IRC loses 60 percent users since 2003
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) has lost 60 percent of its users, going from 1 million in 2003 to about 400,000 today. And IRC channels? In 2003 there were 500,000; now there is half that number. This is due in large part to the advent of the Web, social media, and tools that can do a lot more than plain text can do. [Source]
Ray Kurzweil, Is Building Your ‘Cybernetic Friend’ at Google
World-renowned artificial intelligence expert and Google’s new Director of Engineering, Ray Kurzweil, wants to build a search engine so sophisticated that it could act like a ‘cybernetic friend,’ who knows users better than they know themselves. “I envision in some years that the majority of search queries will be answered without you actually asking,” he said at an intimate gathering at Singularity University’s NASA campus. [Source]
The hoax war between Portugal and India survived on Wikipedia for 5 years
Wikipedia editors unearthed a clever hoax perpetrated on the web’s gullible netizens, sending the mighty “Bicholim Conflict” back to where it originated: non-existence. For five years, the imaginary year-long battle, from 1640 to 1641, between Portugal and the mighty Indian Marath Empire, reigned as truth in the user-generated halls of Wikipedia’s archive. [Source]
Samsung expected to widen smartphone lead over Apple this year
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd is expected to widen its lead over Apple Inc in global smartphone sales this year with 35 percent growth, helped by a broad product lineup, market researcher Strategy Analytics told Reuters on Friday.[Source]
IBM’s Services Chief Will Step Down
International Business Machines Corp said Senior Vice President Mike Daniels is retiring after 36 years with the company, leaving two lieutenants in charge of services, the company’s biggest division. Erich Clementi, senior vice president for global technology services, and Bridget van Kralingen, senior vice president for global business services, will now report to the chief executive officer, said Ed Barbini, a company spokesman. [Source]
Lenovo announces multi-user Horizon Table PC for $1,699 and up
In addition to announcing some traditional all-in-ones today, Lenovo is introducing the IdeaCentre Horizon 27 Table PC. It too is a full-fledged, battery-powered desktop, but it can collapse into table-top mode, becoming a 27-inch, 1080p slate optimized for multi-user touch input. [Source]
