Posts By: David Firth

iPhone – a moment in history

Posted by & filed under Apple, IT and History.

Ten years ago Steve Jobs of Apple launched the very first iPhone in San Francisco. Source: BBC News Date: January 11, 2017 Link: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-38550016 Discussion This is a really interesting historical article about the launch of the very first iPhone.

The Dumb ‘Smart’ Gear That Someone’s Gonna Hack in 2017

Posted by & filed under Consumer Technology, Cybersecurity.

A collaboration between beauty company L’Oreal and generally solid tech upstart Withings, this Wi-Fi hair brush (yes, you read that correctly) has an onboard microphone (again, yep) that listens to hair as you brush to identify hair issues. Simultaneously, various sensors count brush strokes, measure brushing patterns, and determine how much pressure you’re applying to your… Read more »

What Trump’s presidency means for Silicon Valley

Posted by & filed under IT and Politics.

Silicon Valley is built on big bets about the future. Now it must grapple with a big political bet gone wrong.  A collective shock spread through the tech industry on the night of the U.S. election (early November) as founders, executives and investors realized that something they’d thought to be nearly impossible had happened: Donald… Read more »

Facebook Is Recycling Your Likes To Promote Stories You’ve Never Seen To All Your Friends

Posted by & filed under Ethical Issues, FaceBook.

Facebook is now recycling users’ Likes and using them to promote “Related Posts” in the news feeds of the user’s friends. And one more thing, the users themselves have possibly never seen the story, liked the story or even know that it is being promoted in their name. Source: Fortune Magazine Date: January 3rd, 2017 Link: http://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonykosner/2013/01/21/facebook-is-recycling-your-likes-to-promote-stories-youve-never-seen-to-all-your-friends/#2b6cc6e05777 Discussion… Read more »

Here’s What Happens to Tech in 2017

Posted by & filed under App Economy, Consumer Technology, Emerging Technologies, Internet of Things.

A Thousand Tech IPOs Will Bloom – 2016 was a dismal year for IPOs—the slowest IPO market we’ve had since the recession. But that’s likely to change in 2017.  The Internet of Things Will Die – Last September, some malware took control of millions of internet-connected devices, including security cameras and DVRs, and launched an attack that… Read more »

Microsoft’s Old-School Database Was the Surprise Software Hit of the Year

Posted by & filed under Big Data, Database, microsoft.

DON’T CALL IT a comeback, but Microsoft’s database software may be seeing a resurgence. According to research conducted by the Austrian consulting company Solid IT, Microsoft SQL Server’s popularity grew faster than any other database product the company tracked on its DB-Engines site during 2016. Source: Wired Magazine Date: January 4th, 2017 Link: https://www.wired.com/2017/01/microsofts-old-school-database-surprise-software-hit-year/ Discussion 1) You might… Read more »

‘Messenger always gets shot’: Hackers say the Canadian government doesn’t want their help

Posted by & filed under Cybersecurity.

In Canada, the government appears to still have no formal policy or public guidelines, which makes it difficult for those who do find flaws to know what to do, or how the government might respond.  “There’s no formal process,” says Imran Ahmad, a partner at the law firm Miller Thomson who works with clients on cybersecurity… Read more »

Could your unused space make you money?

Posted by & filed under App Economy.

When he split up with his girlfriend, Anthony Paine needed to store his stuff somewhere fast.  As he shut the door of their flat for the final time, the irony struck him that there must be lots of people with space to spare nearby, if only he could connect with them.  So he and his… Read more »

Yahoo: How do state hackers break in?

Posted by & filed under cyber war, Cyberforensics, Cybersecurity.

Yahoo has revealed that login details for up to one billion accounts have gone missing.  The massive breach was discovered while it investigated a separate attack that had compromised data on about 500 million accounts. Yahoo said it suspected a state-sponsored attacker was involved in both thefts.  How can it be sure? Source: BBC Technology News Date: December… Read more »