Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook: 4/5/15 - 4/12/15

Thursday, April 09, 2015

drag2share: IBM starts testing AI software that mimics the human brain

source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/04/09/ibm-numenta-ai-software/?utm_source=Feed_Classic_Full&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget&?ncid=rss_full

We haven't talked about Numenta since an HP exec left to join the company in 2011, because, well, it's been keeping a pretty low-profile existence. Now, a big name tech corp is reigniting interest in the company and its artificial intelligence software. According to MIT's Technology Review, IBM has recently started testing Numenta's algorithms for practical tasks, such as analyzing satellite imagery of crops and spotting early signs of malfunctioning field machinery. Numenta's technology caught IBM's eye, because it works more similarly to the human brain than other AI software. The 100-person IBM team that's testing the algorithms is led by veteran researcher Winfried Wilcke, who had great things to say about the technology during a conference talk back in February.

Tech Review says he praised Numenta for "being closer to biological reality than other machine learning software" -- in other words, it's more brain-like compared to its rivals. For instance, it can make sense of data more quickly than competitors, which have to be fed tons of examples, before they can see patterns and handle their jobs. As such, Numenta's algorithms can potentially give rise to more intelligent software.

The company has its share of critics, however. Gary Marcus, a New York University psychology professor and a co-founder of another AI startup, told Tech Review that while Numenta's creation is pretty brain-like, it's oversimplified. So far, he's yet to see it "try to handle natural language understanding or even produce state-of-the-art results in image recognition." It would be interesting to see IBM use the technology to develop, for example, speech-to-text software head and shoulders above the rest or a voice assistant that can understand any accent, as part of its tests. At the moment, though, Numenta's employees are focusing on teaching the software to control physical equipment to be used in future robots.

[Image credit: Petrovich9/Getty]

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Wednesday, April 08, 2015

DJI's Phantom 3 brings 4K recording to its most popular drone

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/04/08/dji-phantom-3-professional-4k-hands-on/

DJI's Phantom series of read-to-fly quadcopters have been instrumental in bringing drones into mainstream consciousness. Particularly the Phantom 2 Vision+, which made silky-smooth aerial video possible for have-a-go pilots right out of the box (most other methods involve a fair amount of assembly). Today, the Phantom family grows again with two new members: the Phantom 3 Professional and the Phantom 3 Advanced. So what's new? And, more importantly, which one do you want?

Historically, DJI sells a base model Phantom without a camera, and you could pay a bit more for a Phantom "Vision" to get one built-in. At launch, the Phantom 3 comes with a camera and gimbal (stabilizer) built-in by default. The "Vision" branding has been replaced by "Professional" and "Advanced" to identify which camera you'll be getting: 4K(30fps)/12-megapixel and 1080p(up to 60fps)/12-megapixel respectively.

We asked DJI about a camera-less Phantom 3, and Director of communications, Michael Perry, tolds us "The only thing we're announcing is the Phantom 3 Professional and the Phantom 3 Advanced. As you can probably tell by the name there's scope for more." We're reading between the lines, but a Phantom 3 without a camera (and thus suitable for a third party cameras/a GoPro) at a later date seems very likely.

The Phantom 3 isn't just about the camera, the drone's been updated to include indoor positioning sensors (so if you film inside, it's less likely to crash) similar to what we saw in the Inspire 1, and GPS has been improved with support for GLONASS also. Newbie pilots will benefit from auto take-off and landing (another feature inherited from the Inspire). But for the most part (at least the looks), it's the same Phantom that we know and love (with swanky gold stickers!).

The Vision models introduced a feature that sent a low-quality live feed from the camera to your phone (known as first-person view, or FPV) that needed an ugly WiFi booster bolted onto the controller. This has been scrapped in place of DJI's own "lightbridge" technology baked right in the the Phantom 3 and its controller. What that means for you, is that there's no longer a WiFi dongle (that needs charging!) hanging off your controller -- and no more fiddly setting up of WiFi networks. Connect your phone/tablet (Android or iOS) to the controller by USB, and voila -- 720p HD live feed from the skies direct to your mobile device/DJI app from over a mile away. Flight times are estimated at about 23 minutes per battery.

This feed is where the fun starts. With your phone's data connection sat there, DJI decided it'd be a waste not to use it -- so (bandwidth provided) you can live stream from the Phantom 3 directly to YouTube (no need to jeopardize an iPhone running Periscope). When shooting something particularly cool, you can also mark the moment as a highlight, and when you're done, the app automatically edits a director's cut for you to share or enjoy later.

The camera on the Phantom 2 Vision+ wasn't our favourite. It did a decent job, but a wide field of view, and modest specifications meant lots of distortion, and an overcast sky was all it took for it to give less than great results. The cameras in the Phantom 3's appear to be an all round upgrade. For example, the f/2.8 shooter now has a 94-degree fixed field-of-view compared to the Vision+, which was 140 and suffered fisheye pretty bad. The narrower view also means you should rarely see the landing gear in shot -- which is pretty much the quickest way to ruin a killer video. If you want a little more control, there are settings for ISO, exposure, shutter speed and color filters, plus the camera can be tilted through 120-degrees of pitch to further up your cinematic/Spielberg game.

If you were hoping for waypoint flying and other such tricks, sadly, no dice. The Phantom 3 still has the necessary hardware, but that's left for keeping its position, and returning to home if it loses connection/the battery runs out. DJI likely hopes this sort of feature is more for customers of the Inspire 1. But, as drone tech progresses, many are starting to expect this sort of thing as standard. This doesn't mean that's it for software features though, DJI is opening up access to the camera downlink, which means you can expect to third-part apps to start popping up to add extra functionality, albeit indirectly.

So, which one do you want? After all, DJI has quite a few drones to choose from now. The Inspire 1 is still the coolest product the company makes, but it's also a "cool" $3,400. A Phantom 2 and gimbal for a GoPro currently costs $850 (plus upwards of $400 for the GoPro -- you'll pay even more for FPV). At $1,260 the Phantom 3 is the same price as the Phantom 2 with camera and gimbal, but with the added indoor sensors, software perks and FPV features on top. If you can live without 4K, then the "Advanced" at $1,000, will be even more tempting. Until we know how well those cameras perform though (we'll be sure to let you know, soon), you'll have to make do with the official promo videos.

The Phantom 3 Professional and Advanced launch in the coming weeks.

[Image credits: Aaron Souppouris]

Filed under: Misc

drag2share: Microsoft just made an aggressive move against Google in the cloud wars

source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/D8aivgQljzw/microsoft-launches-its-own-container-technology-2015-4

halo 5 guardians

There's a war going on between Microsoft, Google, and Amazon that's almost entirely invisible to the majority of the world that doesn't code.

Each of the three technology giants has a cloud platform, where applications can run at tremendous scales more efficiently in their own data centers.

Obviously, each would rather developers use their cloud platform than those others. That means giving the people who build applications the tools they want and the tools they need.

Today, Microsoft made a very aggressive move in that direction with the launch of Hyper-V containers and Microsoft Nano Server, two very boring-sounding technologies that have tremendous implications for how Microsoft works with developers.

Right now, there's a tremendous shift going on in application development. Developers are turning to what we call "containers" to package applications up in such a way that they can run anywhere, on any cloud. Google's been using containers in its own data center to great effect for many years.

But most of those containers still need an operating system to run inside of them. Just this week, Google led a $12 million round of funding for CoreOS, which makes an extremely stripped-down version of Linux that's ideal for this — full operating systems make the containers slow and clunky, so leanness is a virtue.

Now, Microsoft has its own competitor with Microsoft Nano Server, a version of its flagship Windows Server that strips out everything including the user interface in the name of making containers into lean, mean, computing machines.

"As customers adopt modern applicat! ions and next-generation cloud technologies, they need an OS that delivers speed, agility and lower resource consumption," writes Microsoft in the official blog entry.

As for those Hyper-V containers, they use Microsoft's trademark hypervisor in conjunction with the hyper-hot Docker container technology to help customers manage the applications they have running in the cloud, all in the name of more efficiency.

This is going to be a tightrope walk for Microsoft. On the one hand, Microsoft wants to ensure the dominance of Windows Server far into the future of the cloud. On the other hand, developers have never had more options, and containers give them even more choices about who they give their business to. The same is true for Google and Amazon, both of which also support containers.

But with Google's CoreOS investment — and the fact that some of Google's technology made its way into CoreOS product — and Microsoft's announcements here, it looks like they're going to be fighting for cloud dominance with developers as their proxies, even as Microsoft works hard at opening the door to outside technologies like never before.

Microsoft will release more details on the future of Windows Server at its Microsoft Build event later this month.

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Canon's C300 Mark II cinema camera will cost you $20,000

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/04/08/canon-c300-mark-ii/

More than three years after launching the C300, Canon is refreshing its line of cinema cameras with the C300 Mark II. On the outside, the C300 Mark II is quite similar to its EOS siblings, although it does come with a slightly tweaked design that features a wider body. But the most important changes are elsewhere. For one, Canon has made the new cinema camera capable of recording 4K internally, via CFast 2.0 cards -- as opposed to the first version, which couldn't handle this type of footage natively. The C300 Mark II sports a pair of DIGIC DV 5 processors, an ISO range of up to 102,400 and a brand new 8.85-megapixel, Super 35mm CMOS sensor, which can shoot video at full HD (1,920 x 1,080), 2K DCI (2,048 X 1,080), 4K UHD (3,840 x 2,160) and, perhaps most importantly, 4K DCI (4,096 x 2,160).

Canon's now using a high-bitrate codec named XF-AVC, with support for up to 410 Mbps; there's the option for uncompressed RAW output as well, but you'll need an external recorder to do that. Now, the C300 Mark II isn't here to replace the original model, but rather sit between it and the C500, the company's higher-end, pro-grade camera. But being in the middle of the pack doesn't mean that it'll be cheap. The C300 Mark II is set to be priced at $20,000 when it launches in September -- and Canon says you'll have the option to choose between an EF or PL mount, depending on your needs.

Filed under: Cameras, Canon

Canon XC10 camcorder shoots 4K and looks damn good doing it

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/04/08/canon-xc10-4k-camcorder/

It's hard to get too excited about camcorders these days, what with most of them looking basically the same -- never mind how useful they may be sometimes. Canon's new XC10, on the other hand, is one that instantly caught our attention, thanks to its distinctive, out-of-the-ordinary design. And that's not even the best part. The XC10 can shoot 4K and 1080p video at up to 30 fps and 60 fps, respectively; on the former, there's support for both Ultra HD (3,840 x 2,160) and cinematic 4K (4,096 x 2,160), bringing it on par with the newly announced C300 Mark II. What's more, this Canon 4K camcorder features a 1-inch, 12-megapixel CMOS sensor, alongside a Digic DV 5 processor, 10x wide-angle zoom lens and optical image stabilization -- which should make for rather smooth videos.

Canon says that the XC10 is lighter than many of its DSLRs, including members of the 5D and Rebel lines, noting that it could be perfect for drone shoots. With an ISO range of up to 20,000, a continuous AF mode (with face detection), fast-motion recording, dedicated microphone and headphone jacks, WiFi and support for still photography, there's no doubt the company wanted to make this a top-of-the-line camcorder. When it arrives in June, Canon's 4K-ready XC10 will be $2,500 (64GB CFast 2.0 card included), a reasonably affordable price for a camera that's packed to the punch.

Filed under: Cameras, Canon

Some Anonabox routers recalled for lack of basic security

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/04/07/anonabox-security-flaw-recalled/

The story of the Anonabox internet privacy router has a new ridiculous chapter. The initial production batch of the device has a major security flaw and Anonabox's overlords, Sochule have informed customers that it will replace those routers for free. It turns out the routers in question shipped without Wi-Fi password protection. Yup, the Anonabox "cloaking device" didn't have the simplest form of router security, a network password. Sure users could anonymously surf the Internet via Tor, but they couldn't stop anyone from within Wi-Fi range from hopping on their network and potentially hacking their devices. It was also determined that the root password of the affected devices is the incredibly easy to guess "Admin." According to a Wired report, 300 of the approximately 1,500 routers sold were about as secure as a screen door.

From its launch on Kickstarter, the Anonabox saga has been series of false claims. After blowing past its funding goal on Kickstarter, the crowd-funding site pulled the product citing false hardware claims. It was also discovered that many of the security declarations made by the company were inaccurate. After the device was moved to Indiegogo, creator August Germer's claims of involvement with the Tor community were also debunked.

Also, as noted by security researcher Nicholas Weaver, Anonabox users will most likely use non-Tor browsers on the Tor network. You should never use the same browser for Tor and non-Tor traffic because your ID cookie is logged in both instances.

Hey @anonabox, even IF your shit was secure (instead of grossly vulnerable), non-Tor Browser over Tor is EPICFAIL and known insecure.
- Nicholas Weaver (@ncweaver) April 7, 2015

Still, the company was able raise more than $82,00 and has apparently already sold about 1,500 devices. We'll never know how many of those were purchased by individuals believing the privacy hype and how many were bought by security researchers for the lulz.

[Image credit: Anonabox]

Filed under: Peripherals, Wireless, Networking

Source: Wired, Reclaim Your Privacy

Liquid metal printing puts flexible circuits on 'anything'

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/04/08/purdue-inket-printer-liquid-metal/

Thanks to top universities and some companies, soft robots and stretchy electronics are already a reality. Now a group of researchers from Purdue claim they've found the right manufacturing process to produce those types of devices en masse. Their method entails printing out circuits using an inkjet printer loaded with liquid metal alloy. "This process... allows us to print flexible and stretchable conductors onto anything, including elastic materials and fabrics," said Rebecca Kramer, one of the researchers. After all, if the circuits are made from liquid metal, they can be stretched, folded, squeezed, and so on and so forth, without breaking.

They call the technique "mechanically sintered gallium-indium nanoparticles," because, well, they need to turn liquid metal into nanoparticles first before it can function as ink. That's made possible by immersing the alloy into a solvent such as ethanol and subjecting the mixture to ultrasound in order to disperse the liquid metal.

The printed circuits end up being protected by a "skin" that prevents electrical conductivity. But that can easily be removed by applying light pressure (like stamping or scraping) on the printout, allowing designers to choose which parts of the circuits to activate. The team plans to explore the technique further and perhaps put it to the test, but you can read more about their study when their paper gets published in the April 18th issue of Advanced Materials.

Filed under: Wearables, Science

Source: Purdue University

Tuesday, April 07, 2015

It's impossible to tell the difference between real life and video games

Source: http://sploid.gizmodo.com/its-impossible-to-tell-the-difference-between-real-life-1696333116

I know which one is reality and which one is video game graphics and yet my brain keeps flip flopping and pretending like the video game is real life and real life is actually the game. The graphics are so impressive that in some angles, I honestly can't tell which is which.

drag2share: Intel's latest Atom chips are meant for all of your connected devices

source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/04/07/intel-atom-x3-sofia-iot/?utm_source=Feed_Classic_Full&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget&?ncid=rss_full

Intel's latest Atom processors aren't just for phones and tablets -- they're going to show up in many of the other devices you own before long. The chip maker has unveiled a new version of its Atom x3 (aka SoFIA) that's designed to run Internet of Things gadgets, such as smart appliances and outdoor sensors. They have built-in 3G or LTE data to stay online, and they're tough enough to survive extreme temperatures that would faze regular silicon. Unsurprisingly, these processors are made with Linux and Android in mind. There's no word from Intel as to which companies are using the new x3, but you'll definitely have to be patient. The developer kits don't start shipping until the second half of the year, so you probably won't see a truly wide range of Atom-powered gear until 2016.

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REPORT: Russia hacked the White House

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/report-russia-hacked-the-white-house-2015-4

United State Cyber Command security attacks

Russian-hired hackers breached an unclassified White House system and pilfered information about President Barack Obama's daily schedule and communications, according to CNN. The hackers gained "access to sensitive information such as real-time non-public details of the president's schedule."

A phishing-style attack allowed Russian hackers to access a State Department computer network, which in turn allowed access to the White House's system. The hackers were working for the Russian government, but did not succeed in accessing any classified networks, according to the CNN report.

Even so, non-classified networks can contain sensitive information that the White House might not necessarily want in the hands of a rival government. And it's a sign that even high-level US government systems are far from impervious to outside attacks.

The attack stemmed from a nearly year-long breach of the US State Department's computer systems that investigators described as the "worst ever" against a US federal agency target, according to a March CNN report. Those ongoing problems with State's computer networks has apparently now impacted the White House as well.

On CNN, Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes explained that federal staffers have previously been encouraged to guard even non-classified information being passed through government systems because of hacking concerns.

"If you're going to do something that is classified you have to do it on one email system and on phone system, and act as if information could be compromised if it's not on the classified system," he said. Rhodes said that the hackers did not access classified information, even though the government views even unclassified information as "sensitive."

Rhodes wouldn't confirm or deny t! hat Russ ian hackers were responsible for the reported White House breach.

"It's fair to say ... Russia has been active in the cyber space and in the espionage space," Rhodes told CNN.

SEE ALSO: This al Qaeda affiliate's survival is a dangerous precedent

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NOW WATCH: A lawyer in Florida has come up with an ingenious way for drivers to evade drunken-driving checkpoints

A Magnetic Field Detector 1,000 Times More Efficient Than Those Before It

Source: http://gizmodo.com/a-magnetic-field-detector-1-000-times-more-efficient-th-1696155628

Measuring magnetic fields with accuracy is important, whether it’s for geological exploration or medical imaging. Now, a team from MIT has developed a new laser-based magnetic field detector that’s 1,000 times more efficient than previous examples.

LG may have just outed an 8K iMac

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/04/07/lg-leaks-8k-imac/

Apple's suppliers take a $50 million blood oath on new model secrecy, but it looks like someone from LG didn't get that memo. In a press release explaining why 4K is now passé (really?), the company's display division inadvertently leaked an iMac with an incredible 8K screen. While discussing its own 98-inch 8K TV, it said "Apple has also announced that they will release the 'iMac 8K' with a super-high resolution display this year." Unfortunately for LG, Apple announced no such thing, meaning the Korean company may have revealed information meant for its eyes only.

An 8K iMac is far from implausible, as Apple already has a 27-inch 5K retina iMac with 5,120 x 2,880 pixels. On top of that, VESA's new DisplayPort 1.4a standard now allows 7,680 x 4,320 8K displays. (That's an eye-popping 33-megapixels if you're keeping score at home.) However, we're taking all the information with a certain amount of salt, since it could just be a simple mistake or misunderstanding. That said, LG is the manufacturer of record for Apple's 5K iMac and has since taken down the post. We've reached out to LG and Apple for comment, but at this point we're not holding our breath.

Filed under: Desktops, Displays, Apple, LG

Small Lego case hides a grown-up computer inside

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/04/07/small-lego-pc/

Let's imagine you've always found Lego computers cool and woke up today wanting to make one of your own. In that case, congratulations: Mike Schropp from Total Geekdom just published a design for a small (but powerful) PC that's perfect for you. Schropp went for the smallest design that could still house the latest Intel i3, i5, and i7 processors, USB 3.0, various ports (HDMI, LAN, audio, display, mic), multiple SSD drives, up to 16GB of RAM and even a CD/DVD or Blu-ray drive. He went through three iterations, before he managed to build a size (7.5 x7.5 x 5.5 inches) that he felt was perfect for this project (and didn't need too much Lego), equipped with a top-down cooling system.

He said he got the idea after considering requests for him to build a Lego computer:

The more I thought about the Lego computer over the last year, the more I started wondering how I could design and build a system that wasn't so difficult to reproduce, one that could be bought by anyone looking for a new computer with a unique twist, a Lego twist.

This isn't Schropp's first attempt at building computers out of toy bricks, by the way: In 2011, he built a Lego PC tower that served as a folding farm for cancer and AIDS research. He's done other far-out projects, as well, including a robot made using computer parts and a PC cooled by a wind tunnel. He wrote extensively about his experience building this Lego PC on his website and posted a healthy collection of images, so make sure to visit if you'd like to tackle something similar in the future.

Filed under: Desktops

Via: Ubergizmo

Source: Total Geekdom

Stanford researchers developed a battery that can charge your smartphone in just one minute

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/stanford-aluminum-ion-battery-charges-smartphone-one-minute-2015-4

Stanford News

Researchers at Stanford University in the US have created a new aluminium battery that charges smartphones to full capacity in one minute. Scientists say the technology could one day replace many of the batteries used in devices today, according to a media release.

The findings were detailed in an online edition of the journal Nature, published on April 6.

The aluminium-ion battery is a safer alternative to the lithium-ion batteries currently used in laptops and smartphones, which can be a fire hazard. The new prototype is also better for the environment than disposable alkaline batteries, like the ones you find in TV remotes.

The prototype was developed by Stanford University chemistry Professor Hongjie Dai along with student colleagues.

"We have developed a rechargeable aluminium battery that may replace existing storage devices, such as alkaline batteries, which are bad for the environment, and lithium-ion batteries, which occasionally burst into flames. Our new battery won't catch fire, even if you drill through it," Dai said in a statement.

The team's new battery can keep going for around 7,500 charges, while previous experimental aluminium batteries lasted only 100 charge cycles. A typical lithium-ion battery lasts around 1,000 charge cycles, according to researchers.

Aluminium is an appealing material for batteries because it's affordable, doesn't catch fire too easily, and has a high-charge capacity. The challenge, until now, has been "finding materials capable of producing sufficient voltage after repeated cycles of charging and discharging," researchers note.

The new battery consists of a negatively charged aluminium anode and a positively charged graphite cathode.

Stanford News

The battery is not only long-lasting, but it can also bend, greatly widening its potential use in electronic devices.

Researchers still have to work on improving the voltage of the aluminium battery. Right now, it only produces about half the voltage of a typical lithium battery.

For more information, watch the video from Stanford University:

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NOW WATCH: Here's Why You Should Never Let Your Kids Play With Your Smartphone

Monday, April 06, 2015

Intel's $150 Stick That Turns a TV Into a Windows Desktop Is Now on Sale

Source: http://ces.gizmodo.com/intels-150-hdmi-stick-turns-any-tv-into-a-windows-desk-1678550370/1695954486/+ericlimer

The Intel Compute Stick, a snazzy $150 dongle that can turn anything with an HDMI port into a full-fledged Windows computer, made a bit of a splash when it touched down at CES 2015. And now it's landing for real, preorders have started at Amazon and Newegg.

Watch Olympus' Dope Image Stabilization Work Its Shake-Free Magic

Source: http://reframe.gizmodo.com/watch-olympus-dope-image-stabilization-work-like-magic-1695968869

Olympus’ 5-axis image stabilization is some of the best out there. The system allows you to usable shoot images in conditions where the results would horribly shaky. This video captures a view of what the sshake-free guts look like under the hood. It’s hypnotizing.

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