funny – Page 164

Someone Is Trying to Sell Those Stolen Three-Screen Razer Laptops in China

Just a few days ago, Razer’s awesome Project Valerie laptops — the one with three 4K displays — were stolen. Now it looks like whoever stole them is trying to sell them. From a report: It turns out that the thief (or thieves) didn’t just nab one Project Valerie prototype. They actually got ahold of a pair. Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan understandably wants them back, really, really badly. The company was willing to offer $25, 000 to anyone who could offer information that led to the prototypes’ return. So where did the laptops end up? Somewhere behind the Great Wall, apparently. Whoever has them isn’t trying to quietly fence them in some dark Beijing alleyway, either. They’ve actually been listed on the immensely popular Chinese e-commerce site Taobao — where they were spotted by writers at Engadget Chinese and Wccftech. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Someone Is Trying to Sell Those Stolen Three-Screen Razer Laptops in China

Tor Onion Browser’s Creator Explains Free Version For iOS

The free iOS version of the Tor browser “sparked a tidal wave of interest” after its release in December, according to Silicon.co. Mickeycaskill writes: The cost has been scrapped due to developer Mike Tigas’ worries that the price was limiting access to anonymous browsing for those who need it most. “Given recent events, many believe it’s more important than ever to exercise and support freedom of speech, privacy rights, and digital security, ” Tigas wrote in a blog post. “I think now is as good a time as ever to make Onion Browser more accessible to everyone.” “I’m still a little terrified that I’ve made this change, ” Tigas adds. For four years the Tor Onion browser was available on the Apple App Store for $0.99, the lowest non-free price allowed by Apple, providing a “reliable” income to Tigas which helped him move to New York for a new job while allowing him “the economic freedom to continue working on side projects that have a positive impact in the world.” Tigas also writes that “there’s now a Patreon page and other ways to support the project.” Last month the Tor Project also released the first alpha version of the sandboxed Tor Browser. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Tor Onion Browser’s Creator Explains Free Version For iOS

Google’s New Compression Tool Uses 75% Less Bandwidth Without Sacrificing Image Quality

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Next Web: Google just released an image compression technology called RAISR (Rapid and Accurate Super Image Resolution) designed to save your precious data without sacrificing photo quality. Claiming to use up to 75 percent less bandwidth, RAISR analyzes both low and high-quality versions of the same image. Once analyzed, it learns what makes the larger version superior and simulates the differences on the smaller version. In essence, it’s using machine learning to create an Instagram-like filter to trick your eye into believing the lower-quality image is on par with its full-sized variant. Unfortunately for the majority of smartphone users, the tech only works on Google+ where Google claims to be upscaling over a billion images a week. If you don’t want to use Google+, you’ll just have to wait a little longer. Google plans to expand RAISR to more apps over the coming months. Hopefully that means Google Photos. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Google’s New Compression Tool Uses 75% Less Bandwidth Without Sacrificing Image Quality

‘Tooth Repair Drug’ May Replace Fillings

Teeth can be encouraged to repair themselves in a way that could see an end to fillings, according to scientists. From a report on BBC: The team at King’s College London showed that a chemical could encourage cells in the dental pulp to heal small holes in mice teeth. A biodegradable sponge was soaked in the drug and then put inside the cavity. The study, published in Scientific Reports, showed it led to “complete, effective natural repair.” Teeth have limited regenerative abilities. They can produce a thin band of dentine — the layer just below the enamel — if the inner dental pulp becomes exposed, but this cannot repair a large cavity. Scientists discovered that a drug called Tideglusib heightened the activity of stem cells in the dental pulp so they could repair 0.13mm holes in the teeth of mice. A drug-soaked sponge was placed in the hole and then a protective coating was applied over the top. As the sponge broke down it was replaced by dentine, healing the tooth. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

LinkedIn’s and eBay’s Founders Are Donating $20 Million To Protect Us From AI

Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn, and Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay, have each committed $10 million to fund academic research and development aimed at keeping artificial intelligence systems ethical and to prevent building AI that may harm society. Recode reports: The fund received an additional $5 million from the Knight Foundation and two other $1 million donations from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Jim Pallotta, founder of the Raptor Group. The $27 million reserve is being anchored by MIT’s Media Lab and Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society. The Ethics and Governance of Artificial Intelligence Fund, the name of the fund, expects to grow as new funders continue to come on board. AI systems work by analyzing massive amounts of data, which is first profiled and categorized by humans, with all their prejudices and biases in tow. The money will pay for research to investigate how socially responsible artificially intelligent systems can be designed to, say, keep computer programs that are used to make decisions in fields like education, transportation and criminal justice accountable and fair. The group also hopes to explore ways to talk with the public about and foster understanding of the complexities of artificial intelligence. The two universities will form a governing body along with Hoffman and the Omidyar Network to distribute the funds. The $20 million from Hoffman and the Omidyar Network are being given as a philanthropic grant — not an investment vehicle. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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LinkedIn’s and eBay’s Founders Are Donating $20 Million To Protect Us From AI

MIT Unveils New Material That’s Strongest and Lightest On Earth

A team of MIT researchers have created the world’s strongest and lightest material known to man using graphene. Futurism reports: Graphene, which was heretofore, the strongest material known to man, is made from an extremely thin sheet of carbon atoms arranged in two dimensions. But there’s one drawback: while notable for its thinness and unique electrical properties, it’s very difficult to create useful, three-dimensional materials out of graphene. Now, a team of MIT researchers discovered that taking small flakes of graphene and fusing them following a mesh-like structure not only retains the material’s strength, but the graphene also remains porous. Based on experiments conducted on 3D printed models, researchers have determined that this new material, with its distinct geometry, is actually stronger than graphene — making it 10 times stronger than steel, with only five percent of its density. The discovery of a material that is extremely strong but exceptionally lightweight will have numerous applications. As MIT reports: “The new findings show that the crucial aspect of the new 3-D forms has more to do with their unusual geometrical configuration than with the material itself, which suggests that similar strong, lightweight materials could be made from a variety of materials by creating similar geometric features.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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MIT Unveils New Material That’s Strongest and Lightest On Earth

Apple’s Share of PC Users Drops To A Five-Year Low

Windows 10 is installed on 24.5% of devices — but that’s only half the story. “Apple’s Mac share of personal computers worldwide fell to a five-year low in December, ” reports Computerworld, adding that Linux and Windows “both benefited, with increases of around a half percentage point during 2016.” An anonymous reader quotes their report: According to web analytics vendor Net Applications, Apple’s desktop and notebook operating system — formerly OS X, now macOS — powered just 6.1% of all personal computers last month, down from 7% a year ago and a peak of 9.6% as recently as April 2016… The Mac’s 6.1% user share in December was the lowest mark recorded by Net Applications since August 2011, more than five years ago… In October, the company reported sales of 4.9 million Macs for the September quarter, a 14% year-over-year decline and the fourth straight quarterly downturn. Apple’s sales slide during the past 12 months has been steeper than for the personal computer industry as a whole, according to industry researchers from IDC and Gartner, a 180-degree shift from the prior 30 or so quarters, when the Mac’s growth rate repeatedly beat the business average. Apple’s success through 2016 was “fueled by Microsoft’s stumbles with Windows 8 and a race-to-the-bottom mentality among rival OEMs, ” according to the article, which also notes that the user share for Linux exceeded 2% in June, and reached 2.3% by November. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

A Squishy Clockwork BioBot Releases Doses of Drugs Inside the Body

the_newsbeagle writes: Making micro-machines that work inside the body is tricky, because hard silicon and metal devices can cause problems. So bioengineers are working on soft and squishy gadgets that can be implanted and do useful work. Here’s a soft biobot that’s modeled on a Swiss watch mechanism called a Geneva drive. With every tick forward, the tiny gizmo releases a dose of drugs. Getting the material properties just right was a challenge. “If your material is collapsing like jello, it’s hard to make robots out of it, ” says inventor Samuel Sia. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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A Squishy Clockwork BioBot Releases Doses of Drugs Inside the Body

FTC Takes D-Link To Court Citing Lax Product Security, Privacy Perils

Reader coondoggie writes: The Federal Trade Commission has filed a complaint against network equipment vendor D-Link saying inadequate security in the company’s wireless routers and Internet cameras left consumers open to hackers and privacy violations. The FTC, in a complaint filed in the Northern District of California charged that “D-Link failed to take reasonable steps to secure its routers and Internet Protocol (IP) cameras, potentially compromising sensitive consumer information, including live video and audio feeds from D-Link IP cameras.” For its part, D-Link Systems said it “is aware of the complaint filed by the FTC.” According to the FTC’s complaint, D-Link promoted the security of its routers on the company’s website, which included materials headlined “Easy to secure” and “Advance network security.” But despite the claims made by D-Link, the FTC alleged, the company failed to take steps to address well-known and easily preventable security flaws such as “hard-coded” login credentials integrated into D-Link camera software — such as the username âoeguestâ and the password âoeguestâ — that could allow unauthorized access to the cameras’ live feed, etc. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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FTC Takes D-Link To Court Citing Lax Product Security, Privacy Perils

Japanese White-Collar Workers Are Already Being Replaced by Artificial Intelligence

Most of the attention around automation focuses on how factory robots and self-driving cars may fundamentally change our workforce, potentially eliminating millions of jobs. But AI that can handle knowledge-based, white-collar work is also becoming increasingly competent. From a report on Quartz: One Japanese insurance company, Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance, is reportedly replacing 34 human insurance claim workers with “IBM Watson Explorer, ” starting by this month. The AI will scan hospital records and other documents to determine insurance payouts, according to a company press release, factoring injuries, patient medical histories, and procedures administered. Automation of these research and data gathering tasks will help the remaining human workers process the final payout faster, the release says. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Japanese White-Collar Workers Are Already Being Replaced by Artificial Intelligence

Ken May

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