Former head of Google’s self-driving car initiative looks to start his own autonomous vehicle company

The autonomous vehicle market is growing quiet quickly and hoping to join in on the fun is a former Googler. Chris Urmson, the ex-chief technology officer for Google’s self-driving car program, is said to be preparing to launch his own company that will compete not just with its former employer but with the many others working on autonomous vehicles. Urmson was approached by a lot of self-driving startups and Silicon Valley companies when he left Google back in August but he’s decided to strike out on his own.

He’s reportedly in talks for the past month with engineers from the likes of Uber, Tesla, and Apple in hopes of having them work with him. What Urmson wants to bring to the market is a complete self-driving package, including everything from software, data, to hardware. He’d allow the package to be licensed and altered by automakers, much like what Microsoft does with Windows.

Source: ReadWrite

Yahoo discloses a second major hack that affected over 1 billion accounts

Looks like the late 2014 hack of over 500 million Yahoo user accounts isn’t the only big security issue the company has to deal with. Yahoo just disclosed that more than one billion accounts might have been compromised by a hack of an unauthorized third party back in August 2013. The information stolen from the affected accounts include names, email addresses, birth dates, hashed passwords, encrypted and unencrypted security questions and answers, as well as telephone numbers. The only information believed to not have been accessed by the hackers include clear text passwords, bank account information, and credit/debit card details.

The hack was discovered after law enforcement officials gave the company what looked like user data from an unknown source. Yahoo hasn’t been able to identify the specific breach yet but says it’s “likely” distinct from the 2014 hack. If you’re affected by this hack, Yahoo will be reaching out to you to help secure your account, including implementing mandatory password changes and invalidating unencrypted security questions and answers. Now, is probably the best time for you to change those passwords and use two-factor authentication when you can—not just with your Yahoo accounts but also double up on your other online accounts.

Source: MacRumors

Google Canada reveals top trending searches in 2016

The internet is definitely the first go-to for our inquiring minds. I'm probably "Googling" at least 10 times each and every day. Today, Google Canada reveals its Year in Search, which tells us about the hottest trends and the year's most significant events based on top searches that are uniquely Canadian. Here are some interesting findings, we've noted in Canada (we've only noted the top 5 in each category but there is pleny more for your searching curiousity)... Hit jump for the lowdown.

Click to read more ...

Guillermo del Toro's "Trollhunters" to launch over the holidays exclusively on Netflix

Did I mention that my kids don't go back to school until January 9th? I'm sure I'll be needing the rest after hosting both sides of my family for Christmas dinner that will include little ones running around singing Jingle Bells. I know I'll be needing some peace and quiet! But once the presents have been opened and the cookies have all disappeared, many parents will be looking to fill up some downtime with their kids. This has definitely caught my attention...

Click to read more ...