Tech Brief
On Tech Brief today: face patents, rogue choppers and spinning beyond the grave.
• Earlier this week up to four million Gmail users found their accounts were being used to pump out what appeared to be spam messages. But, far from being hacked or infected with a virus, the error was a Google problem .
"At least if your home or business computer is spewing out spam you can pull the cable out of the back of your PC. When web email services like Gmail go wrong you don't have that option."
• However, it's not all bad news for Gmail. Yesterday Google rolled out a free voice call service to its users. . that within the first 24 hours more than 1 million calls were made
"The rapid adoption isn't too surprising, since Google says there are hundreds of millions of Gmail users globally (although the feature is only available to US users for now), and a 'significant percentage' of them already take advantage of the service's video chat capabilities."
• Yesterday's Tech brief reported on facebook suing a website for using 'book' in its name. Now, it seems it also has the word face in its sights, .
"Face is a pretty generic word and Facebook doesn't actually use it on its own, only in combination with book. If Facebook doesn't get face, maybe it will have better luck with like. It has at least 14 applications to trademark that word as well."
• The lights have gone out on a "critical chapter" in Silicon valley, . AOL is officially moving out of the "legendary HQ buildings of Netscape Communications". AOL bought Netscape in 1998 and moved into its offices. More than a decade later Netscape is no more and AOL is a shadow of its former self. Kara quotes AOL's Brad Garlinghouse.
"For good or bad, those buildings are full of ghosts and we need a new space to start a new chapter."
• The second of Asimov's laws of robotics says that a robot must obey any orders given to it by human beings, unless that order will endanger humans. Fine in theory. But what happens when those instructions are corrupted? the "software error" that sent a military robot helicopter straying into restricted airspace near Washington DC.
"Robot planes and choppers lacking instructions from their human masters will normally circle where they are when comms go down, and control is almost always restored shortly thereafter - as in fact happened with the rogue Fire Scout. The difference here is that the MQ-8 failed to follow its built-in failure protocol, instead continuing on course."
• And vinyly, on the company - called And Vinyly - that promises to keep people spinning beyond the grave. The firm offers people the chance to press their ashes in to a vinyl recording. The main challenge, according to founder Jason Leach is choosing the music.
It's difficult to think of what to put on your record because you want it to be the best album you can imagine"
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