Month: August 2013

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Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer, the outgoing CEO – an annotated graphic

E&T magazine

Steve Ballmer: goodbye, “world’s worst CEO“. Today’s infographic paints a rather stark portrait of Microsoft’s stock market performance during Ballmer’s years as CEO. From a record high on the day Bill Gates stood down and Ballmer took over in January 2000, to something closer to half that value, the last 13 years have not been kind to Microsoft’s market standing and reputation – despite the company revenue actually tripling during that time. Way to go, CEO! And so it has come to pass that Ballsy will retire as CEO within the next 12 months. Good news/bad news, you decide. Still, … Continue reading Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer, the outgoing CEO – an annotated graphic

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#Google making money and hiding money – an annotated graphic

E&T magazine

As we here in the UK are faced with a 100 per cent price hike in the cost of buying lottery tickets, such that we’re now looking down the barrel of having to spend twice as much money in the vain hope of winning enough money to escape what Homer Simpson memorably described as the drudgery of work and family, it’s always refreshing to hear about hyperglobalmegacorps trousering inordinate piles of money and then squirrelling it away overseas to avoid paying tax at home. Google is one such company, whose Chrome browser has also been revealed to now account for … Continue reading #Google making money and hiding money – an annotated graphic

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New issue of #EandT magazine online now – it’s an engineering #SciFi special!

E&T magazine

The latest issue of E&T magazine is available online now. It’s a sci-fi special this time. We look at the restoration of the surviving Doctor Who tapes; the likelihood of inventing a working sonic screwdriver; the engineering legacy and accuracy of 2001: A Space Odyssey; an interview with Sir Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter about their ‘Long Earth’ multiverse collaboration; the question of engineering accuracy in sci-fi writing and films; how well sci-fi has historically performed in predicting the technological future, and much more. It’s a pretty darn solid issue this time, with plenty of great images, even if we do … Continue reading New issue of #EandT magazine online now – it’s an engineering #SciFi special!

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#Google and #Motorola tie up with Moto X smartphone – an annotated graphic

E&T magazine

More smartphone “action” today, as we eavesedrop on the call from Google to Motorola, which resulted in the Moto X. Voice commands, a 10 megapixel camera, Android OS (durr…), shake-to-wake camera function – the usual tech spec from a mid-to-high-end smartphone in 2013. Wow factor? Thus far, the interwebs says not. It likes it, but it doesn’t love it. Still, it could have been a lot worse – and Motorola is probably happy just to be back in the game, after drifting for years since the heady days of the Razr and its similarly skinny back-pocketable phones. Click on the … Continue reading #Google and #Motorola tie up with Moto X smartphone – an annotated graphic

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#Apple iPhone 5 rumours – an annotated graphic

E&T magazine

The self-perpetuating interwebs rumour mill continues to churn out Apple iPhone 5 rumours all the live long day, with most consensus coalescing around the notions of an flagship iPhone 5S, with enhanced Security features, and a new iPhone 5C, decked out in snazzy touch-esque Colours and made of plastic, not aluminium. As ever with Apple, we won’t know until they tell us, but in the meantime consider this infographic our small contribution to the mountain of Apple rumour. And consider this collected page of E&T news our contribution to the mountain of actual Apple fact. Click on the graphic for … Continue reading #Apple iPhone 5 rumours – an annotated graphic

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#Kirobo the cute robot astronaut heads for the International Space Station – an annotated graphic

E&T magazine

In a follow-up to our post last week about robots, job-stealing robots and job-stealing cute robots, today we have the news that Japanese job-stealing cute robot Kirobo  is now aboard the Japanese resupply H-2B rocket, heading towards the International Space Station (ISS). E&T reported on Kirobo’s space journey today, as he looks forward to helping astronauts with their daily workload and testing the human-machine interface. And he’s so cute, too! Click on the graphic for an expanded view. Continue reading #Kirobo the cute robot astronaut heads for the International Space Station – an annotated graphic

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Robots helping to fill skills gap in the US – an annotated graphic

E&T magazine

Another reason for less-gifted Americans to get all Luddite about technology, with the news that a record number of industrial robots were installed in USA factories in 2012. This came at a time when well over half a million manufacturing jobs went unfilled because of a dearth of suitably skilled workers. E&T loves a good robot story, such as the roaming videoconferencing robot, similar to a concept pioneered by Sheldon in the Big Bang Theory; how robots are getting cuter; the fact that humans (with the possible exception of unskilled Americans) feel empathy for robots, particularly cute ones, and how robots … Continue reading Robots helping to fill skills gap in the US – an annotated graphic