Texas AG Goes After Zuckerberg Over Meta’s Facial Recognition Data

Parker Davis February 15, 2022

The Texas Attorney General is going after Facebook in the courts over its handling of user privacy data connected to a facial scan. The AG, Ken Paxton, is alleging that Facebook collected the user data without permission. He filed the lawsuit this past Monday, February 15th. This lawsuit is one of a myriad of ways that Facebook and other international social media giants are facing from multiple US and other national governments as well. This is a battle between the new power and the old, as the old still needs the new power, but they need to clip their wings. However, the new power is far from vanquished, though I’d reckon its days were still numbered.

Texas Sues Facebook’s Parent Meta Over Facial Recognition Data

From www.nytimes.com
2022-02-14 19:42:42
Cecilia Kang
Excerpt:

The Texas attorney general on Monday filed a privacy lawsuit against Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, for allegedly collecting facial recognition data without the clear permission of users.

Ken Paxton, the attorney general, said the social network violated a state consumer protection law by repeatedly capturing and commercializing biometric data in photos and videos for more than a decade without the informed consent of users. He said the company also shared the data with third parties and failed to destroy the information in a reasonable time.

“Facebook will no longer take advantage of people and their children with the intent to turn a profit at the expense of one’s safety and well-being,” Mr. Paxton said in a statement. “This is yet another example of Big Tech’s deceitful business practices, and it must stop. I will continue to fight for Texans’ privacy and security.”

The lawsuit adds to Meta’s legal battles as local and national regulators take aim…

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New DOE-Developed Catalyst is Game Changer in Hydrogen Extraction

Parker Davis February 15, 2022

The Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory has developed a new type of nitrogen-based catalyst that greatly improves our ability to extract hydrogen in storage.

Department of Energy’s “Fairly Simple” Breakthrough Makes Accessing Stored Hydrogen More Efficient

From scitechdaily.com
2022-02-14 20:40:40
Ames Laboratory
Excerpt:

A nitrogen assembly catalyzes the cleavage of carbon-hydrogen (C‒H) bonds in LOHCs and facilitates the desorption of hydrogen molecules. Credit: U.S. Department of Energy, Ames Laboratory

A new catalyst from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory and collaborators extracts hydrogen from hydrogen storage materials easily and efficiently. The process occurs at mild temperatures and under normal atmospheric conditions, without using metals or additives. The breakthrough offers a promising new solution that addresses a long-standing challenge to adopting hydrogen fuel for transportation and other applications.

Hydrogen fuel is one potential solution in the nationwide effort to decrease reliance on fossil fuels. According to the DOE, improving hydrogen storage is key to advancing hydrogen fuel cell technologies. At Ames Laboratory, scientists Long Qi and Wenyu Huang research the extraction of hydrogen from a class of materials called liquid organic hydrogen carriers, or…

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3D Printing is Changing Precision Potential of Tiny Metal Part Manufacturing

Parker Davis February 15, 2022

3D Printing Tiny Metal Parts

From hackaday.com
2022-02-14 19:30:00
Al Williams
Excerpt:

It may sound like a pop band, but μ-WAAM is actually a 3D printing technique for making small metal parts from the NOVA University Lisbon. Of course, WAAM stands for wire arc additive manufacturing, a well-known technique for 3D printing in metal. The difference? The new technique uses 250 μm wire stock instead of the 1mm or thicker wires used in conventional WAAM.

The thinner feed wire allows μ-WAAM to create fine details like thin walls that would be difficult to replicate with traditional methods. Typically, for fine structures, printers use fused metal powder. This is good for fine details, but typically slower and has higher waste than wire-based systems.

What we found most interesting is that the printer looks more or less like a conventional 3D printer with a special extruder that handles the fine metal filament. Of course, instead of heat, a 12V 100 aH battery provides an arc. Oh, there’s also an argon shield gas system to keep everything working well and…

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American West Sees Worse Drought in 1,200 Years

Parker Davis February 15, 2022

Western Megadrought Worsens To Driest In At Least 1,200 Years

From www.huffpost.com
2022-02-14 19:51:29

Excerpt:

The American West’s megadrought deepened so much last year that it is now the driest in at least 1,200 years and is a worst-case climate change scenario playing out live, a new study finds.

A dramatic drying in 2021 — about as dry as 2002 and one of the driest years ever recorded for the region — pushed the 22-year drought passed the previous record-holder for megadroughts in the late 1500s and shows no signs of easing in the near future, according to a study Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change.

The study calculated that 42% of this megadrought can be attributed to human-caused climate change.

“Climate change is changing the baseline conditions toward a drier, gradually drier state in the West and that means the worst-case scenario keeps getting worse,” said study lead author Park Williams, a climate hydrologist at UCLA. “This is right in line with what people were thinking of in the 1900s as a worst-case scenario. But today I think we need to be even preparing…

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Inventor Claims to Have Created Self-Defining, Purposing AI

Parker Davis February 9, 2022

An inventor named Trevor E Chandler has claimed to have create an artificial intelligence that is capable of determining its own purpose, so to speak. The AI gets an initial code which, emergently, it ultimately overcomes, creating its own code to define its purpose, and thus action. This seems perfectly safe. I wonder if we can combine this AI with nanotechnology and just, you know, see what happens. Let’s create a nanotech ai that can replicate itself and develop its own purpose. That should be fun.

As usual, the claims might not meet the much more prosaic reality an inventor is hyping. We won’t be anytime soon seeing nanobots go up our noses and turn us into Biden voters, or, worse, Dallas Cowboys fans, but it does mean developing more autonomously developing tech that can positively enhance our ability to process and refine the world around us.

New Type of Artificial Intelligence can Self-Create and Self-Improve its Source Code

From www.einnews.com
2022-02-09 13:00:00

Excerpt:

A new type of artificial intelligence has been created with the capability to advance its own source code, persist, and use its learning across use cases, and through code generation and modification, advance its action set and objectives beyond their starting state without the need for human intervention.

Trevor E. Chandler, the inventor states, “All existing artificial intelligence is limited by human bias. We either tell the AI what actions it can perform or give it data that represents actions it can use. This stunts the potential of our systems, preventing them from achieving emergence. My new approach has overcome this, and other serious issues with machine learning today, resulting in a machine learning system generating emergent actions beyond its initial actions list or data and emergent objectives beyond its initial objectives.”.

This new type of machine learning automatically searches for, finds, and uses code from other artificially Intelligent components as its starting state, continually writing code into itself from preexisting systems, then modifying its own source code as it advances its action set beyond its starting state through use of a built-in code generating and evaluation artificial intelligence. This allows useful information from preexisting machine learning systems to be utilized, not wasted, but only as a starting point…..

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Graphene Could Be Expanded to Store More Hydrogen

Parker Davis February 9, 2022

If you can organize graphene in three dimensions, you can greatly expand the amount of hydrogen you can store in graphene. This could greatly reduce the cost of hydrogen storage, and even allow for bulk room-temperature storage. Researchers out of the Istituto Nanoscienze, a research consortium, published results from an experiment that demonstrates organizing graphene in three dimensions is possible.

3D arrangement of graphene enables storage of larger quantities of hydrogen

From innovationorigins.com
2022-02-09 11:00:00

Excerpt:

A research consortium has discovered how to organize graphene in three dimensions. This novel process could be used to store larger quantities of hydrogen and develop more sensitive gas sensors….

He found the relevant expertise at the Institute for Sensor and Actuator Systems at the Technical University of Vienna, Austria. Here, Professor Ulrich Schmid‘s group has been researching processes for years that make it possible to integrate extremely fine, porous structures into dense materials in a controlled manner….

Dr. Stefano Veronesi, a member of Dr. Heun’s research group at the Istituto Nanoscienze, explains what the application of this process means in terms of hydrogen storage: “Graphene can bind (store) molecular as well as elemental hydrogen on the surface. At room temperature, however, only elemental hydrogen binds well to graphene. Molecular hydrogen, on the other hand, forms only a very weak bond with the graphene surface. By selective functionalization (“grafting”) of the graphene surface, the ‘storage’ capability of the graphene surface can be significantly increased even at room temperature. How much hydrogen can be stored is determined by the graphene surface area present – the more graphene, the more hydrogen can be stored.”

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Insect Robots Might One Day Rescue You or Arrest You

Parker Davis February 9, 2022

A horde of flying insect robots might one day rescue you when you get lost in the forest, or track you down when you’re invading a police state. Either way, scientists are making these things. To be exact, researchers from Bristol’s Faculty of Engineering are building these things, and their findings are ‘promising.’

Scientists develop tiny flying ‘insect robots’ that could help save people – and the planet

From www.bristolpost.co.uk
2022-02-09 12:46:38

Excerpt:

Scientists have developed tiny flying insect robots that could be made in their billions and help save people – and the planet.

The pioneering bug-sized machines have an artificial muscle system that creates wing motion using no rotating parts or gears.

They could help in search and rescue operations, after terrorist attacks.- or maybe act as pollinators.

Typical micro flying robots have used motors, gears and other complex transmission systems to achieve the up-and-down flapping motion.

This new advance could pave the way for smaller, lighter and more effective micro flying robots.

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Thiel Loses Meta for Trump

Parker Davis February 8, 2022

It looks like Peter Thiel is making a move from business to politics, as he is leaving the now Meta, formerly Facebook, board, to throw his effort behind Donald J Trump’s political agenda. He stepped away as he didn’t want his new political commitment to interfere with his role at Meta, or interfere with Meta itself.

Peter Thiel to leave Meta board to pursue Trump political agenda

From fortune.com
2022-02-07 21:23:55

Excerpt:

Peter Thiel, the tech investor and conservative provocateur who has advised Mark Zuckerberg for nearly two decades at Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc., will step down from the company’s board after Meta’s annual shareholder meeting in May.

Thiel, who joined the board in 2005 after an early investment in Facebook, plans to increase his political support of former President Donald Trump’s agenda during the 2022 election and doesn’t want his political activities to be a “distraction” for Facebook, according to person close to Thiel.

“He thinks that the Republican Party can advance the Trump agenda and he wants to do what he can to support that,” said the person, who was not authorized to speak publicly.

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Peng Shuai Makes Forced Appearance at Beijing 2022

Parker Davis February 8, 2022

The virtually disappeared Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai made another awkward forced interview appearance during the Beijing Olympics. Her appearance is a reminder of a list of well-known Chinese celebrities that have disappeared after crossing the Comminust Party. None of them are bigger than China’s former version of Elon Musk, Jack Ma, who was last seen in a brief video in January 2021 after going missing a few months before that video appeared.

Peng Shuai’s controlled interview mirrors previous narratives

From www.csmonitor.com
2022-02-07 20:17:54
Sarah DiLorenzo
Excerpt:

The drama surrounding Peng Shuai is following a familiar script, in which someone who has run afoul of China’s Communist government disappears from view.

Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai gave a controlled interview on Monday in Beijing that touched on sexual assault allegations she made against a former high-ranking member of China’s ruling Communist Party. Her answers – delivered in front of a Chinese Olympic official – left unanswered questions about her well-being and what exactly happened.

What happens next depends on the case, but it is not uncommon for the person in question to disavow the statements or actions that first upset officials. Other times, the person simply keeps a lower profile. Sometimes, their arrest is eventually announced.

Ms. Peng’s saga began in November, when she wrote in a social media post that a former member of the party’s all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee had forced her to have sex three years ago despite repeated refusals.

The post was quickly taken down and the former top-ranked doubles player dropped out of public view late last year.

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VA SCOTUS Rejects Pro-Mask Mandate Petition Against Youngkin

Parker Davis February 8, 2022

The VA Supreme Court rejected a petition to reverse the Youngkin order that public schools cannot mandate mask wearing for kids. The petition was rejected on procedural grounds.

Virginia Supreme Court dismisses mask mandate petition

From abcnews.go.com
2022-02-07 20:25:44

Excerpt:

LEESBURG, Va. — The Supreme Court of Virginia on Monday rejected on procedural grounds a petition from parents seeking to invalidate Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s executive order prohibiting school systems from enforcing mask mandates in the classroom.

Youngkin and Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares are battling in court on multiple fronts to defend the executive order. But the ruling is far from definitive. In a footnote, the justices say they offer “no opinion on the legality of EO 2,” the executive order that seeks to undo mask mandates, which are aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus.

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