Bitcoin technology; Facebook tools for the blind; moreTroy Wolverton writes: You may never use Bitcoin, but there's a decent chance that you'll eventually benefit from the technology underlying the virtual currency.
As social media sites like Facebook become more visual, filled with a stream of photos, GIFs and videos, the blind and the visionally impaired are sometimes left out of what their friends and family are sharing. Now the Menlo Park tech firm is harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to create new tools that not only describe items in a photo but allows users to ask what's in an image.
Michelle Quinn writes: Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan have taken some heat for the structure of their new philanthropic initiative, but they can win points by disclosing more about their new endeavor than is legally required.
Larry Magid writes about the demographic shift that means there are now digital natives raising kids: Even tech-savvy people need to be reminded about safety, privacy and security as well as the importance of being kind online. Plus, the online landscape is constantly changing.
Just as drones become common at lower elevations, nanosatellites known as CubeSats have become increasingly popular among scientists, educators and entrepreneurs in the Bay Area and beyond. They have grand plans for the satellites: from studying space weather that can disrupt communication systems to scanning for asteroids for space mining expeditions.
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_29212660/bitcoin-technology-facebook-tools-blind-more
