Author: esimantiras

Chinese surveillance from above may make stealth planes obsolete | Opinion

Posted on by esimantiras

Chinese surveillance from above may make stealth planes obsolete | Opinion

source: sun-sentinel.com  |  image: pixabay.com

 

When Pentagon brass rolled out the bat-shaped B-21 Raider late last year amid self-congratulatory speeches and glowing news reports, they touted it as the ideal deterrent against Beijing’s military ambitions. Projected to cost some $720 million apiece, the airplane was called the ultimate in radar-evading technology, able to carry out conventional and nuclear strikes virtually undetected in China and elsewhere.

As a journalist who covered previous stealth aircraft, the praise evoked disturbing echoes of glaring design flaws. Such missteps initially made the B-21′s predecessor, the Air Force’s B-2 Spirit, less stealthy and more difficult to operate than advertised. Northrop Grumman Corp. built both bombers.

Now, former senior officials involved in the classified B-21′s early development worry the Pentagon is repeating a version of those mistakes, this time by underestimating Beijing’s ability to closely track the latest bomber from space.

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What is a QR Code + How Does It Work?

Posted on by esimantiras

 

What is a QR Code + How Does It Work?

Everything Marketers Should Know

 

source: blog.hubspot.com, contributed by FAN, Steve Jones. |  image: pixabay.com

 

I’ll never forget the first time dining at a restaurant after my pandemic-induced hibernation. Before I could ask for a menu, the waitress nodded towards a piece of paper with a barcode on it. “Open your phone camera and scan it. The menu should pop up.”

QR codes have become a common sight almost overnight — from cereal boxes and billboards to even employee uniforms. With a 94% increase in interactions from 2018 to 2020, there’s no denying QR codes are seeing an epic revival in a new touch-free world.

Let’s explore the origins of the QR code, learn how it works, and discuss ways it can refresh your marketing strategy.

What is a QR code?

Short for quick response, QR codes are scannable barcodes that store data. In the marketing sphere, they’re commonly used to redirect users to landing pages, websites, social media profiles, or store coupons.

For instance, someone can place a QR code on the back of their business card to direct you to their LinkedIn profile. A QR code on a billboard may send you to a landing page.

QR codes vary in design and function, and primarily fall into one of the following categories — static or dynamic.

Static vs. Dynamic QR Codes

A static QR code contains information that cannot be modified once it’s live. This means any typo or misstep will require you to create a brand new one. The good news is that static codes don’t expire — so once the content is set, your work is done.

Static QR codes are ideal for storing fixed or sensitive info — think Wi-Fi passwords, employee ID numbers, or access codes. But they’re not so helpful if you need to update your data regularly.

Dynamic QR codes allow you to change your info as many times as you want. This is because the information isn’t ingrained into the code itself. Instead, it redirects users to a specific URL that can be changed at any time. For example, a restaurant can redirect users to a menu on their website.

A major benefit of dynamic QR codes is the ability to gather scanning metrics. While you can’t access personal information from users, you can see the time, location, and device used for each scan. And as marketers, we know these metrics are crucial to gauging campaign effectiveness.

How do QR codes work?

A QR code works similarly to barcodes at the supermarket. Each QR code consists black squares and dots which represent different pieces of information. When scanned, the unique pattern on the barcode translates into human-readable data. This transaction happens in seconds.

Users must scan the code with a QR reader or scanner, although nowadays most people scan QR codes with smartphones. On the off chance your phone doesn’t have the capability, there are plenty of free apps for QR scanning like NeoReader and QuickMark Barcode Scanner.

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Artificial intelligence is changing how people work. That can be scary…

Posted on by esimantiras

Artificial intelligence is changing how people work. That can be scary. But for now, most jobs are still safe.

source: nytimes.com, contributed by FAN, Bill Amshey  |  image: pixabay.com

‘It’s been revolutionary’

Eli Snyder, a special-education teacher in Colorado, wanted to play basketball with his students. He had questions: How could he adapt the game for a child with cerebral palsy? And how could he help his students with autism play a highly stimulating activity?
ChatGPT had answers.

The artificial intelligence chatbot had analyzed the internet’s vast amount of data, including information about disabilities and basketball. It used patterns it found in all that text to generate recommendations: Shrink the court size to reduce the distance players need to travel in wheelchairs. Lower the hoop and install a ramp leading up to it so students can roll the basketball into the net. Pair up players so each person has a buddy for support.

Snyder could have found this information through a simple Google search. He turned to ChatGPT because it produced complete paragraphs instead of delivering links that would have left him with more clicking and synthesizing to do. The chatbot’s response helped him quickly write adapted lesson plans for each of his students.

“It’s been revolutionary,” Snyder, 30, said. “What used to take me an hour now takes me five minutes.”

Ford patents self-driving car that repossesses itself…

Posted on by esimantiras

Ford patents self-driving car that repossesses itself if the owner fails to keep up with payments – and drives itself back to the showroom or scrapyard

 

source: dailymail.co.uk/, contributed by Artemus Founder, Bob Wallace  |  image: pixabay.com

 

Ford is not taking any chances with owners missing car payments – the company is working on a system that prompts the vehicle to repossess itself. 

A newly awarded patent describes a car self-driving back to the showroom or a scrapyard if the owner does not answer messages about their delinquent account. 

The American carmaker would start the process by disabling ‘comfort features,’ playing noises inside the car and limiting where the vehicle can drive.

 

If all else fails, Ford will activate the self-driving feature and the owner has no choice but to give up the car.

While patent applications do not always turn into real-world services, Ford describes using a ‘repossession computer’ that could be installed to let it take control of functions.

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The Deepfake Dangers Ahead

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The Deepfake Dangers Ahead

source: wsj.com, contributed by Artemus Founder, Bob Wallace  |  image: pexels.com

 

AI-generated disinformation, especially from hostile foreign powers, is a growing threat to democracies based on the free flow of ideas

 

By Daniel Byman, Chris Meserole And V.S. Subrahmanian

Feb. 23, 2023 9:58 am ET

Bots, trolls, influence campaigns: Every day we seem to be battling more fake or manipulated content online. Because of advances in computing power, smarter machine learning algorithms and larger data sets, we will soon share digital space with a sinister array of AI-generated news articles and podcasts, deepfake images and videos—all produced at a once unthinkable scale and speed. As of 2018, according to one study, fewer than 10,000 deepfakes had been detected online. Today the number of deepfakes online is almost certainly in the millions.

We can hardly imagine all the purposes that people will find for this new synthetic media, but what we’ve already seen is cause for concern. Students can have ChatGPT write their essays. Stalkers can create pornographic videos featuring images of the people they are obsessed with. A criminal can synthesize your boss’s voice and tell you to transfer money.

Deepfakes risk leading people to view all information as suspicious.

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3 Overlooked Cybersecurity Breaches

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3 Overlooked Cybersecurity Breaches

source: thehackernews.com  |  image: pexels.com

 

Here are three of the worst breaches, attacker tactics and techniques of 2022, and the security controls that can provide effective, enterprise security protection for them.

#1: 2 RaaS Attacks in 13 Months

Ransomware as a service is a type of attack in which the ransomware software and infrastructure are leased out to the attackers. These ransomware services can be purchased on the dark web from other threat actors and ransomware gangs. Common purchasing plans include buying the entire tool, using the existing infrastructure while paying per infection, or letting other attackers perform the service while sharing revenue with them.

In this attack, the threat actor consists of one of the most prevalent ransomware groups, specializing in access via third parties, while the targeted company is a medium-sized retailer with dozens of sites in the United States.

The threat actors used ransomware as a service to breach the victim’s network. They were able to exploit third-party credentials to gain initial access, progress laterally, and ransom the company, all within mere minutes.

The swiftness of this attack was unusual. In most RaaS cases, attackers usually stay in the networks for weeks and months before demanding ransom. What is particularly interesting about this attack is that the company was ransomed in minutes, with no need for discovery or weeks of lateral movement.

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Shape-shifter

Posted on by esimantiras

Shape-shifter

 

source: newatlas.com, contributed by FAN, Bill Amshey  |  image: pexels.com

 

Scientists reported this week they’ve created a material that can be molded into forms that can shift between being liquid and solid.

Why it matters: Shape-shifting materials could be used for a range of applications — from biomedical devices to electrical circuitry that could be wirelessly repaired, study co-author Carmel Majidi, a professor of mechanical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, told me in an email.

How it works: The material is made from the metal gallium — which melts at about 86 degrees Fahrenheit — embedded with magnetic particles.

  • Electricity generated from a rapidly alternating magnetic field creates heat that liquifies the metal.
  • A magnet is then used to move the material around. When it cools back down to room temperature, the metal solidifies.
  • The researchers’ inspiration? Sea cucumbers that can soften into a material that sinks between your fingers — and then stiffen again.

In one experiment, the material was cast as a Lego-like figure, liquified and moved out of a jail cell, then recast in a mold.

  • They also tested the material by having it jump over moats and climb walls.
  • In another experiment, it softened around a small ball in order to remove it from a model stomach — a proof of concept for potential biomedical applications.

Yes, but: Operating in the human body would likely require a non-toxic material that could degrade and one with a higher melting point, which could possibly be created by adding other metals to gallium, the authors note.

China’s Top Airship Scientist Promoted Program to Watch the World From Above

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China’s Top Airship Scientist Promoted Program to Watch the World From Above

source: nytimes.com, contributed by FAN, Bill Amshey  |  image: pixabay.com

 

Corporate records and media reports reveal an airship scientist at the center of China’s high-altitude balloon program. Companies he has founded were among those targeted by Washington.

In 2019, years before a hulking high-altitude Chinese balloon floated across the United States and caused widespread alarm, one of China’s top aeronautics scientists made a proud announcement that received little attention back then: His team had launched an airship more than 60,000 feet into the air and sent it sailing around most of the globe, including across North America.

The scientist, Wu Zhe, told a state-run news outlet at the time that the “Cloud Chaser” airship was a milestone in his vision of populating the upper reaches of the earth’s atmosphere with steerable balloons that could be used to provide early warnings of natural disasters, monitor pollution or carry out airborne surveillance.

“Look, there’s America,” Professor Wu said in an accompanying video, pointing on a computer screen to a red line that appeared to trace the airship’s path across Asia, northern Africa, and near the southern edge of the United States. By the time of the report, it was over the Pacific Ocean.

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Researchers shrink camera to the size of a salt grain- Princeton Engineering

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Researchers shrink camera to the size of a salt grain- Princeton Engineering

source: https://engineering.princeton.edu, contributed by Artemus Founder, Bob Wallace  |  image: pexels.com

see images of the cameras here

Micro-sized cameras have great potential to spot problems in the human body and enable sensing for super-small robots, but past approaches captured fuzzy, distorted images with limited fields of view.

Now, researchers at Princeton University and the University of Washington have overcome these obstacles with an ultracompact camera the size of a coarse grain of salt. The new system can produce crisp, full-color images on par with a conventional compound camera lens 500,000 times larger in volume, the researchers reported in a paper published Nov. 29 in Nature Communications.

Enabled by a joint design of the camera’s hardware and computational processing, the system could enable minimally invasive endoscopy with medical robots to diagnose and treat diseases, and improve imaging for other robots with size and weight constraints. Arrays of thousands of such cameras could be used for full-scene sensing, turning surfaces into cameras.

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Protect your privacy: A guide to avoiding drone surveillance

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Protect your privacy: A guide to avoiding drone surveillance

source: foxnews.com  |  image: pexels.com

It’s difficult to learn who owns a drone; some have their registration numbers visible, usually in case the owner loses sight of it.

I share a ton of tips to protect your privacy online. Do this quick 30-second check to keep your Google and Facebook accounts safe if you haven’t yet.

What about when you leave your home? Just about everywhere you go, you’re being watched. 

Not all cameras are out in the open, either. I once found more than a dozen cameras in an Airbnb I rented. Here are my best tips for spotting hidden cams in a rental, new apartment, home, or hotel room. But now we have drones to deal with.

The internet is a dangerous place. Join over 400,000 people and stay updated with my free daily newsletter.

I spy with my eye a drone in the sky

The other day, I heard a familiar buzz while swimming in my backyard pool. Sure enough, a drone hovered overhead and quickly vanished when I shooed it away with my hand. That’s how I got the idea for this post.

Continue reading “Protect your privacy: A guide to avoiding drone surveillance” →