Archive for the 'Technology' Category
How Google Cracked House Number Identification in Street View
January 7th, 2014Via: MIT Technology Review: Google can identify and transcribe all the views it has of street numbers in France in less than an hour, thanks to a neural network that’s just as good as human operators. … But the task of spotting and identifying these numbers is hugely time-consuming. Google’s street view cameras have recorded […]
Augmented-Reality Contact Lenses to be Human-Ready at CES
January 4th, 2014Via: Cnet: Anyone who has ever dreamed up a sci-fi future in which neon interfaces float in front of us and information exists not on screens, but projected onto our eyes, is likely watching the blossoming wearable technology market with great anticipation. With its iOptik system, wearables startup Innovega has sighted in on that futuristic […]
U.S. Waived Laws to Keep F-35 on Track with Parts Made in China
January 4th, 2014Via: Reuters: The Pentagon repeatedly waived laws banning Chinese-built components on U.S. weapons in order to keep the $392 billion Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter program on track in 2012 and 2013, even as U.S. officials were voicing concern about China’s espionage and military buildup. According to Pentagon documents reviewed by Reuters, chief U.S. arms […]
Disneyland: MyMagic+ “Vacation Management System”
January 3rd, 2014Via: Time: Families planning trips to one of Disney’s theme parks can now get waterproof rubber wristbands embedded with computer chips in lieu of paper tickets. When scanned, the bands can act as a park entry ticket, a FastPass, a hotel room key and a credit card. The “Magic Bands” — which are currently optional […]
NSA Seeks to Build Quantum Computer That Could Crack Most Types of Encryption
January 2nd, 2014I’ve leaned toward believing that NSA already had this capability, but maybe not. Via: Washington Post: In room-size metal boxes, secure against electromagnetic leaks, the National Security Agency is racing to build a computer that could break nearly every kind of encryption used to protect banking, medical, business and government records around the world. According […]
Feds May Require Cars to Talk to Each Other to Avoid Crashes
January 2nd, 2014Via: ABC: Federal officials will decided in the “coming weeks” whether to require new cars to include smart technology that would alert drivers of a coming crash, even in vehicles that are two or three cars away. The vehicle-to-vehicle — or V2V — technology has undergone testing in recent years and has already been installed […]
The Online Education Revolution Drifts Off Course
January 1st, 2014Via: NPR: But by all accounts, the San Jose experiment was a bust. Completion rates and grades were worse than for those who took traditional campus-style classes. And the students who did best weren’t the underserved students San Jose most wanted to reach. It wasn’t really proving to be cheaper, either, says Peter Hadreas, the […]
Maniac Fascism: Court Rules No Suspicion Needed for Laptop Searches at Border
January 1st, 2014Via: ACLU: A federal court today dismissed a lawsuit arguing that the government should not be able to search and copy people’s laptops, cell phones, and other devices at border checkpoints without reasonable suspicion. An appeal is being considered. Government documents show that thousands of innocent American citizens are searched when they return from trips […]
The Perils of Plastic: The Problems With Debit And Credit Cards Are Deeper Than We Thought
December 31st, 2013Via: ReadWrite: I called the regional Secret Service office—that agency is involved in both protecting the President and investigating financial crimes—and talked to the agent that was handling the investigation. He confirmed my suspicions: The problem is far worse than we imagined. While there are no real answers yet in our area, it appears that […]
Shopping for Spy Gear: Catalog Advertises NSA Toolbox
December 30th, 2013Via: Spiegel: A document viewed by SPIEGEL resembling a product catalog reveals that an NSA division called ANT has burrowed its way into nearly all the security architecture made by the major players in the industry — including American global market leader Cisco and its Chinese competitor Huawei, but also producers of mass-market goods, such […]
