The Weekly Hash - September 14, 2012
A review of some of the top tech stories for the past week, with tongue planted firmly somewhere near cheek.
ITworld/Phil Johnson
Happy Friday! The big news this week, of course, came courtesy of Apple on Wednesday when they introduced a whole bunch of new stuff, like a new iPhone, new iPods and (apparently) a new executive dress code.
But, fret not, Apple-haters! There were plenty of other shenanigans in the tech world. To wit...
Fujitsu announced this week that they’re developing a software robot that can pass the math portion of Japanese college entrance exams. Here’s how far along they are: the robot’s already having trouble getting a date.
William Moggridge, the inventor of the laptop computer, died last Saturday at the age of 69. Per his wishes, he was buried in a casket made of durable, water resistant neoprene with soft handles for comfortable travel.
As part of its iPhone 5 announcement on Wednesday, Apple also introduced its 8-pin connector cable called Lightning. While they were at it, they also announced a patent infringement lawsuit against the National Weather Service.
GoDaddy said their outage on Monday was caused by corrupt router tables. They still have no explanation for their Danica Patrick ads.
RadioShack announced this week that they’re offering a no-contract wireless service. You’ll be free to cancel the service without penalty at anytime but you’ll have to pay a penalty if you ever buy batteries anywhere else.
Microsoft revealed on Thursday that new laptops and PCs sold in China are coming pre-installed with malware. Turns out they’re part of Anonymous’ new line of computers.
On Tuesday Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg gave his first interview since the company’s IPO, in which he said the stock’s performance has been “disappointing.” You could see how disappointed he was by the way he dabbed away his tears with $100 bills.
General Motors announced this week that they’re going to hire 10,000 workers in order to in-source their IT centers. They plan to complete the hires in 5 years or 50,000 interviews, whichever comes first.
On Monday a Chinese company came out with the GooPhone, a clone of the iPhone 5 that runs Android. They also announced that, at the end of this month, they'll be shutting down their social music service, Pong.
Casio has launched an Android tablet that can quickly scan a pile of documents. Casio expects the device to be a big hit with international spies.
