Category: Tech

Internet of Things makes hackers jobs easier

October 26, 2015 Shelby Bice Leave a comment Security, Tech

Every day, more and more digitally-connected devices are being integrated into our daily lives. In fact, researchers predict that there will be more than 40 billion devices wirelessly connected to the internet by the year 2020. This surge in the number of devices we use has led us into an era known as the Internet of Things, or IoT. Although there are many advantages to being able to utilize the internet in so many different ways, the more devices one has, the more paths a hacker can take to steal information. Recently, reports have come to light that internet-enabled cars could be turned off remotely by a hacker, and certain baby monitors could be hacked to monitor individuals without their knowledge. And as the medical field release technology that fits into the Internet of Things, the potential problems only become more worrisome; hackers could potentially have control over someone’s health or even their life.

Thankfully, companies are trying to find solutions to make their Internet of Things devices safer to use. For example, digital security companies such as Gemalto are offering their experience to car manufacturers, and Microsoft has promised to add extra encryption and security software to their new Windows 10 IoT, their operating system for all of the Internet of Things devices Microsoft produces. Additionally, multiple tech firms have come together to form the Internet of Things Security Foundation, which will review devices that connect to the internet and offer support and advice to tech companies. In time, manufacturers of Internet of Things devices will need to determine how to make sure each device that an individual owns is continually updated and protected from hackers.

Article: TechCrunch, October 24, 2015

Photo: Internet of Things World Forum via Schneider Electric España [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs]

 

IPhone factory investigated: wages and conditions are poor

October 24, 2015 Abby Shulman Leave a comment Business, Citizen Justice, Human Rights, Tech

Tech giant Apple is under scrutiny for factory conditions overseas. Despite the company’s efforts to regulate its manufacturers, a recent report by China Labor Watch indicated that many improvements are still to be made.

The report, released this Thursday, detailed criticisms of an iPhone factory in Shanghai. The organization urged Apple to raise staff wages, which currently amount to $1.85 an hour. Employees work shifts of 9 hours a day, in addition to a minimum of 20 hours overtime each week during the busy September season—when Apple prepares to release the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus—in order to cover living expenses. Including overtime, workers generally earn $753 a month. China Labor Watch also noted cramped living dorms and a lack of adequate safety training.

Apple does make an effort to monitor its manufacturers, however. The company audits the companies in its supply chain on a regular basis and releases the reports independently. Apple also sets the guideline of a 60-hour maximum workweek, which 92 percent of factory staff were compliant with for the majority of 2014. That number fell to 75 percent September of last year, when Apple primed to release the iPhone 6. In the Shanghai factory featured in the recent report, only 42 percent of employees worked 60 hours or less a week.

Apple also is advocating clean energy usage by its manufacturers, and announced new solar power and energy efficiency projects in China this Thursday. Apple’s CEO Tim Cook commented, “Our culture is to leave the world better than we found it.”

Article via CNET, 22 October 2015

Photo: RT @ BGR via Humans Developer [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs]

Startup helps off-grid communities purchase clean energy

October 23, 2015 Abby Shulman Leave a comment Business, Enviro Justice, Human Rights, Tech

Globally, off-grid villages have few reliable energy sources. People throughout the world rely on solar products donated from non-profit organizations—which are not guaranteed indefinitely—or resort to purchasing expensive and unclean energy like kerosene, due to a lack of investment capital for cleaner energy. Angaza, a San Francisco startup, seeks to facilitate the purchase of clean energy by off-grid communities at affordable rates.

Angaza has a Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) system in which a person can make a small down payment of under $5 to take a pico-solar device home. The solar device has a meter that measures energy usage against the original payment, and shuts off automatically when the paid amount of energy has been used up. At that point, the user can make a mobile payment to reactivate their device, or sign up for a weekly payment of roughly $1-$2 until they pay it off (in usually under a year).

Angaza’s initial target region is West Africa, where a majority of adults own mobile devices. USAID is funding Angaza’s field research on the PAYG system in rural Tanzania. Angaza will also be partnering with SunnyMoney, the top distributor of pico-solar products in Africa. Angaza collects a percentage of transaction fees as well as licensing fees from manufacturing companies that use its embedded technology.

CEO Lesley Marincola completed her B.S. and M.S. at in Product Design and Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University, then went on to work on Amazon Kindle’s design team.

Article via TechCrunch and USAID, 23 October 2015

Photo: Solar Energy via itstonyhaha [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs]

Entrepreneur explains lawyer’s skepticism, need for legaltech

October 20, 2015 Shelby Bice Leave a comment Tech, Tech for Lawyers

“There are incredible entrepreneurs building useful new legal technology products, but adoption is often slow and painful”, explains Jules Miller, the entrepreneur behind Hire an Esquire. Lawyers are, on the whole, very skeptical. While this may be beneficial for their clients, it also means that lawyers are slow to accept change or utilize new technology. But that doesn’t mean that the rest of society isn’t changing. With the rise of Uber and the “on-demand economy”, the legal profession’s staffing firm model is somewhat out of date. Miller describes that she and her friend Julia Shapiro, a former attorney, “realized that the on-demand economy already existed in the legal industry,” and created Hire an Esquire as a result. This legal staffing platform uses technology to help modernize and streamline the process of connecting attorneys to clients. With the rise of legaltech like Hire an Esquire, the legal industry can become more efficient and more fulfilling for everyone involved. But with lawyers being slow on the uptake, legaltech is not progressing very quickly.

In response, Miller has recently launched Evolve Law, “to accelerate the adoption of new ideas and technologies in the legal industry”. After all, most legaltech is still being developed and tested, but to create effective products, companies need data and feedback from users. This means that lawyers will have to let go of some of their natural skepticism and embrace new technology. However, many lawyers are simply not being informed about the legaltech available to them. Miller cites that she often meets attorneys who have never heard of Hire an Esquire, even though it has been operating for four years. Evolve Law plans to change that by providing a platform to inform lawyers about new innovations in legaltech.

Article via Above the Law, October 19, 2015

Photo: limited time only by Ben Kilgust [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs]

UNICEF and Target make fitness bands for kids

October 15, 2015 Abby Shulman Leave a comment Business, Human Rights, Tech

UNICEF has teamed up with Target to offer fitness bands for children, in an effort to tackle American childhood obesity and global malnutrition. The partnership is part of the UNICEF Kid Power program, an expansion of a successful pilot program in Boston, Dallas, and New York earlier this year. During the pilot in March of 2015, 12,000 students from the three cities walked 500,000 miles, inciting UNICEF to donate nearly 200,000 therapeutic food packets to children in developing countries.

The fitness bands connect to a mobile app that presents fitness challenge goals and provides information on other cultures. Points given for completing challenges are redeemed for life-saving therapeutic food packets that UNICEF delivers to families with malnourished children globally.

Target now sells the wristbands online for $39.99. Each wristband sold before Dec. 31 of next year donates $10 to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. The wristbands will be sold in select stores in 2016.

The program was originally inspired by alarming parallel statistics: 1 in 4 children in the U.S. are underactive, and more dramatically, 1 in 4 children in the world are malnourished. Carl Stern, president and CEO of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, says, “first and foremost, I’m a mom. I cannot imagine the heartbreak of being a mom who can’t feed her children … In the year 2015, we should be able to make sure that all children get a meal.”

Article via Mashable, 13 October 2015

Photo: Omloop Grolloo 2010 via Martin Borgman [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs]

Disaster Tech Lab connects aid groups

October 11, 2015 Abby Shulman Leave a comment Human Rights, Tech

Natural disasters call for efficient and comprehensive aid. Oftentimes, however, a disconnect exists between different organizations and the people they help. Disaster Tech Lab seeks to eradicate that issue by creating networks for people to communicate in affected areas.

Founded in 2010 by Evert Bopp, the team currently consists of 200 volunteers. Members of Disaster Tech Lab’s “IT mercenaries” travel to areas struck by natural disaster and establish Internet and telecom networks, analyze the safety of infrastructure, and build semi-permanent communication networks. The organization has expanded to help areas affected by issues other than natural catastrophes, in many cases humanitarian crises.

Recently, the Disaster Tech Lab has focused its efforts on the refugee crises in Europe. The Lab’s first response is to create WiFi networks so that first aid workers and responders can communicate, and so that those who need help—in this case, refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, and Eastern Africa—can contact family members and aid organizations.

The team of volunteers generally tries to re-visit a site two to three times in the year following the event. These follow up “deployments” are for the purpose of teaching locals how to use and maintain the technological tools on their own.

Bopp describes this philosophy of creating lasting aid. “We have a strong focus on connecting affected communities,” he says. “Large NGOs might only be there temporarily. We want to help local communities in the short-term and the long-term.”

Article via Mashable, 9 October 2015

Photo: Thousands Displaced Due to Flooding in Cap-Haïtien, Haiti via United Nations Photo [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs]