Kind of a background
article...
How
To Bypass Internet Censorship
… I have mentioned
VPN and Tor as a workaround to most forms of Internet censorship.
However, I need to issue a caveat. Recent developments in China have
demonstrated that even VPN can be blocked. In late 2012, it
was widely reported that the Great
Firewall of China is now able to learn, discover and block
encrypted network traffic from several VPN systems (not all). China
Unicom, one of the largest ISPs in China, is now terminating
connections whenever an encrypted connection is detected.
I'd like to see the
algorithm used in this one...
– is the first app in
the world that automatically sorts the photos on your phone. You do
not have to manually label each and every one of them – Impala
“looks” into your images and videos and recognizes what’s
inside. For instance, Impala can recognize cats, sunsets,
beaches, and so on. Impala then automatically creates photo
albums and organizes your photos.
The more you know
(measure) the better you can plan. Something for my Statistics
students.
How
Long Can You Reasonably Expect Your Hard Drive To Last?
According to Backblaze,
about one in 20 hard drives fails in the first 18 months. The
failure rate drops to just 1.4 percent after this initial break-in
period, before jumping up to 11.8 percent annually after 3 years.
Beyond that time
period, though, Backblaze doesn’t have much data—they’ve only
been around and collecting this data for four years. Still the fact
that 74 percent of hard drives that they buy last longer than 4 years
strikes me as pretty surprising. It also makes perfect sense that,
as Backblaze points out, most available hard drive warranties are
either 12 or 36 months.
… As Backblaze
doesn’t have any hard drives that are older than its company it
can only estimate that, based on the data already collected, the
median hard drive life is about six years.
For my innovative
students (and a certain Foundation
running out of cy-près
Funds?)
– Launch your own
crowdfunding page without touching a line of code. Currently
invite-only, CrowdHoster is open-source, and therefore the code
can be viewed on GitHub. It includes a funding progress bar, sharing
links, and customizable content areas. Running more than one
campaign is also possible. Continue taking preorders even after your
campaign ends.
Okay students, sic 'em!
Google
Glass Explorer program waiting list quietly goes live
Google Glass is slowly
coming within reach of members of the general populace who aren't
developers, celebrities, or elite early adopters.
This week, as Google
rolled out a Glass
software update that adds a new command for listening to music,
the company also quietly put a new form online that
allows anyone to add themselves to a waiting list for the Glass
Explorer program.
Perhaps there will be a
market for 3D Templates of things other than guns?
MakerBot
wants to put a 3D printer in every US public school
MakerBot wants to put a
3D printer in every school in the United States, and it's drumming up
support from the industry and general public to make it happen.
While 3D printing, for
now, remains a gimmick to many, it garnered enough attention for
President Barack Obama to mention the emerging technology in his
recent State of the Union Address. He described 3D printing as
having the potential to "revolutionize the way we make almost
everything."
… The US government
is also supporting MakerBot's efforts. Tom Kalil, deputy director
for technology and innovation within the White House Office of
Science and Technology Policy, said in prepared remarks: "We all
need to think creatively about giving our young people the tools to
be 'the makers of things, and not just the consumers of things.'"
And once 3D printers
start rolling out to schools? MakerBot insists the devices won't be
expensive paperweights. The company is also launching Thingverse, an
online 3D digital design community where schoolchildren can design,
share, upload, and print designs of their own.
With the initiative
launching Tuesday, individuals and corporations can donate funds
using DonorsChoose.org,
a crowdsourcing site for teachers. Pettis wants those in communities
around America to contribute to their local schools. Meanwhile,
MakerBot is offering significant discounts to lower the price point
of the 3D printing machines.
What hath Apple
wrought?
Public
at last: Apple II DOS code that launched an empire
… In early 1978,
Apple signed a $13,000 contract with Shepardson Microsystems to
create the DOS.
… Now, thanks to
the help of the DigiBarn,
a vintage computer museum in Santa Cruz County, Calif., the Computer
History Museum in Mountain View, Calif., has
officially published the DOS source code for all to see.
According to Bruce
Damer, the founder and curator of the DigiBarn, Apple, which still
owns the code, gave its blessing for the documents to be made public.
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