Author: Robin Edgar

Publishers bizarrely File Suit Against Internet Archive for Systematic Mass Scanning and Distribution of Literary Works

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Today, member companies [Note only four members – ed] of the Association of American Publishers (AAP) filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Internet Archive (“IA”) in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The suit asks the Court to enjoin IA’s mass scanning, public display, and distribution of entire literary Read more about Publishers bizarrely File Suit Against Internet Archive for Systematic Mass Scanning and Distribution of Literary Works[…]

Watch SpaceX’s Starship SN4 prototype accidentally self-destruct in a rocket test burn – just before the Falcon launches people at the ISS

Posted on by Robin Edgar

In yet another setback for Elon Musk’s beloved steel spaceship, a SpaceX Starship prototype has exploded on the pad during a rocket test burn. Starship SN4 – designed to ferry astronauts to the Moon and Mars – was undergoing a static engine fire test on Friday when, in scientific terminology, it blew the hell up. Read more about Watch SpaceX’s Starship SN4 prototype accidentally self-destruct in a rocket test burn – just before the Falcon launches people at the ISS[…]

After 30 years of searching, astroboffins finally detect the universe’s ‘missing matter’ – using fast radio bursts

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Astronomers have finally found hard-to-detect visible matter scattered across space, left over from the Big Bang, after searching for nearly thirty years, according to a study published in Nature. “We know from measurements of the Big Bang how much matter there was in the beginning of the Universe,” said Jean-Pierre Macquart, lead author of the Read more about After 30 years of searching, astroboffins finally detect the universe’s ‘missing matter’ – using fast radio bursts[…]

Asteroid, climate change not responsible for mass extinction 215 million years ago

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A team of University of Rhode Island scientists and statisticians conducted a sophisticated quantitative analysis of a mass extinction that occurred 215 million years ago and found that the cause of the extinction was not an asteroid or climate change, as had previously been believed. Instead, the scientists concluded that the extinction did not occur Read more about Asteroid, climate change not responsible for mass extinction 215 million years ago[…]

Photostopped: Adobe Cloud evaporates in mass outage. Hope none of you are on a deadline, eh? – yay cloud!

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Adobe technicians scrambled on Wednesday to restore multiple cloud services after a severe outage left customers stranded. Starting around 0600 PDT (1300 UTC) Adobe’s status board began lighting up with red outage notifications. At the time this article was written, 13 major issues were ongoing and five had been resolved. By issues, Adobe means people Read more about Photostopped: Adobe Cloud evaporates in mass outage. Hope none of you are on a deadline, eh? – yay cloud![…]

Live analytics without vendor lock-in? It’s more likely than you think, says Redis Labs

Posted on by Robin Edgar

In February, Oracle slung out a data science platform that integrated real-time analytics with its databases. That’s all well and good if developers are OK with the stack having a distinctly Big Red hue, but maybe they want choice. This week, Redis Labs came up with something for users looking for help with the performance Read more about Live analytics without vendor lock-in? It’s more likely than you think, says Redis Labs[…]

Qatar’s contact tracing app put over one million people’s info at risk

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Contact tracing apps have the potential to slow the spread of COVID-19. But without proper security safeguards, some fear they could put users’ data and sensitive info at risk. Until now, that threat has been theoretical. Today, Amnesty International reports that a flaw in Qatar’s contact tracing app put the personal information of more than Read more about Qatar’s contact tracing app put over one million people’s info at risk[…]

Samsung launches stand alone mobile security chip

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Samsung will launch a new standalone turnkey security chip to protect mobile devices, the company announced today. The chip, which has the said-once-never-forgotten name “S3FV9RR” – aka the Mobile SE Guardian 4 – is a follow-up to the dedicated security silicon baked into the Galaxy S20 smartphone series launched in February 2020. The new chip Read more about Samsung launches stand alone mobile security chip[…]

Ex-Green Beret arrested in Carlos Ghosn case has no stranger to danger

Posted on by Robin Edgar

This Dec. 30, 2019, image from security camera video shows Michael L. Taylor, center, and George-Antoine Zayek at passport control at Istanbul Airport in Turkey. Taylor, a former Green Beret, and his son, Peter Taylor, 27, were arrested Wednesday in Massachusetts on charges they smuggled Nissan ex-Chairman Carlos Ghosn out of Japan in a box Read more about Ex-Green Beret arrested in Carlos Ghosn case has no stranger to danger[…]

Sir Richard Branson: Virgin Orbit rocket launch from 747 fails on debut flight

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The booster was released from under the wing of one of the UK entrepreneur’s old jumbos which had been specially converted for the task. The rocket ignited its engine seconds later but an anomaly meant the flight was terminated early. Virgin Orbit’s goal is to try to capture a share of the emerging market for Read more about Sir Richard Branson: Virgin Orbit rocket launch from 747 fails on debut flight[…]

Create Deepfakes in 5 Minutes with First Order Model Method

Posted on by Robin Edgar

et’s explore a bit how this method works. The whole process is separated into two parts: Motion Extraction and Generation. As an input the source image and driving video are used. Motion extractor utilizes autoencoder to detect keypoints and extracts first-order motion representation that consists of sparse keypoints and local affine transformations. These, along with Read more about Create Deepfakes in 5 Minutes with First Order Model Method[…]

Software Development Environments Move to the Cloud

Posted on by Robin Edgar

If you’re a newly hired software engineer, setting up your development environment can be tedious. If you’re lucky, your company will have a documented, step-by-step process to follow. But this still doesn’t guarantee you’ll be up and running in no time. When you’re tasked with updating your environment, you’ll go through the same time-consuming process. Read more about Software Development Environments Move to the Cloud[…]

Lockdown-Ignoring Sweden Now Has Nordic Europe’s Highest Per-Capita Death Rate and only 7.3% antibodies

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Sweden’s death rate per million (376) “is far in advance of Norway’s (44), Denmark’s (96) and Finland’s (55) — countries with similar welfare systems and demographics, but which imposed strict lockdowns…” reports the Guardian, “raising concerns that the country’s light-touch approach to the coronavirus may not be helping it build up broad immunity.” “According to Read more about Lockdown-Ignoring Sweden Now Has Nordic Europe’s Highest Per-Capita Death Rate and only 7.3% antibodies[…]

A drastic reduction in hardware overhead for quantum computing with new error correcting techniques

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A scientist at the University of Sydney has achieved what one quantum industry insider has described as “something that many researchers thought was impossible”. Dr. Benjamin Brown from the School of Physics has developed a type of error-correcting code for quantum computers that will free up more hardware to do useful calculations. It also provides Read more about A drastic reduction in hardware overhead for quantum computing with new error correcting techniques[…]

Breathing Habits Are Related To Physical and Mental Health

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Breathing is a missing pillar of health, and our attention to it is long overdue. Most of us misunderstand breathing. We see it as passive, something that we just do. Breathe, live; stop breathing, die. But breathing is not that simple and binary. How we breathe matters, too. Inside the breath you just took, there Read more about Breathing Habits Are Related To Physical and Mental Health[…]

Linux not Windows: Why Munich is shifting back from Microsoft to open source – again

Posted on by Robin Edgar

In a notable U-turn for the city, newly elected politicians in Munich have decided that its administration needs to use open-source software, instead of proprietary products like Microsoft Office. “Where it is technologically and financially possible, the city will put emphasis on open standards and free open-source licensed software,” a new coalition agreement negotiated between Read more about Linux not Windows: Why Munich is shifting back from Microsoft to open source – again[…]

This Word Does Not Exist

Posted on by Robin Edgar

We use artificial intelligence to make up new English words. Source: This Word Does Not Exist adjective. barbotic bar·botic relating to or denoting bioluminescence, the emission of a characteristic light-sensitive ion “the bola-shaped auroral barbotic organ” a word that does not exist; it was invented, defined and used by a machine learning algorithm. Link / Read more about This Word Does Not Exist[…]

Libraries Have Never Needed Permission To Lend Books, And The Move To Change That Is A Big Problem

Posted on by Robin Edgar

There are a variety of opinions concerning the Internet Archive’s National Emergency Library in response to the pandemic. I’ve made it clear in multiple posts why I believe the freakout from some publishers and authors is misguided, and that the details of the program are very different than those crying about it have led you Read more about Libraries Have Never Needed Permission To Lend Books, And The Move To Change That Is A Big Problem[…]

Expedia Group CEO Peter Kern: ‘Google’s a problem for everyone who sells something online’ – yup, monopolies are bad

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Expedia Group’s new CEO isn’t mincing words about one of the company’s biggest challenges: Google’s dual role as a rival in online travel, and a key source of customers through search traffic and paid advertising. “I think Google’s a problem — it’s a problem for everyone who sells something online, and we all have to Read more about Expedia Group CEO Peter Kern: ‘Google’s a problem for everyone who sells something online’ – yup, monopolies are bad[…]

It wasn’t just a few credit cards: Entire travel itineraries were stolen by hackers, Easyjet now tells victims

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Victims of the Easyjet hack are now being told their entire travel itineraries were accessed by hackers who helped themselves to nine million people’s personal details stored by the budget airline. As reported earlier this week, the data was stolen from the airline between October 2019 and January this year. Easyjet kept quiet about the Read more about It wasn’t just a few credit cards: Entire travel itineraries were stolen by hackers, Easyjet now tells victims[…]

‘Taste Display’ Brings Fake Flavors to Your Tongue

Posted on by Robin Edgar

a researcher from Meiji University in Japan who’s invented what’s being described as a taste display that can artificially recreate any flavor by triggering the five different tastes on a user’s tongue. Years ago it was thought that the tongue had different regions for tasting sweet, sour, salty, and bitter flavors, where higher concentrations of Read more about ‘Taste Display’ Brings Fake Flavors to Your Tongue[…]

NASA launches guide to Lunar etiquette now that private operators will share the Moon with governments after US power grab

Posted on by Robin Edgar

NASA has laid out a new set of principles that it hopes will inform how states and private companies will interact on the Moon. The new guidelines, called the Artemis Accords, seek “to create a safe and transparent environment which facilitates exploration, science, and commercial activities for the benefit of humanity”. The purpose of the Read more about NASA launches guide to Lunar etiquette now that private operators will share the Moon with governments after US power grab[…]

New Spectra attack breaks the separation between Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Called Spectra, this attack works against “combo chips,” specialized chips that handle multiple types of radio wave-based wireless communications, such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, LTE, and others. “Spectra, a new vulnerability class, relies on the fact that transmissions happen in the same spectrum, and wireless chips need to arbitrate the channel access,” the research team said Read more about New Spectra attack breaks the separation between Wi-Fi and Bluetooth[…]

Nextdoor Building Relationships With Law Enforcement whilst racially profiling

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Community platform Nextdoor is courting police across the country, creating concerns among civil rights and privacy advocates who worry about possible conflicts of interest, over-reporting of crime, and the platform’s record of racial profiling, per a Thursday report by CityLab. That effort included an all-expenses-paid meeting in San Francisco with members of Nextdoor’s Public Agencies Read more about Nextdoor Building Relationships With Law Enforcement whilst racially profiling[…]

Researchers Control Monkeys’ Decisions With Bursts of Ultrasonic Waves

Posted on by Robin Edgar

New research published today in Science Advances suggests pulses of ultrasonic waves can be used to partially control decision-making in rhesus macaque monkeys. Specifically, the ultrasound treatments were shown to influence their decision to look either left or right at a target presented on a screen, despite prior training to prefer one target over the Read more about Researchers Control Monkeys’ Decisions With Bursts of Ultrasonic Waves[…]