This Is What Happens When You Let a Neural Network Design Fonts

Neural networks are increasingly taking on jobs that used to be the preserve of the human brain . So Erik Bernhardsson decided to see what would happen if he threw 50, 000 fonts at a neural network and left it to chew through them. The results, it turns out, are pretty interesting. Read more…

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This Is What Happens When You Let a Neural Network Design Fonts

Floating Bonsai trees are better than floating speakers

Floating things on magnets makes most things cooler. Bonsai trees are certainly no exception. Kickstarter project ” Air Bonsai ” combines together magnetic levitation, wee plants and traditional Japanese “monozukuri” (craftsmanship). Using the same magnetic floating trick we’ve seen in speakers , everything that the tree — or plant of your choosing — needs is contained within the floating ball. The team has already passed its goal of $80, 000 but you can still add to the money pot, with $200 enough to land you a basic starter kit. Because of the import issues of sending plants between countries, US-based backers will be receiving locally-sourced, tiny pine trees, but there’s nothing to stop you floating different tiny plants for your own bizarre anime dream. Depending on your aesthetic tastes, you can upgrade the “little star” floating orb, with a particularly attractive lava-stone pot at the top of our shopping list. There’s four designs for the “energy base” that maintains the magnetic field: all of which look classier than the chintzy speakers we’ve seen at tech trade shows. And if you’re feeling classy to the extent of $10, 000 , then you can get an exclusive handmade cushion, base and Bonsai “star”, as well as a tour of both a Bonsai garden and the workshop behind the project. Source: Kickstarter

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Floating Bonsai trees are better than floating speakers

7 Autonomous Vehicle Ideas That Need to Happen Now

Last week, President Obama announced plans to earmark a whopping $4 billion for autonomous vehicle research . These funds will be dispersed to pilot programs all over the country during the next decade—but where and how the money is spent will determine just how big a step forward Obama’s plan really is. Read more…

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7 Autonomous Vehicle Ideas That Need to Happen Now

California lawmaker wants to ban phone encryption in 2017

California lawmaker, State Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Elk Grove), has introduced a bill that would effectively ban the sale of mobile devices that have encryption on by default beginning in 2017. The bill, AB 1681 , demands that any phone sold after January 1, 2017 be “capable of being decrypted and unlocked by its manufacturer or its operating system provider.” Should this bill become law, manufacturers found in violation would be subject to fines of $2, 500 per phone. Cooper’s reasoning puts a novel spin on the same, tired “The police can’t do their jobs unless tech companies do it for them” argument. This time, he used human trafficking as the boogeyman that needs defeating and which can only be accomplished if the government has unfettered, disk-level access to its citizens’ cell phones. “If you’re a bad guy [we] can get a search record for your bank, for your house, you can get a search warrant for just about anything, ” Cooper told ArsTechnica . “For the industry to say it’s privacy, it really doesn’t hold any water. We’re going after human traffickers and people who are doing bad and evil things. Human trafficking trumps privacy, no ifs, ands, or buts about it.” Apparently human trafficking also trumps the 4th Amendment as well. Via: The Next Web Source: Ars Technica

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California lawmaker wants to ban phone encryption in 2017

The Foam Fins Covering This Wetsuit Let You Body Surf Without a Board

The next time you’re driving along the coast and admiring the waves, don’t feel bad about not packing a surfboard. The WaveWrecker wetsuit can be kept tucked away in a corner of your trunk at all times, and when the waves are ideal, it turns your body into its own surfboard. Read more…

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The Foam Fins Covering This Wetsuit Let You Body Surf Without a Board

Giant Voltron Drone Lifts 134 Pounds For a New World Record

Due to FAA regulations , drone are limited in size and power in the United States. But apparently not in Norway, which is now the home of a new record-setting superdrone called the Megakopter that recently snagged a Guinness World Record for hoisting just shy of 134.5 pounds. Read more…

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Giant Voltron Drone Lifts 134 Pounds For a New World Record

NYC’s New Public Wifi Is Obscenely Fast

Today, the first of New York City’s public, gigabit wifi hotspots opened to the public. I tried them, so take it from me: They’re insanely fast. How fast? Fast enough that Starbucks’ free internet is about to get killed. Read more…

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NYC’s New Public Wifi Is Obscenely Fast

Apple, Samsung and Sony Linked to Child Labor Claims in Cobalt Mines 

A new report by Amnesty International claims that Apple, Samsung and Sony are consistently failing to perform the basic checks which are required to ensure that mining operations for essential minerals do not take advantage of child labor. Read more…

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Apple, Samsung and Sony Linked to Child Labor Claims in Cobalt Mines 

GE’s New $10,000 App-Powered Pizza Oven Is My American Dream

Imagine a world where pizza didn’t come from the pizza store. Imagine if you could pop down into your spacious kitchen, toss some toppings on dough, and throw it all into your very own internet-connected pizza oven. This future is finally possible— but it’s expensive . Read more…

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GE’s New $10,000 App-Powered Pizza Oven Is My American Dream