Menu

Blog

Archive for the ‘internet’ category: Page 244

Jul 1, 2018

A Free Education for All the World’s People Will Save our Species

Posted by in categories: computing, education, ethics, finance, internet

In terms of moral, social, and philosophical uprightness, isn’t it striking to have the technology to provide a free education to all the world’s people (i.e. the Internet and cheap computers) and not do it? Isn’t it classist and backward to have the ability to teach the world yet still deny millions of people that opportunity due to location and finances? Isn’t that immoral? Isn’t it patently unjust? Should it not be a universal human goal to enable everyone to learn whatever they want, as much as they want, whenever they want, entirely for free if our technology permits it? These questions become particularly deep if we consider teaching, learning, and education to be sacred enterprises.


When we as a global community confront the truly difficult question of considering what is really worth devoting our limited time and resources to in an era marked by global catastrophe, I always find my mind returning to what the Internet hasn’t really been used for yet — and what was rumored from its inception that it should ultimately provide — an utterly and entirely free education for all the world’s people.

In regard to such a concept, Bill Gates said in 2010:

Continue reading “A Free Education for All the World’s People Will Save our Species” »

Jun 30, 2018

Extra PCs laying around? Why not mine Bitcoin?

Posted by in categories: bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, economics, internet, supercomputing

I get this question a lot. Today, I was asked to write an answer at Quora.com, a Q&A web site at which I am the local cryptocurrency expert. It’s time to address this issue here at Lifeboat.

Question

I have many PCs laying around my home and office.
Some are current models with fast Intel CPUs. Can
I mine Bitcoin to make a little money on the side?

Answer

Other answers focus on the cost of electricity, the number of hashes or teraflops achieved by a computer CPU or the size of the current Bitcoin reward. But, you needn’t dig into any of these details to understand this answer.

You can find the mining software to mine Bitcoin or any other coin on any equipment. Even a phone or wristwatch. But, don’t expect to make money. Mining Bitcoin with an x86 CPU (Core or Pentium equivalent) is never cost effective—not even when Bitcoin was trading at nearly $20,000. A computer with a fast $1500 graphics card will bring you closer to profitability, but not by much.

Continue reading “Extra PCs laying around? Why not mine Bitcoin?” »

Jun 26, 2018

How Tech Companies Are Trying to Disrupt Terrorist Social Media Activity

Posted by in categories: internet, terrorism

Google, Facebook, Twitter and Microsoft formed the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism last year to prevent terrorists from exploiting their services.

Read more

Jun 19, 2018

Will governments ever approve of cryptocurrency?

Posted by in categories: bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, economics, government, internet, policy

The question was asked of me as columnist at Quora.com: Will governments eventually ‘approve’ of cryptocurrency? First let’s agree on terminology…

  1. By “approve”, I assume that you are asking if governments will adopt or at least tolerate the use of crypto as legal tender in commerce. That is, not just as a payment instrument, but as the money itself—perhaps even accepting tax payments in cryptocurrency.
  2. The word “cryptocurrency” is sometimes applied to altcoins and even to ICOs. These are not the same. Many altcoins meet the criteria of the next paragraph, but none of the ICOs measure up (ICOs are scams). I assume that your question applies to Bitcoin or to a fair and transparent altcoin forked from the original code, such as Bitcoin Cash or Litecoin.

A blockchain-based cryptocurrency that is open source, permissionless, capped, fast, frictionless, with a transparent history—and without proprietary or licensing restrictions is good for everyone. It is good for consumers; good for business; and it is even good for government.

Of course, politicians around the world are not quick to realize this. It will take years of experience, education, and policy experimentation.

Many pundits and analysts have the impression that shifting to cryptocurrency—not just as a payment instrument, but as the money itself—will never be supported by national governments. A popular misconception suggests that a cryptocurrency based economy has these undesirable traits:

Continue reading “Will governments ever approve of cryptocurrency?” »

Jun 18, 2018

The Shift From 4G to 5G Will Change Just About Everything

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, evolution, internet

Telecom experts are going so far as to herald the arrival of 5G as the advent of the fourth industrial revolution. There are an ever-expanding number of high-tech devices out there trying to connect to the internet every day, many of which require extensive bandwidth, and companies across the board will leverage 5G capabilities to better reach consumers.

“The application of 5G technology will result in massive changes for both consumers and enterprises,” said Jeff Weisbein, founder and CEO of digital media company Best Techie. “5G networks will offer consumers incredible broadband speeds at home (up to 20Gb/s). It will also enable companies to make advancements such as even smarter, better connected cars, advancements in medical technologies and improved retail experiences through personalization.”

5G refers to 5th-Generation Wireless Systems and uses additional spectrum in the existing LTE frequency range to build on the capabilities of 4G, which is often used interchangeably with 4G LTE by marketers. LTE denotes Long Term Evolution, and is a term that was deployed with early 4G networks that presented a substantial improvement on 3G, but did not fully qualify as 4G, meaning 4G LTE is essentially first-generation 4G.

Continue reading “The Shift From 4G to 5G Will Change Just About Everything” »

Jun 16, 2018

Here’s who’s going to win the World Cup, according to A.I.

Posted by in categories: information science, internet, robotics/AI

Robots aren’t playing professional soccer just yet, but they can certainly help predict it! With the FIFA World Cup kicking off, San Francisco-based tech firm Unanimous A.I. has used its considerable artificial intelligence expertise to predict the outcome of the 32-team men’s soccer tournament. Given that the startup has previously predicted the Super Bowl results successfully right down to the exact final score, we totally think this is worth taking seriously.

“These predictions were generated using swarm A.I. technology,” Louis Rosenberg, founder and CEO of Unanimous A.I., told Digital Trends. “This means it uses a unique combination of human insights and artificial intelligence algorithms, resulting in a system that is smarter than the humans or the machines could be on their own. It works by connecting a group of people over the internet using A.I. algorithms, enabling them to think together as a system, and converge upon predictions that are the optimized combination of their individual knowledge, wisdom, instincts, and intuitions.”

The technology is modeled on the remarkable abilities of swarms in nature, such as swarms of bees, schools of fish, or flocks of birds. These natural swarms combine the insights of large groups in optimized ways. Unanimous’ swarms utilize this same principle to answer complex questions — such as giving precise probability-based outcomes on each game in the World Cup.

Continue reading “Here’s who’s going to win the World Cup, according to A.I.” »

Jun 14, 2018

Scientists make first ‘on demand’ entanglement link

Posted by in categories: computing, internet, quantum physics

Researchers at QuTech in Delft have succeeded in generating quantum entanglement between two quantum chips faster than the entanglement is lost. Via a novel smart entanglement protocol and careful protection of the entanglement, the scientists led by Prof. Ronald Hanson are the first in the world to deliver such a quantum link on demand. This opens the door to connect multiple quantum nodes and create the very first quantum network in the world. Their results are published in Nature.

By exploiting the power of quantum entanglement, it is theoretically possible to build a invulnerable to eavesdropping. However, the realization of such a is a real challenge—it is necessary to create entanglement reliably on demand, and maintain it long enough to pass the entangled information to the next node. So far, this has been beyond the capabilities of quantum experiments.

Scientists at QuTech in Delft have are now the first to experimentally generate entanglement over a distance of two metres in a fraction of a second, on demand, and theoretically maintain this entanglement long enough to enable entanglement to a third node. “The challenge is now to be the first to create a of multiple entangled nodes—the first version of a quantum internet,” professor Hanson says.

Read more

Jun 12, 2018

Britain’s first ‘unhackable’ internet network may solve quantum computing threat

Posted by in categories: cybercrime/malcode, encryption, finance, internet, quantum physics

S cientists have created the UK’s first ever “unhackable” fibre network in anticipation of the dawn of quantum computers, a technology that could render current security systems completely useless and leave critical infrastructure, banking and healthcare networks open to hackers.

The network, constructed by researchers from BT, the University of York and the University of Cambridge over the past two years, is secured by the laws of quantum physics which dictate how light and matter behave at a fundamental level. Using this, it is able to block anyone attempting to crack into the fibre link.

This could be a game changer for the healthcare and financial sector, when it is feared existing encryption…

Continue reading “Britain’s first ‘unhackable’ internet network may solve quantum computing threat” »

Jun 9, 2018

The Rich Are Planning to Leave This Wretched Planet

Posted by in categories: internet, space travel

Here comes private space travel — with cocktails, retro-futuristic Philippe Starck designs and Wi-Fi. Just $55 million a trip!

Read more

Jun 8, 2018

Volkswagen tests quantum computing in battery research

Posted by in categories: business, information science, internet, quantum physics, robotics/AI

For the first time, Volkswagen experts have succeeded in simulating industrially relevant molecules using a quantum computer. This is especially important for the development of high-performance electric vehicle batteries. The experts have successfully simulated molecules such as lithium-hydrogen and carbon chains. Now they are working on more complex chemical compounds. In the long term, they want to simulate the chemical structure of a complete electric vehicle battery on a quantum computer. Their objective is to develop a “tailor-made battery”, a configurable chemical blueprint that is ready for production. Volkswagen is presenting its research work connected with quantum computing at the CEBIT technology show (Hanover, June 12–15).

Martin Hofmann, CIO of the Volkswagen Group, says: “We are focusing on the modernization of IT systems throughout the Group. The objective is to intensify the digitalization of work processes – to make them simpler, more secure and more efficient and to support new business models. This is why we are combining our core task with the introduction of specific key technologies for Volkswagen. These include the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence, as well as quantum computing.”

The objective is a “tailor-made battery”, a configurable blueprint Using newly developed algorithms, the Volkswagen experts have laid the foundation for simulating and optimizing the chemical structure of high-performance electric vehicle batteries on a quantum computer. In the long term, such a quantum algorithm could simulate the chemical composition of a battery on the basis of different criteria such as weight reduction, maximum power density or cell assembly and provide a design which could be used directly for production. This would significantly accelerate the battery development process, which has been time-consuming and resource-intensive to date.

Continue reading “Volkswagen tests quantum computing in battery research” »