Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: RBC Capital Markets: 41% of US consumers now own a smart speaker, compared to 21.5% in 2017; the growth was mostly driven by Alexa and Google Home devices — We already know Alexa had a good Christmas – the app shot to the top of the App Store over the holidays,
Read MoreA federal regulator is under attack for what critics say is a systemic failure to police tech giants and their vast appetite for personal data. Facebook Data Scandals Stoke Criticism That a Privacy Watchdog Too Rarely Bites Source: NY Times Tech
Read MoreA super-material that’s non-toxic, highly flame resistant, and a good enough insulator, you can literally hold fire in your hand? Our interest was definitely caught by [NightHawkInLight] and his recent video about Starlite, embedded below the break. Starlite was the brainchild of English hairdresser, [Marice Ward]. The famous demo was an egg, coated in Starlite,
Read MoreDr. Roberts worked with other engineers to create the underpinnings of the Arpanet, making many crucial decisions. But his work did not make him rich. Lawrence Roberts, Who Helped Design Internet’s Precursor, Dies at 81 Source: NY Times Tech
Read MoreMalware was focused on networks used by the Tribune Company, former owner of The Los Angeles Times. It was the first known attack on newspaper printing operations. Cyberattack Disrupts Printing of Major Newspapers Source: NY Times Tech
Read MoreMadhumita Murgia / Financial Times: Privacy International: popular Android apps like TripAdvisor, Kayak, Indeed, MyFitnessPal share data with Facebook without user consent, possibly violating GDPR — Some of the most popular apps for Android smartphones, including Skyscanner, TripAdvisor and MyFitnessPal … Privacy International: popular Android apps like TripAdvisor, Kayak, Indeed, MyFitnessPal share data with Facebook
Read MoreWe are now truly living in the era of big data. And it’s not just companies like Facebook and YouTube that are reaping the benefits, big data is transforming science too. In the space sciences, we have an unprecedented number of satellites and ground-based instruments that monitor Earth’s space environment – routinely producing tonnes of
Read MoreSusan Fowler / New York Times: The biggest challenges for US tech firms in 2019: GDPR-like privacy protections, large security breaches becoming routine, and anti-government employee protests — How privacy, security and employee protests will shape the year ahead for Silicon Valley. — Ms. Fowler is an editor in the Opinion section. The biggest challenges
Read MoreMost displays are looking to play things faster. We’ve got movies at 60 frames per second, and gaming displays that run at 144 fps. But what about moving in the other direction? [Bryan Boyer] wanted to try this out, so he built the VSMP, or Very Slow Movie Player. It’s a neat device that plays
Read MoreExpansion aims to expand reach of its speedy two-hour grocery delivery service. Amazon reportedly plans to build new Whole Foods Market stores – CNET Source: CNet
Read MoreWall Street Journal: Sources: Amazon is planning to build and expand Whole Foods stores across the US to put more customers within range of its Prime Now two-hour delivery service — Expansion would widen tech giant’s delivery reach — Amazon.com Inc. AMZN 1.12% is planning to build and expand Whole Foods stores across … Sources:
Read MoreLos Angeles Times: Malware attack on Tribune Publishing’s network disrupts the printing and distribution of Saturday editions of LA Times, WSJ, NYT, and other papers — A cyberattack that appears to have originated from outside the United States caused major printing and delivery disruptions at several newspapers across … Malware attack on Tribune Publishing's network
Read MoreOver the years we have featured a huge array of projects featuring the Raspberry Pi, but among them there is something that has been missing in all but a few examples. The Raspberry P Compute Module is the essentials of a Pi on a form factor close to that of a SODIMM module, and it
Read More“Deepfake” creators target both celebrities and everyday women with photos taken from the Web. Even Scarlett Johansson says she’s powerless to fight them. Fake-porn videos are being weaponized to harass and humiliate women: ‘Everybody is a potential target’ Source: Washington Post Tech
Read MoreMicrosoft’s app store for Windows has become a fairly impressive library of software for users, and we want our readers to go into the new year with apps that will make their PCs just that much better. To that end, we’ve compiled a list of some of our favorite apps from the Microsoft Store. Some
Read MoreForensic and technical experts are working to combat deepfakes, but one says “it will probably forever be a cat-and-mouse game.” How fake-porn opponents are fighting back Source: Washington Post Tech
Read MoreAI-generated videos that show a person’s face on another’s body are called “deepfakes.” As the technology progresses, they’re becoming easier to make, more realistic and weaponized against women. Deepfakes: How a new technology is being used to put women’s faces on porn stars’ bodies Source: Washington Post Tech
Read MoreCertification from a trusted and respected provider, like the Project Management Institute (PMI). RedVector offers a host of training courses, all keyed to helping you secure that elite PMI validation of your abilities. With the current TNW Deals discount, you can get a full year of RedVector Project Manager Pro Membership at half off, just
Read MoreWill the system work with a severed finger? Asking for some friends. 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe can use a fingerprint instead of a key – Roadshow Source: CNet
Read MoreMotion helps make UIs expressive and easy to use. Despite having so much potential, motion is perhaps the least understood of all the design disciplines. This may be due to it being one of the newer members of the UI design family. Visual and interaction design dates back to early GUIs, but motion had to
Read MoreAlthough there was briefly a company called Rotary Rocket, the term is much better known as a nickname for the Mazda RX-7 — one of the few cars that used a Wankel, or rotary, engine. If you ever wondered how these worked, why not print a model? That’s what [Engineering Explained] did. They printed a
Read MoreBecause what comes after iPhone XS? iPhone 'X' names have nowhere to go in 2019 – CNET Source: CNet
Read MoreAmy Nordrum / IEEE Spectrum: How Facebook engineers keep Messenger from crashing on New Year’s Eve, when more messages are sent than on any other day, through “graceful degradation” — Messenger’s 1.3 billion users send more messages on New Year’s Eve than on any other day of the year How Facebook engineers keep Messenger from
Read MoreWhen you say “cryptocurrency,” you’d be forgiven if one of the first things that comes to mind is: “exit scam.” Exit scams refer to those cunning plots, whereby blockchain startups collect investors money, often through initial coin offerings (ICOs), only to disappear suddenly, along with any funds raised. This happens so frequently that by August,
Read MoreWe’re not sure what it is, but something about LEGO and music go together like milk and cookies when it comes to DIY musical projects. [Paul Wallace]’s Lego Music project is a sequencer that uses the colorful plastic pieces to build and control sound, but there’s a twist. The blocks aren’t snapped onto anything; the system
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