engine

Siri could be getting a lot better at her job.

Apple posted 12 new Siri-focused jobs over the weekend, according to Fast Company. The open positions include software engineers, operations engineers, and interaction designer. This means that Apple's speech recognition personal assistant may be getting an overhaul.

The job description for Siri software engineers says, "The Siri team is looking for an exceptional engineer to help build out new areas of expertise for Siri, expanding the product's capabilities for millions of users," while the description for Siri interaction designer says, "The successful candidate will contribute … Read more

Queen Elizabeth has honored five engineers who created the Internet and World Wide Web in her first Prize for Engineering.

Louis Pouzin, Robert Kahn, Vint Cerf, Tim Berners-Lee, and Marc Andreessen will share an award of 1 million pounds. They are credited for helping spawn the Internet, (Sorry, Al Gore. You didn't quite make the cut.), which the prize site said is "an engineering achievement that has changed the direction of the world."

"The Internet and WWW led to a communications revolution of unprecedented power and impact," the site said.

Pouzin, Kahn, and Cerf made … Read more

Looking more and more like a local search and reviews site, Foursquare is launching a few brand new features with its Android update today.

The central new feature is popular places recommendations.

"When you're in a new city or neighborhood, Foursquare will show you popular places, sites, and must-see attractions," Foursquare wrote in a blog post today. "When you're on your home turf, we'll tell what spots are 'new and notable' -- places that have recently opened in your area."

This feature pops up in Android devices as soon as users open the … Read more

Sometimes here at Technically Incorrect, one has to operate with eyes wide shut. This is one of those times.

For I have been forwarded an infographic about various Internet searches around the world related to online porn and ordered to discuss it. By someone who, no doubt, is wearing extremely slippery leather.

This infographic claims to show the most popular search terms related to porn that are entered around the world, and I am grateful to BuzzFeed for buzzing me into it.

It was prepared by PornMD, a search engine of which I had previously been unaware. This is not … Read more

A man who lost his hand in an accident is due to receive the first bionic hand designed to more fully simulate the sensation of feeling.

Scheduled for later this year, the surgery will connect the bionic hand directly to the man's nervous system. The goal is for him to not only move the hand but also receive touch signals from the sensors across the hand, according to a story published Sunday by The Independent.

Specifically, the hand would be attached through electrodes connected to the median and ulnar nerves, two of the main nerves in the human arm, … Read more

Finding a discovery engine that is actually useful is rare. In my experience, they either spit out vague, useless recommendations or they return results so predictable as to prevent discovery. Thus, it was with trepidation I approached TasteKid. Turns out that underneath its odd name, TasteKid boasts an engine that successfully occupies the fertile ground between pointless and predictable.

Head to TasteKid.com and try it for yourself. Front and center, you'll find a search box and seven tabs, six of which let you narrow your search to music, movies, TV shows, books, authors, and games. You can also … Read more

Yandex is probably the biggest search engine few people have ever heard of.

The Russian search engine has surpassed Microsoft's Bing in the world's top search engine rankings, according to Search Engine Watch, which got its data from ComScore.

Coming in first place is Google with 114.7 billion search queries and 65.2 percent of the market share. China's Baidu ranked second with 14.5 billion queries and 8.2 percent share. Third was Yahoo with 8.6 billion queries and 4.9 percent share. And, fourth was Yandex with 4.8 billion queries and 2.… Read more

The Epiphany One Puck may well be the world's most awesome coaster. It may also be the most useful. The One Puck doesn't just protect your coffee table from drink sweat, it also charges up your smartphone.

You don't have to plug the Puck into an outlet. It uses a small Stirling engine to provide the power. The device has two sides, one red and one blue. Place a hot drink on the red side, or a cold drink on the blue side.

Stirling engines have been around since the 1800s. They work by turning heat disparities into energy. Epiphany Labs has built a working prototype of its One Puck, though the company is still vague on just how long it takes for the device to charge up a phone. There are a lot of variables at play, including how hot or cold the source is.… Read more

A subsidiary of intellectual-property firm Vringo is suing Microsoft for allegedly infringing two of its patents, Vringo said today.

Wholly owned subsidiary firm I/P Engine filed the suit in the Southern District of New York.

I/P Engine is seeking a judgment from the court declaring that Microsoft did infringe its patents and requests the court to award past and future damages through royalties and "any form of recoverable economic injury."

The two patents relate to U.S. Patent No. 6,314,420 and U.S. Patent No. 6,775,664, which detail essentially the foundation framework … Read more