Nvidia unveils $59 Nvidia Jetson Nano 2GB mini AI board

New Jetson Nano mini AI computer The Jetson Nano 2GB Developer Kit, announced this week, is a single-board computer – like the Raspberry Pi – though geared towards machine learning rather than general computing. If you like the idea of simple AI projects running on a dedicated board, such as building your own mini self-driving Read more about Nvidia unveils $59 Nvidia Jetson Nano 2GB mini AI board[…]

Europe’s top court confirms no mass surveillance without limits

Europe’s top court has delivered another slap-down to indiscriminate government mass surveillance regimes. In a ruling today the CJEU has made it clear that national security concerns do not exclude EU Member States from the need to comply with general principles of EU law such as proportionality and respect for fundamental rights to privacy, data Read more about Europe’s top court confirms no mass surveillance without limits[…]

Smart male chastity hack could lock all dicks up permanently, require grinder to unlock. Also tells anyone where you are

Smart Bluetooth male chastity lock, designed for user to give remote control to a trusted 3rd party using mobile app/API Multiple API flaws meant anyone could remotely lock all devices and prevent users from releasing themselves Removal then requires an angle grinder or similar, used in close proximity to delicate and sensitive areas Precise user Read more about Smart male chastity hack could lock all dicks up permanently, require grinder to unlock. Also tells anyone where you are[…]

The IRS Is Being Investigated for Using Bought Location Data Without a Warrant – Wait there’s a company called Venntel that sells this and that’s OK?

The body tasked with oversight of the IRS announced in a letter that it will investigate the agency’s use of location data harvested from ordinary apps installed on peoples’ phones, according to a copy of the letter obtained by Motherboard. The move comes after Senators Ron Wyden and Elizabeth Warren demanded a formal investigation into Read more about The IRS Is Being Investigated for Using Bought Location Data Without a Warrant – Wait there’s a company called Venntel that sells this and that’s OK?[…]

Facebook revenue chief says ad-supported model is ‘under assault’ – boo hoo, turns out people like their privacy

Facebook Chief Revenue Officer David Fischer said Tuesday that the economic models that rely on personalized advertising are “under assault” as Apple readies a change that would limit the ability of Facebook and other companies to target ads and estimate how well they work. The change to Apple’s identifier for advertisers, or IDFA, will give Read more about Facebook revenue chief says ad-supported model is ‘under assault’ – boo hoo, turns out people like their privacy[…]

Apple, Facebook, Google, Amazon Are Monopolies: Antitrust Committee

Just as you suspected, Big Tech is dominated by monopolies, a House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee found. After more than a year of investigating Apple, Facebook, Google, and Amazon’s behavior, lawmakers released a 449-page report with their findings on Tuesday, complete with recommendations that the four companies be broken up to make the market more competitive. Read more about Apple, Facebook, Google, Amazon Are Monopolies: Antitrust Committee[…]

SmartShooter ‘Automatically’ Shoots Drones Out of the Sky using Colt personal gun

The Air Force was already familiar with the possibilities of the ‘SmartShooter’ smart aiming system. The only thing that was unknown was whether it is also effective in combination with the Colt C7 5.56mm long-range automatic rifle. Operation The system uses video analysis. A shooter aims his weapon at the target with the SmartShooter. So Read more about SmartShooter ‘Automatically’ Shoots Drones Out of the Sky using Colt personal gun[…]

Former Patent Litigator Becomes Federal Judge And Begins Advertising For Patent Trolls To Come To His Court (And They Have In Droves)

For years, you may recall that we would write about the insane nature of forum shopping for patent trolls, in which the trolls would flock to the federal courts in East Texas. Going back nearly 15 years, we wrote about how East Texas courts became grand central for patent troll cases, leading to all sorts Read more about Former Patent Litigator Becomes Federal Judge And Begins Advertising For Patent Trolls To Come To His Court (And They Have In Droves)[…]

Ring glitch results in global ding dong ditch: Doorbells keep going off with no one pushing them.

Amazon-owned smart home appliance maker Ring has won the world record for biggest game of “ding dong ditch” after a software glitch broadcast erroneous doorbell chimes to countless users yesterday. The global game of Ring and run (as it’s known in the US) coincided with software issues that prevented owners from viewing archived footage or Read more about Ring glitch results in global ding dong ditch: Doorbells keep going off with no one pushing them.[…]

Tokyo Stock Exchange breaks new record. Sadly, not a good one… its longest ever outage

Tokyo’s Stock Exchange (TSE) went offline for most of Thursday, its longest-ever outage and a very unwelcome one as it is the world’s third-largest bourse, when measured by market capitalisation. The exchange yesterday morning posted news that “a technical glitch occurred to distribution of market data,” and the market therefore stopped all trading. Later in Read more about Tokyo Stock Exchange breaks new record. Sadly, not a good one… its longest ever outage[…]

US govt wins right to snaffle Edward Snowden’s $5m+ book royalties, speech fees – and all future related earnings

The US government’s Department of Justice has won its multi-million-dollar claim to Edward Snowden’s Permanent Record book royalties as well as any future related earnings. A federal district court in eastern Virginia this week ruled that Uncle Sam was entitled to the proceeds of Snowden’s bestseller, an estimated $5.2m, and “any further monies, royalties, or Read more about US govt wins right to snaffle Edward Snowden’s $5m+ book royalties, speech fees – and all future related earnings[…]

Grindr security flaw let anyone take over any accounts easily

Grindr, one of the world’s largest dating and social networking apps for gay, bi, trans, and queer people, has fixed a security vulnerability that allowed anyone to hijack and take control of any user’s account using only their email address. Wassime Bouimadaghene, a French security researcher, found the vulnerability and reported the issue to Grindr. Read more about Grindr security flaw let anyone take over any accounts easily[…]

Many ways to optimise your HOTAS set up at home: desk and chair mounts

We are living in a golden age of flight and space simulation, with Flight Simulator, Star Wars Squadrons just out and Elite Dangerous and No Mans Sky fully established and finally Star Citizen playable to some degree. This means you can take out that old flight stick and throttle and TrackIR 5 that have been Read more about Many ways to optimise your HOTAS set up at home: desk and chair mounts[…]

Microsoft Exchange Online goes down – again

Microsoft’s Exchange Online service fell over in the early hours of this morning.The company’s status orifice initially figured that the problem mainly affected users in India as its engineers noted the wobbling at around 0700 BST. Just under an hour later Microsoft had to admit it was another global outage.It is the latest in what Read more about Microsoft Exchange Online goes down – again[…]

Indian Startups Explore Alliance and Alternative App Store To Fight Google’s Monopoly

More than 150 startups and firms in India are working to form an alliance and toying with the idea of launching an app store to cut their reliance on Google, five people familiar with the matter told TechCrunch. The list of entrepreneurs includes high-profile names, such as Vijay Shekhar Sharma, co-founder and chief executive of Read more about Indian Startups Explore Alliance and Alternative App Store To Fight Google’s Monopoly[…]

Help spot planets for NASA or Oxford

. The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), which launched in 2018, has snapped hundreds of thousands images of the night sky using its four cameras in the hopes of finding exoplanets. That’s too much data for professional astronomers to pore over, and NASA doesn’t trust computer-vision algorithms to do all the work, so they’ve decided Read more about Help spot planets for NASA or Oxford[…]

From Consensus to Conflict: Understanding Foreign Measures Targeting U.S. Elections

This piece is  very worth reading in its’ entirety. Underneath just the conclusions. Conclusions and Recommendations This report reviews some of the research that is relevant to foreign information efforts targeting U.S. elections. It provides a general framework for understanding these efforts and will inform our analysis in future volumes of this series. We focused Read more about From Consensus to Conflict: Understanding Foreign Measures Targeting U.S. Elections[…]

Instagram and Facebook Messenger Are Merging Chat Functions

Facebook announced today that Messenger and Instagram are, for all intents and purposes, merging. Chat features from Messenger will become available to Instagram users, and folks on either service will be able to reach out to one another without needing to download a separate app. “Today, we’re announcing an update to Instagram DMs by introducing Read more about Instagram and Facebook Messenger Are Merging Chat Functions[…]

Who watches the watchers? Samsung does so it can fling ads at owners of its smart TVs

Samsung brags to advertisers that “first screen ads”, seen by all users of its Smart TVs when they turn on, are 100 per cent viewable, audience targeted, and seen 400 times per TV per month. Some users are not happy. “Dear Samsung, why are you showing Ads on my Smart TV without my consent? I Read more about Who watches the watchers? Samsung does so it can fling ads at owners of its smart TVs[…]

Not one to be outdone by Microsoft, Apple’s cloud fell over too. Unlike Microsoft, it hasn’t said what happened

The rivalry between Apple and Microsoft continued last night as the fruity firm’s cloud services took a tumble a mere day after Azure crapped itself. While Apple has remained silent on what happened (we asked; it did not respond), the vast majority of its services wobbled over a two-hour period early this morning (UK time). Read more about Not one to be outdone by Microsoft, Apple’s cloud fell over too. Unlike Microsoft, it hasn’t said what happened[…]

Super precise measurement of all matter in universe made

A team of US astrophysicists has produced one of the most precise measurements ever made of the total amount of matter in the Universe, a longtime mystery of the cosmos. The answer, published in The Astrophysical Journal on Monday, is that matter consists of 31.5 percent—give or take 1.3 percent—of the total amount of matter Read more about Super precise measurement of all matter in universe made[…]

Second alignment plane of solar system discovered

A study of comet motions indicates that the solar system has a second alignment plane. Analytical investigation of the orbits of long-period comets shows that the aphelia of the comets, the point where they are farthest from the Sun, tend to fall close to either the well-known ecliptic plane where the planets reside or a Read more about Second alignment plane of solar system discovered[…]

YouTube celebrates Deaf Awareness Week by killing crowd-sourced captions

Today’s the day YouTube is killing its “Community Contributions” feature for videos, which let content creators crowdsource captions and subtitles for their videos. YouTube announced the move back in July, which triggered a community outcry from the deaf, hard of hearing, and fans of foreign media, but it does not sound like the company is Read more about YouTube celebrates Deaf Awareness Week by killing crowd-sourced captions[…]

FakeCatcher Deepfake Tool looks for a heartbeat

In the endlessly escalating war between those striving to create flawless deepfake videos and those developing automated tools that make them easy to spot, the latter camp has found a very clever way to expose videos that have been digitally modified by looking for literal signs of life: a person’s heartbeat. If you’ve ever had Read more about FakeCatcher Deepfake Tool looks for a heartbeat[…]

British Army develops AI shotgun drone with machine vision for indoor use

The British Army has reportedly developed AI-equipped killer drones armed with twin-linked shotguns designed for blasting enemies of the Queen hiding inside buildings. As if that wasn’t terrifying enough, the Army is already looking at strapping a chain gun or rocket launcher to its i9 drone instead of the shotguns, according to The Times. “It Read more about British Army develops AI shotgun drone with machine vision for indoor use[…]