Archive for the 'Technology' Category
A Compilation of Robots Falling Down at the DARPA Robotics Challenge
June 6th, 2015Yes! Robots can reliably imitate the behavior of falling-down-drunk humans. Go team! Via: IEEE: On Thursday, the day before the competition was to officially start, DARPA allowed the teams to conduct a dress rehearsal, putting their robots through the course to see how they’d do. During that dry run, not many robots fell over, so […]
Data Hacked from U.S. Government Dates Back to 1985
June 5th, 2015Via: Reuters: Data stolen from U.S. government computers by suspected Chinese hackers included security clearance information and background checks dating back three decades, U.S. officials said on Friday, underlining the scope of one of the largest known cyber attacks on federal networks. The breach of computer systems of the Office of Personnel Management was disclosed […]
“Amazon, Google Race to Get Your DNA Into the Cloud”
June 5th, 2015Via: Reuters: Amazon.com Inc is in a race against Google Inc to store data on human DNA, seeking both bragging rights in helping scientists make new medical discoveries and market share in a business that may be worth $1 billion a year by 2018. Academic institutions and healthcare companies are picking sides between their cloud […]
Massive Breach of Federal Personnel Data at Agency Handling Security Clearances
June 4th, 2015Via: AP: The Obama administration is scrambling to assess the impact of a massive data breach involving the agency that handles security clearances and employee records, U.S. officials said Thursday. A congressional aide familiar with the situation, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to discuss it, said the Office of Personnel […]
NSA Secretly Expands Internet Spying at U.S. Border
June 4th, 2015Via: New York Times: Without public notice or debate, the Obama administration has expanded the National Security Agency’s warrantless surveillance of Americans’ international Internet traffic to search for evidence of malicious computer hacking, according to classified N.S.A. documents.
Leaked TISA Documents Reveal Privacy Threat
June 4th, 2015Via: Forbes: Under the draft provisions of the latest trade deal to be leaked by Wikileaks, countries could be barred from trying to control where their citizens’ personal data is held or whether it’s accessible from outside the country. … And the contents of TISA make interesting reading, particularly for anybody concerned about privacy. Under […]
Can’t Beat ‘Em, Join ‘Em: Australian Electricity Retailers Selling Battery Systems to Customers with Solar
June 2nd, 2015In other news, Meridian CEO Mark Binns shits the bed. haha Here’s another one for you, Mark: New Zealand Solar Uptake Triples. Have a nice day. Via: Sydney Morning Herald: Snowy Hydro’s retail arm Red Energy, ActewAGL and Queensland’s Ergon Energy will trial a home battery system made by Panasonic in a bid to ensure […]
MIT Cheetah Robot Lands the Running Jump
May 29th, 2015Via: MIT:
Data Furnaces Arrive in Europe
May 28th, 2015Via: Ars Technica: Nerdalize is a small Dutch company that is trying to commercialise Microsoft’s data furnace idea. The first product is the eRadiator, which, given its size, probably contains two or three servers that pump out around 1000W of heat—probably just enough to heat a small room in winter. In an interview with the […]
Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS)
May 28th, 2015Via: Nature: Technologies have reached a point at which the deployment of such systems is — practically if not legally — feasible within years, not decades. The stakes are high: LAWS have been described as the third revolution in warfare, after gunpowder and nuclear arms. Autonomous weapons systems select and engage targets without human intervention; […]
