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MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard

For four consecutive quarters up through May, Samsung has dominated the home appliances market. With the announcement of the Galaxy Note 8 and its expanded Bixby capabilities such as Quick Commands (using small phrases to perform multiple actions simultaneously), as well as the global rollout of Bixby voice in English to over 200 countries earlier this week, Samsung is making a firm statement: that its Bixby AI, whether you want it or not, is here to stay.

But taking advantage of its success in the home appliances market involves staying ahead, and to do that, there must be a new perspective from which to approach the market. Since Bixby is an 8-year labor of love for the Korean giant, and the voice assistant has now rolled out to mobile devices, bringing the new AI to the home is the next best thing. To this end, Samsung says that it looks to expand Bixby and voice assistant capabilities to smart home appliances by 2020.

This means that Bixby will be used to control the home through Samsung Connect. Samsung's Family Hub refrigerator already utilizes Bixby to perform certain commands (Samsung rolled out Bixby via a software update to the Family Hub 2.0 refrigerator back in May), but the Family Hub will be used to call robot vacuum cleaners to the kitchen or turn on the washing and drying machines (as the Family Hub will control the kitchen setting). Samsung Connect will be used to tie the entire home together, as home automation dictates.

Source: https://www.tizenexperts.com/2017/08/samsung-expand-bixby-voice-recognition-features-smart-home-appliances-2020/

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The Mighty Buzzard writes:

Welcome, new trolls! We're pleased as punch to have you aboard, unfortunately as you may have noticed our moderators are unable to give you the moderations you've been working so hard for. Since we can't really do much about people not moderating more, we're going to be giving out more points so that the ones that do can give you the attention you so desperately crave.

Moderators: Starting a little after midnight UTC tonight, everyone will be getting ten points a day instead of five. The threshold for a mod-bomb, however, is going to remain at five. This change is not so you can pursue an agenda against registered users more effectively but so we can collectively handle the rather large uptick in anonymous trolling recently while still being able to have points remaining for upmodding quality comments. This is not an invitation to go wild downmodding; it's helping you to be able to stick to the "concentrate more on upmodding than downmodding" bit of the guidelines.

Also, this is not a heavily thought-out or permanent change. It is a quick, dirty adjustment that will be reviewed, tweaked, and likely changed before year's end. Questions? Comments?

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard

iOS 10.3.2, which Apple released in mid-May, patches seven AVEVideoEncoder vulnerabilities and one IOSurface flaw discovered by Adam Donenfeld of mobile security firm Zimperium. The security holes, which Apple says can be used by an application to gain kernel privileges, are believed to affect all prior versions of the iOS operating system.

The vulnerabilities are tracked as CVE-2017-6979, CVE-2017-6989, CVE-2017-6994, CVE-2017-6995, CVE-2017-6996, CVE-2017-6997, CVE-2017-6998 and CVE-2017-6999. The bugs were discovered between January 24 and March 20, when they were reported to Apple.

Donenfeld, who disclosed his findings this week at the Hack in the Box security conference in Singapore, said he identified the vulnerabilities while analyzing iOS kernel modules. His analysis led to a little-known module, called AppleAVE, which appeared to lack basic security.

Donenfeld demonstrated how some of the flaws in AppleAVE and IOSurface, which can lead to denial-of-service (DoS), information disclosure and privilege escalation, can be chained to achieve arbitrary read/write and root access. The exploit is said to bypass all iOS security mitigations.

"These vulnerabilities would allow elevation of privileges which ultimately can be used by the attacker to take complete control over affected devices," the researcher said in a blog post.

We really need to standardize TLA definitions. PoC confused me for about half a second in the original headline [Ed: changed it to avoid further confusion here].

Source: http://www.securityweek.com/poc-released-dangerous-ios-kernel-exploit

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MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard

Apple Inc will build a $1.375 billion data center in Waukee, Iowa, Apple and state officials said on Thursday, with $207.8 million in incentives approved by the Iowa Economic Development Authority and Waukee city council.

Apple will purchase 2,000 acres (8.09 square km) of land in Waukee, about 20 miles (32 km) west of Des Moines, to build two data centers. The company will receive a $19.65 million investment tax credit for creating 50 jobs.

Apple said the project will generate more than 550 jobs in construction and operations, but did not specify how many of those jobs would be long-term positions.

Speaking alongside Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said the facility "will create hundreds of jobs for people in Iowa from construction to engineering."

Cook said Apple will contribute up to $100 million toward a "public improvement fund" for the city of Waukee, adding the first project supported by the fund will be a youth sports complex that "will be open to all."

It's nice that they won't be outsourcing the data mining of all your personal information and metadata. Merica!

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-iowa-idUSKCN1B422L

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The Mighty Buzzard writes:

Twenty-six years ago today, someone from Finland posted the following message to comp.os.minix:

Hello everybody out there using minix -

I'm doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won't be big and
professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones. This has been brewing
since april, and is starting to get ready. I'd like any feedback on
things people like/dislike in minix, as my OS resembles it somewhat
(same physical layout of the file-system (due to practical reasons)
among other things).

I've currently ported bash(1.08) and gcc(1.40), and things seem to work.
This implies that I'll get something practical within a few months, and
I'd like to know what features most people would want. Any suggestions
are welcome, but I won't promise I'll implement them :-)

                Linus (torvalds@kruuna.helsinki.fi)

PS. Yes - it's free of any minix code, and it has a multi-threaded fs.
It is NOT protable (uses 386 task switching etc), and it probably never
will support anything other than AT-harddisks, as that's all I have :-(.

Here's wishing him and his creation another twenty-six happy years of world domination.

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AnonTechie writes:

The idea that American workers are being left in the dust because they lack technological savvy does not stand up to scrutiny. Our focus should be on coordination and communication between workers and employers.

Technology enthusiasts and entrepreneurs are among the loudest voices declaiming this conventional wisdom (see "The Hunt for Qualified Workers").

Two recent developments have heightened debate over the idea of a "skills gap": an unemployment rate below 5 percent, and the growing fear that automation will render less-skilled workers permanently unemployable.

Proponents of the idea tell an intuitively appealing story: information technology has hit American firms like a whirlwind, intensifying demand for technical skills and leaving unprepared American workers in the dust. The mismatch between high employer requirements and low employee skills leads to bad outcomes such as high unemployment and slow economic growth.

The problem is, when we look closely at the data, this story doesn't match the facts. What's more, this view of the nation's economic challenges distracts us from more productive ways of thinking about skills and economic growth while promoting unproductive hand-wringing and a blinkered focus on only the supply side of the labor market—that is, the workers.

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/608707/the-myth-of-the-skills-gap/

What do you think, is there a shortage of skilled workers ??

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

The road to cleaner, meltdown-proof nuclear power has taken a big step forward. Researchers at NRG, a Dutch nuclear materials firm, have begun the first tests of nuclear fission using thorium salts since experiments ended at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the early 1970s.

Thorium has several advantages over uranium, the fuel that powers most nuclear reactors in service today. First, it's much harder to weaponize. Second, as we pointed out last year in a long read on thorium-salt reactors, designs that call for using it in a liquid form are, essentially, self-regulating and fail-safe.

The team at NRG is testing several reactor designs [javascript required] on a small scale at first. The first experiment is on a setup called a molten-salt fast reactor, which burns thorium salt and in theory should also be able to consume spent nuclear fuel from typical uranium fission reactions.

The tests come amid renewed global interest in thorium. While updated models of uranium-fueled power plants are struggling mightily to get off the ground in the U.S., several startup companies are exploring molten-salt reactors. China, meanwhile, is charging ahead with big plans for its nuclear industry, including a heavy bet on thorium-based reactors. The country plans to have the first such power plants hooked up to the grid inside 15 years. If they pull it off, it might just help usher in a safer future for nuclear power.

-- submitted from IRC

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realDonaldTrump writes:

The company that built the disputed Dakota Access oil pipeline filed a lawsuit against Greenpeace and other groups on Tuesday, alleging that they disseminated false and misleading information about the project and interfered with its construction.

In its lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in North Dakota, Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners requests damages that could approach $1 billion.

The company alleges that the groups' actions interfered with its business, facilitated crimes and acts of terrorism, incited violence, targeted financial institutions that backed the project and violated racketeering and defamation laws. The company seeks a trial and monetary damages, noting that disruptions to construction alone cost it at least $300 million and requesting triple damages.

The group of defendants "is comprised of rogue environmental groups and militant individuals who employ a pattern of criminal activity and a campaign of misinformation for purposes of increasing donations and advancing their political or business agendas," the company said in a statement.

Greenpeace attorney Tom Wetterer said the lawsuit is "meritless" and part of "a pattern of harassment by corporate bullies."

The lawsuit is "not designed to seek justice, but to silence free speech through expensive, time-consuming litigation," Wetterer said.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/08/22/company-behind-dakota-access-oil-pipeline-sues-greenpeace.html

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aristarchus writes:

Daniel Kammen, a renewable energy expert appointed last year as a science envoy to the State Department, resigned Wednesday, citing President Trump's response to the violence in Charlottesville as the final straw that led to his departure.

Kind of makes you wonder, you know, what kind of President could provoke a science envoy to the State department to resign. But not far to look! As Kammen goes on:

In a resignation letter posted to Twitter, Kammen wrote that Trump's remarks about the racial violence in Virginia had attacked "core values of the United States" and that it would have "domestic and international ramifications."

Even American scientists have ethics, and will not serve violent racist regimes, like Nazi Germany. So there is that.

But the most interesting thing, is the encryption:

However, his most biting message may have come in the form of a hidden acrostic: The first letter of each paragraph spelled out I-M-P-E-A-C-H.

Original Submission

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard

Snappy, a software deployment and management system designed by Canonical for the Ubuntu operating system, could be a shortcut to building trusted IoT applications.

The first rule of building a secure and feature-rich ecosystem is software management — push and pull software updates and software discovery through an app store mechanism from a trusted source.

In the go-to-market IoT race, though, that often doesn't happen. Many Internet of Things (IoT) product developers have ignored the traumatic early history of Microsoft Windows, Android and web platforms, and expoits of IoT devices — because software updates have not been designed in — are regularly reported.

Those earlier platforms have been hardened, updates have been automated, and the app discovery and installation have been made trustworthy. IoT developers need to follow their lead. 

Snappy, a software deployment and package management system designed and built by Canonical for the Ubuntu operating system, could be a shortcut to building a trusted IoT application.

The Ubuntu-Core required to integrate Snappy software management system uses 612MB, and snapd, the endpoint software management service needed to interact with Snappy, uses 15MB. The IoT device would need 627MB-plus memory for the IoT app called a snap. Because of memory and computational constraints, it is not a solution for ultra-low-power, small memory microcontroller devices but would work with 32-bit devices like the Raspberry Pi. Nevertheless, a review of Snappy is worth the time because it clearly explains a fairly complete approach to the problem of trusted software management and distribution.

Source: https://www.networkworld.com/article/3219725/internet-of-things/this-linux-tool-could-improve-the-security-of-iot-devices.html

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realDonaldTrump writes:

"The hurricane warning issued Thursday morning covers an area from Port Mansfield to Matagorda, while tropical storm warnings extend north of Matagorda to High Island, and south to the mouth of the Rio Grande on the Mexico border." http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/08/24/hurricane-harvey-rapidly-intensifying-expected-to-make-landfall-in-texas-as-major-storm.html

MrPlow Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard:

Hurricane Harvey is projected to become Category 3 hurricane, millions ordered to evacuate; forecasts of up to 30 inches rain, 115 MPH possible:

Texans are evacuating or holing up as life-threatening conditions are expected when Hurricane Harvey, the first US Category 3 hurricane to make landfall in nearly a dozen years, could bring flooding and a storm surge that could reach heights of six to 12 feet.

Harvey, which is expected to officially hit Category 3 status by Friday, is expected to make landfall between Texas' coast Friday night or Saturday morning.

[...] Texas and Louisiana both face the prospects of Biblical-level floods, as Harvey will slowly roam the area and is not expected to dissipate until at least Monday.

On Thursday afternoon, Harvey's winds strengthened to 80 mph (128 km/h). Rain is expected from 10 to 20 inches (25.4 to 50.8 cm), while some areas may see 30 inches (76 cm). Flash floods and 115 mph winds are also possible.

"Since Harvey is forecast to stall, we expect 10-20 inches of rain over a large part of southern and eastern Texas and southwestern Louisiana from Friday into early next week," AccuWeather hurricane expert Dan Kottlowski said.

Real-time wind and 3-hour precipitation amounts can be seen on this map.

Meanwhile, phys.org provides more technical information in its reporting:

takyon writes:

The SpaceX launch of Taiwan's Formosat-5 satellite was delayed by years following a switch from the Falcon 1e rocket and the two Falcon 9 explosions in 2015 and 2016. SpaceX launched the satellite successfully and recovered the first stage booster on a drone ship, but the company won't make any profit on the launch:

The Formosat-5 is Taiwan's first satellite designed and built entirely with the nation's resources. More than 50 teams from across the country built it to facilitate academic research, disaster prevention, and humanitarian assistance. Originally, the sat was supposed to fly on SpaceX's Falcon 1e, an upgraded version of its first orbital-class Falcon 1 rocket with a lift capability of 2,200 pounds. And according to industry analysis site Space Intel Report, they paid $23 million for the privilege—compared to the typical $62 million for a commercial Falcon 9 launch today.

[...] Despite the delays, Taiwan didn't opt for another rocket provider like Orbital ATK, which operates the Minotaur rocket for missions to low-Earth orbit at a cost of around $30 million. Instead, SpaceX will pay 1.25 percent of the launch costs back to them for every month that Formosat-5 is delayed, according to the mission's contract.

So how much is SpaceX going to lose on this mission? If you remove the potential reusability of the Falcon 9 booster for a moment, a lot. According to a launch cost analysis by investment firm Jefferies International, SpaceX usually makes a 40 percent profit from $62 million commercial Falcon 9 launches with new boosters. That puts $25 million in the bank and $37 million toward direct launch costs. With Taiwan's severely reduced fare of $23 million, SpaceX is not only foregoing its profit but will be out-of-pocket for the remaining $14 million.

Also at NASASpaceFlight.

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MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for Bytram

"WLIHE QTAUUNM CMPIOTUNG IS PEISOD FOR SGIFANCIIT GWORTH AND AEVNADCMNET, THE EGRENEMT IDSRTUNY IS CRRULNETY FARENETMGD AND LCAKS A CMOMON CMUIATCHIMNOS FARWEORMK" -IEEE

One person’s trapped ion is another’s electrostatically defined quantum dot. I'm talking about qubits, by the way—the quantum-computing equivalent of the bits in regular computers. But if you don't quite follow, don't worry: you're far from being alone.

"Confusions exist on what quantum computing or a quantum computer means," says Hidetoshi Nishimori, a professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology who specializes in quantum computing.

[...] The snappily titled IEEE P7130 Standard for Quantum Computing Definitions Project will corral experts and define the most important terms in the field so that everybody is reading from the same page.

As this is a nascent field, addressing fragmented terminology now makes excellent sense — there are a limited number of papers in the field at the moment, compared to what is envisioned for the future. Compare that to other professions where archaic terminology continues. What something was known as back-in-the-day continues to today because it would be too much work, now, to embrace a new, consistent taxonomy. Especially the medical profession and its terms for various parts of the human anatomy. What profession, if any, has successfully redefined its nomenclature as is envisioned here?

Source: https://www.technologyreview.com/the-download/608725/scientists-are-defining-quantum-computing-terms-because-everyone-is-confused/

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Rather than debris or alien megastructures, Tabby's star may host a Saturn-like exoplanet:

The "alien megastructure" star that has been puzzling us for the past few years might have a more ordinary explanation: an orbiting Saturn-like planet, complete with wobbling rings. [...] Speculation abounded, with explanations ranging from exoplanetary comets to a vast orbiting "megastructure" built by an advanced alien civilisation.

Now Mario Sucerquia and his colleagues at the University of Antioquia in Colombia have proposed another possibility: a ringed planet, similar to Saturn, orbiting close to the star. Such a planet would dim the star's light in an irregular way during a transit.

First, the rings would block some of the star's light, followed by the planet, which would dim it further. Then, after the planet passes, the rings would block some light again. But because the rings would be at a different angle each time, the small dips at the beginning and end of the transits would be larger or smaller. Without seeing many transits, there would be no obvious pattern to this.

"Saturn-like" can mean a variety of things for the hypothetical object. For example, the rings of 1SWASP J1407b are about 200 times the diameter of the rings of Saturn.

Anomalous lightcurves of young tilted exorings

Related paper: KIC 8462852: Will the Trojans return in 2021?

Previously: Tabby's Star Under Observation After Dimming Event Detected

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tonyPick writes:

Atlas Obscura has an article on a robot programmed to perform Buddhist funeral rites.

What's the hottest new trend in robotics? It might be religion. Hot on the heels of Germany's Protestant-inspired automated blessing machine, BlessU-2, a Japanese company has unveiled a smiling automaton programmed to conduct Buddhist funerals.

Unveiled during the annual Life Ending Industry Expo in Tokyo, a funeral industry trade show, the little robot was presented by Nissei Eco Co. as an inexpensive alternative to hiring a flesh-and-blood monk. According to Reuters, the robot, a reprogrammed version of SoftBank Robotics' "Pepper" model of interactive humanoid automaton, can chant Buddhist sutras and beat a little drum to honor the dead. It can even livestream the service if needed.

Also at Reuters and The Guardian.

Youtube has a clip with the robot in action, which may give you nightmares. The robot in question is a reprogrammed SoftBank Robotics Pepper model. In related news it turns out Japan has a Life Ending Industry EXPO.

Once again Philip K Dick is proven right.

[Additional video clip by the New York Post. - Ed]

Original Submission