This weekend, I hopped on a train for my annual trek to Maker Faire, held this year at the San Mateo Events Center. Over 150,000 people attended this year's show, coming to check out new drones, 3D printers, robots and more. This particular event is the granddaddy of Maker Faires, started by Maker Media and its visionary founder Dale Dougherty. It bills itself as the greatest "Show and Tell on Earth." I've long been following the Maker Movement as a part of my overall interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education.

My mother enrolled in a high school physics course in 1968. This wouldn't be especially notable except for the fact that it was the first time in her school's history that girls were permitted to take physics. In prior years, boys were allowed to study physics while girls were expected to enroll in home economics. While my mother acknowledges she was not destined for a career in physics, there were women of her generation that did aspire to enter the scientific field: Dr. France Córdova, Director of the National Science Foundation; Shirley Ann Jackson, President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; and Persis Drell, former director of the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, are just a few of the women who not only studied physics, but excelled and built their careers in the field despite the barriers of their generation. Women have progressed significantly since 1968.

It was reported that Hewlett-Packard Co. said it will cut 25,000 to 30,000 more jobs as part of a 2.7 billion restructuring September 15, 2015. PC company HP Inc. will report earnings after the bell Wednesday. Meanwhile, Microsoft wrapped a major deal involving the hit game Minecraft. The personal computer company will report second quarter results when the markets close Wednesday. Analysts polled by S&P Global Market Intelligence project earnings of 38 cents a share on 11.7 billion in revenue.

The hit sandbox game Minecraft is officially headed to China. Microsoft announced Monday it has reached a five-year deal with Chinese tech company NetEase to host the popular game for PCs and mobile devices. The deal calls for studio Mojang to develop a version of the game for the Chinese audience. "We are excited to bring Minecraft to Chinese audiences, and expect our large online community to embrace this preeminent game," said NetEase CEO and founder William Ding in a statement. The sandbox-style video game launched in 2011, and allows players to gather resources and create elaborate structures.

As news organizations scramble for ways to cut costs, robot video conferencing is one tool that could dramatically expand reporters' access to events and previously unaccommodating government agencies. There's nothing new about using video conferencing -- the business is booming and is expected to reach 2.9 billion in revenue by 2020. But robots, used in video conferencing mode as a journalism tool, could dramatically alter the industry at large. Imagine a bureau of robots in Afghanistan, or in a highly secured building like the Pentagon, stationed at the White House -- or, locally, the State House. Reporters could, functionally, be present for hearings, briefings and interviews -- and multi-tasking -- when they are not able to be physically present.

One day in January, Eric Wilson dashed off a message to the teaching assistants for an online course at the Georgia Institute of Technology. "I really feel like I missed the mark in giving the correct amount of feedback," he wrote, pleading to revise an assignment. Thirteen minutes later, the TA responded. "Unfortunately, there is not a way to edit submitted feedback," wrote Jill Watson, one of nine assistants for the 300-plus students. Last week, Mr. Wilson found out he had been seeking guidance from a computer.

BEIJING – A Chinese government bureau is planning a base station for an advanced rescue ship in the disputed Spratly Islands, state media reported on Monday, as China continues its push to develop civilian and military infrastructure in the contentious region. The ship, which would carry drones and underwater robots, is set to be deployed in the second half of the year, said Chen Xingguang, political commissar of the ship, which is under the South China Sea Rescue Bureau of the Ministry of Transport, according to the official China Daily. The civilian bureau has 31 ships and four helicopters conducting rescue missions in the South China Sea, and officials from the department told the China Daily they work with the military on such efforts. Officials said the rescue ship base station would enable rescue forces to aid fishing boats in trouble, and shorten the distance they need to travel. It is unclear on which island the ship will be based, but China has carried out land reclamation and construction on several islands in the Spratly Archipelago, parts of which are also claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan.

Softbank Robotics, the creator of Pepper has announced its plan to hit Android this week. The company was in the limelight last year after the overwhelming response it received for a robot it launched in Japan. Aldebaran, a subsidiary of SoftBank, programmed that robot on its own customized OS, the NAOqi. Last night, at the Google I/O conference, the creators of that robot announced their plans to integrate it with Android. They will soon open development to the entire Android developers' community to facilitate greater variety, and customization in its functions.

Employees of Google stand in front of the company's logo at Frankfurt book fair on October 8, 2006 in Frankfurt, Germany. Google is one of the leading companies who venture into artificial intelligence or AI. In fact, the company is very eager in their AI journey. According to new reports, Google is working on a useful AI. During the Google I/O panel last Friday, John Giannandrea, Google's head of machine learning shared the use cases, interest and research in artificial intelligence.

At the top of the corporate world, Apple and Google are in a back-and-forth battle to be No. 1. It is not clear which of the two Silicon Valley giants will emerge on top in a contest that highlights the contrast of very different business models. Apple then regained, lost and recovered the leader position in May in a battle that appears set to continue for some time. As of the end of Friday, Apple was worth some 522 billion, to 496 billion for Alphabet. The two companies have both been hugely profitable in recent years, for different reasons.