Sunday, May 2, 2021

dWeb News

dWeb News


Reinforcement learning competition pushes the boundaries of embodied AI

Posted: 01 May 2021 02:40 PM PDT

The ThreeDWorld Transport Challenge lets embodied AI scientists test a robot’s ability to physically sense and interact with the environment.Read More

Archeologists Found 110 Ancient Egyptian Tombs Spanning 3 Historic Eras

Posted: 01 May 2021 01:39 PM PDT

Egypt has gone archeology-crazy in the last year, uncovering lost cities and parading dozens of pharaohs in the street to encourage tourism. And now, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities is publishing a stunning finding from the Koum el-Khulgan archaeological site—110 graves that span 3 eras of ancient Egyptian history.

Read This Article on Review Geek ›

This Modder Stuck a Wii Into a GameBoy Advance SP

Posted: 01 May 2021 11:39 AM PDT

Despite the Wii's incredible legacy, there is no legitimate way to play its classic games on modern hardware. There are several ways to work around this hurdle, but some techniques are more ambitious than others. StonedEdge's homemade Wii SPii is, to say the least, extremely ambitious.

Read This Article on Review Geek ›

Samsung’s SmartTag+ Bluetooth Tracker Arrives in the U.S.

Posted: 01 May 2021 10:40 AM PDT

Right behind Apple's AirTag trackers, you can now buy Samsung's take on Bluetooth trackers in the United States. That follows B&H taking pre-orders even without a confirmed date, and Samsung announcing global availability. SmartTag+ will set you back $39.99 for a single tag.

Read This Article on Review Geek ›

dWeb News Daily Picks by Daniel Webster Internet Cowboy

Posted: 01 May 2021 10:26 AM PDT

dweb daily news picks technology news

How Intel is leveraging AI to drive sales

Posted: 01 May 2021 09:39 AM PDT

Intel is adopting AI internally to bolster its sales and marketing efforts, including through the use of natural language processing.Read More

Data science in a post-COVID world

Posted: 01 May 2021 09:39 AM PDT

We can’t just go back to our pre-COVID data models once the pandemic is over. We’ll need to be continuously monitoring and testing.Read More

Zillow Group responds to lawsuit filed by Real Estate Exchange, denies antitrust claims

Posted: 01 May 2021 09:39 AM PDT

(Bigstock Photo)

The news: Seattle-based Zillow Group responded to an antitrust lawsuit filed by Austin-based real estate startup Real Estate Exchange in March that accused Zillow of anticompetitive behavior related to how certain homes are shown on its platform. In an opposition motion, Zillow alleges that REX's claims are self-serving and that its motion "fails at every level and should be denied."

Background: Founded in 2015, REX aims to disrupt the traditional brokerage model by charging sellers lower commissions. It uses sites such as Zillow to market homes, and recently launched in the Seattle area.

In its lawsuit, REX alleges that Zillow conceals REX agent listings following a recent change to Zillow's search portal. As part of its move to buy and sell homes directly via Zillow Offers, Zillow joined The National Association of Realtors (NAR) — which is also listed as a defendant in the suit, along with Zillow subsidiary Trulia — and began sourcing homes from multiple listing services (MLS) databases.

Due to MLS rules, listings on Zillow are now grouped under two tabs: "agent listings," and "other listings," which lists homes not included in MLS databases. REX describes it as a "recessed, obscured, and deceptive tab that consumers do not see."

REX says the change has hurt its traffic and impacted its reputation.

"If the NAR and its MLS partners, which now include Zillow, are allowed to once again close off transparent access to home inventory by entering into agreements among themselves that disadvantage all but their own membership, consumers and competition will suffer," REX's lawsuit reads.

ZIllow's response: Zillow says the move to a two-tab display for its online platforms was made to comply with MLS rules and to obtain high-quality listings, not to harm REX. It denies antitrust allegations, calling REX a "vertical supplier" in the property listings data aggregation business. The company also says REX cannot prove a violation of the Washington Consumer Protection Act, and says REX's delay in filing its lawsuit "seriously undercuts REX's claim of irreparable harm."

"The facts and motivation behind this lawsuit are simple: REX is unhappy with Zillow's independent decision to obtain faster, more reliable, and better data for Zillow's consumer," Zillow says in its filing.

Zillow asks that the court deny REX's request for a preliminary injunction.

Zillow's official statement: "Per our filing, we believe REX's claims are without merit. As MLS participants, we are required to abide by the MLS rules and regulations. We are always advocating for rules that benefit consumers, the entire industry and drive innovation for all." — Zillow spokesperson

We've reached out to REX for comment and will update this story if we hear back.

Here's Zillow's full opposition filing:

How to Set up Do Not Disturb on Google Pixel Phones

Posted: 01 May 2021 08:39 AM PDT

Android notifications can be annoying at times, but they don't have to be. Enabling "Do Not Disturb" mode is one way to mute pesky notifications at times when you don't need them. Here's how to set it up on your Google Pixel.

Read This Article on How-To Geek ›

How commercial space stations could become the final frontier for data and cybersecurity

Posted: 01 May 2021 08:39 AM PDT

An artist's conception shows Axiom Space's proposed space station. (Axiom Space Illustration)

What will commercial space stations be good for? The application that typically comes up would be their use as space hotels, or maybe zero-gravity research labs and factories.

But space industry pioneer Rob Meyerson has a different idea in mind — and in his role as operating partner at C5 Capital USA, he's able to put some money behind it.

"Looking for new markets is something we're highly motivated to do," Meyerson told GeekWire. "Data storage and compute is one market. Cybersecurity is another."

The possibilities for providing data and security services on the final frontier played a big role in C5 Capital's decision to lead a $130 million funding round for Texas-based Axiom Space, which is due to send citizen astronauts to the International Space Station next year and could start laying the groundwork for its own space station in 2024.

"We have a lot of data that's created in space, but how valuable would it be to actually do compute and storage in space?" Meyerson asked. "We've been talking with Axiom about that and helping them to form partnerships. How do we use the C5 portfolio in cybersecurity and threat protection to assist Axiom with their supply chain and their partners, to bring the most advanced technologies to that critically important area?"

In connection with the funding deal, Meyerson has joined Axiom Space's board of directors. It's the latest big move for Meyerson, who lives in Tacoma, Wash., and served as the president of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin space venture from 2003 to 2017.

Blue Origin's Rob Meyerson speaks at the 2016 International Symposium on Personal and Commercial Spaceflight in New Mexico. (ISPCS via YouTube)

Meyerson's experience in the space industry goes even further back than Blue Origin, taking in a six-year stint as senior program manager for Kistler Aerospace's K-1 reusable launch vehicle (which never got off the ground) and 12 years as an aerospace engineer at NASA's Johnson Space Center.

But it's only been in the past few years that people have been talking seriously about creating privately owned outposts in Earth orbit. Space tourism and in-space manufacturing no longer seem as far out as they once did, and Meyerson believes Axiom Space is well-placed to capitalize on the possibilities.

"This is the kind of opportunity that we wouldn't have been betting on to come if we had done this in 2019," he said. "But in 2020, it was perfectly aligned, and we said, 'OK, well, here are all these services, and let's invest in the destination.' There's only one company out there that has this exclusive contract with NASA to access the node on the ISS, and that's Axiom Space."

That doesn't mean Axiom Space will have the space station market all to itself. Lots of space companies — including Sierra Nevada, Bigelow Aerospace, Nanoracks and Meyerson's old teammates at Blue Origin — also have plans on the drawing boards.

At the same time, heavyweights ranging from Amazon and Microsoft to Lockheed Martin are looking into ways to extend cloud computing to the space frontier. Satellite constellations such as SpaceX's Starlink and Amazon's yet-to-be-launched Project Kuiper could play a big role in those efforts.

What's so attractive about moving data processing off the planet?

"Most importantly, there is a lot of data that is generated in space," Meyerson explained. "We can envision a number of use cases where that data is generated in space, transmitted back to Earth in one part of the world, and there are compute operations done on that data to process it and turn it into actionable data, and then it is transmitted to another part of the world to have action taken on it."

Space-based processing could dramatically streamline that data flow.

"We believe that doing those computer operations in space is going to reduce the decision timeline by fractions of a second, if not seconds," Meyerson said.

So does that mean Axiom Space will be going up against Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure? Not at all, Meyerson said.

"They can definitely draw upon Axiom Space," he said. "We have great relationships with those companies, and all of the cloud providers and service providers that work on top of the cloud. I think they're very obvious choices for partners."

Speaking of partners, the perils of the past year have only confirmed Meyerson's view that space ventures mesh well with the rest of C5 Capital's investment portfolio, which is heavy with companies that focus on big data and cybersecurity.

"The digital transformation of everything we do has been so accelerated during the pandemic," he noted. "And it's making us more and more vulnerable. So the combination of two things — becoming more reliant on space for critical infrastructure, and the digital transformation leading to more vulnerability — just makes our investments in cybersecurity more important. And we think the natural application is in space."

Saturday, May 1, 2021

Nevada Daily News Picks from dWeb Daniel Webster

dWeb Nevada Daily News Picks From Daniel Webster dWeb Internet Cowboy
ARE WE SEEING A PROBLEM?: Crypto’s Shadow Currency Surges Past Deposits of Most U.S. Banks SCARY MUSK?: ‘SNL’ cast won’t be forced to appear with controversial host Elon Musk THIS IS AN IMPORTANT CASE: Next Week’s Fortnite Trial Could Upend Apple’s App Store Model -- Even if Epic Loses Gannett prepares for cookiepocalypse from many angles at once LUMBER PRICES DEFINE ECONOMY: Soaring lumber prices add $36,000 to the cost of a new home, and a fierce land grab is only making it worse TV news ratings, online readership plunge during Biden's first 100 days [OR, BETTER HEADLINE] Ratings and Readership Tanks Without Trump SpaceX scrubs upgraded Starship launch debut ADS REFLECT OTHER ISSUES: Tucker Carlson Mystery: Those Funky Ads WORK PANDEMIC: Our Future Privacy Robots and Balloon Walls PANDEMIC WINDFALL: Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway rebounds from pandemic with $11.7 billion profit SWEET: We spent a week with Apple’s new AirTag — it’s worth it HOW WE LIVE IN 2021: This Company Will Pay You $42,000 a Year to Smoke Weed For These stories and more Nevada, worldwide and Nevada technology news go to dWeb News https://dweb.news/dweb-the-internet-cowboy-tech-news/local-tech-news/nevada-tech-news/ #Nevada #nNevadanews #Nevadatech #technology #LasVegas #Reno #CarsonCity #danielwebster #cryptocurrency #bank #elonmusk #SNL #saturdaynightlive #fortnite #apple #appstore #gannett #cookies #lumber #lumberprice #economy #tvratings #biden #trump #spacex #starlink #tuckercarlson #advertising #robots #pandemic #covid #warrenbuffett #berkshirehathaway #airtag

dWeb News

dWeb News


The biggest controversy surrounding Apple’s new iPad Pro isn’t actually an issue at all

Posted: 30 Apr 2021 07:39 PM PDT

Apple unveiled several new products last week, including an iPad Pro that should finally rival computers in terms of power. The new iPad Pro models are the first to ship with the same powerful M-series processor that powers the MacBook. The 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pros feature the same M1 system-on-chip as the 24-inch iMac and the three new Mac models launched last fall. On top of that, the new tablets come with optional 5G support. If that's not enough to make the iPad Pro stand out, you need to check out Apple's new screen technology for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro (5th generation). The bigger tablet comes with a mini-LED display that will offer the same performance as Apple's premium Pro Display XDR monitor, which retails for $5,000.

The new iPad Pro models are available for preorder now, and will ship in the second half of May. Before you get yours, though, you should be aware of the recent Magic Keyboard controversy and what it means. Thankfully, it turns out we have good news on that front: Apple's older keyboard accessory is compatible with the 12.9-inch tablet after all.

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Reports last week said the new iPad Pro would not work with the first-gen Magic Keyboard because the tablet is slightly thicker than before. But that's not quite the case. The Magic Keyboard attaches to the iPad magnetically, with the screen hovering above the actual keyboard. This lets you adjust the viewing angle according to your needs without the base of the tablet touching the keyboard section. The whole thing looks terrific. But that design and functionality don't come cheap.

The Magic Keyboard retails for $299 and having to repurchase the new version for the 2021 iPad Pro wouldn't have been great news for Magic Keyboard owners who thought they could use the accessory they already bought.

Apple has just updated the Magic Keyboard support document with a critical explanation that addresses concerns about compatibility. According to Apple, buyers who use screen protectors with the new 12.9-inch iPad Pro and the first-gen Magic Keyboard might discover that the accessory doesn't fit precisely:

The first generation of the Magic Keyboard (A1998) is functionally compatible with the new iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th generation) with Liquid Retina XDR display. Due to the slightly thicker dimensions of this new iPad Pro, it's possible that the Magic Keyboard may not precisely fit when closed, especially when screen protectors are applied.

The following size comparison reveals the culprit. The new 12.9-inch iPad Pro is 0.5mm thicker than its predecessors. That extra thickness might be almost imperceptible, but it's enough to cause compatibility problems with the first-gen Magic Keyboard if you also use a screen protector. The good news is that according to Apple's own documentation, the old accessory will still work fine, despite the fact that you might not get a perfect fit.

12.9-inch iPad Pro (2021) size compared to previous generations. Image source: Apple Inc.

The new 11-inch iPad Pro isn't affected. As seen below, it has the same measurements as its predecessors.

11-inch iPad Pro (2021) size compared to previous generations.

That mini-LED display might be the reason why Apple had to increase the 12.9-inch iPad Pro's thickness.

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Intel CEO seeks $10B subsidy to build a chip factory in Europe

Posted: 30 Apr 2021 05:39 PM PDT

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger may be asking for as much as $10 billion in subsidies to build a new foundry in Europe to ease the chip shortage.Read More

NASA freezes SpaceX’s lunar lander cash due to protests from Blue Origin, Dynetics

Posted: 30 Apr 2021 05:39 PM PDT

An artist's conception shows SpaceX's Starship rocket ship on the moon. (SpaceX Illustration)

NASA says it'll hold up on its payments to SpaceX for developing its Starship super-rocket as a lunar lander while the Government Accountability Office sorts out challenges to the $2.9 billion contract award from Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin space venture as well as from Alabama-based Dynetics.

Dynetics and a space industry team led by Blue Origin submitted their protests to the GAO this week, contending that the award unfairly favored SpaceX. The three teams spent months working on proposals in hopes of winning NASA's support for developing a landing system capable of putting astronauts on the moon's surface by as early as 2024.

The GAO has 100 days to determine whether the challengers' complaints have merit, and if so, what to do about it. That 100-day clock runs out on Aug. 4.

In the meantime, the space agency is suspending work on the Human Landing System contract. "NASA instructed SpaceX that progress on the HLS contract has been suspended until GAO resolves all outstanding litigation related to this procurement," Space News quoted NASA spokeswoman Monica Witt as saying.

It's not clear how much of an effect the suspension of NASA funding will have on Starship development. Even before this month's contract award, SpaceX was conducting an extraordinarily rapid series of high-altitude tests of Starship prototypes. The next prototype, dubbed SN15, is due for launch from SpaceX's Boca Chica base in South Texas sometime in the next few days.

Landing people and cargo on the moon is just one of the applications that SpaceX has in mind for Starship. The reusable rocket ship and its even bigger Super Heavy booster are also meant to be used for point-to-point terrestrial travel, mass deployment of satellites in Earth orbit, commercial trips around the moon and odysseys to Mars and back. SpaceX has raised billions of dollars in private investment for its rocket development effort, and that funding seems likely to sustain SpaceX while the GAO reviews NASA's award.

NASA officials had hoped to choose two teams to go on to the next phase of lunar lander development, but because Congress allocated only a quarter of the $3.3 billion that NASA was seeking for the project in the current fiscal year, the space agency decided to go with only one of the teams. SpaceX came in with the lowest cost and the highest rating.

Both Blue Origin and Dynetics said that NASA didn't assess their lunar lander proposals correctly, and that officials changed the rules of the competition in midcourse. Dynetics said NASA should have reworked or canceled its plan for awarding contracts once it determined there wasn't enough money for two teams.

The teams also argued in their filings that going with a single source ran counter to NASA's general trend to select multiple teams for key commercial space programs, in the interest of encouraging competition and providing redundancy if one of the teams falters. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., echoed that criticism last week during the confirmation hearing for NASA's next administrator, former Sen. Bill Nelson.

"NASA has a big tradition of ensuring resilience in commercial programs by using multiple competitors and maintaining what's called dissimilar redundancy. So I want to know that you will commit to rapidly providing Congress with a plan for assuring that kind of resilience our of the Human Lander program," Cantwell told Nelson. In response, Nelson agreed that "competition is always good."

On Thursday, NASA said it's looking into opening up a new program to procure commercial lunar landing services for the crewed missions that will follow up on SpaceX's initial demonstration mission. Meanwhile, the Senate confirmed Nelson's nomination by unanimous consent.

Cybersecurity firm started by ex-spies surges on London market debut

Posted: 30 Apr 2021 04:39 PM PDT

Darktrace, the cybersecurity startup run by former British and American spies, rocketed to a strong start in its London market debut.Read More

Marijuana data platform Headset raises $1.8M to expand into recently legalized markets

Posted: 30 Apr 2021 04:39 PM PDT

Seattle startup Headset, which provides a business intelligence platform for the legal cannabis industry, announced $1.8 million in new funding. Headset will use the funds to expand into recently legalized markets.

In the U.S., 16 states and Washington, D.C., have legalized recreational marijuana for adults over age 21 and 36 states have legalized medical marijuana. In the past six months alone, half a dozen states have passed or are in the process of passing legislation legalizing marijuana in some form.

Headset was founded in 2015 by CEO Cy Scott, Chief Design Officer Brian Wansolich and CTO Scott Vickers, who all previously co-founded Leafly, a cannabis resource platform.

The latest funding was led by private equity investment manager Silverleaf Venture Partners with participation from cannabis-focused investors WGD Capital and Poseidon. Last year, Headset raised $3.2 million as cannabis sales surged during the pandemic. Total funding to date is just under $20 million.

More US agencies potentially hacked, this time with Pulse Secure exploits

Posted: 30 Apr 2021 03:39 PM PDT

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images)

At least five US federal agencies may have experienced cyberattacks that targeted recently discovered security flaws that give hackers free rein over vulnerable networks, the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said on Friday.

The vulnerabilities in Pulse Connect Secure, a VPN that employees use to remotely connect to large networks, include one that hackers had been actively exploiting before it was known to Ivanti, the maker of the product. The flaw, which Ivanti disclosed last week, carries a severity rating of 10 out of a possible 10. The authentication bypass vulnerability allows untrusted users to remotely execute malicious code on Pulse Secure hardware, and from there, to gain control of other parts of the network where it’s installed.

Federal agencies, critical infrastructure, and more

Security firm FireEye said in a report published on the same day as the Ivanti disclosure that hackers linked to China spent months exploiting the critical vulnerability to spy on US defense contractors and financial institutions around the world. Ivanti confirmed in a separate post that the zeroday vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2021-22893, was under active exploit.

Read 9 remaining paragraphs | Comments

A blowout earnings cycle hides strategy shift from cloud vendors

Posted: 30 Apr 2021 03:39 PM PDT

The big 3 cloud vendors have made huge investments over the past few months in data and AI services targeting vertical markets.Read More

Returnal review, Project Dragon for Xbox, and a lot more Star Wars games | GB Decides 194

Posted: 30 Apr 2021 03:39 PM PDT

On GamesBeat Decides this week, we talk about Returnal, Project Dragon, Lucasfilm’s plans for Star Wars, and more.Read More

Research: A market where consumers can pay for privacy is emerging

Posted: 30 Apr 2021 03:39 PM PDT

There is a hidden market for privacy, with consumers eager to pay a premium to protect their personal information online, new research shows.Read More

One scary way that Apple’s new AirTag trackers can be abused

Posted: 30 Apr 2021 03:39 PM PDT

Even before Apple unveiled the AirTag tracker, we learned that the company had built protections into iOS 14.5 to prevent AirTag abuse. iOS will warn iPhone users when it detects an AirTag tracker following them around so that they can disable it and prevent stalkers from keeping track of their location. An AirTag that's been away from the owner for three days will also make a sound when moved so that Android users could discover it as well. Apple also explained that the AirTags were not designed to track children or pets, and the privacy and security features above explain why it's difficult to track people using AirTags.

But a nonprofit dealing with violence against women has identified one situation where the AirTags can be used to track unsuspecting victims without triggering the protection that Apple has in place to prevent stalking.

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The National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) group has addressed tracking technologies like AirTag in an interview with FastCompany, explaining one scenario where Apple's protections might fail.

Apple has a support document where it details how AirTag tracking works and the security and privacy protections built into the Find My tracking service:

AirTag has also been designed to discourage unwanted tracking. To discourage tracking without your knowledge, Find My will notify you if an unknown AirTag is seen moving with you over time. An AirTag that isn't with the person who registered it for an extended period of time will also play a sound when moved so you can find it, even if you don't use an iOS device. If you detect an unknown AirTag, use the steps below to learn about the AirTag and how to disable it.

Apple did not initially explain how quickly the AirTag "moving with you" alert might happen if you're an iPhone user who is being tracked with an AirTag, but the company told the blog that it would occur when you arrive at your home, which is the address you stored in your Apple "Me" card, or at specific locations that your phone learned you frequently visit.

Privacy warning tells an iPhone user that an unknown AirTag is traveling with them. Image source: Apple Inc.

But this won't work for Android users who might be tracked with an AirTag. They'll only be notified that they might have an AirTag tracker on them after three days. NNEDV said that might be a problem for Android users who live with abusive spouses who might use AirTags to track their victims.

"Three days won't work if you're going home every day to the same person tracking you… That's a learning space [that] hopefully Apple will consider and work to build in protections with that threat model," NNEDV technology safety specialist Corbin Streett told the blog. "[Apple] is thinking about the threat model where it's a stalker who is walking by someone on the street they don't know — that stranger danger model — but what about when it is the person you come home to every day?"

Fast Company points out that Apple said in recent interviews that the three-day rule might be lengthened or shortened in the future.

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