Archive for March, 2017
Google’s DeepMind Makes AI Program that Learns Sequentially
March 14th, 2017Via: Guardian: Researchers have overcome one of the major stumbling blocks in artificial intelligence with a program that can learn one task after another using skills it acquires on the way. Developed by Google’s AI company, DeepMind, the program has taken on a range of different tasks and performed almost as well as a human. […]
Former Tesla Executive to Build €4bn Battery Factory to Take on Elon Musk
March 13th, 2017Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. — Via: Independent: NorthVolt, the Swedish company founded by a former Tesla executive, wants to cut the cost of storing power in half with a €4bn (£3.5bn) lithium-ion battery factory. The Stockholm-based company wants to raise €1bn by 2018, when it plans to break ground on […]
Intel Buying Mobileye for $15 Billion
March 13th, 2017Via: Recode: Cars coming off the assembly line in the next few years will have computing power to rival your cellphones, and they’ll get even more complex as automakers introduce more self-driving technology. That’s why Intel — known for its chips, data centers and computing capabilities — just bought self-driving tech supplier Mobileye for $15 […]
Pi-hole: A Black Hole for Internet Advertisements
March 13th, 2017Via: Pi-hole:
FBI Undercover Stings Foil Terrorist Plots — That It Creates
March 12th, 2017Via: Kansas City Star: Announcements of foiled terrorist plots make for lurid reading. Schemes to carry out a Presidents Day jihadist attack on a train station in Kansas City. Bomb a Sept. 11 memorial event. Blow up a 1,000-pound bomb at Fort Riley. Detonate a weapon of mass destruction at a Wichita airport — the […]
New GOP Bill Lets Companies Force Employees to Take Genetic Tests
March 12th, 2017Via: ExtremeTech: A new bill introduced by Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and approved by the House Ways and Means Committee would allow corporations to force employees to undergo genetic testing — and then share those results with third parties. In theory, this is already illegal, thanks to a 2008 law known as GINA. This type of […]
Thousands of Upcoming Nuclear Weapons Shipments During $1 Trillion Nuclear Arsenal Upgrade
March 12th, 2017Via: Los Angeles Times: The unmarked 18-wheelers ply the nation’s interstates and two-lane highways, logging 3 million miles a year hauling the most lethal cargo there is: nuclear bombs. The covert fleet, which shuttles warheads from missile silos, bomber bases and submarine docks to nuclear weapons labs across the country, is operated by the Office […]
San Francisco: Imbeciles Paying $1900 Per Month to Live in House with Dozens of Roommates
March 11th, 2017Man, if you thought the Podshare story from January was nuts, be sitting down for this one. That Podshare place looks like a 5-Star resort compared to this. Via: Reuters: Zander Dejah, 25, pays $1,900 a month rent to live in a downtown San Francisco house with at least 40 other people, many of whom […]
FBI Used Best Buy’s Geek Squad To Increase Secret Public Surveillance
March 11th, 2017Via: OC Weekly: Recently unsealed records reveal a much more extensive secret relationship than previously known between the FBI and Best Buy’s Geek Squad, including evidence the agency trained company technicians on law-enforcement operational tactics, shared lists of targeted citizens and, to covertly increase surveillance of the public, encouraged searches of computers even when unrelated […]
California: State DMV Backs Allowing Self-Driving Cars with No Human on Board
March 11th, 2017Via: San Francisco Chronicle: Self-driving cars with no human behind the wheel — or, for that matter, any steering wheel at all — may soon appear on California’s public roads, under regulations state officials proposed Friday. The rules represent a delicate balance, trying to ensure the safety of a new technology many people don’t trust […]
