Rosen Gunning For The Door

Mickie Rosen, head of Global Media & Commerce at Yahoo, has stepped down from the company, leaving the internet giant without an immediate replacement for her position. Yahoo confirmed the departure, noting that Rosen will officially leave the company at the end of the week.

Speaking of her time with the company, Yahoo issued an official statement which reads, “Mickie Rosen has made tremendous contributions to Yahoo’s media business over the past two and a half years, and we wish her all the best.”

According to sources, there’s a strong chance that additional high profile departures could be on the horizon for Yahoo, as lucrative stock options have recently vested for several high-ranking execs within the company.

It’s believed that those who aren’t part of CEO Marrisa Mayer’s tightly knit executive team could be on their way out as the company continues to reorganize toward a mobile business model.

Search Yourself: Sue Google

Google has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit that claimed the company leaked the names of search users through the use of HTTP referrer headers.

The settlement will call for Google to donate $8.5 Million to various schools and nonprofits, including Harvard’s Berkman Center, Stanford’s Law Center, the MacArthur Foundation, and even AARP. On top of that, Google also promised to revise their privacy policy, even though the agreement doesn’t require Google to change any of its behavior.

The case against Google stems originally from 2010, when Paloma Gay-ose of San Jose, California initially filed suit against the company.

After conducting searches of her own name, Gay-ose alleged that Google had disclosed her sensitive personal information to third parties by transmitting information about her in the referrer headers, which are intended to simply tell websites how a visitor spent time on their site.

McPodcasts Are Popular, Apparently

“Over a billion served” used to be the slogan of a successful fast food chain, but as of today, the phrase can also apply to Apple’s iTunes Store, where their podcast division just reached the one billion subscription mark.

Apple says that those subscriptions are spread across a quarter of a million unique podcasts, in more than one hundred languages. Some of the more successful podcasts, such as one of NPR’s can attract as many as 25 million downloads each month.

NPR’s VP of Digital Media, Zach Brand spoke about their subscribers saying, “Obviously, podcasting is a very natural fit for our audio focus. Our audience loves listening to our content through podcasting, and we love delivering it. We have a very healthy partnership with Apple. They come out with great products and we have great content, and they work great together.”.

You’re Never Home Alone With A Smart Home

According to their Indiegogo page, a new “thinking” home security system will be the first system capable of learning your habits, and getting better at its job over time.

Called the Canary, the smart security system is an all-in-one device that comes with a wide array of sensors and features, including a night-vision capable HD camera, motion detectors, microphones, speakers, and even accelerometers.

Once you’ve completed the setup, the Canary begins to immediately learn what it can about you, such as when you leave the house, if you have a pet, if you have a cleaning service, and so on. Depending on how you respond to it, the system begins to learn which behaviors are normal for your household. Eventually, if anything out of the ordinary occurs, the Canary will send you a notification to alert you about the irregularity.

The Indigogo campaign is seeking $100,000 for initial funding.

The canary is expected to cost about $200 retail, but early adopters who help fund the project can pick one up for $150.

More Leaks, But Where’s Julian Assange?

Leaked images of the new Moto X reveal a camera interface with a new and minimalistic design.

Instead of traditional buttons, adjustments are made via a control wheel that swipes in from the left. Swiping to the right will take you straight to the gallery app to view the most recent photos taken.

There’s also a new “quick capture” feature that allows users to open their camera app with two quick flicks of the wrist at any time during use, even when the phone is off. A simple tap is all it takes to focus and take a shot. Tapping and holding takes continuous photos until you let go. Zooming is intuitive, as sliding your finger up or down is all that’s required to engage the virtual zoom.

The Moto X is rumored to come with a special ten-and-a-half mega-pixel camera with “clear pixel” technology that allows it to take improved low-light shots. We’ll see if Motorola adds any additional camera features when the Moto X launches in the near future.

Use Your Powers For Science!

Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley want access to your smartphone, but unlike the NSA, they only want its computing power.

The BOINC program, which stands for Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing, is an eleven year old program at the university which takes the computing power of donated desktop computers to help process scientific projects.

BOINC’s new Android app lets people donate their mobile device’s idle power, as well.

The extra juice can go to one of six scientific programs, including Einstein@Home and FightAIDS@Home. The BOINC app is available on Google’s Play Store, and once the app is downloaded, users can specify which project they would like their device to contribute to.

Devices using the app require a connected power source and Wi-Fi connection, so if you’re up for it, you can let your phone help chip away at the AIDS problem, and all you have to do is leave it plugged in and turned on while you sleep.

Japanese Scientists Make A Robot? That’s a First!

Tokyo’s prestigious Institute of Technology is showing off a new surgical robot called IBIS.

What’s impressive is it’s expected to cost between a third and a tenth of the two-million it typically costs to buy a similar medical robot.

The robotic surgeon is mechanically pneumatic, being powered by air pressures rather than electronics, making it significantly cheaper.

Air pressure provides dampening when pressing tools up against a patient, removing the likelihood that injury would take place from excessive force. Its smart design is even able to provide force feedback to surgeons when the arms touch something.

The engineers behind the ‘bot are hoping to produce a practical version within the next five years, where it is likely to see a warm welcome from surgeons looking for a better and more cost-effective way to do their work.

A Bitcoin Wedding

Newlyweds Austin Craig and Beccy Bingham Craig have begun a unique , ninety-day challenge that can be described as “Married… With Bitcoin.”

For ninety days, they’ll use nothing but bitcoins for any and all expenditures. The couple’s goal is to find out how developed the Bitcoin ecosystem is, how easy it is to use, and what they think should be changed to improve the currency’s use.

The couple is starring in a kickstarter funded “Life on Bitcoin,” documentary. The film crew will follow along as they abandon all other currencies and live, pay rent, buy groceries, eat, travel and entertain themselves using nothing but bitcoin to pay for it all. To start, the couple has a small bitcoin bank, but once they get going and need the cash, they hope to convince their employers to pay them with the highly volatile cryptocurrency.

They won’t be complete bitcoin purists, and will have an emergency stash of real money around for medical emergencies, but other than that, the couple fully intends on using bitcoin exclusively… till’ bitcoin do them part.

And that’s all the news we have for today. For this and more of your daily news, be sure to watch us every weekday morning on NewsDesk with Kristin Feledy.

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