Book returns - 120 years late!

Found on Hereford Cathedral on Friday, 09 December 2016
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‘The Microscope and its Revelations’ by Dr William B Carpenter was discovered by Alice Gillett, granddaughter of Professor Boycott, when she was sorting through a collection of 6,000 books following the death of her husband earlier this year.

If the book had been borrowed from Hereford Library, which charges 17p a day, the fine would have been £7,446, although the school has promised to waive any fines.

There still are some honest people out there.

RAISR: Is Google’s AI-driven image resizing algorithm ‘dishonest’?

Found on The Stack on Saturday, 19 November 2016
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Google has released the fruits of new research into upscaling low-resolution images using machine learning to ‘fill in’ the missing details. Compared to the hoary standards Photoshop users have been used to for over twenty years, the results are quite impressive.

RAISR (Rapid and Accurate Image Super Resolution) uses machine learning to develop ‘routes’ from low to higher resolution versions of an originally small image, based on sampling the differences between smaller and (genuinely) higher-resolution versions of data training images in a set.

If that catches on, there soon will be CSI style investigations everywhere.

9 tweets to celebrate the birthday of Mickey Mouse

Found on CNet News on Friday, 18 November 2016
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Mickey Mouse turned 88 today and Twitter responded with tons of tweets to wish a happy birthday to the Disney character who started it all.

Let's also "celebrate" the fact that because of Mickey Mouse, copyright has been extended more and more to avoid the mouse entering public domain.

Soylent Thinks It Found What Was Making People Sick: Algae

Found on Bloomberg on Monday, 07 November 2016
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Customers complained of nausea and other stomach issues after eating newer formulations of its products. In October, Soylent maker Rosa Foods Inc. stopped selling its powder mix and recalled its protein bars.

Soylent prides itself on rapid product development—an ideal popularized by Google and Facebook Inc., and one that endears the startup to techies around the world. The product descriptions for Soylent read like release notes you’d find bundled with a new version of an app.

People are getting more and more retarded, eating some weird mixtures instead of what humans have eaten for hundreds of thousands of years without issues. Besides, Soylent Green is made of people.

Android spyware targets business executives

Found on Helpnetsecurity on Saturday, 05 November 2016
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The name of the malicious package is “com.android.protect”, and it comes disguised as a Google Play Services app. It disables Samsung’s SPCM service in order to keep running, installs itself as a system package to prevent removal by the user (if it can get root access), and also hides itself from the launcher.

Once installed and run, the malware requests device admin rights, asks the licence number to be entered, hides itself (its presence can be revealed by dialing “11223344”), and finally asks to be granted root access (if the device is rooted).

It's only a natural development. Smartphones are omnipresent and offer more surveillance options than most security agencies could dream of.

Rogue FBI Twitter Bot dumps months of FOIAs, causing controversy

Found on Ars Technica on Friday, 04 November 2016
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According to an FBI official, the flood of tweets occurred because of a backlog of updates dating to June. The logjam finally broke when a content management system software patch was installed last week.

The documents linked in the Twitter posts that were already queued for posting dated back several months. When the software was updated, the backlog was suddenly, automatically, cleared in a spew of tweets.

The documents are released in a standard FOIA process,; complaining about the timing doesn't really make much sense.

People who use Facebook live longer, study finds

Found on CBC News on Tuesday, 01 November 2016
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The study, published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that people who use Facebook live longer than those who do not, and that certain types of Facebook activities — like posting pictures and accepting friend requests — are associated with a lower risk of mortality.

A 12 year old data collector can beat all medical improvments and turn out to be the fountain of eternal life. Just how ridiculous can research be these days when it uses that for a mortality study?

Apple's Cook: 'We're going to kill cash'

Found on CNet News on Thursday, 27 October 2016
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Cook, speaking with a small group of reporters after Thursday's MacBook event, said the uptake for the company's mobile payments service Apple Pay has been dramatic.

"We're going to kill cash," he said. "Nobody likes to carry around cash."

If you look at the numbers Apple publishes, it looks more like cash will kill them. They will go down long before cashflow takes even just a little dent.

German arms maker Armatix to release second smart gun in U.S.

Found on Computerworld on Sunday, 23 October 2016
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Unlike the iP1, which used RFID technology, the new iP9 9mm semi-automatic pistol will have a fingerprint reader. The iP9 will be available in mid-2017, according to Wolfgang Tweraser, CEO and president of Armatix LLC.

Gun advocacy groups such as the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSA) have said they do not oppose smart gun technology -- only smart gun mandates from the government.

In case of an emergency, always make sure that you are not wearing gloves and check if the battery of your gun is not empty.

Apple creates Red Cross donation program for Hurricane Matthew relief

Found on CNet News on Monday, 10 October 2016
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Apple has created a donation program that allows visitors to donate to the American Red Cross via iTunes to support Hurricane Matthew relief efforts.

With all the billions in Apple's bank accounts, they could have made an much more impressive move and donate; but obviously this will suffice for PR and cost less.