Emojis are fun, and funny, and that’s why we use them. That’s why I thought I used them. But is it possible we use yellow faces because we actually have yellow bellies when it comes to getting real? Have emojis stripped us of our ability to use our words when we’re, you know, feeling things?… Read more »
Posts Categorized: App Economy
How I survived my two-week digital diet
No Smartphone. No Google. No Twitter. No texting and no music — except for a Walkman. Source: Toronto Star Date: October 21st, 2016 Link: https://www.thestar.com/life/technology/2015/11/13/how-i-survived-my-two-week-digital-diet.html Discussion 1) Is there anything a company could learn from this non-tech experience? 2) Why, or why not, would you be able to do this too?
Is that app you’re using for work a security threat?
When cybersecurity firm Imperva asked one of its banking clients how many apps it thought its staff were using, the firm estimated between 75 and 100 in total. The figure was actually closer to 800. Why does this matter? Source: BBC Technology News Date: October 18th, 2016 Link: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-37541594 Discussion 1) “Cloud-based apps often gain access to the… Read more »
Are killer bots about to do away with smartphone apps?
Is the smartphone app doomed? To look at the stats you wouldn’t think so: Apple has two million of them in its App Store and Google Play has a few hundred thousand more than that. Total app downloads have passed the 150 billion mark. But some are wondering whether apps are about to be replaced… Read more »
Researchers play No Man’s Sky like an archaeological dig
Reinhard and a team of 18 scientists and researchers dove into No Man’s Sky when it launched on Sony PlayStation 4 and PC, treating it like an archaeological site, only one built with columns of code instead of columns of marble. Reinhard calls this “archaeogaming,” or the study of archaeology inside a video game’s world. Source: CBC News Date: September 27th, 2016 Link: http://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/no-mans-sky-archaeology-1.3768986 Discussion… Read more »
Alberta pot producer launches mobile app to buy medical marijuana
Need some medical marijuana? There’s an app for that. An Alberta-based pot producer has launched a mobile app to make it easier for patients with a prescription to purchase federally-regulated medicinal weed. Cam Battley, of Aurora Cannabis, said the idea was to give customers the same service as giant online retailers such as Amazon. Source: CBC Date: September 15th,… Read more »
How I caught my online scammer – and Facebooked his mum
A cybersecurity researcher living in Austria who was scammed out of $500 says his money was returned after he tracked down the scammer’s family and contacted them on Facebook. Source: BBC Technology Date: September 14th, 2016 Link: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-37348014 Discussion 1) “He had decided to accept payment in the digital currency as he thought it would be less of… Read more »
Embrace new transit technology or else, U of T study says
A new report urges southern-Ontario cities to partner with Uber and other “shared mobility” services to improve transit Source: The Toronto Star Date: August 30th, 2016 Link: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/08/19/embrace-new-transit-technology-or-else-u-of-t-study-says.html Discussion 1) ““Shared mobility” is the term used to describe the current shift away from personal ownership of things like bikes and cars toward shared use of those resources though… Read more »
Google Cloud Chief Diane Greene: Here’s How We’ll Catch Amazon And Microsoft
Diane Greene, senior vice president in charge of cloud and enterprise at Google. The onetime cofounder of VMware, a pioneer in what’s now known as cloud computing, heads Google’s enterprise and cloud businesses, seen by many as its next big business beyond advertising. Appointed last November when Google bought her startup, the senior vice president… Read more »
Microsoft Excel blamed for gene study errors
Microsoft’s Excel has been blamed for errors in academic papers on genomics. Researchers trying to raise awareness of the issue claim that the spreadsheet software automatically converts the names of certain genes into dates. Gene symbols like SEPT2 (Septin 2) were found to be altered to “September 2”. Source: BBC Technology News Date: September 1st, 2016… Read more »