Use 2-Step Authentication

Most people just use dumb passwords (see above). Other people try to come up with clever, short passwords that they can easily remember. They replace certain letters with numbers or use mixed case letters (e.g. using “P455w0rd” instead of the more common “password”). Unfortunately, most password breaking algorithms have already incorporated schemes to look for this. Maybe they’ll use information like their birthdays or addresses. That may be a little better, but not much. The key is to use longer passwords because they will be inherently more difficult to break. Think of using passphrases like this: “Lorenzo is my first name” (Lornz0izMi1stNm). Or better yet, don’t include any easily verifiable information: “The Lord of the Rings is my favorite book” (DaLrdOdRngzIzMiFavBuk).

Two-factor authentication (also known as 2FA or 2-Step Verification) is a method of confirming a user's claimed identity by utilizing a combination of two different components. These components may be something that the user knows, something that the user possesses or something that is inseparable from the user. A good example from everyday life is the withdrawing of money from a cash machine. Only the correct combination of a bank card (something that the user possesses) and a PIN (personal identification number, something that the user knows) allows the transaction to be carried out. 2FA is ineffective against modern threats, like ATM skimming, phishing, and malware etc. Two-factor authentication is a type of multi-factor authentication.
Worst Passwords in 2015

1. 123456 2. password 3. 12345678 4. qwerty 5. 12345 6. 123456789 7. football 8. 1234 9. 1234567 10. baseball 11. welcome 12. 1234567890

13. abc123 14. 111111 15. 1qaz2wsx 16. dragon 17. master 18. monkey 19. letmein 20. login 21. princess 22. qwertyuiop 23. solo 24. passw0rd 25. starwars

Brain Controlled Drone Racing

Drone races are nothing new. But the sport has now taken on a life of its own with highly elaborate events and a partnership with ESPN. Similarly, brain-computer interface (BCI) technology isn’t totally new. And while the technology is still young, advances are being made in labs across the country, and some paralyzed patients have already been able to use the technology to control prosthetic limbs. But utilizing this BCI technology to connect your brain to a drone? That is definitely new.

Last week, University of Florida did this for the first time by using BCI software to control a group of DJI Phantom drones. And while the drones didn’t exactly zoom by, 16 pilots used their brainwaves to fly drones down a 10-yard indoor course. So how exactly does this tech work? Pilots don electroencephalogram headsets that are calibrated to each wearer’s brain. For example, neuron activity will be recorded when the wearer is told to think about pushing something forward. This activity is then bound to the forward stick on the drone’s controller, so future similar neuron activity will move the drone forward. Essentially, it’s the same thing as when you bind new keyboard commands when playing a video game for the first time, just using brain waves instead of keyboard keys.



Credits:
http://techcrunch.com/2016/04/25/university-of-florida-held-the-worlds-first-brain-controlled-drone-race/

Safe Camera Drone Follows You

"Follow me" is an up-and-coming feature on consumer drones, and then you've also got those that are foldable for the sake of portability. Very few devices carry both advantages, but Beijing startup Zero Zero Robotics has already gone further with its Hover Camera. As the name suggests, this drone is mainly for aerial photography and videography, but what makes it even cooler is the fact that its propellers are fully enclosed by a strong carbon fiber frame, thus making it the safest drone we've ever played with. As you can see in our hands-on video after the break, you can literally grab it whenever you like without sacrificing any of your fingers to the drone gods.

The Hover Camera comes in at only 238 grams, which is just below the FAA's limit for mandatory hobbyist drone registration. It's small as well: When the propeller wings are folded, it's about the size of a VHS cassette tape. Once you open it up, you'll see all four propellers with brushless motors, all of which are apparently developed in-house. A company rep point out that to enable precise control in such a small device, off-the-shelf components just wouldn't work.



Credits:
http://www.engadget.com/2016/04/26/hover-camera-drone-zero-zero-robotics/

Toyota and Dean Kamen Team for Hi-tech Wheelchair

Toyota Motor Corp. said it will work with Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway human transporter, to develop advanced wheelchairs for disabled people and aging populations worldwide.

The agreement announced Saturday gives the world’s largest automaker a license to use balancing technology that Kamen has installed in prior generations of wheelchairs for medical rehabilitative therapy and other purposes. The agreement will also help Kamen introduce a new version of his iBOT wheelchair, which used two sets of powered wheels to walk up and down stairs and help disabled people stand face-to-face with companions. Kamen stopped selling the iBOT in 2009.

https://youtu.be/MBQvEJJBY-A

Phone Metadata Reveals A Lot of Personal Data

Most people might not give telephone metadata – the numbers you dial, the length of your calls – a second thought. Some government officials probably view it as similarly trivial, which is why this information can be obtained without a warrant. But a new analysis by Stanford computer scientists shows that it is possible to identify a person’s private information – such as health details – from metadata alone. Additionally, following metadata “hops” from one person’s communications can involve thousands of other people.

The computer scientists built a smartphone application that retrieved the previous call and text message metadata – the numbers, times and lengths of communications – from more than 800 volunteers’ smartphone logs. In total, participants provided records of more than 250,000 calls and 1.2 million texts. The researchers then used a combination of inexpensive automated and manual processes to illustrate both the extent of the reach – how many people would be involved in a scan of a single person – and the level of sensitive information that can be gleaned about each user.

Researchers found that a large number of people could get caught up in a single surveillance sweep. When the National Security Agency examines metadata associated with a suspect’s phone, it is allowed to examine a “two-hop” net around the suspect. Suspect A calls person B is one hop; person B calls person C is the second hop. Analysts can then comb the metadata of anyone within two hops of the suspect. By extrapolating participant data, the researchers estimated that the NSA’s current authorities could allow for surveilling roughly 25,000 individuals – and possibly more – starting from just one “seed” phone user.



Credits:
https://news.stanford.edu/2016/05/16/stanford-computer-scientists-show-telephone-metadata-can-reveal-surprisingly-sensitive-personal-information/

Oracle vs Google

Yesterday, Google finished making its argument in the Oracle v. Google trial that its not a copyright infringment to use 37 Java APIs in the Android operating system. Oracle, which acquired Java when it purchased Sun Microsystems, sued Google over the APIs in 2010. In 2012, a judge ruled that APIs can't be copyrighted at all, but an appeals court disagreed. Now Oracle may seek up to $9 billion in damages, while Google is arguing that its use of the 37 APIs constitutes "fair use."

The case is about intellectual property. It began six years ago when Oracle sued Google for using APIs tied to Java (more on this below) without permission. Google won at an initial trial in 2012 when a jury found the company didn’t infringe Oracle’s patents, and a judge concluded the APIs didn’t qualify for copyright protection. But in a ruling that shocked the tech community, an appeals court found in 2014 that Oracle’s APIs were indeed covered by copyright. The ruling also kicked the case back to the lower court to determine whether Google’s use of the APIs counted as a “fair use.” Now, at this second trial, a jury will look at the fair use question.

"Without the APIs that Google took, Java programmers would have found it cumbersome to use the Android platform, isn't that true?" Hurst asked. "In using these API declarations, Android met developer expectations," he said. "If they hadn’t, it would have been cumbersome to use." "You also said Android would not work without the APIs Google copied," Hurst said. "Android wouldn't work if you took one line of code out of it," Astrachan countered. "If you removed the libraries, it would also stop working." Finally, Hurst asked Astrachan to read part of the code of ethics for the Association for Computing Machinery, a professional organization. "Let's look at paragraph 1.5," she said. "Honor property rights, including copyrights and patents," Astrachan intoned. "Even when software is not so protected, such violations are contrary to professional behavior. Copies of software should be made only with proper authorization. Unauthorized duplication of materials must not be condoned." "You ask your classes, how many of them have downloaded music or movies, don't you?" she said. "I do, and it's surprising how many raise their hand," Astrachan said. "But you think the right thing to do is purchase what needs to be purchased, right?" He did. "You tell your students if they’re going to use commercial software they should pay for it, right?" Hurst asked. Yes, he did. Finally, Hurst asked if "everyone was able to ignore restrictions on open source licenses by claiming it was fair use," wouldn't that "erode and prejudice the whole open source system?" "I don't think that's right," said Astrachan. "It's just using a very small amount of code. If I'm just using parts of the software or using it in different ways—the reason we're here is to understand whether a use might be fair."

Credits:
http://fortune.com/2016/05/09/google-oracle-fair-use/

Smart Surfboards

Samsung already makes phones, smartwatches and even a giant connected fridge. What’s next? It may just be this smart surfboard. The South Korean company revealed its Samsung Galaxy Surfboard earlier this month in a video starring 2014 world surfing champion Gabriel Medina. The connected gadget is powered by a Galaxy S7, which you can stow in a special compartment. It also features a big display at the front of the board to show notifications and other relevant data while you surf.

As ridiculous as it sounds there are some useful applications for the Galaxy Surfboard. It lets Medina’s coach send him tips and suggestions via text message while he’s surfing. It can also display updates on the weather, waves and other surf conditions. Samsung doesn’t seem to have any plans to actually sell its smart surfboard, which is probably for the best since most surfers are likely more than happy to leave their smartphones on the beach when they hit the waves.



Credits:
http://www.technobuffalo.com/2016/05/14/samsung-surfboard-connected-video/

Google Pushes for New Women in the Work Place Emojis

Google has designed a new set of emojis depicting professional women to highlight "the diversity of women's careers" and combat sexism. The 13 proposed emojis -- unveiled on Tuesday -- show women in a range of jobs, including health care, science, education, farming and construction. A further 13 corresponding emojis will show men in the same roles.

"Given the fact that women are the most frequent emoji users, and that they span a wide professional spectrum not yet reflected in current emoji, we want to help address this pressing matter of equality," Google said in its proposal. As it stands now, there are over 1,000 standardized emojis used globally that depict everything from ice cream to dragons to police cars. However the current emoji selection feels implicitly sexist, showing men running and policing while women dance and cut their hair.

Picking one horse to win a race is hard enough, but four horses and their exact placements in the grand Kentucky Derby? It's practically impossible. But that's exactly what just happened thanks to a crowdsourced intelligence called Swarm Intelligence. The bet is called the superfecta, and there's a 1 in 540 chance of winning it — bettors have to pick out the horses that'll place first, second, third and fourth in the Derby.

UNU uses a unique form of artificial intelligence called swarm intelligence that aims to amplify rather than replace human intelligence. It works like this: a group of people login to an UNU online forum through their smartphones or computers. At the start of each session, all participants are simultaneously presented with a question and a set of possible answers. Each participant has control of a graphical magnet that they can move around the screen to drag a puck to the answer they think is correct. The puck can only fall on one answer, and the group has 60 seconds to collectively agree on a decision that best suits them all.

Google Commissions 6 Artists to Use Tilt Brush

Google has commissioned six artists to paint and sculpt with light using the company's virtual painting app Tilt Brush. And yes, the big G has captured the whole process, so you can watch the artists work on their masterpieces. The team used Kinect to film the artists at work and tweaked Tilt Brush to be able to show each brush stroke on a browser.

Since the project's a Chrome experiment, you can access all the videos in the series called "Virtual Art Sessions" without a virtual reality headset. You can even drag the videos on your browser to view the in-progress pieces from different angles, including from the artists' POV. The sessions are pretty fascinating to watch to say the least. But if you're more interested in how the Google team pulled it off, check out their detailed explanation on the G Developers' website.

Transit of Mercury

The transit of Mercury across the face of the Sun on Monday 9 May is the first for the planet since 2006 and the first to be visible from Britain since 2003. Our next occurs in 2019, but we must wait until 2049 for a more favourable one than this. One would think that the little innermost planet would cross in front of the Sun every 116 days or so, every time it swings around the near side of its orbit of the Sun. However, that orbit is tilted at 7° to that of the Earth, so Mercury usually sweeps unseen above or below the Sun when it is closest, at its so-called inferior conjunction. The next most inclined orbit is that of Venus at 3.4°.

Transits of Mercury prove of less scientific interest than those of Venus, and this is not just because Venus has a substantial atmosphere which shows up as a bright ring as it traverses the solar limb – Mercury, with the merest trace of an atmosphere, displays no such effect. It is rather that Venus is so close to us during a transit (43 million km in 2012) that its parallax is more noticeable as viewed across the Earth. If its precise position can be measured from different points on the Earth, for example by timing the moments when the transit begins and ends, then calculations can reveal Venus’ true distance and, hence, that of the Sun and the scale of the solar system. In practice, this is easier to say than do. Famously, James Cook’s first voyage was to Tahiti to observe the transit of Venus in 1769.



Credits:
http://www.space.com/32766-transit-of-mercury-complete-coverage.html
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/may/08/starwatch-transit-mercury-9-may

Scientists Grow Carbon Nanotubes

Carbon nanotubes are cylindrical nanostructure of carbon. Nanotubes have been constructed with length-to-diameter ratio of up to 132,000,000:1, significantly larger than for any other material. These cylindrical carbon molecules have unusual properties, which are valuable for nanotechnology, electronics, optics and other fields of materials science and technology. Carbon nanotubes have gotten fanfare for rebooting Moore's Law and possibly powering the next generation of space probes, but that's not all the versatile material can do. How about shocking nanotubes with an electricity gun until they line up into neat little rows? Scientists at Rice University are firing a force field from a tesla coil at piles of carbon nanotubes until they self-assemble in a process called "Teslaphoresis".

The force field oscillates positive and negative charges in each nanotube until they line up. These chains of nanotubes can form a structure and even carry a current. They light up LEDs, which are wirelessly powered by energy absorbed from the tesla coil's force field. "Normally when you talk about building circuits, you have to have physical contact. Now they're talking about building circuits without actually touching them," says Rice University scientist Carter Kattrell in a video. Pointing your lightning beam at carbon nanotubes to do your bidding is cool, but rearranging them has possibilities beyond just lighting up your Christmas tree. Depending on how they're configured, they can make a material that is stronger and lighter than kevlar or make the blackest fabric known to man.

Electric Bike Wheel

Electric bikes have been around for decades but haven't broken out of their niche audience. Instead of building a bicycle around electric power, GeoOrbital is a universal wheel you can swap into your existing bike to power your ride.

GeoOrbital's creators had previously worked at SpaceX and Ford, companies that know a thing or two about renovating traditional transportation. The device replaces the front wheel in bikes with 26-inch or 700c (28-inch/29-inch) size tires; either way, its proprietary foam wheel won't get a flat when punctured. Additionally, its lithium-ion battery boosts your bike up to 20mph for up to 50 miles, has a USB port to charge your devices while you ride, and recharges as you pedal, brake, or coast downhill.

All this powered assistance comes with a tradeoff: added weight. Whereas traditional tires weigh three to six pounds, GeoOrbital is 11 to 17 pounds depending on the model. While the early-bird specials are already sold out, you can still pick up one for $650 on the company's Kickstarter campaign, with units expected to ship in November.


Credits:
http://www.engadget.com/2016/05/02/make-your-bike-electric-with-a-geoorbital-tire/

Robotics World Championships

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/watch-these-robot-alliances-destroy-each-others-forts