Technology

12 - 1:23am

Cut back on total time spent

NEW YORK — A woman I haven’t spoken to in six years is pregnant with her second son. Another college acquaintance reads the Bible a lot. A high school classmate likes to rant about politics. A college dormmate thinks he works too much. On Facebook, I’m connected to a lot of people who are not my friends. Over the years, as my Facebook friend list grows, it’s made me increasingly uncomfortable that I seem to know so much about people that I don’t actually know.

Telepresence robots let employees 'beam' into work 12/30/12 - 1:22am

PALO ALTO, Calif. — Engineer Dallas Goecker attends meetings, jokes with colleagues and roams the office building just like other employees at his company in Silicon Valley. But Goecker isn’t in California. He’s more than 2,300 miles away, working at home in Seymour, Indiana.

Indian land program shows technology's limits 12/30/12 - 1:21am

BANGALORE, India — For years, Karnataka’s land records were a quagmire of disputed, forged documents maintained by thousands of tyrannical bureaucrats who demanded bribes to do their jobs. In 2002, hopes emerged that this was about to change. The southern state, home to India’s technology hub in Bangalore, unveiled Bhoomi, a program that digitized Karnataka’s 20 million handwritten land records. At the time, it was hailed as a landmark use of computers to cut through bureaucracy and corruption.

Click, print, shoot: Download guns 12/23/12 - 1:06am

SAN FRANCISCO — Downloading a gun design to your computer, building it with a three-dimensional printer that uses plastics and other materials, and firing it minutes later. No background checks, no questions asked. Sound far-fetched? It’s not. And that is disquieting for gun control advocates. Rep. Steven Israel, D-NY, said the prospect of such guns becoming reality is reason enough for the renewal of the Undetectable Firearms Act, which makes it illegal to build guns that can’t be detected by X-ray or metallic scanners. That law expires at the end of 2013.

Colleges adapt to tech-savvy generation 12/23/12 - 1:04am

Class adapts to changing world

RENO, Nev. — Students in Judy Strauss’ marketing classes at the University of Nevada, Reno are as likely to use Facebook as they are textbooks to complete their assignments. They use e-portfolios — a collection of the student’s work captured digitally — to grab the attention of potential employers instead of submitting online resumes or paper resumes.

New Google Maps: Big improvements 12/16/12 - 1:13am

NEW YORK — Like a lot of people, I was happy and relieved to see Google Maps return to the iPhone. I’d been frustrated with the Apple mapping software that had replaced it three months ago. For one thing, it didn’t have public transit directions, a feature important for New Yorkers like me. Apple’s mapping app also wasn’t as good as the old Google app in finding destinations. I often had to type full addresses rather than just the name of a business.

Super-clear format can puncture 'Hobbit' fantasy 12/09/12 - 1:09am

LOS ANGELES — One thought struck me as I watched the new “Hobbit” movie in the latest super-clear format: “The rain looks fake. It’s not hitting their faces!” That is just one consequence of filmmaker Peter Jackson’s decision to shoot his epic, three-part “Lord of the Rings” prequel with a frame rate of 48 images per second, double the 24 that cinemagoers have experienced for the past century.

Review: 3 weather phone apps help you on the go 12/09/12 - 1:08am

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — For me, climate change is a serious issue. No, I’m not referring to the debate over global warming. My concerns are much simpler. I’m constantly checking the weather for the hours and days ahead because deciding to hike on a rainy day or neglecting to dress warmly can put a damper on a vacation. During recent travels, I tried several free weather apps for the iPhone and Android phones. (Versions for tablet computers also are available, but I didn’t test those extensively.)

TechBits 12/09/12 - 1:07am

TechBits ASSOCIATED PRESS This week, Facebook Inc. issued a list of the 25 top-rated games that launched on Facebook in 2012. The company says the rankings are based on user ratings and engagement with the games. It’s the same methodology that Facebook uses to rank apps in its App Center. Some of the games are played on Facebook’s website, while others are only on Apple Inc.’s iOS or Google Inc.’s Android devices using Facebook’s app. Here’s the list: 1. “SongPop” (by FreshPlanet, on Facebook.com, iOS and Android)

Review: Sand, surf, blood in 'Far Cry 3' 12/09/12 - 1:07am

The travel brochure that enticed Jason Brody and his friends to book their spring break-style trip to the Rook Islands probably left out the pillaging pirates, aggressive bull sharks and lunging leopards. The picturesque setting of “Far Cry 3” (Ubisoft, for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, $59.99; PC, $49.99) turns out to be far from hospitable to the naive tourist, who can barely stand the sight of blood when he finds himself caged up in a village ruled by a sadistic drug lord.