It’s fitting that the first exascale supercomputer in the United States—with a performance of one exaflop, or a quintillion calculations per second—will have the name “Aurora,” the mythical Roman goddess of the dawn. After all, it’s the dawn of a new era in high-performance computing.

The National Security Agency recently released several of the agency’s software tools as open source and added new technologies to the NSA technology transfer program patent portfolio that are ready for licensing. Could leveraging any of these technologies help your efforts?

From navigating unfamiliar terrain and dangerous weather conditions to working in risky situations, AI could be of enormous aid to first responders and the military if AI systems could react appropriately when something significant and unexpected occurs, without needing to be retrained on a large data set.

In an attempt to turn birdsong and predator monitoring into data that can help improve pest trapping ability, the Cacophony Project is an open-source conservation project employing technologies such as embedded systems, web applications, backend services, and machine learning pipelines.

Beyond focus groups and surveys, different paths lead to uncovering ways to delight your customers. It is important to recognize the problems, challenges, wants, and needs of people. “Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes” is also good advice for rolling out products.

They say all good things eventually come to an end. The Raspberry Pi Foundation announced the latest and last iteration of the Raspberry Pi Compute Module series: Compute Module 3+ (CM3+), designed for industrial applications and digital makers.

It's officially Girl Scout cookie season, and that means you’re doing a good thing when you buy those boxes of cookies. The Girl Scouts offer science- and technology-related badges and journeys to introduce girls to computer science, robotics, mechanical engineering, space exploration, and cybersecurity.

Acceptance testing is complete, and selected users are starting to tackle the most complex of science problems on the 200-petaflop IBM AC922 Summit supercomputer. Summit enables scientists to explore new territory and uncover insights by applying artificial intelligence algorithms.

The growing list of internet-connected devices bring amazing benefits, but the sharing of valuable information that brings this convenience also brings security concerns. The Open Web Application Security Project has released its Top 10 Internet of Things 2018 list of the highest-priority issues.

Embarking on yet another New Year’s program to transform your life? How about following the way of the Jedi to find your inner Force instead? The Star Wars Fuel Your Force program is about finding strength and balance in your life by taking inspiration from the Star Wars galaxy.

We’ve embraced the IoT in our everyday lives, yet with so many connection points, there’s a risky habit too many of us still need to break—using weak passwords. SplashData evaluated more than five million passwords leaked online during the previous year and compiled the top worst passwords for 2018.

To update health care providers, patients, and developers about some of the risks and benefits surrounding software products, the FDA released a report based on impact to patient safety, health benefits and risks, and best practices.

There’s a longstanding, often passionate debate about art versus design and what separates the two. Now, many advocate that technology presents yet another creative medium, and silos are being torn down as art, design, and technology are increasingly entwined.

Who among us doesn't need stress reduction techniques from time to time? Especially ideas that actually work. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently channeled a puppy cam to call attention to the importance of recognizing stress in our everyday lives.

What kid doesn’t love a dance party? With aliens and sharks that drop, double down, and dab? Introduce kids to the basics of computer science in a way that doesn’t elicit “I’m boooored” with Dance Party, the draw for the 2018 Hour of Code. Do a little dance, make a little code!

Does the Web need fixing? Widely acknowledged as the creator of the World Wide Web back in 1994 and the current Director of the World Wide Web Consortium on web standards, Tim Berners-Lee launched #ForTheWeb to help resolve what the organization views as current risks and future challenges.

Borrowing from the successful NASA Challenges playbook, the US Department of Energy recently launched several crowdsourcing efforts to incentivize new applications and technologies in additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, and transforming nontraditional water sources into resources.

Because of the rapidly evolving nature of cybersecurity threats and risks, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently released a draft of updated premarket cybersecurity recommendations on how device manufacturers can better protect their products and proactively address security.

Want to play with a porg? Walk on Mars? Or help those with autism practice social skills? Welcome to the new reality of mixed reality, where digital and physical objects coexist and interact to provide a new medium that a variety of organizations see as full of potential.

What’s your favorite part of autumn? Football games and Pumpkin Spice Lattes are back and #fallcolors2018 is underway. And for leaf peepers with inquiring minds who want to know about the measurable benefits of the amazing trees all around us, the USDA Forest Service has a useful app for you: I-Tree.

The buzz around quantum computers has been around for a while, but many feel that for long-term success, a road map is required. A new consortium focused on quantum information science and engineering will be led by the US Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Who says playing video games is a waste of time? Surely not the adults and kids around the world who are “playing” Minecraft and building 3D models of safer and more livable public spaces and communities in collaboration with Block by Block and UN-Habitat.

Many girls begin losing interest in STEM subjects as early as middle school, and this path continues. #SheCanSTEM is a new public service media campaign that hopes to encourage middle school girls to ultimately pursue STEM careers by challenging stereotypes and showcasing female STEM role models. 

In the view of the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), a government agency that has contributed heavily to AI research in the past, AI’s programmed ability to process information is still much too limited. What AI needs is contextual reasoning capabilities.

New maps on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s BirdCast website let you track migratory birds in near real time, as well as forecast avian migration up to three days ahead. Pamela Rentz looks at why the when, where, and how far birds will migrate is important.

Did you ever say to yourself, "What a brilliant idea! How did they come up with that?" One school of thought holds that the best "aha" moments take place when someone’s alone. However, another theory—shared by organizations such as NASA and LEGO—is that a problem shared is a problem solved.

In our always-connected world, continuous learning is a given. Ongoing professional development is imperative in technology careers, yet learning something new in other fields is also good for your career, your health, and your life. So whether it’s for professional or personal reasons, stay in school.

Studying the biomechanics of the amazing flight of the monarch butterfly will enhance national security. At least that’s the goal of research about the possibilities of long-range micro air vehicles with enhanced flight efficiency and superior flight range inspired by monarch butterflies.

Although the scientific community and other government agencies and nonprofit organizations have benefited from NASA’s policy of free and open remote-sensing data, the potential for commercial use has remained largely untapped. NASA’s Technology Transfer program hopes to change that.

The internet of things has sky-high expectations, and smart cities, where devices connect across public and private sectors, is one of the drivers fueling the fervor. But there are also skeptics saying the IoT is slow to materialize, which poses questions about risks surrounding cyber security and privacy.

There’s a new laser device coming to the galaxy this fall that will be good for the forests here on Earth. NASA’s Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation Lidar (GEDI) will be the first space-borne laser designed to map the world's forests in 3-D to help us study and understand forest changes.

Built for artificial intelligence and high performance computing, the new supercomputer Summit will provide researchers and others with the incredible computing power to solve problems in human health, high-energy physics, climate science, advanced materials discovery, and other areas.

Artificial intelligence is projected to revolutionize health care and make high-quality medical treatment more accessible and affordable. While 3D-printed donor organs may still be on the horizon, AI tools to detect strokes, diagnose diabetic retinopathy, and help identify wrist fractures are already here.

For many, it's time for a much-needed break with a summer vacation at the beach, listening to the ocean waves with toes in the sand. But numerous studies show it’s important to take time to find a way to destress on a regular basis. If doing nothing isn't your cup of tea, Pamela Rentz has some project ideas.

The 2017 Atlantic hurricane season saw three devastating major hurricanes. Like any team after a release that conducts reviews to see how they can improve, the National Hurricane Center found ways to enhance future communication to the public regarding where a tropical storm is headed and the potential impact.

Since plastics can’t efficiently be recycled as yet, it’s time to focus on reducing our own level of plastic consumption, both as individuals and businesses. How can we help? The End Plastic Pollution campaign for Earth Day 2018 encourages all of us to do our part to reduce our plastic pollution footprint.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary blog noted they recently added 850 new words and definitions that come from a cross-section of our linguistic culture. It’s good to know that some of the words we’re seeing in the headlines are now being included.

Did you get anything special for Pi Day this year, besides the obligatory pie? Once again on March 14, Raspberry Pi Founder and CEO Eben Upton announced that the next evolutionary step in the RasPi pipeline, the new Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+, is now available.

As part of a medical research partnership with the US Department of Veterans Affairs, the team of scientists and engineers at DeepMind, the artificial intelligence group at Alphabet (Google’s parent company), will work on the global issue of patient deterioration during hospital care.

Employees who work in environments with trees nearby have been scientifically proven to be at least 50 percent more productive, happier, and better-looking than average. OK, that may be an exaggeration, but there is growing evidence that trees meet the needs of people, the environment, and businesses.

There are apps that track everything from your fitness goals and calories consumed to the whereabouts of your spouse. However, if you have a young child from age 2 months to 5 years in your life, the free CDC Milestone Tracker is a pretty good mobile app for tracking your child’s development.

Were your social media feeds recently flooded with selfies of your friends and contacts, matching themselves to portraits found in museum collections around the world? If you didn’t catch on to what was happening, the #GoogleArts app gave a new twist to the world trending #MuseumSelfie Day.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. For the fourth straight year, the top spots in the annual worst passwords of the year list issued by password management company SplashData are unchanged. People apparently still use “123456” and “password.”

In an ambitious undertaking, Microsoft is pledging $50 million over the next five years to expand Microsoft’s AI for Earth program and put artificial intelligence technology in the hands of individuals and organizations around the world who are working to protect our planet.

The new Advanced Plant Technologies program established by DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, will explore ways to use plants' natural responsiveness to their environment as a military sensor to detect and report on the presence of threats such as explosive devices or radioactivity.

Hijacking accounts is one of the top online security threats, with billions of usernames and passwords from different platforms available on black markets. To understand how hijackers steal passwords and other sensitive data, Google partnered with UC Berkeley in a study of Google accounts.

Did a teacher ever call you out for daydreaming? Did your boss? Turns out, you’re not a slacker after all. According to a brain study conducted by the Georgia Institute of Technology, you’re smart, creative, and your mind wanders because you may have extra brain capacity.

Do you want to improve your internal training programs or perhaps update your skills via e-learning? You can pick up some valuable clues from the CIA’s K9 explosive detection training program. Pamela Rentz highlights some of the CIA’s top training tips that work for humans as well as canines.

As healthcare undergoes a digital transformation, how can the traditional regulatory process keep pace? The FDA recently announced the initial participants in a pilot program that will pre-certify digital health tech companies that meet quality standards for software design, validation, and maintenance.

Cyber threats and security breaches are not going away any time soon, unfortunately. In fact, many of us are now taking online security practices more seriously. With the surfeit of digital entertainment options available today, it’s time to get kids in the habit of practicing cyber safety as well.

Origami is no longer limited to folding a sheet of paper into a crane. Now there’s Interactive Robogami, a new system under development from researchers at MIT that gives those of us who are neither a roboticist nor a mechanical engineer the tools to design our own robots.

Our forests struggle with invasive species and pests, yet some trees still survive. Why? To find out, scientists need resilient trees to study, and that’s where technology and citizen scientists can contribute—with TreeSnap, a free mobile app that enables everyday people to tag trees that scientists can study.

Disney Research's Magic Bench, which previewed at SIGGRAPH 2017, demonstrates the magical possibilities of mixed reality by combining physical space—a bench—with virtual space, allowing a single user or a group to share the same experience and see, hear, and feel animated characters.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is getting smarter, but there’s still a lot to learn about this growing field. To that end, several tech giants recently announced programs to help take AI and machine learning from the nascent stage of development to solving sophisticated challenges across virtually every industry.

More than one-third of all crops in the US require insect pollination, and managed honey bee colonies are our main resource. According to the US Department of Agriculture, beekeepers have been steadily losing colonies, but the IoT may be able to help with some interesting projects.

For artificial intelligence (AI) to become useful in our everyday lives, AI must have the ability to work with other agents and humans in order to function in complex environments. At Microsoft, one AI research approach involves creepers, endermen, zombies, skeletons, Iron Golems and, yes, those pigs.

To help ensure that today’s Wonder Girls (and guys) have coding superpowers that will help them in the future, Google announced the company has joined forces with Warner Bros. Pictures to release a new interactive coding project via Made with Code.

Reports vary in predictions about what parts of the workforce will be most affected by automation. How far-fetched is the idea that significant numbers of technology jobs will become irrelevant? How can training and education programs better prepare us for the future?

Is this news story true or is it merely the product of someone’s imagination? While sometimes it’s easy to tell, many people have been fooled by fake news. As part of an effort to mitigate the trending “fake news” phenomena, Google recently announced the latest improvements for Google Search.

"I only know one truth: It's time for the Jedi to end." That’s the bomb Luke Skywalker dropped in the first trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Pamela Rentz highlights some of the wisdom of the Jedi to keep The Force strong in the workplace and our lives.

Disney is where the magic happens, and one of the projects Disney Research scientists are working on that will wow visitors at the Magic Kingdom one day is technology that makes virtual reality more dynamic. For example, what about merging virtual reality with the physical world?

The Sideways Dictionary is a cool new resource to bookmark. Sideways is like a dictionary, but it's way more interesting. Created by Google’s technology incubator Jigsaw, it uses analogies and metaphors, instead of dry definitions, to explain techno-jargon.

The 2017–2018 NASA catalog has hundreds of free, downloadable software codes in categories ranging from aeronautics and autonomous systems to environmental science and vehicle management.

If you’re asked to contribute to your company’s e-newsletter or draft a blog post for the website or a design document, here are a few writing tips and resources you may find helpful.

Some things never change and, unfortunately, picking bad passwords that put you at risk of identity theft seems to be among them. The 2016 Worst Passwords List has been released by SplashData, the password management company that releases the annual list of the worst of the worst passwords.

Google's Toontastic 3D app lets anyone create 3D cartoons. Select from dozens of characters, customize them, or draw your own. Then simply move them around on a screen and animate and narrate your own cartoons. Create shows, stories, reports, family photo albums, or presentations.

With the goal of making IoT devices more secure, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has announced the IoT Home Inspector Challenge. The contest calls for a technical solution or tool that consumers can deploy to guard against security vulnerabilities in software on the IoT devices in their homes.

To help overcome military challenges posed in difficult urban environments, DARPA has launched its new OFFensive Swarm-Enabled Tactics program. The goal of OFFSET is to provide help to small-unit combat forces operating in urban environments with drones capable of swarming, and you can help.

Would you like to update your holiday traditions with one that’s actually pretty simple and fun? Google's Santa Tracker lets you follow Santa and his sled around the world with Google Maps when he takes off on December 24, via desktop web, mobile web, Android app, Android TV app, and Chromecast.

Fitness trackers, cars, and refrigerators are embedded with sensors to inform us about our health, where we’re going, and maybe one day, let us know that we’re running out of milk. But what could embedded spinach leaves accomplish? For one thing, send an alert to the presence of explosives.

Many predict artificial intelligence will someday cure cancer, clean up our environment, drastically improve our cities, and send us to Mars. However, with the potential benefits come risk and concern about what exactly are artificial intelligence best practices and a need for guidelines.

A trip to the Red Planet will eventually require shelter, and NASA is offering $1.1 million in prize money as part of the 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge for new ways to create sustainable housing solutions where future space explorers can live and work.

To inspire more young women to pursue careers in STEM, every year Technovation invites girls from around the world to solve real-world problems through technology. In partnership with Google's Made w/ Code and UN Women, the Technovation Challenge 2017 has set some lofty goals.

Do you think cryptocurrency is the future of money? Will digital money that isn't run by any government or bank ever become trusted enough to use in our everyday lives? MIT is one institution that seems to think so.

Interested in adding network-connected thermostats, refrigerators, lighting, or security devices in your home? A portion of the most widely deployed wireless communications protocol in home automation has become available as open source, which may mean broadening availability of smart home technology.

In an attempt to reduce duplicating government IT and software resources, the US federal government recently announced the “Federal Source Code” policy, which requires new custom-developed source code used by federal agencies to be made available for sharing and reuse government-wide.

The online cultural world launched in 2012 by Google has steadily expanded, and now the Google Cultural Institute and its growing list of partner organizations offer up even more artwork, interesting artifacts, and content from more than 1000 museums, archives, and organizations via website and app.

Companies say they want to build a culture of innovation, but saying and actually doing are two different things. Those that are serious should take note of the recently released innovation blueprint developed by the ecosystem at the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

Always consult a doctor for medical advice. Well yes, but for many of us, that’s after we first do an Internet search for our symptoms. Google recognizes this reality and is attempting to make web-surfing symptoms more accurate, with more helpful (and appropriate) listings served up.

The 2016 hurricane season is upon us and NOAA, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, has more than tripled computing forecasting capacity thanks to two new Cray supercomputers the agency calls “Luna” and “Surge”.

Dream it. Design it. Make it. It’s the Makers’ mantra—and the official "National Week of Making" that takes place June 17–23 kicks off a summer of tinkering with 3D printers, laser cutters, open source design software, and Internet instructions and videos.

NASA's Technology Transfer Program periodically releases formerly patented technologies to the general public. NASA recently made available more than 50 additional agency technologies, and a searchable database catalogs thousands of NASA patents already in the public domain.

Linus Torvalds's concept of an open source operating system and the Linux kernel helps power the Internet and millions of Android devices. In a recent Q&A TED Talk, Torvalds discussed how he likes to work (alone), his good and bad traits, and why he doesn’t see himself as a visionary.

How do you know if the health-related app you’re working on—or using—falls under federal guidelines? To help mobile app developers understand what federal laws and regulations they need to follow, the FTC has created a new web-based tool for developers of health-related mobile apps.

Whether it’s developing new proficiencies, acquiring professional certification, looking for a raise or promotion, advancing in a career, or adding a boost to a job search, approximately 63 percent of professionals have upgraded their skills within the last year according to a recent survey.

Raspberrians had an early Pi Day present this year. In celebration of the fourth birthday of Raspberry Pi, the next-generation Raspberry Pi 3 has been released. Now on sale for $35, the latest version is compatible with the more than 8 million Raspberry Pi boards already sold.

Google released the source code for the images made by artificial intelligence and artificial neural networks, dubbed DeepDream. Everyone, especially programmers and artists, was invited to upload their own images, experiment, and tag their creations as #deepdream on social media.

Data centers are regarded as energy hogs by many, and the hope is that renewable power sources can become a cost-effective alternative. Microsoft recently launched Project Natick to find out if data centers located under the ocean could be a viable possibility.

Here’s a Top 25 List you do not want to be on: The Worst Passwords of 2015. Password management company SplashData released its annual list of the 25 worst Internet passwords, and what’s truly mindboggling is that for both 2015 and 2014, the same two passwords are at the top of the list.

Here’s an event to schedule in your calendar for the weekend of February 12–15, 2016. It's Valentine's Day weekend—and it's a chance to give Mother Nature a valentine by participating in the online annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) to help create a real-time snapshot of bird populations.

Did watching Star Wars: The Force Awakens get you thinking about a career exploring the universe? NASA is on a mission to Mars and is currently accepting applications for the next class of astronauts through February 18, 2016.

You now have access to a cultural treasure trove of music, opera, theatre, dance, and performance art from around the world, courtesy of the new virtual Performing Arts exhibition unveiled by the Google Cultural Institute.

The growing proliferation of digital dust is one of the key findings from the 2016 Emerging Cyber Threats Report issued annually by the Georgia Tech Information Security Center and Research Institute.

Where are the strong female role models that will inspire girls to embark on a technology career path? How can we make more young girls see that taking STEM classes can lead to important—and cool—professions? Several programs aim to answer the challenge.

A new project called the Game and Mind Research (GAMR) is designed to explore if how someone performs in virtual worlds such as video games corresponds to their cognitive traits and behavior in everyday life.

The government is offering startup companies interested in commercial applications of NASA technology the opportunity to license patented NASA technology with no up front payment. Access to intellectual property rights of the full NASA portfolio of active patents and patents pending is available.

Breathing techniques, meditation, and yoga are all ways people use to cope with stress. But instead of going to your happy place, how about learning to chill by kicking back and playing video games? A first-person biofeedback game helps players practice techniques to manage stress and control anxiety.

Back to school means back to homework, and more and more kids are likely to receive and submit their homework assignments online. Good or bad, today’s kids and their parents depend on the Internet, so laying down some cyber safety ground rules is important.

The Internet of Things is hyped as smart technology, with sensors capable of gathering and exchanging data with other devices that should help make our lives easier. The Department of Homeland Security is hoping IoT technology can be smart enough to make it easier for first responders to save lives.

Brain Power, a Cambridge start-up, is attempting to use Google Glass to help those on the autism spectrum who may have difficulty learning and interacting, including social interactions, speech delays, learning to control certain behaviors, and help with recognizing and forming abstract groupings.

What happens when thousands of volunteers join together to donate their unused computing power for humanitarian research? Hopefully, through the Computing for Clean Water project, access to clean water is closer to reality for nearly one billion people around the world.

The White House kicked off the official “Week of Making,” June 12-18 with the National Maker Faire at the University of the District of Columbia. 3D printers, laser cutters, open source, easy-to-use design software, and desktop machine tools are today’s poster board and markers.

The Internet of Things is getting smarter, integrating circuits and sensors into so much more of our lives that it’s predicted 20+ billion devices will be running the IoT by 2020. Besides smarter thermostats and watches, hopefully there will be devices that help save our planet—including our bees.

Google announced earlier this month that Project Loon—a plan to provide wireless connectivity via a network of high-altitude balloons floating in the stratosphere using only the wind for steering—is making progress. The project’s longest duration balloon was airborne for just over six months.

The 2014 Google Code-in online contest introduces students ages thirteen to seventeen to open source development. Open from December 1, 2014, to January 19, 2015, students can pick tasks created by twelve open source organizations and work on a wide range of projects and tasks.

‘Tis the season to #giveback, so why not consider volunteering your unused computing power? Let us count the many ways our computers, smartphones, and tablets can contribute—from detecting life in other galaxies to predicting earthquakes to finding better ways to treat cancer.

When Americans worry about crime, these days they worry more about their credit card information being hacked than they do about criminals breaking into their home, stealing their car, or even getting mugged. Pamela Rentz highlights the latest information from the Emerging Cyber Threats Report.

NASA had an ambitious event this year to create a “global selfie,” a crowd-sourced mosaic image that would resemble Earth as it appeared from space on Earth Day—and more than 50,000 people responded. The result is a zoomable 3.2 gigapixel image built with more than 36,000 individual images.

In an effort to call attention to the importance of improving mathematics and science education, Congress made National Pi Day an official US holiday in 2009, and Pi Day is celebrated worldwide on March 14 (3.14). Pamela Rentz highlights the only holiday that honors a number.

The gauge on the Motor City may be hovering perilously close to empty, but within commuting distance of Detroit, there’s a high-tech automotive hub growing under the radar in nearby Ann Arbor. Pamela Rentz looks at two automotive technology and research centers in Ann Arbor.

There’s a general consensus among those hiring in tech hubs that there aren’t enough qualified computer programmers, especially when it comes to Ruby on Rails. And when it comes to female coders, the candidate pool shrinks even more. Pamela Rentz profiles a women-only Ruby on Rails boot camp.

Pamela Rentz profiles the latest move by the White House in the battle against patent assertion entities, or the so-called patent trolls. The President announced five executive actions and recommended legislative measures for Congress.

Pamela Rentz profiles the Sears Holdings Corp.'s newly formed business unit—Ubiquity Critical Environments. Ubiquity’s charter is to find a new—and hopefully profitable—use for the company’s bloated real estate portfolio of Sears and Kmart stores that are sitting empty or projected to close.

Introduced in 2009, Bitcoins are termed open source crypto-currency. Bitcoins are not backed by a government, central bank, or the FDIC—and when shares of the Bitcoin recently jumped over the $100 mark, many people started asking a lot of questions.

Pamela Rentz details the Executive Order by President Obama that strengthens the government’s partnership with the private sector to address cyber security threats through new information sharing programs, providing both classified and unclassified threat and attack information to US companies.

The South Dakota School of Mines & Technology is participating in a pilot biometrics program that makes the school the first ever biometrics campus. Pamela Rentz highlights the pilot program, which allows faculty and students to pay for goods by scanning their finger.

Merging the notion of community volunteer initiatives with a hackathon, the White House Office of Science Technology and Policy recently announced the first National Day of Civic Hacking. Mark your calendar and be prepared to get civic-hacking on June 1–2, 2013.

Tablet popularity is skyrocketing, and many users are, well, captivated. At the Smithsonian's National Zoo, orangutans are going high-tech, courtesy of Apps for Apes and Orangutan Outreach, a non-profit organization with a mission to save endangered orangutans and protect their rainforest home.

Do you pine for the ultrafast Internet service that fiber-to-the-X promises? Instead of DSL service or cable connections, imagine not only your development efforts but online music, movies, and games streaming more than one hundred times faster than the speed of broadband. It's in the Gig City.

Isis—the joint venture of AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon—is the latest entrant in the mobile payment market. With a lackluster October 2012 soft launch in Austin, Texas, and Salt Lake City, Utah, is this another sign that the mobile wallet is a cool feature that no one really wants?

In another step toward making the mobile wallet the one consumers ultimately reach for, Starbucks recently announced that customers will be able to use the Square Wallet app to pay with their smartphones at US Starbucks stores beginning in early November.

Many service providers advertise their broadband as being blazing fast, but is it really? The FCC is launching a mobile broadband services testing and measurement program, and they invite you to test the actual speed of your network.