Standard-Examiner

Big Brother ... uh, Google, is watching your every move

Last updated Sunday, February 5, 2012 - 7:24am

Google last week announced that it would combine data from all of a user's activities across all its products -- like Gmail, Calendar and YouTube -- to provide a "better" online experience. Same data, but analyzed in different ways. Google included an example in an email to customers:

You're on the way to a meeting. Traffic seems to be slowing. A text comes in: "You're going to be late. Take the next exit for alternate route." It's from Google.

"That's not something I want my computer telling me. It's creepy," said Kurt Opshal, senior staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit digital rights advocacy organization based in San Francisco.

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Hackers shut down website for Utah police chiefs

Contributed The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, January 20, 2012 - 4:25pm

SALT LAKE CITY -- A group of computer hackers protesting the shutdown of a popular file-sharing service have attacked the website for the Utah Chiefs of Police.

Computers, Hackers, Police, Utah, Utah Chiefs of Police Read more Comments

Computer brain implants may help paralyzed move again

Erin Allday San Francisco Chronicle

Last updated Wednesday, December 28, 2011 - 1:12pm

It sounds like science fiction, but scientists around the world are getting tantalizingly close to building the mind-controlled prosthetic arms, computer cursors and mechanical wheelchairs of the future.

Researchers already have implanted devices into primate brains that let them reach for objects with robotic arms. They've made sensors that attach to a human brain and allow paralyzed people to control a cursor by thinking about it.

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A few hacker teams do most China-based data theft

Lolita Baldor The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, December 12, 2011 - 8:01am

WASHINGTON — As few as 12 different Chinese groups, largely backed or directed by the government there, commit the bulk of the China-based cyberattacks stealing critical data from U.S. companies and government agencies, according to U.S. cybersecurity analysts and experts.

Computers, Espionage, Hackers, Theft, International Read more Comments

Stanford engineers develop device to speed up computers

David Perlman San Francisco Chronicle

Last updated Thursday, December 1, 2011 - 1:42pm

Stanford University engineers report they have developed a device for computers that can send information over light beams faster than anything yet achieved, while consuming far less energy.

Business, Computers, Research, Stanford University Read more Comments

(MANUEL BALCE CENETA/The Associated Press) Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates participating in a panel discussion at the State Department in Washington. A trial accusing Microsoft of antitrust violations resumes in federal court in Salt Lake City Friday Nov. 18, 2011 with the software giant asking a judge to dismiss an the case brought by Utah’s Novell Inc.

Gates to testify in $1B lawsuit against Microsoft

Paul Foy The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, November 21, 2011 - 7:46am

SALT LAKE CITY — Microsoft’s Bill Gates was set to testify Monday in a $1 billion antitrust lawsuit accusing the software maker of duping a competitor prior to its rollout of Windows 95.

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Erin Hooley/Standard-Examiner
Shayna Johnson (left), 10, and Abby Morton, 11, of Wasatch Elementary School, try to complete a mission with their Lego robot at Hill Field Elementary School in Clearfield on Saturday.

Legos aren't just a toy for students building robots

April Hale Standard-Examiner

Last updated Saturday, November 12, 2011 - 9:05pm

CLEARFIELD -- For eighth-grader Carson Crook, building Lego creations is a means to an end.

"I want to be an aeronautical or computer engineer," he said. "(The FIRST Lego League) is experience with computers and building stuff."

Crook, a member of the FIRST Lego League (FIRST: For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) at North Davis Junior High School, participated in a clash of robot skills against teams from Wasatch and Hill Field elementary schools.

Education, Engineering, Computers, Hill Field Elementary, Legos, North Davis Junior High School, Robots, Utah, Wasatch Elementary School, Featured Read more Comments

Novell, Microsoft fight over Windows 95

The Associated Press The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, October 19, 2011 - 9:25pm

SALT LAKE CITY -- High-tech industry giants Novell Inc. and Microsoft Corp. are in a Salt Lake City courtroom, squabbling over fair business practices.

Business, Bill Gates, Computers, Technology, Utah Read more Comments

Child porn producer accused of abusing 8-year-old

Loretta Park Standard-Examiner

Last updated Thursday, October 13, 2011 - 10:52pm

FARMINGTON -- A 33-year-old Bountiful man, currently serving a federal prison sentence for production of child pornography, is now accused, in connection with the same case, of sexually molesting an 8-year-old girl for more than a year while he was her baby sitter.

Crime, 2nd District Court, Attorney General, Baby-sitting, Babysitter, Child Abuse, Child Pornography, Computers, Courts, Utah Read more Comments

(KERA WILLIAMS/Standard-Examiner) David Ferro sits in his office at Weber State University in Ogden recently. He is the new dean of the College of Applied Science & Technology.

New WSU dean's vision: Realize possibilities for people, economy, society

Nancy Van Valkenburg Standard-Examiner

Last updated Tuesday, October 11, 2011 - 11:11pm

OGDEN -- David Ferro doesn't just want to build a better computer program, electronic design, automobile, interior design or construction-management model.

Weber State University's new dean of the College of Applied Science & Technology wants to build his students into better people who possess those cutting-edge skills.

Education, Engineering, Automobiles, Computers, Economy, Employment, Higher Education, Jobs, Sales, Teaching, Technology, Utah, Weber State University, Featured Read more Comments

(Courtesy image) This is an X-ray of the Antikythera mechanisim, a calculator constructed in about 100 B.C. The bronze, geared device was recovered by divers off the coast of Greece in 1901. “It had astronomical signs, and it may have been used to calculate days of the year and solar and lunar eclipses,” says David Ferro, the dean of Weber State’s College of Applied Science and Technology.

WSU dean links ancient wonder to computers of the modern age

Nancy Van Valkenburg Standard-Examiner

Last updated Thursday, October 13, 2011 - 7:46am

OGDEN -- David Ferro's mission, if he chose to accept it, was to link the Antikythera mechanism, a calculator constructed in about 100 B.C., to the modern computers of today.

Computers, Event, Technology, Utah, Weber State University, Featured, History Read more Comments

This screen shot taken from apple.com shows a tribute to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who died Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2011. "We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today," the company said in a brief statement. "Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve." (AP Photo/Apple.com)

Steve Jobs, Visionary, 1955-2011

The Associated Press

Last updated Thursday, October 6, 2011 - 9:26am

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(Los Angeles Times) Steve Jobs 1955-2011

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs left global imprint

Jordan Robertson The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, October 5, 2011 - 9:37pm

CUPERTINO, Calif. -- Steve Jobs, the Apple founder and former CEO who invented and masterfully marketed ever-sleeker gadgets that transformed everyday technology, from the personal computer to the iPod and iPhone, has died. He was 56.

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(M. SPENCER GREEN/The Associated Press) In this photo taken Thursday, Sept. 8, 2011, Marc Lazar, autism specialist for Aspiritech, a nonprofit enterprise that specializes in finding software bugs, works with employee Alan Sun, as they test a new program in Highland Park, Ill. Aspiritech hires only people with autism disorders. Traits that make great software testers intense focus, comfort with repetition, memory for detail also happen to be characteristics of autism.

Company hires adults with autism to test software

Carla K. Johnson The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, September 21, 2011 - 6:55am

HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. — The software testers at Aspiritech are a collection of characters. Katie Levin talks nonstop. Brian Tozzo hates driving. Jamie Specht is bothered by bright lights, vacuum cleaners and the feel of carpeting against her skin. Rider Hallenstein draws cartoons of himself as a DeLorean sports car. Rick Alexander finds it unnerving to sit near other people.

Business, Autism, Computers, Software, Testing, National Read more Comments