Today
The Dark Secret at the Heart of AI
Via:
MIT Technology Review: Last year, a strange self-driving car was
released onto the quiet roads of Monmouth County, New Jersey. The
experimental vehicle, developed by researchers at the chip maker Nvidia,
didn’t look different from other autonomous cars, but it was unlike
anything demonstrated by Google, Tesla, or General Motors, and it showed
the […]
Power Outages in San Francisco, New York, and LA
Via:
Inverse: A series of power outages in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and
New York City on Friday left people across the country struggling to
complete their morning commutes. There is currently no evidence to
suggest that this is more than just a coincidence, despite worries about
some sort of cyber attack. New York City […]
Yesterday
First Coal-Free Day in Britain Since Industrial Revolution
Via:
BBC: Britain went a full day without using coal to generate electricity
for the first time since the Industrial Revolution, the National Grid
says. The energy provider said Friday’s lack of coal usage was a
“watershed” moment. Britain’s longest continuous energy period without
coal until now was 19 hours – first achieved last May, […]
Apr 20
Five Eyes Meeting in New Zealand
Via:
New Zealand Herald: The highly secretive meeting being held in
Queenstown this weekend is a gathering of intelligence and security
agencies related to the Five Eyes spying network, the Herald
understands. Among the people believed to be attending are Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director James Comey and Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) director Mike […]
Google Home Capable of Voice Printing Multiple Users
Back
on April 13: Is that Google Home device capable of voice printing
people? If so, maybe the phones are too. Well, that didn’t take long.
Via: Google: We’re adding the ability for up to six people to connect
their account to one Google Home. So now when I ask my Google Assistant
for help, […]
The Lilium Jet: Maiden Flight of All-Electric VTOL Aircraft
300km
range? That’s what they’re claiming. Hint: If you have any aviation
enthusiast children, call them over to your screen, don’t tell them what
they’re about to watch and hit play. I wish I had a picture of my
nine-year-old’s face when he saw this. But when I said he’d have to let
the computer […]
Facebook Envisions Using Brain Waves to Control Mobile Phones, Input Data at 100 Words Per Minute
I
already watch what I say around my mobile phone, so how about a brain
computer interface from Facebook? This is so far down the no-fucking-way
path for me that it’s almost hilarious. Even if people were willing to
use such a thing, it’s not coming anytime soon. Here’s why: Long ago, I
worked for […]
Apr 19
New Apple Headquarters: That’s No Roof
Disclosure:
I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. — Make sure to watch this in
fullscreen mode and at the highest resolution your display supports. At
first I thought, haha whatever roofing material they’re using looks
like solar panels. *squint at screen* “That’s not… Can’t be. Is it?”
Yep. It is. Aesthetically, I get […]
Apr 18
A Cosmic Burst Repeats, Deepening a Mystery
Via:
Quanta: To nearly everybody’s surprise, as reported in January in the
journal Nature, the bursts originated in a small “dwarf irregular”
galaxy, one about a gigaparsec (just over 3 billion light years) away.
This made the strength of the signal and its frequent repetitions even
more astonishing. “If you’re detecting a bright flash from […]
Courts Are Using AI to Sentence Criminals
Via:
Wired: Algorithms pervade our lives today, from music recommendations
to credit scores to now, bail and sentencing decisions. But there is
little oversight and transparency regarding how they work. Nowhere is
this lack of oversight more stark than in the criminal justice system.
Without proper safeguards, these tools risk eroding the rule of law […]
Apr 17
World’s First All-Female Special Forces Unit: Norway’s Jegertroppen
Via:
NBC: This firefight is just a drill, but the soldiers taking part are
battling to break down one of the final barriers to women serving in the
armed forces. They are training to become part of Norway’s Jegertroppen
or “Hunter Troops” — the world’s first all-female military special
forces unit.
New Zealand: Ongoing Dairy Pollution of Te Waikoropupu Springs Reserve
Disclosure:
I am involved with the effort to bring attention to the pollution and
water take issues at Te Waikoropupu Springs Reserve. — Intensive dairy
farming is destroying freshwater resources around New Zealand. It turns
out the crown jewel of them all, a national treasure and a globally
unique ecosystem is now threatened. How does […]
Apr 15
Apple Receives Permit in California to Test Self-Driving Cars
Via:
Reuters: Apple Inc has secured a permit to test autonomous vehicles in
California, fuelling speculation that it is working on self-driving car
technology in a crowded arena of companies hoping to offer those cars to
the masses. The permit allows it to conduct test drives in three
vehicles with six drivers, the state Department […]
Apr 13
U.S. Electricity Demand Peaked in 2007
Disclosure:
I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. — There are many likely
small components of this, such as efficiency gains, small scale solar
masking loads behind the meter (might explain 1% of demand decline), and
high prices for electricity in some areas. But… Via: Bloomberg: Part of
the reason is that a grim […]
Burger King Trolls Google Home Devices
Update:
Amazon’s Alexa Could Soon Recognize Users by Their Voices If Amazon is
working on it, the rest of them probably are. Via: Ars Technica:
Amazon’s Alexa may be about to get smarter. According to a report from
Time, the online retailer is working on voice identification software
for Alexa that would allow the service […]
Apr 12
Delivery Robots: A Revolutionary Step or Sidewalk-Clogging Nightmare?
Via:
Guardian: Sharing a sidewalk with one of DoorDash’s delivery robots is a
bit like getting stuck behind someone playing Pokémon Go on his
smartphone. The robot moves a little bit slower than you want to; every
few meters it pauses, jerking to the left or right, perhaps turning
around, then turning again before continuing […]
DHS Lays Groundwork for Deportation Force
Via:
U.S. News and World Report: The Trump administration is seeking ways to
increase capacity within immigration enforcement agencies to create a
deportation force President Donald Trump repeatedly advocated on the
campaign trail. According to a document obtained by The Washington Post,
the Department of Homeland Security has begun the process of ramping up
its […]
Apr 11
World’s Largest Solar+Battery Project Announced in South Australia
Disclosure:
I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. Via: Electrek: A new project
put in motion in South Australia in order to help with the region’s
energy problems is likely to become the largest solar plus battery
project in the world. Lyon Group, an energy company backed by
Mitsubishi, Blackstone and Magnetar Capital, has […]
North Korea State Media Warns of Nuclear Strike if Provoked
Via:
Reuters: North Korean state media warned on Tuesday of a nuclear attack
on the United States at any sign of American aggression as a U.S. Navy
strike group steamed toward the western Pacific. U.S. President Donald
Trump, who has urged China to do more to rein in its impoverished
neighbor, said in a Tweet […]
Chinese Firm Halves Worker Costs by Hiring Army of Robots to Sort Out 200,000 Packages a Day
Via:
South China Morning Post: A viral video showing an army of little
orange robots sorting out packages in a warehouse in eastern China is
the latest example of how machines are increasingly taking over menial
factory work on the mainland. The behind-the-scenes footage of the
self-charging robot army in a sorting centre of Chinese […]
Apr 10
‘An Estimated $3 Trillion in Daily Commerce Flows Through COBOL Systems’
Via:
Reuters: The Common Business-Oriented Language was developed nearly 60
years ago and has been gradually replaced by newer, more versatile
languages such as Java, C and Python. Although few universities still
offer COBOL courses, the language remains crucial to businesses and
institutions around the world. In the United States, the financial
sector, major corporations […]
Farmers Look For Ways To Circumvent Tractor Software Locks
Via:
NPR: A new tractor often costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, but
one thing not included in that price is the right to repair it. That has
put farmers on the front lines of a battle pitting consumers against
the makers of all kinds of consumer goods, from tractors to
refrigerators to smartphones. Modern […]
Apr 08
Study: Second Opinion from Doctor Results in Different Diagnosis 88% of Time
😯
Via: Mayo Clinic: Many patients come to Mayo Clinic for a second
opinion or diagnosis confirmation before treatment for a complex
condition. In a new study, Mayo Clinic reports that as many as 88
percent of those patients go home with a new or refined diagnosis —
changing their care plan and potentially their […]
Donald Trump Warns That Attacking Syria Could Start World War III
Via: The Dollar Vigilante:
U.S. Carrier Strike Group Sails Toward Korean Peninsula After North’s Missile Test
Via:
Military.com: The U.S. Navy’s Carl Vinson carrier strike group has been
ordered to cancel planned port visits in Australia and move to the
Western Pacific, just four days after the rogue state of North Korea
test-fired a ballistic missile from its eastern coast. Officials with
U.S. Third Fleet announced Saturday night that the San […]
U.S. Envoy to UN Threatens Further Military Action in Syria
Via:
france24: The United States on Friday threatened to take further
military action in Syria following its missile strikes on an air base in
the war-wracked country in retaliation for a suspected chemical attack.
“The United States took a very measured step last night,” US Ambassador
Nikki Haley told the UN Security Council. “We are […]
Apr 07
U.S. Fires Missiles at Assad Airbase, Escalating Tensions with Russia
Well,
Hillary supporters, maybe you’ll get that war with Russia anyway. Via:
Reuters: The United States on Friday fired dozens of cruise missiles at a
Syrian airbase from which it said a deadly chemical weapons attack was
launched this week, an escalation of the U.S. military role in Syria
that immediately raised tension with Russia. […]
Apr 06
Android Devices Can be Fatally Hacked by Malicious Wi-Fi Networks, iOS Patched on Monday
Via:
Ars Technica: A broad array of Android phones are vulnerable to attacks
that use booby-trapped Wi-Fi signals to achieve full device takeover, a
researcher has demonstrated. The vulnerability resides in a widely used
Wi-Fi chipset manufactured by Broadcom and used in both iOS and Android
devices. Apple patched the vulnerability with Monday’s release of […]
Apple Calls Journalists to Explain That the Company Has Not Abandoned the Mac
Everything
is great! Don’t worry. We love you. We’re sorry. Check back next year,
mmmkay? The picture at the link looks like an action shot for a Touch of
Gray ad. *chortle* Via: TechCrunch: The Mac has an important long
future at Apple. Apple cares deeply about the Mac. We have every
intention to keep […]
Apr 05
Zunum Aero Developing Electric Powered Aircraft for Regional Flights
They’re
actually going to be hybrid to start, according to the Zunum Aero
website: Did you know that short-haul flights produce over 40% of
aviation emissions? With our aircraft, we believe these will be largely
eliminated within twenty years. Our aircraft are “hybrids to electrics”
that sip fuel only when they have to, will use […]
Florida’s Money Laundering Suburb
Via:
USA Today: In a community known mostly as a getaway from the urban
problems of Miami, the flood of drug money has confounded law
enforcement agencies. “We always thought we would get to it at some
point,” said Charlie Blau, a former federal prosecutor who oversaw the
first money laundering sting in Miami. “We […]
Amazon’s Robot War Is Spreading
Via:
Bloomberg: It was Amazon that drove America’s warehouse operators into
the robot business. Quiet Logistics, which ships apparel out of its
Devens, Mass., warehouse, had been using robots made by a company called
Kiva Systems. When Amazon bought Kiva in 2012, Quiet hired scientists.
In 2015 it spun out a new company called Locus […]
Apr 04
Teardown of Tesla Drivetrain
Multiple groups are working on jailbreaking it. Via: Jehu Garcia:
Ideology Test and Mobile Phone Shake Down to Visit U.S.?
Via:
MarketWatch: Foreigners who want to visit the U.S., even for a short
trip, could be forced to disclose contacts on their mobile phones,
social-media passwords and financial records, and to answer probing
questions about their ideology, according to Trump administration
officials conducting a review of vetting procedures. The administration
also wants to subject more […]
Top Obama Adviser Used NSA Intercepts to Learn Names of Trump Associates
Via:
Bloomberg: White House lawyers last month learned that the former
national security adviser Susan Rice requested the identities of U.S.
persons in raw intelligence reports on dozens of occasions that connect
to the Donald Trump transition and campaign, according to U.S. officials
familiar with the matter. The pattern of Rice’s requests was discovered
in […]
Apr 03
Tesla’s Market Cap Surpasses Ford’s
Via:
Bloomberg: Tesla Inc.’s Elon Musk poked fun at short sellers as his
electric-car maker’s stock surged to a record, vaulting its market value
past century-old rival Ford Motor Co. “Stormy weather in Shortville…”
the chief executive officer tweeted Monday, as Tesla shares climbed as
much as 5.8 percent. The maker of Model S sedans […]
Super SEALs: Elite Units Pursue Brain-Stimulating Technologies
Via:
Military.com: At a conference near Washington, D.C., in February, the
commander of all Navy special operations units made an unusual request
to industry: Develop and demonstrate technologies that offer “cognitive
enhancement” capabilities to boost his elite forces’ mental and physical
performance. “We plan on using that in mission enhancement,” Rear Adm.
Tim Szymanski said. […]
Cyborgs at Work: Employees Getting Implanted with Microchips
Like
many of you out there, I first heard about this technology in the
1990s. Decades later, a passive microchip implant seems like a
practically innocuous fairy tale compared to the privacy hell that has
metastasized all around us. In terms of technologies of political
control, think of a chip implant as something like a […]
Eleven Killed in Suspected Suicide Bombing on Russian Metro Train
Via:
Reuters: A blast in a St Petersburg train carriage on Monday that
killed 11 people and wounded 45 was carried out by a suspected suicide
bomber with ties to radical Islamists, Russia’s Interfax news agency
cited a law enforcement source as saying. Russian President Vladimir
Putin, who was in the city when the blast […]
Apr 02
A World Without Retirement
Via:
Guardian: We are entering the age of no retirement. The journey into
that chilling reality is not a long one: the first generation who will
experience it are now in their 40s and 50s. They grew up assuming they
could expect the kind of retirement their parents enjoyed – stopping
work in their mid-60s […]
Apr 01
With Trump Approval, Pentagon Expands Warfighting Authority
Via:
AP: Week by week, country by country, the Pentagon is quietly seizing
more control over warfighting decisions, sending hundreds more troops to
war with little public debate and seeking greater authority to battle
extremists across the Middle East and Africa. This week it was Somalia,
where President Donald Trump gave the U.S. military more […]
Autonomous Nissan Leaf
Via: Fully Charged:
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