Last post that allows me to get caught up to today, which is tomorrow for the date of this post.
Just a SLASHDOT news round up. Some great stuff here...
Why Phones That Secretly Listen To Us Are a Myth
Why Phones That Secretly Listen To Us Are a Myth (bbc.com)
A mobile security company has carried out a research investigation to address the popular conspiracy theory that tech giants are listening to conversations. From a report:The internet is awash with posts and videos on social media where people claim to have proof that the likes of Facebook and Google are spying on users in order to serve hyper-targeted adverts. Videos have gone viral in recent months showing people talking about products and then ads for those exact items appear online. Now, cyber security-specialists at Wandera have emulated the online experiments and found no evidence that phones or apps were secretly listening. Researchers put two phones -- one Samsung Android phone and one Apple iPhone -- into a "audio room". For 30 minutes they played the sound of cat and dog food adverts on loop. They also put two identical phones in a silent room.
The security specialists kept apps open for Facebook, Instagram, Chrome, SnapChat, YouTube, and Amazon with full permissions granted to each platform. They then looked for ads related to pet food on each platform and webpage they subsequently visited. They also analyzed the battery usage and data consumption on the phones during the test phase. They repeated the experiment at the same time for three days, and noted no relevant pet food adverts on the "audio room" phones and no significant spike in data or battery usage.
The security specialists kept apps open for Facebook, Instagram, Chrome, SnapChat, YouTube, and Amazon with full permissions granted to each platform. They then looked for ads related to pet food on each platform and webpage they subsequently visited. They also analyzed the battery usage and data consumption on the phones during the test phase. They repeated the experiment at the same time for three days, and noted no relevant pet food adverts on the "audio room" phones and no significant spike in data or battery usage.
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/19/09/21/0517226/mysterious-magnetic-pulses-discovered-on-mars
Mysterious Magnetic Pulses Discovered On Mars (nationalgeographic.com)
Posted by BeauHD from the nighttime-events dept.
Initial results from NASA's InSight lander suggest that Mars' magnetic field wobbles in inexplicable ways at night, hinting that the red planet may host a global reservoir of liquid water deep below the surface. National Geographic reports:In addition to the odd magnetic pulsations, the lander's data show that the Martian crust is far more powerfully magnetic than scientists expected. What's more, the lander has picked up on a very peculiar electrically conductive layer, about 2.5 miles thick, deep beneath the planet's surface. It's far too early to say with any certainty, but there is a chance that this layer could represent a global reservoir of liquid water.
On Earth, groundwater is a hidden sea locked up in sand, soil, and rocks. If something similar is found on Mars, then "we shouldn't be surprised," says Jani Radebaugh, a planetary scientist at Brigham Young University who was not involved with the work. But if these results bear out, a liquid region at this scale on modern Mars has enormous implications for the potential for life, past or present. So far, none of these data have been through peer review, and details about the initial findings and interpretations will undoubtedly be tweaked over time. Still, the revelations provide a stunning showcase for InSight, a robot that has the potential to revolutionize our comprehension of Mars and other rocky worlds across the galaxy.
https://news.slashdot.org/story/19/09/16/2325242/miltons-notes-on-shakespeare-appear-to-have-been-found
Milton's Notes On Shakespeare Appear To Have Been Found (theguardian.com)
Posted by BeauHD from the lost-and-found dept
Almost 400 years after the first folio of Shakespeare was published in 1623, scholars believe they have identified the early owner of one copy of the text, who made hundreds of insightful annotations throughout: John Milton. The Guardian reports:The astonishing find, which academics say could be one of the most important literary discoveries of modern times, was made by Cambridge University fellow Jason Scott-Warren when he was reading an article about the anonymous annotator by Pennsylvania State University English professor Claire Bourne. Bourne's study of this copy, which has been housed in the Free Library of Philadelphia since 1944, dated the annotator to the mid-17th century, finding them alive to "the sense, accuracy, and interpretative possibility of the dialogue." She also provided many images of the handwritten notes, which struck Scott-Warren as looking oddly similar to Milton's hand.
The first folio is the first collected edition of Shakespeare's plays, published seven years after his death. Without it, 18 plays including Macbeth and The Tempest might have been lost to history. Around 750 first folios were printed, with 233 known to survive. They command huge sums at auction, with one selling for 1.87 million pounds three years ago. Scott-Warren has made a detailed comparison of the annotator's handwriting with the Paradise Lost poet's. He also believes that the work the annotator did to improve the text of the folio -- suggesting corrections and supplying additional material such as the prologue to Romeo and Juliet, along with cross-references to other works -- is similar to work Milton did in other books that survive from his library, including his copy of Boccaccio's Life of Dante.
Fukushima To Possibly Dump Radioactive Water Back Into Ocean
Fukushima To Possibly Dump Radioactive Water Back Into Ocean (cnn.com)
omfglearntoplay shares a report from CNN:Eight years after Japan's worst nuclear disaster, the government is not sure what to do with the contaminated water that remains -- but its environment minister says dumping it into the ocean might be the only choice. To cool fuel cores at the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant, operator Tokyo Electric has pumped in tens of thousands of tons of water over the years, according to Japanese national broadcaster NHK. Once used and contaminated, the water is put into storage. Now, storage space is running out. And during a televised press conference Tuesday, Japan's environment minister Yoshiaki Harada said he believed the only solution was to "release it into the ocean and dilute it." "There are no other options," he said.Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga emphasized that a decision has not yet been made. "There is no fact that the method of disposal of contaminated water has been decided," he said. "The government would like to make a decision after making thorough discussion."
California Bill Makes App-Based Companies Treat Workers as Employees
Trump Calls On FDA To Ban All Flavored Vapes After Mystery Lung Illness
Expert Predicts 25% of Colleges Will 'Fail' in the Next 20 Years
Apple's iPhone 11 Pro Is Triggering 'Fear of Holes' Or Trypophobia In Some
A Famous Argument Against Free Will Has Been Debunked
Comcast Sues Maine To Stop Law Requiring Sale of Individual TV Channels
'Ban All Watches From Exams To Stop Cheating'
Diesel Cars Emit More Air Pollution On Hot Days, Study Finds
Google To Run DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH) Experiment in Chrome
145 Executives Demand Senate Action on Gun Violence
145 Executives Demand Senate Action on Gun Violence (nytimes.com)
In a direct and urgent call to address gun violence in America, the chief executives of some of the nation's best-known companies sent a letter to Senate leaders on Thursday, urging an expansion of background checks to all firearms sales and stronger "red flag" laws. From a report:"Doing nothing about America's gun violence crisis is simply unacceptable and it is time to stand with the American public on gun safety," the heads of 145 companies, including Levi Strauss, Twitter and Uber, say in the letter [PDF], which was shared with The New York Times. The letter -- which urges the Republican-controlled Senate to enact bills already introduced in the Democrat-led House of Representatives -- is the most concerted effort by the business community to enter the gun debate, one of the most polarizing issues in the nation and one that was long considered off limits. The debate and the decision to sign -- or not sign -- are a case study in how chief executives must weigh their own views and the political risks to their businesses.Missing from the list, however, are some of America's biggest financial and technology companies, including Apple, Facebook, Google, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo.
McDonald's Is To Replace Human Workers With Voice-Based Tech In US Drive-Throughs
McDonald's Is To Replace Human Workers With Voice-Based Tech In US Drive-Throughs (bbc.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC:McDonald's is to replace human servers with voice-based technology in its U.S. drive-throughs. The fast-food chain hopes the AI technology will make the ordering process more efficient. McDonald's is implementing the technology with the help of start-up Apprente, which it acquired this week. The move comes amid concern about workers whose jobs may become obsolete as a result of automation and new technologies. McDonald's plans to expand its newly formed McD Tech team by hiring more engineers and data scientists.The report notes that the company recently "invested in technology that could automatically alter individual drive-through menu panels, depending on factors such as the weather, for example automatically suggesting McFlurry ice cream on hot days or telling customers which items were already proving popular at that particular restaurant that day."
Climate Change is Real and Things Will Get Worse -- But Because We Understand the Driver of Potential Doom, It's a Choice, Not a Foregone Conclusion
It's Not 'X', It's 'Cross' -- the PlayStation Joypad Revelation That's Caused an Outrage
Drivers? Never Heard of Them, Says Uber
Most Android Flashlight Apps Request An Absurd Number of Permissions
Israel Accused of Planting Mysterious Spy Devices Near the White House
Israel Accused of Planting Mysterious Spy Devices Near the White House (politico.com)
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An anonymous reader quotes a report from Politico:The U.S. government concluded within the past two years that Israel was most likely behind the placement of cellphone surveillance devices that were found near the White House and other sensitive locations around Washington, according to three former senior U.S. officials with knowledge of the matter. But unlike most other occasions when flagrant incidents of foreign spying have been discovered on American soil, the Trump administration did not rebuke the Israeli government, and there were no consequences for Israel's behavior, one of the former officials said.
The miniature surveillance devices, colloquially known as "StingRays," mimic regular cell towers to fool cellphones into giving them their locations and identity information. Formally called international mobile subscriber identity-catchers or IMSI-catchers, they also can capture the contents of calls and data use. The devices were likely intended to spy on President Donald Trump, one of the former officials said, as well as his top aides and closest associates -- though it's not clear whether the Israeli efforts were successful.An Israeli Embassy spokesperson denied that Israel placed the devices and said: "These allegations are absolute nonsense. Israel doesn't conduct espionage operations in the United States, period."
Furthermore, after this story was published, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied that Israel was behind the devices. "We have a directive, I have a directive: No intelligence work in the United States, no spies," he said in a gaggle with reporters. "And it's vigorously implemented, without any exception. It [the report] is a complete fabrication, a complete fabrication."
The miniature surveillance devices, colloquially known as "StingRays," mimic regular cell towers to fool cellphones into giving them their locations and identity information. Formally called international mobile subscriber identity-catchers or IMSI-catchers, they also can capture the contents of calls and data use. The devices were likely intended to spy on President Donald Trump, one of the former officials said, as well as his top aides and closest associates -- though it's not clear whether the Israeli efforts were successful.An Israeli Embassy spokesperson denied that Israel placed the devices and said: "These allegations are absolute nonsense. Israel doesn't conduct espionage operations in the United States, period."
Furthermore, after this story was published, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied that Israel was behind the devices. "We have a directive, I have a directive: No intelligence work in the United States, no spies," he said in a gaggle with reporters. "And it's vigorously implemented, without any exception. It [the report] is a complete fabrication, a complete fabrication."
Two Mathematicians Solve Old Math Riddle, Possibly the Meaning of Life
Two Mathematicians Solve Old Math Riddle, Possibly the Meaning of Life (livescience.com)
Posted by BeauHD from the you-can-rest-easy-now dept
pgmrdlm shares a report from Live Science:In Douglas Adams' sci-fi series "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," a pair of programmers task the galaxy's largest supercomputer with answering the ultimate question of the meaning of life, the universe and everything. After 7.5 million years of processing, the computer reaches an answer: 42. Only then do the programmers realize that nobody knew the question the program was meant to answer. Now, in this week's most satisfying example of life reflecting art, a pair of mathematicians have used a global network of 500,000 computers to solve a centuries-old math puzzle that just happens to involve that most crucial number: 42.
The question, which goes back to at least 1955 and may have been pondered by Greek thinkers as early as the third century AD, asks, "How can you express every number between 1 and 100 as the sum of three cubes?" Or, put algebraically, how do you solve x^3 + y^3 + z^3 = k, where k equals any whole number from 1 to 100? This deceptively simple stumper is known as a Diophantine equation, named for the ancient mathematician Diophantus of Alexandria, who proposed a similar set of problems about 1,800 years ago. Modern mathematicians who revisited the puzzle in the 1950s quickly found solutions when k equals many of the smaller numbers, but a few particularly stubborn integers soon emerged. The two trickiest numbers, which still had outstanding solutions by the beginning of 2019, were 33 and -- you guessed it -- 42.Using a computer algorithm to look for solutions to the Diophantine equation with x, y and z values that included every number between positive and negative 99 quadrillion, mathematician Andrew Booker, of the University of Bristol in England, found the solution to 33 after several weeks of computing time.
Since his search turned up no solutions for 42, Booker enlisted the help of Massachusetts Institute of Technology mathematician Andrew Sutherland, who helped him book some time with a worldwide computer network called Charity Engine. "Using this crowdsourced supercomputer and 1 million hours of processing time, Booker and Sutherland finally found an answer to the Diophantine equation where k equals 42," reports Live Science. The answer: (-80538738812075974)^3 + (80435758145817515)^3 + (12602123297335631)^3 = 42.
PC Shipments On The Decline
Taylor Swift Reportedly Threatened To Sue Microsoft Over Racist Twitter Bot
Silicon Valley Heavyweights Fire Up Plan For an Open Lunar Settlement Silicon Valley Heavyweights Fire Up Plan For an Open Lunar Settlement (bloomberg.com)Posted by BeauHD from the future-plans dept pacopico writes:Aerospace technology has gotten better. The price of rocket launches has come down. So much so that a group of space friends in Silicon Valley now think it's possible to create their own settlement on the moon for less than $3 billion. They've formed a non-profit called the Open Lunar Foundation that looks to begin launching probes to the lunar surface and then to start work on a habitat. The idea is to build a settlement in the spirit of open-source technology where data and hardware designs can be shared and where policies around the settlement are shaped by people all over the world rather than a particular nation state or billionaire. So far the team is small and working off a few million dollars, but there's an all-star cast of advisors, including former astronauts, NASA heads and aerospace execs. Connecticut Governor Calls For 100 Percent Carbon-Free Power By 2040 Feds Order Apple and Google To Hand Over Names of 10,000+ Users of Gun Scope App Drinking More Than 2 Sodas Per Day Can Increase Your Risk of Dying, Study Finds Drinking More Than 2 Sodas Per Day Can Increase Your Risk of Dying, Study Finds (abc4.com)Posted by msmash from the we-are-all-done dept. According to a new study, those who drink more than two glasses of soda or any soft drink per day have a high risk of dying. From a report:Experts studied more than 450,000 people from 10 European countries for up to 19 years and found that those who had more than two glasses of soda per day had a higher risk of dying than people who drank less than one glass per month. The study, published Tuesday in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, stated that men or women who drank two or more glasses a day of sugar-sweetened soft drinks had a higher risk of dying from digestive disorders, while those who drank the same amount of diet drinks had higher risks of dying from cardiovascular disease. The findings note that none of the subjects had cancer, diabetes, heart disease or stroke prior to the study. DMVs Are Selling Your Data to Private Investigators India Loses Communication With Lunar Lander Shortly Before Scheduled Landing On the Moon US To Collect Social Media Profiles From Immigrants, Asylum Seekers, and Refugees Facebook Wants To Be the Hot New Dating App Samsung Announces Standards-Compliant Key-Value SSD Prototype |
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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1909.21 - 10:10
- Days ago = 1540 days ago
- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.
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