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Phoenix666 writes:

Last week, at the IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference in San Francisco, another group showed how this approach [neuromorphic engineering] can also work for hearing. Shi-Chii Liu, who co-leads the Zurich institute, described a silicon cochlea that uses just 55 microwatts of power (three orders of magnitude less than previous versions of the system) to detect sound in a humanlike way.

The neuromorphic auditory system uses two "ears," with each one capable of being moved independently of the other. The difference in timing between sound waves reaching the two ears makes it possible to locate the origin of a sound, says Liu. Each silicon ear has 64 channels, [with each responding] to a different frequency band, from low pitches to high. These channels mimic the cells in the human cochlea, which also responds to different frequencies (about a thousand in the real thing).

Liu connects the silicon cochlea to her laptop and shows what it's recording with a graph of frequency over time. When we're quiet, there's no activity. When one of us speaks into the microphone, there are spikes around the 100-to-200-hertz range. The other channels, ranging from 20 Hz to 20 kilohertz, are not recording.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

SlySoft, the creator of the AnyDVD DVD/Blu-ray ripping software, has shut down following Hollywood pressure:

The Antigua-based software company SlySoft has shut down its website and ceased sales of the popular Blu-ray ripping software AnyDVD. The action comes several days after a group of Hollywood studios and technology partners asked the U.S. Government to intervene.

Earlier this month AACS LA, the decryption licensing outfit founded by a group of movie studios and technology partners including Warner Bros, Disney, Microsoft and Intel, reminded the U.S. Government about the unauthorized activities of SlySoft. SlySoft is known for selling various copyright protection circumvention tools including the popular AnyDVD software, of which it sold tens of thousands of copies over the years.

In 2014 AACS-LA won a court case against the software manufacturer in Antigua, where a local court found SlySoft owner Giancarla Bettini guilty of six charges under the 2003 Copyright Act and ordered him to pay a fine of $5,000 per offense. Failure to pay would result in six months in jail for each offense. However, despite the win for AACS not much changed. SlySoft's owner immediately filed an appeal which effectively put the convictions on hold. Meanwhile, AnyDVD remained widely available.

This changed yesterday when the site suddenly went blank as the domain's main nameservers were removed. Initially it was unclear what triggered the downtime, but a few hours ago SlySoft put up a brief statement confirming an early Myce report that legal problems are the cause.

From the above Wikipedia link:

AnyDVD is a device driver for Microsoft Windows which allows decryption of DVDs on the fly, as well as targeted removal of copy preventions and user operation prohibitions (UOPs). With an upgrade, it will also do the same for HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc. The AnyDVD program runs in the background, making discs unrestricted and region-free. In addition to removing digital restrictions, AnyDVD will also defeat Macrovision analog copy prevention. Analog prevention distorts the video signal to prevent high quality copying from the output. AnyDVD is also able to remove copy-prevention from audio CDs.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

A series of raids in Japan last week have led to the arrest of 44 people for violations of the Copyright Act:

Police in Japan have arrested 44 people suspected of being involved in illegal Internet file-sharing. Raids in over 90 locations across the country targeted individuals suspected of downloading and distributing a wide range of content including movies, music, anime, manga and software. If convicted they face fines and up to ten years in jail.

[...] According to an announcement by the National Police Agency (NPA), in recent days officers across Japan carried out raids against individuals believed to have downloaded and shared a variety of content without obtaining permission from copyright holders.

In a three-day long crackdown between February 16 and 18, police in 29 prefectures searched 93 locations, eventually arresting a total of 44 people. All are suspected of engaging in online piracy of either movies, music, anime, manga or computer software. All were detained under the Copyright Act.

A wide variety of heavyweight industry groups were behind the action including the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan (MPAJ), the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ), the Japan Video Software Association (JVA) and the Software Alliance (BSA).

According to the Association of Copyright for Computer Software (ACCS) the large-scale crackdown on Internet pirates is the seventh of its type since 2009. Those detained include a 55-year-old office worker who along with the others faces fines between $1,785 and $89,200 (200,000 to 10 million yen) and jail sentences of up to ten years, depending on their offense.

Until 2012 only uploading was considered a criminal offense in Japan but in that same year local authorities upgraded mere downloading to a crime carrying jail sentences of up to two years.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Researchers at three different schools have created a microprocessor that integrates transistors and photonic components for on-chip communication:

In the paper – "Single-chip microprocessor that communicates directly using light" – researchers from UC Berkeley, University of Colorado, and MIT report fabricating an electronic–photonic system on a single chip integrating over 70 million transistors and 850 photonic components that work together to provide logic, memory, and interconnect functions. Most significantly, they did it with standard CMOS manufacturing techniques.

Talking about the impact of the work, Miloš Popovic a co-author on the study from the University of Colorado told HPCwire, "This work is directly aimed at the energy problem in supercomputers. It will enable reducing the communication energy by about an order of magnitude, and will make communication energy independent of distance of a link — up to 100's of meters. So, it's definitely part of the exascale computing story."

The chip was fabricated using a commercial high-performance 45-nm complementary metal–oxide semiconductor (CMOS) silicon-on-insulator (SOI) process. The authors write: "No changes to the foundry process were necessary to accommodate photonics and all optical devices were designed to comply with the native process-manufacturing rules. This 'zero-change' integration enables high-performance transistors on the same chip as optics, reuse of all existing designs in the process, compatibility with electronics design tools, and manufacturing in an existing high-volume foundry."

[...] The new chip has a bandwidth density of 300 gigabits per second per square millimeter, about 10 to 50 times greater than packaged electrical-only microprocessors currently on the market.

The big news is the relative ease of manufacture. "This "zero change" approach to integration enables complex electronic-photonic systems on chip to be designed today, in an advanced CMOS foundry. This means high yield, immediate transition to volume production, and the most advanced transistors of any photonic chip (and the largest number of them). These qualities should open up research into systems on chip in many applications including RF signal processing, radar/lidar applications, sensing and imaging, etc.

The authors note, "By showing that a microprocessor with photonic I/O is possible to build today, we're illustrating the power of this approach. Incidentally, while we expected photonic devices to not perform as well using this approach as using fabrication customized to photonics, it turns out that in a number of cases they perform better — leveraging the high resolution implant masks, controlled sub-100nm CMOS deep UV lithography, and rich set of material and mask levels available in CMOS."

Single-chip microprocessor that communicates directly using light (DOI: 10.1038/nature16454)

Related: Light-based Memory Chip is the First Ever to Store Data Permanently

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

During a romantic relationship, a couple is likely to create, accumulate and share many digital possessions such as videos, photos, chat histories, and shared accounts like Netflix. These digital possessions can cue precious memories, but if the relationship ends these possessions don't just disappear, they need to be dealt with in some way.

Daniel Herron is the first joint PhD student between Scotland's University of Dundee and UTS. He is investigating how these memory cues are dealt with by people after they experience a break up, separation or divorce.

"Creating digital possessions as part of a relationship is entirely commonplace compared to 10 years ago. People often find it very difficult to work out what to do with these digital possessions that they have generated after a breakup, due to the many opportunities for reminiscence created by exploring these digital possessions," said Herron.

Maybe both parties to the relationship can walk away with a full copy of the digital assets?

Original Submission

An Anonymous Coward writes:

In light of all the discussion on the order for Apple to provide a backdoor to an iPhone, it is instructive to see some of the impact in other countries around the world.

https://delimiter.com.au/2016/02/24/labor-coalition-vote-against-strong-encryption-in-senate/

Both of Australia's major political parties have explicitly rejected a Senate motion calling on the Government to support public use of strong encryption technologies, in a move that comes in the wake of the US Government's demand that Apple provide it with a backdoor for open access to its iPhone handset.

Yesterday in the Senate, Greens Senator and Communications Spokesperson Scott Ludlam … moved a motion dealing with encryption technology.

The motion called upon the Senate to note that strong digital encryption protects the personal and financial information of millions of people; that encryption is an important tool to prevent identity theft and other crime; that encryption ensures that public interest whistleblowers, journalists and other civil society actors can conduct their activities more securely; and that the Government, through services such as Medicare and Centrelink, and digital platforms such as myGov, depends on encryption to keep client information safe.

[...] Secondly, it called upon the Federal Government to "support the continued development and use of strong encryption technologies; resist any push from other governments to weaken encryption on personal devices; and work with law enforcement to develop alternative avenues to obtain information through warrants and targeted surveillance that does not put every Australian at greater risk of identity theft."

The motion was defeated, with only the Greens and independent Senators Lambie, Leyonhjelm, Wang, Lazarus, Muir and Xenophon voting for it. Both Labor and the Coalition voted against the motion. "

N.B.: Australia became a member of Five Eyes in 1955 following its being acknowledged as a member of the top secret UKUSA treaty. The "Five Eyes" term has its origins as a shorthand for a "AUS/CAN/NZ/UK/US EYES ONLY" (AUSCANNZUKUS) classification level.

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maxwell demon writes:

Remember the Bundestrojaner (Federal Trojan)? Well, if you thought that was a thing of the past, here's news for you: A new version of it has just been approved by the German government for use by the German police. From the article at softpedia:

The German government has approved that a new version of the infamous Bundestrojaner (Federal Trojan) malware be used against real-life targets, after authorities have been working on an updated version for the past months.

Bundestrojaner stands for "Federal Trojan," when translated from German. It is one of the first malware families ever created by a government and then deployed against its own citizens.

The site helpnetsecurity.com has more information:

The malware has been developed in-house, and has been available since autumn 2015. It is supposed to be used only for so-called telecommunication surveillance at the source, i.e. to read emails, chats and wiretap phone calls made by the target via his or her computer or smartphone, and not to access files, steal passwords, or set up video or audio surveillance via the device.

It's seems, though, that it is capable of doing all of that.

If you understand German, you also can go to the original Deutschlandfunk article cited by both as source. There's also an (obviously also German language) audio link on that page (non-obviously placed in the lower right corner of the big image near the beginning of the article). The spoken text in that audio file is not identical to the written text on the page, but seems to contain the same information.

Side remark: Unlike claimed by softpedia.com, Deutschlandfunk is not a newspaper, but a broadcasting radio station.

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

IEEE Spectrum reports:

The RS-UV3 is a shot in the arm for amateur radio. Mobile phones and the Internet have made the basic act of talking to a faraway person an everyday experience. This means that much of the appeal of ham radio is now in things like emergency response; technically challenging exercises such as bouncing signals off satellites or ultralow-power long-distance contacts; and exploring a host of digital communications modes.

In some ways, trying out such digital modes has never been easier. Free desktop programs like Fldigi can work with the audio tones used in a smorgasbord of communications schemes, from the 1930s-era radio-fax Hellschreiber protocol to today's complete bulletin-board systems. But linking the computers running such software to radios is often surprisingly fiddly in the age of painless USB and Bluetooth. Except for high-end rigs, connecting a computer to a ham radio typically involves navigating legacy interfaces and connectors and can call for specialized additional equipment, a turnoff for makers who might otherwise be interested in the possibilities of radio.

But the US $90 RS-UV3 radio shield from HobbyPCB is an FM transceiver that's welcoming by design and built for makers from the ground up. It's not the only radio shield available for the Arduino that works in the UHF/VHF frequency bands, but the RS-UV3 is the most flexible one I've spotted when it comes to interfaces. As well as a legacy ham radio interface, the shield provides multiple ways to connect it to an Arduino, PC, or Raspberry Pi—and to two of those at once if required. By itself, the RS-UV3 can transmit with only 0.25 watt, but HobbyPCB plans to sell an add-on amplifier for more powerful transmissions.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Nike co-founder and Chairman Philip Knight has made a $400 million donation to Stanford University to fund a scholarship program. The donation represents one of the largest ever individual contributions to a university:

The gift, announced today, is one of the largest ever from an individual donor to a university. It also "represents the largest single increase in student financial aid in Stanford's history," according to a statement from the university.

The Knight-Hennessy Scholars program "will be analogous to the Rhodes and Shwarzman scholarships," the Stanford Daily reports. It is supported by a $750 million endowment, Stanford says, the majority of which is from Knight's gift.

Stanford says the program, which provides funding for at least three years of graduate-level study, will admit 100 scholars annually.

[...] "This is using education to benefit mankind and I think it really could be transformative," Knight told The New York Times . "I jumped on it right away." Knight also recently donated $500 million to the Oregon Health & Science University for cancer research. In 2013, he challenged the university to raise $500 million in two years, which he said he would match. The university said last June it reached that goal.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Meet Google/Alphabet's latest robot, the next-generation of Atlas:

The 5-foot-9-inch robot, created by Alphabet's Boston Dynamics, is about 5 inches shorter than its predecessor and 120 pounds lighter [now at 180 pounds]. It's more agile and no longer are[sic] tethered to any wires or power pack. It's also eerily humanoid:

[video, 2:41 duration]

In addition to withstanding bumps and getting up after being pushed over, the bipedal robot can pick up 10-pound boxes and push open doors. That is perhaps the scariest part for those who have visions of Terminator-like androids hunting them down.

Additional coverage at Singularity Hub, TechCrunch, and Ars Technica .

martyb writes:

SpaceX had originally scheduled to launch a rocket on Wednesday, February 24 but has decided to postpone the launch by at least 24 hours:

SpaceX on Wednesday postponed for at least 24 hours the scheduled Florida launch of a Falcon 9 rocket on a satellite-delivery mission and attempted return-landing at sea to allow extra time to chill the rocket's propellant, the company said.

Blast-off of the 23-story-tall booster and its payload, a SES SA communications satellite, was rescheduled for 6:46 p.m. EST (2346 GMT) on Thursday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, SpaceX said.

"Rocket and spacecraft remain healthy," the company said in a message posted on Twitter as the delay was announced. Hours earlier SpaceX had described weather conditions at the launch site as a "60 percent go" and said it was tracking thick clouds and high winds.

Following the delay, the company issued a further statement explaining: "The team opted to hold launch to ensure liquid oxygen temperatures are as cold as possible in an effort to maximize performance of the vehicle."

The statement left unclear how much, if any, weather was a factor in the postponement.

Meteorologists forecast an 80 percent chance that weather would be suitable for liftoff on Thursday.

I, for one, will be anxiously awaiting the launch and hopefully successful barge landing of this flight. I well remember the 60s and the progression of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo flights that culminated with the moon landings and return of moon rocks to earth. I followed many a space shuttle launch and landing, too. And now we see the space race heating up again. Exciting times.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Baidu, China's top search engine, offers a very insecure Web browser:

Today, the Citizen Lab is releasing a new report, "Baidu's and Don'ts: Privacy and Security Issues in Baidu Browser."

The report is the result of many weeks of careful analysis, led by Citizen Lab security researcher Jeffrey Knockel and co-authors Adam Senft and Sarah McKune and is part of Citizen Lab's interest in analyzing the privacy and security issues involved with popular mobile applications.

Reuters has an exclusive story on the report here: http://www.reuters.com/article/baidu-vulnerability-idUSL3N1613VI

The report takes a close look at Baidu Browser, a popular China-based mobile application that is available in Windows and Android versions. What we found was very troubling.

Baidu Browser collects and transmits a lot of personal user data back to Baidu servers that we believe goes far beyond what should be collected, and it does so either without encryption, or with easily decryptable encryption. Data collected and transmitted in the Android version without any encryption includes a user's GPS coordinates, search terms, and URLs visited. The user's IMEI and nearby wireless networks are sent with easily decryptable encryption. Meanwhile, the Windows version sends search terms, hard drive serial number, network MAC address, title of all webpages visited and GPU model number.

Baidu responded to some of the Citizen Lab's questions (pdf). Spotted at The Register .

Original Submission

takyon writes:

There is a price to pay for being the home state for a large U.S. National Security Agency datacenter:

Utah is being hit with up to 300 million security incidents a day, the state's public safety commissioner says. He complains that the undefined "incidents", the bulk of which are likely automated scans, have skyrocketed since 2010 when the number of incidents peaked at 80,000 a day.

Commissioner Keith Squires told local broadcaster KUTV he suspected the increase is thanks to construction of the National Security Agency's major data centre in the state. "In 2010, my IT director was letting me know that the amount of attacks we would average in a 24 hour period were between 25,000 to 80,000," Squires says. "We did have peaks in the past year or so that were over 300 million in a day. In my opinion the ultimate effort [of state actor attackers] was trying to get data that was national security related."

The state employs 20 personnel in its security team and charges them with sifting through the mass of security incidents. Picking the signal of a nasty attack from the noise of automated scans is among the team's chief concerns.

Original Submission

martyb writes:

Ars Technica is reporting that US District Judge Richard Jones has confirmed what many had suspected — the Feds hired Carnegie Mellon University to break Tor:

A federal judge in Washington has now confirmed what has been strongly suspected: that Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) researchers at its Software Engineering Institute (SEI) were hired by the federal government to do research into breaking Tor in 2014. The judge also made a notable statement in his court order that "Tor users clearly lack a reasonable expectation of privacy in their IP addresses while using the Tor network."

However, some of the details that Tor alleged previously seem to be wrong: the research was funded by the Department of Defense, not the FBI. Tor Project Director Shari Steele told Ars earlier this year that the organization still couldn't get straight answers from CMU. According to the judge, that research was then subpoenaed by federal investigators.

Judge Jones wrote:

In the instant case, it is the Court's understanding that in order for a prospective user to use the Tor network they must disclose information, including their IP addresses, to unknown individuals running Tor nodes, so that their communications can be directed toward their destinations. Under such a system, an individual would necessarily be disclosing his identifying information to complete strangers. Again, according to the parties' submissions, such a submission is made despite the understanding communicated by the Tor Project that the Tor network has vulnerabilities and that users might not remain anonymous. Under these circumstances Tor users clearly lack a reasonable expectation of privacy in their IP addresses while using the Tor network. In other words, they are taking a significant gamble on any real expectation of privacy under these circumstances.

The story goes into some detail as to what constitutes a "reasonable expectation of privacy."

[Continues.]

martyb writes:

Microsoft has signed an agreement to acquire Xamarin, a leading platform provider for mobile app development:

In conjunction with Visual Studio, Xamarin provides a rich mobile development offering that enables developers to build mobile apps using C# and deliver fully native mobile app experiences to all major devices – including iOS, Android, and Windows. Xamarin's approach enables developers to take advantage of the productivity and power of .NET to build mobile apps, and to use C# to write to the full set of native APIs and mobile capabilities provided by each device platform. This enables developers to easily share common app code across their iOS, Android and Windows apps while still delivering fully native experiences for each of the platforms. Xamarin's unique solution has fueled amazing growth for more than four years.

[...] Through Xamarin Test Cloud, all types of mobile developers—C#, Objective-C, Java and hybrid app builders —can also test and improve the quality of apps using thousands of cloud-hosted phones and devices. Xamarin was recently named one of the top startups that help run the Internet.

I have heard of Xamarin, but have no experience using their products. I have experience MANY years ago with tools that aimed to provide native-like appearance and actions with a common code base, but they always seemed to come up short. How well does Xamarin's products/tools hold up?

Original Submission