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New AP Poll Reveals That Black and Hispanic Millennials Are Just as Tech Savvy as Their White Counterparts

According to an Associated Press poll, Black and Hispanic Millennials are just as tech savvy as their white peers.

In a survey conducted by the Media Insight Project, 1,045 young adults from the ages of 18-34 reported their tech habits. This group which included 163 African-Americans and 162 Hispanics were the focus of the poll results.

“People of color are very wired and just as adept in using technology,” said Tom Rosenstiel, executive director of the American Press Institute, which funded the study. “If you want a subject that hasn’t been covered in the mainstream, millennials have found ways to get at that information through community sharing more than traditional ways. The way they get news is heavily influenced by topic.”

The poll suggests that old trends do not apply to this new generation. Because of the increased availability of technology and devices  like smartphones, tablets, and cheap affordable laptops people with lower economic means will have access to the technological revolution.

From the poll’s results, 41 percent of Blacks compared with 29 percent of whites and 24 percent of Hispanics will get their trending news from Facebook. The numbers show that 38 percent of Hispanics compared with 33 percent of Blacks and 20 percent of whites  will go to Youtube for information and 30 percent of Hispanics compared with 45 percent of African-Americans and 19 percent of whites will go to Instagram.

These numbers show that Black people are extremely active on a variety of social media platforms.

“Streaming music, TV or movies is the most commonly cited online activity among African-Americans, while keeping up with what their friends are doing is the most commonly cited online activity among Hispanics. For white millennials, checking and sending email was most common,” reports Glynn A. Hill for the Associated Press.

This poll was created in January and February of this year and released this month.

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6 Major Announcements About Marvel’s ‘All New, All Different’ Relaunch That Has Fans Excited 

Beginning in September, Marvel will be relaunching and introducing new and diverse titles in an initiative it calls “All New, All Different.” The bulk of the new titles will be released in November, but in the next two months there will be some cool surprises to check out.

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‘Blade, The Hunter’

This new series will introduce the world to Blade’s AKA Eric Brooks’ daughter Fallon Grey. She is a 16-year-old high school student who lives in Oregon. She does not know that Blade is her dad until supernatural forces want to hunt her down. This title has been under the radar, compared to the other announcements, but sounds like a much-needed twist on Blade. Blade, The Hunter will be written by Tim Seeley, with art by Logan Faerber. The title will be on stands in October.  

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Black Star Power: Legendary Actress Alfre Woodward to Join Marvel Netflix Show ‘Luke Cage’

According to a Deadline report, veteran actress Alfre Woodard will join the cast of the next Marvel Netflix show Luke Cage. Woodard has had a long career as a stage, TV and film actress. This won’t be her first comic book adaptation.

She has voiced Dondi Reese in the 2009-10 animated Black Panther series. She also voiced Jean Hawkins in the early 2000s’ Static Shock.

blackmariah001She is rumored to play Black Mariah, the leader of the crime gang called the Rat Pack. Woodard would join Michael Colter, who will be the title character Luke Cage.

The project will be produced by Showtime’s Ray Donovan executive producer Cheo Hodari Coker who will also act as executive producer of the upcoming show.

The show does not have an official release date, but it likely will be available next year.

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Black Girls Code Addresses Diversity Problems in the Tech Industry

Black Girls Code was created to provide young Black girls with the necessary tools to become proficient in coding and computer science. As many people know, the tech industry lacks diversity in terms of race and gender, but this organization is chipping away at those barriers.

This summer, Black Girls Code (BCG) hosted the Summer of Code Camp that included project-based camps in the Bay Area as well as in Washington D.C., New York City and Raleigh-Durham, N.C.

Kimberly Bryant founded the organization in 2011 with the intention to teach and inspire Black girls to get into the tech industry. Since the organization’s inception, Bryant has taught more than 2,000 girls and has even started boys camps with the same mission.

The organization will be hosting a variety of events in August and well into September.  A common workshop BGC hosts for girls is the Build a Web Page Day, which teaches young girls from the ages of seven to 17 how to design their own web pages using HTML and CSS. There are also panels on diversity in tech, such as the Women of Color in STEM Career Panel on August 22.

One of the big events that BGC will have is the Robot Expo on September 19 in Memphis and the BGC Documentary Film Screenings and Community Meetups. There is still time to get involved with the planned activities.

Visit Black Girls Code for more information.

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This Ingenious Device Will Allow You to Control All Your Electronics From Your Cellphone

WeMo works with existing Wi-Fi router and any iOS or Android device. Turns electronics on or off from anywhere. Operates over Wi-Fi and mobile Internet at home and away. Allows users to put their electronic devices on a schedule. Modular system. Users can add additional switches easily any time. Control as much or as little of the home as desired. Plugs into any regular 120V wall outlet.

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Vulkan Is the Next Generation for High-Efficiency Graphics and Computing

Google wants the newest and latest API Vulkan in its new Android phones.

“Like the other low-overhead APIs, Vulkan promises to improve performance by providing more direct access to the GPU — developers can manage memory and multiple threads on their own rather than leaving it up to the driver, giving them more work to do but also providing more flexibility,” reports Andrew Cunningham for Arstechnica.com.

APIs is an abbreviation for application program interface. The API is responsible for memory and is a set of routines, protocols and tools used by developers to build software applications.

The Vulkan API was introduced in March by the Khronos Group. This system is similar to Metal and DirectX 12 in that it will require the use of an operating system and hardware support.

“Hardware and software companies need an open 3D API to maximize market reach and minimize porting costs, and Vulkan is being forged by a broad consortium of industry leaders to do exactly that,” said Khronos Group President Neil Trevett.

Google is still in the early stages of developing and implementing the new API. Best estimates have the API coming with the Android M by the end of the year. If history is any indication, Vulkan will have to be released when a new Android version is also released.

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Report: AT&T Assisted NSA in Spying on Internet Traffic

A New York Times report released Saturday revealed that the communications giant AT&T provided assistance to the National Security Administration. The two spied on American citizens by getting access to emails and other private forms of communication over the past decade.

“AT&T has given the N.S.A. access, through several methods covered under different legal rules, to billions of emails as they have flowed across its domestic networks, ” reports The New York Times.

Documents from 2003-13 also reveal that surveillance equipment was installed in 17 different AT&T Internet hubs. That means that former NSA contractor Edward Snowden was right. Snowden uncovered that the NSA was monitoring the United Nations Internet traffic at the AT&T New York headquarters between 2011-13. However, his leaks did not connect AT&T with the NSA.

The New York Times and Pro Publica have reviewed the documents granted to them by Snowden.

According to Reuters reporter Will Dunham, “AT&T started in 2011 to provide the NSA more than 1.1 billion domestic cellphone calling records daily after ‘a push to get this flow operational prior to the 10th anniversary of 9/11,’ referring to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, the Times reported.”

The only response so far from AT&T comes by way of Reuters. The communications company’s spokesman Brad Burns told the news organization that AT&T does not release information unless a person’s life is in danger.

Customers are concerned that their Fourth Amendment rights have been violated; the United States is concerned that state secrets will become public, and AT&T is still relatively quiet on the matter.

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The Withings Smart Body Analyzer Is the Ultimate Tool to Help Achieve Your Fitness Goals

 

The smart body analyzer reads your body’s stats and also finds out how healthy your living environment is. The scale automatically syncs your weight, fat composition, heart rate and environment data to your personalized online dashboard accessible on the free health mate app. The wireless connectivity of the scale makes setting up an effortless process. The scale interface is designed to help users center on the product to obtain accurate readings. Users who attempt to avoid accurate readings by rocking on their heels or toes will see values fluctuate.