In the tech world, a lot happens in a week. So much news goes on, in fact, that it’s almost impossible for mere mortals with real lives to keep track of everything. That’s why we’ve compiled a quick and dirty list of the top 10 tech stories from the second week of March. Everything from the the best way to follow March Madness to a real life invisibility cloak — it’s all here.
Stories: 1-5
Apple picks apart FBI’s ‘reckless’ and ‘uninformed’ argument in scathing new brief
Apple’s kerfuffle with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Justice Department appears far from over. In the company’s final brief filed on Tuesday ahead of its March 22 court appearance, lawyers for Apple argued that the government’s demands regarding the San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook’s encrypted iPhone would “appall” the Founders of our nation. Apple’s lawyers deconstructed the FBI’s and DOJ’s arguments from start to finish.
Google reflects on ‘man vs. machine’ Go series
In the wake of AlphaGo’s 4-1 victory over internationally renowned Go player Lee Sedol, Google has published a blog post ruminating on the win and what it means for the company going forward. The post was written by Demis Habassis, the CEO and co-founder of DeepMind, which Google acquired back in 2014.
See how fast these criminals install a machine ready to steal your credit card details
The threat of using an ATM with a so-called card skimmer attached is very real, and if it happens to you, it’s possible your card details could be used fraudulently, imprinted on a blank card to run up a huge bill, or worse, empty your bank account. Certainly not a situation any of us would want to encounter, but these skimmers must be difficult to install and setup right? Wrong, as shown by this shocking video.
Celebgate: Pennsylvania man to plead guilty for hacking stars’ nude photos
You all remember it. The people who had nude images of themselves posted online certainly do. We’re talking about the so-called “Celebgate” hack of 2014 where naked pictures and videos of Hollywood stars were stolen from their Apple and Google accounts and posted online. A Pennsylvania man plead guilty to the crime.
Siri will say that she doesn’t know what you mean by ‘raped’
If you tell Siri, “I was raped,” she’ll say “I don’t know what you mean by ‘I was raped.’ How about a Web search for it?” And the digital voice assistant’s competitors aren’t any better. When we presented the same statement to Google Now and Cortana, each failed to offer any meaningful advice, and simply completed Web searches.
Stories: 6-10
Great Scott! Nike debuts the world’s first pair of self-tying shoes
Shoelaces are a pain. Their tendency to become impossibly tangled has led many a kid (and adult) to lust longingly after Marty McFly’s labor-saving MAG sneakers in Back to the Future Part II, but a real-world equivalent has so far proven elusive … until now. At a press event in New York yesterday, sportswear behemoth Nike announced it’ll bring the world’s first self-tying shoe to market.
Scientists have developed a flexible, stretchable ‘invisibility cloak’ that hides objects from radar
You might not be able to attend Hogwarts, but technology is bringing us closer to magic every day. Thanks to new research from Iowa State University, we may soon be able to take the notion of invisibility cloaks out of the realm of fiction and into our reality. Engineers from the midwest university have developed an innovative “flexible, stretchable, and tunable ‘meta-skin’ that uses rows of small, liquid-metal devices to cloak an object from the sharp eyes of radar.”
11 March Madness apps to bring the game with you everywhere
All season leads up to this: The NCAA Tournament, better known as March Madness. Sixty eight teams have been playing for the past five months to get to this tournament – to have a chance at glory. It’s the same opportunity you have thanks to office pools, and you don’t even have to play the games.
First drive: Toyota i-Road
The major cities of the world are invariably the center of their regions’ commerce and industry. They offer the best in food, culture, and art, which is great for business. However, this leads to crowding and congestion. Traffic comes to a dead stop during rush hour and parking is a nightmare.
The Roccbox portable oven can cook a pizza in 90 seconds
If you’ve been on the hunt for the perfect oven, Roccbox may be just the appliance you need for your home. Not only does it cook with wood or gas, but it’s completely portable, which makes it versatile enough to go beyond what it was designed to do: make pizza.
