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takyon writes:

Fake celebrity porn is blowing up on Reddit, thanks to artificial intelligence.

Back in December, the unsavory hobby of a Reddit user by the name of deepfakes became a new centerpiece of artificial intelligence debate, specifically around the newfound ability to face-swap celebrities and porn stars. Using software, deepfakes was able to take the face of famous actresses and swap them with those of porn actresses, letting him live out a fantasy of watching famous people have sex. Now, just two months later, easy-to-use applications have sprouted up with the ability to perform this real-time editing with even more ease, according to Motherboard, which also first reported about deepfakes late last year.

Thanks to AI training techniques like machine learning, scores of photographs can be fed into an algorithm that creates convincing human masks to replace the faces of anyone on video, all by using lookalike data and letting the software train itself to improve over time. In this case, users are putting famous actresses into existing adult films. According to deepfakes, this required some extensive computer science know-how. But Motherboard reports that one user in the burgeoning community of pornographic celebrity face swapping has created a user-friendly app that basically anyone can use.

The same technique can be used for non-pornographic purposes, such as inserting Nicolas Cage's face into classic movies. One user also "outperformed" the Princess Leia scene at the end of Disney's Rogue One (you be the judge, original footage is at the top of the GIF).

The machines are learning.

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Apparition writes:

Rakuten (the owner of Kobo) and Walmart have teamed up to take on the Amazon Kindle.

On Thursday Walmart and Rakuten announced a strategic partnership that makes Walmart Kobo's official partner here in the US:

As part of this alliance, Walmart will become Rakuten Kobo's exclusive mass retail partner for the Kobo brand in the U.S., offering Kobo's nearly six million titles from thousands of publishers and hundreds of thousands of authors to Walmart.com customers. Walmart.com will offer eBooks and audiobooks for sale later this year. Walmart will also sell digital book cards in stores, enabling more than 4,000 stores to carry a broader selection of books for customers.

All eBook content will be accessible through a Walmart/Kobo co-branded app available on all iOS and Android devices, a desktop app and Kobo e-Readers, which will also be sold at Walmart later this year.

Walmart is stepping into a role empty since Border went bankrupt in 2011. While Kobo has previously had US retail partners, including Indiebound and Family Christian Stores, they did not get the privilege of co-branded Kobo apps (just the financial benefit of a cut of ebook sales in exchange for selling Kobo hardware).

For what it is worth, Walmart gets the ebook app under its own brand. Given Kobo's negligible share of the US market, that won't be worth a lot of money, but it is at least an egoboost.

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takyon writes:

Facebook buys Boston software company that authenticates IDs

Facebook Inc is buying a software firm that specializes in authenticating government-issued identification cards, the two companies said on Tuesday, a step that may help the social media company learn more about the people who buy ads on its network.

[...] Boston-based Confirm Inc, which is privately held, said on its website that the acquisition was the culmination of three years of work to build technology to keep people safe online. [...] Confirm says that its software allows for proof of identity for online transactions, allowing users to detect potentially fraudulent activity.

Also at TechCrunch.

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takyon writes:

Xiaomi beats Samsung to top spot in India's smartphone market

Xiaomi couldn't have wished for better timing of two reports that claim it has toppled Samsung to become India's top-selling smartphone company.

The Chinese firm, which is reportedly on a roadshow ahead of an IPO that could value it as high as $100 billion, is said to have beaten Samsung's sales efforts in India, the world's second-largest smartphone market behind China, according to new data from Canalys and Counterpoint.

Data from both analyst houses gave Xiaomi a narrow lead over Samsung in the final quarter of 2017, with 27 percent and 25 percent, respectively, according to Canalys — and 25 percent versus 23 percent, according to Counterpoint.

Counterpoint included year-long figures, which conclude that Samsung (24 percent) is ahead of Xiaomi (19 percent) over the longer timeframe. A glance at the previous year's figures shows that Xiaomi has closed what was once a significant gap with its rival.

Samsung Says Xiaomi Didn't Surpass Its Phone Sales In India

Samsung claims Xiaomi didn't take the title of the largest smartphone vendor in India, thus directly refuting the findings published by research firm Canalys on Wednesday. The Seoul-based original equipment manufacturer remains adamant that it's still the top handset company in the South Asian country "by a distance." Samsung backed its claims by citing an older report from GfK covering a three-month period ending November 30th which states the firm had a 40 percent volume share and 45 percent value share of the Indian smartphone market in terms of sales to consumers. The tech giant also explicitly proclaimed itself a leader in every handset segment in India, from entry-level devices to ultra-premium offerings like the Galaxy Note 8.

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Anonymous UNIX Cow-Herder writes:

Here in California, our government has passed a strange new law.

Although intended to force employers to stop offering different pay rates to men and women, the new law has the strange side effect of forcing recruiters to play fair - and recruiters aren't liking it. The law also forbids asking candidates for their prior compensation history. Again, recruiters and hiring managers aren't liking the new shift in the balance of power:

Assembly Bill No. 168
SECTION 1. Section 432.3 is added to the Labor Code, to read:

432.3. (a) An employer shall not rely on the salary history information of an applicant for employment as a factor in determining whether to offer employment to an applicant or what salary to offer an applicant.

(b) An employer shall not, orally or in writing, personally or through an agent, seek salary history information, including compensation and benefits, about an applicant for employment.

(c) An employer, upon reasonable request, shall provide the pay scale for a position to an applicant applying for employment.

(d) Section 433 does not apply to this section.

(e) This section shall not apply to salary history information disclosable to the public pursuant to federal or state law, including the California Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 6250) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code) or the federal Freedom of Information Act (Section 552 of Title 5 of the United States Code).

(f) This section applies to all employers, including state and local government employers and the Legislature.

(g) Nothing in this section shall prohibit an applicant from voluntarily and without prompting disclosing salary history information to a prospective employer.

(h) If an applicant voluntarily and without prompting discloses salary history information to a prospective employer, nothing in this section shall prohibit that employer from considering or relying on that voluntarily disclosed salary history information in determining the salary for that applicant.

(i) Consistent with Section 1197.5, nothing in this section shall be construed to allow prior salary, by itself, to justify any disparity in compensation.

(emphasis added)

An Anonymous Coward writes:

Intel results beat estimates, warns of potential security flaw fallout

Intel Corp on Thursday gave a bullish forecast and blew past Wall Street profit and revenue expectations for the fourth quarter on the strength of data center sales, the business it sees as key to its transformation from a PC supplier.

[...] Intel Chief Executive Brian Krzanich said the company would start shipping chips later this year with “silicon-based changes” to protect against the so-called Spectre and Meltdown security threats.

Revenue from the company’s higher-margin data center business rose about 20 percent to $5.58 billion, beating the average analyst estimate of $5.13 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Revenue from Intel’s PC group hit $9 billion for the quarter, a 2 percent decline from the year before, but ticked up 3 percent for the year to $34 billion.

Intel predicted $65 billion in revenue for 2018, well above expectations of a $63.7 billion forecast.

In an interview ahead of Intel’s earnings call with investors, Chief Financial Officer Bob Swan said the company sees no “meaningful impact” on corporate earnings as a result of the security vulnerabilities, reiterating an assessment the company made on Jan. 3.

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An Anonymous Coward writes:

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS) has set the Doomsday Clock to "two minutes to midnight" to reflect fears of a nuclear confrontation with North Korea, as well as the failure of world leaders to address climate change and other factors. The clock is now set as close to doomsday as it was in 1953:

The team of scientists singled out a series of nuclear tests by North Korea. They dramatically escalated tensions on the Korean peninsula and led to a war of words between North Korea and the US.

The BAS also referred to a new US nuclear strategy that was expected to call for more funding to expand the role of the country's nuclear arsenal. Rising tension between Russia and the West was also a contributing factor.

The "weakening of institutions" around the world in dealing with major global threats - including climate change - was another major concern, the scientists said. They also mentioned US President Donald Trump's "unpredictability", pointing to his often controversial tweets and statements.

We're back, baby!

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Drone hackers/researchers can modify the firmware for DJI drones, thanks to rogue DJI developers and a fork of a public Github repo:

Github rejected a DMCA takedown request from Chinese drone-maker DJI after someone forked source code left in the open by a naughty DJI developer, The Register can reveal.

This included AES keys permitting decryption of flight control firmware, which could allow drone fliers with technical skills to remove geofencing from the flight control software: this software prevents DJI drones from flying in certain areas such as the approach paths for airports, or near government buildings deemed to be sensitive.

Though the released key is not for the latest firmware version, The Register has seen evidence (detailed below) that drone hackers are already incorporating it in modified firmware available for anyone to download and flash to their drones.

[...] In fact the people who posted the keys to DJI's kingdom, as well as source code for various projects, were DJI devs. The company said in a later statement that they were sacked.

The code was forked by drone researcher Kevin Finisterre, who submitted a successful rebuttal to the takedown request on the grounds that Github's terms and conditions explicitly permit forking of public repos.

[...] Drone hackers have already begun distributing modded firmware for DJI's popular Phantom drones, as we can see on – where else? – Github

Previously: Man Gets Threats-Not Bug Bounty-After Finding DJI Customer Data in Public View

Related: DJI introduced new software to stop its drones from flying in restricted airspace.
Skip the Complex Tracking Software, DJI Says, and Give Drones an "Invisible" License Plate
$500 DJI Spark Drone can Take Off and Land from Your Palm
DJI Will Ground Drones If They Don't Apply a Software Update

Original Submission

kazzie writes:

The British-based broadcaster Sky (with operations in the EU and elsewhere) has decided it doesn't need to keep attaching satellite dishes to the walls of its customers' homes.

The BBC reports:

The pay TV company already offers some programming online on its Sky Go and Now TV* services and through Sky boxes.

Sky said offering the option was a "major development" that would let it enter new markets.

It hopes that making its hundreds of channels more widely available will increase both revenue and profits.

Italy will be its first market to get all Sky channels online, followed by Austria, with the UK expected to follow later this year or in 2019.

Sky is not proposing to stop broadcasting by satellite. The move will allow customers who cannot have a dish or do not want one to get Sky, a spokesperson said. A Sky box will still be required.

The company's move is a response to greater competition from the likes of streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon.

*Now TV is an internet-based, subscriptionless pay-TV service. Established 5 years ago, it's wholly owned by Sky.

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An Anonymous Coward writes:

Earliest Human Remains Outside Africa Were Just Discovered in Israel

For decades, scientists have speculated about when exactly the bipedal apes known as Homo sapiens left Africa and moved out to conquer the world. That moment, after all, was a crucial step on the way to today’s human-dominated world. For many years, the consensus view among archaeologists placed the exodus at 60,000 years ago—some 150,000 years after the hominins first appeared.

But now, researchers in Israel have found a remarkably preserved jawbone they believe belongs to a Homo sapiens that was much, much older. The find, which they’ve dated to somewhere between 177,000 and 194,000 years, provides the most convincing proof yet that the old view of human migration needs some serious re-examination.

The new research, published today in Science [DOI: 10.1126/science.aap8369] [DX], builds on earlier evidence from other caves in the region that housed the bones of humans from 90,000 to 120,000 years ago. But this new discovery goes one step further: if verified, it would require reevaluating the whole history of human evolution—and possibly pushing it back by several hundred thousand years.

Also at Binghamton University, BBC, and The Guardian.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Prime Minister Theresa May has not abandoned her usual crusades:

On a break from Brexit, British Prime Minister Theresa May takes her crusade against technology giants to Davos.

"No-one wants to be known as 'the terrorists' platform' or the first choice app for pedophiles," May is expected to say according to excerpts released by her office ahead of her speech Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos. "Technology companies still need to go further in stepping up their responsibilities for dealing with harmful and illegal online activity."

Don't forget the slave traders.

Luckily, May has a solution... Big AI:

After two years of repeatedly bashing social media companies, May will say that successfully harnessing the capabilities of AI -- and responding to public concerns about AI's impact on future generations -- is "one of the greatest tests of leadership for our time."

May will unveil a new government-funded Center for Data Ethics and Innovation that will provide companies and policymakers guidance on the ethical use of artificial intelligence.

Also at BBC, TechCrunch, and The Inquirer.

Related: UK Prime Minister Repeats Calls to Limit Encryption, End Internet "Safe Spaces"
WhatsApp Refused to add a Backdoor for the UK Government

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Donald Trump's 'hatred of sharks' benefits conservation charities

Donald Trump's alleged hatred of sharks has inspired people to financially support international shark charities.

The US president's dislike for the marine animal was revealed last week in an In Touch Weekly interview with adult film actress Stormy Daniels. He reportedly said that he would never give money to shark charities, adding: "I hope all sharks die."

Shark conservation groups have since noted an uptick in donations, one with the message: "Because Trump." Charities such as Atlantic White Shark Conservancy and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society told MarketWatch they had an outpouring of donations.

Original Submission

canopic jug writes:

Now that web pages weigh in at tens of megabytes and make scores of external calls, those with bandwidth caps are in for a raw deal unless the trend turns. A pseudo-anonymous blogger makes the appeal to please keep your blog light, as in kilobytes per page rather than megabytes.

The light went on for him when moving to a mobile service plan with a 25MB per month limit. It turns out that 25MB is barely enough to load seven blog posts from the site Medium. There the pages can be 3.26MB each and 25 divded by 3.26 is only about 7.6. Pages of that size would have taken close to 10 minutes to load over an old dialup connection. Most other sites are just as bad or worse. He walks through some easy steps to guarantee a lean web site with low bandwidth requirements and fast load times.

Original Submission

An Anonymous Coward writes:

A new study suggests a biosignature that the James Webb Space Telescope could search for:

The new study looks at the history of life on Earth, the one inhabited planet we know, to find times where the planet's atmosphere contained a mixture of gases that are out of equilibrium and could exist only in the presence of living organisms — anything from pond scum to giant redwoods. In fact, life's ability to make large amounts of oxygen has only occurred in the past one-eighth of Earth's history.

By taking a longer view, the researchers identified a new combination of gases that would provide evidence of life: methane plus carbon dioxide, minus carbon monoxide.

"We need to look for fairly abundant methane and carbon dioxide on a world that has liquid water at its surface, and find an absence of carbon monoxide," said co-author David Catling, a UW professor of Earth and space sciences. "Our study shows that this combination would be a compelling sign of life. What's exciting is that our suggestion is doable, and may lead to the historic discovery of an extraterrestrial biosphere in the not-too-distant future."

Also at Popular Mechanics.

Disequilibrium biosignatures over Earth history and implications for detecting exoplanet life (open, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aao5747) (DX)

Original Submission

Apparition writes:

In a forthcoming Windows 10 release, Microsoft will let you view the telemetry data that the OS collects via a new Windows 10 app called Windows Diagnostic Data Viewer.

Microsoft announced its commitment to "be fully transparent on the diagnostic data collected" from Windows devices today and the release of the application adds options to Windows 10 to view collected Telemetry data.

Microsoft says that it wants to increase trust and confidence, and give users increased control over the data.

[...] You need Windows 10 build 17083 or newer to access the new data viewer. You can access the tool with a tap on Windows-I to open the Settings application, and the selection of Privacy > Diagnostics & feedback in the window that opens.

[...] Diagnostic Data Viewer is a Windows application to review Telemetry (diagnostic) data that Microsoft collects on the device to send it to company servers for analysis.

Note: Microsoft notes that enabling the feature may require up to 1 Gigabyte of additional hard drive space for storage.

A click on the button launches the application's Microsoft Store page on first run. You need to install the application from there before it becomes available.

[...] You find options to export the data to CSV files and to open the Privacy Dashboard on the Internet and the Privacy Settings on the local device as well there.

Search functionality is available which you use to find specific event data. The app returns event data that matches the entered text. Type your name, email addresses, PC name, IP address or any other data that you can think of to run searches across all Telemetry data that Microsoft collected on the device.

While you may use the search for that, you may click on any event listed in the sidebar to access it directly. The data is quite extensive, especially if Telemetry data collecting is set to full and not to basic. I had hundreds of events listed on the Windows 10 Insider build PC after the update to the most recent version. It will take some time to go through the information.

Original Submission