Technology and Body

Twitter Suspends Prominent Alt-Right Accounts Facebook Twitter Google+ Email Enlarge this image Twitter has suspended some accounts linked to the alt-right movement. Twitter has suspended several accounts linked to the alt-right movement, which has been associated with white nationalism. The move comes as Twitter is rolling out a series of actions to curb hate speech and abuse on its platform as criticism has mounted of the company's failure to rein in harassment, racism, sexism and anti-Semitism. Suspended accounts include those of Richard Spencer, who is considered one of the movement's founders; his magazine  Radix Journal;  an associated account, @_AltRight_; and his Virginia-based think tank called the National Policy Institute, whose website describes it as "dedicated to the heritage, identity, and future of people of European descent in the United States, and around the world." Other suspended accounts incl...

Ultrathin 'E-Skin' Turns Your Hand into an Electronic Display Japanese scientists have demonstrated a superflexible electronic skin (or e-skin) display made from organic electronics. Credit: Someya Lab/University of Tokyo View full size image Your smartphone could one day be replaced by an electronic display laminated to the back of your hand, if the inventors of a new ultrathin "e-skin" have their way. For the first time, Japanese scientists have demonstrated a superflexible electronic skin (or e-skin) display, made from organic electronics, that doesn't degrade when exposed to air. And crucially, the researchers used pr...

Stephen Hawking: We Probably Won't Find Aliens Anytime Soon When it comes to finding intelligent aliens, Stephen Hawking isn't holding his breath. Credit: Screenshot of Starshot Teleconference Livestream View full size image Will humanity find intelligent alien life anytime soon? Probably not, according to theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking. Hawking made the prediction yesterday (April 12) during the Breakthrough Starshot announcement in New York City. At the news conference, Hawking, along with Russian billionaire investor Yuri Milner and a group of scientists, detailed a new project that aims to send a multitude of tiny, wafer-size spa...

In first India deal, Xiaomi leads $25M round for music/movie streaming firm Hungama Xiaomi has furthered its push into India after completing its first investment in the country. The Chinese smartphone today announced it has led a $25 million round for Hungama, a video and music streaming service that claims 65 million users, and that it will integrate the company’s services into its content platform in India “in the near future.” Xiaomi has made a concerted effort to gain marketshare in India’s fast-growing smartphone market since it began selling there in 2014. It joined the government’s Make In India program and took strategic investment from top businessman Ratan Tata, and has long said on record that it would invest in startups that complement its business in India. “Xiaomi has been an Internet company from the very start. We think of smartphones as a platform for us to deliver Internet services, and this includes...

Two Indian Engineers Sued Apple For Stealing Their Patent And Just Won Rs 5,600 Crores! Gurindar Sohi and Terani Vijaykumar might have been names that would've gotten lost in history, until this happened. The two engineers of Indian origin, who were a part of a team of four inventors, just won a case against the tech giant, Apple Inc. for using their patent technology in the processors of their devices without their permission. The lawsuit was brought into light by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), which is the licensing department of the University of Wisconsin, in January 2014 when it filed a complaint against Apple Inc. for using their patent without their consent to "enhance efficiency and performance" of their signature products. gizmobic.com The four engineers (including Gurinder and Terani) played an instrumental role in coming up with a technology known as ‘Table-based Data Speculation Circuit for Parallel Processing Computer’, whic...

Today is the last day of Google as you know it Sundar Pichai will be CEO of Google... but not Alphabet. Google as you know it is about to change forever... ish. The Internet giant announced Friday that it expects to transition its stock from "Google Inc" to "Alphabet" at the end of the business day, marking the official start of the next era of Google as part of a larger holding company. The company first announced in August that it would create a new parent company called Alphabet, a move that some took to be a joke at first. Under the arrangement, Google will be just one — albeit by far the largest — of a suite of independent businesses operating under the Alphabet umbrella. Versions of this corporate reorganization had been discussed internally for at least four years, according to multiple Google insiders. The goal: to free Google cofounder and CEO Larry Page up from running the business day-to-day so he could brainstorm the next Google. ...

Amazon is always looking for ways to boost the numbers of Amazon Prime customers, whether that’s by holding a Black Friday-like “Prime Day” sales event or bundling in subscriptions alongside Amazon hardware, as it attempted with the launch of its own Fire Phone devices. This morning, the online retailer has a new gimmick – its dropping the price for Amazon Prime to just $67 in a one-day sale starting on Friday, September 25th at 12:01 AM ET, and ending at 11:59 PM PT. The company says the sale will last for only 24 hours, as it’s a limited time offer. Why $67, you ask? The figure is in reference to Amazon’s five Emmy wins at this year’s 67th PrimeTime Emmy Awards, the company says – and this is its way of celebrating. Amazon’s Original Series “Transparent” saw its star Jeffrey Tambor taking home the trophy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, while “Transparent” creator Jill Soloway won for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series. The ...

A Twitter account in the hands of a hothead startup founder can be a dangerous thing. The New York Times ran a piece Sunday looking into why a 62-year-old pill saw its price skyrocket from $13.50 to nearly $750 after it was acquired by Turing Pharmaceuticals last month. The increase in the price of Daraprim, a drug that the Times reported “is the standard of care for treating a life-threatening parasitic infection,” will undoubtedly have a major impact on those struggling to keep up with high prescription drug costs. The article continued: Dr. Aberg of Mount Sinai said some hospitals will now find Daraprim too expensive to keep in stock, possibly resulting in treatment delays. She said that Mount Sinai was continuing to use the drug, but each use now required a special review. “This seems to be all profit-driven for somebody,” Dr. Aberg said, “and I just think it’s a very dangerous process.” It was apparent that the news regarding Daraprim ...

Uber is testing a new kind of carpooling service after it announced UberCommute, a service that will be piloted first in China. The news comes weeks after UberChina closed a $1.2 billion funding round. The U.S. ride-sharing firm already allows carpooling with its ride on-demand service. That’s Uber Pool (known as Uber+ in China), an offering that allows two or more Uber passengers who are headed to the same destination to share a ride and thus save money on their trip. UberCommute is different, however, as it is designed for carpooling only. Here’s how Uber describes its latest offering, which is initially operating in Chinese city Chengdu — a place Uber said is its “number one city in the world”: Drivers sign into the app and tell Uber where they are going. We then show them requests from riders who are traveling in the same direction as well as the pay...

Access iCloud more easily iCloud has never been the easiest cloud storage service to actually get at (most of what it does happens behind the scenes) but iOS 9 makes it a little more visible: Go to Settings, iCloud then iCloud Drive and toggle the switch marked Show on Home Screen to enable the icon shortcut. End battery woes iOS 9 wants to ease your battery life woes with a new low-power mode that you can activate from the Battery menu inside Settings (it switches off a few background processes and can add up to an hour of life). Your battery icon turns yellow and you get a percentage view of the juice that's left. Abandon poor Wi-Fi connections The new Wi-Fi Assist feature in iOS9 lets you hop onto a speedy LTE connection if the Wi-Fi connection you're using isn't up to scratch (quite likely if you're out and about). Head to Settings then Cellular and tap on the Wi-Fi Assist toggle switch at the bottom to make use of the feature. Zoom in on ...

Price and other details of Motorola’s ‘shatterproof’ Moto X Force leaked   Moto X Force is apparently the final name of a handset codenamed Bounce which had surfaced via leaks not too long ago. Said to be ‘shatterproof,’ this device is expected to be launched this December at an equivalent price of CNY 4000, according to a new leak. That’s around $630 or Rs 41800 in terms of US dollars and Indian rupees, which definitely puts it in the big league. The Moto X Force moreover, also has the specs to justify that high retail value. We’re guessing it will be granted an MIL-STD rating in order to suit its shatterproof tag. Along with leaking this Motorola device’s photographs, regular leakster has also disclosed that it will come fitted with a 5.43-inch Quad HD display. The device has also been revealed to feature a 21MP rear camera and a 5MP front snapper, with both of them offering flash modules for low-light imaging. A 2GHz octa core Snapdragon 810 processor...