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Submission + - McDonald's Is To Replace Human Workers With Voice-Based Tech In US Drive-Thrus (bbc.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: McDonald's is to replace human servers with voice-based technology in its US drive-throughs. The fast-food chain hopes the AI technology will make the ordering process more efficient. McDonald's is implementing the technology with the help of start-up Apprente, which it acquired this week. The move comes amid concern about workers whose jobs may become obsolete as a result of automation and new technologies. McDonald's plans to expand its newly formed McD Tech team by hiring more engineers and data scientists.

Submission + - Most Android flashlight apps request an absurd number of permissions (zdnet.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Hundreds of Android flashlight apps are requesting a large number of permissions on every install, and in the vast majority of cases, without providing the needed functionality in return. Avast Security Evangelist Luis Corrons said he tested all the Android flashlight apps that were ever uploaded on the Play Store. In total, he found 937 apps, seven of which were downright malicious. Of the rest, Corrons said, the vast majority requested a large number of permissions, with the average being of 25 permissions per app. 262 apps required 50 permissions or more, while five apps required 77 and 76 permissions, which accounts for half of all the Android OS permissions. Furthermore, many of these apps were also requesting access to dangerous permissions, such as the ability to record audio, manage SMS and calls, or trigger downloads without user notifications.

Submission + - Australian House Committee To Look Into Age Verification For Porn (zdnet.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Australia is once again deciding to follow in the tracks of the United Kingdom, with the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs to look into age verification for online pornography and online wagering. The matter was referred to the committee by the Minister for Families and Social Services, Senator Anne Ruston and Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety, and the Arts, Paul Fletcher. The terms of reference for the inquiry state that it will be looking into age verification under the auspices of protecting children online.

The committee will look into "the potential benefits of further online age verification requirements, including to protect children from potential harm, and business and non-government organizations from reputation, operational and legal risks," the terms state. Potential risks and unintended consequences for age verification will be looked into as well, the terms state, including privacy breaches, freedom of expression, false assurance, and whether adults are pushing into "unregulated/illegal environments or to other legal forms of these activities." The committee will also examine the economic impact of age verification, and the impact on "eSafety resourcing, education, and messaging."

Submission + - 2 Mathematicians Just Solved an Old Math Riddle and Possibly the Meaning of life (wnd.com)

Submitted by pgmrdlm
pgmrdlm writes: In Douglas Adams' sci-fi series "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," a pair of programmers task the galaxy's largest supercomputer with answering the ultimate question of the meaning of life, the universe and everything. After 7.5 million years of processing, the computer reaches an answer: 42. Only then do the programmers realize that nobody knew the question the program was meant to answer.

Now, in this week's most satisfying example of life reflecting art, a pair of mathematicians have used a global network of 500,000 computers to solve a centuries-old math puzzle that just happens to involve that most crucial number: 42.

The question, which goes back to at least 1955 and may have been pondered by Greek thinkers as early as the third century AD, asks, "How can you express every number between 1 and 100 as the sum of three cubes?" Or, put algebraically, how do you solve x^3 + y^3 + z^3 = k, where k equals any whole number from 1 to 100?

This deceptively simple stumper is known as a Diophantine equation, named for the ancient mathematician Diophantus of Alexandria, who proposed a similar set of problems about 1,800 years ago. Modern mathematicians who revisited the puzzle in the 1950s quickly found solutions when k equals many of the smaller numbers, but a few particularly stubborn integers soon emerged. The two trickiest numbers, which still had outstanding solutions by the beginning of 2019, were 33 and — you guessed it — 42.

Submission + - Microsoft Accidentally Leaks Secure Boot Key (threatpost.com)

Submitted by KLOP5
KLOP5 writes: Two researchers posted a report under pseudonyms this week revealing how Microsoft inadvertently published a Secure Boot key, now allowing self-signed UEFI updates to be installed on a machine as though they had been signed by Microsoft. The Secure Boot policy was originally created for testing purposes. "It’d be impossible in practise for MS to revoke every bootmgr earlier than a certain point, as they’d break install media, recovery partitions, backups, etc,” the researchers wrote in their report. The key could be used to put low-level firmware inside the UEFI of a computer, and would survive operating system formats and storage hardware changes.

Submission + - Linux developer loses GPL suit against VMware (itwire.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Linux kernel developer Christoph Hellwig has lost his case against virtualisation company VMware, which he had sued in March 2015 for violation of version 2 of the GNU General Public Licence.

Submission + - No Child Left Behind Replacement: More CS Opportunities for All But White Boys?

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: Microsoft is celebrating the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act, a rewrite of the No Child Left Behind Act, which President Obama signed into law Thursday. "This legislation," explains Microsoft VP/lobbyist Fred Humphries, "will increase access to STEM and computer science learning nationwide and will advance some of the goals outlined in Microsoft’s National Talent Strategy. And its passage comes at a unique time during Computer Science Education Week, which is intended to highlight the importance of computer science education" (during CsEdWeek 2014, Humphries looked on as President Obama 'learned to code'). But, what Microsoft doesn't mention is that the No Child Left Behind Act replacement may leave at least some groups of children behind when it comes to the new CS/STEM opportunities. From page 176 of the 391-page Every Student Succeeds Act (pdf): "Each local educational agency, or consortium of such agencies, that receives an allocation under section 4105(a) shall use a portion of such funds to develop and implement programs and activities that support access to a well-rounded education and that...may include programs and activities, such as...programming and activities to improve instruction and student engagement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, including computer science, (referred to in this section as ‘STEM subjects’) such as-(i) increasing access for students through grade 12 who are members of groups underrepresented in such subject fields, such as female students, minority students, English learners, children with disabilities, and economically disadvantaged students, to high quality courses." And if that wordsmithery means you'll be seeing fewer White boys in CS, well that would seem to advance some of the goals outlined Thursday in Google's CS Education in Media Strategy!

Submission + - Supercomputer Yields Beautiful Peek Inside A Spinning Star (Video) (techtimes.com)

Submitted by sckirklan
sckirklan writes:

U.S. researchers have turned to supercomputers to create a visual model of what happens inside a star spinning rapidly on its axis.

Depicting a star with a mass about the same as our sun but spinning five times faster, the model was created by a team at the University of Texas, Arlington, using the Ranger supercomputer at the Texas Advanced Computing Center.

Alt Link

Submission + - Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Android 6.0 Marshmallow Update First Look Video [Video] (techtimes.com)

Submitted by sckirklan
sckirklan writes:

Samsung just released its Android 6.0 Marshmallow update for the Galaxy Note 4 in Hungary. A user has posted a video showing off some of the new features and updated TouchWiz UI.

A newly leaked Android 6.0 Marshmallow update release schedule for current and previous flagship smartphones from Samsung hit the Web and provided owners with an ETA of when they could expect to receive an update to Google's latest version of Android.

Submission + - Huge Jupiter-Like Storm Rages On Cool 'Failed Star' (discovery.com)

Submitted by astroengine
astroengine writes: Jupiter’s Big Red Spot is the largest example of a long-lived storm in the solar system, but now it has some pretty stiff competition in another star system. However, this “exo-storm” hasn’t been spied on another gas giant, it’s been spotted in the uppermost layers of a cool, small "failed star" or brown dwarf. Using 3 NASA space telescopes, new research published in The Astrophysical Journal has found that this spot isn't a starspot, but a bona fide storm that has more in common with Jupiter's famous cyclone. So is this REALLY a failed star? Or is is an "overachieving planet"?

Submission + - Man Used Location Data in Instagram Photos to Steal Women's Underwear (petapixel.com)

Submitted by sandbagger
sandbagger writes: The next time you hear 'it's only meta-data' you may want to look up the story of 44-year-old Arturo Galvan. The gentleman is believed to be behind 6 burglaries with 24 victims dating back to October 2015. He used the location data in instagram photos to locate the addresses of women, police allege, and then burgle their underpants and bras. Mr Galvan has posted bond in relation to the accusation.

Submission + - Mauna Kea protests may end astronomy as we know it

Submitted by StartsWithABang
StartsWithABang writes: If you want to explore the Universe, you need a telescope with good light gathering power, a high-quality camera to make the most out of each photon, and a superior observing location, complete with dark skies, clear nights, and still, high-altitude air. There are only a few places on Earth that have all of these qualities consistently, and perhaps the best one is atop Mauna Kea on Hawaii. Yet generations of wrongs have occurred to create the great telescope complex that's up there today, and astronomers continue to lease the land for far less than it's worth despite violating the original contract. That's astronomy as we know it so far, and perhaps the Mauna Kea protests signal a long awaited end to that.

Submission + - Sunlight Foundation crowdfunding look into abusive fines by police (muckrock.com)

Submitted by v3rgEz
v3rgEz writes: The Sunlight Foundation is crowdfunding a look into how local police departments are using fines and fees to create a new "Debtor's Prison" for many Americans. Abusive fines was cited as one of the many problems in Ferguson, but there's no comprehensive data on how big a problem this tactic is nationally. The Sunlight Foundation, partnering with FOIA site MuckRock, wants to change that, and raising $5,000 would help provide data and analysis on over 100 cities across America. Read more about the project, or chip in a little bit for transparency. It's a pretty transparency bargain for Cyber Monday.

Submission + - Chrono Trigger Location Recreated in Unreal Engine 4 (gamerant.com)

Submitted by sckirklan
sckirklan writes:

YouTuber praetus uploaded a video a few days ago that details his process in building the iconic Chrono Trigger location using the Unreal 4 engine. The result is predictably gorgeous, and the work praetus put into the finer points of his recreation are easily the most impressive as well. In particular, praetus’ work on the teleporters at the Millenial Fair makes a strong case for a high-definition remake of one of the greatest time travel games of all time.

Submission + - Carly Fiorina: I Supplied HP Servers for NSA Snooping

Submitted by Motherfucking Shit
Motherfucking Shit writes: According to an article at Motherboard, shortly after 9/11, NSA director Michael Hayden requested extra computing power and Carly Fiorina, then CEO of HP, responded by re-routing truckloads of servers to the agency. Fiorina acknowledged providing the servers to the NSA during an interview with Michael Isikoff in which she defended warrantless surveillance (as well as waterboarding) and framed her collaboration with the NSA in patriotic terms. Fiorina’s compliance with Hayden’s request for HP servers is but one episode in a long-running and close relationship between the GOP presidential hopeful and US intelligence agencies.

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