Google Releases New Crisis Map

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googlecrisismapEarlier this week, Google publicly launched a Google Crisis Map application that will provide information about bushfires throughout five Australian territories and states. The goal for the project is to provide easy to access, reliable information about the location of fires, their severity, their size, and listings of various warnings in the area. The application would also provide alert messages to users. Bushfire management is said to be one of Australia’s most important environmental challenges and affects the lives of thousands of people on a regular basis.

Google’s Crisis Map will provide other data to users as well. They will be able to have access to information about how they can stay safe in areas where a fire is a prominent threat, as well as information reflecting whether or not fires in the area are under control. The application will additionally provide any details about regional emergency response agencies that are responding to fires in the area as well. This can help to prevent a possible overload of individuals calling to report the same fire repeatedly since they will now be able to have access to determining whether or not a fire is being acknowledged and help is on the way.

The Crisis Map can be accessed from any device that is connected to the internet, allowing for people to check for updates from their tablet, smartphone, or any other device capable of accessing the internet. Google already has announced that they have plans to extend and improve the application over time, so it will include information about road closures, traffic conditions, and many other related circumstances. As time continues, it will be able to identify tropical storms, floods, cyclones, landslides, and many other natural threats on a global scale, providing people with a platform to protect themselves and their loved ones in even the most unexpected circumstances.

Google Self-Driving Car Proven Safer Than Human Driver

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googlecar

New data now shows that Google’s self-driving cars such as their Lexus and Prius models are safer and more reliable drivers than humans themselves. According to the leader of Google’s car project, the data reveals that the Google cars are smoother and safer when steering themselves in comparison to a human driver. Results from two studies of data based on thousands of miles that were logged from the Google vehicles were presented at a recent robotics conference in Santa Clara, California. The vehicles themselves have been logging miles throughout public roads in Nevada and California.

One of the studies showed that when a human was driving, the Google cars braked and accelerated more sharply than they did when they were steering themselves. Another portion of data revealed that the cars’ software was better at maintaining a safe distance from vehicles ahead than human drivers were. These factors combine to produce less time that is spent in near-collision states when driving on the road. Furthermore, it was also revealed that Google had hired professional drivers to base their comparisons on, further illustrating the fact that their cars were able to drive more smoothly and reliably than a trained driver.

During the conference, project leader Chris Urmson led the attendees through a brief presentation of a new dashboard display that Google has developed to help individuals understand the role of the autonomous car, as well as situations where they might want to handle the various responsibilities of driving. He explained that Google has been focusing on different ways that they can make the human element of driving work well with the rest of the experience of owning an autonomous car.

Although the development might suggest to people that Google is getting ready to introduce the car to motorists, Urmson seemed to avoid the question and indicate otherwise, claiming that he couldn’t reveal any more information at the moment and that Google is still considering different ways to provide the relevance of the autonomous car to the market.

Google Announces New Proxy Tool Uproxy

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google-uproxyGoogle has announced a new tool that is being anticipated as a means to bypass internet censorship and government monitoring across the globe. Developed by one of Google’s facilities in New York City, uProxy is a peer-to-peer service that will allow individuals to establish an encrypted internet connection with other individuals they trust online.

Working together with Brave New Software and University of Washington, Google provided funding to the project in hope that the new technology would be able to outsmart invasive governments around the world who have been responsible for tightening the grip on internet censorship for the past few years.

uProxy works similarly to another popular peer-to-peer internet connection client, Tor. It relies on the use of a basic browser extension that is able to find a user’s friends on Facebook. The service differs from Tor in the sense that it does not provide an anonymizing network.

However, it provides an individual internet connection that is indistinguishable from other encrypted conversations and experiences online. In terms of traffic, if someone is using uProxy, there are no specific marks that will define that any traffic coming from the user is specifically being sent by uProxy.

Google Ideas is planning on introducing uProxy in an upcoming New York City conference titled “Conflict in a Connected World.” That same event will also be the debut of Project Shield, which is an effort to help human rights groups, media organizations, and individuals around the world fight off the distributed DDoS attacks which frequently happen during times of concern or terrorism.

Internet privacy advocates and activities that are currently living under repressive government regimes may find that uProxy may become the next Google tool to help them get in contact with friends, loved ones, and individuals around the world in an effort to encourage free speech.

iWatch Smart Watch from Google?

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Tim Cook, the chief executive of Apple company was being enquired about the potential plans of his company back in May this month and he gave a hint that the ‘wrist’ seems like an interesting option. Apart from Apple, Samsung is also coming up with a smart watch called ‘Galaxy Gear’, which is to be launched next week. The sale of smart watches is expected to soar in the near future, thus, possibly slowing down the sales of tablets.

In case of Apple, there are rumors doing rounds that iWatch is going to be hitting the markets really soon. According to a report of New York Times, it is most likely to be a device constructed from curved glass. This watch is said to be a device that can coordinate and facilitate the activities of electronic devices and computers used commonly. iWatch is anticipated to be a 38m unit manufactured next year by local Taiwanese companies with whom Apple has collaborations.

In case of Samsung’s Galaxy Gear, it is going to carla gugino pokies be a health tracker complete with a camera, as per the reports of VentureBeat. Because of this teaser, people have the idea that the watch is going to be a health device in the lines of the ones by Fitbit, Nike, Jawbone, etc rather than an alternative for smartphone.

In case of Google, the acquisition of WIMM Labs is conceived as good news for future smart watches from this company. WIMM Labs has already manufactured its own standalone smart watch, but thanks to the collaboration, things would reach a new level altogether!

Microsoft and smart watches aren’t really a new combination, the first watch of Microsoft was launched back in the year 2004, i.e. SPOT watch. Although this didn’t really work out and was out of the picture by 2008, Microsoft isn’t giving up. Recently it has announced to the Wall Street Journal that it is in the process of looking for companies ready to source components for creating a prototype for smart watch with a good 1.5 inch display.

Oncue Intel TV for your home

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Intel is best known as a chip maker for desktops and laptops. For years, the tech giant has supplied millions of microprocessors to personal computers across the globe. Yet anyone in the industry knows that success is fleeting and continuous innovation is required to stay on top. Intel’s latest bid for advancement seems to have pushed the company towards the home entertainment space. Here the company is set to grab the spotlight and release its own consumer product called the OnCue Intel TV.

OnCue is meant to be a replacement for the existing set-top boxes given by cable providers. Content will be streamed over the Internet and subscribers will enjoy a more responsive user interface. A new division, Intel Media, was tasked to develop the product and handle negotiations with cable networks. Its operations have been isolated from the rest of the company to try to keep things a secret for as online free pokie long as possible. Of course, the media eventually got wind of it and now Intel appears to be ready to spill a few details about the project.

Intel gave a tentative launch date this fall, if everything goes according to plan. It isn’t ready to announce the networks that will get on board except to say that they are casting a wide net. There will be customized bundles but people will not be able to fine-tune their subscriptions to individual channels. Intel is taking a cautious approach with regards to the rollout. The service will initially be made available to certain cities then others will be added incrementally.

Asked about the subscription rates, Intel indicated that these will not differ much from current cable offerings. There are no concrete numbers at this point but the company gave assurances that the cost of the OnCue Intel TV box itself won’t be prohibitive.

Technology and Religion and Steve Jobs

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google fax technology and religion

Stevism or Jobbist?

Technology and religion are interconnected in ways more than one. Apple is indeed a religion because after its inception it has managed to gain a huge group of loyal or die-hard followers who are also known as ‘cults’. Apple customers are extremely devoted to Apple products, thus making the competitors fume with envy! Brett Robinson, the author of the ‘Appletopia’ book takes a look at how Steve Jobs used religious iconography and metaphors like “Bite that Apple” (reference to the Forbidden fruit from the holy Bible) for elevating his products.

Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, was known to be a faithful devotee of Zen Buddhism and Eastern spiritualism. According to Robinson, who is a visiting professor at the University of Notre Dame and Mendoza College of Business, Apple has connected technology and religion right from the beginning in all aspects, including its marketing propagandas. In fact, the logo of Apple is a reference to the Tree of Knowledge and the Garden of Eden.

In the ‘gospel’ of Apple, knowledge does not cause a downfall but rather liberates and enlightens. The 1984 Super Bowl Advertisement of Apple is an iconic one wherein a female runner hurls a hammer at an Orwellian figurehead, smashing it and creating a flaming explosion while the onlookers or drones are immersed in bright light and they seem to become enlightened.

Steve Jobs was intelligent enough to figure out that technology and computers are made for people and it should remain that way. He was able to convince people that Apple products can transform their lives in a big manner. Thus, Jobs does not draw on features like RAM details or other technological jargon in advertisements but he attracts consumers via advertisements with feelings.

No doubt Apple is a cult company, even Jobs agree but he does not take it too seriously and recommends drinking the ‘Kool-Aid’, i.e. to take it with a pinch of salt! Apple company hires ‘evangelists’ to spread its word and promote its products in order to attract more ‘cults’.

GoLang or Google Go for Programming

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google-goJava is presently the most popular programming language in the world however, Google is aiming to change this fact with its invention of Golang or Google Go, as it is also known.

While most enterprises still use Java and have no intentions of switching over go Golang, most developers are not happy about the fact that it takes a long time for Java’s parent company (Oracle) to develop new, needed Java tools and updates.

Some companies are starting to look at Google Go as a Java alternative now that Iron.io has utilized Google Go for its messaging cloud service for app developers. In fact, Iron.io co-founder Travis Reeder recently noted that Golong could very well replace Java and other programming languages down the line. He notes that Go is much easier to use than Java when it comes to building and deploying high performance, cloud based applications, which is the primary reasons why Iron.io is utilizing it.

Travis Reeder is not the only one who feels that Golong has a lot of potential. Apcera CEO Derek Collison is also a strong proponent of Google’s new programming language. The Motley Fool and Career Builder have also switched over to Go and the odds are high that other large companies may follow suit in the future.

Whether or not Golang will go on to become a serious competitor of Java or even replace it altogether remains to be seen. However, the fact that it has much to offer cannot be ignored. Golang’s cloud based capabilities are much higher than those of Java and other well known programming languages.

What is more, Golang is new, updated and capable of handling many companies’ present day needs and requirements, something that cannot always be said for Java. In the end, however, only time will tell if Google’s new language will become widespread or fade into oblivion.