Training a software program to play an ancient Chinese board game helped Google's DeepMind move artificial intelligence forward.Video provided by Newsy Newslook
Sunday, 1 May 2016
US Supreme Court approves expanded hacking powers
The US Supreme Court has approved a rule change that could allow law enforcement to remotely search computers around the world.
Previously, magistrate judges could order searches only within the jurisdiction of their court, often limited to a few counties.
The US Department of Justice (DoJ) said the change was necessary to modernise the law for the digital age.
But digital rights groups say the move expands the FBI's hacking authority.
The DoJ wants judges to be able to issue remote search warrants for computers located anywhere that the United States claims jurisdiction, which could include other countries.
A remote search typically involves trying to access a suspect's computer over the internet to explore the data contained on it.
It has pushed for a change in the rules since 2013, arguing that criminals can mask their location and identity online making it difficult to determine which jurisdiction a computer is located in.
'Only mechanism available'
"Criminals now have ready access to sophisticated anonymising technologies to conceal their identity while they engage in crime over the internet," said DoJ spokesman Peter Carr.
"The use of remote searches is often the only mechanism available to law enforcement to identify and apprehend them.
"The amendment makes explicit that it does not change the traditional rules governing probable cause and notice."
It said the change would not give law enforcement any new authority not already permitted by law.
However, groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have warned that the change could expand the FBI's ability to conduct mass hacks on computer networks.
'Thousands of millions of computers'
"Such a monumental change in the law should not be snuck by Congress under the guise of a procedural rule," said Neema Singh Guliani of the ACLU.
In 2015, search giant Google also opposed the change, which, it said, "threatens to undermine the privacy rights and computer security of internet users".
Oregon Senator Ron Wyden said the change had "significant consequences for Americans' privacy", and said he would seek to reverse the decision.
"Under the proposed rules, the government would now be able to obtain a single warrant to access and search thousands or millions of computers at once; and the vast majority of the affected computers would belong to the victims, not the perpetrators, of a cybercrime," he said in a statement.
Congress can still opt to reject or modify the changes to the federal rules of criminal procedure - but if it does not act by 1 December the change will take effect.
Google CEO: 'Devices' will be things of the past
Pichai's letter touched on numerous priorities for Google, from improving search in the mobile age to the intensifying focus on cloud computing to compete with Amazon and Microsoft. But the overriding theme was the power of artificial intelligence.
Essentially Google envisions a super-smart assistant who will supply information to help with everyday tasks no matter what screen you are using, be it a phone, a watch or the dashboard in your car.
"You should be able to move seamlessly across Google services in a natural way, and get assistance that understands your context, situation, and needs— all while respecting your privacy and protecting your data," Pichai wrote in the letter.
Jackdaw Research analyst Jan Dawson says Google is playing up its role in the new way people will interact with technology, from focusing on one device to moving between a plethora of devices to access information in the cloud.
Google is also playing down the role it does not play, Dawson said. "Google is fundamentally not a device company, but there are at least half a dozen other references to devices in the letter and it's clear that devices are going to continue to have a fundamental role in our futures," he said.
This marks the first time anyone other than founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin has penned the annual letter outlining Google's mission.
Page and Brin wrote their first founders' letter in 2004 in which they famously warned: "Google is not a conventional company. We do not intend to become one."
The hand-off comes after last summer's sweeping reorganization that formed the parent company Alphabet and put Pichai in charge of Google. The new corporate structure was created to make the technology giant more innovative by separating Google's dominant search and advertising business from "moonshots" such as driverless cars and speedy Internet access.
"Since the majority of our big bets are in Google, I wanted to give him most of the bully-pulpit to reflect on Google’s accomplishments and share his vision,” Page wrote in an introduction.
Pichai picked up the founders' mantle, embracing Google's longstanding mission "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful."
"For us, technology is not about the devices or the products we build. Those aren't the end-goals," Pichai wrote in the letter posted Thursday. "Technology is a democratizing force, empowering people through information. Google is an information company. It was when it was founded, and it is today."
Why Seagate Technology PLC Stock Tumbled Today
The hard drive company is facing a weak demand environment, which wiped out its profits during the third quarter.
What: Shares of hard disk drive manufacturer Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) tumbled on Friday following the company's fiscal third-quarter report. Seagate's earnings came in well below analyst expectations, driven by a steep drop in revenue and a less-steep drop in expenses. At 10:45 a.m. ET the stock was down about 15%.
What: Shares of hard disk drive manufacturer Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) tumbled on Friday following the company's fiscal third-quarter report. Seagate's earnings came in well below analyst expectations, driven by a steep drop in revenue and a less-steep drop in expenses. At 10:45 a.m. ET the stock was down about 15%.
So what: Seagate reported quarterly revenue of $2.6 billion, down 22.1% year over year and in line with analyst expectations. A weak PC market, which saw shipments slump 11.5% during the first calendar quarter, as well as the growing attractiveness of solid state drives, drove down demand for Seagate's products.
Seagate reported non-GAAP EPS of $0.22, down from $1.08 during the prior-year period and $0.15 below the average analyst estimate. On a GAAP basis, Seagate reported a loss of $0.07 per share, down from a gain of $0.88 per share during the prior-year period. Total expenses declined by 14% year over year, far slower than revenue, while Seagate's GAAP gross margin tumbled to 20.2%, down from 28.7% during the same period last year.
Now what: Despite the weak results, Seagate maintained its generous quarterly dividend of $0.63 per share. CEO Steve Luczo pointed to the long-term picture. "Our quarterly results fell short of our expectations as a result of several near-term demand factors. Despite these challenges, we believe we have the product portfolio, technology roadmap and operational leverage to ensure we are well-positioned for long-term success. Accordingly, we are aggressively working to position Seagate to respond to new demand levels and are committed to ongoing financial discipline."
For the fourth quarter, Seagate expects revenue to decline to $2.3 billion, representing a 21.4% year-over-year drop. Analysts expected revenue of $2.61 billion. With a very challenging environment for Seagate erasing the company's profits, and with no relief expected anytime soon, investors are running away from the hard drive manufacturer.
A secret billion-dollar stock opportunityThe world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early-in-the-know investors! To be one of them, just click here.
Friday, 26 February 2016
NASA photos shows Pluto's North Pole region
OK,
On Thursday, NASA released a color photo captured by their New
Long canyons can be seen running vertically across the polar area. The widest of the canyons is about 45 miles wide and runs close to the north pole.
The degraded walls of these canyons appear to be much older than the more sharply defined canyon systems elsewhere on Pluto, perhaps because the polar canyons are older and made of weaker material. These canyons also appear to represent evidence for an ancient period of tectonics.
A shallow, winding valley runs the entire length of the canyon floor. Many other valleys run nearby.
Long canyons can be seen running vertically across the polar area. The widest of the canyons is about 45 miles wide and runs close to the north pole. (Photo: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI)
Large, irregularly-shaped pits are 45 miles across and 2.5 miles deep. These pits may show locations where subsurface ice may have melted from below, collapsing the ground.
Also, the color and composition of this region are unusual. High elevations show up in a distinctive yellow, not seen elsewhere on Pluto. The yellowish terrain fades to a uniform bluish gray at lower elevations and latitudes. New Horizons' infrared measurements show methane ice is abundant in the area, and there is relatively little nitrogen ice.
“One possibility is that the yellow terrains may correspond to older methane deposits that have been more processed by solar radiation than the bluer terrain,” Will Grundy, New Horizons composition team lead from
The dwarf planet may look like it has nothing in common with Earth, but new images from NASA show Pluto has blue skies and patches of icy water.
In this extended color image of Pluto taken by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, rounded and bizarrely textured mountains, informally named the Tartarus Dorsa, rise up along Pluto’s day-night terminator and show intricate but puzzling patterns of blue-gray ridges and reddish material in between
High-resolution images of Pluto taken by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft just before closest approach on July 14, 2015, are the sharpest images to date of Pluto’s varied terrain—revealing details down to scales of 270 meters. In this 75-mile section of the taken from the larger, high-resolution mosaic above, the textured surface of the plain surrounds two isolated ice mountains.
NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft captured this high-resolution enhanced color view of Pluto on July 14, 2015. The image combines blue, red and infrared images taken by the Ralph/Multispectral Visual Imaging Camera (MVIC). Pluto’s surface sports a remarkable range of subtle colors, enhanced in this view to a rainbow of pale blues, yellows, oranges, and deep reds
In the center of this 300-mile (470-kilometer) wide image of Pluto from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is a large region of jumbled, broken terrain on the northwestern edge of the vast, icy plain informally called Sputnik Planum, to the right. The smallest visible features are 0.5 miles (0.8 kilometers) in size. This image was taken as New Horizons flew past Pluto on July 14, 2015, from a distance of 50,000 miles (80,000 kilometers).
Fake girlfriend, revisited
Three years ago, I hired a fake girlfriend.
Sophia, as she called herself, charged $5 (£3.50) a week to be in a relationship with me on Facebook.
She'd leave messages, laugh at my hilarious status updates and, most important of all, change her relationship status to say we were an item.
As an experiment, I tried to see if my friends would be duped by this arrangement, one which I could describe only as a form of escorting - although strictly online only.
After a long week, I came clean to both my friends and Sophia.
I told them it was all a joke, and I nervously told her I was a journalist.
Thankfully, she was up for a chat.
"The whole Sophia thing is just my marketing username," she said.
"Nothing on that Facebook profile is real. My photos on there are really me, but nothing else is."
She said she was doing it to save money so she could go away and study.
'Thousands of users'
But that was 2013, and this is now. Has fake girlfriend tech moved on?
While browsing Product Hunt, a great site that highlights new apps and ideas, I recently spotted an intriguing service called Invisible Girlfriend.
It promised me the chance to sign up and create my perfect girlfriend, and soon I'd start getting text messages from her so I could impress all of my friends.
"My cofounder had the idea for years," said Kyle Tabor, the site's chief executive, in an email.
"He mainly needed a fake girlfriend to get his parents off his back after he was divorced."
It works like this. You pick from one of six broad personality types - because there are only six types of women in the world, you understand. Rejecting "saucy and sarcastic" I went with "lovingly nerdy".
Faced with a stock photo library of about 30 people, I picked out a picture of a pretty brunette. I should, apparently, save it to my phone to show my friends later.
After a selecting a few standard interests - "lower league English football" wasn't available - I was then given help concocting a convincing back story. We met at an office party, and she's the girl of my dreams.
Her name? That was left to a name generator.
Mum, Dad... meet Alma Doris Brakus.
I guessed I'd have to get used to it.
'my skin. lol'
Time to get down to some serious pro-flirting via text.
Feel free to take notes.
"Hi Alma, what are you up to?" I offered, sultrily.
A few minutes later, she replied: "Not much, early day at work so I'm home already. What about you?"
Bored already? Me too. But that's what makes this service more interesting than I'd first assumed.
I thought this would essentially be a sex line. So if I said: "What are you up to?", the answer would be an attempt at sexiness, like: "Ooh, I'm all alone ;);)" and so forth.
Yet the service seems to strive to be somewhat unsexy, almost mundane - like real life. I half expected her to ask me to pick up some milk on the way home.
That authenticity is helped by the fact that the texts are written by real people, a team of "real anonymous humans" replying to every message.
My cagey attempts to inject a bit of rudeness fell flat. The raunchiest exchange being: "What's the sexiest thing you could wear?" met with: "My skin lol. Or a skirt".
"Can you send me a pic of yourself?" I asked, only to get "O->-<" in return. That's an emoticon of a person lying down, in case you can't tell.
I'd have pushed it further, but the thought of some "real anonymous" bloke texting me back made me feel strange.
50/50
To sum up: a ludicrous, pathetic idea, that no-one would possibly take seriously. Or so I thought.
"We have had thousands of users pay for the service," Mr Tabor told me.
"It's about 50/50 between the text only and the full suite."
You read that right. People pay for this (according to Mr Tabor at least).
If you just want text messages, it costs $15 a month. The full suite is $25, and you get voicemails and all sorts for that.
The service isn't just for fake girlfriends, either. The site also lets women, or gay men, sign up and have a fake boyfriend. And what Mr Tabor said next surprised me the most.
"Actually, over 60% of our accounts choose boyfriends."
Keeping up appearances
Consider me baffled. Why would anyone want or need this?
"Several reasons," Mr Tabor said.
"Get parents off your back, get a co-worker to stop hitting on you, make an ex jealous, or maybe just to practice flirting."
His team takes the illusion responsibility seriously.
I wanted to use the image of my beloved Alma Doris in this article, but Mr Tabor politely asked that I didn't, on the off-chance it might blow someone else's cover story.
An extensive how-to guide contains tips such as how to talk about your girlfriend/boyfriend, what questions to expect from pushy friends, and common mistakes people make when lying through their teeth about an imaginary human. There's even a live chat function to ask for advice from the site's staff.
But in the end, I had to break up with Alma Doris.
"I'm moving to Yemen," I said. She didn't understand.
If this service seems sad to you, then don't laugh. Just be thankful. Many users, Mr Tabor said, used the service for companionship. Someone to text for a chat now and then.
Like Sophia in 2013, Invisible Girlfriend and Boyfriend is satisfying a need, and a harmless one at that.
If people are prepared to pay for a service, and others are prepared to provide it - then fine.
And for the record, the woman behind Sophia did go on to save enough to study. Late last year, she certified as a fully qualified dietician.
Tuesday, 23 February 2016
Samsung debuts its first VR camera, the Gear 360
There's no point in owning a virtual reality headset if there's nothing to watch or play.
Samsung -- which just launched its first consumer VR device -- wants to make sure that's never a problem.
On Sunday, the company showed off its first-ever consumer camera capable of taking 360-degree photos and videos, aptly named the Gear 360.
The Gear 360 is a small, white, orb-like gadget that fits in the palm of the hand. The camera weighs a little less than half a pound.
There are two lenses that can capture 195-degrees of vision in high-definition. Images and videos are stored to a microSD card (up to 128 GB in size) and can be transferred over Wi-Fi to a Samsung Galaxy phone to be stitched together.
The final product can be shared online (YouTube and Facebook (FB, Tech30) now support 360-degree videos), or viewed with a Gear VR headset.
The settings also seem easy to use (On, Off, Picture mode, Video mode, Record) and I like the fact that I can see a preview of the images before shooting.
Although VR has been touted by many as the next big thing, most industry analysts believe it will take about 10 years for the medium to catch on.
In a press briefing with reporters last week, Samsung executives noted that many video industries in the past "really came to life with user-generated content." Think home movies on VHS or YouTube videos.
Selling the Gear 360, then, is a way for Samsung to help spur the growth of VR and 360-degree video entertainment. The company even invited Facebook (FB, Tech30) CEO Mark Zuckerberg on stage during its presentation to help promote the VR partnership between the two firms.
But ultimately, the Gear 360 is mainly another way to help Samsung sell more of its flagship smartphones -- specifically the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, which also launched on Sunday.
The Gear 360 is similar to other point and shoot 360-degree cameras on the market, including theRicoh Theta S and Bublcam.
Samsung expects to start selling the Gear 360 in the second quarter. No details yet on pricing.
India's $4 smartphone: Too good to be true?
What's the real story behind India's $4 smartphone? Just days after launching with enormous buzz, a cutting-edge device with a rock-bottom price is being blasted by industry officials and analysts.
Ringing Bells unveiled its Freedom 251 smartphone on Wednesday, touting features that included a 4-inch display, 1.3-GHz quad-core processor and 8 GB of storage.
The "made-in-India" product was listed for just 251 rupees ($3.65), a price with the potential to revolutionize India's devices market and make Internet access affordable for tens of millions of people.
One problem: Industry insiders say the deal is too good to be true.
"This seems to be a joke or a scam. It is something we are very upset about," said Pankaj Mohindroo, national president of the Indian Cellular Association. "This is being investigated by various government authorities."
In a letter to India's Minister for Communications and I.T., Mohindroo said that even when using the cheapest components, such a phone would cost at least 2700 rupees ($40) to produce. After counting taxes and duties, the price should be at least 3500 rupees ($52).
Richard Windsor, an analyst at Edison Investment Research, was also skeptical. He calculated that at the announced price, Ringing Bells will lose $26 on each device sold.
"This launch has generated a lot of waves, and we suspect that either after the first batch has been sold, the price goes up to $53 per device or that the company quietly disappears," he said. "There is no way that these economics add up in the long term."
Ringing Bells did not respond to multiple phone calls and emails seeking comment.
A couple more warning signs: Journalists at the Freedom 251 launch event reported that white-out appeared to have been used to cover another brand on the sample phones they were allowed to test. Photos from the event also show that the phone's home screen icons have been ripped straight from Apple's iOS, an obvious copyright violation.
So what's going on? Windsor has a few theories: The Indian government could be subsidizing the smartphone; a manufacturer could be dumping phones that failed safety tests; or a Chinese company eager to enter the Indian market could be selling phones for cheap.
Ringing Bells has stated publicly that the phones will be made in India with no government subsidies. However, the prototypes passed around at the launch event resembled a model sold by Adcom. Adcom is an Indian company that imports tech products, but does not manufacture them, suggesting that the phones are actually from a foreign market, most likely China.
Ringing Bells said Thursday that it had stopped accepting orders after its website crashed due to intense traffic. The company has promised to deliver the Freedom 251 to customers by the end of June.
Obama's failing record on drones: Column
In 2014, I served as project director for the
A year and a half later, there has been little progress in achieving these goals. In fact, when viewed as a report card with a letter grade of “A” representing a completed goal and “F” representing no discernable progress made, the administration’s grade card is underwhelming — filled with C’s, D’s, and F’s. Notably, the administration receives a failing grade in the category of developing more robust oversight and accountability mechanisms for targeted strikes outside of traditional battlefields due to the administration’s continued opposition to release pertinent information on the justifications underlying the U.S. drone program and lack of an independent commission to review U.S. lethal drone policy. Additionally, several categories receive a grade of “Unknown” — including the recommendation to conduct a strategic review and cost-benefit analysis of the role of lethal drones in targeted counterterrorism strikes — due to the secrecy surrounding the drone program. But there are brighter spots, particularly with regard to some progress on a new export policy as well as steps toward adopting rules and regulations for the use of drones in U.S. airspace.
With less than a year left to make final policy changes, the administration would do well to focus on ensuring that the drone program is viewed with greater confidence globally, sets a positive precedent and helps develop appropriate international norms and standards. President Obama could take three meaningful steps during his remaining time in office to fulfill these goals.
First, to support calls for greater transparency, the administration should release, in full, the Presidential Policy Guidance on “U.S. Policy Standards and Procedures for the
Similarly, the administration should provide the domestic and international legal framework for the U.S. drone program, including the release of the legal memosundertaken by the
Microsoft Surface Pro 5 to be launched in October 2016: Report
NEW DELHI: Microsoft Surface Pro 5 will reportedly be launched in October this year as an update to last year's Surface Pro 4.
The hybrid tablet is said to be priced at $899 for the entry-level model, with models featuring beefier specs expected to cost $999 and $1,599.
According to a report by online publication MNR Daily, Microsoft plans to address one of the big concerns of Surface Pro 4 users with the next edition in the series: battery life.
Users have reportedly said that the battery of Surface Pro 4 lasts just 3 hours, instead of the 9 hours claimed by Microsoft. Battery is also drained when the device is in Sleep Mode. Microsoft later resolved the issues with updates.
It is said that the company aims to ensure that the problem does not crop up with the Surface Pro 5.
Zuckerberg is 'sympathetic' to Apple in its clash with FBI
Facebook's chief executive has said he is sympathetic to Apple's position in its clash with the FBI.
The FBI has ordered Apple to disable the security software on a dead murderer's iPhone but the tech giant has refused.
Mark Zuckerberg said he did not believe the authorities should have backdoors to bypass encryption protection.
However, a lawyer representing some of the gunman's victims has backed the federal bureau.
Stephen Larson, a former judge, said he intended to file legal paperwork next month telling Apple to co-operate.
"They were targeted by terrorists, and they need to know why, how this could happen," he added.
He declined to say how many of the victims he was representing, but did add that he would not be charging them a fee.
'Pretty sympathetic'
Mr Zuckerberg made his comments at the Mobile World Congress tech show in Barcelona.
"I don't think that requiring back doors to encryption is either going to be an effective thing to increase security or is really the right thing to do," he said.
"We are pretty sympathetic to Tim [Cook] and Apple."
He added that Facebook was committed to doing all it could to prevent terrorism but his company was in favour of encryption.
The social network had previously issued a statement saying that the court order could create a "chilling precedent".
Leaders at Google and Twitter also voiced support for Apple last week.
'Justice'
Fourteen people were killed and 22 injured when gunman Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik opened fire in California last December.
Apple's chief executive Tim Cook has described the FBI's order as "dangerous" and "unprecedented".
He has said the firm would have to build a new operating system in order to comply.
"We strongly believe the only way to guarantee that such a powerful tool isn't abused and doesn't fall into the wrong hands is to never create it," the firm stated in a Q&A on the Apple website.
'Following a lead'
In a statement published on Sunday, the FBI Director James Comey said the demand was "about the victims and justice".
"We simply want the chance, with a search warrant, to try to guess the terrorist's passcode without the phone essentially self-destructing and without it taking a decade to guess correctly," the FBI director wrote.
"That's it. We don't want to break anyone's encryption or set a master key loose on the land.
"Maybe the phone holds the clue to finding more terrorists. Maybe it doesn't. But we can't look the survivors in the eye, or ourselves in the mirror, if we don't follow this lead."
Last week anti-virus creator John McAfee offered to unlock the iPhone for the FBI.
"It will take us three weeks," he told Business Insider, adding that he would eat his shoe on television if his team failed.
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