The Trick That Makes Google's Self-Driving Cars Work

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/05/all-the-world-a-track-the-trick-that-makes-googles-self-driving-cars-work/370871/?google_editors_picks=true

Fwd: automation using computer software

automation

 

 

Netflix Said to Agree to Pay Comcast for Faster Web Access

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-23/netflix-said-to-agree-to-pay-comcast-for-faster-broadband-access.html

 

… something seems very wrong about this, like the cable companies are blackmailing content providers to provide the bandwidth that the customers have already paid for.  So much for “Unlimited Internet Access.”

Apple brilliantly waxes poetic in new iPad Air ad

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-57617098-71/apple-brilliantly-waxes-poetic-in-new-ipad-air-ad/

Apple and Samsung Could Be Dethroned by Asus' Radical New Device (AAPL, GOOG, SSNLF)

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/12/15/apple-and-samsung-could-be-dethroned-by-asus-radic.aspx#.UrSLjni9LCQ

Is Rabbit TV a scam? We go hands on to give you the answer

Saw this for sale at Walmart...

http://m.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/rabbit-tv-real-deal-or-swift-swindle/

Doug Kass: This could be trouble for Apple

 

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/talking-numbers/doug-kass-could-trouble-apple-225638686.html

 

 

This woman essentially invented computer programming languages.

The Google doodle honors the birthday of Grace Hopper.

 

Although COBOL is tedious compared to modern computer languages, she got the ball rolling by inventing the first computer languages.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Hopper

 

5 Things Tim Cook Should Say (but Probably Won't)

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/the-exchange/5-things-tim-cook-probably-won-t-170523614.html

I am intrigued

http://www.thetileapp.com/?utm_source=AdWords&utm_medium=CPC

Take My Wi-Fi, Please – ReadWrite

http://readwrite.com/2013/07/12/take-my-wi-fi-please#awesm=~obIssQFhiYhC3F

- I have never password protected my wi-fi. The range is so poor that
at best only my nearest neighbors could connect, and I am not even
sure if that is possible. It would not bother me if they did connect.

google chrome has started giving me advertising, which I had not seen before.

http://www.neowin.net/news/google-now-showing-ads-in-chrome-will-users-jump-ship

--


John Coffey

Windows 7

Consider the vi text editor.  Like many editors used by computer programmers, it is overly complicated and hard to learn.  When I was first forced to use it in a computer class in college, I hated it.  Now I will use nothing else.   Once I overcame the difficulty of learning it, I realized that it had many powerful features that I liked.  However, a non-technical person would never even remotely need these features.

 

I feel a little bit the same way about being forced to use Windows 7.   It is not a bad operating system, but it feels more complicated than it needs to be.  Windows XP had a pleasant simplicity to it.  However, I am starting to get used to Windows 7.

 

It concerns me that there so many different ways that you can get to your files and run programs in the Windows OS.  For example, you could have a shortcut on your desktop, or you have something pinned to your task bar, or on the programs menu, or pinned to the start menu, or in a folder on the programs menu and there are other ways.  There is no consistency there, and therefore I think that Apple had the right idea with IOS.   It doesn’t have the same flexibility, but the simplicity of it means that almost anybody can use it without any training.

 

Scientists See Promise in Deep-Learning Programs

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/24/science/scientists-see-advances-in-deep-learning-a-part-of-artificial-intelligence.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1354308101-0WEOACOsCDepYXcaueXbDw

google-has-a-neural-network-that-can-recognize-objects

http://www.slashgear.com/google-has-a-neural-network-that-can-recognize-objects-26235666/

Fwd: Cyber-weapon

From: larry.r.trout

'Computer malware described as "the most sophisticated cyber weapon yet unleashed" has been uncovered in computers in the Middle East and may have infected machines in Europe, according to reports from antivirus researchers and software makers in Russia, Hungary and Ireland.

The malware, dubbed Worm.Win32.Flame, is unusual in its complexity, size and the multitude of ways it has of harvesting information from an infected computer including keyboard, screen, microphone, storage devices, network, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB and system processes.

The malware is called "Flame" by Kaspersky Labs, a Moscow-based antivirus software maker, but also known as sKyWIper by the Hungarian Laboratory of Cryptography and System Security (CrySyS Lab).

Both Kaspersky Labs and CrySyS Lab said it was likely the malware was developed by a government-sponsored entity.

"The geography of the targets [certain states are in the Middle East] and also the complexity of the threat leaves no doubt about it being a nation state that sponsored the research that went into it," Kaspersky Labs said in a report.

"The results of our technical analysis supports the hypotheses that sKyWIper was developed by a government agency of a nation state with significant budget and effort, and it may be related to cyber warfare activities," a CrySyS Lab report said. "Arguably, it is the most complex malware ever found."

Although the virus has just been detected, there was evidence that it may have been in operation for at least two years.

Vitaly Kamluk, chief malware expert for Kaspersky Labs, said there were many pointers to it being a weapon, not the least of which was how highly-targeted it was. According to their investigations, only 382 infections have been reported, 189 of which were in Iran, and the malware targeted individuals rather than organizations.

Kamluk said the malware was most likely introduced by a USB stick or other removable drive. Once injected, the malware would contact one of the many command and control servers around the world and download additional modules as needed.

It used the same technique as Stuxnet, an earlier highly sophisticated malware, to seek out other machines to infect.'

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/05/29/world-most-sophisticated-cyber-weapon-burns-computers-in-middle-east/

google-warns-users-dnschanger-malware

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2179174/google-warns-users-dnschanger-malware

Re: Precise 3D hand/computer control

larry.r.trout wrote:

'The distance between you and the virtual world is about to get even smaller. David Holz and Michael Buckwald, co-founders of startup Leap Motion, have created a 3-D motion control device that lets users control their computers by gesturing with their hands instead of using a keyboard or mouse.

The technology at work is reminiscent of that in Microsoft's Xbox Kinect device, which allows players to use their bodies as controllers or input devices. With the Leap, your fingers and hands are the controllers. Unlike the Kinect, the Leap uses a different technology that the creators say allows for far greater accuracy and precision within a smaller space.

Holz and Buckwald claim the Leap is accurate to within 1/100 of a millimeter and 200 times more sensitive than existing motion-sensing technologies. In a demo, Holz pointed at a laptop screen and traced the word "hello" in the air with his index finger while keeping his hand still and making only minimal movements with his finger. His gestures were processed and displayed simultaneously on the computer screen.'

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/leap-motion-computer-barely-lift-finger/story?id=16381309#.

I am concerned about the lack of tactile feedback.  It is hard to beat a mouse and the hands feel more comfortable resting on something and not raised for an extended period.  

The Story of Send

http://www.google.com/green/storyofsend

Just So Quotes

I believe I found the missing link between animal and civilized man.  It is us.         -- Konrad Lorenz

http://www.ubiquit.us/retrohomepage/jsq.html 

2012 the year of the ultra book

 

http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/desktop/232300674

 

Re: URGENT virus warning

This did not look correct to me because the snopes link did not refer to the virus by name...   See this link instead ...

http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/invitation.asp

Any email that says urgent and forward to all your friends is usually a hoax.  

One has to be careful about opening any attachment.   Usually if you are careful and have a virus checker then you are safe.   If the attachment appears to be an executable then watch out.  Usually you can see what type of file it is.  Pictures (.bmp or .jpg)  and sound (".wav") and video are usually OK.   You have to be more careful with video to make sure that it is a real youtube link or a real video file. 

I can always figure out what kind of file is in the attachment but others not so experienced might have difficulty. 

Links that aren't attachments are usually safe, but not always.  So ...

My chrome web browser does a great job of warning me about bad web sites.       I really like the chrome web browser.    It is also faster than Internet Explorer. 

I think that gmail and yahoo check for viruses but I am not sure. 

Sent from my iPhone

On Nov 17, 2011, at 4:24 PM, Geneva > wrote:

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: 
Sent: Wednesday, November 16, 2011 6:52 PM
Subject: Fwd: URGENT virus warning

---------- Forwarded message ----------From: Paul Date: Tue, Nov 15, 2011 at 11:55 PMSubject: URGENT virus warningTo: 

 

 

 

 

Snoops says this is true.  .

 

 

 

PLEASE CIRCULATE THIS NOTICE TO YOUR FRIENDS, FAMILY, CONTACTS! In the coming days, you should be aware.....  Do not open any message with an attachment called: Invitation FACEBOOK, regardless of who sent it. It is a virus that opens an Olympic torch that burns the whole hard disc C of your computer. This virus will be received from someone you had in your address book .. That's why you should send this message to all your contacts. It is better to receive this email 25 times to receive the virus and open it .. If you receive a mail called: Invitation FACEBOOK, though sent by a friend, do not open it and delete it immediately. It is the worst virus announced by CNN. A new virus has been discovered recently that has been classified by Microsoft as the most destructive virus ever. It is a Trojan Horse that asks you to install an adobe flash plug-in. Once you install it, it's all over. And there is no repair yet for this kind of virus. This virus simply destroys the Zero Sector of the Hard Disc, where the vital information of their function is saved. SNOPES SAYS THIS IS TRUE............ http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/youtube.asp

 

 

No virus found in this message.

Steve Jobs 1955-2011

http://iphoneappleandsmartphones.blogspot.com/

You have got to be kidding me.

http://news.cnet.com/intels-newest-lands-in-an-old-standard-commodore-64/8301-13924_3-57320252-64.html?tag=mncol;mlt_related

Amazon’s Bezos Adds Fire to Fuel Tablet Wars With $199 Kindle

http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-28/bezos-portrays-pocket-sized-fire-as-service-not-tablet-in-ipad-challenge.html

Price of new Amazon tablet could be big attraction

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE78Q6MJ20110927?irpc=932

Computer learns language by playing games - MIT News Office

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2011/language-from-games-0712.html

Your favorite gadgets are threatening the planet's future

http://thenextweb.com/industry/2011/06/19/why-your-favorite-gadgets-are-threatening-the-planets-future/

Alarmist articles like this tend to ignore that humans find ways
around engineering and economic problems such as these.

iMac resolution

I think that 1080P would have been a smart resolution to have, since that is the resolution of most HD movies.  That is what I have at work and it looks great on a 25 inch monitor.   Instead Apple chose to go with a 1440P resolution, which is twice vertically and horizontally the number of pixels of 720P.  It makes everything look too small.  As a result, I drop my resolution at home down to 720P.

Spyware, the FBI, and The Failure of ISPs

http://mobile.pcmag.com/device2/article.php?section_name=&CALL_URL=http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2385959,00.asp