Author: Tech Support

A look at NIST's Facial Recognition Vendor Test program for facial recognition algorithms, which influences purchasing decisions of US agencies and business (Tom Simonite/Wired)

{$inline_image} Tom Simonite / Wired: A look at NIST’s Facial Recognition Vendor Test program for facial recognition algorithms, which influences purchasing decisions of US agencies and business  —  LAST YEAR, CHINESE police arrested a man at a pop concert after he was flagged as a criminal suspect by a facial recognition system installed at the

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    • Interview with Sen. Warren on her plan to break up big tech, including Apple, which she says shouldn't compete in the App Store with its own products (Nilay Patel/The Verge)

    Nilay Patel / The Verge: Interview with Sen. Warren on her plan to break up big tech, including Apple, which she says shouldn’t compete in the App Store with its own products  —  Under Warren’s plan, Amazon would not be able to sell Amazon Basics products on the Amazon retail store, Google would not be

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    • The sharing economy, once touted as community-building, sustainable, and a salvation from capitalism, has in fact only ushered in a precarious economic future (Susie Cagle/OneZero)

    Susie Cagle / OneZero: The sharing economy, once touted as community-building, sustainable, and a salvation from capitalism, has in fact only ushered in a precarious economic future  —  ‘Sharing’ was supposed to save us.  Instead, it became a Trojan horse for a precarious economic future. The sharing economy, once touted as community-building, sustainable, and a

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    Model Car Indicates Door Is Ajar

    The amount of technology in modern cars is truly staggering. Heated seats, keyless entry, and arrays of helpful cameras are all becoming increasingly common in all but the cheapest of models. [mathisox] drives a slightly older Volkswagen van, which has been converted into a camper. Unfortunately, it lacks a proper door ajar display. Nevermind that,

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    • AI-based emotion detection has become a $20B industry, but some experts say the foundational science behind the tech is flawed and can adversely affect society (Oscar Schwartz/The Guardian)

    Oscar Schwartz / The Guardian: AI-based emotion detection has become a $20B industry, but some experts say the foundational science behind the tech is flawed and can adversely affect society  —  Machines can now allegedly identify anger, fear, disgust and sadness.  ‘Emotion detection’ has grown from a research project to a $20bn industry AI-based emotion

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    Truly Random MIDI Control

    Generating random data is incredibly hard, and most of the random data around you isn’t truly random, but merely pseudo-random. For really random data, you’ll have to look at something like radioactive decay or *holds up spork* something like this. YouTube commenters will also suffice. The idea of using random data for generating musical notes

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    • Tesla is dealing with the failure to achieve full self-driving by shifting goalposts, as it continues using its customers as unpaid safety drivers for its tech (Timothy B. Lee/Ars Technica)

    Timothy B. Lee / Ars Technica: Tesla is dealing with the failure to achieve full self-driving by shifting goalposts, as it continues using its customers as unpaid safety drivers for its tech  —  Tesla just shifted the goalposts for “full self-driving” technology.  —  An overhaul to Tesla’s Autopilot webpage might represent … Tesla is dealing

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    • As ride-hailing and p2p lending face govt. scrutiny in China, a number of state-backed startups have entered those sectors increasing the pressure on incumbents (Financial Times)

    Financial Times: As ride-hailing and p2p lending face govt. scrutiny in China, a number of state-backed startups have entered those sectors increasing the pressure on incumbents  —  Technology start-ups in two of China’s hottest sectors are facing a fresh rush of competition as state-backed rivals push into ride-hailing and peer-to-peer lending. As ride-hailing and p2p

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    • Profile of FTC chairman Joseph Simons, who wants the agency to have more direct authority to oversee privacy practices and fine companies (Cecilia Kang/New York Times)

    Cecilia Kang / New York Times: Profile of FTC chairman Joseph Simons, who wants the agency to have more direct authority to oversee privacy practices and fine companies  —  WASHINGTON — The Federal Trade Commission has no shortage of critics who say it cannot protect Americans from the prying eyes of Big Tech. Profile of

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