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Recent years have seen growing interest in the security of machine learning and deep learning, and there are numerous papers and techniques on hacking and defending neural networks. But one thing made DeepSloth particularly interesting: The researchers at the University of Maryland were presenting a vulnerability in a technique they themselves had developed two years earlier. In some ways, the story of DeepSloth illustrates the challenges that the machine learning community faces....

According to a Times report earlier this week, electric scooters are to be legalized for use in the UK. It’s allegedly part of an attempt to get people out of cars and onto greener forms of transport. It should be noted, though, that the regulations are far from nailed down. Government ministers are posed to launch a consultation next month to explore how e-scooter use should be regulated. Following a successful consultation, the UK can expect a number of cities to be chosen to host trials....

If all three stages are cleared the cat door is locked. He used an Arduino digital board to build a locking/unlocking mechanism for the door. The system also sends Hamm a text with pictures of the cat, and donates some money to the Audubon Society, a bird related organization. Hamm said the AI has been working very well, and the cat was unfairly locked out only once. While all the research in the AI field is fascinating to see, it’s amazing to actually look at a practical AI application solving a real-life problem....

Headphones used to be crafted almost specifically to block out the world. Unfortunately, we discovered that blissful audio cocoon can lead to some tragic conclusions. That bubble has now metastasized into twalking, with pedestrians wearing headphones or earbuds, eyes locked on smartphone screens, shockingly unaware of what’s happening around them. And that practice is more than just a nuisance. It’s actually deadly. The number of twalking deaths in the U....

Long story short, Patently Apple spotted a, uh, Apple patent for a slide function on the Apple Pencil. Goddamn, that was a lot of “Apple” in a single sentence. The idea behind the slide patent is quite simple. You run a digit across the side of the Apple Pencil and that controls something on the iPad screen. The easiest way to understand the functionality of this is with line thickness....

The AirZeus 3-in-1 Fast Wireless Charging Pad is not only one of the pace-setters on this new wireless vanguard, it’s ready to be a one-gadget power station for your entire gadget arsenal. You can pick one up now for over $100 off the regular price, just $44.99 from TNW Deals. The pad measures just under 8 inches long, yet with its high-speed charging capabilities and plenty of juice, you can power up a host of Qi-compatible devices all at once....

The worst offenders hang in galleries of horrors across Reddit and Twitter. Visit them if you dare, but be warned: these cursed images will be forever imprinted on your brain. Fearful of joining these walls of shame, fan artists are turning to a new AI app for help. Known as Wombo Dream, the software converts text into computer-generated paintings. The app was built by the company behind Wombo AI, the popular deepfake singing tool....

Violins have been around since the 16th century and, for those who build and play them, not much has changed. Modern luthiers tend to apply modest design twists to centuries-old designs because, well, that’s the way it’s done. Per the team’s research paper: In other words: luthiering is more art than science. While that may sound quaint, a scientific understanding of an instrument’s properties can greatly increase an artist’s ability to conceive, design, implement, and create....

Luckily for them, a new AI tool can do the tricky task for them — and potentially offer new insights into bird behaviors. Scientists first trained the AI on labeled images of wild great tits and sociable weavers, as well as captive zebra finches. They then tested the system on new pictures of the same birds that it had never seen before. The team says the AI correctly identified over 90% of the wild species, and 87% of the captive ones....

Does this job exist? Who knows, but I can dream. Anyway, one of the most fun (I use this term loosely) parts of new macOS releases is discovering what new photo they have as their backgrounds. You know, like the one the company’s currently using on macOS 10.15 Catalina: Pretty, right? That (imaginary) single Apple employee who takes these photos sure did a good job. Thing is, as soon as there’s a new macOS update, we tend to forget about what came before — but no longer!...

The Super Bowl. Avengers: Endgame. The 2020 presidential election. No matter how we felt about the ride, every journey ultimately does reach its conclusion. Which means we need to take advantage of the magic while it’s happening since it won’t be around forever. Case in point — this is your last chance to learn up to 14 new languages at your own pace at a startlingly cheap price with the current subscription offer from Babbel Language Learning....

We have been trying to keep up with the novel coronavirus ever since. Each day, we are faced with worrying headlines reporting the latest twists and turns of this outbreak. We have seen the virus spill over China’s borders and spread to at least 25 countries worldwide, and watched with mounting anxiety as the number of cases creeps ever higher. We wait apprehensively to see where the virus shows up next....

Back in the old days, the role of a project manager was pretty cut and dried. If a manager’s team was tasked with manufacturing a refrigerator or building an office complex, there were often variable, but usually proven and well-worn paths toward reaching that successful endpoint. However, the age of software development brought a lot more uncertainty to project management with the likely potential for lots of change along the way....

If the Internet is a series of tubes (RIP Ted Stevens), Apache Kafka is the pipe that connects high-volume applications with their external components, like databases and third-party services. It’s frequently used by companies that operate at the most extreme of scales, like Uber, Netflix, and Airbnb. It was initially developed by engineers within LinkedIn, which is the world’s largest professional networking site. (If you let me put my nerd hat on for a second, I should say that my explanation was massively simplified....

GoPro and their line of action cameras have become so synonymous with on-the-fly travel video that you’d be forgiven for thinking it was the name of the entire retail market and not a brand name. But as in most industries, worthy successors to GoPro’s crown have sprung up to challenge their success, many with comparable features and capabilities at a much lower, more enticing price point. One of the more intriguing challengers to GoPro supremacy is Oclu, an Arizona-based company whose new Oclu camera packs in some game-changing features that should get the attention of any action camera shopper....

But what if advanced technology could eliminate human weaknesses? Could we then make zero deaths possible? The latest research by Neural Propulsion Systems (NPS) thinks so. It posits that new technology can actually enable vehicles to eliminate roadway deaths — with or without human supervision. And we’re not talking about a far-off future where super-smart autonomous vehicles occupy the roads. No, we’re talking about the here and now. But before we get to the tech itself, let’s first go through the basic requirements that would enable this lofty goal: The three premises for zero accidents What does this require from a vehicle?...

Twitter, for all its problems, sometimes delivers a thread too good to pass up. These tales, often spun as threads, offer genuine insight into the human experience: the play-by-play of a breakup by a curious onlooker, a false narrative of a harrowing run-in with a drug smuggler, or a story about urination that’s so fascinating you just can’t stop reading. The thread, about the challenges of urinating in space, specifically, touched on themes of sexism, science, and history, weaving between each with the ease that comes naturally to a talented writer like Mary Robinette Kowal, the thread’s author....

Yes, you could even call it “Bitcoin ASMR.” BitListen is a “real-time Bitcoin transaction visualizer.” Individual Bitcoin transactions appear on screen as bubbles, and the amounts dictate their size. Large bubbles trigger big sounds, while smaller ones softly drift in and out of existence. BitListen supports three instruments: Celesta, a metallic instrument that resembles the under-appreciated triangle; Planet, a celestial-inspired futuristic synth; and Wikki, which can only be described as a dreamy steel drum....

The Chinese tech giant began testing Resso in India and Indonesia in December. Resso is banking on its social features, such as lyrics sharing posters, to gain popularity with the country’s music-loving junta. The app’s free to download on both iOS and Android. However, if you choose to use the free tier of the app, you’ll have to see ads and stream music at a lower bitrate of 128 kbps....

The ban would’ve seen the short video app taken off app stores, which would have made it difficult for new users to download it on their mobile devices. It would also make it impossible for TikTok to push updates and bug fixes to its app via those stores. These restrictions would have damaged both its user experience, as well as its ability to grow its user base in the US....