This week’s WSJ.com column (behind a subscription wall, I’m afraid) is on how we need to get ready for the day when chatbots go out and do our bidding for us. Literally, possibly, but if nothing else to go out and do the pre-flirting bit of online dating. clipped from online.wsj.com Expect a future where … Read more
If you’re wondering why Sanjaya Malakar has done surprisingly well in American Idol, here’s one possible answer: dialers. Dialers are pieces of software usually stealthily installed on a victim’s computer to automatically dial expensive premium telephone numbers. The victim only finds out when they receive their phone bill. In this case, the dialer, openly available … Read more
Spanish Primera Liga (48%) German Bundesliga (54%) English Premier League (47%) French Ligue 1 (47%) Greek Ethniki Katigoria (6%) Dutch Eredivisie (25%) Italy Serie A (24%) English Championship (29%) Scottish Premier League (29% This doesn’t have a lot to do with technology, but it’s an excuse to play around with sparklines, Edward Tufte’s approach to feeding data … Read more
Interesting to see how the mosquito — emitting a tone only younger people can hear — has taken off into new areas. The Welsh company that invented the idea as a way to disperse youths has already launched a product designed to attract the same people: a ringtone their uncool parents can’t hear. (Another website selling the tone, with various … Read more
For those of you who can’t get out of bed in the morning, the alarm clock that outwits you is finally here. I mentioned Clocky in a WSJ column more than a year ago in talking about the problems of ignored alarms: Efforts to overcome this problem have been inventive, but rarely successful, says Gauri … Read more