Archive for the 'Technology' Category
Online Security Braces for Quantum Revolution
September 11th, 2015Via: Nature: It is an inevitability that cryptographers dread: the arrival of powerful quantum computers that can break the security of the Internet. Although these devices are thought to be a decade or more away, researchers are adamant that preparations must begin now. Computer-security specialists are meeting in Germany this week to discuss quantum-resistant replacements […]
Microsoft Pushing Windows 10 Install Packages to Windows 7 and 8 Systems Without Asking Users
September 11th, 2015Via: Ars Technica: You might be in the process of acquiring Windows 10—whether you want the free upgrade or not. Microsoft has confirmed that it is “helping upgradable devices get ready for Windows 10 by downloading the files they need” in the event that owners decide to migrate to the new OS, even if they […]
Lockpickers 3-D Print TSA Master Luggage Keys From Leaked Photos
September 10th, 2015Via: Wired: The TSA is learning a basic lesson of physical security in the age of 3-D printing: If you have sensitive keys—say, a set of master keys that can open locks you’ve asked millions of Americans to use—don’t post pictures of them on the Internet. A group of lock-picking and security enthusiasts drove that […]
Meanwhile, in Hitachi Warehouses
September 9th, 2015Via: Popular Science: Say hello to your new artificial intelligence overlord–er, boss. At Hitachi, the Japanese electronics manufacturer, workers have started to take orders from artificial intelligence programs meant to increase productivity in the workplace. Hitachi has deployed the AI in an unspecified number of warehouses, where it issues work orders and instructions to employees. […]
The Website That Visualizes Human Activity in Cities Across the World
September 9th, 2015Via: MIT Technology Review: Phone data is set to become a standard resource that almost anyone can use to study and watch humanity continuously, much as they can now watch the weather unfold anywhere on the planet almost in real time. But one thing is holding them back—the lack of powerful computational tools that can […]
New Teflon Coating Renders Drones Nearly Invisible
September 8th, 2015Via: Inverse: Just as we’re getting used to the idea of drones flying overhead, the University of California-San Diego has figured out how to make them invisible. While making a drone literally invisible isn’t possible, covering it in a sheet that reflects its surroundings — like a fluid mirror — has a similar effect. The […]
“The mission I have to educate everybody is really an attempt to delay what AI will eventually do to us”
September 4th, 2015In ten or twenty years, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the majority of paid work in companies, that is, work that isn’t done by machines, being done by these “certificate” holders. —Top U.S. Colleges to Offer Free Classes Online And now: “Nanodegrees.” Yeah, that’s the ticket. Also see: Humans Need Not Apply: Via: The […]
Microsoft Adding Windows 10 Style Spyware to Windows 7 and Windows 8
August 31st, 2015Update: Several Windows 10 Privacy Tools — How many hosts is Microsoft phoning everything home to? Is it feasible to just block them all with an external firewall so a Windows box simply can’t reach Microsoft? The article below says that Windows 10 is ignoring the hosts file and phoning home anyway, so it seems […]
Boeing: Portable Drone-Killing Laser
August 29th, 2015Via: The Verge: Boeing has been researching ways to disable drones with lasers for a while now, and this week, the defense contractor released new footage (below) of its Compact Laser Weapons System: a portable, tripod-mounted device that can burn a hole in a UAV or a quadcopter in seconds. The system is essentially a […]
Pentagon Teams Up with Apple, Boeing to Develop Wearable Tech
August 28th, 2015Via: Reuters: U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter awarded $75 million on Friday to help a consortium of high-tech firms and researchers develop electronic systems packed with sensors flexible enough to be worn by soldiers or molded onto the skin of a plane. Carter said funding for the Obama administration’s newest manufacturing institute would go to […]
