Tech News

9 News: Two Huawei employees arrested in Poland; spying allegations.

Poland has arrested a Chinese employee of Huawei and a Polish [Huawei] cyber business specialist on allegations of spying.

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Information Week: How to manage the Internet of Things (IOT).

Once data is collected in central storage, analytics on the entire body of data can be run to produce the most inclusive and holistic picture of the business.

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MIT Review: When China decides to really hack the rest of the world.

Many thought the internet would bring democracy to China. Instead it empowered rampant government oppression, and now the censors are turning their attention to the rest of the world.

Or North Korea. Or Russia. Or those godless Tuvaluians.
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TechDirt: Facebook not helping Vietnamese government censor critics quickly enough.

...the government is going to do other vague things ("necessary economic and technical measures") to hurt Facebook and "ensure a clean and healthy network environment." One "necessary economic measure" is somehow blocking Facebook from collecting money for "hatred advertising," whatever the hell that is.

WTH is "hatred advertising"? Anyone wanna take a shot at defining it?

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO/Censor.

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TechCrunch: MS Bing suggests inappropriate/illegal image search results.

Following an anonymous tip, TechCrunch commissioned a report from online safety startup AntiToxin to investigate. The results were alarming.

Alarming is an understatement. Stop using Bing. Over on the far-right sidebar, scroll down and look for "Search Engine Alternatives To Google." Start using any of them and make Google and Bing history.

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Tech Crunch: SpaceX to lay off hundreds. 

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TechSpot: CBS Superbowl 8K resolution.

US cable providers still do not even support live 4K broadcasts, but CBS Sports is going to try out its 8K cameras at the Super Bowl anyways.

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ZD Net: Government shutdown affecting websites; TLS certificates expiring. 

The blame falls on the current US federal government shutdown [...] Consequently, government websites are dropping like flies, with no one being on hand to renew TLS certificates.

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Ars Technia: AT&T says it will stop selling phone location data. 

Earlier this week, AT&T said it "only permit[s] sharing of location when a customer gives permission for cases like fraud prevention or emergency roadside assistance or when required by law." But the Motherboard investigation showed that the data was being re-sold on the black market, allowing pretty much anyone to get the location of other people's phones.

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It looks like "It's" here. Technocracy: IBM launches Quantum-Computer-In-A-Box.

The 20-qubit IBM Q System One represents the first major leap for quantum computers of 2019[.]

Quantum in a Box

Tech News

ArsTechnia: 15 year comatose patient gains some degree of consciousness after vagus nerve stimulation.

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ArsTechnia again: MicroSoft embraces quantum computing.  (Several Patches will follow, I'm sure).

It is a good article and explains quantum computing without being overly technical:

... traditional digital computers are made from bits, each bit representing either a one or a zero, quantum computers are made from some number of qubits (quantum bits). Qubits represent, in some sense, both one and zero simultaneously (a quantum superposition of 1 and 0). This ability for qubits to represent multiple values gives quantum computers exponentially more computing power than traditional computers.

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Love Stinks. Breaking up is a bitch. C|Net: Siri leaves Bing for Google.
(Who, in their wildest imagination, could have envisioned those five words appearing in that order?)

 

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WIRED: More on MSoft and quantum computing.

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I haven't seen it, but TechCrunch calls the new "Star Trek" series murky.

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TechCrunch: device passwords, counter-terrorism and privacy. 

A London court today found Muhammad Rabbani guilty of willfully obstructing the police by failing to hand over device passwords and the PIN code for his smartphone after he had been detained at a UK airport.

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ZD Net: Click this link and watch Robot Dentist.  There's a 10(?) second commercial before the video. Video is 50 seconds.
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Geek: Meet K1, stationary robot that detects concealed weapons.

Okay, some questions:

1) Can the K-series determine who is LEGALLY carrying a concealed weapon from someone illegally carrying a concealed weapon? Can it detect a concealed lead pipe? A blackjack? A box cutter?

2) Can the K-robots be installed at all airports so the TSA can stop GROPING CHILDREN and the rest of us?

The K1. Image: Knightscope

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Gizmodo: This is Bullshit and unacceptable of Showtime and its web affiliates if true:  Your computer may have been used by Showtime websites to mine for crypto-coins while watching "Twin Peaks."
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Beta News: Battery Super-Drain:

... iOS 11 is causing iPhone and iPad batteries to drain faster than ever -- much faster. The difference between iOS 10 and iOS 11 is anything but minor; batteries can drain in half the amount of time following the upgrade.

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Technocracy: Guess which company spends the most on Federal Lobbying? Here's a hint (but I'll bet you don't even need one) - it starts with a "G." 
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New Atlas: Lockheed Martin tests laser weapon. Nails 5 drones with 100% accuracy.  Video below; Lockheed Martin.

The Advanced Test High Energy Asset, aka Athena. (Enough already with the acronyms!)

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TechDirt: Do NOT fuck with the Velcro folks.  They mean business. Really - if you click on only one link, make it this one. The Velcro video is a riot. And they're dead serious!