Linear transforms — like a Fourier transform — are a key math tool in engineering and science. A team from UCLA recently published a paper describing how they used deep learning techniques to design an all-optical solution for arbitrary linear transforms. The technique doesn’t use any conventional processing elements and, instead, relies on diffractive surfaces. They also describe a “data free” design approach that does not rely on deep learning.

There is obvious appeal to using light to compute transforms. The computation occurs at the speed of light and in a highly parallel fashion. The final system will have multiple diffractive surfaces to compute the final result.

The deep learning the paper’s authors refer to was all set up with TensorFlow using the Adam optimizer. It appears that the paper relies on simulations of the diffraction surfaces, not an actual implementation. We aren’t sure how hard it is to realize high-resolution diffraction surfaces with the very specific patterns called for by the designs.

If you are looking to get started with TensorFlow yourself, we’ve covered quite a few tutorials. On the other hand, we talk quite a bit about Fourier transforms, too.

Emma Court / Bloomberg:
TrialSpark, which wants to leverage its clinical trials management software into drug discovery, closed $156M Series C at a $1B+ valuation earlier this year  —  – TrialSpark expands from clinical trials into developing drugs  — Company raised $156 million, is valued at more than $1 billion

LARKANA: Police officials claimed to have arrested a man for filming female students of colleges and schools in Sindh’s Ratodero taluka for uploading it on TikTok, ARY News reported on Thursday.

The police department has taken action against a man who was allegedly involved in secretly recording videos of female students going to their schools and colleges.

Police said that the accused named Jansar Lashari used to edit and upload videos of the girls on TikTok without their consent.

READ: LAHORE MODEL IFRAH KHAN ARRESTED UNDER BLACKMAILING CHARGES

Following the arrest, the accused was released after he wrote apology letter to the families of the female students. Moreover, police officials have also deleted all videos from the mobile phone of the accused.

On September 6, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Cyber Crime Cell had arrested a ‘TikToker’ for allegedly blackmailing and harassing a girl to extort money.

The FIA spokesperson had said in a statement that a ‘TikToker’ was arrested for blackmailing and harassing a girl. The accused used to demand money by threatening and blackmailing the girl.

The spokesperson had said that the officials have also recovered objectionable content from two mobile phones of the accused. A case was registered under different sections of the cybercrime act against the accused.

The post Man arrested for ‘secretly filming female students for TikTok’ appeared first on ARY NEWS.

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The 2017 version of Aibo, Sony’s robot dog. | Sam Byford / The Verge

Amazon announced its Astro home robot on Monday, which is designed to be an Alexa on wheels that can also bring you stuff (if other people load it into the cargo bay) and act as a sort of guard dog. With a touchscreen for a face and the ability to move itself around a single story of your house, it’s a bit like the personal robots from decades of science fiction. Given that Amazon seemingly wants to continue making home robots, though, we figured we’d go through a little history to look at some previous attempts.

Of course, there’s plenty of discussion to be had about what does or does not count as a robot — to anyone with a smart home setup, Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant could be considered robots, as they can do any number of tasks…

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Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge

Microsoft announced a new version of the Surface Pro last week, along with the Surface Laptop Studio. The Surface Pro 8 feels very much like a logical evolution of Microsoft’s tablet / laptop. Some of the more notable improvements include a 120Hz display with slimmer bezels, Thunderbolt 4 support, as well as a reworked surface keyboard that includes a dedicated space to store and charge the new Surface Slim Pen 2.

Meanwhile, the Surface Laptop Studio features a uniquely hinged screen and more powerful hardware. This is effectively a replacement for the Surface Book 3, with a three-point adjustable display that can lay flat for drawing or snap upright to deliver a more traditional laptop experience. This laptop comes equipped with an…

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Following a small “Device Support” update earlier today, Apple has just released macOS Big Sur 11.6.1 RC to developers. According to the release notes, this update brings security fixes to macOS Big Sur users — but details are unknown.

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The post Apple releases macOS Big Sur 11.6.1 RC to developers with security fixes appeared first on 9to5Mac.

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The post 9to5Mac Daily: September 30, 2021 – Apple Pay flaw, iOS 15 bugs appeared first on 9to5Mac.

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Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian / Axios:
LinkedIn blocks the profiles of several US journalists on its Chinese platform, citing “prohibited content” without specifying what it was  —  LinkedIn blocked the profiles of several U.S. journalists from the company’s China-based platform this week, citing “prohibited content.”

Luxury retailer Neiman Marcus has notified 4.6 million customers about a data breach | Getty Images

Luxury retailer Neiman Marcus said Thursday it had notified 4.6 million customers that their personal information, including credit card numbers. may have been part of a May 2020 data breach.

The Dallas-based company said in a news release that an “unauthorized third party obtained personal information associated with certain Neiman Marcus customers’ online accounts.” Neiman Marcus notified law enforcement, and is “working quickly to determine the nature and scope of the matter.” The company did not say who was responsible for the breach or how they were able to access its systems.

The data access may have included names and contact information, credit card numbers, and expiration dates— but not the CVV numbers on the back of the cards—…

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One of the features Google offers exclusively through its Pixel Android phones is the Personal Safety app. Over the years, it’s added features like a safety check-in that automatically notifies your emergency contacts if you don’t respond as scheduled and the ability to automatically dial 911 if it detects you’ve been in a car accident. Now XDA-Developers and Android Police point out a new feature that can automatically record video if you activate the built-in Emergency SOS.

We installed the update from Google Play on a Pixel device. It informs users that it can record continuously for up to 45 minutes once it’s activated, assuming your phone has enough storage. If there’s an internet connection, the video will get automatically backed…

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Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SiriusXM

Because no peace can be found in the age of man, TikTok has decided to partner with select creators, celebrities, and online entities like Lil Nas X, Bella Poarch, and Grimes to release a collection of non-fungible tokens. These TikTok Top Moments, as the company is calling them, are inspired by six “culturally significant” TikTok videos in the form of one-of-one NFTs. TikTok plans to auction them alongside a selection of limited edition NFTs it’ll sell weekly throughout October.

The partnerships, creators, and new material being tokenized and put up for auction vary. Musician Lil Nas X is up first on October 6th with a collaboration with artist Rudy Willingham, while Grimes is collaborating with Brittany Broski (“Kombucha Girl”), and…

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Kim Lyons / The Verge:
Retailer Neiman Marcus says it notified 4.6M customers that their personal info, including credit card numbers, may have been exposed in a May 2020 data breach  —  The retailer told 4.6 million customers their personal information including names and credit card data may have been affected

Jordan Novet / CNBC:
Zoom says it no longer plans to acquire cloud-based call center software maker Five9, following the FCC’s review of the $14.7B deal on national security grounds  —  – Zoom’s attempted acquisition of cloud contact center software maker failed to win sufficient approval from Five9 shareholders.

The Super 8 camera, while a groundbreaking video recorder in its time, is borderline unusable now. Even if you can get film for it (and afford its often enormous price), it still only records on 8mm film which isn’t exactly the best quality of film around, not to mention that a good percentage of these cameras couldn’t even record audio. They were largely made obsolete by camcorders in the late ’80s and early ’90s, although some are still used for niche artistic purposes. If you’d rather not foot the bill for the film, though, you can still put one of these to work with the help of a Raspberry Pi.

[befinitiv] has a knack for repurposing antique analog equipment like this while preserving its aesthetic. While the bulk of the space inside of this camera would normally be used for housing film, this makes a perfect spot to place a Raspberry Pi Zero, a rechargeable battery, and a power converter circuit all in a 3D printed enclosure that snaps into the camera just as a film roll would have. It uses the Pi camera module but still makes use of the camera’s built in optics which include a zoom function. [befinitiv] also incorporated the original record button so that from the outside this looks like a completely unmodified Super 8 camera.

The camera can connect to a WiFi network and can stream live video to a computer, or it can record video files to an internal SD card. As a bonus, thanks to the power converter circuit, it is also capable of charging a cell phone. [befinitiv] notes that many of the aesthetic properties of 8 mm film seem to be preserved when using this method, and he has several theories as to why but no definitive answer. If you’d like to take a look at some of his other projects like this, check out this analog camera that is now able to take digital pictures.

Apple Watch Series 7 was announced at Apple’s September special event along with the iPhone 13 lineup and the new iPad models. However, unlike its siblings, Apple Watch Series 7 is not available to customers – and there’s no word from Apple on when it will be. According to Jon Prosser, the next-generation Apple Watch is expected to hit stores in October.

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Zoe Schiffer / The Verge:
A look at the rise of employee dissent at Apple, including pushback against returning to the office, fighting for pay equity, and increasing leaks  —  On June 14th, 2021, Apple’s remote work advocacy group sent an anonymous email to Tim Cook.  —  “We all agree that we are here at Apple …

Image: Marvel Studios

Three months after Scarlett Johansson sued Disney over its streaming release of Black Widow, arguing she stood to lose millions of dollars because her salary was based on the box office performance of the film, the suit has now been settled, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, and The New York Times and others. Representatives for Johansson confirmed the settlement to The Verge as well.

While the terms of the settlement don’t appear to be public, Deadline cites a source saying that the deal was in the “tens of millions.” Both parties have paid lip service to continuing to work together: Johansson told The Hollywood Reporter that she was “happy to have resolved our differences with Disney,” and “look[s] forward to continuing our…

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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Five9 will remain independent — its deal to be acquired by Zoom is off. Though a press release from Five9 says it was “terminated by mutual agreement,” it’s also the case that Five9 shareholders rejected the $14.7 billion deal.

Zoom originally announced the acquisition on July 18th. Five9 automates managing customer contacts for businesses, and the deal was supposed to bolster Zoom’s business offerings. Its major competitors are behemoths like Microsoft and Google, and the deal would have helped the smaller company expand.

This was supposed to be an all-stock transaction, but unfortunately for Zoom, its stock price has lost more than a quarter of its value since they announced the acquisition. Usually, when a company is bought,…

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Dalvin Brown / Washington Post:
MiamiCoin, a crypto partnership with CityCoins unveiled in August that automatically allocates 30% of newly minted coins to the city, has made $7.1M for Miami  —  The South Florida city is the first municipality to accept cryptocurrency contributions through CityCoins, which the mayor says may one day take the place of taxes

Photo By Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile via Getty Images

Electronic Arts is promoting chief studios officer Laura Miele to chief operating officer, the company announced Thursday. The change is a big promotion for Miele, who already had significant leadership at the company overseeing 25 different studios. The new role will give Miele greater oversight over the company and arguably makes her the most powerful woman in gaming, an industry where there are few female executives, fewer in the C-suite, and where those C-suite execs are often in charge of HR or finance rather than the company’s products.

Ubisoft did make Virginie Hass its chief studios operating officer last August, following scandals over a toxic culture including sexual harassment and misconduct that went as high as the C-suite…

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In addition to all the updates for its operating systems, Apple also introduced SF Symbols 3 beta at WWDC 2021 in June. The new version of SF Symbols, which includes more than 600 new icons, is now available to the public as an official release.

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The word from an increasing number of voices in the semiconductor industry is that shortages and production problems are here to stay for the foreseeable future. Xbox head Phil Hughes is the latest executive to sound off on the problem, and he agrees with assessments from Lisa Su and Jensen Huang:

“I think it’s probably too isolated to talk about it as just a chip problem,” Hughes told TheWrap. “When I think about, what does it mean to get the parts necessary to build a console today, and then get it to the markets where the demand is, there are multiple kind of pinch points in that process. And I think regretfully it’s going to be with us for months and months, definitely through the end of this calendar year and into the next calendar year.”

The pinch points Hughes is talking about are scattered everywhere across the global economy. A story earlier this month at The Atlantic discussed the supply chain issues in more detail, including the enormous spike in shipping costs. Shipping containers that would have cost $2000 – $5000 to move before the pandemic now run $30,000, with a $20,000 option if you can deal with an uncertain delivery date measured in months.

Controlling Delta infections in nations across the world has required the closure of high volume ports and shipping facilities. This has increased wait times and slowed the distribution of everything from shoes to CPUs. In ordinary times, passenger jets help alleviate some demand by carrying cargo on international domestic flights, but there have been fewer of these flights since the pandemic began.

These supply chain problems are exacerbating shortages by disrupting manufacturers’ ability to build hardware at a time when demand has been higher than ever. Toshiba has already given notice that it will not be able to meet demand for certain types of power semiconductor circuitry until 2022, or even 2023.

These are the kinds of pinch points Hughes is referring to, and solving them isn’t going to be a fast process. If there’s a consolation prize in all this, it’s that Xbox Series X prices have come down enough on the gray market that they’re no longer an utterly terrible deal. A quick check of eBay’s recently sold auctions shows a reasonable number of systems selling for under $700. The PlayStation 5 is still running hotter, at $700 – $800. ExtremeTech does not recommend paying this much over MSRP for either console, but prices are at least a little better than earlier this year, when $800+ was normal for both systems.

Demand is unlikely to drop as we head into the holiday season, so hopefully 2022 will bring better tidings.

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