Comment Re:Nothing new (Score 1) 72
How?!
Comment Re:Nothing new (Score 2) 72
>we had 487 chips rewired to run as 486 etc.pp..
That's impossible. The 487SXs were ALREADY fully wired DX chips, that took over ALL CPU processing once it was installed.
Also, there was no need of course for a 487DX, as the 486DX included a math coprocessor already.
As per wikipedia:
"The i487SX (P23N) was marketed as a floating-point unit coprocessor for Intel i486SX machines. It actually contained a full-blown i486DX implementation. When installed into an i486SX system, the i487 disabled the main CPU and took over all CPU operations. The i487 took measures to detect the presence of an i486SX and would not function without the original CPU in place"
Submission + - Over 70% of Seagate Central NAS Hard-Drives Infected with Malware (softpedia.com)
An anonymous reader writes: A new malware family has infected over 70% of all Seagate Central NAS devices connected to the Internet. The malware, named Miner-C or PhotoMiner, uses these hard-drives as an intermediary point to infect connected PCs and install software that mines for the Monero cryptocurrency. The hard-drives are easy to infect because Seagate does not allow users to delete or deactivate a certain "shared" folder when the device is exposed to the Internet. Over 5,000 Seagate Central NAS devices are currently infected. The crooks made over $86,000 from Monero mining so far.
Submission + - This Chinese Router Is Depressingly Insecure and Downright Evil (softpedia.com)
An anonymous reader writes: A Wi-Fi router manufactured and sold only in China can easily run for the title of "most insecure router ever made." The BHU router, whose name translates to "Tiger Will Power," has a long list of security problems that include: four authentication bypass flaws (of which one is just hilarious); a built in backdoor root account that gets created on every boot-up sequence; the fact that it opens the SSH port for external connections after every boot (somebody has to use that root backdoor account right?); a built-in proxy server that re-routes all traffic; an ad injection system that adds adverts to all the sites you visit; and a backup JS file embedded in the router firmware if the ad script fails to load from its server. For techies, there's a looong technical write-up, which gets funnier and scarier at the same time as you read through it.
Submission + - SPAM: Alzheimer's gene already shrinking brain by age of three
schwit1 writes: The Alzheimer’s gene, which dramatically raises the risk of developing dementia, is already affecting carriers by the age of three, shrinking their brains and lowering cognition, a new study suggests.
Children who carry the APOEe4 gene mutation , which raises the chance of dementia by 15 fold, were found to do less well in memory, attention and function tests.
Areas of the brain affected by Alzheimer’s disease, such as the hippocampus and parietal gyri, were also found to be up to 22 per cent smaller in volume.
Link to Original Source
Children who carry the APOEe4 gene mutation , which raises the chance of dementia by 15 fold, were found to do less well in memory, attention and function tests.
Areas of the brain affected by Alzheimer’s disease, such as the hippocampus and parietal gyri, were also found to be up to 22 per cent smaller in volume.
Link to Original Source
Submission + - The AI 'Top Gun' that can beat the military's best (dailymail.co.uk)
schwit1 writes: The Artificial intelligence (AI) developed by a University of Cincinnati doctoral graduate was recently assessed by retired USAF Colonel Gene Lee — who holds extensive aerial combat experience as an instructor and Air Battle Manager with considerable fighter aircraft expertise.
He took on the software in a simulator.
Lee was not able to score a kill after repeated attempts. He was shot out of the air every time during protracted engagements, and according to Lee, is 'the most aggressive, responsive, dynamic and credible AI I've seen to date.'
And why is the US still throwing money at the F35, unless it can be flown without pilots.
He took on the software in a simulator.
Lee was not able to score a kill after repeated attempts. He was shot out of the air every time during protracted engagements, and according to Lee, is 'the most aggressive, responsive, dynamic and credible AI I've seen to date.'
And why is the US still throwing money at the F35, unless it can be flown without pilots.
Comment Re:This must be why paternity tests are illegal (Score 1) 282
No the best option is really simple. Have a mandatory paternity test at each birth, which verifies if the male partner involved is really the father. If a woman has a child and KNOWINGLY claims that anyone other than the biological father is the biological father -- then this is a clear case of fraud. I'm not sure how it could be seen any other way.
Comment Re:PT Barnum was right (Score 1) 264
Right -- but if users love it -- especially when they love it versus your next two versions -- why not support it for the next 20 years? Its not like the kernel of Windows 7 and Windows 10 are radically different. Fundamentally the biggist issue with every Windows upgrade after 98 (where we went to Win2k, and then WinXp, and then
Support Windows 7 until it has 5% Windows market share, and (as a company Microsoft should) then challenge yourself to make a new Windows release that finally makes people WANT to upgrade....
Submission + - Germany fires up bizarre new fusion reactor (sciencemag.org)
insitus writes: On 10 December, Germany’s new Wendelstein 7-X stellarator was fired up for the first time, rounding off a construction effort that took nearly 2 decades and cost €1 billion. Initially and for the first couple of months, the reactor will be filled with helium—an unreactive gas—so that operators can make sure that they can control and heat the gas effectively. At the end of January, experiments will begin with hydrogen in an effort to show that fusing hydrogen isotopes can be a viable source of clean and virtually limitless energy.
Submission + - Top Democratic senator will seek legislation to 'pierce' through encryption (dailydot.com)
Patrick O'Neill writes: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) will seek legislation requiring the ability to "pierce" through encryption to allow American law enforcement to read protected communications with a court order. She told the Senate Judiciary committee on Wednesday that she would seek a bill that would give police armed with a warrant based on probable cause the ability to read encrypted data. "I have concern about a PlayStation that my grandchildren might use," she said, "and a predator getting on the other end, and talking to them, and it's all encrypted. I think there really is reason to have the ability, with a court order, to be able to get into that."
Submission + - Lessons From a Decade of IT Failures - IEEE Spectrum (ieee.org)
mixed_signal writes: IEEE Spectrum has an online set of articles, or "lessons," on why big IT projects have failed, including analysis of the impacts of failed systems and the life cycles of failed projects. From the summary: "To commemorate the last decade’s worth of failures, we organized and analyzed the data we’ve collected. We cannot claim—nor can anyone, really—to have a definitive, comprehensive database of debacles. Instead, from the incidents we have chronicled, we handpicked the most interesting and illustrative examples of big IT systems and projects gone awry and created the five interactives featured here. Each reveals different emerging patterns and lessons. Dive in to see what we’ve found. One big takeaway: While it’s impossible to say whether IT failures are more frequent now than in the past, it does seem that the aggregate consequences are worse."
Submission + - The UK's war on porn: turning ISPs into parents (spiked-online.com)
SMABSA writes: With British Prime Minister David Cameron announcing plans for porn users to be required to register their bank account/debit card as a means of age verification — Spiked-Online writer Stephen Beard explores the privacy implications, technical feasibility and motivations of such a plan.
Submission + - Thanks to the Montreal Protocol, we avoided severe ozone depletion (techienews.co.uk)
hypnosec writes: Concentrations of ozone depleting chemicals was at its peak in 1993, but over the years they have declined and a new research points out that the Montreal Protocol, which came into force in 1987, has played a major role in not only ensuring that use of these chemicals is reduced, but has also helped us avoid a severe ozone depletion.
Submission + - The Machines Are Coming
HughPickens.com writes: Zeynep Tufekci writes in an op-ed at the NYT that machines can now process regular spoken language and not only recognize human faces, but also read their expressions. Machines can classify personality types, and have started being able to carry out conversations with appropriate emotional tenor. Machines are getting better than humans at figuring out who to hire, who’s in a mood to pay a little more for that sweater, and who needs a coupon to nudge them toward a sale. It turns out that most of what we think of as expertise, knowledge and intuition is being deconstructed and recreated as an algorithmic competency, fueled by big data. "Machines aren’t used because they perform some tasks that much better than humans, but because, in many cases, they do a “good enough” job while also being cheaper, more predictable and easier to control than quirky, pesky humans," writes Tufekci. "Technology in the workplace is as much about power and control as it is about productivity and efficiency."
According to Tufekci technology is being used in many workplaces: to reduce the power of humans, and employers’ dependency on them, whether by replacing, displacing or surveilling them. Optimists insist that we’ve been here before, during the Industrial Revolution, when machinery replaced manual labor, and all we need is a little more education and better skills but Tufekci says that one historical example is no guarantee of future events. "Confronting the threat posed by machines, and the way in which the great data harvest has made them ever more able to compete with human workers, must be about our priorities," concludes Tufekci. "This problem is not us versus the machines, but between us, as humans, and how we value one another."
According to Tufekci technology is being used in many workplaces: to reduce the power of humans, and employers’ dependency on them, whether by replacing, displacing or surveilling them. Optimists insist that we’ve been here before, during the Industrial Revolution, when machinery replaced manual labor, and all we need is a little more education and better skills but Tufekci says that one historical example is no guarantee of future events. "Confronting the threat posed by machines, and the way in which the great data harvest has made them ever more able to compete with human workers, must be about our priorities," concludes Tufekci. "This problem is not us versus the machines, but between us, as humans, and how we value one another."
Submission + - 20-year-old Military Weather Satellite Apparently Exploded in Orbit (spacenews.com)
schwit1 writes: A 20-year-old U.S. military weather satellite apparently exploded on February 3 for no obvious reason.
The incident has put several dozen pieces of space junk into orbit.
The incident has put several dozen pieces of space junk into orbit.
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