers would do this just for the?thrill.
So what to make of this? On one hand, maybe this is a good thing to keep other nations in check. But the more cynical side of me is looking at the darker side. What if these hackers secrets?lead to intense conflict? What if a?nation finds out something so destructive about another nation that it decides it has to…ahem…take action? I’d like to think these hackers have good intentions, but the?road to you know where?is paved with good intentions. So is?’zero days’ an instrument of peace or a weapon just waiting to happen?
Nuance the company that has brought you Dragon Naturally Speaking has added support for Android 4.0 otherwise known as Ice Cream Sandwich. The Swype feature that many people are using these days now includes the Dragon Go! software that is a free app in the Android Marketplace. It adds what has been called a Siri-like voice search functionality. You can just tap and hold the Dragon Go! button on the screen and ask a question like you do with Siri. Based upon reports I have read the Dragon Go! addition is very accurate just like Siri. It does pull the answers for you questions from different places like Google search, Yelp, Fandango and many more.
