Technology

An organizer of the 18th Americas Conference on Information Systems (http://amcis2012.aisnet.org/) sent a CFP for a minitrack on Trust in Information Systems: A user’s trust and distrust in information systems [IS] are important components in the interactive relationship between users and their systems. A user has to trust a technology before the technology is adopted and fully used. While there is a rich literature on interpersonal trust, trust in information systems has been under-researched... I will not attend the conference, but I found the CFP thought-provoking. Trust is something…

Cellebrite, a developer and manufacturer of mobile forensic solutions, has rejected claims in the recent WikiLeaks "Spy Files" exposé that it is among companies that develop and supply equipment to governments and dictators "to spy on their citizens via mobile devices and computers."   The WikiLeaks page referring to Cellebrite states, "The Spy Files (open) thousands of pages and other materials exposing the global mass surveillance industry."  Cellebrite states, "We absolutely refute the WikiLeaks "Spy Files" claims. Even a cursory glance at our company material will make it…

Kinect for Xbox 360 has an update coming today that brings voice control to living room entertainment.   They are launching an all-new Xbox 360 experience including the first group of new, custom applications from world leading TV and entertainment content providers on Xbox LIVE.   You Say It, Xbox Finds It  How long does it take you to search and find your favorite movie or TV show? Do you find yourself searching hundreds of channels and multiple services and TV inputs? What if the entertainment you craved was simple, discoverable and exactly what you wanted at…

I don’t understand, sometimes, how people put together their web pages. Who really thinks that, say, pink text on a red background looks good? Seventeen different typefaces on one page? A background image that makes people’s eyes cross? One can argue that those are all matters of taste, and, after all, à chacun, son goût. And anyway, those things are easy enough to fix: one can apply a custom style sheet right in the browser, and override all those size and color and font and background things that were specified in the web page. There are instructions and “bookmarklets” floating around on…

New robot alert! New robot alert! It's an adorable cross between Gumby and a starfish. Go watch the video right now. Now, none of the authors of the paper are marine biologists, so I can't expect them to know that this description: A soft robot, composed exclusively of soft materials (elastomeric polymers), which is inspired by animals (e.g., squid, starfish, worms) that do not have hard internal skeletons. is technically not quite true. Worms at least don't have hard internal skeletons--A+ for that. Squid do have a stiff pen that keeps their mantle straight and gives their muscles…

The navigation system in my car has an anti-theft feature that’s interesting, in that it relies entirely on a sort of herd immunity. The system is installed in the car’s dashboard, so it’s somewhat involved to pull it out. Easy for a pro, to be sure, but I mean that it’s not like one of those that sits on top, and one can just grab it and run. When it’s first powered on after installation, the owner has the option of setting a password. If a password is set and the unit is ever disconnected from the battery, as it would be if it were stolen (or, of course, when the car battery is replaced…

Energy harvested from insects may take the utility of miniature cyborgs to the next level. Researchers say they can now harvest the insect's biological energy from either its body heat or movements, and the device converts the kinetic energy from wing movements of the insect into electricity, thus prolonging the battery life. The battery can be used to power small sensors implanted on the insect, such as a small camera, a microphone or a gas sensor in order to gather vital information from hazardous environments. A spiral piezoelectric generator was designed to maximize the power output by…

New Scientist tells us about Facebook’s analysis of the “friend” relationships in their social network. “Only four degrees of separation, says Facebook,” goes the New Scientist headline. Here’s their summary: A few months ago, we reported that a Yahoo team planned to test the six degrees of separation theory on Facebook. Now, Facebook’s own data team has beat them to the punch, proving that most Facebook users are only separated by four degrees. Facebook researchers pored through the records of all 721 million active users, who collectively have designated 69 billion "friendships" among…

I am sure it is old news to most if not all of Science 2.0's readers that NASA recruited Vint Cerf to help adapt Internet technology to space mission communications in 2000; and that they successfully tested a new protocol in 2008. I have no doubt that the engineers can put together a pretty reliable interplanetary network. Still, systems have a way of growing beyond their designers' expectations. For example, earlier this year we made a big fuss about how the pool of available IPv4 addresses has finally been exhausted. Vint Cerf announced recently that he would like to see the entire world…

Sheesh, it isn't even Thanksgiving but companies are already advertising Top Ten Lists?  When will it end?  There are still 37 shopping days until Christmas but The Sunday Times already has its top ten gadgets of 2011 list up. Compiled by their technology panel, the results will also be featured in the inaugural Tech List supplement within the main newspaper this weekend. To coincide with the launch, consumer research was conducted looking at gadget and technology trends together with spending plans this Christmas.  Topping The Sunday Times Tech List's best gadgets of 2011 -…