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.

This Evolution in Robotics Is Making Terminator-Style Robots a Possibility in the Very Near Future 

MIT robotics students have created a robot that can imitate human reflexes.

According to the project team member Albert Wang at MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, “[The team] decided that connecting the robot to a human operator was the easiest way to incorporate the kind of intelligence we need. It would take a computer a long time and a lot of programming to come to the quick conclusions that humans come to almost instantaneously through good instincts.”

Hermes is similar to the jaegers from the 2013 film Pacific Rim where pilots were connected to machines physically and mentally in order to operate the large humanoid-battle robots for combat. This tech is also reminiscent of anime fighting robots in Mobile Suit Gundam.

The setup is simple enough. A person wears an exoskeleton of wires and motors as a sensor suit. The suit makes Hermes balance and move very similarly to a person.

“An example is walking, which is just a process of falling and catching yourself. That’s something that feels effortless to us, but it’s challenging to program into a robot to do it both dynamically and efficiently,” says team member Joao Ramos.

Hermes will be part of the 2015 Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency robotics competition.

The robot could be used to help people build houses, perform surgery or even give the elderly newfound strength. MIT released a video showing the robot’s capabilities for the public. Take a look below:

Leaked ‘Warcraft’ Trailer: What Google and Legendary Pictures Have Planned Will Blow Your Mind

As the San Diego Comic Con starts to take off, there is already surprising news coming from Legendary Pictures and Google.

The production studio and tech giant are teaming up to bring director Duncan Jones’ Warcraft to virtual reality. However, there are a few caveats. The VR footage does not include footage of the film. Also the viewing experience is not similar to “traditional” virtual reality viewings.

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“The scene is viewable only through Google Cardboard, a headset made of — you guessed it — corrugated paper that cradles a user’s smartphone, letting them peer through a pair of cheap lenses for no-frills VR experiences. Called The Skies of Azeroth, the short interactive scene puts viewers on the back of a flying eagle as it traverses a detailed fantasy city called Stormwind,” reports Nick Statt for CNET.com.

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Legendary Pictures started this partnership during 2013’s promotion of Guillermo del Toro’s  Pacific Rim and there will also be a Crimson Peak VR experience at the con.

According to Legendary vice president of theatrical strategy Barnaby Legg, “VR is a very nascent medium, and I think all of us in the entertainment business are dipping our toe in and kind of seeing where it goes. Our view at the moment is that we feel we’re in the experience business, and as we learned last year VR is an amazing way of expanding the universe of our films and really immerse our audiences.”

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In regards to Warcraft, the companies have yet to release a teaser online, a trailer, and there are very few promotional stills out there. The film will bring to life the fantasy and sci-fi world of Azeroth on June 10, 2016. So the DIY VR sets are the first in a year’s worth of promotional buildup.

Can Pinterest’s New Initiative Really Tackle the Diversity Issue That Plagues the Tech Industry?

The lack of diversity in the tech industry has come front and center as Silicon Valley and new start-ups gain more notoriety. This elephant in the room becomes more noticeable as small companies grow and their pool of applicants remain the same.

The social media site, Pinterest, wants to change this by addressing their lack of diversity. The company’s leadership team invited the start-up, Paradigm, to launch the Inclusion Labs Initiative. The company will host an array of workshops and programs that will accumulate diverse workers and their humongous staff for a better working environment.

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Paradigm CEO Joelle Emerson and Pinterest founder and CEO Ben Silbermann have come together to tackle this problem head on. Emerson’s company will conduct research and gather the appropriate data to see what needs to be addressed.

According to Martin Blanc of Bidnessetc.com, “The abolishment of the compulsory ‘white boarding’ interview process shows how Pinterest has received constructive criticism from the start-up firm which highlighted the issues that most women may face during interview processes in which they ‘underperform specifically’.”

For the past several months, the two companies have been working together. One of the new approaches Pinterest has tried was a Blacks in Tech event in the last week of July. Back in June, the company also hosted a Future Female Founders event in an attempt to grow the company’s network.

“Paradigm is training Pinterest managers on how to write unbiased performance reviews, and we are training promotion committee members to identify potential areas of bias in promotion decisions,” says Emerson.

The Inclusion Labs Initiative will launch this fall.

 

Lenovo IdeaPad 100 One of the Best Budget Laptops Out There

For people looking for a cheap and affordable laptop under $500, Lenovo IdeaPad 100 may be the best option out there.

Priced at only $339 to $370, the IdeaPad comes with a 14- and 15-inch option screen. The laptop also comes in at 4. 2 pounds. It may be heavier than other ultrabooks, but it is quite light for its size.

There are standard features like a 3.0 USB, 2.0 USB,  4 -in- 1 SD Card, and  HDMI ports. You also get Bluetooth, a webcam, a standard 30Whr battery and 500GB 5400rpm hard drive.

Unfortunately, a laptop like this may not be great with high-powered software like Photoshop, but it can still manage. The real reason to purchase a laptop like this is to write research papers and surf the Net. According to Slashgear writer Brittany Hillen, “The laptop features McAfee Central and LiveSafe, Lenovo Settings, OneKey Optimizer and Recovery, Lenovo SHAREit, Companion, and Reach. Nothing too bothersome, and it can all be useful depending on your needs.”

The ideal users for a laptop like this are busy college students on a budget and in need of a working laptop. You can get four hours of battery power, meaning that you can charge it for an hour or so and be on your way.

The Lenovo IdeaPad 100 is available now on Amazon.

Carnegie Mellon to Form ‘Living Lab’ Through Google Initiative

A team led by Anind Dey at Carnegie Mellon University was awarded half a million dollars to turn the campus into a hot-spot where apps, sensors and user-developed tools could serve as a small part of Google’s Open Web of Things initiative.

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In December, Google announced that its idea of the Internet of Things would allow people to connect everywhere. “Imagine a world in which access to networked technology defies the constraints of desktops, laptops or smartphones.”

According to Jeremy Hsu from IEEE.org, “the $500,000 awarded to the university coalition will help create an Internet of Things (IoT) platform called GloTTO that aims to create a complete interoperable system of IoT technologies. The platform would also allow researchers to figure out how to create a secure system that protects personal privacy in a sensor-filled environment.”

As good as this sounds, issues of privacy may be a concern for students on the campus. So the university will have a team working on keeping data safe.

“Dey sees the project as succeeding with massive amounts of cheap sensors to elevate ‘dumb’ objects on campus to sources of information,” reports Heidi Hoopes for Gizmag.com.

These dumb objects could be a trash can or a copying machine.

At the moment, other schools like Cornell, Stanford and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will be helping Carnegie Mellon in the early stages of the work.

Sony Xperia Z3 Plus Is a Cool Addition to the Smartphone Market

Sony has been actively adding more new Android phones to an already crowded market. This year, Sony launched the Xperia Aqua M4 and the Xperia C4 earlier this year in India. The Sony Xperia Z3 Plus is an updated model of last year’s release.

It features 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage that has around 18GB of free space for music and apps, and there is a micro sd slot for more space. Because of the phone’s Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 SoC, operation is smooth and fast.

According to writer Nimish Sawant for Firstpost.com, “Proprietary apps such as Album, Video, Whats New, Lifelog, PlayStation, Xperia Care, Sony Live are complemented with other known ones such as LinkedIn, Kobo Books, AVG Protection and game bundles.”

Compared to Xperia Z3, the Z3 Plus still has a heating issue that comes from large apps and games. The phone continues to heat up even after a year to upgrade. Sony will have to address this issue next time around. The phone makes up for that with long battery life and an awesome camera.

Even though heating up is an issue, the phone’s best feature is the camera. The back camera has a 20.7MP Exmor RS sensor and the front 1/5-inch Exmor R sensor that can capture high resolution either way you turn your phone. There is even a 25mm wide-angle lens.

The Xperia Z3 Plus isn’t a cheap buy, but it is worth its $500 to $700 price tag. The phone is available everywhere.

Micro: Bit Device to Help Children Learn Computer Programming

One million English schoolchildren will be able to learn computer programming due to a new portable device.

According to Techcrunch.com writer Matt Burns, “this web-based tool allows users to program and simulate tasks before transferring the data to the device. And since it runs in the browser, users can program the Micro:Bit on nearly any device.”

The device has red LED lights, a motion sensor, two buttons that allow users to simulate computer programming. The students will be able to make letters and numbers with the 25 LED lights. The device can also connect to other computing kits for more advanced tasks.

Tony Hall, BBC’s director general, believes that the device could help tackle the fact children were leaving school knowing how to use computers but not how to program them.

“We all know there’s a critical and growing digital skills gap in this country and that’s why it’s so important that we come together and do something about it,” Hall said at a launch event in London July 7.

This new tech initiative is slated to be released in October. To see how it all works, watch the demonstration below.

Source: YouTube

 

Chicago Could Become a Black Tech Global Headquarters

Fabian Elliot has a dream to diversify tech by turning Chicago into a tech hub for Black people. Elliot is not a native of the city and he did not visit until he started his career at Google as co-chair of the Black Googler Network that serves as Google’s Black talent reservoir.

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At 25 years old, Elliot has created Black Tech Mecca, an organization that wants to teach technology and attract more Black people to the city. In fact, Chicago is perfect for this initiative because of Techweek.

Every year the city vibes with tech experts, CEOs, entrepreneurs, innovators and dreamers that come to talk shop and network for a week. In addition to that, Chicago is home to a variety of Fortune 500 companies.

In an interview with Dnainfo.com, Elliot explains why he wanted Chicago to be this mecca. “I realized that less than 1 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs were black,” he said. “I started to question why there are not more people of color in influential positions. I started to develop a plan. If we’re not in positions of influence, I want to be a person of influence to help change that.”

Elliot goes on to say that he wanted to bridge three communities — Black, tech and global.

“I was thinking of how I could make Chicago a beacon for all three communities, and I thought I would merge them all and address my vision. I did my research and found out what was out there. I came to realize that we had all of the ingredients, someone just needed to come up with a nice recipe to bake the cake.”

Black Tech Mecca launched during the Techweek in the last week of June. Elliot’s team includes business people and tech experts Rachel Green, Nehemiah Bishop, Keith L. Gordon, Edward Wilkerson Jr. and Floyd Webb.

For more information on the initiative, check out blacktechmecca.org.

Google Apologizes for Racist Auto-Tag in Photo App

Google’s new photo app introduced in May has rubbed many users the wrong way with a defective auto-tag system.

After the app tagged two Black users “gorillas,” Google has been in a mad dash to make things right. This is how Twitter user Jacky Alcine responded to the app:

Yonatan Zunger, the chief architect of social at Google, contacted the young lady thanking her for addressing the issue and pointing out the problem. “Zunger says that Google has had similar issues with facial recognition due to inadequate analysis of skin tones and lighting, ” reports Loren Grush for The Verge.

However, this racist use of labels has been a problem in other Google products like Google Maps.

“Earlier this year, searches for ‘ni**er house’ globally and searches for ‘ni**er king’ in Washington, D.C. turned up results for the White House, the residence of U.S. President Barack Obama. Both at that time and earlier this week, Google apologized and said that it was working to fix the issue,” according to Jana Kasperkevic for The Guardian.

As the issue of race becomes a dominant issue to the public, technology should not be part of the discussions and debates.

At this moment the “gorilla” label has been removed from the app.