A brief look back at Google Wallet’s first year and the state of mobile payments, for Engadget.
26th May 2012
A few weeks ago, Fox News breathlessly reported that the embattled WikiLeaks operation was looking to start a new life
underon the sea. WikiLeaks, the article speculated, might try to escape its legal troubles by putting its servers on Sealand, a World War II anti-aircraft platform seven miles off the English coast in the North Sea, a place that calls itself an independent nation. It sounds perfect for WikiLeaks: a friendly, legally unassailable host with an anything-goes attitude.But readers with a memory of the early 2000s might be wondering, “Didn’t someone already try this? How did that work out?” Good questions. From 2000 to 2008, a company called HavenCo did indeed offer no-questions-asked colocation on Sealand—and it didn’t end well.
Notes: 1
Interesting development from Google today.
See also: Stephen Wolfram reveals the personal analytics of his life
Amber Case is like the Socrates of digital natives. She calls herself a cyborg anthropologist, which in human talk means she studies the relationship between man and machine.
Most of us walk around with small computers in our pockets where we’re able to access emails, talk to friends and make with the mega-lulz whenever we wish. Because of this, Case considers us low-tech cyborgs, emotionally tied to our technology and digital networks whether we like to think so or not.
Reblogged From vicecanada
Still amazed by what you can find on Google Books.
Box Brown’s latest for Distro.
Latest editorial for Engadget.
Every year at CES, the tech-watching masses engage in a bit of trendspotting — an attempt to identify the one or two big themes of the show that may or may not come to define the year in technology. Some years those are easy to spot (tablets and 3D TV were two big ones recently), and other times they involve a bit of guesswork. This year, one of the most oft-cited trends is the “ultrabook.” Judging from the companies’ announcements at the show and some of the coverage they’ve received, you might think that’s a new sort of device or a radically new type of laptop. But, really, they’re just laptops. Small, thin laptops — but laptops.
It’s actually Ultrabook, with a capital “U,” and a (TM). The name is a wholly-owned creation of Intel, and the hype you’ve seen for them at CES is only just the beginning. Intel is reportedly planning its biggest advertising push in eight years to promote Ultrabooks, and it’s clearly already done a decent job of bringing hardware manufacturers on board the bandwagon. How many new “laptop” announcements do you remember from CES?
