Tag: credit

Bitcoin Fork Divides Community

HughPickens.com writes: The Bitcoin community is facing one of the most momentous decisions in its six-year history. The Bitcoin network is running out of spare capacity, and two increasingly divided camps disagree about what, if anything, to do about the problem. The technical issue is that a block, containing a record of recent transactions, currently has a 1MB limit. Increasing the block size would allow more transactions on the network at once, helping it to scale up to meet growing demand. But it would also make it more difficult for ordinary users to host full network “nodes” that validate new transactions on the network, potentially making the digital currency more centralized as a result. Now Rob Price writes that two high-profile developers have released a competing version of the codebase that risks splitting the digital currency in two. Gavin Andresen and Mike Hearn have released Bitcoin XT, an alternative version of the core software that supports increasing the block size when required. Bitcoin users will now be forced to decide between “Bitcoin Core” and Bitcoin XT, raising the prospect of a “fork, ” where the digital currency divides into two competing versions. According to Price, Core and XT are compatible right now. However, if XT is adopted by 75% of users by January 2016, it will upgrade to a larger block size that will be incompatible with Core — meaning that if the other 25% don’t then choose to convert, it will effectively split the currency into two. So far, 7.7% of the network has adopted XT, according to website XTnodes.com. “Ultimately, how the dispute is resolved may matter more than the specific decision that’s reached, ” says Timothy B. Lee. “If the community is ultimately able to reach a consensus, the process could become a template for resolving future disagreements. On the other hand, if disagreements fester for months — or, worse, if a controversial software change splits the Bitcoin network into two warring camps — it could do real damage to Bitcoin’s reputation.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

See the original article here:
Bitcoin Fork Divides Community

IBM wires up ‘neuromorphic’ chips like a rodent’s brain

IBM has been working with DARPA’s Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics ( SyNAPSE ) program since 2008 to develop computing systems that work less like conventional computers and more like the neurons inside your brain. After years of development, IBM has finally unveiled the system to the public as part of a three-week “boot camp” training session for academic and government researchers. The TrueNorth system, as it’s been dubbed, employs modular chips that act like neurons. By stringing multiple chips together researchers can essentially build an artificial neural network. The version that IBM just debuted contains about 48 million connections — roughly the same computing capacity as a rat’s brain — over an array of 48 chips. These systems are designed to run “deep learning” algorithms — similar to Facebook’s new facial recognition feature or Skype’s insta-translate function — but at a fraction of the cost, electrical draw and space needed by conventional data centers. For example, a TrueNorth chip contains 5.4 billion transistors but only uses 70 mw of power. An Intel processor, conversely contains just 1.4 billion transistors and draws between 35 and 140 watts. In fact, future iterations of the TrueNorth system could (theoretically at least) be shrunk small enough to fit inside cell phones or smart watches. These chips also hold an advantage over the GPUs (graphics chips) and FPGAs (function-specific programmable chips) that the industry currently uses because TrueNorth chips operate much the same way that the deep learning algorithms running on them do. With it, IBM hopes to eventually shift some of the computing power requirements away from traditional data centers and onto end user devices. This should speed up the computing process since data isn’t being sent back and forth over the network. Instead, companies could simply develop a deep learning model (say, to count the number of cars in a photo), upload it to a central data server and then have the model run on the user’s TrueNorth-enabled device. The system would be able to spot every car in the user’s image gallery without having to upload each photo to the remote server for processing. Unfortunately, the system is still in its infancy and years away from your phone. [Image Credit: IBM] Filed under: Google , Facebook Comments Via: Wired Source: IBM Tags: computing, deeplearning, facebook, FPGA, google, GPU, IBM, neuralnetwork, neuromorphic, Skype, SyNAPSE

See the original post:
IBM wires up ‘neuromorphic’ chips like a rodent’s brain

The Promise of 5G

An anonymous reader writes: From instant monitoring of leaking pipelines, to real-time worldwide collaboration, the increase in machine-to-machine communications that 5G allows will change the way we live. This TechCrunch article takes a look at the promise that 5G holds and its possibilities. From the article: “By 2030, 5G will transform and create many uses that we cannot even think of yet. We will live in a world that will have 10-100 times more Internet-connected devices than there are humans. Hundreds of billions of machines will be sensing, processing and transmitting data without direct human control and intervention.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Read More:
The Promise of 5G

FDA demands Kim Kardashian remove Instagram pill ad

The FDA sent Kim Kardashian a warning letter last week, demanding that she remove an Instagram post in which she endorsed a bottle of Diclegis morning sickness pills but failed to mention any of the potential side effects associated with the product. Kardashian is a paid promoter of the product, which is made by Duchesnay USA. Her post “misleadingly fails to provide material information about the consequences that may result from the use of the drug and suggests that it is safer than has been demonstrated, ” according to the FDA. While most of the effects that she failed to mention are relatively benign — such as drowsiness and interactions with alcohol or “excitement, irritability and sedation” in infants who breast feed from women taking the drug — one neglected fact is actually quite important: it’s never been tested for use with hyperemesis gravidarum, the most severe form of morning sickness. Faced with “FDA regulatory action, including seizure or injunction, without further notice, ” Kardashian has since deleted the post, though not before it gained 434, 000 likes. [Image Credit: GC Images] Filed under: Internet Comments Via: Salon Source: FDA Tags: Diclegis, drugs, FDA, instagram, Internet, kimkardashian, morningsickness, pregnancy, regulation

Originally posted here:
FDA demands Kim Kardashian remove Instagram pill ad

Skype for Business is coming to your mobile device

Two months after Microsoft launched Skype’s Business edition , which integrates into MS Office Calendar and allows for group messaging/video chats/calls for up to 250 people, the video conferencing company announced on Tuesday that a mobile version for both iOS and Android devices is in the works. The mobile app will feature a central dashboard from which the user can search for contacts, check for and RSVP to upcoming meetings and dig through past archived conversations. Additionally, actually contacting people will be easier thanks to larger onscreen buttons and a full-screen video chat option. The apps aren’t ready quite yet though. Skype is currently recruiting businesses to participate in its preview program. Corporate IT managers can sign to eight employees (four for iOS, four for Android) up for the preview at www.skypepreview.com before August 17th. Once the apps actually go live “later this year, ” users will need to have Lync 2013 , on which this system is built, installed on their device in order to use them. [Image Credit: shutterstock] Filed under: Internet , Mobile , Apple , Microsoft , Google Comments Source: Microsoft Office Blog Tags: android, apple, calendar, google, ios, messaging, microsoft, mobiledevice, mobilepostcross, office, skype, video, VideoConferencing

View the original here:
Skype for Business is coming to your mobile device

Researchers inject oil into cells and create little lasers

The Massachusetts General Hospital research team that lit up human cells with the help of jellyfish genes a few years ago are back with a more advanced version of the technology. This new version forgoes the complicated external mirror setup in favor of injectable oil droplets impregnated with fluorescent dye. This is the same basic idea as what a team from St Andrews University recently created, except that the plastic bead that served as the their laser’s resonating chamber is now an oil droplet. While the technology isn’t ready for therapeutic applications just yet, it does hold a great deal of promise. The problem with conventional cellular markers and dye is that they have a broad emission spectrum which can make it difficult to spot the marked cells amidst the rest of the tissue. But with these miniature lasers, doctors will be able to mark and track individual cells no matter where they are in the body. The team recently published their findings in Nature Photonics . a dye-impregnated fat cell – Massachusetts General Hospital [Image Credit: Top – Arbi Babakhanians, inline: Matjaž Humar/Seok Hyun Yun] Filed under: Science Comments Source: Nature Photonics

View the original here:
Researchers inject oil into cells and create little lasers

Google Voice transcriptions will soon actually make sense

One of the most prevalent qualms users have of Google Voice is its occasionally accurate (but usually absurd) interpretations of what’s being said. However, with the upcoming public debut of the Project Fi cellular service , Google has reportedly greatly improved its transcription service. According to a post on the company’s blog , Google’s managed to reduce its transcription error rates by nearly 50 percent by leveraging a “long short-term memory deep recurrent neural network.” Users don’t even have to change their routine to take advantage of the new system, just keep using Voice and Fi as they always have. [Image Credit: shutterstock] Filed under: Internet , Mobile , Google Comments Source: Google Blog

See the article here:
Google Voice transcriptions will soon actually make sense

CVS Shuts Down Its Photo Site After Suspected Hacker Break-In

CVS has shut down its online photo service, warning its customers that there may have been a data theft and to call their banks if they get suspicious credit card charges. Read more…

Read this article:
CVS Shuts Down Its Photo Site After Suspected Hacker Break-In

UW-Madison researchers invent a metal-free fuel cell

The development of fuel cell technology has been hamstrung by the need for expensive and difficult-to-manufacture catalysts like platinum , rhodium or palladium. But a team of researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison believe they’ve found an ingenious alternative that employs a molecular, rather than solid, catalyst . A fuel cell generates electricity from chemicals by reacting hydrogen and oxygen at its anode and cathode , respectively. Specifically, a catalyst at the anode oxidizes the hydrogen fuel to create free electrons and charged ions. The ions pass through the electrolyte while the electrons pass through a separate wire (to drive an electronic device) and the two recombine in the cathode with oxygen to create water or CO2. The team, led by Professor Shannon Stahl and lab scientist James Gerken, noticed that the aerobic oxidation reactions they had studied in their previous work closely mimicked the oxygen reaction in fuel cells. To see if this aerobic reaction could work as a fuel cell, they built one using a catalyst composed of nitroxyl and nitrogen oxide molecules to react with its electrode and oxygen. “While this catalyst combination has been used previously in aerobic oxidations, we didn’t know if it would be a good fuel cell catalyst, ” Stahl said in a statement. “It turns out that it is the most effective molecular catalyst system ever reported.” The results are more than impressive. “This work shows for the first time that molecular catalysts can approach the efficiency of platinum, ” Gerken continued. “And the advantage of molecules is that you can continue to modify their structure to climb further up the mountain to achieve even better efficiency.” [Image Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto] Filed under: Science Comments Source: University of Wisconsin-Madison

Taken from:
UW-Madison researchers invent a metal-free fuel cell

IBM’s New Chip Is Four Times as Powerful as Today’s Best Silicon

IBM has announced that it’s designed a new kind of ultra-dense chip, which squeezes in four times as much computing power as the best silicon currently available. Read more…

Original post:
IBM’s New Chip Is Four Times as Powerful as Today’s Best Silicon