Archive for the 'Technology' Category
Your Threat Score
January 10th, 2016Via: Washington Post: As a national debate has played out over mass surveillance by the National Security Agency, a new generation of technology such as the Beware software being used in Fresno has given local law enforcement officers unprecedented power to peer into the lives of citizens. Police officials say such tools can provide critical […]
Japan: Researchers Developing Cell Phone Sensor to Detect Cancer, Other Diseases from Breath
January 9th, 2016Via: The Japan Times: A high-precision sensor that can detect the possibility of someone having cancer, diabetes and other ailments just from their breath has been developed in a joint project involving the government, the private sector and a university. The product is expected to be put into practical use as early as 2022, it […]
Apple Just Bought a Startup that Reads People’s Emotions
January 8th, 2016Via: MarketWatch: Apple Inc. has purchased Emotient Inc., a startup that uses artificial-intelligence technology to read people’s emotions by analyzing facial expressions. It isn’t clear what Apple plans to do with Emotient’s technology, which was primarily sold to advertisers to help assess viewer reactions to their ads.
Missing U.S. Missile Shows Up in Cuba
January 8th, 2016Via: Wall Street Journal: An inert U.S. Hellfire missile sent to Europe for training purposes was wrongly shipped from there to Cuba in 2014, said people familiar with the matter, a loss of sensitive military technology that ranks among the worst-known incidents of its kind. The unintended delivery of the missile to Cuba has confounded […]
North Korea Claims Test of Hydrogen Bomb
January 5th, 2016If that was a hydrogen bomb, it was a firecracker, relative to more normal yields of that class of weapon, or, it didn’t work properly. Via: Reuters: North Korea said it successfully tested a miniaturized hydrogen nuclear device on Wednesday, claiming a significant advance in the isolated state’s strike capability and setting off alarm bells […]
Engineers Demo First Processor That Uses Light for Ultrafast Communications
December 31st, 2015Via: UC Berkeley: “This is a milestone. It’s the first processor that can use light to communicate with the external world,” said Vladimir Stojanovi?, an associate professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences at the University of California, Berkeley, who led the development of the chip. “No other processor has the photonic I/O in the […]
Microsoft Keeping Disk Encryption Keys for Those Signing Into Windows 10 Using Microsoft Accounts
December 29th, 2015Via: The Intercept: One of the excellent features of new Windows devices is that disk encryption is built-in and turned on by default, protecting your data in case your device is lost or stolen. But what is less well-known is that, if you are like most users and login to Windows 10 using your Microsoft […]
Marines’ LS3 Robotic Mule Too Loud for Real-World Combat
December 29th, 2015Before $42 million of public money was flushed down the gurgler, I guess nobody realized that the thing was going to sound like a leaf blower. Via: Ars Technica: The kickable “robotic mule,” also known as AlphaDog or LS3, created by Alphabet-owned Boston Dynamics under a contract with DARPA, has proved too loud to fight […]
Cheap Batteries Will Give Utilities Electric Shock
December 28th, 2015Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. — Via: Reuters: Power suppliers have long enjoyed a natural monopoly. But the arrival of budget batteries coupled with cheaper solar power will allow a growing number of consumers to pull the plug on old-fashioned electricity networks in 2016 and beyond. Solar panel prices have already […]
A Silicon Valley for Drones, in North Dakota
December 26th, 2015Via: New York Times: “California and New York want what we’ve got,” said Shawn Muehler, a 30-year-old Fargo resident, gazing at a horizon of empty fields, silos, windbreak trees and hardly any people. A winged craft traces the air, mapping a field with pinpoint accuracy for his start-up, a drone software company called Botlink. “They […]
