Weekend takeaway: 10 tech stories you need to read right now

22 May 2015

Ten nuggets of knowledge to take away for the weekend, including: EXCITED Digital Learning Festival and the top stories from the Engage 2015 conference in Prague.

1. EXCITED about the future of technology in education (video)

The second annual EXCITED Digital Learning Festival, which runs from May 21st to 23rd in the Printworks, Dublin Castle, features a host of notable Irish and international speakers.

Under the theme ‘Growing our Network – Recruiting Revolutionaries,’ EXCITED will officially launch on Friday at 6pm, starting proceedings with two evening events incorporating keynote addresses and panel discussions.

However, the festival kicked off in truth on Thursday, with early sessions – closed to the public – dedicated to the Digital Youth Council, which celebrates its first birthday this week.

2. Best start ups in Berlin – the 6 you need to watch (video)

Berlin vies with London as the biggest start-up ecosystem in Europe. On a whistle stop tour of Berlin Siliconrepublic.com met six start-ups that are going the distance.

3. ‘I did not fire Steve Jobs’, says ex-Apple CEO John Sculley

Former Apple CEO John Sculley has attempted to put to bed a myth that he was the person who fired the late Steve Jobs from Apple in 1985. Instead, he said Jobs left Apple after being removed from his beloved Mac division by the board.

4. Briann Wu – Gaming, it’s a girl thing

Best known for receiving countless death threats during the Gamergate storm, Brianna Wu and her team at Giant Spacekat are on a mission to transform the games sector.

5. 100 new jobs as Qualtrics announces Dublin expansion

Survey software provider Qualtrics has announced 100 new jobs at the opening of new offices in Dublin, with a total staff number of 250 planned for the end of next year.

6. Facebook plans #200m data centre for Meath – begins recruiting engineers

There is mounting evidence Facebook is planning to build a €200m data centre at Clonee in Co Meath. The social network is hiring electrical engineers with data centre experience to work at its Irish operations.

7. Hubble spots a sloppy, Nasty star in Milky Way

There are few things nastier in the universe than ‘Nasty 1’, a star that is ageing so rapidly and acting in such a peculiar way that its formal name – NaSt1 – led to it being dubbed our galaxy’s nasty star.

8. How IoT can help you pour the perfect pint every time

This week, Intel’s VP of internet of things (IoT) Philip Moynagh returns to show us how IoT can help not just at home, but in pubs to help bar staff know how to pour a perfect pint every time.

9. 7 wearable technology jobs that could change the world

As technology evolves so too does the way we work. As communication services improve we learn new ways to get ideas across, new approaches to processing information and, ultimately, to shape our society.

10. BND spying activities in Germany just got real weird real fast

Following Austria’s decision to file a legal complaint against Germany amid reports of extensive espionage, the head of the latter’s surveillance arm, the BND, has stated his country is “dependent” on the NSA, “not the other way around”.

Brigid O Gorman is a former sub-editor of Silicon Republic.

editorial@siliconrepublic.com