After more than a decade away, Sony’s Aibo pet robot is making a return. The original dog-like robot launched in 1999, while Sony says its followup is “capable of forming an emotional bond with members of the household while providing them with love,…
Source: Engadget – Sony’s new Aibo pet robot goes on sale tonight in Japan
Once-struggling tech giant Sony has had a very good 2017, buoyed in large part by the continued success of the Playstation 4, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday. In its most recent quarterly filings, the company reported profits were up approximately 346 percent relative to the same period last year.
Source: Gizmodo – Sony’s Pivot to the PlayStation 4 Appears to Have Paid Off Big Time
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Quartz: Shelley is an AI program that generates the beginnings of horror stories, and it’s trained by original horror fiction posted to Reddit. Designed by researchers from MIT Media Lab, Shelley launched on Twitter on Oct. 21. Shelley, named after Frankenstein author Mary Shelley, is interactive. After the program tweets a few opening lines, it asks people on Twitter to continue the story, and if the story is popular, it responds to those responses. Using information from 140,000 stories from Reddit’s r/nosleep, Shelley produces story beginnings that range in creepiness, and in quality. There’s some classic “scary stuff,” like a narrator who thinks she’s alone and then sees eyes in the dark, but also premises one can only imagine are Reddit-user-inspired, like family porn.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – MIT Researchers Trained AI To Write Horror Stories Based On 140,000 Reddit Posts
Microsoft is continuing its quest to make Mixer as good a livestreaming experience on your phone as it is on your PC back home. It just launched a beta mobile app whose cornerstone is a redesigned Trending section that focuses on finding new game br…
Source: Engadget – Microsoft’s redesigned Mixer mobile app helps you find new streams
Today, Arm is announcing their Mali-D71 display processor and two closely-related IP blocks, CoreLink MMU-600 and Assertive Display 5, angling for 4K VR and HDR implementations on mobile displays. Previewed earlier in May under the codename Mali-Cetus, the D71 introduces the new Komeda display architecture, and combined with the new memory management unit (MMU) offers up to 4K120fps real-time performance. Meanwhile, Assertive Display 5 brings HDR capabilities and improved color and gamut management, adding onto the sunlight compensation and power-saver featureset of previous Assertive Display technologies.
All three blocks were developed together, and in turn they possess mutual optimizations in order to achieve VR-capable performance and HDR functionality. The D71 and MMU-600 are tightly coupled to target high resolution and frame rates, while Assertive Display 5 enables HDR capabilities and adaptation to panel variety. Whether alone or together, premium smartphones and tablets are the most straightforward application, but previous display processors and IP blocks have been used for VR headsets and TVs/STBs.
As mentioned in the Mali-Cetus overview, the D71 represents a clean architectural break from the Mali-DP650 and older display processors, which were more targeted for efficient sub-4K performance. In terms of generational uplift, Arm cites double the area efficiency and four times the latency tolerance, with a new side-by-side mode able double DP-650’s pixel throughput. The new fixed function hardware, covered in May, offloads work from the GPU and in turn saves power. Of those units, the new composition unit can handle and scale more display layers, functionality that works well in supporting multi-window on Android. For that purpose, the D71 has been optimized for the Android Hardware Composer HAL (HWC) and more for Android multi-window.
Where the Mali-Cetus was described more in terms of 4K90, Arm commented that due to the improvements of the specialized D71-specific MMU-600, particularly the latency reduction, they were able to “guarantee” 4K120 for the D71 + MMU-600. Area-wise, that combination is 55% smaller than a DP650 + MMU-500. The MMU-600 also includes TrustZone Media Protection (TZMP).
Assertive Display 5 represents the latest iteration of Assertive Display, and the first to be under the Arm umbrella since the acquisition of Apical, the original developers. Previously, Assertive Display revolved around a combination of tone-mapping, pixel processing, and adaptive screen brightness to save power or compensate for outdoor lighting, typically sunlight. These capabilities are extended into the HDR content that Assertive Display 5 supports.
Assertive Display 5 brings HDR10 and Hybrid Log-Gamma (HLG) support, as well as HDR-to-SDR and HDR-to-HDR capabilities. Powered by an iridix8-HDR local tone-mapping engine, Assertive Display 5 can map content for the particular specifications of a display. Assertive Display also includes improved color and gamut management, particularly complementing HDR content.
Additionally, Assertive Display 5 has blue light filtering. With all these features, Arm is aiming at keeping uniform color and lighting quality across HDR and SDR panels, and ideally compounding the advantages of HDR.
The D71, MMU-600, and Assertive Display 5 are available now to partners, with the technology expected to appear in devices around early 2019.
Source: AnandTech – Arm Announces New Mali-D71 Display Processor and IP Blocks
Many stores will encourage you to order online if they’ve run out of stock, but they usually want you to do it yourself. Do you really want to pull out your phone and wade through a website while you’re in the store, or hope you’ll remember to order…
Source: Engadget – Target stores can order your items online if they’re out of stock
With the cryptocurrency market cap now estimated to be in the hundreds of billions of dollars and a sort of familiar frenzy kicking into overdrive, here’s another reminder that widespread adoption by the U.S. public has not yet materialized.
Source: Gizmodo – Survey: Most Americans Remain Blissfully Unaware of the Blockchain Revolution
Citing two reports from Reuters and Bloomberg, Jalopnik reports on the scarcity of metals necessary for electric cars. From the report: [W]hile demand for nickel keeps increasing, half the world’s nickel supply is too low in quality to use for car batteries. All of which is going to have seismic effect on the world’s suppliers. In short: There will be winners and losers, and the winners will be the ones with the highest-grade stuff — not unlike, I suppose, the illicit drugs market. “Some of the biggest producers of the higher-grade ores, including BHP Norilsk Nickel, Vale and Sumitomo Corp, are moving quickly to take advantage and seal long-term supply deals with battery producers,” reports Reuters. “Among those losing out would be lower-grade nickel mines like Cerro Matoso in Columbia, owned by South32 Ltd and Glencore’s Koniambo in New Caledonia, as well as Anglo American’s mines in Brazil producing ferronickel.”
What of cobalt? Bloomberg sent a writer and photographer to Cobalt, Ontario, about 300 miles north of Toronto, to find out. The town, which began life as a silver town, also is believed to have some cobalt, though no one’s really found much yet. The search for a new source of cobalt isn’t taking place in just Cobalt, Ontario, of course, as mining companies worldwide try to capitalize on the our electric car future. But the search is ramping up as the world’s biggest source of cobalt — the Democratic Republic of Congo, where about half of all cobalt comes from — is increasingly unstable, making car manufacturers nervous and cobalt all the more valuable.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – We May Not Have Enough Minerals To Even Meet Electric Car Demand
If you frequent pop culture websites like ours, you see a lot of pop culture art. And at some point, it may all blend together. But one artist does something that’s so different, so out of the box, once you see it, you never forget it. That artist is Andrew DeGraff.
Source: Gizmodo – You Won’t Believe the Insane Detail In These Incredible Movie Maps
According to USA Today, Colorado’s transportation department is looking at the possibility of a Rocky Mountain hyperloop to curb traffic woes. You could travel from Fort Collins to Colorado Springs, a distance of about 125 miles with Denver in the middle, in less than 20 minutes. From the report: After partnering with Virgin Hyperloop One, one of the companies racing to develop the super-speed technology that essentially would transport vehicles and people pods on electric skates in a big pneumatic tube, Colorado Department of Transportation officials plan to spend the next nine months crunching the numbers to determine what it might take to bring this type of transit to Colorado. Above-ground routes are cheaper to build. But Musk’s Boring Co., another company testing the technology, has been focusing on hyperloop transportation in tunnels. The proposed Rocky Mountain hyperloop would be centered at Denver International Airport and stretch about 100 miles north to Cheyenne, Wyo.; about 125 miles south to Pueblo, Colo.; and about 100 miles west to Vail, Colo. It carries a hefty $24 billion price tag. State transportation officials estimated it would need an initial investment of $3 billion just to get the first 40 miles from the airport north to Greeley, Colo., completed. Why a hyperloop? State officials estimate Colorado’s population will grow by nearly 50% in the next 20 years.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Colorado Taking Steps To Get Its Own Hyperloop
The attorneys general of New York and Vermont both announced today that their joint investigation into two Hilton data breaches has resulted in a $700,000 penalty and a promise to strengthen security. In February of 2015, Hilton was made aware of a c…
Source: Engadget – Hilton data breaches lead to 0,000 penalty
Enlarge / This shot is from Star Wars: Battlefront II’s single-player mode. It’s not yet clear whether or how much loot boxes will figure into this mode, so let’s focus on what we DO know thanks to Tuesday’s announcement. (credit: EA/DICE)
Ahead of Star Wars: Battlefront II‘s launch in a few weeks, its publisher EA posted an announcement on Tuesday. “We’ve listened to your feedback,” the post begins, and the rest of the update about this online multiplayer game focuses on one issue revealed during the game’s October beta test: loot boxes.
“The beta gave us a welcome chance to test all of our systems in action and tune things up for better balance,” the post states. “A few weeks back, we mentioned we were going to take another look at how the progression system works.”
The resulting changes and tweaks, on their face, look like a positive step away from the most poisonous aspects of loot boxes, particularly in paid retail games. But what do the changes really mean for the game, and has EA undone enough loot-box damage with this announcement?
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Source: Ars Technica – Star Wars: Battlefront II changes its loot box plans… but is it enough?
Most people would agree that John Carpenter’s Halloween is a legitimate masterpiece. Long before anyone was scared of Elm Street or Crystal Lake, the film basically invented the slasher genre. And while it’s easy to say how great it is, it’s harder to watch the film and point out exactly why that is.
Source: Gizmodo – Breaking Down the Subtle Genius of John Carpenter’s Halloween
James Arness as Marshal Matt Dillon, left, and Dennis Weaver as Chester Goode in the Gunsmoke episode “Dooley Surrenders,” which aired in 1958. CBS has filed a lawsuit over images from this episode which were shared on social media. (credit: Photo by CBS via Getty Images)
CBS has sued a photographer for copyright infringement for doing something that’s practically ubiquitous in the news and entertainment business—publishing still images from a television show.
The lawsuit against New York photojournalist Jon Tannen, filed on Friday, is essentially a retaliatory strike. Tannen sued CBS Interactive in February, claiming that the online division of CBS had used two of his photographs without permission. Now, CBS has sued Tannen back, claiming that he “hypocritically” used CBS intellectual property “while simultaneously bringing suit against Plaintiff’s sister company, CBS Interactive Inc., claiming it had violated his own copyright.”
“Without any license or authorization from Plaintiff, Defendant has copied and published via social media platforms images copied from the ‘Dooley Surrenders’ episode of GUNSMOKE,” write CBS lawyers.
Read 14 remaining paragraphs | Comments
Source: Ars Technica – CBS sues man for copyright over screenshots of 59-year-old TV show
DSLReports that Verizon sent a letter and white paper last week to the FCC, insisting that “the FCC has ample authority to pre-empt state efforts to protect consumer privacy, and should act to prevent states from doing so.” Verizon’s letter reads in part: “Allowing every State and locality to chart its own course for regulating broadband is a recipe for disaster. It would impose localized and likely inconsistent burdens on an inherently interstate service, would drive up costs, and would frustrate federal efforts to encourage investment and deployment by restoring the free market that long characterized Internet access service.” From the report: But there’s several things Verizon is ignoring here. One being that the only reason states are trying to pass privacy laws is because Verizon lobbyists convinced former Verizon lawyer and FCC boss Ajit Pai that it was a good idea to kill the FCC’s relatively modest rules. It’s also worth noting that ISPs like Verizon (and the lawmakers paid to love them) have cried about protecting “states rights” when states try to pass protectionist laws hamstringing competitors, but in this case appears eager to trample those same state rights should states actually try and protect consumers. Verizon makes it abundantly clear it’s also worried that when the FCC votes to kill net neutrality rules later this year, states will similarly try to pass their own rules protecting consumers, something Verizon clearly doesn’t want. “States and localities have given strong indications that they are prepared to take a similar approach to net neutrality laws if they are dissatisfied with the result of the Restoring Internet Freedom proceeding,” complains Verizon, again ignoring that its lawsuits are the reason that’s happening.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Verizon Wants To Ban States From Protecting Your Privacy
You can already use Signal for secure chats on the desktop, but you’ve had to use a Chrome web app to participate in those encrypted conversations. What if you don’t like Chrome, or would just prefer something more elegant than a browser? Signal is…
Source: Engadget – Signal’s secure messaging is now available in a desktop app
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: On Monday, AMD’s stock price plunged nearly 9 percent after a report by Morgan Stanley, a major investment bank, which found that “microprocessor momentum” has slowed. According to CNBC, a new report by analyst Joseph Moore found that “cryptocurrency mining driven sales for AMD’s graphics chips will decline by 50 percent next year or a $250 million decline in revenue. He also forecasts video game console demand will decline by 5.5 percent in 2018.” As per AMD’s own SEC filings, the company lost over $2.8 billion from 2012 through 2016. However, new releases from AMD suggest that it may be on something of a resurgent track. As Ars reported last month, AMD’s Ryzen and Threadripper processors re-established AMD’s chips as competitive with Intel’s.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – AMD, Which Lost Over .8 Billion In 5 Years, Takes a Hit After New Report
Source: Engadget – Android ‘Fast Pair’ will quickly connect Bluetooth devices
This is a video of a man in Victoria, Australia demonstrating his mastery of the Australian stockwhip by whipping a progressively smaller piece of paper in half over and over, while the two boys holding it get more and more nervous. If Indiana Jones were this good with a whip he probably wouldn’t have that scar on his chin. Also, at first I was a little shocked that any parents in the audience would actually let their children participate in the demonstration, then I remembered this is Australia and these boys probably wrangle and ride giant venomous spiders to school every morning.
Keep going for the video.
Source: Geekologie – Man Demonstrates His Whip Precision By Repeatedly Whipping A Smaller And Smaller Piece Of Paper In Half Held By Two Kids
New submitter bumblebaetuna shares a report from Motherboard: It’s already well known that iOS 11 included some advanced updates to the phone’s artificial intelligence, and this includes improving the photo app’s ability to identify and categorize what is in each of your photos. There are thousands of objects the phone can identify, ranging from “abacus” to “zucchini.” Weirdly, despite not having categories for, say, “nude,” or “underwear,” there are multiple categories for bra: brassiere, bandeau, bandeaus, bra, bras, and brassieres. Searching for this folder in your photos app may reveal an unexpected surprise. Though there are some pretty archaic terms like “homburg,” “habiliment,” and “danseuse,” the “bra” category is unusual compared to the other quotidian labels the app slaps on your photos, and is as risque as the terms get.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Apple Uses Machine Learning To Chronicle All the Bra Pics On Your iPhone
