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Submission + - Uber Plans To Kill Surge Pricing With Machine Learning (npr.org)

An anonymous reader writes: Surge pricing is a familiar term for any regular Uber rider — or driver. It's when you call an Uber, and the price of a ride is two, three, or four times more as a result of greater demand brought on by a sporting event or weather event nearby. For riders, it's an annoyance, but for drivers, it's a perk as it usually results in more pocket change. Inside Uber, surge pricing is considered a market failure, and a problem to be solved. "That's where machine learning comes in. That's where the next generation comes in," says Jeff Schneider, engineering lead at Uber Advanced Technologies Center. "Because now we can look at all this data, and we can start to make predictions." Everyone knows that when a Beyonce concert ends, for example, there's going to be a lot of demand for Uber drivers. Schneider explains, "[What's harder] is to find those Tuesday nights when it's not even raining and for some reason there's demand — and to know that's coming. That's machine learning." With enough of the right data inputs, computer algorithms can do the research that Uber drivers already do — only better, "so the surge pricing never even has to happen," Schneider says.

Submission + - Typing 'http://:' into a Skype message trashes the installation beyond repair (thestack.com)

An anonymous reader writes: A thread at Skype community forums [http://community.skype.com/t5/Windows-desktop-client/Critical-bug-Skype-7-4-85-102-simple-message-crush-client/td-p/3996419] has brought to light a critical bug in Microsoft’s Skype clients for Windows, iOs and Android — typing the incorrect URL initiator 'http://:' into a text message on Skype will crash the client so badly that it can only be repaired by installing an older version and awaiting a fix from Microsoft. The bug does not affect OSX or the 'Metro'-style Windows clients — which means, effectively, that Mac users could kill the Skype installations on other platforms just by sending an eight-character message.

Submission + - Features That Windows 10 Will Deprecate 1

jones_supa writes: Following the exciting news that Windows will be free for everyone currently on Windows 7 or 8.1, providing they upgrade within the first year, users should also be aware of a few features that will no longer work with Windows 10 after that upgrade. The features that will no longer work are taken from the official specifications page at Microsoft's Windows website. The good news is that in some cases alternatives are available. Prepare to say goodbye to: Media Center, out-of-the-box DVD playback and USB floppy support, desktop gadgets, deferring updates (Home edition), old versions of Windows games, and Windows Live Essentials version of OneDrive.

Submission + - Sourceforge Hijacks the Nmap Sourceforge Account (seclists.org) 2

vivaoporto writes: Gordon Lyon (better known as Fyodor, author of nmap and maintainer of the internet security resource sites insecure.org, nmap.org, seclists.org, and sectools.org) warns on the nmap development mailing list that the Sourceforge Nmap account was hijacked from him.

According to him the old Nmap project page (located at http://sourceforge.net/projects/nmap/, screenshot) was changed to a blank page and its contents were moved to a new page (http://sourceforge.net/projects/nmap.mirror/, screenshot) which controlled by sf-editor1 and sf-editor3, in pattern mirroring the much discussed the takeover of GIMP-Win page discussed last week on Ars Technica, IT World and eventually this week Slashdot.

That happens after Sourceforge promises to stop "presenting third party offers for unmaintained SourceForge projects. At this time, we present third party offers only with a few projects where it is explicitly approved by the project developer, or if the project is already bundling third party offers."

To their credit Fyodor states that "So far they seem to be providing just the official Nmap files (as long as you don't click on the fake download buttons) and we haven't caught them trojaning Nmap the way they did with GIMP" but reiterates "that you should only download Nmap from our official SSL Nmap site: https://nmap.org/download.html"

Submission + - Linux Kernel Switching To Linux v4.0, Coming With Many New Addons (phoronix.com)

An anonymous reader writes: Following polling on Linus Torvald's Google+ page, he's decided to make the next kernel version Linux 4.0 rather than Linux 3.20. Linux 4.0 is going to bring many big improvements besides the version bump with there being live kernel patching, pNFS block server support, VirtIO 1.0, IBM z13 mainframe support, new ARM SoC support, and many new hardware drivers and general improvements. Linux 4.0 is codenamed "Hurr durr I'ma sheep."

Submission + - Astronomers Identify the Sun's Long-Lost Sister 1

An anonymous reader writes: A team of researchers led by astronomer Ivan Ramirez of the University of Texas — Austin has identified the first 'sibling' of the sun, a star almost certainly born from the same cloud of gas and dust as our star. 'Astronomers had been observing the star for almost two decades without realizing it's the long-lost sister of the Sun. No doubt we have catalogued other solar siblings whose common heritage has yet to be discovered. Indeed, the UT team, lead by astronomer Ivan Ramirez, is confident that the identification of HD 162826 is just the beginning. “We want to know where we were born,” Ramirez said in a statement. “If we can figure out in what part of the galaxy the Sun formed, we can constrain conditions on the early solar system. That could help us understand why we are here.”'

Submission + - New French Law Prohibits After-Hours Work Emails

Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes: Lucy Mangan reports at The Guardian that a new labor agreement in France means that employees must ignore their bosses' work emails once they are out of the office and relaxing at home – even on their smartphones. Under the deal, which affects a million employees in the technology and consultancy sectors (including the French arms of Google, Facebook, and Deloitte), employees will also have to resist the temptation to look at work-related material on their computers or smartphones – or any other kind of malevolent intrusion into the time they have been nationally mandated to spend on whatever the French call la dolce vita. “We must also measure digital working time," says Michel De La Force, chairman of the General Confederation of Managers. "We can admit extra work in exceptional circumstances but we must always come back to what is normal, which is to unplug, to stop being permanently at work.” However critics say it will impose further red tape on French businesses, which already face some of the world's tightest labor laws. However according to Simon Kelner French productivity levels outstrip those of Britain and Germany, and French satisfaction with their quality of life is above the OECD average. "No wonder, we may say. We'd all like to take a couple of hours off for lunch, washed down with a nice glass of Côtes du Rhône, and then switch our phones off as soon as we leave work. It's just that our bosses won't let us."

Submission + - Canada halts online tax returns in wake of Heartbleed (networkworld.com)

alphadogg writes: Canada Revenue Agency has halted online filing of tax returns by the country's citizens following the disclosure of the Heartbleed security vulnerability that rocked the Internet this week. The country's Minister of National Revenue wrote in a Twitter message https://twitter.com/KerryLynne... on Wednesday that interest and penalties will not be applied to those filing 2013 tax returns after April 30, the last date for filing the returns, for a period equal to the length of the service disruption. The agency has suspended public access to its online services as a preventive measure to protect the information it holds, while it investigates the potential impact on tax payer information, it said.

Submission + - Windows 8.1 Update released, adds a vast amount of improvements for non-touch co

DroidJason1 writes: Microsoft has released the highly anticipated Windows 8.1 Update, adding numerous improvements for non-touch consumers based on feedback. It is also a required update for Windows 8.1, otherwise consumers will no get any future security updates after May 2014. Most of the changes in the update are designed to appease non-touch users, with options to show apps on the desktop taskbar, the ability to see show the taskbar above apps, and a new title bar at the top of apps with options to minimize, close, or snap apps.

Submission + - Stem-cell research funding institute is shuttered (nature.com)

An anonymous reader writes: The National Institutes of Health, the top funder of biomedical research in the U.S., has closed a program designed to bring induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) from the lab to the clinic. It has made no public mention of the closure, but the website has been deleted and Nature News reports that the center director, Mahendra Rao, resigned his post in frustration after the program allocated funds to only one clinical trial in its last round of fundingn.

Submission + - Samsung Claims Breakthrough In Graphene Chip Design (itworld.com)

jfruh writes: Graphene, a carbon-based crystalline lattice that is extremely strong, lightweight, and an excellent conductor of electricity and heat, is coveted as a potential base for semiconductor chip design, and Samsung, working with the Sungkyungkwan University School of Advanced Materials Science and Engineering, has claimed a big jump towards that goal. With IBM also making progress in this realm, the days of silicon could actually be numbered.

Submission + - German Wikipedia Has Problems With Paid Editing -- And Threats Of Violence 2

metasonix writes: As German journalist Marvin Oppong learned recently, there are a number of people who work to make articles about certain corporations and trade groups on German Wikipedia "look better". And when Oppong published his discoveries, one reaction was an openly violent threat, aimed at him, posted on de-WP's "Kurier" noticeboard. Just as with English Wikipedia, it is apparently a "terrible crime" to criticize German Wikipedia, even when Jimbo Wales's "bright line" rule on paid editing is being violated. Unlike English WP, the Germans will threaten to "curbstone" people for saying it.

Submission + - Pinterest Reveals its First Transparency Report

SmartAboutThings writes: There’s been a lot of brouhaha surrounding privacy these days, and despite the fact that Pinterest isn’t among the most targeted websites when it comes to government data requests, the company, which is said to have near 80 million users, has decided to make public its first ever transparency report. Given the nature of the service and the fact that it is much smaller than Facebook, it was only natural not to expect too many data requests. According to Pinterest’s report, from July to December 2013, the company has received only 7 warrants, 5 subpoenas, 1 civil subpoena, and 0 other requests about 13 user accounts. Compare that to Microsoft which has received more than 35,000 requests during the second half of last year while Facebook received somewhere around 15,000.

Submission + - SPAM: UK to associate with Germany for 5G

Niranjan Nallapothula writes: David Cameroon has announced a new agreement between United Kingdom and Germany to develop 5G Technology, as well as boost momentum for the Internet of Things.

Germany and Britain will collaborate and work for the development for future – super fast mobile network 5G, UK Prime Minister – David Cameroon’s speech at the opening of Europe’s Largest Technology show – CeBIT 2014. Germany primaryly focused on three factors, namely 5G and its benefits in future years (‘Download one full length movie in less than a second’), Internet of things and strengthening of EU Digital market.

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