Technology brings far-flung families together at Passover

At his family’s Passover celebration Monday, Rabbi Keith Stern of Newton’s Temple Beth Avodah will gather relatives around the table for the Seder meal commemorating the exodus of enslaved Jews from Egypt thousands of years ago.

Two of Stern’s five adult children will not be physically present — one is in East Africa, the other in Northern California — yet both will be on hand for the holiday’s tradition of prayer, eating matzo, and asking the question: “Why is this night different from all other nights?”

Stern plans to place computer screens on the Seder table and include his traveling children via Web video connection.

Nikon COOLPIX A: The Pocket-Sized DSLR

It’s a brave new world in the digital camera market these days. With profit margins decimated at the lower end of the compact range, fuelled by the growing popularity of smartphone cameras, manufacturers are trying to carve new niches higher up the pyramid, and Nikon’s new COOLPIX A – launched 21st March – encapsulates this perfectly.

At first glance, its key stats – large sensor and prime, fixed, 18.5mm (28mm equivalent) lens in a compact design – is nothing new. This is a market already populated by the likes of Fujifilm, Sony and Sigma, but Nikon has one major trick up its sleeve – or in this case, its jacket pocket.

New Samsung Galaxy Note II lockscreen vulnerability surfaces

The lockscreen vulnerability seems to be haunting many smartphone makers. Samsung seems to be the latest victim to this. According to a news report by The Verge, Terence Eden has discovered a new flaw in the lockscreen of Samsung Galaxy Note II.

With the help of this weakness an intruder can successfully take full control of the Samsung Galaxy Note II. So even if the smartphone is protected by a pattern, password, PIN or even face detection, it will take a few steps to bypass them and take control of the device.

It is noteworthy, that this lockscreen flaw is not on stock Android from Google. Only Samsung Galaxy Note II devices running on Android 4.1.1 or 4.1.2 are susceptible. As a matter of fact, even Samsung Galaxy S III seems to be unaffected by this vulnerability.

Tips for insuring your latest gadget

With the growing use of expensive electronic items – including laptops, mobile phones and tablets – it is important for people to consider insuring their gadgets.

According to independent financial research company Defaqto, a recent development has been the growing availability of specialist Gadget Insurance – however, there is wide variation across the market in terms of the cover offered and, as a result, gadget owners need to pay close attention to policy details before taking out insurance.

Defaqto data shows, for example, that:

Although 98% of Gadget Insurance policies provide cover for theft, if the gadget is stolen from a vehicle only 67% of these policies will cover theft from all types of vehicles; 21% do not provide cover if a gadget is stolen from a commercial vehicle or convertible car; while 5% will not cover theft from a commercial vehicle only

Cover against accidental loss is provided by 69% of all policies either on an ‘optional’ or ‘standard’ basis – however, not all policies offer cover for all types of gadgets, with 21% providing cover on a ‘restricted’ basis, typically excluding laptops and computers

Defaqto has launched a new Star Rating for Gadget Insurance to help consumers to see where different policies sit in the market in terms of the features and benefits they offer.

Star Ratings give each policy an independent rating of 1 to 5 depending on the level of feature quality and comprehensiveness provided.

Grillbot: BBQ Cleaning Robot

Robotic gadgets often work best when they prevent us having to do tiring and repetitive physical work, and that’s certainly an apt description for cleaning a barbeque grill. Enter the Grillbot: a gadget that looks and works a lot like the Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner but for your grill.

As with the Roomba, the Grillbot uses sensors to control speed and direction, making sure it take the most efficient route around your grill while still getting everything clean. The big difference is that instead of nylon brushes for picking up dust, the Grillbot has three replaceable brushes with tough metal bristles for scraping the gunk and fat from your grill in exactly the same way as using a wire brush by hand. The three brushes are removable for washing and you can even chuck them in the dishwasher.

CB&I, Phillips 66 make a deal on technology asset

The Woodlands-based CB&I (NYSE: CBI) entered into an agreement with Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) to acquire the company’s E-Gas technology business.

The E-Gas solids gasification technology is a process to convert coal or petroleum coke into syngas, which can be used for power generation or further converted to substitute natural gas, hydrogen and downstream methanol-related chemicals production.

YouTube reaches a billion monthly viewers, boosted by ‘Generation C’

YouTube has a billion unique users visiting the video-sharing website every month, equivalent to one out of every two people on the internet – and the generation that has grown up with it watches video on smartphones just as much as PCs.

The new generation of video viewers – dubbed “Generation C” or Gen C for short – “tunes into YouTube throughout every part of their day,” according to Gunnard Johnson, Google’s advertising research director.

But they are also turning away from TV, at least in the US: Gen C are 45% more likely to be light TV viewers, watching less than two hours of US broadcast TV per day, according to research company GfK.

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YouTube now serving videos to 1 billion people

YouTube says more than 1 billion people are now visiting its online video site each month to watch everything from zany clips of cute kittens to sobering scenes of social unrest around the world.

The milestone announced Wednesday marks another step in YouTube’s evolution from a quirky startup launched in 2005 to one of the most influential forces in today’s media landscape.

Facebook reaches 1 billion users

YouTube crossed the 1 billion threshold five months after Facebook Inc. said its online social network had reached that figure for the first time.

Mahesh Babu giving voice over for Junior NTR’s Baadshah

Junior NTR’s highly-talked about movie Baadshah has already created a lot of curiosity among the film goers for several reasons. As it nears its release date, the much-awaited film continues to add to it. The latest buzz in the Tollywood circle is that Superstar Mahesh Babu, who is a close friend of young tiger and director Srinu Vaitla, is giving voice over for this flick.