The Elenco Electronics Snap Circuits Extreme SC-750 contains over 80 circuit components that snap together in various configurations to create over 750 do-it-yourself projects for kids (ages 8+ is suggested). No tools are required to create working electronic circuits and devices. A computer interface option lets children view waveforms and frequencies as well. The product averages 4.8 out of 5 stars on Amazon from 750 people (read recent reviews). Its typical list price of $140 has been reduced to just $84. See the discounted SC-750 electronics kit on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The Seagate expansion desktop drive provides extra storage for your ever-growing collection of files. Instantly add space for more files, consolidate all of your files to a single location, or free up space on your computer's internal drive to help improve performance. Setup is straightforward; simply plug in the included power supply and USB cable, and you are ready to go. It is automatically recognized by the Windows operating system, so there is no software to install and nothing to configure. Saving files is easy too-just drag-and-drop. Take advantage of the fast data transfer speeds with the USB 3.0 interface by connecting to a SuperSpeed USB 3.0 port. This drive receives 4.5 out of 5 stars on Amazon, where its typical list price of $240 has been reduced 29% to $170. See it now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Black Friday this year certainly lived up to the hype. With incredible savings to be had on products as far ranging as HDTVs and iPhones, shoppers this year flooded nationwide retailers while also taking advantage of alluring deals online. In fact, Black Friday this year set new all-time records on a number of fronts. According to Adobe, shoppers this year spent approximately $3.34 billion on any number of deals, representing a nearly 22% increase compared to 2015.If you happened to miss out on Black Friday this year, there's no reason to fret. Cyber Monday is just a few hours a way and consumers looking for incredible deals on the latest and greatest tech gadgets have no shortage of options to choose from.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The world became a slightly better place when Fidel Castro died. Unlike President Obama who said, “History will record and judge the enormous impact of this singular figure on the people and world around him,” President-elect Donald Trump bluntly called Catro a “brutal dictator” whose “legacy is one of firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights.”Some unknown person with an internet connection also attempted to be blunt, expressing his or her opinion of Donald Trump via Google Maps; the President-elect’s transition headquarters was renamed to the Dump Tower on Google Maps.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
With a minimalistic design weighing in at only 7.1 oz and providing up to 2 extra charge for most smartphones, the Luster Battery Pack is essential for keeping your devices powered throughout the day. iSmart technology automatically detects and delivers the optimal charging current for any connected device- ensuring the fastest and most efficient charge. The Luster charger is perfect for a stocking stuffer and comes in 4 bold colors: Gold, Black, Blue and Pink. Currently receiving 4.5 out of 5 stars from over 1,500 people (read reviews) on Amazon, and the listed price of $50 has been reduced 70% to just $15. See it on Amazon now.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The Wisconsin Elections Commission has decided to recount the votes in the state in the last U.S. presidential elections, after concerns were raised that the voting systems can be hacked.The recount, which was requested by Jill Stein, candidate of the Green Party for the U.S. presidential election, and Rocky Roque De La Fuente, another candidate, is expected to begin late next week, the Elections Commission said.“The Commission is preparing to move forward with a statewide recount of votes for President of the United States, as requested by these candidates,” administrator Michael Haas said in a statement Friday.Citing the hack of the Democratic National Committee of the Democratic Party in the run-up to the election and reports of breaches of voter registration databases in at least two states, Stein in her petition for recount wrote that Wisconsin uses both the optical scan and direct-recording electronic types of electronic voting machines, which are both susceptible to compromise.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The Nest learning thermostat learns from you and programs itself, so it is cooling and heating more efficiently and saving you money. Plus, it can be controlled from anywhere on earth through your mobile device. So coming home from vacation no longer means coming back to a blisteringly hot house. Nest claims that on average people save 10% to 15% on heating and cooling bills, so this is one of those products that aims to pay for itself. Nest also works with "Alexa". It averages 4.5 out of 5 stars on Amazon from over 4,600 people (84% rate it 5 stars, read reviews). It typically lists for $249 and is being discounted 20%, down to $199. Learn more or purchase the discounted Nest (3rd generation - current model) at Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Amazon Tap is a portable Bluetooth and Wi-Fi enabled speaker that gives you rich, full-range sound. Just tap the microphone button and ask for music, hear news, search for information, order a pizza, and more with the Alexa Voice Service. You can save $40 now through November 28th. See the Amazon Tap now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Plans are afoot to build the U.K.'s first National College of Cyber Security at Bletchley Park, the birthplace of the country's wartime codebreaking efforts.It was at Bletchley Park that Colossus, the world's first electronic computer, was built during World War II to crack the Lorenz code used by the German high command. Bletchley is also where Alan Turing developed some of his mathematical theories of computing while working on breaking the enigma code.After the war the site fell into disrepair, but parts of it have been restored and now house the U.K.'s National Museum of Computing.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Echo Dot is a hands-free, voice-controlled device that uses Alexa to play & control music (either on its own, or through a connected speaker/receiver), control smart home devices, provide information, read the news, set alarms, and more. If you’re looking to buy them as gifts, or for different homes or rooms, you can save $10 on each one purchased through November 28th. The new Amazon Echo Dot comes in black, and now also white. See the new Amazon Echo Dot now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Amazon has quietly released another good set of deals on its popular Kindle series of e-readers, and this time the discount runs through 11/28 only. Kindle's price sinks $30, Kindle Paperwhite is discounted $20, the Kindle Voyage drops $30, and the worry-free Kindle for Kids Bundle is reduced $30 as well. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Location, location, location: As the old joke goes, those are the three keys to business success. Now, with big data analysis, corporations can be smarter than ever before about where to open up new offices or businesses.But what if you run a mom-and-pop shop, or you're dreaming of quitting your corporate job and opening a boutique? Even medium-size businesses do not have the money to spend on the sort of systems and analysis teams that corporate behemoths use to locate new businesses.This is where ZoneSavvy, a new website created by software engineer Mike Wertheim, could help. The site is straightforward: You enter a business type, the ZIP code of the general area where you want to locate the business, and the distance from that ZIP code you are willing to consider. ZoneSavvy then gives you suggestions for which nearby neighborhoods would be the best locations for your business.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Most difficult IT jobs for employers to fillImage by Thinkstock The breakneck pace of technological innovation in an era of digital transformation has made it difficult for companies to find and land talent with the right mix of cutting-edge skills and experience. But even harder to find are candidates with the soft skills and leadership potential to match their technical savvy, says Matt Sigelman, CEO of labor market analytics firm Burning Glass.
"In IT, most mid- to senior-level folks currently in the market have advanced to where they are because of their technical skills, not based on their management and soft skills. What that means is that certain roles are incredibly hard to fill, as they need both the technical savvy, as well as domain- and industry-specific expertise and leadership skills. Whenever you're asking a candidate to wear two different hats -- in this case, technical and management -- you're inherently making these roles harder to fill as the pool of qualified candidates becomes smaller," Sigelman says.
Here, based on Burning Glass's research into more than 40,000 job posting websites from August 2015 to September 2016, and ranked by the number of days it takes to fill these roles, Continue reading
Wireless carrier competition in the U.S. is white hot — analysts increasingly see signs of wireless market saturation, meaning that growth is most likely going to come from competitors. Of the four major U.S. carriers, T-Mobile USA has led the way, slashing prices, killing the two-year contract and daring its competitors to follow suit.As competition intensifies, Finnish mobile technology provider Nokia believes customer service will emerge as an even more important key differentiator, and analytics and machine learning will take customer service to the next level in the U.S. and around the globe.In 2011, when AT&T announced its intention to acquire T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom, it looked like the wireless market in the U.S. was well on its way to becoming a duopoly. Verizon Wireless and AT&T already held the lion's share of customers between them, and they both held licenses to the majority of wireless spectrum too. But then the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice blocked the proposed $39 billion acquisition.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Hillary Clinton, the apparent loser in the recent U.S. presidential race, should ask for voting recounts in three states, a group of voting security experts and election lawyers have said, and new results could swing the outcome of the election.There are outstanding questions about voting results in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan, where the initial counts have Clinton losing by 1.2 percent or less, the group has told her campaign.The group has so far given no concrete evidence of voting irregularities but is planning to release a report. One news report suggested significant differences in the margins of victory for Trump in Wisconsin in counties using electronic voting machines, compared to counties using paper ballots, but the group has not confirmed those concerns.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Last week Cisco held its quarterly call for investors. These calls are done to update the financial community on the state of Cisco’s business and discuss other trends that will impact the company in the near future. Because of Cisco’s massive size and dominant market share, the entire industry often looks to Cisco commentary to validate market transitions. One such transition was called out during the Q&A portion by Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins. + Also on Network World: Cisco CEO Robbins: Wait til you see what’s in our innovation pipeline +
The wireless business at Cisco is currently going through an evolutionary change. The overall business was down 2 percent due to softness with E-rate funding and declines in traditional Wi-Fi controllers. However, this was offset by strong growth with Cisco’s cloud-managed solution, Meraki. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The iFit-1 from Satechi is a sliding stand for your phone that also contains a high-fidelity speaker, so you can browse the internet, play games, or watch movies with louder, richer sound. It also features a generous 6 hour rechargeable battery. It averages 4 out of 5 stars on Amazon from 670 people (read reviews). A few reviewers have pointed out that this makes a good gift for the technically un-savvy, since there's no fumbling with a Bluetooth connection. Just connect it to the phone's headphone/audio jack. The iFit-1's typical list price of $24.99 is currently reduced 48% to just $12.99. See it now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Last year I tried out my first holiday light display using a Light-O-Rama controller. I was sure a person could have a holiday light show that delights people of all ages and still keep their privacy intact since people wouldn’t be peering into their houses. That part was true; it’s a different story when two different TV crews show up in vans a couple different times and want interviews. Fortunately, declining is an option that doesn’t seem to impact traffic backing up to watch the lights dance to music they can hear via FM from the warmth of their vehicles.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
With the X Rocker Pro H3 4.1 Wireless Audio Gaming Chair you can not only hear your music but actually feel it. It features four speakers, sub-woofers with Audio Force Modulation Technology, vibration motors that sync to the bass and intensify the full-body sensation, and a wireless audio transmitter/receiver combo. It currently averages 4 out of 5 stars from nearly 550 reviewers (see reviews). Its list price of $250 has been reduced 38% to $155. See it now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Wireless headphones and earbuds have gotten a higher profile after Apple announced the removal of the headphone jack for its new iPhone 7 and 7 Plus smartphones. Owners of the new device get to make a decision – either buy an adapter to use with their wired headphones or move to wireless. Apple hopes that you buy its own earbuds (Air Pods), but delays in shipping have left people looking for other options.One such device aiming to fill that gap is Skybuds ($250, available in three color options) – these are individual earbuds (one for each ear) that provide Bluetooth wireless connectivity for your devices. While other earphone systems have a connected strap that usually goes behind the head, the Skybuds are free of such a cable (just like the Air Pods).To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here