Microsoft’s announcement of the imminent arrival of real-time speech-to-speech translation software in the shape of Skype Translator will need to ride a wave of public scepticism, before it lives up to the hype of bringing a revolution in communication that it promises to deliver. In Douglas Adams’ fabulously humorous science fiction adventure, The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, instant translation is achieved via the Babel fish, which fits in the ear of the user and instantly allows you to understand anything said to you in any form of language. Yahoo even…

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Phenomenon (noun) is an apt term to reference the process of 3-D printing. 1. something (such as an interesting fact or event) that can be observed and studied and that typically is usual or difficult to understand or explain fully. 2. someone or something that is very impressive or popular especially because of an unusual ability or quality. When developed in the 1980s, 3-D printing was immediately unusual and difficult to understand or explain fully. 3-D printing initially focused on creating prototypes, such as for automobiles and airplanes. While a…

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Like most people these days, I spend a lot of time using the Internet. And, more-and-more, I’m using the Internet on my phone or tablet. But irrespective of what device I’m surfing on, I’m looking at Web sites. I’m checking my bank account, I’m shopping on Amazon, I’m booking hotels, I’m listening to music – the list is seemingly endless. And most of these sites are using HTML to create their pages and display their information. But what if there was something better than HTML? AngularJS boasts that it’s what…

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LONDON, November 26, 2014 — Over the past five or six years, Western European governments have realized the potential benefits of cloud computing. In the early days of cloud, government CIOs were split between the skeptics — who considered cloud as just another iteration of traditional infrastructure and application hosting, and the enthusiasts — who saw cloud as a quick and easy way to significantly cut capex. Image: huddle.com In particular, government CIOs we have spoken with are now looking at cloud to improve their ability to give access to applications and…

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Pew Research finds gaps in what people understand about the technology they use daily. Most Americans don’t know that the Internet and the Web are not the same thing. The Pew Research Center has released results from a survey of 1,066 Internet users that asked 17 questions about the Internet, how it works, and important technology leaders. The survey found Americans well-informed on some topics but not on others. Most of those surveyed (83%) could identify Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, could tell you that hashtags are associated with Twitter (82%), and could…

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You’ve been hearing a lot about cloud computing these days. If the many definitions of the Cloud seem a tad abstract and esoteric – you’re not alone. Go to any IT tradeshow or consulting conference and you’ll see liberal references and pictures of the Cloud. Many messages are often mixed with cloud enabling technologies like Software-defined Storage (SDS), hyper-converged/hyper-scalable virtual Server SANs, and the many different flavors of Flash. Let’s not forget vendor messages around Big Data, Virtualization and 2nd to 3rd Platform transformation to Mobile Computing. It’s no wonder…

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Lawmakers want search business separated from other commercial services The European Parliament is to vote on a motion calling for search giant Google to be split up this Thusday. The non-binding resolution, which was unveiled last week, could see the firm split its search business from its other commercial operations in a bid to reign in its dominance in the search market. The motion was launched by MEPs Ramon Tremosa and Andreas Schwab. “In case the proceedings against Google carry on without any satisfying decisions and the current anti-competitive behaviour continues…

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