Microsoft Considering a Freebie?

Posted: February 28, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

For anyone who can remember Microsoft charging $495 or $795 for software, it’s a small victory…according to the verge.com, Redmond is experimenting with a free version of Windows 8.1. It’s being positioned as Windows 8.1 with Bing, and is focused on getting Windows 7 users to upgrade.

At 19 billion, WhatsApp has gotten a lot of notice since being bought by Facebook, and there are lots of messaging services around…some even shred your messages seconds after they’re read…but they travel through regular channels and can be intercepted by the likes of the NSA. Slasdot.org reports that the people that make TOR, the anonymous browser, are developing an anonymous instant messenger that will be rolled out at the TOR Winter Developers Meeting in Iceland.

Net tools get smarter and smarter, and big data marches one. Gigaom.com says Bloomberg now has sentiment analysis tools that tell traders about spikes in positive or negative chatter about companies…in other words, they gauge the collective mood on Twitter for a stock or company.

Radiation Free Cancer Scans Coming?

Posted: February 20, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

Preliminary testing shows that an MRI with diagnostic dye may work as well as PET and CT scans for spotting cancer. This is particularly important for kids and young people, since their cells are still growing and dividing quickly. Cnet.com says some of the research is happening at Stanford. The new method uses an iron supplement, and found 158 tumors in 8 to 33 year olds, compared to 163 using the more common PET/CT scan combination.

The US keeps winning with data, and not in a good way…thenextweb.com picked up a report from OpenSignal that shows that the good ol’ USA is second slowest in 4G download speeds. Australia is the fastest, mate.

Computerworld.com says Microsoft has dropped a temporary fix for Internet Explorer 9 and 10 that patches a vulnerability a couple hacker groups found. It’s a one click ‘fix it’ solution patch. Do you actually know anyone that still uses Internet ‘Exploder?’

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