Similar to GroupMe, the service allows teachers at daycare facilities, private schools, or camps to send broadcast text messages to parents. Parents can choose their language, so messages might be translated automatically from English to Spanish. For now, parents aren’t able to reply to the messages, and it costs 29 cents per student. Connect2Parents was cofounded by three parents, Larry Gill, Roger Caruth, and Jeff Meade. They are based in Washington, DC, which has seen new charter schools spring up lately....

Hacking experts throughout the world have warned that there are more security threats in the near future, as web identity thieves are gradually getting more and more educated and sophisticated. While some of the conventional cybercrimes like internet password fraud will be prevalent in 2015, there will be more espionage attacks on a larger scale and the Internet of Things will even be considered as a huge risk. Read on to learn some of the cyber security threats for 2015 that you should watch out for:...

Livespark attracted attention with their FirePixels, which create what Bond has coined “High Definition Fire.” The FirePixel itself is a small apparatus that shoots flames to create multi-dimensional effects, sequences, and chain effects. While the FirePixel has a large range, Bond’s first installation in Downtown Vegas will be a streetlight reminiscent of a gas lamp. It’s meant to be calming and bring a depth of emotional texture beyond shooting giant fireballs....

For a segment on 60 Minutes which aired last week, Cooke traveled with the 60 Minutes crew to the Ukraine to explore the abandoned area, which scientists say will not be fit for re-settlement for 20,000 years. Cooke attached a camera and a GoPro to a DJI Phantom 2 quadcopter on his own time to obtain additional footage. According to his writings about the visit, he was deeply moved by what he found: It caused so much distress hundreds of miles away, so I can’t imagine how terrifying it would have been for the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian citizens who were forced to evacuate....

Digital Shadows‘ services are meant for enterprise-level business and is meant to protect your company and your clients by tracking your digital footprint. The main feature you are going to find is their internal search engine that crawls the web looking for leaks, threats, and impersonators. What makes their search engine special, however, is the fact that it not only crawls the “normal” web, but the dark web, as well....

Google’s drone division, Wing Aviation, was recently approved for commercial deliveries in Australia, after an extensive trial with local businesses, and it seems that it will repeat this process at select locations in the US. The drones will be capable of delivering small items, such as food orders or medicine. What are Google’s Drone Plans? In order to be able to carry out its consumer drone testing, Alphabet Inc, Google’s parent company, had to receive approval from the FAA as an airline, meeting the strict regulations required by law for any operator of commercial flight vehicles....

Groups will be able to sell products themselves, and can highlight others that are for sale in otherwise unrelated Facebook Shops. What’s the takeaway? Well, either shoppers are increasingly opting for social commerce, or platforms are increasingly interested in forcing them to think they’re opting for social commerce. New Features to Expect Here’s a quick rundown of the four new features: Shops in Groups — lets users buy mech and products directly from a Group they’re inProduct Recommendations in Groups — shows member-recommended products to other members of a Group, for purchase from Facebook ShopsTop Product Mentions — this one sounds like the group recommendations, but in News FeedsLive Shopping — lets creators highlight favorite products (this one’s still in testing)....

HBO and Showtime had to contact Twitter with takedown notices over 66 Periscope streams that they were able to track down. Proving just how cavalier social media platforms can be about this sort of thing, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo tweeted out who the real winner was in the controversial boxing bout. This week, in Episode 14 of Social Snacks from Digital Royalty, the social media team explains what the future of sportscasting will hold now that so many fans are armed with the ability to stream sporting events, and we find out more about all the latest trends in social media and engagement....

More importantly, it’s an air conditioner that should cost its users less than a cent a day. The catch: it’s aimed at cooling small areas. It’s perfect for a workspace, however, which is all you should really be caring about in this situation anyway. Geizeer, whose tagline is “eco friendly ice cooling,” is fully funded with eight days left to go: 1,372 backers contributed $200,292 towards a paltry yet specific $34,191 goal....

Even if hearing the word “work-life balance” make you roll your eyes and tune out, these are still critical questions to our happiness and well-being. If you’d like to change the conversation, here are some alternatives to try out. Work-life harmony “Jeff Bezos nailed it when he referred to it as ‘work-life harmony.’ Work is required to earn a living, so the trick is learning how to bring life and work together instead of separating them entirely and trying to find time for both worlds....

The Bundeskartellamt, Germany’s anti-monopoly regulator, has ruled that Facebook has 12 months in which to comply with its new policies. This is a major setback for Facebook’s ambitions to more closely align WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook itself. We explain what the new ruling means for Facebook, and for its users. Bundeskartellamt Ruling Against Facebook Data Combination At present, Facebook has significant – and growing – abilities to combine user data gathered from the various platforms it owns....

eBooks Audio Books Now that you have a few free and inexpensive options to fill your new iPad or Kindle with, spend the rest of your holiday with some great books.

We sat down with Desai recently at SXSW where he shared details on Audio Troupe, which only recently launched last Novemeber. For Audio Troupe, the whole idea is provide consumers with a sales experience vastly different from what they’re used to when purchasing headphones. Music is an essential part of everyone’s life, yet the ways through which we narrow down our favorite headphones is archaic – often involving us dealing with sales people who can be too pushy, or reading through multiple online....

The article explains more about the process and the partners: Big data and advanced AI are both fields with a lot of potential for health: By relying on massive amounts of information and past records from hospitals around the world, the right AI could figure out patterns that could heal others. And health is a field with a significant impact: In some cases, early awareness could mean the difference between life and death....

From password checking tools to teaming up with Disney to promote safety online for kids, Google has really been throwing itself into the concept of keeping secure online. We take a look at the highlights of Google’s latest advice, and more ways you can stay safe online. Google Password Checkup Password Checkup is a new automated tool from Google that you can add to the Chrome browser. It informs you if any of your passwords are compromised....

Previous years suggest there is a somewhat increased risk of attacks during festive periods, with threat actors taking advantage of complacent businesses relaxing into ‘holiday mode’. Now more than ever, it’s crucial that businesses are instituting watertight security strategies that include technology like business-grade password managers, and antivirus software. FBI Warns: Don’t Become Complacent During the Holidays The FBI has released a joint statement with CISA just in time for Black Friday and Thanksgiving weekend, which is expected to be earmarked in the diary of threat actors – although their advice applies to the whole holiday period in general, including Christmas and New Year....

I know I’m not alone on that last point—people complain about the confusingly arbitrary and abstract symbols in chemistry almost as much as they do about the same problem in math class—but I was surprised to see someone who also loved those kid’s books: Jessie Schell, founder and CEO of game development company Schell Games. Spurred by those early memories, he’s using the same wonder and adventure that book series gave him to help solve that huge problem everyone has with chemistry class: it’s so boring....

The all new app allows users to broadcast intents to facilitate meetups for casual activities. If you are looking to find someone to get together with, the application asks users to post what they are looking to do (if you want to add additional details you can). It then determines your location and broadcasts this intention to others nearby. Once a Holler message is received, users can join the meetup and conversations can take place via comments within the application....

I had a chance to talk with Jeff Cohen, cofounder and vice president of cognitive innovation services at Welltok, a healthcare company providing consumers with personalized guidance and incentives to optimize their health, about the effect artificial intelligence will have on the healthcare industry as a whole. Check out what he had to say below: Plenty of Data There’s no denying the healthcare industry has produced an unprecedented amount of data, particularly in recent years....

Of course, we are not there. But we are at a place at which machine learning, artificial intelligence, and now what is called “Deep Learning” is upon us and it is changing our world faster than we may realize. What Is Deep Learning? The concept is built around the mapping of neural networks through algorithms that operate in much the same way that the human brain operates. For example, how does a toddler ultimately learn what a dog is and to differentiate it from a cat?...