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Submission + - How Ray Kurzweil Will Help Google Make the Ultimate AI Brain (wired.com)

Submitted by anavictoriasaavedra
anavictoriasaavedra writes: Over at Wired there's an interesting interview with Ray Kurzweill. He speculates the gap between natural language and computer understanding of it will be closed by 2029. When asked if the problem can be reduced to hardware and software, Kurzweill replies: 'There are both hardware and software requirements. I believe we actually are very close to having the requisite software techniques. Partly this is being assisted by understanding how the human brain works, and we’re making exponential gains there. We can now see inside a living brain and see individual inter-neural connections being formed and firing in real time. We can see your brain create your thoughts and thoughts create your brain. A lot of this research reveals how the mechanism of the neocortex works, which is where we do our thinking. This provides biologically inspired methods that we can emulate in our computers. We’re already doing that. Using these biologically inspired models, plus all of the research that’s been done over the decades in artificial intelligence, combined with exponentially expanding hardware, we will achieve human levels within two decades'.

Submission + - DHS deep packet security system raises serious privacy issues (networkworld.com)

Submitted by coondoggie
coondoggie writes: To protect the federal civilian agencies against cyberthreats, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is preparing to deploy a more powerful version of its EINSTEIN intrusion-detection system that’s supposed to detect attacks and malware, especially associated with e-mail. But since this version of EINSTEIN is acknowledged by DHS to be able to read electronic content, it’s raising privacy concerns.

Submission + - Israel Airport Security Allowed to Read Tourists' Email (securityweek.com) 1

Submitted by wiredmikey
wiredmikey writes: According to Israeli security officials at Ben Gurion airport are legally allowed to demand access to tourists' email accounts and deny them entry if they refuse, the country's top legal official said on Wednesday.

Details of the policy were laid out by Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein in a written response to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), the group said in a statement. "In a response dated April 24, 2013, the attorney general's office confirmed this practice," ACRI said, quoting sections of the document which said it was only done in exceptional cases where "relevant suspicious signs" were evident and only done with the tourist's "consent".

"Allowing security agents to take such invasive measures at their own discretion and on the basis of such flimsy 'consent' is not befitting of a democracy," commented Lila Margalit from ACRI.

Submission + - What's actually wrong with DRM in HTML5? (freeculture.org)

Submitted by kxra
kxra writes: The Free Culture Fondation has posted a thorough response to the most common and misinformed defenses of the W3C's Extended Media Extensions (EME) proposal to inject DRM into HTML5. They join the EFF and FSF in a call to send a strong message to the W3C that DRM in HTML5 undermines the W3C’s self-stated mission to make the benefits of the Web “available to all people, whatever their hardware, software, network infrastructure, native language, culture, geographical location, or physical or mental ability.” The FCF counters the three most common myths by unpacking some quotes which explain that 1. DRM is not about protecting copyright. That is a straw man. DRM is about limiting the functionality of devices and selling features back in the form of services. Second, that DRM in HTML5 doesn’t obsolete proprietary, platform-specefic browser plug-ins; it encourages them. And third, that the Web doesn’t need big media; big media needs the Web.

Submission + - Kenneth Appel Remembered For Four Color Theorem (i-programmer.info)

Submitted by mikejuk
mikejuk writes: Kenneth Appel (1932-2013) together with Wolfgang Haken, proved the four color theorem and broke new ground in using a computer to complete the proof. For the first time a computer played a major role in proving a major mathematical theorem.This was not a proof that was liked by all mathematicians. The use of the computer resulted in a proof that could not be checked by an unaided human. It was a huge shock for many mathematicians at the time to have to move over and allow a computer to take part in mathematics. There was a feeling at the time, and perhaps there still is, that the proof was a temporary matter and soon a real mathematician would step up and provide a "real" proof. Even today many mathematicians have their reservations about the proof and there have been attempts to simplify it, but so far they all involve computers. Mathematicians are still searching for something that would look more like an elementary proof.
Appel and Haken's proof may be the most controversial in mathematics but it also put the computer into pure mathematics.
Kenneth Appel died on April 19, 2013 at the age of 80.

Submission + - Aereo Ruling Could Impact Pandora (itworld.com)

Submitted by itwbennett
itwbennett writes: Aereo's court battles are far from over, to be sure, but the ruling earlier this month that the TV streaming service doesn't violate copyright laws must have the folks at music streaming service Pandora shaking their heads, wondering why they're still paying royalties that currently consume more than half their revenues. The implications of Aereo's business model are far-reaching and may ultimately 'be resolved by Congress, just as it did when cable first came on the scene, by passing legislation to redefine a public performance,' writes broadcast industry attorney David Oxenford.

Submission + - NASA lets us watch the Sun spin for 3 years in 4 minute video (geek.com) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Back in February 2010 NASA launched the Solar Dynamics Observatory–a 3-axis stabilized satellite and fully redundant spacecraft. The aim of the SDO is to monitor solar activity and see how that impacts space weather.

As part of its observations, the SDO captures an image of the Sun every 12 seconds using the onboard Atmospheric Imaging Assembly, but varies those shots across 10 different wavelengths. NASA has now collected 3 year’s worth of image data from the SDO and has put together a video letting us see the Sun spin in all its glory.

Submission + - Popular smartphone and free app used to get data from chip-enabled credit cards. (www.cbc.ca)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: CBC is reporting: Using a Samsung Galaxy SIII — one of the most popular smartphones available in Canada — and a free app downloaded from the Google Play store, CBC was able to read information such as a card number, expiry date and cardholder name simply holding the smartphone over a debit or credit card. And it could be done through wallets, pockets and purses.

Submission + - IBM robotic coworker will help engineers fix broken systems (networkworld.com)

Submitted by coondoggie
coondoggie writes: When it comes to fixing broken systems, especially in remote locations, engineers could soon turn to a new mobile robotic system IBM is developing that could help them more easily find the broken equipment, offer up information about the system and provide real-time visual support from supervising experts. The mobile maintenance, repair and operations prototype includes an application that lets a supervisor monitor an engineer's progress towards the maintenance site, and a robotic arm coupled with a camera system, a microphone and laser pointer.

Submission + - Seth MacFarlane is producing Carl Sagan's Cosmos, starring Neil deGrasse Tyson (wired.com)

Submitted by anavictoriasaavedra
anavictoriasaavedra writes: It's from 2012 but I just got a kick out of this. Seth MacFarlane is producing an updated version of Carl Sagan's Cosmos, starring Neil deGrasse Tyson. He also donated all of Carl Sagan's papers to the Library of Congress, so that everyone would be able to access and enjoy them ( http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2012/12-104.html )

Submission + - Sony launches Internet service offering twice the speed of Google Fiber

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Sony Japan has announced that its own Internet service provider So-net Entertainment has launched what is thought to be the world’s fastest Internet connection for home use in Japan with download speed of 2 Gbps on average. This sped is twice as fast as competing high-speed fiber connections in Japan. The ultra-fast connection, known as Nuro, will cost an inexpensive 4,980 yen ($51) per month- offering download speeds of 2 Gbps and uploads of up to 1 Gbps.

Submission + - Yandex Unveils Gesture Controlled Television (carbonated.tv)

Submitted by johnmarson
johnmarson writes: Yandex, often called the "homegrown Russian Google," is introducing a new feature: a screen controlled by hand gestures. The only requirement is that the screen is hooked up to the internet, which includes millions of televisions. The idea came from a new project to integrate content from facebook and instagram on home TV screens, but the problem was that televisions, for all their modern power, are still controlled with a TV remote control.
Using technology from Kinect (the controller-free, gesture controlled gaming system, proving once again that video games are good for progress), the Yandex team developed a system of simple gestures to control a screen from the comfort of your couch. Touchscreen interfaces are rapidly becoming the new normal, but the next step may be speaking sign language to our computers.

Submission + - Bill James (1984) on the Meaning of Data

Submitted by nightcats
nightcats writes: At msnbc.com, Craig Calcaterra quotes a nearly 30-year old piece by the original baseball sabermetrician Bill James, on the meaning and use of computer-generated data. Worth pondering by geeks and non-geeks alike:

There is, you see, no such thing as “computer knowledge” or “computer information” or “computer data.” Within a few years, everyone will understand that. The essential characteristics of information are that it is true or it is false, it is significant or it is trivial, it is relevant or it is irrelevant...Computers are going to have an impact on my life that is similar to the impact that the coming of the automobile age must have had on the professional traveler or adventurer. The car made it easier to get from place to place; the computer will make it easier to deal with information. But knowing how to drive an automobile does not make you an adventurer, and knowing how to run a computer does not make you an analytical student of the game.

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