Jun 30 2011

Skype on Android

Category: AndroidTeknovis @ 18:41

I just read that Skype video calling is now available on Android in Skype video calling comes to Android smartphones.

Actually, I am surprised that has not been available before now!

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Jun 29 2011

Fall in Online Child Pornography Detections

Category: InternetTeknovis @ 18:34

From Fall in online child pornography detections:

There was a significant drop in internet child pornography detected in Ireland last year according to a report by Hotline.ie.

… and …

Hotline.ie’s General Manager Paul Durrant said this showed the public was encountering less illegal content online and measures being taken by the industry and law enforcement agencies were successful.

Hmmm…. I suspect that this is really due to improved techniques for concealing content :o


Jun 23 2011

Lytro’s Disruptive Technology Camera

Category: Digital Imaging,HardwareTeknovis @ 17:42

Today I heard about Lytro, and the new camera that the company is developing based upon capturing something called the light field. For more information see Lytro, the Astonishing Camera Start-Up, Celebrates Its Splashy Debut (Video) and Meet the Stealthy Start-Up That Aims to Sharpen Focus of Entire Camera Industry (the clickable images in the later article are fascinating).

It is interesting that Lytro has decided to build the cameras rather than sell the technology. I wonder are the current leading camera manufacturers worried!

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Jun 20 2011

Merging Word Documents

Category: WindowsTeknovis @ 18:30

Somebody recently showed me how to merge Microsoft Word documents that have been reviewed by several different people! See Merge comments and changes from several documents into 1 document and Compare and combine documents in Word 2007.

I could have saved so much time if I had know this for the last six months!

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Jun 17 2011

John Wilder Tukey

Category: People,SoftwareTeknovis @ 16:30

Recently I read a fascinating story about the origin of the bit and software:

Tukey is also credited in the “Annals of the History of Computers” as the person who, in 1946, coined the word “bit”, a contraction of “binary digit”, the term describing the 1s and 0s that are the basis of computer programs. Tukey suggested the shorter “bit” to computer experts at AT&T Bell Laboratories, where he was a researcher. “Bit” was easier on the tongue than the other possibilities they were considering, such as “binit” and “bigit”, so it stuck. Twelve years later, Tukey came up with the word “software” to describe the programs on which electronic calculators ran, first using it in a 1958 article he wrote for American Mathematical Monthly.

The source of this is Patent Law for Computer Scientists by Closa, D., Gardiner, A., Giemsa, F., Machek, J.

For more information see John Wilder Tukey.


Jun 15 2011

Google’s Clould Versus Apple’s Cloud

Category: Cloud ComputingTeknovis @ 13:44

I came across this concise summary of the differences between Google‘s Cloud Computing approach and Apple‘s Cloud Computing approach: Apple cloud vs. Google cloud: The philosophical differences.

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Jun 14 2011

Mobile Phone Based In-Game Payments

Category: Business,mPaymentsTeknovis @ 10:03

I read Irish start-up to revolutionise in-game payments at E3 last week, and I was quite impressed. Well done!

My only reservation would be that SMS feels like a fading technology to me, but perhaps it can succeed with the intended target audience!

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Jun 13 2011

iOS 5

Category: Android,iPad,iPhone,TelecomsTeknovis @ 17:15

There was lots of talk about Apple‘s announcement of iOS 5 last week. For an overview of the new features read See new features included in iOS 5.

The most interests aspects are:

I am not an iDevice user, but I am becoming more impressed :)

Finally, Google Android vs. Apple iOS: Handicapping the 2011 death match gives a good comparison of iOS and Android.

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Jun 12 2011

Financial Times on an iDevice

Category: Internet,iPad,iPhoneTeknovis @ 19:00

When Apple recently announced that it was going to start taking a share of revenue on purchases made within applications on iDevices (yes – I made that name up) I thought that this would accelerate the move to HTML5 web apps.

The first significant player (at least that I am aware of) made the leap this week! The Financial Times! For more details read FT Bypasses Appleā€™s iTunes, Launches HTML5 Web App (Free Access First Week), and to download the app go to The new FT app for iPad and iPhone.

I really wonder if Apple has got the strategy wrong with this!

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Jun 10 2011

Irish Maths Standards

Category: Second LevelTeknovis @ 15:03

The first of the two final state maths exams that students do at the end of their second level schooling is in progress right now. Apparently, there are fewer students doing the highest level of maths than ever before: Leaving Cert honours maths uptake hits record low – report.

Welcome to the knowledge economy Irish style – a place where maths is not important!

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