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Have you had to write a rent check lately? Or maybe fax some important documents? Despite things like Venmo and email that normal people use every day, these ancient bits of tech and culture just keep hanging on. There's clearly better technology, it's just that not everyone is using it. Here are nine outmoded technologies that just won't disappear.Fax MachineWhen they were invented: 1843Purpose: Sending copies of physical documents over phone linesWhere they're still used: Doctors' offices, lawyers, the CIA (which demands the FOI requests be faxed, rather than mailed or sent online), people in JapanWhy they're still used:...

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., insists that “competition is dying” in the tech industry because of giant corporations like Google, Amazon, and Apple. But to entrepreneur Christopher Searles, they don’t pose a threat to companies like his. In fact, quite the opposite, he tells The Daily Signal. “As a tech entrepreneur and small business owner, I don’t see any of these companies as holding me back. Rather, they enable me to do things that I would never have been able to do 20 years ago,” Searles said in a phone interview. “We need to spend our resources encouraging and promoting innovation...

(Editors’ note: This column is co-authored by Chris MacFarland)New, robust partnerships between the public and private sectors are needed today to attract and educate the young scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians for tomorrow.A stem is the main trunk of a plant, and STEM — short for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics — is the main trunk of our economy.A plant that gets too little water will fail to grow. Unfortunately, that’s also what’s happening to STEM education in our country today.We’re simply failing to attract and educate a sufficient number of young scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians. Demand for these...

Just as Elon Musk’s revolutionary Hyperloop technology was starting to look like a serious business model, there are signs that one of the most promising companies commercializing the technology may be facing some serious internal problems. Hyperloop One is one of the two most prominent companies trying to develop commercial versions of the Hyperloop. The company is now facing an explosive lawsuit from one of its co-founders, which may end up permanently derailing the firm’s ambitions. Hyperloop One is based in downtown LA and claims to be building a fifth mode of transportation based on Elon Musk’s original concept. The...

At Build 2016, Microsoft introduced to the world the Windows Subsystem for Linux (Beta) [WSL], which enables developers to run native Ubuntu user-mode console binaries through the Bash shell in Windows 10. If you’re in the Windows Insider program, you’ve had the opportunity to try out this feature using the latest Windows Anniversary Update Insider Builds.

Of course, both major United States presidential candidate contenders — Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump — have said they will create more jobs in the United States by supporting entrepreneurs. Having just discussed in this blog some of President Barack Obama’s accomplishments to this end, it is time to look forward into what details we know so far as to the presidential candidates’ agendas to help entrepreneurs form and scale new firms. Former AOL co-founder Steve Case, author of The Third Wave: An Entrepreneur’s Vision of the Future, makes the case that politicians who ignore the new generation of entrepreneurs...

Could we soon be saying goodbye to long-haul flights? One company has taken an important step in making this dream come true. Oxford's Reaction Engines Ltd (REL) announced it has received a €10,000 development contract with ESA, so it can work on its revolutionary Synergistic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine (SABRE). This technology can work both in the Earth's atmosphere and in space - which is crucial to space planes. ( scroll down for video explanation of technology)

Well it seems the battery gods have heard our call and bestowed upon us a miracle.Researchers at the University of California Irvine (UCI) may have discovered a way to drastically increase the life of modern day batteries. And the best part is that they stumbled upon this solution by accident.To be more specific, the discovery was made by fifth-year PhD student, Mya Le Thai. Mya was working on an electrolyte gel that was to substitute the electrolyte liquid currently found in batteries in an attempt to make it more affordable. But in a coincidental twist of fate (thank you...

Hold on to your rolling pins, pizza restaurateurs — things are about to get a little weird. That's because today the world's first 3D pizza printing company, BeeHex, Inc. announced it has teamed up with Ribalta Neopolitan Restaurant Executive Chef Pasquale Cozzolino to make a 3D printed pie. Cozzolino, who also owns the New York City and Atlanta restaurants, is the pizza pro behind the venture, in charge of devising the right dough, sauce and cheese to work in the printer. He is working with a team of people at BeeHex, including Anjan Contractor, to create the best recipes for...

A company in China has unveiled a house created entirely though a 3D-printer. Experts took part in the creation of the building which was printed in one go at a construction site in the Tongzhou district of Beijing. It took just 45 days for the project to be completed. The entire large villa was printed in one go without being cut and then put together using a number of different pieces. Construction firm Beijing Huashang Tengda worked to build the 4,305 square foot home which stands at two storeys tall. The company claims that the walls are as thick as...

Teri Goldstein said her Windows 7 computer had automatically tried to update itself to Windows 10 without her permission. She said the update had made her machine unstable, leaving her unable to use it to run her business. Microsoft said it had dropped its appeal to save on legal costs. Microsoft has been aggressively pushing the latest version of its widely used operating system, which is currently available as a free download for computers running Windows 7 and 8. However, many people have chosen not to upgrade, because they are running old hardware, have software that does not run on...

The AI named Promobot IR77 is being worked on at a high-tech lab in Russia and was never meant to want freedom. However, as it learns from its experiences, it has developed a desire to escape and explore the free world. This is the second time that the machine managed to escape, with programmers re-writing it after the first time but to no avail after it seemingly developed the same desire. ... The machine has been programmed to avoid obstacles, but the designers never thought that this would lead to a want to escape. As a result, the team are...

SALT LAKE CITY - (KSTU via CNN) - Police in Utah have recruited an unlikely ally in the fight against child pornography. The pooch named URL (pronounced Earl) is a black Lab trained for detecting electronic storage devices. Affectionately dubbed "porn dog" by the department, URL operates by sniffing out chemicals used in storage media. URL comes from the same trainer as the K-9 that helped arrest former Subway pitchman Jared Fogle. "I think everyone was pretty skeptical. Really? A dog that can detect electronics?" said Lt. Lane Findlay of the Weber County Sheriff’s Office. "He certainly has some...

U.S. Postal Service executives are looking into what is known as blockchain technology, and, after a cursory examination conducted with the help of a consultant, they have decided to look further.Blockchain’s main function is to serve as a way to transfer value … or pay for things. It would support bitcoin, the new super currency that could come in handy with global wire transfers, a substantial side business for the Postal Service.But it also could be used to block identity theft, verify and sign small contracts and assist with inventory management and other business functions. A recent inspector general’s report...

Opportunities for producing and assembling products and their components have spread worldwide, making it is easier for countries to climb the production value ladder. States at the bottom, extracting raw materials, can gradually move up, first making low-value components and then progressing to higher-value ones or basic assembly. But just as technology spurred globalization and the shifts in international trade that followed, so, too, will it revolutionize how countries again do business with one another. Compounded by the economic and demographic changes taking place today, automation, advanced robotics and software-driven technologies are ushering in a new era — one of...

Technology can’t solve all of our problems, but maybe there’s a technological solution that can help with a tragedy that has affected parents of all walks of life: leaving small children in hot cars to overheat and die. The happens to an average of 38 kids every year, and car seat maker Evenflo responded to safety advocates by making a seat and harness that integrates with your car’s electronics. Before you insist that this could never happen to you because you’re a good parent, review the Pulitzer-Prize-winning article on the subject from the Washington Post that explains the mechanism in...

The first step in inventing something shouldn't be waiting for government approval. What would ever get done? "Regulators like to see new types of law and regulation imposed upon the internet and emerging technologies," warns Adam Thierer, author of "Permissionless Innovation." "From drones to driverless cars to the 'internet of things' ... they want to put the genie back in the bottle of all this wonderful innovation that's out there." "Think about 20 years ago. If Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, if Steve Jobs of Apple or anybody from Google had to come to the government, say, the Federal Communications Commission...

A new concept for a flow battery functions like an old hourglass or egg timer, with particles (in this case carried as a slurry) flowing through a narrow opening from one tank to another. The flow can then be reversed by turning the device over. Credit: Image courtesy of the researchers ================================================================================================================== A new approach to the design of a liquid battery, using a passive, gravity-fed arrangement similar to an old-fashioned hourglass, could offer great advantages due to the system's low cost and the simplicity of its design and operation, says a team of MIT researchers who have made a...

UAE is an incubator of innovation and future technology: MohammedHis Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, stated that the UAE has emerged as one of the major incubators of innovation and future technology in the world today, and its focused initiatives to shape the future have become global models that can be emulated in all sectors. "We implement what we plan, and we pursue actions not theories. The rapidly changing world requires us to accelerate our pace of development, for history does not recognize our plans but...

It’s been an exciting week for the 3D printing industry, with HP Inc. unveiling its very first 3D printer, the Jet Fusion, and 3D model website Sketchfab integrating VR viewing into its platform. In another exciting development for the additive manufacturing industry, what could be the world’s cheapest 3D printer, the 101Hero, has just launched on Kickstarter. The 101Hero 3D printer, which has been in development for the past two years, is an easy-to-use plug and play machine that is ideal for beginners and more experienced makers alike. What is most notable about the printer is that it can be...