Archive for the 'Rise of the Machines' Category
Robots to Make Robots at ABB’s New $150 Million Factory in China
October 27th, 2018Via: Reuters: Robots will make robots at a new ABB factory in China, which the Swiss engineering group said on Saturday it plans to build for $150 million in Shanghai as it defends its place as the country’s largest maker of industrial robots. The factory, located near ABB’s China robotics campus, is due to be […]
Google’s Smart City Dream Is Turning Into a Privacy Nightmare
October 26th, 2018Via: Engadget: Sidewalk Labs, an Alphabet division focused on smart cities, is caught in a battle over information privacy. The team has lost its lead expert and consultant, Ann Cavoukian, over a proposed data trust that would approve and manage the collection of information inside Quayside, a conceptual smart neighborhood in Toronto. Cavoukian, the former […]
Smart Home Surveillance: Governments Tell Google’s Nest To Hand Over Data 300 Times
October 15th, 2018Shocker. Via: Forbes: Anyone pumped for this week’s launch of Google’s Home Hub might want to temper their excitement. A smart home is a surveilled home. That’s been the concern of privacy activists since citizens started lighting up their abodes with so-called “smart” tech in recent years. Take Google’s current smart home division, Nest Labs. […]
How An Amateur Rap Crew Stole Surveillance Tech That Tracks Almost Every American
October 12th, 2018Via: Forbes: Today TransUnion says TLO is capable of “processing trillions of records at sub-second speeds.” It can quickly uncover relevant data like individuals’ family members and social media profiles. One of the most important features for law enforcement combines photos from surveillance cameras with a huge trove of license plate numbers to nearly instantly […]
Boston Dynamics: Parkour Atlas
October 11th, 2018Via: Boston Dynamics: Atlas does parkour. The control software uses the whole body including legs, arms and torso, to marshal the energy and strength for jumping over the log and leaping up the steps without breaking its pace. (Step height 40 cm.) Atlas uses computer vision to locate itself with respect to visible markers on […]
China’s Dystopian Social Credit System
October 8th, 2018Interesting take. In short, everything is so F-ed up in China, the implementation of the social credit system will be no different. The good news is that it might never work, or, if it does work in some capacity, it will quickly break down, like everything else in China. To me, the most horrifying aspect […]
Facebook Wants People to Invite Its Cameras Into Their Homes
October 8th, 2018Mmm hmm. Via: AP: Facebook is launching the first electronic device to bear its brand, a screen and camera-equipped gadget intended to make video calls easier and more intuitive. But it’s unclear if people will open their homes to an internet-connected camera sold by a company with a questionable track record on protecting user privacy. […]
Jumping Robot Salto-1P
October 5th, 2018Via: IEEE:
Amazon Raising Minimum Wage to $15
October 3rd, 2018Mmm hmm. Meet the Robots at Amazon: Of course, Amazon spins this by saying that they need humans to build and service the robots, so don’t worry about automation. *grin* Other commentary: Bezos’ Decision to Raise Wages is Largely a Machiavellian Distraction Amazon Eliminates Monthly Bonuses and Stock Grants After Minimum Wage Increase The Real […]
Chinese Armed Drones Now Flying Across Mideast Battlefields
October 3rd, 2018Via: AP: High above Yemen’s rebel-held city of Hodeida, a drone controlled by Emirati forces hovered as an SUV carrying a top Shiite Houthi rebel official turned onto a small street and stopped, waiting for another vehicle in its convoy to catch up. Seconds later, the SUV exploded in flames, killing Saleh al-Samad, a top […]
