I do commend Sacramento for trying to put controls in place to reduce human trafficking; will it work?
What if banning smartphone encryption could stem the rising tide of human trafficking, a form of modern-day slavery from which perpetrators force victims to engage in commercial labor services or sex acts against their will?
Interesting; “Human memory is not the same as computer memory,” said James Kozloski.
An inventor at IBM has patented technology for a cognitive assistant that could learn all about you, then remind you of a name you can’t remember the moment you need to say it.
“But if you are familiar with the advanced search options these sites offer or read any number of books or blogs on ‘Google Dorks, ’ you’ll likely be more fearful of them than something with limited scope like Shodan”.
And it’s recently emerged that Shodan, a search engine for the Internet of Things, allows users to snoop on screenshots of anything filmed by a webcam from cash register cameras to babies sleeping in a cot. It’s pitched mainly as a security research tool and a way for businesses to monitor connected device usage, but it has also exposed controls to utilities, heating and cooling units, and traffic systems.
Drone Racing is a new high speed competitive racing sport with skilled pilots flying quad-copter drones.
via Drone Racing League, http://creativity.condenast.com/
Artificial intelligence researchers at Google DeepMind are celebrating after reaching a major breakthrough that’s been pursued for more than 20 years: The team taught a computer program the ancient game of Go, which has long been considered the most challenging game for an an artificial intelligence to learn. Not only can the team’s program play Go, it’s actually very good at it.
The computer program AlphaGo was developed by Google DeepMind specifically with the task of beating professional human players in the ancient game. The group challenged the three-time European Go Champion Fan Hui to a series of matches, and for the first time ever, the software was able to beat a professional player in all five of the games played on a full-sized board. The team announced the breakthrough in a Nature article published today.
Scientists are closer to changing everything we know about one of the basic building blocks of the universe, according to an international group of physics experts involving the University of Adelaide.
Wearable Chair is now A THING that helps surgeons through long hours of surgery. Actually, much more can be done.”
The legal death of Marvin Minsky was publicly reported on Monday, January 25, 2016. There has been speculation on the part of numerous individuals and publications that he may have been cryopreserved by Alcor. This notice is Alcor’s formal response to inquiries on this issue.
In a public ceremony at the Extro-3 conference in 1997, nanotechnology pioneer Eric Drexler presented Prof. Minsky with a bracelet given to all new Alcor members. This bracelet provides emergency contact information and basic instructions. Minsky has spoken publicy many times about his advocacy of overcoming aging and the inevitability of death and about cryonics (human cryopreservation) as a last resort. He was also among the 67 signatories of the Scientists Open Letter on Cryonics and a member of Alcor’s Scientific Advisory Board. This much is public knowledge. None of this necessarily means that Prof. Minsky had cryopreservation arrangements at the time of legal death. Alcor neither confirms nor denies whether Prof. Minsky had such arrangements.
Alcor’s official response may puzzle some readers, so we would like to point out the privacy options that have been and currently are available to our members. When a member signs up for cryopreservation by Alcor, they have four options:
