Archive for November, 2015
SSI’s Shred of the Week: Hard Drives
November 19th, 2015Via: SSI: In the digital age, information is a powerful asset that must be protected. As computer systems become outdated and replaced, their hard drives, which can contain valuable or sensitive information, must be securely destroyed so their data has no chance of being read or retrieved. This requires a very specialized piece of shredding […]
Recovery: Half of New Yorkers Say They Are Barely or Not Getting By, Poll Shows
November 19th, 2015Via: New York Times: Half of New York City residents say they are struggling economically, making ends meet just barely, if at all, and most feel sharp uncertainty about the future of the city’s next generation, a new poll shows. The poll, conducted by The New York Times and Siena College, shows great disparities in […]
These Biohackers Are Creating Open-Source Insulin
November 19th, 2015Via: Popular Science: The 370 million people worldwide with diabetes rely on injections of insulin to regulate the amount of sugar in their blood, since their bodies can’t make the hormone themselves. Since there are no generic versions available in the United States, insulin is very expensive—that cost was likely a large proportion of the […]
The Next Gold Rush Will Be 5,000 Feet Under the Sea
November 18th, 2015Via: Vice: And that will mean dispatching a fleet of giant remote-operated robotic miners 5,000 feet below the surface to harvest the riches scattered across ocean floor. These mammoth underwater vehicles look like they’ve been hauled off the set of a sci-fi film—think Avatar meets The Abyss. And they’ll be dredging up copper, gold, and […]
Police Civil Asset Forfeitures Exceed All Burglaries in 2014
November 18th, 2015Via: Armstrong Economics: Between 1989 and 2010, U.S. attorneys seized an estimated $12.6 billion in asset forfeiture cases. The growth rate during that time averaged +19.4% annually. In 2010 alone, the value of assets seized grew by +52.8% from 2009 and was six times greater than the total for 1989. Then by 2014, that number […]
Recovery: Japan’s Economy Falls Back Into Recession Again
November 17th, 2015Via: BBC: Japan’s economy has fallen into recession again after it shrank 0.8% on an annualised basis in the third quarter. The preliminary data means the world’s third-largest economy has contracted for a second consecutive quarter, marking a technical recession. Growth was expected to decline after it fell a revised 0.7% in the second quarter […]
The Pentagon’s Plan to Outsource Lethal Cyber-Weapons
November 16th, 2015Via: Engadget: The Pentagon has quietly put out a call for vendors to bid on a contract to develop, execute and manage its new cyber weaponry and defense program. The scope of this nearly half-billion-dollar “help wanted” work order includes counterhacking, as well as developing and deploying lethal cyberattacks — sanctioned hacking expected to cause […]
Why Human-In-The-Loop Computing Is The Future Of Machine Learning
November 16th, 2015Via: ComputerWorld: Now that machine learning is becoming more and more mainstream, some design patterns are starting to emerge. As the CEO of CrowdFlower, I’ve worked with many companies building machine learning algorithms and I’ve noticed a best practice in nearly every successful deployment of machine learning on tough business problems. That practice is called […]
Huawei Develops New Fast Charge Lithium-Ion Batteries
November 14th, 2015Via: Android Authority: Huawei says its new lithium-ion batteries can achieve charging speeds ten times faster than normal batteries. The company has shared videos of two types of batteries. One has a 600mAh capacity and can reach 68% capacity in two minutes. The larger battery has a capacity of 3,000mAh. It apparently takes just five […]
Robot Audits Store Shelves
November 14th, 2015Via: ComputerWorld: An autonomous robot was unveiled this week that can make sure that when you’re hankering for Doritos, there’s a bag waiting for you at the market. Simbe Robotics, based in San Francisco, announced its first product, a 30-pound robot called Tally that can move up and down a store’s aisles checking inventory. The […]
