Day: December 5, 2018

Reddit, YouTube, Others Push Against EU Copyright Directive – even the big guys think this is a bad idea. Hint: aside from it being copyright, it’s a REALLY bad idea

Posted on by Robin Edgar

With Tumblr’s decision this week to ban porn on its platform, everyone’s getting a firsthand look at how bad automated content filters are at the moment. Lawmakers in the European Union want a similar system to filter copyrighted works and, despite expert consensus that this will just fuck up the internet, the legislation moves forward. Read more about Reddit, YouTube, Others Push Against EU Copyright Directive – even the big guys think this is a bad idea. Hint: aside from it being copyright, it’s a REALLY bad idea[…]

Facebook Well Aware That Tracking Contacts Is Creepy: Emails

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Back in 2015, Facebook had a pickle of a problem. It was time to update the Android version of the Facebook app, and two different groups within Facebook were at odds over what the data grab should be. The business team wanted to get Bluetooth permissions so it could push ads to people’s phones when Read more about Facebook Well Aware That Tracking Contacts Is Creepy: Emails[…]

Marriott’s breach response is so bad, security experts are filling in the gaps

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Last Friday, Marriott sent out millions of emails warning of a massive data breach — some 500 million guest reservations had been stolen from its Starwood database. One problem: the email sender’s domain didn’t look like it came from Marriott at all. Marriott sent its notification email from “email-marriott.com,” which is registered to a third Read more about Marriott’s breach response is so bad, security experts are filling in the gaps[…]

FYI: NASA has sent a snatch-and-grab spacecraft to an asteroid to seize some rock and send it back to Earth

Posted on by Robin Edgar

NASA’s mission to send a probe to an asteroid, dig up a chunk, and send the material back to Earth is now half-way complete. The agency says its OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has reached its hunk-of-rock target after a trip lasting two years and two billion miles. The spacecraft, technically the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Read more about FYI: NASA has sent a snatch-and-grab spacecraft to an asteroid to seize some rock and send it back to Earth[…]

Nvidia Uses AI to Render Virtual Worlds in Real Time

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Nvidia announced that AI models can now draw new worlds without using traditional modeling techniques or graphics rendering engines. This new technology uses an AI deep neural network to analyze existing videos and then apply the visual elements to new 3D environments. Nvidia claims this new technology could provide a revolutionary step forward in creating Read more about Nvidia Uses AI to Render Virtual Worlds in Real Time[…]

When Discounts Hurt Sales: Too much discounting and too many positive reviews can hurt sales

Posted on by Robin Edgar

By tracking the sales of 19,978 deals on Groupon.com and conducting a battery of identification and falsification tests, we find that deep discounts reduce sales. A 1% increase in a deal’s discount decreases sales by 0.035%–0.256%. If a merchant offers an additional 10% discount from the sample mean of 55.6%, sales could decrease by 0.63%–4.60%, Read more about When Discounts Hurt Sales: Too much discounting and too many positive reviews can hurt sales[…]

Hack of 100 Million Quora Users Could Be Worse Than it Sounds

Posted on by Robin Edgar

On Monday, the question and answer site Quora announced that a third-party was able to gain access to virtually every data point the company keeps on 100 million users. Even if you don’t recall having a Quora account, you might want to make sure. In a blog post, Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo explained that the Read more about Hack of 100 Million Quora Users Could Be Worse Than it Sounds[…]

China Set to Launch First-Ever Spacecraft to the Far Side of the Moon, try to grow plants there and listen to radio waves blocked off by the moon

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Early in the New Year, if all goes well, the Chinese spacecraft Chang’e-4 will arrive where no craft has been before: the far side of the Moon. The mission is scheduled to launch from Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in Sichuan province on December 8. The craft, comprising a lander and a rover, will then enter the Read more about China Set to Launch First-Ever Spacecraft to the Far Side of the Moon, try to grow plants there and listen to radio waves blocked off by the moon[…]

Researchers discover SplitSpectre, a new Spectre-like CPU attack via Javascript

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Three academics from Northeastern University and three researchers from IBM Research have discovered a new variation of the Spectre CPU vulnerability that can be exploited via browser-based code. The research team says this new CPU vulnerability is, too, a design flaw in the microarchitecture of modern processors that can be exploited by attacking the process Read more about Researchers discover SplitSpectre, a new Spectre-like CPU attack via Javascript[…]