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Submission + - Cringely on Big Data and AI

Submitted by squideatingdough
squideatingdough writes: Once again, Robert X. Cringely provides an insightful (and somewhat scary) vision of the future: http://www.cringely.com/2014/0.... He describes how today's Artificial Intelligence is so very different from the vision of those IT folks working in the field back in the 80's. And then he goes on to posit how algorithms are improving at a rate that exceeds Moore's Law for hardware. A very interesting read.

Submission + - Your StarCraft II Potential Peaked at Age 24 (www.cbc.ca)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: StarCraft II is popular among competitive gamers for having the depth necessary to reward differences in skill. A new study has found that your ability keep up with the game's frantic pace starts to decline at age 24. This is relevant to more than just StarCraft II players: 'While many high-performance athletes start to show age-related declines at a young age, those are often attributed to physical as opposed to brain aging. ... While previous lab tests have shown faster reaction times for simple individual tasks, it was never clear how much relevance those had to complex, real-world tasks such as driving. Thompson noted that Starcraft is complex and quite similar to real-life tasks such as managing 911 calls at an emergency dispatch centre, so the findings may be directly relevant. However, game performance was much easier to analyze than many real-life situations because the game generates detailed logs of every move. In a way, Thompson said, the study is a good demonstration of what kinds of insights can be gleaned from the "cool data sets" generated by our digital lives.'

Submission + - Google Looked Into Space Elevator, Hoverboards, and Teleportation (fastcompany.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Google has a huge research budget and an apparent willingness to take on huge projects. They've gotten themselves into autonomous cars, fiber optic internet, robotics, and Wi-Fi balloons. But that raises a question: if they're willing to commit to projects as difficult and risk as those, what projects have they explored but rejected? Several of the scientists working at Google's 'innovation lab' have spilled the beans: '[Mag-lev] systems have a stabilizing structure that keeps trains in place as they hover and move forward in only one direction. That couldn't quite translate into an open floor plan of magnets that keep a hoverboard steadily aloft and free to move in any direction. One problem, as Piponi explains, is that magnets tend to keep shifting polarities, so your hoverboard would constantly flip over as you floated around moving from a state of repulsion to attraction with the magnets. Any skateboarder could tell you what that means: Your hoverboard would suck. ... If scaling problems are what brought hoverboards down to earth, material-science issues crashed the space elevator. The team knew the cable would have to be exceptionally strong-- "at least a hundred times stronger than the strongest steel that we have," by Piponi's calculations. He found one material that could do this: carbon nanotubes. But no one has manufactured a perfectly formed carbon nanotube strand longer than a meter. And so elevators "were put in a deep freeze," as Heinrich says, and the team decided to keep tabs on any advances in the carbon nanotube field.'

Submission + - San Francisco's Housing Crisis Explained (techcrunch.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: We've heard a few brief accounts recently of the housing situation in San Francisco, and how it's leading to protests, gentrification, and bad blood between long-time residents and the newer tech crowd. It's a complicated issue, and none of the reports so far have really done it justice. Now, TechCrunch has posted a ludicrously long article explaining exactly what's going on, from regulations forbidding Google to move people into Mountain View instead, to the political battle to get more housing built, to the compromises that have already been made. It's a long read, but well-researched and interesting. It concludes: 'The crisis we’re seeing is the result of decades of choices, and while the tech industry is a sexy, attention-grabbing target, it cannot shoulder blame for this alone. Unless a new direction emerges, this will keep getting worse until the next economic crash, and then it will re-surface again eight years later. Or it will keep spilling over into Oakland, which is a whole other Pandora’s box of gentrification issues. The high housing costs aren't healthy for the city, nor are they healthy for the industry. Both thrive on a constant flow of ideas and people.'

Submission + - Windows Phone 8.1 developer preview available (free) (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Arstechnica has the scoop on Microsoft's new OS release which includes Cortana.

It is a major platform update even if it is just a .1 release. Updates include the debut of Cortana, the same kernel as Windows 8.1 and xboxONE, a notebook reminder app, inner circle friend management, IE 11, default Nokia's camera app, lock screen and background customizations, much improved email client with calendar support, more Windows 8.1 api inclusion for more portability, and a notification center. Arstechnica rated it more of a Windows Phone 9 release than a .1 release.

Cortana also learns your habits of yourself and your inner circle to improve upon things like restaurant recommendations, and frequent places you travel too, to become more accurate as she gets to know you and uses bing for her AI as well.

Submission + - FBI to have 52 million photos in its NGI face recognition database by next year (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by Advocatus Diaboli
Advocatus Diaboli writes: One of our biggest concerns about NGI has been the fact that it will include non-criminal as well as criminal face images. We now know that FBI projects that by 2015, the database will include 4.3 million images taken for non-criminal purposes. Currently, if you apply for any type of job that requires fingerprinting or a background check, your prints are sent to and stored by the FBI in its civil print database. However, the FBI has never before collected a photograph along with those prints. This is changing with NGI. Now an employer could require you to provide a “mug shot” photo along with your fingerprints. If that’s the case, then the FBI will store both your face print and your fingerprints along with your biographic data.

Submission + - Ubisoft hands out Nexus 7 tablets at Watch Dogs event (geek.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: With Watch Dogs launching across current-gen and next-gen consoles, as well as PC next month, Ubisoft is ramping up the promotion. That includes holding press events to show off the game to journalists, many of whom will end up reviewing Watch Dogs.

One such event was held last week in Paris, and it has been revealed by attendees that Ubisoft decided to give everyone who turned up a Nexus 7 tablet. Why? That hasn’t been explained officially yet, but you can see how this can be viewed negatively. After all, these are the individuals who will give Watch Dogs a review score, which many gamers rely on to help them make a purchasing decision.

Submission + - How Apple's CarPlay could save the car stereo industry (digitaltrends.com)

Submitted by Velcroman1
Velcroman1 writes: Car stereo salesmen and installers around the country are giddy with excitement because Apple’s CarPlay in-car infotainment system will have a big presence in the aftermarket car stereo industry. The Nikkei Asian Review reports that Alpine is making car stereo head units for between $500 – $700 that will run the iOS-like system Apple unveiled last month, and Macrumors added Clarion to the list of CarPlay supporters. Even Pioneer is getting into the game with support said to be coming to existing car stereo models in its NEX line ($700 – $1400) via firmware update, according to Twice. Given Apple’s wildly supportive fan base, its likely that a lot of aftermarket CarPlay units are about to fly off stereo shop shelves. Indeed, CarPlay coming to aftermarket stereo units could bring back what Apple indirectly stole from the industry going back as far as 2006.

Submission + - The Comcast merger isn't about lines on a map,it's about controlling information (consumerist.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Comcast and proposed merger partner Time Warner Cable claim they donâ(TM)t compete because their service areas donâ(TM)t overlap, and that a combined company would happily divest itself of a few million customers to keeps its pay-TV market share below 30%, allowing other companies that donâ(TM)t currently compete with Comcast to keep not competing with Comcast. This narrow, shortsighted view fails to take into account the full breadth of whatâ(TM)s involved in this merger â" broadcast TV, cable TV, network technology, in-home technology, access to the Internet, and much more. In addition to asking whether or not regulators should permit Comcast to add 10-12 million customers, there is a more important question at the core of this deal: Should Comcast be allowed to control both what content you consume and how you get to consume it?

Submission + - IRS misses XP deadline, pays Microsoft millions for patches (networkworld.com) 2

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: When Microsoft terminated official support for Windows XP on April 8th, most organizations had taken the six years of warnings to heart and migrated to another solution. But not the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. Only 52,000 of their 110,000 Windows-powered computers have been upgraded to Windows 7. They'll now be forced to pay Microsoft for Custom Support. How much? Using Microsoft's standard rate of $200 per PC, it'll be $11.6 million for one year. That leaves $18.4 million of their $30 million budget to finish the upgrades themselves, which works out to $317 per computer.

Submission + - Linux 3.15 Will Suspend & Resume Multiple Times Faster (phoronix.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The Linux 3.15 kernel that is now in its early life will be able to suspend and resume much faster than previous versions of the Linux kernel. Days ago were ACPI and Power Management updates that enable asynchronous threads for more suspend and resume callbacks. Carrying out more async operations leads to reduced time for the system suspend and then resuming. According to one developer it was about an 80% time savings within one of the phases. Merged on Friday was then work so that the kernel is no longer blocked by waiting for ATA devices to resume. Multiple ATA devices can be waked up simultaneously and any ATA commands for the device(s) will be queued until they have powered up. According to an 01.org blog post on the ATA/SCSI resume optimization patches, when tested on three Intel Linux systems the resume time was between seven and 12x faster (not including the latest ACPI/PM S&R optimizations).

Submission + - Racing To Contain Ebola (wired.co.uk)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Ebola, one of the most deadly diseases known to humans, started killing people in Guinea a few months ago. There have been Ebola outbreaks in the past, but they were contained. The latest outbreak has now killed over 100 people across three countries. One of the biggest difficulties in containing an outbreak is knowing where the virus originated and how it spread. That problem is being addressed right now by experts and a host of volunteers using Open Street Map. 'Zoom in and you can see road networks and important linkages between towns and countries, where there were none before. Overlay this with victim data, and it can help explain the rapid spread. Click on the coloured blobs and you will see sites of confirmed deaths, suspected cases that have been overturned, sites where Ebola testing labs have been setup or where the emergency relief teams are currently located.'

Submission + - FAA Shuts Down Search-and-Rescue Drones (ieee.org)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: For about a decade, Gene Robinson has been putting cameras on remote-controller model aircraft and using them in search-and-rescue missions. But now the Federal Aviation Administration has shut him down, saying his efforts violate a ban on flying RC aircraft for commercial purposes. Robinson doesn't charge the families of the people he's looking for, and he created a non-profit organization to demonstrate that. He also coordinates with local authorities and follows their guidelines to the letter. The FAA shut him down because they haven't designed regulations to deal with situations like this, even though they've been working on it since 2007. 'So it’s difficult to argue that his flights are more dangerous than what goes on every weekend at RC modeling sites throughout the United States, which can include flights of huge models that weigh 10 times as much as Robinson’s planes; aerial stunts of nitromethane-fueled model helicopters; and the low-altitude, 500-kilometer-per-hour passes in front of spectators of model jets powered by miniature turbine engines.'

Submission + - PC Gaming Alive and Dominant (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Ars reports on a panel at PAX East which delved into the strength of the PC as a platform for games, and what its future looks like. The outlook is positive: 'Even as major computer OEMs produce numbers showing falling sales, the PC as a platform (and especially a gaming platform) actually shows strong aggregate growth.' The panelists said that while consoles get a lot of the headlines, the PC platform remains the only and/or best option for a lot of developers and gamers. They briefly addressed piracy, as well: 'Piracy, [Matt Higby] said, is an availability and distribution problem. The more games are crowdfunded and digitally delivered and the less a "store" figures into buying games, the less of a problem piracy becomes. [Chris Roberts] was quick to agree, and he noted that the shift to digital distribution also helps the developers make more money—they ostensibly don't have everyone along the way from retailers to publishers to distributors taking their cut from the sale.'

Submission + - Study Rules Out Global warming Being a Natural Fluctuation with 99% Certainty (mcgill.ca)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A study out of McGill University sought to examine historical temperature data going back to the year 1500 in order to determine how likely it was that global warming was caused by natural fluctuations in the earth's climate. The study concluded there was less than a 1% chance the warming could be attributed to simple fluctuations. 'The climate reconstructions take into account a variety of gauges found in nature, such as tree rings, ice cores, and lake sediments. And the fluctuation-analysis techniques make it possible to understand the temperature variations over wide ranges of time scales. For the industrial era, Lovejoy’s analysis uses carbon-dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels as a proxy for all man-made climate influences – a simplification justified by the tight relationship between global economic activity and the emission of greenhouse gases and particulate pollution, he says. ... His study predicts, with 95% confidence, that a doubling of carbon-dioxide levels in the atmosphere would cause the climate to warm by between 2.5 and 4.2 degrees Celsius. That range is more precise than – but in line with — the IPCC’s prediction that temperatures would rise by 1.5 to 4.5 degrees Celsius if CO2 concentrations double.'

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