Scientists Investigate Strange Signal From Space

A signal detected by a Russian telescope is giving hope to NorCal astronomers searching for extraterrestrial life that ET could be phoning home. Reports of the signal, which was received on May 15th, 2015 by the telescope in Zelenchukskaya, in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic of Russia, were first reported on Centauri Dreams, which reports on space-related news. This report was not released to the public until last weekend when a reporter discovered the report in a blog post in an astronomy journal.

The signal was coming from the constellation Hercules and scientists in Mountain View at the SETI Institute (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) have pointed their telescopes in that direction. Their giant antennae are situated about 300 miles northeast of San Francisco. The SETI team is investigating whether that mysterious and powerful signal from a star system could be intentional. While the researchers in Russia claim they came across it last year, Bay Area scientists didn’t start talking about it this weekend when it became public in a blog. The blip could also very just well be interference from Earth. But either way, we will know in the not so far future.



Credits:
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2016/08/29/e-t-phoning-home-seti-institute-scientists-point-telescopes-toward-possible-signal-from-space/

Switzerland Begins Using Robots to Deliver Mail

Swiss Post, the national postal service in Switzerland, will test robots next month in three cities to deliver food and medicine. The robots, which are small, six-wheeled pods, travel slowly on sidewalks. They're designed to avoid obstacles, including pedestrians, animals and cars. The robots, which come from Starship Technologies, are already being tested in Britain and Germany. They will also be tested in Washington, D.C. this fall. But don't expect deliverymen across Switzerland to disappear anytime soon. "We don't believe in substituting the human being part," said Claudia Pletscher, the head of development programs and innovation at Swiss Post. Pletscher added that the ground robots will be delivering dummy packages for now -- not your prescriptions just yet.

Swiss Post is curious to see how pedestrians and customers react to the robots traveling on sidewalks and making deliveries. After a few months of testing, Swiss Post will decide if it wants to use the robots regularly. Swiss Post will initially test five of the robots. They won't travel farther than three or four miles on trips.



Credits
http://money.cnn.com/2016/08/24/technology/switzerland-swiss-post-ground-robot/index.html

iPhone Hack Prompts Apple to issue an Emergency Update

The spyware firm, the NSO Group, tied to an iPhone hack that prompted an emergency patch this week by Apple keeps a very low profile. But NSO has strong ties here as well as in Israel, where it's staffed by specialists from Israel's military cyber division. One of the owners of NSO is a company based in San Francisco. NSO keeps a very low profile; it doesn't have a web page. But it describes itself as "a leader in the field of Cyber warfare," according to an apparent company brochure posted online by Privacy International. The tech company's focus on cyber warfare reflects the growing boom in cybersecurity firms that operate in a nebulous area: creating software and processes that break into encrypted devices for government entities.

The company uses "a powerful and unique monitoring tool, called Pegasus, which allows remote and stealth monitoring and full data extraction from remote target devices via untraceable commands," says the brochure. While these hacks can be legal under the laws of the country buying the product, they raise severe privacy worries from consumer groups. They also highlight concerns that increasingly rigorous encryption from Apple and other consumer tech companies is vulnerable to attacks funded by deep-pocked entities.

Credits: 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2016/08/26/shadowy-israeli-firm-behind-apple-hack-tool/89408936/

FBI to Release 14,900 of Clinton's E-mails

The FBI’s year-long investigation of Hillary Clinton’s private email server uncovered 14,900 emails and documents from her time as secretary of state that had not been disclosed by her attorneys, and a federal judge on Monday pressed the State Department to begin releasing emails sooner than mid-October as it planned. Justice Department lawyers said last week that the State Department would review and turn over Clinton’s work-related emails to a conservative legal group.


“State has not yet had the opportunity to complete a review of the documents to determine whether they are agency records or if they are duplicative of documents State has already produced through the Freedom of Information Act,” Toner said. “We cannot comment further as this matter is in ongoing litigation.” Clinton campaign spokesman Brian Fallon said, “As we have always said, Hillary Clinton provided the State Department with all the work-related emails she had in her possession in 2014. We are not sure what additional materials the Justice Department may have located, but if the State Department determines any of them to be work-related, then obviously we support those documents being released publicly as well.”

Credits:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/

What Facebook Knows and How it Knows It11

Facebook knows more about your personal life than you probably realize. As part of the company’s increasingly aggressive advertising operation, Facebook goes to great lengths to track you across the web. The company compiles a list of personal details about every user that includes major life events and general interests. For years, details have been murky about how exactly the social network targets ads—but the company has finally given us a glimpse into how the secret sauce is made.

There are plenty of obvious characteristics that Facebook knows about its users, such as whether they’re getting married, just returned from vacation, or are about to have a baby. Most of that personal data is collected when people voluntarily post to Facebook or update their profiles. But then there’s creepier stuff that definitely isn’t submitted voluntarily, such as the number of credit lines you have, whether you’re an investor, what you invest in, whether you carry a balance on your credit card, whether you use coupons, and whether you’re likely to move.



If you’re curious about all the data points Facebook is using to target ads to you, here’s the full list:

1. Location
2. Age
3. Generation
4. Gender
5. Language
6. Education level
7. Field of study
8. School
9. Ethnic affinity
10. Income and net worth
11. Home ownership and type
12. Home value
13. Property size
14. Square footage of home
15. Year home was built
16. Household composition
17. Users who have an anniversary within 30 days
18. Users who are away from family or hometown
19. Users who are friends with someone who has an anniversary, is newly married or engaged, recently moved, or has an upcoming birthday
20. Users in long-distance relationships
21. Users in new relationships
22. Users who have new jobs
23. Users who are newly engaged
24. Users who are newly married
25. Users who have recently moved
26. Users who have birthdays soon
27. Parents
28. Expectant parents
29. Mothers, divided by “type” (soccer, trendy, etc.)
30. Users who are likely to engage in politics
31. Conservatives and liberals
32. Relationship status
33. Employer
34. Industry
35. Job title
36. Office type
37. Interests
38. Users who own motorcycles
39. Users who plan to buy a car (and what kind/brand of car, and how soon)
40. Users who bought auto parts or accessories recently
41. Users who are likely to need auto parts or services
42. Style and brand of car you drive
43. Year car was bought
44. Age of car
45. How much money user is likely to spend on next car
46. Where user is likely to buy next car
47. How many employees your company has
48. Users who own small businesses
49. Users who work in management or are executives
50. Users who have donated to charity (divided by type)
51. Operating system
52. Users who play canvas games
53. Users who own a gaming console
54. Users who have created a Facebook event
55. Users who have used Facebook Payments
56. Users who have spent more than average on Facebook Payments
57. Users who administer a Facebook page
58. Users who have recently uploaded photos to Facebook
59. Internet browser
60. Email service
61. Early/late adopters of technology
62. Expats (divided by what country they are from originally)
63. Users who belong to a credit union, national bank or regional bank
64. Users who investor (divided by investment type)
65. Number of credit lines
66. Users who are active credit card users
67. Credit card type
68. Users who have a debit card
69. Users who carry a balance on their credit card
70. Users who listen to the radio
71. Preference in TV shows
72. Users who use a mobile device (divided by what brand they use)
73. Internet connection type
74. Users who recently acquired a smartphone or tablet
75. Users who access the Internet through a smartphone or tablet
76. Users who use coupons
77. Types of clothing user’s household buys
78. Time of year user’s household shops most
79. Users who are “heavy” buyers of beer, wine or spirits
80. Users who buy groceries (and what kinds)
81. Users who buy beauty products
82. Users who buy allergy medications, cough/cold medications, pain relief products, and over-the-counter meds
83. Users who spend money on household products
84. Users who spend money on products for kids or pets, and what kinds of pets
85. Users whose household makes more purchases than is average
86. Users who tend to shop online (or off)
87. Types of restaurants user eats at
88. Kinds of stores user shops at
89. Users who are “receptive” to offers from companies offering online auto insurance, higher education or mortgages, and prepaid debit cards/satellite TV
90. Length of time user has lived in house
91. Users who are likely to move soon
92. Users who are interested in the Olympics, fall football, cricket or Ramadan
93. Users who travel frequently, for work or pleasure
94. Users who commute to work
95. Types of vacations user tends to go on
96. Users who recently returned from a trip
97. Users who recently used a travel app
98. Users who participate in a timeshare

Credits: 
http://cw33.com/2016/07/20/find-out-what-facebook-knows-about-you/

What Facebook Knows and How it Knows It

Facebook knows more about your personal life than you probably realize. As part of the company’s increasingly aggressive advertising operation, Facebook goes to great lengths to track you across the web. The company compiles a list of personal details about every user that includes major life events and general interests. For years, details have been murky about how exactly the social network targets ads—but the company has finally given us a glimpse into how the secret sauce is made.

There are plenty of obvious characteristics that Facebook knows about its users, such as whether they’re getting married, just returned from vacation, or are about to have a baby. Most of that personal data is collected when people voluntarily post to Facebook or update their profiles. But then there’s creepier stuff that definitely isn’t submitted voluntarily, such as the number of credit lines you have, whether you’re an investor, what you invest in, whether you carry a balance on your credit card, whether you use coupons, and whether you’re likely to move.



If you’re curious about all the data points Facebook is using to target ads to you, here’s the full list:

1. Location
2. Age
3. Generation
4. Gender
5. Language
6. Education level
7. Field of study
8. School
9. Ethnic affinity
10. Income and net worth
11. Home ownership and type
12. Home value
13. Property size
14. Square footage of home
15. Year home was built
16. Household composition
17. Users who have an anniversary within 30 days
18. Users who are away from family or hometown
19. Users who are friends with someone who has an anniversary, is newly married or engaged, recently moved, or has an upcoming birthday
20. Users in long-distance relationships
21. Users in new relationships
22. Users who have new jobs
23. Users who are newly engaged
24. Users who are newly married
25. Users who have recently moved
26. Users who have birthdays soon
27. Parents
28. Expectant parents
29. Mothers, divided by “type” (soccer, trendy, etc.)
30. Users who are likely to engage in politics
31. Conservatives and liberals
32. Relationship status
33. Employer
34. Industry
35. Job title
36. Office type
37. Interests
38. Users who own motorcycles
39. Users who plan to buy a car (and what kind/brand of car, and how soon)
40. Users who bought auto parts or accessories recently
41. Users who are likely to need auto parts or services
42. Style and brand of car you drive
43. Year car was bought
44. Age of car
45. How much money user is likely to spend on next car
46. Where user is likely to buy next car
47. How many employees your company has
48. Users who own small businesses
49. Users who work in management or are executives
50. Users who have donated to charity (divided by type)
51. Operating system
52. Users who play canvas games
53. Users who own a gaming console
54. Users who have created a Facebook event
55. Users who have used Facebook Payments
56. Users who have spent more than average on Facebook Payments
57. Users who administer a Facebook page
58. Users who have recently uploaded photos to Facebook
59. Internet browser
60. Email service
61. Early/late adopters of technology
62. Expats (divided by what country they are from originally)
63. Users who belong to a credit union, national bank or regional bank
64. Users who investor (divided by investment type)
65. Number of credit lines
66. Users who are active credit card users
67. Credit card type
68. Users who have a debit card
69. Users who carry a balance on their credit card
70. Users who listen to the radio
71. Preference in TV shows
72. Users who use a mobile device (divided by what brand they use)
73. Internet connection type
74. Users who recently acquired a smartphone or tablet
75. Users who access the Internet through a smartphone or tablet
76. Users who use coupons
77. Types of clothing user’s household buys
78. Time of year user’s household shops most
79. Users who are “heavy” buyers of beer, wine or spirits
80. Users who buy groceries (and what kinds)
81. Users who buy beauty products
82. Users who buy allergy medications, cough/cold medications, pain relief products, and over-the-counter meds
83. Users who spend money on household products
84. Users who spend money on products for kids or pets, and what kinds of pets
85. Users whose household makes more purchases than is average
86. Users who tend to shop online (or off)
87. Types of restaurants user eats at
88. Kinds of stores user shops at
89. Users who are “receptive” to offers from companies offering online auto insurance, higher education or mortgages, and prepaid debit cards/satellite TV
90. Length of time user has lived in house
91. Users who are likely to move soon
92. Users who are interested in the Olympics, fall football, cricket or Ramadan
93. Users who travel frequently, for work or pleasure
94. Users who commute to work
95. Types of vacations user tends to go on
96. Users who recently returned from a trip
97. Users who recently used a travel app
98. Users who participate in a timeshare

Credits: 
http://cw33.com/2016/07/20/find-out-what-facebook-knows-about-you/

Why Self Driving Cars are Good

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/videos/top-5-infuriating-things-that-self-driving-cars-can-fix/

Is This Something -- Smart Bulbs

The BeOn light bulb features a yellow module that pops right into the center of the bulb; that module includes a battery backup that'll let the lights shine without power, a microphone that listens for your doorbell or burglar alarm, and a Bluetooth radio that lets you sync things up with your smartphone. BeOn's bulbs learn your usage patterns, too. Tell the system you're away for the evening, and the bulbs will automatically "replay" your typical lighting changes to make it look like you're home -- no programming needed.

The problem is that, unlike a lot of those more traditional alternatives, BeOn's bulbs are really expensive -- $75 each, or $200 for a three-bulb starter kit (that comes out to roughly £50/AU$105 per bulb, or about £130/AU$285 for the kit. BeOn Bulbs aren't available outside of the US yet, but the company hopes to expand internationally in 2016). Your automation options are also surprisingly limited -- you can integrate them with your doorbell or your alarm system, but you can't program a timed schedule of your own, or integrate them with a larger smart home platform. I like these bulbs a lot, but unless that battery-powered, module-centric approach is what's most important to you, I'm not sure that they're worth the high cost of buying in.

Credits:
http://www.cnet.com/products/beon-starter-pack/

Squirrel Steals GoPro

http://digg.com/video/squirrel-takes-gopro

New Worm Robot Uses Wave Motion to Move

SAW (single actuator wave-like robot) is the first robot that produces a pure wave-like motion with a single motor. The robot was developed for medical, industrial and search and rescue purposes. The design is simple, 3D printed and the passive wheels are for steering only. In the movie we show that the robot can crawl over different surfaces, climb and swim. It reached a maximum speed of 57 cm/s which is 5 times faster than any other similar robot. The robot's design is simply and highly reliable very little maintenance was needed.

The robot's motion is similar to the "do the worm" dance. The robot was developed at the Bioinspired and medical Robotics lab at BGU by David Zarrouk, Moshe Mann, Nir Dgani, Ilanit Waxman, Tal Yehuda, Nissan Jerbi and Amotz Hess. This work is based on research published at Bioinspiration & Biomimetics 2016.



Credits:
http://gizmodo.com/this-crawling-climbing-worm-bot-is-a-never-ending-nigh-1784306984?utm_campaign=socialflow_gizmodo_twitter&utm_source=gizmodo_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

Apollo 11 Command Module / Lunar Lander Code Released

When programmers at the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory set out to develop the flight software for the Apollo 11 space program in the mid-1960s, the necessary technology did not exist. They had to invent it. They came up with a new way to store computer programs, called “rope memory,” and created a special version of the assembly programming language. Assembly itself is obscure to many of today’s programmers—it’s very difficult to read, intended to be easily understood by computers, not humans. For the Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC), MIT programmers wrote thousands of lines of that esoteric code.

Command Module Geometry.
The whole source code.  

Margaret Hamilton was a computer scientist and systems engineer at MIT. She was Director of the Software Engineering Division of the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory, which developed on-board flight software for the Apollo space program. Hamilton's team was responsible for implementing the Apollo on-board guidance software required to navigate and land on the Moon, and its multiple variations used on numerous missions (including the subsequent Skylab). She worked to gain hands-on experience during a time when computer science courses were uncommon and software engineering courses did not exist.

Within the code there are many funny references. The main engine ignition routine, for example is called "Burn_Baby_Burn_Master_Ignition". Another routine is called, "PINBALL_GAME_
BUTTONS_AND_LIGHTS.s" which controls the dashboard lights in the command module. In another file called, "LUNAR_LANDING_GUIDANCE_EQUATIONS.s", there is code that appears to instruct an astronaut to “crank the silly thing around.”

Credits: 

http://qz.com/726338/the-code-that-took-america-to-the-moon-was-just-published-to-github-and-its-like-a-1960s-time-capsule/

We're Going to the Moon!

Space exploration fans, we’ve got some exciting news. A US company has just become the first private entity to be given permission to land on the Moon, something they hope to achieve next year. The company is called Moon Express, and they’re planning to send a small unmanned lander called MX-1E to the Moon in late 2017. They already have a launch contract to do this with a company called Rocket Lab, but getting approval for the landing was a major hurdle.

Moon Express is attempting to land on the Moon as part of the Google Lunar XPRIZE, a race between 16 private companies to land an unmanned rover on the Moon and have it travel across the surface. Only one of the other teams, Israeli-based SpaceIL, also has a launch contract at the moment. The remaining 14 teams have until December 31 this year to come up with a launch contract to be eligible to take part. Moon Express hopes to do this by “hopping” across the surface, although further details are few and far between at the moment. This is the same method favored by SpaceIL, who are also hoping to launch next year, on a SpaceX rocket.



Credits:
http://www.iflscience.com/space/private-company-given-permission-land-on-moon-first-time/

Computer Science

The one’s and zero’s are all around us. Computer science and code have completely changed the world and how we interact with it. Just for a quick rundown, source code is at the core of how computers operate. Code is essentially a set of human written instructions that govern how computers of all types operate.

In fact, one could make a pretty strong case that the dawn on computing truly began in 1703 when Gottfried Leibniz formalized the binary code system. It was at this time that Leibniz, who is considered the first computer scientist, laid the groundwork for the field of computer science and digital security.

Info graphic

Credits:
http://edge.alluremedia.com.au/m/l/2016/07/evolution_of_computer_science_IG.jpg

http://www.cmswire.com/information-management/how-computer-science-has-revolutionized-tech/