Google releases DIY open source Raspberry Pi 'Voice Kit' hardware -- here's how to get it
Google has long been focused on artificial intelligence. Its Google Now and voice assistance projects have used AI to better the lives of users. The Google Home voice-based hardware unit brings its assistant to life, making traditional inputs and displays unnecessary. With just the power of your voice, you can interact with the device -- nothing else is needed.
The search giant has decided to take artificial intelligence to the maker community with a new initiative called AIY. This initiative (found here) will introduce open source AI projects to the public that makers can leverage in a simple way. Today, Google announces the first-ever AIY project. Called "Voice Kit," it is designed to work with a Raspberry Pi to create a voice-based virtual assistant. Please keep in mind that the Pi itself is not included, so you must bring your own. For this project, you can use a Pi 3 Model B, Pi 2, or Pi Zero. Want a Voice Kit? Here's how to get it. Heck, you might be getting one for free and you don't even know it.
Facebook to hire just 3,000 more people to moderate the content of its 1.9 billion users
There's been a lot of disturbing content on Facebook in recent weeks and months -- murders, rapes, assaults, shootings and more. After a fatal shooting was shared on the site, Facebook vowed to do more to combat this sort of material.
As the social network announced that it now has 1.9 billion users, it also announced that it is to employ an extra 3,000 people to help moderate content. This brings the company's total number of moderators to 7,500. Can this possibly be enough to manage the posts of nearly 2 billion people, and who on earth would want to be tasked with viewing some of the most gruesome content to determine whether or not it should be removed?
Your clouds don't need to clash
Increasingly, two models for cloud are emerging -- the public or shared cloud and private cloud. While the definitions of these models might still be fluid, that has not stopped the rise of loud, passionate defenders of each who are willing to fight to the death to defend the idea that their cloud model will ultimately reign supreme. Needless to say, this "clash of clouds" can be intimidating for many enterprise IT professionals seeking to develop a cloud strategy where it might seem the wrong choice could result in the end of their business (or at least their careers).
Relax.
DDoS attacks could cost enterprises over $2.5 million in revenue
A new report from information services specialist Neustar looks at the frequency and cost of DDoS attacks and what is being done to counter the threat.
In terms of revenue loss, three percent of organizations report average revenue loss of at least $250,000 per hour, with 51 percent taking at least three hours to detect an attack and 40 percent taking at least three hours to respond, that means an attack could cost over $2.5 million.
Corsair unveils GLAIVE RGB wired gaming mouse with replaceable magnetic thumb grips
There is no shortage of gaming peripherals nowadays, and today, Corsair is introducing yet another to the market. The company's latest mouse, which is simply called "GLAIVE," is a wired affair. As with many gaming peripherals, it features RGB lighting for a fun and customized experience.
What makes GLAIVE particularly cool is that it has replaceable thumb grips, so the user can find the best grip for themselves. Making the change is really simple too, as it connects with magnets. The optical DPI sensor can even be set to an insane 16,000 DPI. Your settings can move with you, as it has on-board memory for storing profiles.
Qualcomm wants to ban US iPhone imports because Apple's not paying licensing royalties
Apple and Qualcomm are not on the best of terms. The iPhone maker has sued Qualcomm for overcharging on royalties, demanding $1bn in compensation. The chip maker, in return, has sued Apple for making its modems worse in the iPhone 7 to match the performance of similar Intel cellular radios.
And now Qualcomm wants to take things to the next level, as it considers asking the International Trade Commission to ban iPhone imports in the US. If the ITC agrees, that would potentially lead to billions and billions of lost sales for Apple and affect its plans for the launch of the new iPhone.
Two-thirds of Americans think internet access is a privilege
President Trump's signing of bill overturning the FCC's planned internet privacy protections, allowing ISPs to track and sell consumers' online information to third parties with greater ease has generated a storm among privacy advocates.
It also prompted AnchorFree, the company behind the Hotspot Shield VPN, to carry out a survey of over 2,000 US consumers to gauge sentiment toward the internet and privacy.
O&O FileDirect 1.0 makes ad-hoc file sharing swift, safe and simple
O&O Software has released O&O FileDirect 1.0, a brand new freeware file-sharing tool for PCs running Windows 7 or up.
The program makes it easy -- and safe -- for users to share individual files through a secure web link, which recipients can access through their own web browser. Files are transferred directly from the end user’s computer -- no cloud storage is utilized.
Low code/no code development: Is it right for you?
Research carried out by Gartner, which predicted that the demand for mobile applications would outstrip the number of app developers by 2019, still looms large over the mobile app industry. The way CTOs and CIOs cope with the developer shortage could make or break their company’s technological expansion.
To face this shortage, IT departments have two options:
How to remove the People button from the taskbar in Windows 10 Redstone 3
So far there is not very much to get overly excited about in the Redstone 3 builds of Windows 10 that are creeping out, but there are new additions nonetheless. Build 16184, for instance, sees the arrival of the My People app and with it the addition of a new button in the taskbar.
Nestling to the left of the clock you will notice a monochrome icon featuring the outline of two people -- the People Bar. Click it, and you can use the My People app to gain easy access to contacts and keep an eye on conversations in Skype and Mail. But you may not want this clutter in your taskbar; here’s how to remove it.
Google adds phishing protection to Gmail app on Android
Gmail users will now be protected from phishing attacks on their Android phones thanks to a new update from Google. The company is rolling out a new security feature similar to that found in the web version of Gmail, warning people when an email contains a suspicious link.
For now, the update is only rolling out to Android users, and Google has not indicated whether it will make its way to iOS in due course or not. The update comes just shortly after a phishing scam emerged in which recipients were encouraged to click on a link to open files purporting to be stored on Google Docs.
Consumer tips for World Password Day
Almost everything has its own day these days and May 4th is -- along with all the Star Wars puns -- World Password Day.
Cyber security firm Kaspersky Lab is keen to help people avoid common password problems and is calling for a standardization of password criteria.
Intel unveils DC P4500 and P4600 3D NAND PCIe NVMe data center SSDs with up to 4TB capacity
Solid state drives are changing data centers for the better. These drives are not only faster, but more energy efficient too. While not necessarily more cost effective for businesses, prices are slowly on the decline. It is only a matter of time before mechanical hard drives are dead entirely. The death of HDD may not be in the immediate future, but make no mistake, it is coming.
Intel has been an SSD leader for a while, and the company has two new drives that are designed for data centers. Both the DC P4500 and P4600 feature 3D NAND, and can be had with two connection types -- a PCIe NVMe add-in card or 2.5-inch U.2. Both series of solid state drives offer capacities up to 4TB. Read speeds are up to 3270 MB/s, with write reaching 2100 MB/s -- depending on model and capacity, of course.
What's next for the IBM mainframe?
The IBM mainframe has been a stalwart platform for enterprise computing for the last 50 years. There are not many technologies you can point to that have survived that long and remain a key component of many companies’ IT infrastructure. Its survival should be lauded, but the question remains: "Is it the only game in town for enterprise computing?"
That answer is a resounding "No." The mainframe is a combination of hardware and software that is arguably unique to all other computing offerings available in the marketplace today. That doesn’t make it a bad platform, but it does limit its opportunities for growth. It is a proprietary platform, only available from a single vendor -- IBM.
Galileo atomic clocks failed: What can we learn from it?
Galileo has been making headlines once again, and this time not for the right reasons. It was reported on January 18, 2017 that several of the atomic clocks responsible for the satellites’ ability to calculate precise time have failed.
Timing is everything in GNSS -- very precise time is required to calculate an accurate value of the delay in receiving signals that have been transmitted from a given satellite. This allows users to determine their position on Earth accurately. Also, many applications today take advantage of the very precise timing that GNSS can provide via the atomic clocks in use on the satellites.
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