Tag: TECHNOLOGY

Got to hand it to those British Royals. In their own way, they're pretty cutting edge. In 1960, for instance, they were the first to televise a royal wedding service. (Blame them for the countless horrific wedding-related reality shows.) The royals are again acting oh-so-cutting-edge (not to mention classy) by planning a digital release of Kate and William's entire ceremony, mere hours after ...

Share There's a good chance that young children growing up in today's world will learn how to use an iPad before learning how to tie their shoes. That's the takeaway from a new study by online security firm AVG, which found that 58-percent of kids between the ages of 2 and 5 know how to play a "basic computer game," while a full 63-percent know how to turn a computer off and on. Most young ...

On last night's 'Colbert Report,' Stephen Colbert sat down with Sherry Turkle, an MIT professor who recently wrote a book about the devastating effects that technology has had on the human race. Throughout the interview, Turkle tirelessly argues that things like social networking and text messaging are turning us into alienated, soulless automatons. And, as he always does, Colbert deftly shoots ...

In the visually illustrious world of Hayao Miyazaki, anything goes. Children fly, parents turn into pigs, and shadows cook udon. One thing that doesn't exist in his fantasy land, though, is the iPad. It's a well known fact that Miyazaki is a staunch anti-techie. He owns no computer, DVD player or cell phone, and proudly communicates via handwritten letters whenever he feels the need to express ...

In theory, it's a noble public initiative to provide every high school student with the latest, high-tech laptops. What's not so noble, though, is to make every kid pay for it themselves. As of September 2011, every student attending Beverly High School in Massachusetts will be required to have their own MacBook as part of a district-wide campaign to modernize classroom technology. According ...

There once was a time, at the dawn of the commercial flight era, when major airlines were at the forefront of new technology. While its computerized reservation system may have been revolutionary back in 1960, it hasn't changed a whole lot since, and consumers have had to suffer because of it. Decades-old computers and convoluted networks have only served to exacerbate already strained customer ...

Share How's this for a reality show pitch? Take a bunch of Senators, representatives and Supreme Court justices, put them in a swanky, upscale apartment for six months -- and surround them with high-tech gadgets as their only means of survival. Want to order a pizza, Senator Byrd? You'll have to whip out your iPhone. In need of some new reading material, Justice Scalia? There's this thing called ...

As much as we love new technology here at Switched, we also sort of hate it. No matter how cool, innovative, or flat out mind-blowing a new device may be, it's equally frustrating when our gadgets, for whatever reason, fail us. But what are the most common issues people have with technology? According to a recent report, they're pretty basic. Consumer Reports recently surveyed over 13,000 of ...

A recent, global survey has posited a correlation between access to telecommunication and emotional wellness. In its study of 35,000 individuals, BCS, or the Chartered Institute for IT, found that low-income people and women in developing nations were the most likely to be emotionally uplifted by access to modern devices, the BBC reports. On one hand, researchers attribute this phenomenon to ...

The position of Supreme Court justice might be the most secure, cushy job in the country, but it's certainly not as easy as it looks. Keeping your finger on the pulse of society long enough to fairly interpret the laws governing it definitely requires some leg work. And, as we found out yesterday, the job is sometimes so difficult that obscure social phenomena can manage to completely elude the ...

digg_url ='http://www.switched.com/2010/03/22/army-overhauls-basic-training-to-toughen-softer-gamer-generati/'; Share Though critics of video games are forever arguing that playing violent video games leads to violent behavior, the U.S. Army doesn't believe that these games are creating tougher soldiers. According to a report from NPR, the Army is overhauling its basic training program for the ...

As religious groups struggle with the dichotomous relationship between tradition and technology, some denominations and sects are steadily embracing tech's latest gadgets and trends. While some groups forbid, and even forcefully prevent, the use of mobile devices during ceremonies, others welcome and embrace such activities among their congregations. And, even though some clerical leaders may ...

The hype machine is a cruel, cruel beast. It builds us up, only to let us down. For every piece of technology that's taken off, there's another handful that failed to live up to the buzz. To honor these fallen ideas, CNET UK has compiled a "Whatever Happened to..." list of the past's most remarkably unremarkable tech. Remember Sony's MiniDisc? Yes, the colorful plastic cartridge promised that ...

Seat belts are the foundation of automobile safety, and they are receiving a high-tech makeover from none other than Ford Motor Company. According to a Ford press release, rear passengers in the company's 2010 Explorers will be the first to experience inflatable seat belt technology. The seat belts look just like traditional seat belts, but inflate within 40 milliseconds following a crash ...

digg_url ='http://www.switched.com/2009/10/13/double-slash-in-web-addresses-are-superfluous-says-internet-arc/'; As the old saying goes, hindsight is 20-20. That's the only explanation Sir Tim Berners-Lee offers for a mistake he made while designing the Internet. During an interview at a technology symposium in Washington Thursday, Berners-Lee said if he could go back and change one thing, he ...