Tag: Digifest Toronto
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DesignTO 2022: Slanted/Enchanted at Erin Stump Projects Gallery

A group exhibition – Slanted/Enchanted at Erin Stump Projects Gallery for DesignTO
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“Cryptosecurity” That Works Just Like Bitcoin?

Overstock, an American online retailer based in Utah, announced its plans to offer a new kind of digital security that works just like bitcoin. According to its CEO Patrick Byrne, the company has already hired developers and lawyers needed to put this plan to action. Their next step is to secure approval from financial authorities,…
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Digital Insights Are the New Currency of Business

All the big data technology in the world won’t close the gaps between data and action. One global bank told us, “even with all the capabilities and tools in place, we are drowning in data and starving for insight.” To harness the power of all your data to attract and serve customers — to be…
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Data Privacy: It’s Not Just Big Companies, Folks

IT is grappling with how to protect sensitive data, making the state of data privacy worrisome no matter how big or small the organization is. Smaller companies care about data privacy just as much as big ones do, but they’re ill-equipped to do much about it. Large enterprises take more measures to deal with the…
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New Wearable Tech Focuses on Safety

Siren safety ring (CNET/CBS) Wearable technology is a big trend right now. There has been an explosion of gadgets that can track your fitness levels, sleep, heart rate and even your posture. A new category of wearables devices is focused on safety. The Safelet is like wearing a guardian angel on your wrist. This simple…
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Self-driving cars will need people, too

Self-driving cars are expected to revolutionize the automobile industry. Rapid advances have led to working prototypes faster than most people expected. The anticipated benefits of this emerging technology include safer, faster and more eco-friendly transportation. Until now, the public dialogue about self-driving cars has centered mostly on technology. The public’s been led to believe that…
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Are we over looking security in our smart cities?

The smart city is a city which uses digital technology to run itself and manage resources efficiently. A city can be defined as smart, once all the eight key aspects that make the foundation of a city are identified as smart: governance, energy, building, infrastructures, mobility, technology, healthcare and safety. Indeed, all nations in the…
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Body WiFi for the wearable technology age

A completely new wireless standard might be needed to provide connectivity in the age of wearables, replacing the WiFi with Body Fi, a researcher has suggested. In an article on the Generator Research website, editor Andrew Sheehy describes how the current wireless standards fall short of what’s needed to provide smooth connectivity for the increasing…
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Richard Branson to Host Bitcoin Summit on Private Island

Billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson is set to bring “the greatest minds in cryptocurrency” together to discuss bitcoin and the blockchain on his personal private island this May. Taking place on Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands from the 25th to 28th, Branson’s eventwill feature discussions moderated by Hernando De Soto, president of the Institute for…
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Got Patents? Google Wants ‘Em

Looking to offload some patents and make some extra cash? Google may be an interested buyer. The Web giant on Monday launched a Patent Purchase Promotion, an “experiment to remove friction from the patent market and improve the landscape.” On May 8, Google plans to open a portal where you’ll be able to tell the…
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The Best Way to Invest Money in Wearable Tech

Wearable tech may be the next big thing, but that has yet to be proved. Despite all the media attention and the hype that the Internet is moving beyond phones and into wearable tech, no company has achieved major success in the category. That’s about to change, however, as a technology giant that can, at least at…
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Journalists confront surveillance

Wrestling with his fear about Googling the composition of a carbon dioxide bomb after hearing of a failed bombing at LAX, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung journalist, Peter Galison highlights one of the threats of mass surveillance to journalistic practice, “The knowledge that I might be walking into a security word search had been enough to make…
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Growing a Tech Startup: Knowing When and How to Scale

Starting a company is thrilling and terrifying all at once. I can only describe it as “energizing stress.” I’ve started and helped start five companies in my career, each one having similarities to those before it. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that it’s absolutely vital to know how and when to scale.…
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Internet Privacy Is The Wrong Conversation

On April 2, the Wall Street Journal reported that Facebook is in hot water with government regulators in six European countries over its practice of tracking users’ movements across the web to sell targeted advertising. The kerfuffle illustrates the bind that the world finds itself in over tracking — the collection and sharing of data on…
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Cash vs Bitcoin: Battle of Traditions and Innovations

Photo: Egor Pavlovich/CoinSpeaker The world is getting more computerized, payment methods don’t stand back as well. Financial sector has changed greatly since the appearance of digital currencies. Probably we are not far from the time when people will prefer paying in bitcoin or using Venmo and Apple Pay to submit payments believing that it will…
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The Promise and Pitfalls of Wearable Technology

It’s been almost impossible to avoid the constant stream of media reports discussing the pending release of the Apple Watch. While pundits delve into details about technical specifications and pricing of the watch, it’s easy to overlook the growing trend toward wearable technology (wearables) and the role this technology may play in the lives of those…
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Toronto Councillors eye permits for drone use

City councillors want to explore the idea of forcing aerial drone operators to get permits and comply with restrictions on flying them over outdoor city spaces including playgrounds. Mayor John Tory’s executive committee unanimously approved Councillor James Pasternak’s motion asking city staff to report back on a “strategy governing the use of drones in the City…
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Interpol Creates Digital Currency to Study Crypto Crime

Interpol’s cybercrime research facility, the Global Complex for Innovation (IGCI), has created its own digital currency in a bid to combat cryptocurrency-fuelled crime. The IGCI team, which includes members from Singapore’s police force, will use its in-house virtual currency to study scenarios of cryptocurrency use and misuse in a specially designed simulation training game. (Via CoinDesk)
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Wearable Technology: The Ultimate in Personal Marketing

Consider the highly personalized, connected world we have all created for ourselves. Everything we do, say, play, view, and more, leaves a vapor trail of valuable personal data to be sucked up, aggregated, modeled, and then used to target content back into our lives. Tapping into this personal ecosystem is the ultimate marketing goal. Being…
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Twitter expands privacy on direct messages

Twitter is making it easier to take direct messages private, carving out a bigger space for targeted exchanges on the popular microblogging service. Previously, direct messaging could only occur between two Twitter users “following” each other, which basically allowed both parties to see whatever they posted publicly. As of Monday, a user can change the…
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What’s the Future of Wearables?

Image Credit: Technology Image via Shutterstock Wearable technology may be niche now, but it offers big opportunities for retailers to improve customer experience and boost sales conversions. Here’s why it must be taken seriously NOW. Wearable technology; perhaps two words no one would have imagined sitting together a few years ago. But wearable technology is increasingly showing its…
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There’s Something (Profitable) About Your Privacy

Why do so many companies hanker after apps? Smartphone apps, tablet apps, iOS apps, Android apps, the list is endless. Do apps need all the permissions they ask for? No. Would they work if they didn’t have all those permissions? 99% of the time, yes – they would work without a problem. For example, an…
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Emerging Tech Trends in 2015…It’s All About the Data

Image: THINKSTOCK_ISTOCK There is a simple explanation for the 400 percent increase over the last five years in federal agencies’ investments in predictive analytics: Too much data. “The exponential growth in structured and unstructured data is the backdrop of future federal IT needs,” stated a new report from Deltek on “Emerging Federal Technology Markets” for 2015. The purpose…
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Is Apple pay coming to Canada?

Apple Inc is planning to launch its electronic payments service in Canada in November, the first international expansion of Apple Pay, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The banks are open to an agreement, but are not happy with Apple’s fee proposals and are worried about security vulnerabilities like the…
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Recon Jet eyewear is better than Google Glass

The Recon Jet smart sports eyewear is an interesting new development in the wearables industry and this one seems to be one step ahead of all that we have seen so far. This wearable, like many others (particular smartwatches), focuses on health and fitness of the users and it won’t come as a surprise if…
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New Google security chief looks for balance with privacy

Google has a new sheriff keeping watch over the wilds of the Internet. Austrian-born Gerhard Eschelbeck has ranged the British city of Oxford; cavorted at notorious Def Con hacker conclaves, wrangled a herd of startups, and camped out in Silicon Valley. He now holds the reins of security and privacy for all-things Google. “The size…
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Apple Watch to boost ‘glance journalism’

The Apple Watch, expected to catapult to the leading item in wearable technology, opens up new possibilities to a news industry seeking to connect with audiences in the digital era. The New York Times says its app for the Apple Watch will be “a new form of storytelling” and that “editors on three continents” will…
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How Much Do You Know About Data Privacy?

Photo: Getty Images Anxiety about data privacy has reached a fever pitch. According to the Pew Research Center, 91% of Americans feel they’ve lost control over their personal data. But do you really know what you’re nervous about? Do you know what happens to your data? Test your knowledge about digital privacy with the following…
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Bitcoin and the competition

Photo: Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images Bitcoin is the digital currency exchanged online that has taken a bad rap. News abound of the currency being used for nefarious ends, such as drug running, illegal gun sales, human smuggling and terrorist activities. In the past couple of years, the value of the currency has been on…
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Cyber security from an attacker’s perspective

Data is the most prized asset in the world of cyber security, involving threat analysis and protection. The use of technology has evolved, spurred on by the need to consistently protect infrastructure and resources, as well as source reliable information about the level of protection at any given time. It is about identifying potential weak…