Professors at the University of Maryland are looking to dramatically improve basic artificial intelligence as they attempt to teach robots how to think and use their past experience to perform new tasks. Nastassia Jaumen visited the University to find out more.
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Augmented technology, or AR, has been around for a few years. Just ask anyone who ever played the Pokemon Go game on a cell phone. But at a university in London, Augmented Reality is literally taking on a new life. Arash Arabasadi brings this story into the world.
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The desktop personal computer changed the world when it was introduced back in the 1970s. But lately laptops and phones have slowly eaten away at that market. But the creators of a new PC that costs less than a trip to the grocery store are hoping their little PC can change that. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports.
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Lowe’s has selected Charlotte, North Carolina, to house a 2,000-employee global tech hub. The city hopes the project will cement its reputation as a home for technological talent.
Lowe’s and city officials announced Thursday the company would put $153 million toward the project, while the state’s giving a $54 million incentives grant to be paid over 12 years if Lowe’s meets job creation and investment targets.
The Charlotte Observer reports Lowe’s CEO Marvin Ellison says they selected Charlotte for its density of young tech professionals, and its location near Lowe’s headquarters in Mooresville.Lowe says it will begin hiring for about 1,600 new jobs immediately, with average annual pay at more than $115,000.Gov. Roy Cooper’s office says the 23-story tower will open in Charlotte’s South End in 2021.
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«Схеми» знайшли позивачку до SkyUp і виявилось, заяву до Баришівського суду вона не писала
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A second small city in Florida has agreed to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in ransom to cybercriminals who disabled its computer system. Days after ransomware crippled the city of about 12,000 residents, officials of Lake City agreed this week to meet the hackers’ ransom demand: 42 Bitcoin or about $460,000. Last week, River Bench, in Palm Beach County, paid $600,000 in Bitcoin to retrieve its data. In both cases, most of the money will be paid by insurance companies. On Thursday, Key Biscayne, a third Florida city, said it too had been targeted by a cyberattack. But city officials said it had managed to restore most of its computer systems by late Wednesday. Ransomware, a type of malicious software designed to deny access to a computer system or data until a ransom is paid, is becoming an epidemic in the public sector. The cybersecurity firm Recorded Future reported in May that 170 city, county or state government systems have been attacked since 2013.Ransomware attacks are not limited to small cities. Baltimore, a city of more than 600,000, has been fighting a cyber breach since May. The city refused to pay the $80,000 ransom that the hackers demanded. Instead, it has spent $18 million on data recovery. Similarly, the city of Atlanta spent nearly $17 million after it was targeted in March 2018. In November, the FBI indicted two Iranian men in a computer hacking and extortion scheme that targeted cities like Atlanta and Newark, N.J., in addition to the Port of San Diego, the Colorado Department of Transportation and six health care-related organizations. The estimated losses added up to more than $30 million.FILE – A screenshot shows a WannaCry ransomware demand, provided by cybersecurity firm Symantec, in Mountain View, California, May 15, 2017.WannaCry attackOne of the largest ransomware attacks was WannaCry, which encrypted hundreds of thousands of computers in more than 150 countries in a matter of hours. It was the first time that ransomware had spread across the world in what looked like a coordinated cyberattack.The British national health care system was especially hard hit by WannaCry, which caused thousands of hospitals to go offline. The attack also affected government systems, railway networks and private companies.It was eventually traced to a group of hackers working for North Korea who used stolen highly classified hacking tools developed by the U.S. National Security Agency.
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Video games aren’t just for fun — they can also be used to fight disease, new research shows.Scientists combined video games and computer models to show that the spread of a deadly pig disease can be slowed if farmers avoid risky behaviors. The authors say insights from the video games could be used to encourage people to follow rules, in the swine industry and beyond.Since its emergence 40 years ago, porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) has swept through pig farms in Europe, Asia and North America. When PEDV erupted in the U.S. in 2013, it wiped out 7 million pigs. “A thimbleful of this virus could infect every single pig in the United States,” said Scott Merrill, a professor in the Department of Plant and Soil Science at the University of Vermont who was second author on the study.PEDV is especially harmful to young pigs.”More than 90 percent of [infected] piglets would die,” said lead author Gabriela Bucini, a postdoctoral researcher.Merrill added, “We’ve seen and had discussions where people decided that they’re not going to work in the industry anymore because of PEDV, because it was just really hard to see this many animals get sick and die.”While PEDV remains a threat to U.S. pig populations, its incidence has dropped since 2013. The researchers attributed the decline to a change in how farmers and other members of the production pipeline implemented safety protocols, such as disinfecting vehicles, clothing and footwear that could transmit infection between farms.It’s clear that those protocols play an important part in preventing the spread of swine diseases, but until now there hasn’t been a way to measure just how important.Virtual pig farmsBucini and her team used video games to tackle this problem.In one game, players assume the role of pig farmers and try to complete tasks while preventing their pigs from being infected with a contagious virus. As they complete the tasks, players are reminded of the risk of infection and are given the option to obey or ignore safety protocols like disinfecting clothing when entering and exiting buildings. Complying with safety protocols decreases the odds of infection, but uses up valuable time.The games provided insight into how people behave in the real world, which the researchers incorporated into a model of PEDV transmission to track how the disease would spread — and learn how best to contain it. One of the key variables was the number of farmers who avoided risk by following the recommended safety protocols.”We did find that by nudging or shifting the population of producers toward more risk-averse positions, the disease was more under control,” Bucini said.Images from biosecurity video games show two risk scenarios. Players were more likely to comply with biosecurity practices when risk was presented graphically, right, rather than numerically, left. (UVM Social Ecological and Simulation Lab)Even a small change could have a big effect.The model showed that nudging just 10 percent of risk-tolerant farmers away from risky behaviors decreased the number of PEDV cases by 19 percent. However, in order to substantially slow the spread of the disease, more than 40 percent of risk-tolerant farmers needed to change their ways. Steve Dritz, a swine specialist and professor in Kansas State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine who was not involved in the study, expressed hope that the model could be used to prevent the spread of future livestock disease outbreaks.”It’s a wonderful tool for when … you’re trying to figure out, ‘What are the factors that I can control to keep incursions of disease out that I’ve never seen before?'” he said.From pigs to peopleThe implications of the findings extend beyond pig farming to any situation where people need to follow rules to avoid negative consequences. Using their video games, the researchers found that changing how they presented the consequences of rule-breaking influenced the likelihood that people would follow the rules — even if the consequences themselves didn’t change.For example, conveying the risk of infection with a colorful dial rather than with percentages caused a dramatic jump in the number of game players choosing to take the time to disinfect their clothing when entering and exiting farm buildings, from 30 to 82 percent.Merrill explained the significance of this finding using a basic hygiene practice: “If you’re getting 30 percent of the people washing their hands versus 82 percent of the people washing their hands, that can be a huge difference in how quickly and how far any sort of disease spreads.”The research was published in Frontiers in Veterinary Science.
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Twitter will begin labeling tweets by world leaders that violate its rules, but that it says still serve the “public interest,” the company announced in a blog post Thursday. The function will apply only to verified government officials and political candidates with over 100,000 followers.Twitter’s rules ban content that glorifies or encourages violence, promotes terrorism or carries out targeted harassment of other users. In the past, the company kept tweets by world leaders on the platform even when they broke the rules. The new disclaimers, Twitter said, are meant to clarify how decisions are made about keeping offending tweets online.”Our highest priority is to protect the health of the public conversation on Twitter,” the blog post says. “An important part of that is ensuring our rules and how we enforce them are easy to understand.”The decision to remove a tweet will depend on its potential to cause harm, particularly physical, its potential to provide context and unique perspectives to users, and its value in holding the official responsible.”A critical function of our service is providing a place where people can openly and publicly respond to their leaders and hold them accountable,” says the post.A task force with representatives from Twitter’s trust and safety, legal, public policy and regional teams will make decisions regarding rule-breaking tweets by world leaders.If a tweet is marked, Twitter’s algorithms and search functions won’t actively spread the content, ensuring fewer people see it. Users won’t get push notifications and won’t be able to see labeled tweets in safe search, top tweets, live events pages or the explore function.Response to Trump?Some published reports tie the new disclaimers to U.S. President Donald Trump, who has run afoul of Twitter’s rules before. He could find some of his own tweets slapped with a disclaimer. A Twitter spokesperson told Buzzfeed News that the move wasn’t aimed at any particular leader. Though meant to clarify Twitter’s decision-making process, the new policy could leave the company vulnerable to criticism from people with views that violate its rules. Some conservatives, including the president, have lambasted the platform for what they view as censorship of their speech.”They [Twitter] make it very hard for people to join me on Twitter and they make it very much harder for me to get out the message,” Trump told Fox Business on Wednesday. The disclaimers won’t be applied to any content posted to Twitter before Thursday.
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Facebook will seek nominations for a 40-person content oversight board “soon,” according to a blog post by the social media site Thursday.The review board would hear appeals to Facebook’s decisions to remove certain kinds of material from the platform and adjudicate cases independent of both Facebook management and governments, according Brent Harris, Facebook’s director of Governance and Global Affairs. In 2018, Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook should develop a “Supreme Court” for content moderation, where users could appeal decisions to a body unaffiliated with the company.FILE – Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg gestures while speaking during a media event at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, California, March 7, 2013.”You can imagine some sort of structure … that is made up of independent folks who don’t work for Facebook, who ultimately make the final judgment call on what should be acceptable speech in a community that reflects the social norms and values of people all around the world,” Zuckerberg said in an interview with Vox’s Ezra Klein. “I’ve increasingly come to believe that Facebook should not make so many important decisions about free expression and safety on our own,” Zuckerberg wrote in a November post. Facebook discussed the issues with more than 2,000 people from dozens of countries.”First and foremost, people want a board that exercises independent judgment,” wrote Harris. He also said people “want a board that’s as diverse as the many people on Facebook and Instagram.” Increased scrutiny The plans to create an oversight board come as the social media entity and other tech companies receive increased scrutiny and criticism regarding content moderation and bias. Some Republican lawmakers have accused the company of bias in its content moderation systems, while others on the Democratic side have called for antitrust action against the company. In an interview with Fox Business, U.S. President Donald Trump advocated legal action against Facebook and the popular search engine, Google. “Look, we should be suing Google and Facebook and all that, which perhaps we will, OK?” Trump said.
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Швидкісні зарядні станції для електромобілів від Tesla можуть з’явитися в Східній Європі і зокрема в Україні до 2020 року – таку відповідь засновник і глава компанії Ілон Маск оприлюднив у Twitter у відповідь на звернення українських власників електромобілів.
Напередодні 26 червня у соцмережах з’явилося відео з власниками машин компанії Маска в Україні. Ролик завершується текстом: «Ми любимо Tesla. Нам потрібні суперчаджери в Україні».
Судячи з опису на YouTube, відео має на меті привернути увагу Маска до попиту на послуги суперчарджерів в Україні.
«Ок», – лаконічно відповів глава виробника електромобілів на аналогічний допис у Twitter вночі проти 27 червня.
Він також зреагував на слова одного з користувачів, що «було б чудово» вкрити всю Східну Європу зарядними станціями у 2020 році.
«Можливо, й раніше», – припустив Маск.
У грудні 2018 року винахідник та мільярдер вже говорив про наміри вкрити всю Європу «від Ірландії до Києва» швидкісними зарядними станціями для своїх електромобілів, однак не уточнював термінів
Згідно з сайтом Tesla, в Україні планують відкрити два суперчарджери цієї компанії – у Рівненській і Житомирській областях. Проте дата початку їхньої роботи наразі невідома. У грудні 2018 року Tesla офіційно почала приймати замовлення на свої електромобілі з України.
У лютому 2019 року Ілона Маска звинуватили в неповазі до суду. Згідно з угодою з Комісією з цінних паперів і бірж США, він не має права публічно коментувати діяльність компанії Tesla без схвалення з боку юристів. Комісія висунула підприємцю претензії через те, що він публікував у Twitter плани щодо виробництва автомобілів на 2019 рік.
Читайте також: Маск планує запустити глобальний супутниковий інтернет, у Росії планують за нього штрафувати
У вересні 2018 року Спеціальна Комісія з цінних паперів і бірж США подала позов проти Маска через повідомлення у Twitter, в яких він допустив перетворення компанії з публічної в приватну при вартості її акцій в 420 доларів за штуку. Тоді він погодився не робити публічних заяв про фінансову діяльність компанії без попереднього узгодження з керівництвом Tesla.
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A logo of Huawei marks one of the company’s buildings in Dongguan, in China’s Guangdong province, March 6, 2019.
A U.S. jury on Wednesday cleared California semiconductor designer CNEX Labs Inc of stealing trade secrets from Chinese electronics giant Huawei Technologies.Huawei had sued CNEX in U.S. District Court, Sherman, Texas, for misappropriation of trade secrets involving a memory control technology and for poaching its employees.A Huawei spokesman said the company was considering its next steps.
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Bitcoin jumped to an 18-month high on Wednesday, as investors looked for safety in alternative investments amid geopolitical tension, and cheered prospects that Facebook Inc’s Libra token could push cryptocurrencies into the mainstream.The world’s biggest cryptocurrency has surged in value since April and on Wednesday hit a peak of $13,666.02 on the Bitstamp exchange, the highest level since January 2018.So far this year, bitcoin has risen more than 260%, although it remains below its all-time high of nearly $20,000 hit in December 2017.Bitcoin last traded up 14.7% at $13,475.Facebook to offer cryptocurrencyInvestors have flocked back in to digital currencies after a bruising 2018. Bitcoin has risen for eight consecutive days. And now Facebook has said it would offer its own cryptocurrency, the Libra coin, by end of June 2020.Analysts say Facebook’s announcement this month has revived interest in digital currencies, while investors seeking safety have also pushed up bitcoin’s price.”Cryptocurrency traders were reinvigorated by Facebook’s launch of their own digital coin and momentum appears to be stirring up fresh new investors,” said Edward Moya, senior market analyst, at online FX broker OANDA in New York.”Bitcoin skeptics are cautious in trying to stop this surge and may look for the next key resistance level which is $15,000,” he added.Way to diversifyWith major central banks keeping interest rates near all-time lows, investors have been looking for ways to diversify their portfolios, including through cryptocurrenies, analysts said.Bitcoin CME futures volumes have also increased in the past few days, as investors look for ways to get their hands on the coin via the derivatives market.Traders, who have access to both spot and futures markets have been buying the spot and selling the futures, arbitraging the two prices, said Michael Moro, chief executive officer at Genesis Global Trading, which provides over-the-counter digital currency trading for institutional investors.Increase of 150% since early MayThe cryptocurrency has rocketed 150% since early May, along with big rises in other smaller digital currencies such as Ethereum’s ether and Ripple’s XRP.”It should be noted that this a very different market today than it was in 2017,” said Moro.”2017 saw an overwhelming number of ICOs (initial coin offerings), which was very distracting. 2019 has less distractions. It’s also a different space because the CME bitcoin futures product wasn’t available until December 2017.”ICOs refer to a fundraising scheme that bypasses banks and venture capital firms and involves startups creating their own tokens and selling them to the public.
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