Questions tagged [technology]
The making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems, or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function.
29
questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
21
votes
0answers
892 views
Did Coinstar add a delay and fake noises because people didn't believe a machine could count coins quickly?
I saw a post on Reddit claiming that Coinstar machines are extremely fast at counting coins, but that the company had to introduce a delay and fake noises to the machines because customers didn't ...
19
votes
0answers
742 views
Did Burmese typewriters contain an upside-down character, which subsequently became proper typewriter style?
I was reading about the Internet Archive's work to archive the materials of a famous New York City typewriter family:
http://blog.archive.org/2020/08/26/an-archive-of-a-different-type/
I was ...
12
votes
0answers
983 views
Are 95% of engineers in India unfit for software development jobs?
This article has been circulating on a few sites recently, which has as its headline:
95% engineers in India unfit for software development jobs, claims report
With the claim:
According to a ...
11
votes
0answers
3k views
Did ISP “pocket” $400 billion that was supposed to be dedicated toward fiber cable infrastructure?
Bruce Kushnick, author of "The Book Of Broken Promises: $400 Billion Broadband Scandal And Free The Net," makes some pretty major claims. The most prominent article, an ad for his book written by ...
11
votes
0answers
325 views
Is Edge (significantly) better than Chrome for laptop battery life?
Microsoft recently released the results of a benchmark of four different browsers with respect to battery life. Chrome comes out the worst, then Firefox, then Opera and then Edge, by quite a margin. ...
9
votes
0answers
798 views
Is there credible evidence that a child using an iPad will have their eyesight affected?
I have been told by several people that allowing my young children (aged 2 and 5 at the time of writing) to use an iPad, or similar device, would affect their eyesight. I have found the following ...
9
votes
1answer
2k views
Are wall-mounted urinals more sanitary than floor mounted units?
Men's urinals can either be mounted on a wall, or can extend all the way to the floor.
According to this page, floor mounted urinals are less desirable because:
Floor Mount
These units are ...
8
votes
0answers
303 views
Is Radio Frequency Radiation carcinogenic at the FCC's 1996 exposure limits?
A 2019 Scientific American blog article, We Have No Reason to Believe 5G Is Safe, by Joel M. Moskowitz, warns about the safety of 5G wireless technology.
Yet, since [the 1980s], the preponderance of ...
8
votes
0answers
534 views
Are women more likely to be speakers at tech conferences than men?
In PUT A SOCK IN IT, YOU DICKLESS WONDERS, Milo Yiannopoulos claims that women in the tech industry are more likely to be speakers or panellists than men are, because there aren't many women in the ...
7
votes
0answers
502 views
Did an IBM manual say: “Undetected errors are ignored”
On the Funny Things Seen In Source Code And Documentation page at the WikiWikiWeb I ran into the following:
Legend has it that the following is found in an ancient IBM manual:
Single bit ...
7
votes
0answers
399 views
Is Coltan the main cause of conflict in Congo since 1997?
This PDF (i saw a translated version) has been brought to my attention.
it claims that Coltan is the main cause of a conflict which has claimed the lives of four million
people since 1997 and as also ...
7
votes
0answers
5k views
Are flat cables tangle-free?
Well, probably everybody knows and hates this. Detangling the headset cable when putting it out of your pocket.
This headset product claims to prevent the cable from tangling up by the "flat cable ...
6
votes
0answers
274 views
Did Safeway help Seattle catch unlicensed dogs?
From a backpacker's forum:
In Seattle, authorities bought a list of every Seattle resident who
regularly bought dog food. The authorities then compared this list to
the list of people who had ...
6
votes
0answers
430 views
Are two thirds of CEOs in Silicon Valley from South Asia or Asia?
Steve Bannon, Donald Trump’s chief strategist, said last year that people from Asia or South Asia are heavily represented in CEOs in Silicon Valley:
When asked if he agreed, Bannon responded: “When ...
6
votes
0answers
914 views
Do household air purifiers prevent illness?
Air purifiers that use glass-fiber HEPA material are said to reduce contaminant in the air that can cause illness, including cold and flu viruses, cigarette smoke.
One example is, Are Air Purifiers ...
6
votes
0answers
515 views
Can the Beautifyer app enhance audio?
The Beautifyer iPhone app is claimed to playback compressed audio files in an enhanced way, using a new algorithm.
Transform your [...] music files into an extraordinary new listening experience ...
6
votes
1answer
464 views
Does the tipping function on Instacart pay the company instead of the shopper?
A local news story reports the following:
Workers behind Instacart, the grocery delivery company and app, say they’re getting punished for getting a tip.
People who shop and deliver for the app say ...
5
votes
0answers
427 views
Did ancient Peru use electroplating?
Wikipedia states that ancient Peruvian metalsmiths applied gold with electroplating, citing a 1979 article in The Journal of The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society. I'm not familiar enough with ...
4
votes
0answers
702 views
Can electricity be transmitted wirelessly over Zenneck surface waves?
Viziv Technologies claims that they are researching the ability to send and receive electricity using the Zenneck Surface Waves.
August 2019 press release
Viziv Technologies, LLC, and Baylor ...
4
votes
0answers
248 views
Do M-Discs last for 1000 Years?
The manufacturer of the M-Disc DVD claims that the data written on these discs will last for 1000 years if the discs are written to and stored correctly.
What is worth saving forever? Thanks to M-...
4
votes
0answers
2k views
Can blocking the aperture of a mobile phone speaker cause damage?
A friend was sitting near another's ringing mobile phone, stoically ignoring the noise. When I advised him to cover the dynamic with a finger, he replied that it may break it.
Is it really so? I ...
3
votes
0answers
345 views
Do antibacterial coatings in fridges reduce bacterial load?
Some modern fridges have "antibacterial coating" in their list of features. It is claimed this reduces the levels of bacteria growth.
Some people go on the further claim this in turn reduces odour ...
3
votes
0answers
459 views
Do Silicon Valley workers send their children to no-phone no-tablet schools?
I have heard someone say that there is a considerable proportion of employees of Silicon tech giants that send their children to schools where no smartphones and no tablets are allowed. Allegedly this ...
3
votes
0answers
1k views
Does the “Sono” system for noise canceling on a window work?
“Sono” is supposed to turn your window into an advanced noise canceling system
that allows you to eliminate and/оr control the sounds that pass through:
Gajitz writes:
Created by industrial ...
3
votes
0answers
557 views
Is this urban mosquito drone real?
This picture showed up in my Facebook feed.
Is this a mosquito?
No. It's an insect spy drone for urban areas, already in production, funded by the US Government. It can be remotely controlled and is ...
2
votes
0answers
776 views
Is it safe for a child to sleep near a baby monitor?
I have always assumed baby monitors and all wireless technology to be completely safe and have been informed by a 'friend' that I have been endangering my children by using them.
We used an RF ...
1
vote
1answer
526 views
Did China steal technology from the USA to make their J-20?
The Chengdu J-20 is a Chinese fighter aircraft.
Wikipedia reports that
The combination of an integrated targeting pod with spherically situated passive-optical tracking system is reported similar ...
0
votes
0answers
223 views
Are financial companies in the US obligated to keep personal information for a decade after they close or lock an account?
For example, there are quite a few stories of Paypal experiences scattered throughout the internet. Since they are common enough I had assumed Paypal simply operates a very strict fraud detection ...
0
votes
0answers
526 views
Does the EMR of Bluetooth devices pose an extreme health danger?
The article Electromagnetic Radiation Due to Cellular, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Technologies: How Safe Are We? states that non-thermal effects of EMR such as wifi and Bluetooth are such that wireless ...
