Technology posts

The aftermath of the recent earthquake and tsunami that crippled much of Japan is being felt by two of the country’s largest manufacturers, Sony and Toyota. While Toyota is hoping to open some plants next week, the supply chain and power grid are still question marks. “This will be played out not in days, but in weeks,” said John Hoffecker, head of the automotive practice at consulting firm AlixPartners LLP. Stocks for both companies are down 12% since the day before the earthquake. Sony is looking at approximately 2 weeks worth of available inventory before the work-stoppage truly hits their…

There, I said it. The tech industry needs more women to get in and make things right again. It’s way too male dominated and it doesn’t have to be. Over half of the professionals in the United States are women. They account for nearly 50% more college degrees than men. With this kind of knowledge, how is it right that less than 20% of the working computer hardware engineers are men? Answer: it isn’t. This graphic by our friends at SocialCast lays the foundation for why the tech world needs more women. Pay attention – we should expect to see this male-dominated industry fall to the females soon enough. …

You know things are getting pretty ridiculous in the tech world when you can test drive a car directly from a print magazine advertisement. But that is exactly what is happening. There’s a catch: you have to use an iOS app to interact with the ad, but once you install it, you can reach a new level of interactivity with a print ad that has rarely been seen before. The technology isn’t new, but it is amazing to see. Take a peek, and let us know what you think!…

This year, the popular South by Southwest Music and Media Conference in Austin, Texas, returns to celebrate its monumental 25th anniversary. What started as a music festival has now transformed into a comprehensive meet-up for music-lovers, cinephiles and web entrepreneurs alike. Here’s a look at SXSW by the numbers, courtesy of our friends at GetSatisfaction and Infographic Design. Click to enlarge. …

Whenever a state’s tax man steps foot on Amazon’s porch, they make a hasty escape out the back door. That’s been the modus operandi for a while now and Illinois is the latest victim. Governor Pat Quinn just signed a bill that requires Amazon and other affiliate retailers to pay the state’s 6.25 percent sales tax. In response, Amazon is closing up shop in the state. Roger Ebert is not pleased. Amazon continues to fight every state that brings taxes to the table. They’re currently mixing it up with New York and are demonstrating that they are firm with their stance that they shouldn’t be taxing affiliates…

I have been blogging professionally for nearly five years — it has been my sole source of income. It isn’t by any means an easy career decision, but I make it work for me. But, as they say, all good things must come to an end, and I fear that the day of the professional blogger is no different. For now, I’m in good company: 34 percent of bloggers who participated in Technorati’s State of the Blogosphere in 2010 revealed that they partake in this blogging endeavor on a full-time or part-time basis, meaning there is money to be made. Blogging is also incredibly popular in the States, where 33 percent of respondents…

We’ve all heard of bytes, kilobytes, and megabytes for decades. The last couple of decades has put “gigabytes” into our vocabulary, while “terabytes” are become more commonly used lately. What about a petabyte? Zettabyte? It seems that as our understanding of data and our ability to quantify it grows, so too do the weird names that refer to them. If you ever need to remember a Yottabyte, just think “lots of bytes.” This Infographic by our friends at Focus puts all of the (currently) useless knowledge of super-data-measurements into perspective. We say “currently” because while we may not be able…

A Republican-led House subcommittee voted 15-8 to invalidate the FCC’s net neutrality rules. The rules will likely stay in place, however, as the bill has to get through the full House (which it likely will), then through the Senate, then signed by the President. Even if the Senate miraculously passes it, the President is highly unlikely to sign it. “If the FCC was truly weighing the costs and benefits of its actions, the agency would not be attempting to regulate the Internet,” Committee chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) said. The other side of the fence has companies like Google and Netflix…

It has become common wisdom in the tech world that old media represents an obsolete mode of thinking that should be discarded as quickly as possible. The attitude to physical, broadcast or film media could generally be summed up by saying “Newspapers? Print books? Those things are ancient and of no use to anyone ever, amirite?” But those with a little more patience and scope know that isn’t entirely true. Media is an enterprise that forms a core part of modern societies, and digital media is but a few years old. So maybe there are still some lessons that old media has to teach those young upstart digiphiles….

It’s only a matter of time before the iPad erases print entirely. The Federal Aviation Administration has granted early approval for the use of iPads in airplane cockpits – meaning before long, we could see the end entirely of paper maps and charts aboard planes. It would seem commercial airlines can’t wait to hop abourd the iPad bandwagon …plane… whatever, with none other than Delta already applying for approval to test the iPad (as well as other tablets) aboard its flights. The iPad would be a significant change for airlines, as current-gen aviation computers can weigh almost twenty pounds….