Comment Came from Amateur Observers first. (Score 3, Insightful) 31
I believe that this was figured out in the amateur observer community before NASA confirmed it. I saw it go by in my twitter feed. Not sure I can find it now...
Comment Math says this is stupid (Score 1) 60
July-September quarter = 92 days.
950 incidents divided by 92 days divided by 78 stations = LESS THAN ONCE PER WEEK at each station.
Building a specialized tool for this is stupid.
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Submission + - Five Eyes governments, India, and Japan make new call for encryption backdoors (zdnet.com)
AmiMoJo writes: Members of the intelligence-sharing allianceFive Eyes, along with government representatives for Japan and India, have published a statement over the weekend calling on tech companies to come up with a solution for law enforcement to access end-to-end encrypted communications. The statement is the alliance's latest effort to get tech companies to agree to encryption backdoors. The Five Eyes alliance, comprised of the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, have made similar calls to tech giants in2018and2019, respectively. Just like before, government officials claim tech companies have put themselves in a corner by incorporating end-to-end encryption (E2EE) into their products.
If properly implemented, E2EE lets users have secure conversations — may them be chat, audio, or video — without sharing the encryption key with the tech companies. Representatives from the seven governments argue that the way E2EE encryption is currently supported on today's major tech platforms prohibits law enforcement from investigating crime rings, but also the tech platforms themselves from enforcing their own terms of service.
If properly implemented, E2EE lets users have secure conversations — may them be chat, audio, or video — without sharing the encryption key with the tech companies. Representatives from the seven governments argue that the way E2EE encryption is currently supported on today's major tech platforms prohibits law enforcement from investigating crime rings, but also the tech platforms themselves from enforcing their own terms of service.
Comment Re: Radioactive soil (Score 4, Informative) 180
Comment Re:Radioactive soil (Score 2, Informative) 180
It's not radioactive. When high-energy particles strike it, they break apart into lower-energy particles that are more harmful. So, you need enough shielding to catch the particles that break apart in the top layer of your shielding.
Comment Re:Radiation? (Score 2) 71
While radiation mostly results in transient errors, it can also cause latch-ups that blow a gate off of the die. For rad-hard equipment in space this is mitigated by silicon-on-insulator fabrication, so that you can't have a latch-up between the substrate and a silicon feature.
Comment Re:Dystopian Nightmare (Score 1) 87
We could have REAL ZOMBIES! YEAH!
:-)
I hear you. Going to be an interesting future, if we live.
Comment Re:Dystopian Nightmare (Score 5, Insightful) 87
Someone who broke their neck and was suffering from paralysis. You can control a chair or exoskeleton. People who can not hear today have cochlear implants, this is not all that different and might (eventually) work better. Or speak, or see. Other people who are disabled in various ways.
University of Michigan Study Advocates Ban of Facial Recognition in Schools (venturebeat.com) 18
University of Michigan researchers recently published a study showing facial recognition technology in schools has limited efficacy and presents a number of serious problems. From a report: The research was led by Shobita Parthasarathy, director of the university's Science, Technology, and Public Policy (STPP) program, and finds the technology isn't just ill-suited to security purposes, it can actively promote racial discrimination, normalize surveillance, and erode privacy while marginalizing gender nonconforming students.
The study follows the New York legislature's passage of a moratorium on the use of facial recognition and other forms of biometric identification in schools until 2022. The bill, a response to the Lockport City School District launching a facial recognition system, was among the first in the nation to explicitly regulate or ban use of the technology in schools. That development came after companies including Amazon, IBM, and Microsoft halted or ended the sale of facial recognition products in response to the first wave of Black Lives Matter protests in the U.S.
Submission + - Woz Turns 70th Birthday into Charity Event (wozbday.com)
NoMoreACs writes: Join Apple Computer inventor and co-Founder Steve Wozniak for "11 Days of Wozdom", a social media "Scavenger Hunt" featuring creative challenges that speak to the things he values most: Happiness, creativity, ingenuity and fun.
The challenges will officially begin on August 11th, but you can get a head start by going to WOZBDAY.COM for details.
The first challenge will be to help Woz spread the word about his birthday party and fundraiser on August 11th. All challenges will be due on August 21st at 11:59pm PDT. Challenge winners get special prizes!
Woz also stated:
"Iâ(TM)m lucky to be able to do this for a foundation oriented towards helping children, especially ones in need of finding themselves."
A livestream featuring a star-studded list of performers (see list at the birthday site) and other guests will begin on August 11, 2020 at 5 pm, PDT.
Come celebrate the life of one of the true pioneers in the Personal Computer Revolution. Listen to some music, hear some great stories, and maybe even help some kids in need!
The challenges will officially begin on August 11th, but you can get a head start by going to WOZBDAY.COM for details.
The first challenge will be to help Woz spread the word about his birthday party and fundraiser on August 11th. All challenges will be due on August 21st at 11:59pm PDT. Challenge winners get special prizes!
Woz also stated:
"Iâ(TM)m lucky to be able to do this for a foundation oriented towards helping children, especially ones in need of finding themselves."
A livestream featuring a star-studded list of performers (see list at the birthday site) and other guests will begin on August 11, 2020 at 5 pm, PDT.
Come celebrate the life of one of the true pioneers in the Personal Computer Revolution. Listen to some music, hear some great stories, and maybe even help some kids in need!
Comment Re:Web Pages Use Same Imaging Model (Score 1) 227
Oops. To continue: I'm just not seeing that it is so hard to access. But then, I use a Linux desktop, which has always come with a proper PDF renderer, there has never been a need to download "Acrobat".
Comment Web Pages Use Same Imaging Model (Score 1) 227
Web pages use SVG to render vector graphics. It uses the exact same imaging model as PDF and is implemented in all modern browsers. The web in general has taken a lot of lessons from Adobe because Warnock and Geshke, in the PostScript Red Book, got so much right about how to build an image model that many GUI developers are still learning today. If you start with a PDF, it should be possible to machine-translate it to SVG and present it as a web page.
PDF exists because it is trivial to generate it from the document renderer meant for printing. Although I have once in a while run into an improperly scaled PDF meant to be printed 8-up, I'm just not
Comment Re:Triangulation (Score 1) 132
I don't think there was any suggestion that the MIMO antennas would do any triangulation. The MIMO would be used to determine direction-only. I believe ping-and-response round trip time would be used to calculate distance.
Interesting note: You could spoof a greater distance by tweaking your own unit to delay responses, and you might be able to spoof a shorter distance if you could sufficiently predict the incoming signal.
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Comment Re: Pistons? (Score 1) 67
Lithium battery fires are in the news because they are new. There are many more gasoline fires every day.
Comment Pistons? (Score 1) 67
Pistons? We don't need no stinking pistons! Next thing, they'll be adding a bridle and a bit!
