Portal:Technology
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7d/Ur_chariot.jpg/280px-Ur_chariot.jpg)
Technology is the application of conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word technology can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible tools such as utensils or machines, and intangible ones such as software. Technology plays a critical role in science, engineering, and everyday life.
Technological advancements have led to significant changes in society. The earliest known technology is the stone tool, used during prehistoric times, followed by the control of fire, which contributed to the growth of the human brain and the development of language during the Ice Age. The invention of the wheel in the Bronze Age allowed greater travel and the creation of more complex machines. More recent technological inventions, including the printing press, telephone, and the Internet, have lowered barriers to communication and ushered in the knowledge economy. (Full article...)
Recognized articles -
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8c/Clearview_AI_logo.svg/220px-Clearview_AI_logo.svg.png)
Clearview AI, Inc. is an American facial recognition company, providing software to law enforcement, government agencies, and other organizations. The company's algorithm matches faces to a database of more than 20 billion images collected from the Internet, including social media applications. Founded by Hoan Ton-That and Richard Schwartz, the company maintained a low profile until late 2019, until its usage by law enforcement was first reported.
Use of the facial recognition tool has been controversial. Several U.S. senators have expressed concern about privacy rights and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has sued the company for violating privacy laws on several occasions. U.S. police have used the software to apprehend suspected criminals. Clearview's practices have led to fines and bans by EU nations for violating privacy laws, and investigations in the U.S. and other countries. In 2022, Clearview reached a settlement with the ACLU, in which they agreed to restrict U.S. market sales of facial recognition services to government entities. (Full article...)
Waterloo East railway station, also known as London Waterloo East, is a railway station in central London on the line from Charing Cross through to London Bridge towards Kent, in the south-east of England. It is to the east of London Waterloo railway station and close to Southwark tube station.
The station opened in 1869 as Waterloo Junction, to provide a connection between the London and South Western Railway at Waterloo, and the South Eastern Railway at Charing Cross. A dedicated line was built between Waterloo and Waterloo East, which was later converted to a footpath. Trains originally ran to Cannon Street, but after competition from the London Underground, these were withdrawn as a wartime measure in 1916. The station continued to be connected to Waterloo mainline via a footbridge. Waterloo East was given its current name in 1977, and remains an important interchange in London. It is part of the London station group. The station is located in London fare zone 1. (Full article...)
The first segment of SR 530 to appear on a map was a road extending from Arlington to Oso in 1899. The first segment to be state-maintained was Secondary State Highway 1E (SSH 1E), which ran from Conway to Arlington. SSH 1E was extended to Darrington in 1957 and later renumbered to SR 530 in 1964; the road was extended to Rockport in 1983 and later the route from Conway to I-5 was removed from the system in 1991. A section of the highway was destroyed in the 2014 Oso landslide and was rebuilt; a longer portion of SR 530 was designated the Oso Slide Memorial Highway in 2019. (Full article...)
SR 149 was formerly part of the Oroville-Chico Highway; the majority of the latter was merged into other routes. In the mid-1970s, the highway was reallocated onto a newer two-lane alignment. A project to widen the two-lane road to a four-lane expressway was completed in late 2008, removing the bottleneck from the Oroville-Chico highway. (Full article...)
Selected picture
Main topics
General images -
Did you know (auto-generated) -
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/44/Nuvola_apps_filetypes.svg/47px-Nuvola_apps_filetypes.svg.png)
- ... that Małgorzata Kalinowska-Iszkowska was awarded a Polish Gold Cross of Merit for her work in information technology?
- ... that Justin Yu, the current Classic Tetris World Champion, is also a cellist in MIT's video game orchestra?
- ... that Flathead Lake Biological Station can detect invasive aquatic species in real-time using eDNA technology?
- ... that several science fiction critics praised "Rock Diver", the first short story by American writer Harry Harrison, for its compelling take on technology for passing through matter?
- ... that the Atari 410 Program Recorder was used to store programs on the Atari 8-bit family, but was also used for computer aided instruction?
- ... that Kathanar – The Wild Sorcerer is being shot on a custom-built studio spanning 45,000 square feet (4,200 m), utilizing the virtual production technology?
- ... that Peter Corby's electric trouser press used technology designed for Concorde?
- ... that Thomas Hall made an electric train that received power from the rails on which it travelled instead of onboard batteries, a new technology at the time?
Top 10 WikiProject Technology popular articles of the month
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ef/ChatGPT-Logo.svg/220px-ChatGPT-Logo.svg.png)
ChatGPT is a chatbot and virtual assistant developed by OpenAI and launched on November 30, 2022. Based on large language models (LLMs), it enables users to refine and steer a conversation towards a desired length, format, style, level of detail, and language. Successive user prompts and replies are considered at each conversation stage as context. (Full article...)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6b/WhatsApp.svg/220px-WhatsApp.svg.png)
WhatsApp (officially WhatsApp Messenger) is an instant messaging (IM) and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by technology conglomerate Meta. It allows users to send text, voice messages and video messages, make voice and video calls, and share images, documents, user locations, and other content. WhatsApp's client application runs on mobile devices, and can be accessed from computers. The service requires a cellular mobile telephone number to sign up. In January 2018, WhatsApp released a standalone business app called WhatsApp Business which can communicate with the standard WhatsApp client. (Full article...)
Google LLC (⫽ˈɡuːɡəl⫽ GOO-ghəl) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial intelligence (AI). It has been referred to as "the most powerful company in the world" and is one of the world's most valuable brands due to its market dominance, data collection, and technological advantages in the field of AI. Google's parent company, Alphabet Inc. is one of the five Big Tech companies, alongside Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft. (Full article...)
Elon Reeve Musk (⫽ˈiːlɒn⫽; born June 28, 1971) is a businessman and investor known for his key roles in space company SpaceX and automotive company Tesla, Inc. Other involvements include ownership of X Corp., formerly Twitter, and his role in the founding of The Boring Company, xAI, Neuralink and OpenAI. He is one of the wealthiest people in the world; , Forbes estimates his net worth to be US$221 billion. (Full article...)
X, commonly referred to by its former name Twitter, is a social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media websites and the seventh-most visited website in the world. Users can share short text messages, images, and videos in posts (formerly "tweets") and like or repost/retweet other users' content. X also includes direct messaging, video and audio calling, bookmarks, lists and communities, and Spaces, a social audio feature. Users can vote on context added by approved users using the Community Notes feature. (Full article...)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/84/2012_Gangnam_Style_weekly_views.png/300px-2012_Gangnam_Style_weekly_views.png)
A viral video is a video that becomes popular through a viral process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites such as YouTube as well as social media and email. For a video to be shareable or spreadable, it must focus on the social logics and cultural practices that have enabled and popularized these new platforms. (Full article...)
Benjamin Franklin FRS FRSA FRSE (January 17, 1706 [O.S. January 6, 1705] – April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a leading writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Among the most influential intellectuals of his time, Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States; a drafter and signer of the Declaration of Independence; and the first postmaster general. (Full article...)