Happy 10 years, Facebook!
I enjoyed making my own version of the “Look Back” video recently, AND watching many of my friends’ version of the same video.
I found this version, however, and it REALLY sums up my experience with you.
Apple and mobile payments
We take Visa, MasterCard and Apple
It’s something Apple’s been eyeing for quite some time, but the Wall Street Journal reports that they are laying the groundwork for their own mobile payment system.
Via Engadget: Apple is reportedly building a mobile payment service.
Via WSJ.com
Google wants to literally drive traffic to your business
Google was awarded a patent on a free cab service that could drive customers to advertisers.
If one of the biggest problems for Brick and Mortar advertisers is getting customers through the door, Google could at least help get them TO the door.
Via: Ars Technica
Project: Turn your smartphone into a microscope for about $10
There’s a good chance my kids will have Monday off as a weather day. Maybe a project like this can keep the education going.
“Let it Go” from Frozen – in 25 languages
Since my girls saw Disney’s “Frozen”, they haven’t stopped signing it’s impressive soundtrack.
Disney released a version of “Let it Go” edited from 25 language versions of the show.
Is it time to break Moore’s Law?
IN 1965, Intel co-founder Gordon Moore described a trend he saw in computing hardware. “Moore’s Law” indicated that the number of transistors on integrated circuits was doubling every couple of years.
(Or to put it plainly… computers will get exponentially faster).
This past week, Henry Samueli, CTO of Broadcom, indicated that that trend appeared to finally be coming to an end.
“The cost curves are kind of getting flat,” Samueli told reporters at an evening Broadcom event at the Tank18 wine bar in San Francisco’s trendy South of Market district. Instead of getting more speed, less power consumption and lower cost with each generation, chip makers now have to choose two out of three.
(Photo: Flickr)
3D Printed Pizza
It’s not quite on par with the food replicators from Star Trek, yet. But, a Spanish startup is working to bring the 3D printing “revolution?” to the kitchen.
Natural Machines looks to bring 3D printed food to market by the middle of 2014.
The machine holds five different capsules into which the operators/cooks can manually load different food items. Natural Machines will release its own recipes, though Kuscma also hopes Foodini will attract an engaged community of users who share their own 3-D-printed creations. No culinary or special technical experience is necessary to operate the device, which is expected to retail for somewhere around $1,300—a fairly steep price for a kitchen utensil, but on the cheaper side for 3-D printers.
via The Daily Dot
Photo: Flickr: rdpeyton
Tablets will make up half of PC sales in 2014
As desktop and laptop sales decline, tablet shipments accounted for 40% of the PC market in the 3rd quarter of 2013.
Forecaster Canalys is predicting that tablets will outship all other form factors, with an estimated 50% of the market, by the end of 2014.
This prediction compresses similar forecasts from the spring, pointing towards a 2015 market overtake.
The cost-favorable Android OS is expected to lead sales, with 32% of the market. Microsoft seems to have the most ground to cover with 5% of the market.
A critical first step is to address the coexistence of Windows Phone and Windows RT. Having three different operating systems to address the smart device landscape is confusing to both developers and consumers alike.
Via: Canalys
Spanish Physicians use Xbox for House Calls
A solution from Spain’s Basque country that is aimed at reducing healthcare costs.
The Teki telehealth system aims to reduce costs by enabling consultations to be carried out with a patient at their own home when the system, via the Xbox, is connected to the patient’s TV.
via: Computer Weekly
What teens are doing online (It’s not as cool as you think)
Teens don’t (Fill in the blank) anymore. They (Fill in the blank, again).
As the digital space seems more and more complicated, the usage habits of teens seem fairly simple.
They text, email and play games.
In a graphic from Statista, with information from the Family Online Safety Institute, 87% of teens age 13-17 sent or received a text message. A fairly large gap emerged once the questions got more platform specific. Buzz-worthy tools like Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat were all used by significantly less than half of the users.
