SFGATE - Tech News

SXSW considers tech's role in society

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 22:51:00 GMT

Along with a look at loads of new hardware like 3-D printers and motion-sensing computer interfaces, 2013's South by Southwest Interactive put a focus on technology as a driver of social movements good and bad. The estimated 27,000 attendees of the annual five-day event, an outgrowth of the SXSW music and film festivals, were offered sessions on how government and hackers are joining forces, the role of social media in fostering free speech, and a warning from former Vice President Al Gore about some of the darker aspects of the rise of tech in everyday life. The civic hacking movement's increasing visibility is driven partly by the growing connectedness between people and their government, said Alexander Howard, a reporter who covers government and transparency for O'Reilly Media in Washington, D.C. Civic hacking also has found itself in legally questionable territory at times, Howard said, highlighting the recent suicide of Internet activist Aaron Swartz, who was facing an investigation into charges he stole data from a computer network at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Six Drivers of Global Change, which argues that the planet is being abused, technology is amiss and special-interest groups have control of the government. In a wide-ranging discussion, Gore touched on robo-sourcing, which is the replacement of human workers with machines, 3-D printing, cloning and genetic engineering. Near the end of the session, Mossberg turned to Gore's decision to sell Current TV to cable news network Al Jazeera for $500 million. Musk termed the Times' recent stinging review of his electric automobile company's Model S sedan - the facts of which he and the paper have publicly debated - a low-grade ethics violation. "Texas is the leading candidate, but we need certain legislation to pass that's supportive of space launch," Musk said, including provisions that would allow authorities to close the beach near the spaceport during a launch and protections from what he described as nuisance lawsuits.

Website of the week: Jerusalem.com

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 22:51:00 GMT

Whether you're planning a pilgrimage or can't travel at all, Jerusalem.com gives you guided virtual tours of this history-laden religious crossroads, including the Wailing Wall, the Holy Sepulchre, and the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque. The website also offers feeds of the latest Christian, Jewish and Muslim news, 3-D educational games and some online travel arrangements.

Chinese incubators growing in Bay Area

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 22:51:00 GMT

All these offices and labs are meant to house young companies eager to do business in China, and Chinese startups expanding to the U.S. The money flowing from China to buy U.S. properties and companies reached a record $6.5 billion last year, up 17 percent from a year earlier, according to Rhodium Group, a research and advisory firm. InnoSpring, a Santa Clara space whose backers include Chinese real estate developers, opened a few months earlier. Stanford connectionWang, himself a native of Harbin, in northern China, went to Stanford business school before starting his own health IT venture. About a year and a half ago, leaders from Hanhai, a privately held operator of five big business incubators in China, and zPark, a state-owned developer of the largest science and tech park in China, approached him about running a space for startups in the U.S. Xi Jinping, China's incoming president, and Vice President Joe Biden touted the deal during meetings in Los Angeles and Washington last year. [...] companies face risks doing business on the mainland, where the legal protections taken for granted in the U.S. and Europe don't exist.

Privacy audits required of Internet firms

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 22:51:00 GMT

The latest to submit is Path, the San Francisco mobile social network that last month settled accusations that its app collected personal information from user address books without consent. Compelling companies to implement rigorous privacy practices isn't a punishment, says Maneesha Mithal, associate director of the FTC's division of privacy and identity protection. "The real question is, will these companies stay out of the privacy hot water in the future," says Kurt Opsahl, senior staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights organization. Companies subject to audits usually hire a consulting firm, such as KPMG or PricewaterhouseCoopers, which sends in a team of privacy specialists to interview employees about their training, review procedures and check settings on security systems. The auditors also try to verify which partners have access to user data, a particularly tough job that sometimes requires checking financial transactions over the previous year, says Carolyn Holcomb, a partner in PwC's privacy practice. Voluntary audits can help companies learn whether their privacy programs meet acceptable standards - and help them avoid future problems with regulators or civil suits.

Airbnb soars, but CEO firmly on couch

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 22:51:00 GMT

Airbnb also has helped spawn the sharing economy, where people offer services directly to one another through online hubs. Matthew Inman, creator of the popular online comic the Oatmeal, raised $220,024 using Indiegogo in June for the National Wildlife Federation and the American Cancer Society as a way of drawing attention to the threat of a lawsuit from a website owner. Facebook, along with Google's search engine and Wikipedia's online encyclopedia, will still exist a century from now because their services gain momentum the more people use them, Milner said on the stage at SXSW. "All three have amazing network effects," said Milner, the co-founder and chief executive officer of Digital Sky Technologies. Milner was relatively unknown before his 2009 investment in Facebook, when the company was valued at $10 billion. [...] the value of the social network has grown more than sixfold and Milner has expanded his Bay Area portfolio with investments in Zynga, Groupon, Twitter and LinkedIn. The SXSW Interactive festival will live-stream to the public on its website ( www.sxsw.com/interactive) closing remarks by author Bruce Sterling and the SXSW Interactive Awards, hosted by actress and comedian Aisha Tyler.

Facebook COO opens women's initiative

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 22:51:00 GMT

[...] Sandberg says her focus remains on spurring action and progress among women. With "Lean In," Sandberg aims to arm women with the tools and guidance they need to keep moving forward in the workforce. In the book, Sandberg illuminates facts about the dearth of women in positions of power and offers real-world solutions. Women, Sandberg writes, make up only 14 percent of executive officers, 18 percent of elected congressional officials and 22 of 197 heads of state. Sandberg says it's only been in the last few years that she's started thinking seriously about the issues affecting working women.

Digital frontier mentality extends to guns

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 22:51:00 GMT

Three-dimensional printing is often seen as a key component for a new economy in which consumers simply "print" off products, rather than ordering them online or trudging through the aisles of the store. A Texas law student, Cody Wilson, used the SXSW showcase to present a new website, Defcad.com - a search engine designed to provide unfettered access to files that dictate 3-D designs. The site, he said, will provide an unrestricted channel to the designs of any potential product, from a hammer to a prosthetic limb. Called Defense Distributed, the Texas group is home to the "Wiki Weapon Project," an effort to develop files to print off weapons, such as assault rifles like the AR-15, the model used in the Newtown, Conn., massacre. The most common is a process called "additive printing" where a nozzle emits layer on top of layer of substrate - say liquid plastic or aluminum - and eventually constructs a new object. Companies that provide cheap DIY technology - including Arduino, which makes cheap circuit boards; Stratasys, which make 3-D printers; and Shapeways, which provide an Amazon-like market for 3-D-printed objects - have taken off. Defense Distributed has already printed off plastic components for assault rifles, including the so-called lower receiver, which houses the gun's critical machinery and is what the government tracks with serial numbers. In a moody YouTube video released in concert with his SXSW presentation, Wilson explains that the group is against all forms of copyright and intellectual property restrictions and regulation in all of its forms. Copyright holders can issue takedown notices if they feel their intellectual property is being infringed, by say, a copycat gun design.

Acquisition speculation swirls at Yahoo

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 22:51:00 GMT

TECHNOLOGY Plenty of speculation over which companies it might acquire Since Marissa Mayer came on board last summer as Yahoo's new chief executive, the tech community has (mostly) patiently watched as she's tried to right the ship of the Internet giant. Last week, the tech blog All Things D leaked discussions from Mayer and Yahoo's acquisitions chief Jackie Reses, in which Reses indicated the company was working on two "significant" acquisitions and perhaps a half-dozen smaller "acqui-hires" - the practice of buying up smallish companies for their engineering talent, not their products. Expanding roleOn Monday, the rumor mill ratcheted up a notch when an analyst at Wunderlich Securities argued that business reviews site Yelp and dining reservations site OpenTable were the likely targets for the two significant acquisitions, on the logic that Mayer has indicated Yahoo wants to become more integrated in the daily lives of consumers, expanding from its role as a media company. Opposition likelyEven as it suggested likely acquisition targets, the Wunderlich report also gave reasons why such pickups may not happen, pointing out that major investor Third Point - Yahoo's largest shareholder - likely would oppose a potentially dilutive acquisition.

Facebook 'likes' reveal plenty in study

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 22:51:00 GMT

When researchers crunched the "like" data and compared their results with answers given in the personality test, patterns emerged in nearly every direction. Since the study involved people who volunteered access to their data, it's unclear if the trends would apply to all Facebook users. The study found that Facebook likes were linked to sexual orientation, gender, age, ethnicity, IQ, religion, politics and cigarette, drug and alcohol use. "The prediction of personal attributes based on publicly accessible information, such as ZIP codes, choice of profession, or even preferred music, has been explored in the past," Facebook's Frederic Wolens said in a statement.

Google tablet software forecast to top Apple

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 22:51:00 GMT

Google's software will power more tablet computers than Apple's operating system for the first time this year as smaller, cheaper alternatives to the iPad gain favor with consumers, according to tech researcher IDC. Devices running Google's Android software will climb to 49 percent of the market in 2013, while Apple's share will slip to 46 percent, IDC said Tuesday. Machines introduced since the iPad's premiere in 2010 - including Google's Nexus tablet and products from Amazon.com and Samsung Electronics - are gaining ground with prices starting around $200, less than half the cost of the newest iPad model.

Microsoft silences Tay AI chatbot after it spouts Nazi hate

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 14:46:27 GMT

Microsoft has pulled the plug on its Tay Artificial Intelligence chatbot, which was designed to mimic Millennials, after it started to sound less like an 18-24 young adult and more like Joseph Goebbels.

Facebook Messenger app hides a secret basketball game feature

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 14:46:27 GMT

Facebook is apparently full of secrets.

Instagram to change up feed, will serve up popular posts first

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 14:46:27 GMT

Instagram will soon be falling in line with Twitter and Facebook.

More Americans bid pricey Silicon Valley goodbye

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 14:46:27 GMT

Are the cons of living in the Silicon Valley starting to outweigh the pros? A new study cites high housing costs and gridlock as reasons for a domestic exodus from the tech hub.

Costco to mail customers new credit cards as AmEx deal ends

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 14:46:27 GMT

If, like many Costco shoppers, you use a store-branded American Express card to pay for your 50-pound bag of rice, pallet of cat food or lifetime supply of athletic tube socks, expect a big change in June.

Gun disguised as smartphone hides in plain sight

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 14:46:27 GMT

A Minnesota startup has invented a smartphone-mimicking handgun that could potentially make police-suspect confrontations deadlier.

10-year-old kid finds flaw in Instagram, Facebook hands him $10k

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 14:46:27 GMT

A 10-year-old boy named Jani (whose parents withheld his last name) found a way to get Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's attention.

An Airbnb for parking offers SF spaces for up to $400/month

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 14:46:27 GMT

A parking version of Airbnb says that homeowners in San Francisco and other cities are making up to $400 a month renting out their unused apartment parking spaces, garages and driveways.

Startup workers have formed a fasting club so they can hack their own bodies

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 14:46:27 GMT

What's the first rule of fasting club? Talk about fasting all the time, apparently.

Couple to Comcast: Stop charging us for porn we didn't order!

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 14:46:27 GMT

An aggravated Florida couple cancels their service after Comcast insists they must pay for porn they never ordered.