Blog

    • How some people in Japan are finding comfort through companion robots like Sony's robot dog Aibo, which is designed to show and respond to emotions (Rosalind Adams/BuzzFeed News)

    Rosalind Adams / BuzzFeed News: How some people in Japan are finding comfort through companion robots like Sony’s robot dog Aibo, which is designed to show and respond to emotions  —  TOKYO — It was before 10 a.m. on a gray summer Sunday, but already a small crowd had gathered outside Penguin Café at the

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    • Samsung’s ‘artificial human’ project definitely looks like a digital avatar

    On Friday we wrote about Samsung’s mysterious ‘artificial human’ project Neon, speculating that the company was building realistic human avatars that could be used for entertainment and business purposes, acting as guides, receptionists, and more. Now, a tweet from the project’s lead and some leaked videos pretty much confirm this — although they don’t give

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    Arduino Wristwatch Has LED Hands

    When you read “Arduino wristwatch”, you fall into the trap of envisioning an Arduino UNO clumsily strapped to someone’s wrist. [Marijo Blažević’s] creation is much more polished than that. A round circuit board holds two surface mount ICs and 12 LEDs. The whole thing looks nice fit snugly inside of a watch body. It isn’t

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    • What we can do to make sure automation doesn’t negatively affect the work force

    Artificial intelligence and automation are continuing to drill deeper into our society. In the business industry, companies are now utilizing the voice recognition provided by intelligent personal assistants such as Alexa, Cortana, and Siri to speed up their tasks. In the transport industry, artificial intelligence is powering the upcoming self-driving cars and helps to manage

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    • US-China trade war has revealed China's weaknesses in developing foundational technologies, weaknesses that China can be expected to overcome in the long term (Dan Wang)

    Dan Wang: US-China trade war has revealed China’s weaknesses in developing foundational technologies, weaknesses that China can be expected to overcome in the long term  —  Following the twists and turns of the trade war meant that I had less time for personal writing this year, so this letter is the only piece I’ll publish.

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    • Sam Altman loses 2015 bet against a tech bubble, as 1 of the 3 portfolios failed to achieve its proposed valuation by Jan. 1, 2020, will give $100K to a charity (Danielle Morrill)

    Danielle Morrill: Sam Altman loses 2015 bet against a tech bubble, as 1 of the 3 portfolios failed to achieve its proposed valuation by Jan. 1, 2020, will give $100K to a charity  —  In 2015, Sam Altman wrote a post titled “Bubble Talk” which lamented the “boring reading” of ongoing press coverage of a

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    • 100K+ leaked Cambridge Analytica docs show the Facebook data scandal was part of a broad operation in 68 countries involving govts, intelligence agencies, more (Carole Cadwalladr/The Guardian)

    Carole Cadwalladr / The Guardian: 100K+ leaked Cambridge Analytica docs show the Facebook data scandal was part of a broad operation in 68 countries involving govts, intelligence agencies, more  —  Company’s work in 68 countries laid bare with release of more than 100,000 documents  —  An explosive leak of tens of thousands … 100K+ leaked

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