Just 1.5% of computing occupations in the country are filled by Latinas, a startling Bureau of Labor Statistics number that illustrates the importance of pushing Latinas into the tech space. There are a variety of different ways to promote and encourage Latinas into the tech space, and Becky Arreaga, president of Mercury Mambo, and Rebecca Gonzales, assistant director of Avindé, discussed several during their panel Friday, “Chicapreneurs: Latinas in Technology.” More Latinas than ever are graduating from college, and this is changing the dynamics of entrepreneurship, said Arreaga.… more

South by Southwest Interactive is launching a track of Latinos in technology programming this March; the three-day programming is set to showcase Latino talents, tech and innovation. The event is free to the public, no SXSW admission required, and starts on Friday, March 7 through March 9. According to a statement, the intention of the programming is:

In its inaugural year, the Latinos in Technology Track will explore the impact of the Hispanic voice on technology and technology impacted sectors and, in turn, the impact of technology on the Hispanic voice.

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What’s the best way to get more women and minorities great tech jobs? Train them yourself. So goes the logic of Sabio co-founders Liliana Monge and Gregorio Rojas, who are set to graduate their first class of four trained web developers in February. Sabio was created in 2012 and the first class was in session in September of 2013. The 20-week class includes training in a variety of development specialties. Specifically: front end development (HTML5, CCS3, JavaScript); back end development; database development; source control; native mobile development, and more.… more

A study put together by the Pew Internet Center examined how adult cell phone users are using their devices, and what activities they are used for. The study broke down the data across a variety of demographics, but of most interest are the differences between how Hispanics use their devices from other racial groups. Like black mobile users, Hispanics tend to use their devices for a number of tasks, while white users tend to be less engaged with their mobile devices. In general, 81% of cell phone users use their devices to send or receive text messages; 60% of users use these devices to access the Internet.… more

By Gina Ruiz I’ve been testing out the new Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Gear for about two weeks now and am still learning new things about it every day. If you haven’t seen the commercials, the Galaxy Gear is a bluetooth enabled watch that works exclusively with the Galaxy Note 3 phablet. It has its limitations, but I’ve quite fallen in love with it and the idea of what it could be a few models from this one. Galaxy Gear What I loved:

• The watch makes it easy to quickly swipe through text notifications without dragging out your phone.

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Immigration can be a complicated, windy, and scary road for prospective citizens, filled with bureaucracy and paperwork that might not be in the same language they are accustomed to speaking. To make the process simpler, a company called Clearpath offers a hand to immigrants who are trying to navigate these new, unfamiliar waters, by making it a digital process. Clearpath was founded in 2008 by Michael Petrucelli, former head of the United States Department of Citizenship and Immigration Services.… more

Maya Murillo is a blogger and musician in Arizona who has taken to social media, 6-second video social network Vine in particular, and nurtured an audience. She’s just just over 1,000 followers on Facebook and Twitter, but about 2,500 subscribers on YouTube, 4,500 on Instagram and almost 54,000 on Vine. She spoke to us about the impact of social media on her life, and her future aspirations. Maya has taken off on the Latin@ blogosphere, spreading across various outlets and forms of social media, bringing with her cheer, craftiness, and an added singing talent.… more

Facebook’s growth seems to grinding to a halt in current markets, according to recent reports. Its popularity with teenagers is on the decline, and Facebook’s eagerness to co-operate with governments, and then lie about that, seems to suggest that Facebook’s future might not be as vibrant as its growth in the past. An article in the Guardian in April reported that the U.S. market alone has lost 6 million users, and that the drop in users is sustained from previous quarterly drops. … more

The folks at Twitter recently updated their Andes height map for Twitter  — adding two additional 3D city maps (Buenos Aires and Moscow) which rise and fall where people tweet more or less. The Andes map set allows users to pick a city, view it through a variety of filters and see what locations people are tweeting from, where there are Twitter dead spots, and to speculate as to why this use might be so low. These maps are height maps, a specific type of map of terrain which rises in height due to a larger concentration of what is being measured.… more

The latest Akami State of the Internet report ranked states by their average Internet connection speed, which suggested that smaller states seem to do the best at providing fast Internet to residents. However, the Internet connections in these states pale in comparison to the speeds in other countries, particularly South Korea. First up in top average speed came the state of Vermont, with 12.7 Mbps of speed as the average of the state’s speed. It was followed by New Hampshire, Delaware, the District of Columbia (a state for the sake of the study), and Utah, all resting above 11 Mbps.… more