Computing Unplugged

Locals get chance to demo new TiVo at Grumpy’s

Aiken residents can demo Atlantic Broadbands’s new TiVo digital entertainment service before it hits the consumer marketplace. The demonstration will be held in the patio lounge on Dec. 7, from 3 to 8 p.m. at Grumpy’s Sports Pub, located at 216 East Gate Drive off Whiskey Road. The TiVo demo “Atlantic Broadband will…

Posted on: December 3, 2013 7:00 am

Acquisition puts Amazon rivals in awkward spot

If you opt to do your holiday shopping on Amazon.com, odds are good that the merchandise you order will be plucked from a shelf by a human: The Seattle e-commerce giant is adding 70,000 seasonal workers in its distribution centers for the Christmas crunch. But Amazon is also beginning to…

Posted on: December 2, 2013 5:01 pm

As Facebook Eyes Up Little Eye Labs, Twitter Is Also Looking At A Startup In India

Reports of Facebook looking to acquire Bangalore-based Little Eye Labs highlight a growing interest from the Internet’s biggest firms in acquiring engineering and startup talent from India. But Facebook is not the only one. Twitter has been eyeing up an acquisition of Bangalore-based Frrole, a big data startup that sifts…

Posted on: December 2, 2013 5:00 pm

From ‘Preggers’ to ‘Pizzle’: Android’s Bizarre List of Banned Words

Type or swipe the word on the latest version of Android’s Google Keyboard or for that matter “intercourse,” “coitus,” “screwing” or even “lovemaking” and the web giant’s predictive algorithm will offer no help. These are just a few examples from an obsessive, and often baffling list of more than 1,400 They’re…

Posted on: December 2, 2013 5:00 pm

Amazon drones: A flying robot may deliver your Christmas gifts in four or five …

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos promised a surprise during his interview with Charlie Rose broadcast Sunday on CBS’s “60 Minutes.” “We start with the interview and Bezos said, ‘You’ll never guess what it is. In fact. if you can guess what it is, then you’re very lucky and I will give you…

Posted on: December 2, 2013 5:00 pm

Short Hills Robotics Teams Advance to State Final

Multiple Robotics Teams from Short Hills will participate in the First Lego League State Final on Dec. 14, after coming up big at the Bridgewater-Raritan Brik Rampage last month. Submitted by Varianny Kapur. Three robotics teams from Short Hills triumphed at the Bridgewater-Raritan Brik Rampage, the region’s qualifying competition for FIRST…

Posted on: December 2, 2013 5:00 pm

Robotics team wins 2 first-place awards

BROWNSBORO They called themselves the Big Bucks. In keeping with their name, they used software and components from a Lego NXT kit to design and build a robot that looked like a deer. Sixth-graders Bryce Smith, Gage Wehrmann, Colton Williams and Ethan Parker spent about two months in session To…

Posted on: December 2, 2013 12:00 pm

300-pound robot is new breed of crime-fighting machine

A Silicon Valley company has introduced what may prove the next generation in night watchmen a 5-foot-tall, 300-pound crime-fighting robot designed to stand sentry in the wee hours of the night. The K5 Autonomous Data Machine is intended “to augment private security services on corporate campuses and in large, vacant…

Posted on: December 2, 2013 12:00 pm

Behind Snapchat’s rejection of $3B in cash from Facebook: A founder, born into …

A little more than two weeks ago, we reported on the rumors that Snapchat, the private photo sharing service that lets you send pictures to people that disappear after a few seconds, rejected a $3 billion purchase offer from Facebook. Many people believe the SnapChat founders are crazy for turning down…

Posted on: December 2, 2013 12:00 pm