Sabeen Mahmud (above, in blue), who says she fell in love with technology the first time she ever saw a Mac, just organized Pakistan’s first ever Hackathon last month, aimed specifically at finding ways to use technology to fix or at least alleviate Pakistan’s political problems. According to a piece by Wired, the gathering was pretty amazing for everyone involved.

“When we started Google 15 years ago,” Brin says, “my vision was that information would come to you as you need it. You wouldn’t have to search query at all.” But for now, we get information by disconnecting from other people, looking down into our smartphone. Brin asks: “Is this the way you’re meant to interact with other people?” Is the future of connection just people walking around hunched up, looking down, rubbing a featureless piece of glass? In an intimate moment, he says, “It’s kind of emasculating. Is this what you’re meant to do with your body?” – Taken from the TED Blog post quoting Google’s Sergey Brin on why Google Glass is totes better than a smartphone.

Either that word does not mean what Brin thinks it means or he has a really bizarre outlook on technology. Dear Brin, if you truly believe your masculinity is threatened by swiping a cell phone screen, we have a few GIFs we think you should see. 

Who says you have to get bitten by a radioactive spider to get the power of Spider-Man? One student has used technology to acquire a spidey-sense. 

Google street view has caught some interesting things in the past but perhaps none so useful as this. A woman from Russia discovered her fiancé had been cheating on her after looking up an address on an online map and finding his image with another woman.

Japanese manufacterer I-O Data has been making computer parts for more than thirty years now, and to mark the occasion, this year they’re giving away some pretty convincing-looking chocolate RAM to a few lucky folks chosen from those who shop from their website. So, this could either be for when your significan other already has more than enough RAM, or for when the price of premium RAM actually drops below the price of premium chocolate and therefore becomes an unimpressive gift.

Previously in Food

Last year, the BBC delved into the great Booth Babe debate at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and decided to do a follow-up to see if anything had changed. It hadn’t. While Booth Babes, attractive women hired to promote a product at a convention, are always a hot topic, some consider their inclusion at CES to be especially problematic considering it’s a professional trade convention. What do you think? Should these models be removed from the equation, should men be added to even things out, or do you not see their inclusion as an issue at all?

(via Bonnie Burton)

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I’ll admit, the only time I’ve worn contact lenses is for cosplay and they bother the hell out of me. I know if you really need them you can get an eye doctor to specially fit them to your eye but still, the feeling is weird. Suffice to say, I think having a message displayed to your retina from a contact lens is pretty disconcerting. But well, here comes the future! 

If you thought mannequins watching you while you shop was a creepy thought, what about your DVR watching you on the couch? This is the future Verizon has in store for targeted marketing. 

It’s called the iPet Companion and it allows you to control kitty toys remotely so you can keep otherwise bored cats entertained. Via the FAQ: “A signal is relayed from the servers at iPet Companion to the control boxes situated within the home (located anywhere in the world) – that allows for users to see and move the toys, with minimal time lag” says Scott Harris, founder and owner Reach-In, the Idaho-based company that developed the software. It seems to be getting use from shelters across the country but is also available for home use. It will set you back $349.95 plus postage for the cat version, $395 plus postage for dogs, and a $4.95 monthly service fee for your own interactive webpage. You must supply the actual toys. And no, you don’t get your money back if your cat thinks it’s stupid, no matter how great you think it is.

(via Jezebel)

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Well this is creepy. You already know you’re under surveillance when you enter your local department store but did you ever think the store would enlist mannequins to keep an eye on you? A few locations are testing out specially fitted mannequins that aren’t made for spotting shoplifters but use facial-recognition software to give owners data about their shoppers’ age, gender, and race.