That was Then... This is Now

It is theoretically possible to become invisible to cameras. But considering recent events, will this idea catch on in the future? There is a terrific article published in Ars Technica which appeared in my Apple news feed this morning. Very much worth reading. Especially if you are stuck at home as most of us are now. Many things to think about for when this coronavirus pandemic is finally over and we return to “normal” life. Author Katie Cox states: Right now, you're more than likely spending the vast majority of your time at home. Someday, however, we will all be able to leave the house once again and emerge, blinking, into society to work, travel, eat, play, and congregate in all of humanity's many bustling crowds. The world, when we eventually enter it again, is waiting for us with millions of digital eyes—cameras, everywhere, owned by governments and private entities alike. Pretty much every state out there has some entity collecting license plate data from mil...

The coronavirus outbreak is disrupting business hours, supply chains, trade shows, and conferences. And it will continue to disrupt many other aspects of life and work as long as uncertainty about its spread continues. It has forced companies to cancel travel plans and require individuals to work from home. Effective remote work requires a rethinking of collaboration strategies. Sustained remote work, which we are now facing for who knows how long, requires different tactics than occasional telecommuting. Daniel W. Rasmus, author of “ Management by Design ” and “ Listening to the Future ,” writing in eWEEK, has compiled a list of 10 actions to take when considering remote work: No. 1: Decide on which collaboration tools to use. No. 2: Simplify the collaboration toolset. No. 3: Select which tools to use to support which processes. No. 4: Get to know your collaboration apps. No. 5: Document escalation and conflict remediation approaches. No. 6: Decide where content will go....

Wherever you go, Google goes with you… Google Maps in particular keeps track of every step you and take and archives that activity in your Google Timeline. It might seem like no big deal, but it can also leave you vulnerable. Writing in PCMag, Chandra Steele and Jason Cohen offer advice on how to take back control of your privacy. I already knew much of this, but many of my friends and colleagues don’t. Definitely worth reading. With Timeline, Google Maps can show you where you're going and where you've been. There could even be photographic evidence, since Timeline syncs with any pictures uploaded to Google Photos. You can share your location with anyone in real time on both iOS and Android. If you'd prefer to keep your whereabouts private without uninstalling Google, you can remove your location history and tell it to stop following you. There are a few other things you can do regardless of which device or Google service you're using. On myaccount.google.com, yo...

“Y2K” was 20 years ago! How many of you remember the “turn of the millennium”? I was still in High-School. The future looked promising. Tragically 9/11 and the “great recession” changed much of that. Twenty years later the future again looks bright…at least when it comes to technology. The 53rd annual CES in Las Vegas has raised the stakes for what to expect in the coming months and beyond. Of the hundreds of exciting new products introduced this week, these are the ones that will most likely shape the tech landscape for 2020. Of course, some products and ideas are more useful than others, so the editors at PCMag got together to determine exactly which ones they’re most looking forward to in 2020. This year's CES for example, introduced many exciting new desktops, laptops, and components, which make up the bulk of our winners. There were also more smart home devices on display than ever, not to mention smart cars, robots, and prototypes. And with the rise of 5G, many of these ...

Didn’t get everything you wanted on Black Friday or Cyber Monday? Do you still need to find a last minute tech gift for a friend or family member? Check out this list from PCMag.com –each of these items costs under $100. Shopping on a budget doesn't mean boring or useless. Their selection includes media streamers, smart speakers, and many other options. A few are PCMag Editors' Choice products that anyone on your list will enjoy, while others you might just want to keep for yourself. Some of these I already own. Others, like the Sega Genesis Mini gaming console, bring back childhood memories. Maybe I’ll find one underneath my tree? Happy Holidays!

A couple of weeks ago at the Mobile World Congress event in Los Angeles, NVIDIA unveiled its EGX Edge Supercomputing platform. The product is designed for all edge applications including, but not limited to, artificial intelligence and internet of things. This was the first time NVIDIA has been part of a Mobile World Congress. EGX is a reference design that other server manufacturers can use to roll out a validated design for edge computing solutions using NVIDIA GPUs. Cisco, Fujitsu, Lenovo, HPE and others have been confirmed as partners. Powered by NVIDIA’s CUDA Tensor Core GPU, it offers cryptographic acceleration, networking for Mellanox, NVMe over TCP and RDMA for storage, an industrial-strength cloud native stack, and hardened AI software. Computing is moving to where the data resides, and this will take power. 5G is one of the key enablers of edge computing. 5G brings multi-gigabit speeds to wireless and enables more data to be processed in more places. One view is that a...

Writing in the October 4 issue of PCMag.com, Nathan Hurst discusses many of the issues involved in the future of space for both private companies and governments. Getting to space has become easier and more cost-effective. That's great for private startups that want to explore business models based on satellites, but the competition they bring reduces the control governments have traditionally leveraged over space and introduces new safety concerns. What's rarely mentioned however, is what both governments and startups are doing, or will have to do, to ensure the security and safety of the tech they're putting up there. As well as our data. "Air travel became routine in a matter of a handful of years, and I think we are at that point. This next generation that is coming online, this year and next, it's capitalized on 50 or 60 years of investment," says Chuck Beames, a retired Air Force colonel who chairs both the York Space Systems startup and the SmallSa...