An anonymous reader quotes Forbes: If you've been following the steady march of progress from Dell's Linux-first Project Sputnik team, you're no doubt aware that the "Developer Edition" variant of the XPS 13 is one of the finest Linux-ready ultrabooks you can buy. Just ahead of CES 2020, Dell is pushing out a few more improvements including a feature that's been hotly requested: fingerprint-reader support. It's one of several enhancements Dell is promising to Linux users for its 10th-generation XPS 13, including a new maximum of 32GB RAM and a redesigned "InfinityEdge" display that adds even more screen real estate, resulting in an adjusted 16:10 aspect ratio to match... Details on fingerprint-reader support are still a bit vague, but Dell says it will be released shortly after the system's February 2020 launch as an OTA (over-the-air) update, and then as part of the preloaded Ubuntu Developer Edition image it ships with the system.
Dell's lead on Project Sputnik developer systems, Barton George, also blogged about Dell's new 86-inch 4K interactive touch monitor, as well as their upcoming Latitude 9510 notebook and 2-in-1 laptops, promising "a new ultra-premium class of products" offering 5G mobile broadband capabilities, AI-based productivity capabilities, and 30-plus hours of battery life.

The blog post ends by noting that "While project Sputnik is the most visible Linux-based offerings from Dell, it is only a small fraction of the over 150 systems that make up Dell's Linux portfolio."

Positive affectivity, or the characteristic that describes how people experience affects (e.g., sensations, emotions, and sentiments) and interact with others as a result, has been linked to increased interest and curiosity as well as satisfaction in learning. Inspired by this, a team of Microsoft researchers propose imbuing reinforcement learning, an AI training technique that employs rewards to spur systems toward goals, with positive affect, which they assert might drive exploration useful in gathering experiences critical to learning. From a report: As the researchers explain, reinforcement learning is commonly implemented via policy-specific rewards designed for a predefined goal. Problematically, these extrinsic rewards are narrow in scope and can be difficult to define, as opposed to intrinsic rewards that are task-independent and quickly indicate success or failure. In pursuit of an intrinsic policy, the researchers developed a framework comprising mechanisms motivated by human affect -- one that motivates agents by drives like delight. Using a computer vision system that models the reward and another system that uses data to solve multiple tasks, it measures human smiles as positive affect. The framework encourages agents to explore virtual or real-world environments without getting into perilous situations, and it has the advantage of being agnostic to any specific machine intelligence application. A positive intrinsic reward mechanism predicts human smile responses as the exploration evolves, while a sequential decision-making framework learns a generalizable policy. As for the positive intrinsic affect model, it changes the action selection such that it biases actions providing better intrinsic rewards, and a final component uses data collected during the agent's exploration to build representations for visual recognition and understanding tasks.

jmcbain writes: In a blog post last week, Dan Amman, the CEO of Cruise Automation (General Motors' electric self-driving car division), laments the pollution, waste of space, accidents, and cost of cars as we know them today. He says "here we are, living in a state of cognitive dissonance with exactly this — the human-driven, gasoline-powered, single-occupant car — as our primary mode of transportation." He notes that public transportation is still useful but ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft are only contributing to the problem. He says the only way moving forward is self-driving cars.
Amman argues in our current system, "Most of the time, the equipment will sit unused, occupying prime real estate and driving up housing costs." And in addition,"If you're young, old, or living with a disability, then you can't use it."

He also points out that traffic accidents are still the leading cause of death for 5- to 29-year olds, and concludes that ultimately "the status quo of transportation is broken."

The WebAssembly Working Group has published today the three WebAssembly specifications as W3C Recommendations, marking the arrival of a new language for the Web which allows code to run in the browser. From a report: WebAssembly Core Specification defines a low-level virtual machine which closely mimicks the functionality of many microprocessors upon which it is run. Either through Just-In-Time compilation or interpretation, the WebAssembly engine can perform at nearly the speed of code compiled for a native platform. A .wasm resource is analogous to a Java .class file in that it contains static data and code segments which operate over that static data. Unlike Java, WebAssembly is typically produced as a compilation target from other programming languages like C/C++ and Rust.

WebAssembly Web API defines a Promise-based interface for requesting and executing a .wasm resource. The structure of a .wasm resource is optimized to allow execution to begin before the entire resource has been retrieved, which further enhances responsiveness of WebAssembly applications.

WebAssembly JavaScript Interface provides a JavaScript API for invoking and passing parameters to WebAssembly functions. In Web browsers, WebAssembly's interactions with the host environment are all managed through JavaScript, which means that WebAssembly relies on JavaScript's highly-engineered security model.

As governments and companies invest more in security networks, hundreds of millions more surveillance cameras will be watching the world in 2021, mostly in China, according to a new report. From a report: The report, from industry researcher IHS Market, to be released Thursday, said the number of cameras used for surveillance would climb above 1 billion by the end of 2021. That would represent an almost 30% increase from the 770 million cameras today. China would continue to account for a little over half the total. Fast-growing, populous nations such as India, Brazil and Indonesia would also help drive growth in the sector, the report said. IHS analyst Oliver Philippou said government programs to implement widespread video surveillance to monitor the public would be the biggest catalyst for the growth in China. City surveillance also was driving demand elsewhere.

In June, Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, a new iteration of the Xbox that the company said would "set a new bar for console power, speed and performance." What Microsoft didn't say is that it is also working on a lower-cost, disc-less version of Scarlett, code-named Lockhart, Kotaku reported Wednesday, citing four people briefed on the company's plans. From a report: If those names sound familiar, that's because they've been floating around for a while. The earliest rumors about Microsoft's next-gen roadmap, circa 2018, suggested that Project Scarlett would consist of two Xbox models: the high-performance Anaconda and the lower-end Lockhart. In June, however, Microsoft announced that Scarlett was a single, high-end console, which led to speculation and then press reports that Lockhart had been canceled. But Kotaku has learned that Lockhart is in fact still in the works as a cheaper, digital-only alternative to Scarlett, as the original rumors suggested. What we don't know -- and what likely isn't finalized yet -- is how the pricing will shake out. But it's easiest to think of Anaconda as a successor to the Xbox One X and Lockhart as a successor to the Xbox One S, with a similar performance disparity. Game developers will be expected to support both Anaconda and Lockhart, which some are worried might hamper their ambitions for next-gen games in the coming years.

Speaking of YouTube ads, the Google-owned company is rolling out a new ad format for its TV experience, dubbed Masthead, to all users. The company tested this new ad format with some users earlier this year. From a report: Announced in a brief post, YouTube says that its beta test of this new ad format was successful in select markets leading to the now global rollout of the Masthead ad format. The new format is available to all advertisers on a CPM basis as part of a cross-screen advertising campaign on YouTube. YouTube's Masthead ad format is not subtle by any means, appearing over the entire top portion of the TV app. Further, that ad auto-plays silently and expands to full-size when the user hovers over the ad. Advertisers, such as FOX, call this "first of its kind" initiative a "fantastic way" to promote its content. The TV network has been using the YouTube Masthead to promote its hit show The Masked Singer.

slack_justyb writes: Mozilla has been heavily invested in WebAssembly with Firefox, and today, the organization teamed up with a few others to form the new Bytecode Alliance, which aims to create "new software foundations, building on standards such as WebAssembly and WebAssembly System Interface (WASI)." Mozilla has teamed up with Intel, Red Hat, and Fastly to found the alliance, but more members are likely to join over time. The goal of the Bytecode Alliance is to create a new runtime environment and language toolchains which are secure, efficient, and modular, while also being available on as many platforms and devices as possible. The technologies being developed by the Bytecode Alliance are based on WebAssembly and WASI, which have been seen as a potential replacement for JavaScript due to more efficient code compiling, and the expanded capabilities of being able to port C and C++ code to the web. To kick things off, the founding members have already contributed a number of open-source technologies to the Bytecode Alliance, including Wasmtime, a lightweight WebAssembly runtime; Lucet, an ahead-of-time compiler; WebAssembly Micro Runtime; and Cranelift.

Unions and researchers who study workplace surveillance worry that employers who begin gathering data on workers for whatever reason will be unable to resist using it against them. From a report: Productivity tracking is already widespread throughout the industry -- and workers can be fired or punished if their performance dips. The opacity of data-analysis tools can make it difficult for workers to fully understand how much employers can see. StrongArm, a company that makes such devices, says it has about 30 clients, including Heineken NV and Toyota Motor, and is also establishing relationships with insurance companies interested in ways to reduce workers compensation costs. Walmart says it's testing StrongArm in eight distribution centers and adds it has no plans to use them in stores.

StrongArm says about 15,000 workers have worn its devices, and most of them use it daily. The Brooklyn, New York-based startup expects to have 35,000 daily active users by the end of next year. StrongArm acknowledges that concerns about workplace surveillance surround its work, but the company says its products are designed solely to improve safety and cites a recent study it commissioned that found users wearing them suffered 20% to 50% fewer injuries. It says it's not tracking individual productivity and that its products aren't used to punish individual workers or to contest workers compensation claims. But ergonomic tracking isn't happening in isolation.

"Web pages have never been able to directly access your computer's (or phone's) file system, unless there was a plugin like Java or ActiveX involved somewhere," reports Android Police.

The new Native File System API in Chrome 78 changes that... Here's how the API works: A web page can bring up a file picker dialog, just like you would see when clicking an Upload button on any web site. One file, a group of files, or an entire folder can be selected (it's up to the web page). The page can later save changes to those files, if it wants.

Before you start freaking out that web sites can now alter your files, there are a lot of security precautions built into this already, and the Chrome team will likely add more before the feature is ready for widespread use. Sites can only see the files you specifically select, they can only save changes back to those files if granted permission, an indicator is added to the address bar if a site has file permissions (on the desktop, anyway), and right now the permission only stays granted until the site is closed.

I can't wait to see what gets done with this functionality. We could get online code editors that can actually work with several local files at once, or maybe Google Docs could edit Word files directly on your PC without uploading/converting them first.
The article also describes one possible application from Chrome's SMS Receiver API (currently in "Origin Trial" status): Many apps and services ask you to verify your phone number by sending a code via SMS. In most cases, you have to leave the app, open the messaging app, copy the code, return to the original app, and paste the code. Google just added an API for Android apps that can automate this process, and now a similar feature is in the works for Chrome.

"Facebook is facing a lot of pushback for Libra, its proposed cryptocurrency, but that's not stopping the social media giant from forging ahead," reports the Motley Fool: Earlier this week, it announced the 21 founding members of its digital token project at the signing of the Libra Association charter in Switzerland. The founding members include Uber, Lyft, Spotify, and PayU, among others... Despite all the odds against it, Facebook is forging ahead, pulling out all the stops to convince the world's skeptics that it is capable of controlling a digital currency that can't be regulated.

Its latest attempt: warning regulators of the impending danger from China if Libra fails. David Marcus, the Facebook executive heading up the Libra initiative, told Bloomberg that China is moving ahead with its own digital payments system, which could have global appeal. That could be a big threat to the U.S. if regulators drag their heels in approving Facebook's digital coin. He painted a picture of an environment five years hence in which a large portion of the world won't have to worry about sanctions from the U.S. because they will have a digital currency waiting in the wings.

Lee Gardner, reporting for Chronicle: James Dragna had his work cut out for him when he became "graduation czar" at California State University at Sacramento, in 2016. The university's four-year graduation rate sat at 9 percent. It hadn't moved in about 30 years, he says. Like many student-success experts at public colleges these days, Dragna combed through academic data about students that the university had on hand -- grades, attendance, advising information -- to track how they were doing as each semester wore on. He fed those data into predictive-analytics software to look for potential problems or hurdles that might lead to failing grades or dropping out, and to identify students who might benefit from a little extra support. Three years later, the university's four-year graduation rate is up to 20 percent. Its six-year rate has risen to 54 percent from 47 percent.

Stories like that dot the higher-education landscape as more colleges take advantage of burgeoning Big Data technology to keep tabs on their students and find more places where they can successfully intervene. But recently, the practice of tracking students has taken a more literal turn. Sacramento State plans to gather data on where some of its students spend time on the campus and for how long, joining 14 other institutions using software from a company called Degree Analytics. When a tracked student -- a freshman who has opted in -- enters the student union, her smartphone or laptop will connect to the local Wi-Fi router, and the software will make note of it. When the student leaves and her phone connects to the router in the chemistry building, or the library, or the dorm, it will capture that, too, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It isn't hard to imagine the wealth of observational data such location tracking might produce, and the student-success insights that might arise from it. For example, knowing that A students spend a certain number of hours in the library every week -- and eventually communicating that to students -- might motivate them to study there more often.

An anonytmous reader quotes TechSpot: Google is looking to improve the web-browsing experience for those with vision conditions by introducing a feature into its Chrome browser that uses machine learning to recognize and describe images. The image description will be generated automatically using the same technology that drives Google Lens...

The text descriptions use the phrase "appears to be" to let users know that it is a description of an image. So, for example, Chrome might say, "Appears to be a motorized scooter." This will be a cue to let the person know that it is a description generated by the AI and may not be completely accurate.

The feature is only available for those with screen readers or Braille displays.
"The unfortunate state right now is that there are still millions and millions of unlabeled images across the web," explains Google's senior accessbility program manager.

"When you're navigating with a screen reader or a Braille display, when you get to one of those images, you'll actually just basically hear 'image' or 'unlabeled graphic,' or my favorite, a super long string of numbers which is the file name, which is just totally irrelevant."

"Microsoft's latest keyboards now include dedicated Office and emoji keys," reports the Verge: The software giant was previously experimenting with an Office key on keyboards earlier this year, and now the company is launching a new Ergonomic and slim Bluetooth Keyboard that include the dedicated button. The Office key replaces the right-hand Windows key, and it's used to launch the Office for Windows 10 app that acts as a hub for Microsoft's productivity suite. You can also use the Office key as a shortcut to launch Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more. Office key + W opens Word for example, while Office key + X opens Excel.

Alongside the Office key, there's also a new emoji key on these new keyboards. It will launch the emoji picker inside Windows 10, but you won't be able to assign it to a specific emoji or even create shortcuts, unfortunately...

Microsoft quietly launched these new keyboards at the company's Surface hardware event last week, but they'll be available in stores on October 15th.

Microsoft appears to be porting its Edge browser to Linux, reports ZDNet: "We on the MS Edge Dev team are fleshing out requirements to bring Edge to Linux, and we need your help with some assumptions," wrote Sean Larkin, a member of Microsoft's Edge team....

Chrome, of course, is already available for Linux, so Microsoft should be able to deliver Chromium-based Edge to Linux distributions with minimal fuss.... [I]n June Microsoft Edge developers said there are "no technical blockers to keep us from creating Linux binaries" and that it is "definitely something we'd like to do down the road". Despite Chrome's availability on Linux, the Edge team noted there is still work to be done on the installer, updaters, user sync, and bug fixes, before it could be something to commit to properly.
Slashdot reader think_nix shared a link to the related survey that the Edge team has announced on Twitter. "If you're a dev who depends on Linux for dev, testing, personal browsing, please take a second to fill out this survey."

Future MacBooks could be made even thinner by using a slimmer keyboard, by switching out the butterfly mechanism for one where the keys are positioned much closer to the circuit board, reducing the amount of travel and materials required to register a key press and to actuate. From a report: The butterfly keyboard mechanism used in the current generation of MacBook Pro models has gone through a number of revisions to fix issues with how it functions, including occasions where debris could interfere with the mechanism's operation. The issues have led to the creation of a repair program to fix the problem, but complaints about the component continue to be made. The keyboard is also a space-occupying component of a notebook's design, with the switch mechanism providing an actuation, namely the physical movement of the key to register a press and to reset. In order to allow this to happen, a mechanism has to sit between the key and the circuit board, taking up valuable space that could be used to make the notebook design even thinner, or to provide more battery capacity. In a patent published by the US Patent and Trademark Office on Tuesday titled "Keyboard assemblies having reduced thickness and method of forming keyboard assemblies," Apple seeks to do just that.

Ring considered building a tool that would use calls to the 911 emergency number to automatically activate the video cameras on its smart doorbells, according to emails obtained by CNET. From the report: The Amazon-owned company isn't currently working on the project, but it told a California police department in August 2018 that the function could be introduced in the "not-so-distant future." In the emails, Ring described a system in which a 911 call would trigger the cameras on Ring doorbells near the site of the call. The cameras would start recording and streaming video that police could then use to investigate an incident. Owners of the Ring devices would have to opt in to the system, the emails said.

"Currently, our cameras record based on motion alerts," Steve Sebestyen, vice president of business development for Ring, said in an email that CNET obtained through a public records request. "However, we are working with interested agencies and cities to expand the device owners controls to allow for situations where a CFS [call-for-service] event triggers recording within the proximity of an event." It's unclear how long Ring had contemplated this idea and how many cities it proposed this plan to, but the project is no longer being pursued.

Facebook is "bringing" facial recognition to all users, the company announced Tuesday. But the EFF's surveillance litigation director and a senior staff attorney warn that despite media reports, Facebook's announcement "definitely does not say that face recognition is now opt-in for all users." Throughout Facebook's deliberately vague announcement, it takes great pains to note that the change applies only to new Facebook users and people who currently have the "tag suggestions" setting. However, Facebook migrated many, if not most, existing users from "tag suggestions" to "face recognition" in December 2017... That means this safeguard does not apply to the billions of current Facebook users who have already been moved...

Facebook should not subject any of its users to face surveillance, absent their informed opt-in consent. And Facebook should clear up the uncertainties in in its announcement before it gets any more credit than it's due for this change.
Facebook's announcement didn't even include links to the "Settings" menu where users can opt out of Facebook's facial recognition, so the EFF's article helpfully provides both mobile and desktop links. According to Facebook's own help pages, the left-side menu should include a "Face Recognition" choice where users can turn off Facebook's face recognition features.

But three different Facebook users I know have also reported that that menu choice just isn't there...

The US military is conducting wide-area surveillance tests across six midwest states using experimental high-altitude balloons, documents filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reveal. From a report: Up to 25 unmanned solar-powered balloons are being launched from rural South Dakota and drifting 250 miles through an area spanning portions of Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and Missouri, before concluding in central Illinois. Traveling in the stratosphere at altitudes of up to 65,000ft, the balloons are intended to "provide a persistent surveillance system to locate and deter narcotic trafficking and homeland security threats," according to a filing made on behalf of the Sierra Nevada Corporation, an aerospace and defense company. The balloons are carrying hi-tech radars designed to simultaneously track many individual vehicles day or night, through any kind of weather. The tests, which have not previously been reported, received an FCC license to operate from mid-July until September, following similar flights licensed last year.

Microsoft has accidentally released an internal-only version of Windows 10 to testers, revealing a new Start menu design. From a report: The software giant has distributed Windows 10 build 18947, meant for internal Xbox development, to Windows Insider testers using 32-bit devices. It's an internal-only build from the company's canary branch, and yet Microsoft has published it to all Windows 10 testers whether they're in release preview, fast ring, or even slow ring testing. Thankfully, it's only released to 32-bit systems, which aren't widely used, but it's an embarrassing mistake for Microsoft's Windows 10 testing efforts. This internal build appears to include a new Start menu design, that's very early in testing, without Microsoft's Live Tiles. It's something Microsoft is testing internally, but it's not clear whether Windows 10 will fully drop Live Tiles in the Start menu anytime soon.