Matt's Favorites: Dueling May Tech Events, Satirical Jobs Pic, Google Goes Down, And Much More
So, the latest from the amazing world of high technology? Yeah, about that...
* In mid-May, I'm going to have to work on my ability to be two places at once. Dave Brophy's most excellent Michigan Growth Capital Symposium is scheduled for May 21 and 22 at the Ypsilanti Marriott. Forty or so great young companies will be there seeking funding to build futures and jobs in pharmaceuticals, medical devices, IT, advanced energy technologies and more. And NOW, I find out that Midwest Technology Leaders, the terrific annual conference for all things CIO, is scheduled for May 22. They just came out with an agenda today at this link and it looks terrific. So, guess I'll be sneaking out of Dave Brophy's event a bit early on the 22nd, at least early enough to catch Dave Behen's keynote at MTL at 11:15. Thank goodness this year's MTL is close to Ypsi, just up the road in Plymouth, not clear over on the northeast side like it has been. (Yes, I know it's nice in Rochester. But the fact is, when I live in Dearborn and work in Southfield, you might as well ask me to come to your event in Jackson as ask me to come to Rochester.)
* Before the big-budget biopic on Steve Jobs, there's a satirical version now available for viewing on the Web.
* Google's mail and application services were unavailable to some users Wednesday. The company says it's investigating.
* American Rivers, an organization dedicated to protecting U.S. waterways, released their annual list of endangered rivers. Their list named the Colorado River as the most endangered river in the nation due to outdated water management, increased drought and overuse.
* The maiden flight of a powerful new rocket designed to loft space station cargo ships into orbit was called off 12 minutes before liftoff Wednesday when an umbilical attached to the booster's second stage somehow pulled away earlier than planned. It was not immediately clear when the rocket's builder, Orbital Sciences Corp., would be ready for another launch attempt.
* Google will take over a troubled municipal fiber-optic system and make Provo, Utah, the third city to get its high-speed Internet service via fiber-optic cables, the company announced Wednesday. Google Fiber was rolled out in Kansas City, Mo., last year. The Mountain View, Calif., company announced earlier this month it will make Austin, Texas, the second city to get ultra-fast Internet service.
* Michigan's Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Brighton) is in a bit of hot soup after saying Tuesday that most opponents to his controversial cybersecurity bill are teenagers in their basements as the Obama administration threatened to veto the measure for its potential to violate civil liberties. The Electronic Frontier Foundation responded.
* Boston's tech community is coming together to bring in the Boston Marathon bomber.
* SanDisk raised its forecast for revenue this year and said it expects higher prices for its NAND memory chips, which are used in smartphones and tablets. CFO Judy Bruner's comments to analysts on a quarterly conference call on Wednesday helped reverse losses in SanDisk's stock after the company posted quarterly results that disappointed some on Wall Street, despite beating estimates.
* A new type of microbatteries holds out hope for super-powered cell phones, electric cars and more.
* NASA is getting into the 3D printing business. At NASA's Ames Research Center, engineers and researchers are experimenting with the technology with the hope that one day their creations will be used in space exploration. "Space Shop is our attempt to take the best practices and lessons learned from what we call the maker community," said Dave Korsmeyer, the director of engineering at NASA Ames.
