Showing posts with label Technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Technology. Show all posts

Friday, April 15, 2016

We Need to Found a Culture of Inclusion in Silicon Valley

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Newsweek recently published a special edition featuring "The Founding Fathers of Silicon Valley" on its cover. Its fallacies are glaring: everything from the "boys' club" of seven white men featured on its cover to the fact of Mark Zuckerberg's inclusion on the list with Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and others. No one would argue that Zuckerberg "founded" this Valley in any way -- except, it seems, Newsweek.

Before I offer up the "Founding Mothers" whom I'd have included on that cover, let's point out the obvious: everything in Silicon Valley is still a boys' club. Everywhere from venture capital companies to their boards to corporate boardrooms to workspace layouts all the way down to hoodie culture screams "maleness." And who's a better poster child for that, in many ways, than Elon Musk, founder of Tesla and SpaceX, among other companies? Musk's first start-up was Zip2, a software company he co-founded with his brother, Kimbal. Right now, I am listening to "Elon Musk," a book about him by Ashlee Sanders, and it describes how Elon and Kimbal lived during their founding of Zip2: by sleeping in their office and using the showers at the local YMCA. Elon slept on a beanbag chair, would wake up in the morning when someone else would show up in the office, and then would go right back to programming. A woman is highly unlikely to do that, as we tend to value personal hygiene (and, I hope, having a life outside of work) much more than these brothers must have. The boys' club cult of high-tech entrepreneurs prizes that non-stop, non-lifestyle, life-at-work, though. Of course, no matter how he got there, Elon Musk deserves a prominent spot at the helm of any piece on successful foundership. If we're going to call him a founding "father," though, shouldn't we also call out the "mothers" too?

Writing this post on "equal pay day" -- the day that marks how much farther into the year women have to work than men to achieve equal pay -- is poignant. Women get less recognition and get paid less not necessarily because it's intentional but because it's unconscious on both sides. I've written about unconscious bias in hiring recently and note that this unconscious bias sustains and pervades women's whole careers. It ultimately leads to a self-selection process that pushes women out of tech leadership and leaves us with fewer women to feature on our Newsweek covers. One example of how this happens hit close to home via a good friend: she's a CIO, and her CEO shared with her that their Board was very concerned about the fact that she might be retiring soon. She is in her late fifties, in great health, is a workaholic, and has no plans to retire any time soon. Would her Board be expressing these same concerns about a man? No way!

Many CEOs do lip-service concerning women's advancement in tech, but who actually is doing something about the many problems in the way of that advancement, from this boys' club culture to equal pay to how it's all presented in the media? I had high hopes for women leaders like Marissa Mayer, but look how her own motherhood panned out alongside her work: she built a nursery and moved her baby into her office. To me, that's not much different from Elon sleeping in his own. While the line between work and home is not the line between men and women, it sure seems so when there aren't allowances for the values of each space for those of both genders. (Let's not lose sight of the fact that a lot of men don't want to sleep in their office, either.)

Sometimes, I try to offer up possible solutions to these very real problems facing women's advancement in tech, from the dangers of the glass cliff to how to survive and thrive in tech and more. As a woman tech leader, I feel it's my duty to help open doors through which other women can pass. But I've often wondered why more male leaders aren't as concerned as I am, and why they're not calling out these problems too out of concern for gender diversity in their workplaces. It's my hope that covers like Newsweek's latest gaffe make it harder and harder to avoid the in-our-face problem that not only aren't women lasting or advancing at a fast enough rate in tech, but also that there are plenty of talented women in tech who aren't getting their deserved recognition.

To that end, who would I have recognized on this Newsweek cover? At the very least, I'd add the very first programmers, the women who programmed ENIAC, including Jean Jennings Bartik. She is undoubtedly a "Founding Mother." Other founders of note include Julia Hartz of Eventbrite, Anne Wojcicki of 23andme, Sarah Leary of Nextdoor, and Adi Tatarko of Houzz. Who might you add?

Lastly, I'd be remiss if I didn't call out Newsweek for its own sexism directly. Newsweek let us know once before what it really thinks of women, and they've reinforced that sexist message on their latest cover. Shame on them. The women of Silicon Valley -- and women everywhere -- deserve equal and respectful treatment by major publications. It's high time they shine the spotlight away from the outdated boys' club model and onto some folks like these women I listed who are changing the culture of in Silicon Valley into a more inclusive one.

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Is personal data the same as personal property?

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In the recent announcement of Microsoft suing the US Government over data requests.
has it come to this following the Apple versus FBI case is a reflection of the state of antiquated laws that were mostly drawn up in the end of the 18th century and the race of the new digital technology economy that have rendered these obsolete.

Is personal data the same as property ownership?

The key issue is if the definition of personal data is the same as personal property ownership? In a common law defined back in 1790 the question is whether data ca or cannot be 'owned' the way property is dependent on the type of data used. There is past legal example in the Google versus perfect 10 starting in 2006 where Google was sued for copyright violation by Perfect 10 for indexing their photos posted on unauthorized websites. The case ruled partially in favour of Google being allowed to continue search listings but not to create thumbnails from the data. It remains unclear how owns data beyond just copyright violations in law.

The objection from Microsoft is raising the bar of legal objection for being blocked from telling data owners that their data has been accessed by a government. Citing this as a violation of the fourth amendment right for a person to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures. There remains a contradiction in the need to get access for public safety and national security and the lack of trust generated by the Edward Snowden revelations and Julian Assange wiki leaks over the purpose of surveillance and the huge rise in cyber threats.

Need for Separate custody and access rights control

In a world where our personal data is held on mobile devices, smart payment cards and trusted to cloud services on social media sites and widely used by those cloud companies from 'opt-in' for marketing and other commercial use. Who is authorized to access your personal data if the rise of strong encryption such as the recent WhatsApp message security prevents direct access for legitimate legal reasons?

A way forward is perhaps in the separation of custodial rights of personal data from the permissions of that data. If the rise in new laws demanding access to data is met with more encryption by technology companies then new methods need to evolve to manage access rights that are better than just public and private security encryption 'keys' used today. New personal data services will evolve to track and better enable people to manage their data while maintaining security and privacy. If personal data is personal property then this may need a new way to add 'secure doors in the front and back' to look after this data.

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KFC Deletes Incredibly Dumb NSFW Twitter Fail

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What were you thinking, KFC?

The fast-food giant went below the belt in a stupidly saucy tweet Friday, then got chicken and took it down an hour later, Adweek reported.

Double entendres and obvious sexual imagery are usually a bad recipe for a family-friendly chain. But that didn't stop KFC in Australia from serving up this gem (as shared by a Twitter user): A guy looks suggestively at his crotch while a woman reaches over. The caption reads: "Something hot and spicy is coming soon."

Viewers, like this Twitter user, had buckets of fun clucking about KFC's marketing doofus-ness.

The brand quickly yanked its message and apologized. ...

"I applaud and salute u colonel," one Twitter user responded.

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You Haven't Seen A 'Game Of Thrones' Map Like This Before

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Only little birds usually enjoy this view of Westeros.

HBO has unleashed an immersive version of the mechanical map that starts each "Game of Thrones" episode. At any point, you can pause and take a look around using your cursor. Check out the view from King's Landing, the frozen Wall or the godswood of Winterfell while the main title theme lodges itself into your brain. 

With less than two weeks until the premiere of Season 6 -- and, finally, the answer to Jon Snow's fate -- take a minute to reacquaint yourself with the Seven Kingdoms and what lies outside.

Just don't look up as you pass under the statue in Braavos.

"Game of Thrones" Season 6 debuts on HBO April 24 at 9 p.m. EST.

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Online Dating Is Rife With Sexual Racism, 'The Daily Show' Discovers

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On Tuesday’s episode of “The Daily Show,” correspondents Jessica Williams and Ronny Chieng took a humorous yet hard-hitting look at a form of bigotry not often discussed: sexual racism.

“Racism affects nearly every aspect of life, even -- and it truly pains me to say this -- f**king,” host Trevor Noah said as he introduced the segment.

Williams and Chieng specifically looked at how some groups, like black women and Asian men, faced undue discrimination in the world of online dating.

“There is kind of a systemic racial bias pretty much in every dating site I've ever looked at,” Christian Rudder, co-founder of OKCupid and author of the dating statistics book “Dataclysm,” told the duo. “We found that 82 percent of non-black men have some bias against black women… And Asian men get the fewest messages and the worst ratings of any group of guys.”

Isn’t it OK to have preferences when it comes to finding a partner?

As “The Daily Show” segment explained, the discriminatory behavior exhibited by many online daters appeared to stem not from "preferences" at all, but from deep-rooted stereotypes evident in statements like, “[you’re] pretty for a black girl” or in outrageous assumptions such as all Asian men having small penises.

In an outtake posted to social media, Williams and Chieng shared other offensive comments made on online dating profiles with writer Zach Stafford.

“Vanilla or spice, no chocolate or rice,” read one, with “chocolate” being a reference to black people and “rice” being a reference to Asians.

"People really like using food to talk about their racism," Stafford quipped.

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Astronaut Tim Peake Is Ready To Run The London Marathon From Space -- And You Can Join Him

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Come April 24, British astronaut Tim Peake, along with approximately 38,000 other runners, will be attempting the 26.2-mile London Marathon.

The only difference is, Peake will be running the race about 250 miles above everybody else -- in space.

Aiming to be the first man to run a marathon in space, Peake has been preparing for the big day for months. In an Associated Press interview published this week, the 44-year-old astronaut, who has been living on the International Space Station since December, said he’s now ready for race day. 

“It's a great challenge that I set myself, and I'm quite glad this is happening later on in the mission,” he told AP.

Peake is no stranger to long distance running; in 1999, he completed the London Marathon in 3 hours 18 minutes 50 seconds. 

Attempting the same distance in zero gravity, however, comes with a whole new set of difficulties.

“One of the biggest challenges I’ll be facing is the harness system,” he told The Guardian in December. “It has a waistbelt and shoulder straps. That has to provide quite a bit of downforce to get my body on to the treadmill, so after about 40 minutes, that gets very uncomfortable.”

“I don’t think I’ll be setting any personal bests,” he added. “I’ve set myself a goal of anywhere between 3:30 to 4 hours.”

Though Peake will be the first man to run a marathon in space, he’s not the first human to do so.

That accolade belongs to NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, who completed the 2007 Boston Marathon while on the ISS. She ran the race in just under four and a half hours.

However, as The Guardian points out, Peake’s marathon experience will be quite different from that of Williams: He’ll actually get to run virtually on the streets of London, and will have the opportunity to interact with his fellow competitors on Earth.

Peake will be using RunSocial, an app which allows runners to watch interactive, “mixed reality” videos of actual courses while on the treadmill.

As he runs, he'll be able to see an avatar of himself running at a corresponding speed along the London course. He’ll also see the avatars of other runners who are also using the app. 

If you want to run with Peake, you can join him for a training run using the RunSocial app (free, but currently only available for iPhones and iPads). You can also run the entire London Marathon with the spaceman on April 24. Find out how here.

As for how you'll spot Peake among the thousands of participants at the race -- his avatar is hard to miss.

He's decked out head to toe in a European Space Agency flight suit: 

According to the AP, several European Space Agency and U.K. Space Agency representatives -- who have dubbed themselves "Team Astronaut" -- will be competing in the London Marathon to, as they put it, "share in a little of Tim's pain."

Team Astronaut and Peake are running the marathon for the U.K. charity Prince's Trust.

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How Ashton Kutcher And Guy Oseary Built A $250 Million Portfolio With Startups Like Uber And Airbnb

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Ashton Kutcher, one of the world’s highest-paid TV actors, can obviously afford that most essential of Los Angeles celebrity luxuries: a car and driver. But he still prefers Uber. “We’re going to go to Warner Bros.,” he dictates, as we hop into a black Chevy Tahoe with Kutcher’s business partner, music manager Guy Oseary, in Beverly Hills. “So we’ll go to Moorpark and then hit the 101.”

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Thursday, April 14, 2016

Verizon Strike Causes Delays For Customers Around U.S.

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - A one-day-old strike by nearly 40,000 Verizon Communications Inc employees is causing equipment installation delays for new Internet and TV customers, a Verizon executive acknowledged on Thursday.

Workers of Verizon's Fios Internet, telephone and TV services from network technicians to customer service representatives walked off the job on Wednesday in one of the largest U.S. strikes in recent years after contract talks between unions representing them and the company hit an impasse.

The company, which is focusing on repairs and service for its existing customers, said networks were running well.

"We do have a bit of a delay," said Tami Erwin, Verizon's Group President - Consumer and Mass Business Sales and Service, said. "We're working hard with customers to prioritize repair above activations and provisioning because we owe that to our existing customers."

In a week or two the company should be able to do new installations, she said. It normally has about 30,000 to 35,000 of them each week, with over 30 percent of customers opting to do a self-installation.

The strike affects service across several U.S. East Coast states, including New York, Massachusetts and Virginia, but does not extend to the company's wireless operation. Union representatives and Verizon said on Thursday no talks were scheduled so far.

Verizon has said it had trained thousands of non-union employees over the past year to ensure no disruption in services. The unions, however, say that replacement workers do not have the necessary expertise, especially in highly technical jobs such as equipment installations.

The company has deployed about 20,000 non-union workers to fill in for union workers, said Bob Mudge, president of Verizon’s wireline network operations.

"We'll continue to ramp from that," Mudge added. "We're going to work seven days a week."

Verizon and the unions have been in contract talks since last June; the sticking points include healthcare, temporary job relocations, pensions and offshoring call center jobs.

A day after the strike started, there were a handful of customer complaints on Verizon's customer service website related to Internet outages and a no-show after a scheduled installation appointment.

(Reporting by Malathi Nayak; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)

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Microsoft Fights U.S. Government Over Data Requests

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Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) has sued the U.S. government for the right to tell its customers when a federal agency is looking at their emails, the latest in a series of clashes over privacy between the technology industry and Washington.

The lawsuit, filed on Thursday in federal court in Seattle, argues that the government is violating the U.S. Constitution by preventing Microsoft from notifying thousands of customers about government requests for their emails and other documents.

The government’s actions contravene the Fourth Amendment, which establishes the right for people and businesses to know if the government searches or seizes their property, the suit argues, and Microsoft's First Amendment right to free speech.

The Department of Justice is reviewing the filing, spokeswoman Emily Pierce said.

Microsoft’s suit focuses on the storage of data on remote servers, rather than locally on people's computers, which Microsoft says has provided a new opening for the government to access electronic data.

Using the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), the government is increasingly directing investigations at the parties that store data in the so-called cloud, Microsoft says in the lawsuit. The 30-year-old law has long drawn scrutiny from technology companies and privacy advocates who say it was written before the rise of the commercial Internet and is therefore outdated.

“People do not give up their rights when they move their private information from physical storage to the cloud,” Microsoft says in the lawsuit. It adds that the government “has exploited the transition to cloud computing as a means of expanding its power to conduct secret investigations.”

SURVEILLANCE BATTLE

The lawsuit represents the newest front in the battle between technology companies and the U.S. government over how much private businesses should assist government surveillance.

By filing the suit, Microsoft is taking a more prominent role in that battle, dominated by Apple Inc (AAPL.O) in recent months due to the government’s efforts to get the company to write software to unlock an iPhone used by one of the shooters in a December massacre in San Bernardino, California.

Apple, backed by big technology companies including Microsoft, had complained that cooperating would turn businesses into arms of the state.

"Just as Apple was the company in the last case and we stood with Apple, we expect other tech companies to stand with us," Microsoft's Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith said in a phone interview after the suit was filed.

One security expert questioned Microsoft's motivation and timing. Its lawsuit was “one hundred percent motivated by business interests” and timed to capitalize on an increase in customer privacy issues spurred in part by Apple’s dispute, said D.J. Rosenthal, a former White House cyber security official in the Obama administration.

In its complaint, Microsoft says over the past 18 months it has received 5,624 legal orders under the ECPA, of which 2,576 prevented Microsoft from disclosing that the government is seeking customer data through warrants, subpoenas and other requests. Most of the ECPA requests apply to individuals, not companies, and provide no fixed end date to the secrecy provision, Microsoft said.

Microsoft and other companies won the right two years ago to disclose the number of government demands for data they receive. This case goes farther, requesting that it be allowed to notify individual businesses and people that the government is seeking information about them.

Increasingly, U.S. companies are under pressure to prove they are helping protect consumer privacy. The campaign gained momentum in the wake of revelations by former government contractor Edward Snowden in 2013 that the government routinely conducted extensive phone and Internet surveillance to a much greater degree than believed.

Microsoft’s lawsuit comes a day after a U.S. congressional panel voted unanimously to advance a package of reforms to the ECPA.

Last-minute changes to the legislation removed an obligation for the government to notify a targeted user whose communications are being sought. Instead, the bill would require disclosure of a warrant only to a service provider, which retains the right to voluntarily notify users, unless a court grants a gag order.

It is unclear if the bill will advance through the Senate and become law this year.

Separately, Microsoft is fighting a U.S. government warrant to turn over data held in a server in Ireland, which the government argues is lawful under another part of the ECPA. Microsoft argues the government needs to go through a procedure outlined in a legal-assistance treaty between the U.S. and Ireland.

Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) is fighting a separate battle in federal court in Northern California over public disclosure of government requests for information on users.

The case is Microsoft Corp v United States Department of Justice et al in the United States District Court, Western District of Washington, No. 2:16-cv-00537.

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Avoid Faux Pas on Snapchat by Following These Rules

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What are some things to avoid doing on Snapchat? originally appeared on Quora - the knowledge sharing network where compelling questions are answered by people with unique insights.

Answer by Sabrina Li, 7000 pts +, on Quora:

To me, avoiding sharing sexually explicit content goes without saying. That said, here are some tips on how to make your Snapchats more enjoyable and get the fun interactions started.

If you're new to Snapchat, make sure you add some friends/family that are already snapping or coerce your friends/coworkers into joining. If you are friends with someone who's really active on the platform, you'll get some fun ideas of what you can do and what is standard. (You can also try to follow celebrities stories to get an idea if you don't have friends at first.)

If you're not comfortable sending selfies to begin with, try sending photos/videos of little things that you think are a bit humorous/or you're proud of. To give you an idea, my friends and I snap photos of funny signs we see in public or meals that we've cooked (proud moments of recent college grads). You can also show off the weather to friends who live farther away -- East Coasters are always jealous of 70 degree snaps in the winter!

Got your first friend? Make sure to be responsive to their snaps they send to you. This might seem like a burden at first, but if you don't respond to at least some of their messages - they'll feel like you're not interested in what they're trying to share. Mutual commitment to trying is key! If you don't respond, you'll slowly be pushed off their top list for friends who do respond to them. Responses don't have to be photos; you can also reply by chat.

Also, don't make a rookie mistake and screenshot everything they send. Especially if the photo was a selfie, some people can get a bit uncomfortable. Snapchat is meant to be transient, people don't expect their shared moments to be relived. If they're your best friend they might not take it as seriously - just be cautious for the first few snap conversations. Don't set the tone as the friend who will always screenshot and rub it in their faces later on.

Little tips:

  • Avoid snaps that are too short, especially if you took the photo in landscape. Aim for something like 6 seconds.
  • If you're shooting a video, try to make the action happen in the first half. Videos on snapchat can be quite long.
  • If sound is imperative to the video, try captioning it with 'turn your sound on'. A lot of people use their phone on silent and will miss the main message.
  • If you're too nervous to take a normal selfie, try using the filters that Snapchat has (ones that add puppy ears, distorted face shape). It can lighten the mood.
  • Remember, not every snap has to go to every person. Only post to your story if you want any of your friends to see it (many will view it, even if you don't actively snap personally with them).
I'm sure that many friend groups use Snapchat differently than mine, but if you commit to trying it for two weeks, you'll get a good feel for what's normal.

Answer by Ankkit Siingh, Instant Messaging enthusiast, on Quora:

Do not, DO NOT share nudes!

Listen and listen carefully all teenagers with raging hormones, don't do this because you will surely end up regretting this later. Pinky Swear!

Understand this:
There is no such thing as a secure channel! The internet is a jungle, a big bad jungle. It's a great place to explore and learn as long as you play safe and follow the rules!

If you don't know the rules, click here:
safetynetkids.org.uk
Staying Safe Online

Apple, Google, Snapchat, Facebook: nothing is secure. They are not lying when they say it's secure. It's just that there is no such thing as an unbreakable system! Someday someone is going to break into it and you will be the one who will end up paying for it.

Also, even if you consider these channels totally secure and let's assume they are, what's the guarantee that the person receiving the nudes on the other end isn't a prick.

Before you answer, let me.

There is no guarantee. He could be the nicest person you've ever met and would still be a prick.

Well, that's just the way we humans are wired! Something done in jest might end up having huge repercussions for you. There are a thousand ways through which your snaps can be procured without you having any knowledge about it. Just go through the Apple App Store or Google Play Store and you will find a plethora of apps promising to save snaps without the sender knowing about it. Or he could just click a picture of your snap with some other phone! C'mon be real!

Remember: What goes on the internet, stays on the internet!

Be careful, be safe.

Answer by Sabrina Ali, Loves Snapchat, on Quora:

Snapchat is built for committing faux pas, and that's what makes it great.

Snapchat is all about having a flair for the awkward, the weird, the unflattering, the spontaneous. Yes, there are people who are experts at conveying their complete and utter coolness on Snapchat and on social media generally, but the worst thing you could do is try to be like that.

Here are some tips along those lines:

  • Just go for it: Don't think too hard - just do it! Famous last words I know, but in this case, your snaps actually disappear so your downside is pretty limited (at least I keep telling myself that). Once you send/receive ten or so, you'll have a really good sense of timing, angles, interface etc., but those things are hard to get right at first. To get over your initial hump, you should keep your standards healthily low and just send a bunch of weird, random snaps to your unsuspecting friends. This is not Facebook - snaps don't have to be perfect, and if you wait for the perfect moment you'll never get started.
  • Revel in the awkwardness: The worst snaps are awkward-but-trying-to-be-cool. Unless you feel confident that you can actually pull off cool, you're better off trying to find your niche in the awkward-but-endearing market. This distinction requires brutal self-assessment but I think it's doable. My favorite snaps (sent and received) are strange and unflattering and embarrassing and objectively terrible. Of course, many people put in a lot of effort to appear effortless, but I think it's usually pretty obvious when people are trying too hard.
  • Don't try to hide the oldness and uncoolness: This will be your key differentiator in this market so you should definitely not shy away from it. There's something oddly subversive about the idea of old and uncool snaps, which I think really fits with the Snapchat ethos. You shouldn't try to be like everyone else - you should develop your own style. Again, authenticity is really important here. Maybe you could be thematic around family life or parenting, or something like that - viewing those aspects of life through the Snapchat lens would be pretty unique and interesting.
  • Your initial audience should be your most forgiving friends: Your hippest and most judgmental friends should not be your test market here. Start out with your most tolerant friends, the ones who will love you no matter what. Then once you've gotten into a groove, feel free to experiment by expanding to cooler potential recipients. I was nervous about this at first but I think people generally like receiving snaps, even if it's just to laugh at you. If you're afraid of people laughing at you, just stick with a couple of friends who you know won't laugh at you and keep hammering them with snaps until you feel more comfortable.
Most importantly: don't be afraid to embarrass yourself. You almost certainlywill embarrass yourself, in fact. But I don't mean that in a bad way - if you're not embarrassing yourself on Snapchat, you're probably not having fun either.

This question originally appeared on Quora - the knowledge sharing network where compelling questions are answered by people with unique insights. You can follow Quora on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. More questions:​

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Robot Swarms Could Help Solve Our Lead Pollution Problems

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Vast swarms of miniature robots are coming -- and they might be the answer to scrubbing our waters clean of lead.

"Microbots" smaller than the width of a human hair could be highly effective and cost-efficient tools for removing lead and other contaminants from industrial wastewater, according to a new study published in the journal Nano Letters last month.

In the space of a single hour, the study showed, self-propelled microbots could remove up to 95 percent of lead from water. 

Lead is commonly found in wastewater from mines or factories that make batteries and electronic devices, and can pose a serious risk to public health, as the water crisis in Flint, Michigan demonstrates. Industrial activities can also contaminate water with arsenic, mercury and other metals. 

Heavy metal pollution can cost big cities billions of dollars a year, said Samuel Sánchez, co-author of the study and a research group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Germany. He added that current methods to remediate the pollution are either expensive or produce secondary waste.

Sánchez said his team envisions using the microbots "for the pre-treatment of industrial wastewater before dumping into a river." At the moment, the bots aren't ready for open water, so they would swim in "a controlled environment, such as small reservoirs, pipes, containers."

The microbots are composed of three layers. The outer layer is made of graphene oxide to absorb heavy metals, while a middle layer made of nickel makes the microbots ferromagnetic so they can be steered by external magnets. A platinum inner layer reacts when hydrogen peroxide is added to the wastewater, producing a stream of oxygen micro-bubbles that the microbots eject to propel themselves in the water.

Once the bots finish their clean-up work, external magnets collect them for reuse. The heavy metal contaminants can also be recycled, making the process even more efficient.

"This technique is scalable, so we envision that small companies could use microbots to decontaminate their water in case they cannot afford bringing their waste water to decontamination plants," Sánchez said. "In my opinion, we should see first commercial use of self-propelled microbots in the next couple of years." 

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Everyone Has Fake Twitter Followers, But Trump Has The Most. Sad!

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The millions of Twitter accounts following Donald Trump include lots of questionable ones — ones with very few tweets, or few followers, or on Twitter for just a few months. Many are probably fake.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.











Library Attendance Is Declining. Here’s Why

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For centuries, libraries have simply been places that house books. This meaning of the word is embedded right within it; the Old French librairie, used in the 14th century, means “collection of books.” An image of dusty stacks comes to mind, but, of course, the form a book can take is changing, and the ways we learn are changing along with it.

A new Pew study highlighting who uses libraries, how frequently they use them, and what they use them for, reflects these developments.

The takeaway highlighted by Pew: People who go to libraries identify as “lifelong learners,” and people who identify as “lifelong learners” are more likely to visit a library than people who do not. A smattering of stats elucidate this point. Library users, for example, are “more likely to pursue personal learning activities,” and “more likely to cite positive impacts from personal learning.”

Learning doesn’t necessarily mean reading books anymore, however. Educational courses, talks and videos are all methods that appeal to a variety of learning types, and reading is only one way to to acquire new knowledge or a new skill. A kinesthetic learner may benefit from a performance, an auditory learner from a talk, a visual learner from a film or book.

To accommodate these different needs -- as well as visitors’ range of income levels -- libraries have expanded their purpose to include community events and free Internet use; however, according to the Pew study, many visitors aren’t aware that these services are available. The survey notes that while 62 percent of libraries offer online career and job-related resources, 38 percent of adults don’t know whether their library offers them. Likewise, 35 percent of libraries offer high school equivalency classes, and nearly half of adults don’t know whether their libraries offer them. The numbers are similar for programs on starting a new business, online programs that certify people who’ve mastered a new skill, and ebook borrowing.

The latter is an especially glaring example of the dissonance between services provided and knowledge of those services. While 90 percent of libraries offer ebook lending, 22 percent of adults say they don’t know whether their library offers ebooks, and 16 percent say their library does not offer ebooks.

This disparity could be due to the fact that ebook reading isn’t quite as popular as predicted; strain from reading on a screen is proven to hinder learning, and print books are actually preferred, even among digital natives.

Still, librarians who’ve poured resources -- and scant funding -- into new initiatives may wince at these numbers. As The Atlantic suggested in a response to the Pew study, it could be that more funding may help librarians attract more attendees, as attendance has declined by 9 percent since 2012. This figure is bolstered by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which reported an 8.2 percent decrease in in-person visits since a peak in 2009. But, the study notes, virtual visits aren't logged as carefully, so it could be that library-goers -- who statistically are a tech-savvy set -- are more likely to conduct their visits online. 

Still, many of the services provided by libraries are only available in-person, and advertising those services costs money. The Atlantic writer Robinson Meyer observed, “In other words, there’s empirical evidence that usage tracks investment. If libraries receive more public funds, more people use them.”

This makes sense. If libraries are providing the services that visitors want -- learning resources that can be read, viewed, and experienced -- then upping attendance is a matter of getting the word out about exactly what is available.

Libraries have evolved into much more than houses of books, but their original purpose remains intact, and sacred to attendees (in a 2014 study, 55 percent of respondents said losing a library would be a blow to their community). To preserve reading materials, and to promote new ways of learning, would-be visitors must first learn just what a library can be for.

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5 Tricks To Break Your Addiction To Technology, According to Randi Zuckerberg

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Businesswoman and tech maven Randi Zuckerberg knows a thing or two about technology -- including when it's time to put our devices down. It may be tempting to be connected all the time, but Zuckerberg explains in the video above that there are times when we're "better off" unplugging.

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The Most Powerful Queer Person In America Is...

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Hats off to Apple CEO Tim Cook, who has been named the country's most powerful queer person by Out magazine. 

Cook, 55, topped Out's annual Power 50 list for the second year in a row. The rest of the top 10 was largely dominated by media personalities, including Ellen DeGeneres and Anderson Cooper, who ranked second and fourth, respectively. 

Also named to the list, which ranks "the most influential voices in LGBT America," were Neil Patrick Harris, filmmakers Lana and Lilly Wachowski, "Empire" star Jussie Smollett and RuPaul. 

Head here to read more about Out's 10th annual Power 50 list, and take a look at the top 10 rankings below.

  • Stephen Lam / Reuters

  • Apple CEO, 55

  • Danny Moloshok / Reuters

  • Talk show host/producer/spokesperson, 58

  • NBC via Getty Images

  • News anchor/political commentator, 43

  • Scott Olson via Getty Images

  • News anchor, 48

  • Mathew Imaging via Getty Images

  • Writer/director/producer, 50

  • Jonathan Ernst / Reuters

  • International President, SEIU, 58

  • Roy Rochlin via Getty Images

  • TV producer/talk show host, 47

  • GUS RUELAS / Reuters

  • TV personality/Olympian, 66

  • Michael Tran via Getty Images

  • Singer/songwriter/producer, 40

  • Jacky Naegelen / Reuters

  • Entrepreneur/investor, 48

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Couple's Love Story As Told In Legos Is Simply Adorkable

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Bride-to-be Celina Frenn may have received coolest engagement gift of all -- this amazing Lego love story video her freelance animator fiance, Kevin Ulrich, made for her. 

The video details just about all of the important milestones in their relationship so far -- how they met at work, how Ulrich asked Frenn if she'd like to date him and of course, how Ulrich popped the question on October 14, 2015. 

Frenn and Ulrich work in the same office building, as a writer/editor and freelance animator, respectively, so Ulrich wasn't able to keep the video a secret.

"At first she would come into my office and say, 'Why are you doing that scene? Wouldn't this other one be better?'" Ulrich told The Huffington Post. "I had to tell her to trust me, and that she would like the final product. When I finally showed it to her, she cuddled up to me and teared up, saying, 'I really, really like it.'"

Ulrich has been making Lego videos on his own for years and has a YouTube channel featuring his fun creations. He even did work for The Lego Group's Hobbit toys in 2013. It took him 70 hours over the course of a week to complete Frenn's video.

The pair are getting married on April 17 will show the Lego video at their reception.

“Obviously a 73-second video can’t really sum up a two-year relationship,” Ulrich said. “But both myself and our friends and family feel it does a great job at painting a charming cute little picture of what our love story looks and feels like.”

H/T BuzzFeed

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Pot's Budding Tech Community

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3D printers, virtual reality, drones ... I've watched a lot of nascent industries enter the fray, but watching a new industry growing out of what was once a criminal substance is really interesting to watch.

Today, twenty-three states and the District of Columbia have laws legalizing marijuana in some form. Four states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana for recreational use. The cannabis industry (a much more dignified word than pot) is starting to look like the transcontinental railroad at the turn of the century. It's not the rails (or the pot plants) but the entire infrastructure that springs up alongside them.

Many of the new cannabis startups are taking a lesson from the high tech playbook. The pot industry has its own social networks, ratings tools and reputation management solutions. For those used to Indiegogo, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google Maps, the pot culture apps will seem very familiar. But they do grow their own. And with revenues of $6 billion dollars already, in the next few years the nascent cannabis industry should easily find its critical mass of users.

Facebook-like: MassRoots is a social network that bills itself as a sort of Facebook for pot smokers. It's already a publicly traded company and now it's filing for an offering to sell stock with hopes that it will be the first publicly traded cannabis-related stock listed on NASDAQ. Other social media sites like Social High are similarly helping to build the cannabis community.

Indiegogo-like: Med-X, a company that supplies all-natural pest management products to cannabis cultivators, used crowdfunding to launch and continue its research. At CannaFundr you'll find an online investment marketplace for companies in the cannabis industry to match up with investors.

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Location-Based: Weedmaps (pictured above), like Google maps, lets you type in a location and see lists of dispensaries, the various products being sold, photos, videos, reviews and pricing. They've even got delivery listings (where legal).

Reputation Management: LeafList builds a trusted network of businesses and friends in the cannabis world using its proprietary algorithms.

Digital Health: PotBotics (pictured below) is a $2M start-up developing EEG brain scan technology to help doctors recommend specific strains for medical marijuana patients. PotBotics will be available by apps upon its launch.

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Google AdWords: Bang Holdings was founded by YouTube star Steve Berke after he became displeased by how traditional ad networks treated cannabis. Bang Holdings is an advertising network that promotes cannabis advertisers.

Why do cannabis companies feel the need to create their own infrastructure walled off to talk to their own community, I wondered. Probably to diffuse the negative perceptions of pot culture. When I started researching this topic, I'd hoped to create a link between virtual money and cannabis. My thinking was that the pot industry needed a place to squirrel away their profits and that banks are not warm and fuzzy about working with them. Instead I found an industry whose digital properties are elegant, tasteful, above board and open for business.

When I asked Jeff Zucker from Green Lion Partners, a consulting and business strategy firm for the cannabis industry, about the lack of an alternative banking industry he told me that he advises clients that it's an "unnecessary business risk" in a young industry that's already struggling to get beyond the marijuana taboo. "Banking," he said, "will catch up to the cannabis industry quickly and we need to be careful not to play to the narrative that we're hiding something."

I'm thinking the cannabis dating and car service apps can't be too far behind.

Robin Raskin is founder of Living in Digital Times (LIDT), a team of technophiles who bring together top experts and the latest innovations that intersect lifestyle and technology. LIDT produces conferences and expos at CES and throughout the year focusing on how technology enhances every aspect of our lives through the eyes of today's digital consumer.

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