Monthly Archives: January 2019

Jan 28

You could definitely use this in a techno-thriller.

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You could definitely use this in a techno-thriller.

Originally shared by Adafruit Industries

Lasers that Transmit Audible Messages to Specific People #MusicMonday

https://blog.adafruit.com/2019/01/28/lasers-that-transmit-audible-messages-to-specific-people-musicmonday/

Headphones are getting smaller and less connected but this new sound delivery system gets rid of them all together.

Via BoingBoing:

Researchers at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory, a United States Department of Defense research facility, developed laser systems that can “transmit various tones, music and recorded speech at a conversational volume” to specific people without the recipient wearing any special equipment. Basically, the operator points a laser at someone from a distance and that individual hears the transmitted audio even though others in the area don’t. Conspiracy theorists, start your engines.

Read more

https://blog.adafruit.com/2019/01/28/lasers-that-transmit-audible-messages-to-specific-people-musicmonday/

https://blog.adafruit.com/2019/01/28/lasers-that-transmit-audible-messages-to-specific-people-musicmonday/

Jan 27

Disturbing, not only because of the people who have made themselves unable to admit reality, but also because they…

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Disturbing, not only because of the people who have made themselves unable to admit reality, but also because they are obsessive stalkers who threaten innocent people.

Originally shared by Keith Wilson

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jan/23/conspiracy-theories-internet-survivors-truth
Jan 23

Now there’s a cunning scheme.

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Now there’s a cunning scheme. Preferentially hire people you can pay less, not because they’re less capable, but because they’re historically underpaid.

Originally shared by Judah Richardson

In the OFCCP’s second amended complaint today, the office alleges Oracle “impermissibly denies equal employment opportunity to non-Asian applicants for employment, strongly preferring a workforce that it can later underpay. Once employed, women, Blacks and Asians are systematically underpaid relative to their peers,” the complaint alleges.

https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/22/oracle-discrimination-400-million/
Jan 22

You can get a basic drone for a few hundred dollars, a good one for about a thousand, one that will follow a…

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You can get a basic drone for a few hundred dollars, a good one for about a thousand, one that will follow a cellphone (to act as a camera platform) for a little more.

There hasn’t been consistent regulation, and what there has been is relatively easily ignored; they aren’t hard to build from cheap parts, which gets around any “geofencing” restrictions on where they can fly, for example (even without hacking the commercial versions, which isn’t that hard).

They can’t fly especially fast or carry very much weight, but they could be turned into weapons despite that, and even without weapons they can (demonstrably) sow fear and confusion disproportionate to their cost.

You can defend against them, but so far, people haven’t been, particularly, even though drone attacks are a pretty predictable occurrence.

Originally shared by Singularity Hub

Are We Ready for a Sky Full of Drones? Recent Airport Attacks Say No https://suhub.co/2QZ3lxT

https://suhub.co/2R3PAhn

Jan 20

“It looks like you’re trying to live life in the 21st century. Would you like some help with that?”

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“It looks like you’re trying to live life in the 21st century. Would you like some help with that?”

https://singularityhub.com/2019/01/15/the-rise-of-a-new-generation-of-ai-avatars/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=eblast&utm_campaign=fy19q1-xthinkers&utm_content=January-week-3&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWWpSbE1UaGpOemN4WlRVMCIsInQiOiJuT0tQaXJBb201dUhpcDZFa2h4eFFQbzFOQ3BMWjQya0dUVjEzYlQ3S01YMEROZnNsYW0yZGx2dVJ6WHdFRVdRVFZZbEdMZEhqYzhHUGZWTEJPXC9vaEhGNjRYSnRNNDI0MHdZbEc4MXhGMXQxcFBmWWdxXC9JNzhYRDFGeDVoRWErIn0%3D

Jan 19

The smartphone has as good a display as there’s any point in making for it, given the limits of human vision.

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The smartphone has as good a display as there’s any point in making for it, given the limits of human vision. But if you could put a screen closer to your eye with the maximum visual precision possible, you could surround yourself with huge virtual screens.

https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/15/how-the-new-vr-screen-could-end-the-smartphone/

Jan 19

Not even all the way through January, and already three entries on my list for the best of 2019.

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Not even all the way through January, and already three entries on my list for the best of 2019. (Note: two of them are not yet published; I read ARCs from Netgalley.)

The Philosopher’s War, sequel to the book that took my top spot in 2017, is urban fantasy in World War I with a conflicted and relatable main character.

The Raven Tower, Ann Leckie’s first fantasy novel, is (of course) extremely well executed, odd, and disturbing, not least in what it does with narrative expectations.

Tess of the Road, a new series in the same world in which Rachel Hartmann set the wonderful Seraphina, won’t be to everyone’s taste (not that the other two will either); it’s a long, slow book in which the inner journey is more important than the outer journey, and in which the protagonist starts out unpromising. I found it worth sticking with.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/941876-mike?page=1&shelf=2019-years-best&view=list