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Since 1880, according to research from the National Center for Atmospheric Research, global median temperatures have increased by 1.5°F. While that might not seem like much, the shift in temperature is having a staggering effect on oceanic water levels, crop development, and weather patterns. It's also a driving factor behind a huge increase in the number of people across the world using air conditioning.Hoping to stem demand and do its part to fight off the forces of climate change, the University of California-Berkeley has developed a new technology that effectively air conditions structures without using a single watt of energy. SABER, as the tech is known, emulates skin to regulate air and light flow into buildings. The skin automatically senses changes in light and temperature, openin...

Last week, Apple supplier GT Advanced Technologies Inc filed for bankruptcy in a move that shocked even Apple, which had planned to depend on GT Advanced for scratch-resistant sapphire screen technology for all future Apple devices. According to the Wall Street Journal, GT Advanced's bankruptcy filing was met with shock from its investors, creditors and partners alike -- even Apple itself remarked that the filing was "a surprising decision" in a statement. The bankruptcy comes as such a shock due to the fact that GT Advanced made a bond payment and promised a business update just a week before the bankruptcy was filed. In August, GT Advanced executives stated they predicted the company would have $400 million in the bank at the end of the year. Even more bizarre is the fact that GT Adva...

Last week, Barry Schwartz (news editor of Search Engine Land) put together cues from Google and his own research and came to a potentially game-changing conclusion: mobile accessibility may soon become a part of Google’s ranking algorithms. “Google sees what users see, and if that is a bad mobile experience, it may impact your rankings,” the article reads. If accurate, this prediction points to an ever-growing need to consider mobile design as an integral part of building an online presence. Primacy of the User Experience Schwartz writes that at Search Marketing Expo Eas, held this year in New York from September 30 through October 2, Google engineer Gary Illyes emphasized the importance of the user experience, or UX in industry slang. When questioned about the motivation for stressin...

When Target's point-of-sale system was hacked during the winter holidays last year, resulting in approximately 40 million customer credit card and debit card numbers being compromised, the chain store suffered from scathing articles and customer feedback reports for months. Consumers were furious that the store could allow such a huge security breach to occur, and that company executives could let so much time pass between the initial breach and their official confirmation of the breach, thereby allowing the hackers more time to use the stolen information. The backlash from Target's POS security woes was sure to make national retailers re-examine their own security measures, American consumers had assumed. But chain stores continue to fall victim to dedicated hackers, and The Home De...