Technology readings
By Enrique Dans | Relevant technology-related news, curated daily by Enrique Dans (http://www.enriquedans.com)
Elon Musk is right: we should all be worried about killer robots
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, along with 115 other artificial intelligence and robotics specialists, has signed an open letter to urge the United Nations to recognize the dangers of lethal autonomous weapons and to ban their use internationally.<p>The letter was released at the International Joint …
RobotsElon Musk leads 116 experts calling for outright ban on killer robots
Open letter signed by Tesla chief and Google’s Mustafa Suleyman urges UN to block use of lethal autonomous weapons to prevent third age of war<p>Some of the world’s leading robotics and artificial intelligence pioneers are calling on the United Nations to ban the development and use of killer …
RobotsTwo-year-olds should learn to code, says computing pioneer
Early start would encourage women to become programmers and reduce gender stereotyping, argues Stephanie Shirley<p>Children as young as two years old should be introduced to the basics of coding, according to one of Britain’s most eminent computing pioneers.<p>Dame Stephanie Shirley, whose company was …
Women's NewsSupreme Court asked to nullify the Google trademark | Ars Technica
The case comes two months after court’s “offensive” trademarks ruling.<p>Is the term "google" too generic and therefore unworthy of its trademark …
GoogleAmericans Love Ordering Pizza on Facebook
The cutthroat U.S. restaurant industry is getting increasingly aggressive about technology, enlisting Facebook Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. in their race …
TrendsOf course parents have a right to spy on their kids
They invade privacy, but apps such as ReplyASAP could also save lives<p>A British father, digital product manager Nick Herbert, has invented an app, ReplyASAP, because his 13-year-old son wasn’t responding to his calls or texts.<p>The app takes over a smartphone screen, locking the phone from further use …
ParentingImages of Fitbit next smartwatch reveal heart-rate improvements
Fitbit is on schedule, as its boss James Park keeps reminding us, to launch its next smartwatch by the end of the year. We don’t know what the smartwatch will be called, though Blaze 2 seems likely, but thanks to leaks we know its design and some of the hardware improvements.<p>Images obtained by …
Wearable TechWhat your company needs to know about the blockchain movement
The blockchain technology market is projected to see a 61.5 percent compound annual growth rate through 2021 according to MarketWatch. And we’re seeing companies from across the spectrum — from finance, logistics, and manufacturing to research, computing, and insurance — looking to roll out …
BitcoinJames Damore is proving the alt-right playbook can work in Silicon Valley
If the alt-right had drafted a figurehead to represent them in Silicon Valley, they could not have done much better than James Damore. The former Google engineer is calm, reasoned, and credentialed. He has a pedigree of dropping out of Harvard (despite falsely claiming a PhD). He quotes left-wing …
Silicon ValleyMark Zuckerberg’s own paternity-leave plans are a step toward a more fair workplace
As he did after the birth of his first child in 2015, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is taking two months’ paternity leave from the company when his second daughter arrives. This time, Zuckerberg will break up the leave, spending one month at home with his children and wife Priscilla Chan right after …
Mark ZuckerbergWaymo Patent Shows Plans to Replace Steering Wheel & Pedals with Push Buttons
Waymo just received approval on a patent for a push-button console that replaces not only a steering wheel in a car but the brake and gas pedals, …
Google brings six-second video previews to mobile search
Google announced a major update to its mobile search results pages today. Whenever your query brings up a video, Google will now show you a silent six-second clip to help you decide if it’s actually a video you want to see.<p>This will work for the vast majority of videos on the web today — including, …
GoogleThe walls are closing in on tech giants
Tech behemoths Google, Facebook and Amazon are feeling the heat from the far-left and the far-right, and even the center is starting to fold.<p><b>Why it</b> …
Rob PortmanFighting Neo-Nazis and the Future of Free Expression
In the wake of Charlottesville, both GoDaddy and Google have refused to manage the domain registration for the Daily Stormer, a neo-Nazi website …
CensorshipAI Is Taking Over the Cloud - MIT Technology Review
The cloud is getting smarter by the minute. In fact, it will soon know more about the photos you’ve uploaded than you do.<p>Cloud storage company Box …
Machine LearningThe World’s Biggest Tech Companies Are No Longer Just American
HONG KONG — The technology world’s $400 billion-and-up club — long a group of exclusively American names like Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon — needs to make room for two Chinese members.<p>The Alibaba Group and Tencent Holdings, Chinese companies that dominate their home market, have …
ChinaDoxing Is a Perilous Form of Justice—Even When It's Outing Nazis
Last Saturday, Logan Smith, the man behind the Twitter account @YesYoureRacist, began posting photos of alleged white supremacist protesters in …
Robert E. LeeAsk Jack: How can I use airport and hotel wifi safely?
Steve wants to know why public hotspots are not secure. Happily, there are ways to make your connection safer<p>Why are all the free wifi services offered by hotels and airports etc unsecured? I scan networks with AVG and then use TunnelBear’s VPN (virtual private network) whenever I want to use them …
Wi-FiApple Watch to be sold alongside Aetna health insurance plans
The Apple Watch could soon be sold discounted or free to Aetna’s 23 million members, as a way to improve health outcomes and lower insurance costs, according to a CNBC report.<p>Apple held a series of meetings with Aetna executives and hospital chief medical information officers, discussing the …
SmartwatchesIn an AI-powered world, what are potential jobs of the future?
With virtual assistants answering our emails and robots replacing humans on manufacturing assembly lines, mass unemployment due to widespread automation seems imminent. But it is easy to forget amid our growing unease that these systems are not “all-knowing” and fully competent.<p>As many of us have …
IntelligenceRobots are only taking jobs in a narrow part of the country — but that's affecting all of us
Fears of an imminent robot takeover of the workplace have gained traction after recent advances on self-driving vehicles and increasingly automated factories.<p>Most technology and employment experts, however, are quick to note that mechanization can have a tremendous positive impact on productivity …
RobotsOne chart shows how different the internet landscape looks in China
People in the Americas and Europe use most of the same services and websites when they go online, with Facebook, Amazon, and Google as mainstays for most internet users. The one place these market leaders have struggled to gain users is China.<p>The Chinese government has strict censorship practices …
InternetIn Ukraine, a Malware Expert Who Could Blow the Whistle on Russian Hacking
KIEV, Ukraine — The hacker, known only by his online alias “Profexer,” kept a low profile. He wrote computer code alone in an apartment and quietly sold his handiwork on the anonymous portion of the internet known as the dark web. Last winter, he suddenly went dark entirely.<p>Profexer’s posts, …
SecurityFiat Chrysler Joins BMW in Race to Make Self-Driving Cars
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles will cooperate with BMW to develop self-driving cars, the companies said Wednesday, as traditional automakers look to defend their turf against cash-rich Silicon Valley giants eager to upend the industry.<p>Autonomous vehicles are expected to transform the auto industry …
TransportationAndrew Ng is raising a $150M AI Fund
We knew that Andrew Ng had more than just a series of deep learning courses up his sleeve when he announced the first phase of his deeplearning.ai last week. It’s clear now that the turn of Ng’s three part act is a $150 million venture capital fund, first noted by PEHub, targeting AI …
StartupsThe Uber Dilemma
By far the most well-known “game” in game theory is the Prisoners’ Dilemma. Albert Tucker, who formalized the game and gave it its name in 1950, …
Venture CapitalThe e-mail Larry Page should have written to James Damore
Created on: 15 August 2017 at 15:15 (Delivered after 1 seconds)<br>From: Larry Page <*********@google.com><br>To: James Damore <***********@hotmail.com><br>cc: …
EconomicsWhy Facebook Just Eradicated Influencer Marketing As We Know It
Today Facebook silently announced that brands now have the ability to seamlessly drive targeted paid media support behind 3rd party influencer …
MarketingKGI: Apple Watch 3 to come in LTE and non-LTE models, no obvious form factor change
Reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities has released a new forecast on the next generation Apple Watch. According to Kuo, the Apple Watch 3 will ship later this year with both LTE and non-LTE models offered. Kuo also expects the next Apple Watch will retain the same general design and not …
Smartwatches