Mike Wheatley
Latest from Mike Wheatley
Facebook’s $2B gamble on tech’s next ‘big thing’, whatever that might be…
As we slowly begin to accept that yes, Facebook really did spend $2 billion on some stupid piece of virtual reality headgear that most of us didn’t even know existed, our attention turns to why on earth it would have done such a thing. Two billion dollars. For Oculus VR, the so-called leader of virtual ...
Microsoft shouldn’t stop with MS-DOS. It’s time to open-source everything
Microsoft took a few people by surprise earlier this week by releasing the source code for its old MS-DOS and Word for Windows software. The source codes for both programs are now available to the public, but that doesn’t mean we should get excited about the possibilities of forking Microsoft’s software just yet. So why ...
Google drops on a bomb on AWS, announces massive cut in cloud prices
Google has just slashed the costs of its cloud services way, way below those of its rivals, as the search giant steps up its efforts at unseating Amazon as the kings of the cloud. The company made a whole raft of announcements at its Google Cloud Platform event in San Francisco yesterday, the biggest being ...
Sorry Obama, your NSA reforms aren’t nearly good enough
Yesterday we heard that President Barack Obama is going to ask Congress to put the brakes on the NSA’s spying escapades, or at least a part of them. Obama’s plans were confirmed yesterday by the White House following a leak to the New York Times. Under the President’s proposal, the NSA will be banned from ...
It’s not just XP – It’s the end of the road for Office 2003 as well
In just two weeks Microsoft will finally cease providing support for its Windows XP operating system, effectively marking the beginning of the end for that particular piece of software. But while the death of XP is hogging all the headlines as the April 8 deadline draws closer, it’s worth noting that Microsoft is set to ...
Stop faking it: Computers can see when you’re in pain
Don’t say we didn’t warn you. You might be able to fool some people, but you’re unlikely to do the same thing with a computer. A new study from researchers at the University of California in San Diego and the University of Toronto suggests that computer software is able to spot genuine or fake expressions ...
Obama vows to crack down on NSA spying
Well here’s a surprise. According to a report in the New York Times, it seems that President Obama is none to happy about the NSA’s bulk collection of US citizen’s phone records, and is drawing up a legislative proposal that will “drastically overhaul” the program. Whether or not Obama’s apparent disgust at the NSA’s actions ...
ATMs look to Linux as Windows XP enters its death throes
In a move that will surprise few people, it’s been revealed that banks and ATM operators are finally considering switching to Linux-based operating systems as a replacement for the dying Windows XP that currently powers the vast majority of the world’s cash machines. What’s more surprising is that these organizations are only considering the switch ...
Google Flu Trends: A case of Big Data gone bad?
Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time, but sadly Google Flu Trends has turned out to be a prime example of what can go wrong when you read too much into your Big Data… When Google Flu Trends first kicked off back in 2009, the search giant thought it was being rather ...
Larry Page wants make your medical data public knowledge
Our medical history data is about as private as it’s possible to get, so when someone as high profile as Google founder Larry Page calls for all of this to be made public, the issue deserves our attention. Page made the suggestion during an appearance at the TED Conference, saying “Wouldn’t it be amazing to ...