As government agencies continue to push for the deployment of facial recognition systems, you needn’t look far to see why that’s bad news. To illustrate the point, the ACLU conducted a test of Amazon’s Rekognition software — facial recognition tech currently being used by US law enforcement — in which it incorrectly identified 26 California
Read More“He wants to be known as the TV Santa Claus. I don’t know,” one homeowner told Virginia ABC affiliate WTVR-TV. So begins the tale of a human who literally stuck a giant television on his or her head so they could bring joy to the world in the form of unwanted TV sets. And just
Read MoreToy pianos are fun to plink around on for a minute, but their small keyboards and even smaller sound make them musically uninteresting pretty quickly. [Måns Jonasson] found a way to jazz up a two-octave toy piano almost beyond recognition. All it took was thirty solenoids, a few Arduinos, a MIDI shield, and a lot
Read MoreEd Targett / Computer Business Review: Amazon says it has added “fear” to the range of emotions that its Rekognition facial recognition software can now detect — Release follows amid immigration protests — AWS has added “fear” to the range of emotions identified by its Amazon Rekognition facial analysis service … Amazon says it has
Read MoreThe combo will speed up efforts in streaming, the companies say. CBS, Viacom to reunite in merger that creates roughly B company – CNET Source: CNet
Read MoreDara Kerr / CNET: Property owners and hosts, including eight people who dealt with bedbugs in their rentals, say Airbnb doesn’t have a systematic procedure to handle outbreaks — Waking up with bedbug bites can be a nightmare. It’s also a costly and traumatic problem for Airbnb guests and hosts. Property owners and hosts, including
Read MoreThanks to aggressive government subsidies for the purchase of electric vehicles, a Model 3 in South Korea is even more reasonably priced than it would be in the US. Tesla's Model 3 is now on sale in South Korea and it's cheaper than you'd think – Roadshow Source: CNet
Read MoreThe $600 million supercomputer will be the world’s fastest. Cray to build El Capitan supercomputer for nuclear security apps – CNET Source: CNet
Read MoreThe best time of year to see shooting stars doesn’t disappoint, despite a bright moon. See the Perseid meteor shower make a celestial scene worldwide – CNET Source: CNet
Read MoreCasey Newton / The Verge: Twitter to soon let users follow interests, starting with sports, and create separate timelines for different topics; topics will be curated by Twitter using AI — A new way to explore interests on Twitter — Twitter will begin letting users follow interests, the company said today … Twitter to soon
Read MorePhoto by Sean O’Kane / The Verge Electric moped sharing startup Revel is expanding beyond New York City and into Washington, DC. Starting this weekend, Revel’s mopeds (which are more like speed-limited electric motor scooters, since they don’t have pedals) will be available to rent and ride in the capital city as part of a
Read MorePhoto by Michele Doying / The Verge Twitter will begin allowing users to follow interests, the company said today, letting users see tweets about topics of their choosing inside the timeline. When the feature goes live, you’ll be able to follow topics including sports teams, celebrities, and television shows, with a selection of tweets about
Read MoreDarrell Etherington / TechCrunch: Nvidia says it has broken records for real-time conversational AI, training the industry-standard BERT model in 53 minutes and then inferring responses in ~2ms — Nvidia’s GPU-powered platform for developing and running conversational AI that understands and responds to natural language requests … Nvidia says it has broken records for real-time
Read MoreFacebook doesn’t need any more bad press, but here we go again. According to a report by Bloomberg, the company paid hundreds of contractors to transcribe audio snippets from your conversations within its services – without making it sufficiently clear these clips were being recorded. Other tech giants have done similar, but that doesn’t make
Read MorePhoto credit should read KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty Images On August 12th, the Trump Administration issued crucial changes to the Endangered Species Act, which — if implemented next month — will affect both people and wildlife. Critics of the new measures, announced by the Fish and Wildlife Service, say the changes weaken protections for many species, and
Read MoreIn what has become a thing over the past few months, Facebook is the latest of the tech giants to admit that outside contractors were given access to users’ voice recordings. Read more… Change These Facebook Settings to Make Your Voice Recordings More Private Source: Life Hacker
Read MoreThe social network says it halted the process last week. Facebook paid contractors to transcribe Messenger calls – CNET Source: CNet
Read MoreEver wish your credit card debt would simply vanish? Haven’t we all, my friends. But if you’re a Chase customer, it may have actually happened. There’s just one catch: You have to be one of its former Canadian customers. Read more… Why Chase Wiped Out Debt for Canadian Cardholders Source: Life Hacker
Read MoreAkaso’s V50 Pro Special Edition action camera is a wallet-friendly little action shooter that punches well above its weight class. If you’ve been searching for a decent-quality 4K cam you can use underwater, but you don’t want to spend GoPro money for it, keep reading. The V50 Pro takes aim at the GoPro Hero 7
Read MoreThe lowest prices around for the 2018 and 2019 models. The best MacBook Air deals for the week of Aug. 12 – CNET Source: CNet
Read MoreAre online therapy services like BetterHelp or Talkspace just as good as seeing a therapist IRL? Online therapy vs in-person: What you should know – CNET Source: CNet
Read MoreUnder the deal with the Federal Communications Commission, the phone and internet provider will pay $550,000. CenturyLink, FCC reach settlement over 'cramming' fees on phone bills – CNET Source: CNet
Read MoreA post to the anonymous imageboard appeared to provide details of Epstein’s death before news reports. 4chan post appears to have detailed Jeffrey Epstein's death before news broke – CNET Source: CNet
Read MoreKaya Yurieff / CNN: A look at Snapchat’s community of about 100 official lens creators, who make custom AR lenses for people and brands, with Snap helping connect them to buyers — New York (CNN Business)Eighteen-year-old Ana Casciello couldn’t find a filter she wanted for her Snapchat photo that matched her personal style. A look
Read MoreIf you’re a Verizon Up member, you get $10 to support a teacher near you—a promotion that’s good through the end of the month. To use it, go to your Verizon Up app and find the offer. Click “Use now” on the page to get your specific coupon code. Read more… Support a Local Teacher
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