Rise of the machines… Bill Gates warning over Artificial Intelligence (AI)

February 3, 2015

7dayshop, AI, Artificial Intelligence, In The News, Microsoft

Microsoft founder Bill Gates is worried Artificial Intelligence (AI) could get out of control. If you have watched any Terminator films, which feature a world where machines have taken over, you might be a tinsy little bit concerned. And he’s not the only one – renowned scientist Stephen Hawking told the BBC: “The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race.” Space pioneer and tech entrepreneur Elon Musk has also voiced concern about AI. Mr Gates made his…

Windows 10: “free” and 6 other things to know

January 22, 2015

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7dayshop, Microsoft, Microsoft Windows, Windows 10

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1. Free upgrade for Windows 7, 8.1 and Windows 8.1 Phone users Microsoft has promised customers who use these versions of Windows a free upgrade in the first year after the launch of Windows 10. The company also says it will “continue to keep it current for the supported lifetime of the device – at no cost”. It’s promising to deliver new features when they are ready rather than wait for the next major release. 2. Holographic computing Microsoft has…

The ‘worst passwords of 2014’ – 123456 and password

January 21, 2015

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The number combination ‘123456’ is in at number one, while the word ‘password’ is in at number 2. The annual list of the 25 most common found passwords found on the internet is compiled by SplashData, which provides password management applications and aims to encourage the adoption of stronger passwords. Here’s the rundown from 1 to 25: Rank Password Change from 2013 1 123456 No Change 2 password No Change 3 12345 Up 17 4 12345678 Down 1 5 qwerty…

5 examples of iconic technology today’s kids may not recognise

January 19, 2015

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7dayshop, camera film, cassette tapes, Concorde, floppy disks, tech neck, vinyl records

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1. The Supersonic passenger plane Perhaps one of the most iconic passenger planes ever built, this plane was the result of British and French co-operation. It is of course Concorde, which could speed beyond Mach 2 – two times faster than the speed of sound. Scheduled flights began in 1976 but Concorde was officially retired in 2003. The fastest ever transatlantic Concorde flight was to London Heathrow from New York JFK airport and took just under 3 hours and took place in February 1996. Photo…

Using a mobile phone (photo credit: graphicstock.com)

Have you heard of “tech-neck”?

January 14, 2015

jon

7dayshop, smartphones, tablet, tech neck, technology

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Tech neck is claimed to be brought on by regular use of smartphones and tablets. Looking down at devices up to 150 times a day has led to something dubbed tech-neck – with people between 18 and 39 being most affected. It seems to be something to do with saggy skin and a distinct crease around the neck caused by all that looking down, according to the Telegraph website. Although, everyone’s skin is affected by ageing neck-tech is reportedly being seen in much…

The selfie stick: 5 ‘facts’ that may surprise you

January 12, 2015

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1. 1925 – the first ‘selfie stick’? The selfie stick is an extendable rod or monopod with a mount or clamp to hold your smartphone or camera at one end and handle at the other end. The idea is that you can take better pictures of yourself (known as a selfie) or group shots. Some even have remote or Bluetooth controls. But the selfie stick may be a much older phenomenon. In December 2014, the BBC reported about a photo of a couple taken in…

Tech turkeys or ahead of their time? Betamax and 4 other gadgets that didn’t quite make it

January 9, 2015

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3D TV, 7dayshop, Betamax, LaserDisc, Sega Dreamcast, Tablet PC

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1. Sony Betamax video Japanese electronics giant Sony fought hard to convince us that its Betamax video system was better than the rival VHS back in the late 1970s and into the 1980s. But the cheaper VHS system won the day – although you might be surprised to know that Betamax continued in production until the end of 2002. (Original image by Bettenburg at de.wikipedia (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons) 2. LaserDiscs Also known as DiscoVision in the…

Apple has won a patent for a flexible device (photo credit Engadget/Twitter)

Could Apple make a bendy iPhone on purpose?

January 8, 2015

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7dayshop, Apple, Apple Watch, In The News, iPhone, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iWatch, technology

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Apple patent for flexible electronic devices hints at bendy iPhone possibility and folding devices. Designs and ideas about flexible devices have been around for a while, but the new US patent awarded to Apple points towards a product where pretty much everything is bendy. According to Apple Insider, the patent incorporates malleable external and pliable internal parts such as batteries. The website even suggests such a device could allow force-based gesture controls and fold up like a trifold wallet. While such a device…

Screen grab from YouTube video (credit: Hugh Ryono/Aquarium of the Pacific/YouTube

P…P… Pick up an iPad. Watch Penguins Play on iPad

January 6, 2015

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7dayshop, Apple, In The News, iPad, penguins, technology

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A group of penguins has been enjoying playing with an iPad game at an aquarium in America. Watch the video of penguin gaming sessions on an iPad (credit: Hugh Ryono, Aquarium of the Pacific, YouTube) The Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, California, is always looking at innovative and creative ways to interact with its animals – and staff came up with the idea of introducing an iPad game to its Magellanic penguins. A few curious birds – Jeremy and…

Many Open Hard drives isolated on white background (photo credit: Graphicstock)

‘World could run out of hard drive space by 2020’

January 5, 2015

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7dayshop, data, gigabyte, hard disk drive, how to guide, In The News, megabyte, memory, memory cards, memory storage, microSD, SD cards, smartphone, smartphones, smartphones, technology, terabyte, zettabyte

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Stratospheric demand for storage risks capacity gap, says leading provider of hard drives. Mark Whitby, senior vice president of branded products at Seagate, says a storage capacity gap could emerge by 2020 when the world will be producing something like 44 zettabytes of data annually. The zettabyte era – how much data is that? To get just one zettabyte of data you would have to fill the storage capacity of 34,359,738,368 smartphones with 32GB (gigabytes) of memory each. So, 44 zettabytes requires…