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Showing posts from February 11, 2018

MIT CSAIL’s drone is never quite sure where it is

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The current generation of autonomous drone navigation and flightpath planning systems are almost too precise, demanding hundreds of measurements be taken so that the UAV knows exactly where it is in space at any given moment. And if those readings are off by even a little, then the drone is in for an impact. What's more, all that data collection is computationally intensive -- especially for smaller drones where the space and weight capacities are limited. The new NanoMap system from MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), however, strikes the right balance between accuracy and speed. With it, drones can navigate heavily populated areas -- think forests or Amazon fulfillment centers -- at up to 20 mph. Simply put, the system doesn't sweat the details. Unlike other common mapping systems, such as simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), which are data intensive and difficult to maintain at real-time, the NanoMap uses depth-sensing to

New Horizons probe captures images at record distance from Earth

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Voyager 1 has held the distance record for a captured image for the past 27 years thanks to its legendary "Pale Blue Dot" photo (3.75 billion miles away from Earth), but that milestone just got smashed. NASA's New Horizons probe took pictures of Kuiper Belt objects at a distance of over 3.79 billion miles from our cosmic home on December 5th. They weren't technically the first images to break the record, though -- an image of the "Wishing Well" star cluster from two hours earlier (below) has that honor. The kicker? That record is likely to be broken again within a matter of months. Voyager 1's achievement lasted as long as it did because the mission crew shut off the camera shortly after capturing the Pale Blue Dot image. That won't be happening with New Horizons. The spacecraft is slated to swing by another Kuiper Belt object (2014 MU69) on January 1st, 2019 and record more imagery in the process. So long as the mission goes according to plan,

HomePod repairs cost nearly as much as a new speaker

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If you're getting a HomePod, be sure to place it somewhere safe... depending on what you break, it might be expensive to get a fix. Apple has updated its support pages to reveal that an out-of-warranty HomePod repair will cost $279 (£269). Throw in the shipping fee ($20 US, or £13) for a mail-in repair and you're not far off from the price of a brand new smart speaker. This is one of those times where the AppleCare extended warranty ($78 if you include the incident fee, or £68) may be the better value, at least if you're in a household where an accident is a real possibility. Thankfully, the power cable won't cost such a hefty sum. The 9to5Mac team has learned that you'll need to pay $29 (£25) to repair a damaged cord. That's more than a detachable cord might have cost, but definitely easier to justify if your pet has gnawed the cable to oblivion. In practice, you're not nearly as likely to need a fix for a HomePod as you would for an iPhone or a Mac

Exile sues Facebook in hunt for Cambodian leader's paid 'likes'

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Facebook doesn't normally have to answer questions about government leaders' public pages, but it might have to very shortly. Exiled Cambodian politician Sam Rainsy has sued Facebook insisting that it provide any information that might show Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen (above) bought millions of fake "likes" to feign popularity. Rainsy himself is the target of a defamation case for making the allegations, and is betting that Facebook's data can clear his name. A study of Hun's page suggests something is off. He only launched his Facebook page in 2016, but it quickly ballooned to 9 million "likes" (it's the third most active page worldwide), about 80 percent of which come from accounts in foreign countries like India, Mexico and the Philippines. Hun has claimed that it's just a reflection of his global popularity, but these accounts could easily be the product of fake follower services . He certainly has the incentive to use bogus fol

Trump administration hopes to privatize ISS after 2024

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If the US government plans to stop funding the International Space Station at the end of 2024, there's a big question: what happens next? Hand the keys over to the private sector, apparently. The Washington Post has obtained a NASA document outlining a plan to privatize the ISS as part of a Trump administration budge request. The plan would request funding (starting with $150 million in fiscal 2019) to foster "commercial entities and capabilities" that could fill the ISS' role, potentially including "certain elements or capabilities" of the station itself. It's not certain just how the privatization would work, although the US wouldn't be in a rush to abandon the ISS. It would aim for a "smooth and uninterrupted transition" to private outfits, and would ask for plans from industry while preparing a handover plan. This strategy could face plenty of opposition, however, and not just within the US. The ISS was created as a collaboration

The best espresso machine, grinder and accessories for beginners

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By Cale Guthrie Weissman This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter . When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, it may earn affiliate commissions that support its work. Read the full article here . After putting in more than 60 hours of research, we enlisted a former barista, aided by Stumptown Coffee's education crew, to test five espresso machines, four grinders, and a dozen accessories to find the best beginner's espresso setup for less than $1,000. We recommend starting with the Breville Infuser espresso machine, because it makes pulling consistently great-tasting espresso shots easier and more approachable than the other machines we tested. It also comes with all of the accessories you need to get started. Who this is for This guide is for someone who likes good coffee and wants to take the time to learn more about the craft. Whether you've been making pour-over for years or simply enjoy going to your local coffee s

Apple put together three short videos to explain how to use your new HomePod

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Apple has just released its HomePod speaker, and like with other new devices , it’s created some new videos to show users how to use it. MacRumors spotted the trio , which explain how to use Siri, adjust the settings, and how to use the touch controls. The first video shows how to control the device with Siri: you can ask it to play songs from various genres or different playlists, and you can control the volume by telling it to get louder, or to play at a certain percentage. You can also tell it to go forward or back a track. The next video explains how to use the HomePod’s touch controls. Tapping the top will play or pause a song, and a double-tap and triple-tap will skip to the next song or go back to the last one. The plus and minus... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2CcH8Fj"

Government websites fall prey to cryptocurrency mining hijack

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It's not just private companies' websites falling victim to cryptocurrency mining hijacks . Security consultant Scott Helme and the Register have discovered that intruders compromised over 4,200 sites with Coinhive's notorious Monero miner , many of them government websites from around the world. This includes the US court info system, the UK's National Health Service and Australian legislatures, among others. The intruders spread their JavaScript code by modifying an accessibility plugin for the blind, Texthelp's Browsealoud, to inject the miner wherever Browsealoud was in use. The mining only took place for several hours on February 11th before Texthelp disabled the plugin to investigate. Government sites like the UK's Information Commissioner's Office also took pages down in response. As with most of these injections, your system wasn't facing a security risk -- you would have just noticed your system bogging down while searching for government i

This suction cup phone case is surprisingly powerful

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Phone Case of the Month is a monthly series in which we live with, and subsequently review, our time with a phone case. Phone cases are one of our only ways to express individuality with our smartphones, so what do our phone case choices say about us? I’ve stuck my phone case to all sorts of things over the past couple months, like my bathroom mirror, random windows in bars, laptops, walls, a windshield, other phones, and glass tables. People immediately want to stick my case to the nearest surface once they notice its suction cups. I don’t blame them! But you probably don’t want to touch the cups at this point because who knows what germs live there. This suction cup case was always my white whale. My friend Ingrid owned a similar case... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2EilS6W"

Officials confirm that a cyberattack took place during the Winter Olympics opening ceremonies

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Olympic officials have confirmed that a cyber attack took place during the event’s opening ceremonies in Pyeongchang, according to Reuters . The organizers say that while television and internet access was affected, it “it had not compromised any critical part of their operations.” According to reports , internet access and Wi-Fi shut down on Friday during the game’s opening ceremonies. The website for the games also went down, preventing attendees from printing out tickets. Pyeongchang organizing committee spokesman Sung Baik-you confirmed that an attack took place, but that the issues have since been resolved. He also said that investigators wouldn’t reveal the source of the attack. The games have already come under attack from hackers:... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2G5AanV"

Facial recognition software is biased towards white men, researcher finds

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New research out of MIT’s Media Lab is underscoring what other experts have reported or at least suspected before: facial recognition technology is subject to biases based on the data sets provided and the conditions in which algorithms are created. Joy Buolamwini, a researcher at the MIT Media Lab, recently built a dataset of 1,270 faces, using the faces of politicians, selected based on their country’s rankings for gender parity (in other words, having more females in office). Buolamwini then tested the accuracy of three facial recognition systems: those made by Microsoft, IBM, and Megvii of China. The results, which were originally reported in The New York Times , showed inaccuracies in gender identification dependent on a person’s... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2EXCYnI"

Kendrick Lamar bans all cameras during his latest tour

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You've likely heard of big-name musicians banning smartphones at concerts , but Kendrick Lamar is taking things one step further. The superstar isn't allowing any cameras during the European stint of his latest tour, including pro photographers. Yes, you won't even have the opportunity to share official shots, let alone record the show with your phone. Lamar had allowed some pros during his North American gigs, but that's apparently as far as he was willing to go. The reasoning remains the same as with earlier smartphone bans (such as those at Dave Chappelle's events ). It's partly about ensuring that fans are actually enjoying the concert rather than trying to record it all. And it might just drive ticket sales -- you may be more likely to attend if you can't just rely on a friend's Instagram feed to see what you missed. There's also the side benefit of keeping any missteps out of the limelight, although artists usually reserve that for warm-up

The 2018 Winter Olympics: all the tech and updates from the world’s biggest games in Pyeongchang

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The 2018 Winter Olympics have begun in Pyeongchang, South Korea, where athletes from 92 countries around the world will compete in over a hundred separate events for the gold. There’s more to it than just the games though: there’s the technology that brings the event to viewers across the world. The games run from February 9th through February 25th; follow along for all of our coverage. Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2Ccz5Ix"

Daily Deal - Space Hulk: Deathwing, 60% Off

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Today's Deal: Save 60% on Space Hulk: Deathwing !* Look for the deals each day on the front page of Steam. Or follow us on twitter or Facebook for instant notifications wherever you are! *Offer ends Tuesday at 10AM Pacific Time via Steam RSS News Feed "http://ift.tt/2EUn2SU"

Olympics officials confirm cyberattack during opening ceremony

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Officials saw suspicious activity on Olympics systems during the 2018 winter games' opening ceremony, and now it's confirmed: it was a cyberattack. PyeongChang organizers have revealed that someone compromised services (including internet and TV) while athletes were on parade. Everything had been "resolved and recovered" by the 9th, spokesman Sung Baik-you said. He added that they knew the cause of the attack, but were "not going to reveal the source" after talking to the International Olympics Committee. It's tempting to point the finger at Russia. The country has been banned from the Winter Olympics over its doping program, and security researchers had found hints that Russia-based hackers might disrupt the games as retribution. Russia has already tried to head off accusations by claiming that the Western press will conduct "pseudo-investigations" without evidence, but its word carries limited weight when it has a history of denying all a

After Math: It's bobsled time!

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The 2018 Winter Olympics are starting up but Pyeongchang won't be the only place crowning champions. This week we've already seen Waymo win out over Uber in court; Sasha 'Scarlett' Hostyn, the most successful woman in eSports, was victorious in an Olympic-backed Starcraft 2 tournament; and Amazon came up with yet another way to dominate the delivery market -- 2-hour Whole Foods deliveries. Numbers, because how else will you count the scorecards? 1,218 : That's how many UAVs lit up the night sky over the Olympic opening ceremony -- or at least a projection of their aerial display did anyway. Turns out that Pyeongchang's high winds and low temperatures aren't ideal conditions for coordinated drone performances. $50,000 : That's how much Sasha 'Scarlett' Hostyn won in the Intel Extreme Masters StarCraft 2 tournament hosted in Pyeongchang ahead of this weekend's Winter Olympics. 0.34 percent : That's how much of a stake in Uber Wa

Hackers accessed more personal data from Equifax than previously disclosed

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Last year, credit rating agency Equifax announced that hackers had stolen personal information for 143 million US consumers, including names, Social Security numbers, birthdates, addresses, drivers license numbers, and some credit card numbers. The Wall Street Journal writes that more information was leaked than was previously reported. The revelation comes from a document submitted to the Senate Banking Committee, which says that hackers accessed additional personal information beyond what was initially reported. This includes tax identification numbers, which are used when someone doesn’t have a social security number, as well as e-mail addresses, credit card information, and some additional drivers license information — the states... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2EwbSGp"

Ice technicians are the secret stars of the Winter Olympics

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Science It’s science—on ice. Ice is an important part of the Winter Olympics. To get these slick surfaces just right, athletes rely on experienced ice technicians. via Popular Science "http://ift.tt/2H39W6C"

Ben Heck's 'Hex' game: Will it sell?

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Would you like to be able to buy Ben Heck's "Hex" game? The team is joined by James Ray from the design company AVID to discuss whether Hex could be brought to market and if there are any tweaks that would need to be made first. What would you change to the design? Would you add anything? Let us know over on the element14 Community . via Engadget RSS Feed "http://ift.tt/2o06VLI"

HP took me on a zero-gravity flight to promote their space printer

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The brand activation I didn’t know I was waiting for Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2Eh75VR"