How to stop AI from perpetuating harmful biases

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already re-configuring the world in conspicuous ways. Data drives our global digital ecosystem, and AI technologies reveal patterns in data. Smartphones, smart homes, and smart cities influence how we live and interact, and AI systems are increasingly involved in recruitment decisions, medical diagnoses, and judicial verdicts. Whether this scenario is utopian or dystopian depends on your perspective. The potential risks of AI are enumerated repeatedly. Killer robots and mass unemployment are common concerns, while some people even fear human extinction. More optimistic predictions claim that AI will add US$15 trillion to the world economy by 2030,…

This story continues at The Next Web

New top story on Hacker News: Show HN: Create and mail a free postcard with my side project

Show HN: Create and mail a free postcard with my side project
4 by derwiki | 0 comments on Hacker News.

New top story on Hacker News: All DMCA Notices Filed Against TorrentFreak in 2019 Were Bogus

All DMCA Notices Filed Against TorrentFreak in 2019 Were Bogus
8 by MikusR | 0 comments on Hacker News.

Your train is on time thanks to big data

While most Dutch trains arrive on time — 92.6 percent, to be exact — some delay is inevitable. Falling leaves can make the railway slippery. Snow sometimes causes the railroad switches to freeze up. Machinal issues, on the other hand, such as broken doors or overheated brakes, can increasingly be fixed before they cause severe delays. Thanks to thousands of sensors and big data analytics, train maintenance has become much more efficient. It’s a development that took a flight since 4G became available in the Netherlands, allowing data to be processed at a much higher speed. This includes check-in data,…

This story continues at The Next Web

How to train your brain to release more happy chemicals

Do you ever wish you could just turn on the happy chemicals in your brain? Imagine how much easier it would make getting out of bed each morning, getting even the most tedious parts of your job done, and finding the energy to consistently show up as your best self for the people you care about the most. But is it really possible – never mind advisable – to try and train our brains for more happiness? “The quest for good feelings is nature’s survival engine,” explained Professor Loretta Breuning, founder of the Inner Mammal Institute, when I interviewed her recently. “For…

This story continues at The Next Web

New top story on Hacker News: Convair's SNR: a nuclear ramjet-powered submersible Mach 4 nuclear bomber design

Convair's SNR: a nuclear ramjet-powered submersible Mach 4 nuclear bomber design
2 by cstross | 0 comments on Hacker News.

If you want to sell your products on Amazon, this $29 course can get you rolling.

In fact, Amazon buyers purchase about 4,000 items per minute from US-based small businesses. That accounts for about half of the web behemoth’s total sales. For entrepreneurs looking to get in on this lucrative revenue stream, the courses in The Complete Amazon FBA A-Z Bundle ($29, over 90 percent off from TNW Deals) can help you navigate those waters.

New top story on Hacker News: IBM betting unikernels replace containers in 2020

IBM betting unikernels replace containers in 2020
9 by eyberg | 0 comments on Hacker News.

New top story on Hacker News: Incident: Wizz Air and Air Europa Planes in Near Collision over Spain

Incident: Wizz Air and Air Europa Planes in Near Collision over Spain
13 by pseudolus | 9 comments on Hacker News.

Unblocking Xbox clips and the future of shareable gaming

In the age of Snapchat and Instagram, sharing is a core part of how we communicate. We almost feel as if something hasn’t really happened until we’ve captured that fleeting moment in digital form and show it to someone else – even if that someone else is a person we’ve never even met. It’s no different for gamers. Contrary to popular belief, gaming is not an isolated – or isolating – activity. Social interaction is at the heart of what makes gaming enjoyable for a lot of people, which is why you have such large and loyal communities built around…

This story continues at The Next Web

Or just read more coverage about: Xbox

How to recognize an alien when you see one

What would convince you that aliens existed? The question came up recently at a conference on astrobiology, held at Stanford University in California. Several ideas were tossed around – unusual gases in a planet’s atmosphere, strange heat gradients on its surface. But none felt persuasive. Finally, one scientist offered the solution: a photograph. There was some laughter and a murmur of approval from the audience of researchers: yes, a photo of an alien would be convincing evidence, the holy grail of proof that we’re not alone. But why would a picture be so convincing? What is it that we’d see…

This story continues at The Next Web

New top story on Hacker News: Huawei’s Revenue Hits Record $122B in 2019 Despite U.S. Campaign

Huawei’s Revenue Hits Record $122B in 2019 Despite U.S. Campaign
34 by vo2maxer | 21 comments on Hacker News.

New top story on Hacker News: “Wyze was committing espionage against American citizens in the United States”

“Wyze was committing espionage against American citizens in the United States”
13 by Andrex | 7 comments on Hacker News.

New top story on Hacker News: Researchers observe brain-like behavior in nanoscale device

Researchers observe brain-like behavior in nanoscale device
6 by known | 0 comments on Hacker News.

New top story on Hacker News: Our Tesla Model 3 Suffered a Failure While Parked

Our Tesla Model 3 Suffered a Failure While Parked
38 by t3f | 29 comments on Hacker News.

Researcher: Here are 5 things that scare me about AI

AI is being increasingly used to make important decisions. Many AI experts (including Jeff Dean, head of AI at Google, and Andrew Ng, founder of Coursera and deeplearning.ai) say that warnings about sentient robots are overblown, but other harms are not getting enough attention. I agree. I am an AI researcher, and I’m worried about some of the societal impacts that we’re already seeing. Before we dive in, I need to clarify one point that is important to understand: algorithms (and the complex systems they are a part of) can make mistakes. These mistakes come from a variety of sources: bugs in the code, inaccurate…

This story continues at The Next Web

New top story on Hacker News: Arduino programmable air, pneumatics kit

Arduino programmable air, pneumatics kit
13 by itronitron | 0 comments on Hacker News.

New top story on Hacker News: Piet, a programming language in which programs look like abstract paintings

Piet, a programming language in which programs look like abstract paintings
45 by davedx | 7 comments on Hacker News.

2020 will hopefully be the year AI kills company dashboards

For the last 20 years, businesses have fallen hard for dashboards. It was the easy start to becoming an operationally sound and data-driven business. The trend grew, and now board members and executives expect interactive functions and explorable data as part of quarterly reports. Product or demand general managers, who might each drive sales targets and must choose between so many execution options, find that dashboard checks are a daily if not hourly requirement. The analyst, whose work title could be just about anything, was part of this rising tide. But their individual path could be rough or easy, strategic…

This story continues at The Next Web

New top story on Hacker News: Do not install RVM until they fix the domain name and certificate issue

Do not install RVM until they fix the domain name and certificate issue
3 by kouzant | 1 comments on Hacker News.

Why Dutch Railways is following an API-first dev strategy

The Dutch railway system is among the most efficient in the world, with only Japan and Switzerland scoring higher when it comes to punctuality. Currently, an average working day in the Netherlands sees about a million commuters traveling by train. The company Dutch Railways (also known as NS) is constantly innovating to keep its spot in the global top three. By providing digital services such as mobile check-in, seat search, and fixed reservations ‘public transport bicycles,’ the company hopes to welcome an even higher number of Dutch train travelers in the future.  Mobile and API first To bring these apps…

This story continues at The Next Web

New top story on Hacker News: ProtonMail takes aim at Google with an encrypted calendar

ProtonMail takes aim at Google with an encrypted calendar
10 by vabmit | 2 comments on Hacker News.

New top story on Hacker News: Chinese scientist who edited twin babies' genes jailed for 3 years

Chinese scientist who edited twin babies' genes jailed for 3 years
7 by LinuxBender | 0 comments on Hacker News.

New top story on Hacker News: PGP Encrypted ProtonCalendar from ProtonMail

PGP Encrypted ProtonCalendar from ProtonMail
16 by vabmit | 2 comments on Hacker News.

Meet the cobots: the robots who will be your colleagues, not your replacements

The latest industrial robots look like petting zoo versions of the big machines found in many modern factories – small, cute, and you can play with them. But don’t be deceived by their cuddly appearance. They have the potential to change the way humans work with machines and disrupt the existing market for industrial robots. The big difference with this new generation of robots is that they don’t have to operate in closed-off areas. Instead they can safely operate alongside and even collaborate with human workers. For this reason, these machines are often called collaborative robots or “cobots.” Fully automating…

This story continues at The Next Web

Digital marketing could be heading for big changes in 2020. Get on board for $39

Whether you’re interested in Google advertising, social media platform messaging via Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and more, or the best ways to amplify your voice through Amazon, it’s all here.

New top story on Hacker News: Why Games for AI?

Why Games for AI?
6 by p4bl0 | 0 comments on Hacker News.

Social media is fast becoming your customers’ product research tool, so look beyond Google

Twenty-one years old this year, no one can dispute the dominance Google has enjoyed in the world of search. After all, it has a massive 81.5 percent market share worldwide. But, new players are beginning to chip away at its position in Europe and North America — particularly when it comes to users researching products — and they’re coming from different fields. If you shift the focus to look at time spent online as a whole, the vast majority (96 percent) of activity already takes place outside search engines. Meanwhile, more time is being spent on social media, with the…

This story continues at The Next Web

New top story on Hacker News: How do search engines treat trailing slashes and capital letters in URLs?

How do search engines treat trailing slashes and capital letters in URLs?
6 by illdave | 0 comments on Hacker News.

New top story on Hacker News: No, that dot in the domain name of the URL is not a mistake (2004)

No, that dot in the domain name of the URL is not a mistake (2004)
22 by Tomte | 6 comments on Hacker News.

Our favorite things on the internet in 2019

2019 brought us some nifty apps, websites and tools out there that make the dub dub dub a bit more enjoyable — and also saw us stick to a bunch of old favorites that are still going strong at the end of the decade. Here are our favorite things the TNW crew used online this year. Stoop Email newsletters are great for staying up-to-date with news and insights from a wide range of sources, but it’s hard to keep track of them all in your inbox. Stoop is here to help: It’s like Google Reader for newsletters, in that it…

This story continues at The Next Web

New top story on Hacker News: The Security Architecture of Qmail (2004) [pdf]

The Security Architecture of Qmail (2004) [pdf]
3 by kick | 0 comments on Hacker News.

Super-soldier T-cells fight cancer better after a transformational DNA delivery

I enjoy online shopping. However, I often find myself fussing about the delivery options during checkout. This is because not all delivery services are equally efficient and stress-free. This personal experience has also inspired my research. As a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University, I have engineered tiny nano-materials – objects about 10,000 times smaller than a grain of rice – to better deliver DNA into white blood cells called T-cells that defend us against cancer. My method – which I think of as the equivalent of FedEx and UPS – delivers DNA efficiently to T-cells that then transforms them into…

This story continues at The Next Web

Fixing employee access should be your top security priority in 2020

Following an array of internal security breaches across a wide range of industries in 2019, awareness of insider threat is finally starting to grow. As we move towards 2020, it is undoubtedly becoming a major problem, and considerable changes need to be made in order to stop any further growth. According to Verizon, the number of insider related breaches is rising every year, and in 2018, 34 percent of all breaches were caused by insiders. In the first half of 2019 alone, 4.1 billion records were exposed as a result of data breaches, and insider threat is clearly a growing…

This story continues at The Next Web

A tale of ‘trons’: the suffix that tells the story of modern science

If you grew up in the United States in the 1980s, chances are you’ll remember riding the Gravitron at the local fair or struggling to get past level one of the video game Robotron: 2084 at the arcade downtown. That would be after you got up early to watch five cartoon robots form the defender Voltron on the eponymous TV series, and stayed up late to see Woody Allen’s emergence from the Orgasmatron in Sleeper (1973). Throughout middle school, the cool kids got out their Celestron telescopes, while the sadder cases played with their Radio Shack Armatrons – but all of us…

This story continues at The Next Web

New top story on Hacker News: Ruby 2.x Universal RCE Deserialization Gadget Chain (2018)

Ruby 2.x Universal RCE Deserialization Gadget Chain (2018)
6 by pentestercrab | 1 comments on Hacker News.

TNW’s top 10 best video games of 2019

Well it’s certainly been a long year, hasn’t it? It doesn’t feel like it’s still the same year that gave us Kingdom Hearts 3 and Resident Evil 2 Remake. There have been so. Many. Games. And a lot of them were excellent! Not all of them, but quite a large percentage of them. We’ve really been spoiled this year. And speaking of which, it’s that time of the year again. Time to tally up which games were our favorites of 2019, which ones left the best impression on us here at TNW. As with last year, only games that were…

This story continues at The Next Web

5 ways AI can make your car journeys less boring — and more safe

Driving long distances without a passenger can be lonely. If you’ve ever done it, you might have wished for a companion to talk to – someone emotionally intelligent who can understand you and help you on the road. The disembodied voice of SatNav helps to fill the monotonous silence, but it can’t hold a conversation or keep you safe. Research on driverless cars is well underway, but less is heard about the work being done to make cars a smart companion for drivers. In the future, the cars still driven by humans are likely to become as sensitive and attentive…

This story continues at The Next Web

Today’s your last chance to save 60% on Babbel’s language learning app

Well, if you want to get on board with a lifetime subscription to learning up to 14 languages with a world-renowned language training system like Babbel, you better do it now. We hate to break the news, but this is your last chance at getting the entire Babbel catalog for only $159.

Top Posts of 2019

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Sheninger)

find article at noreply@blogger.com (Eric Sheninger)

Please blockchain, prove me wrong and get your shit together in 2020

I’ve been covering the nascent — and often weird — world of cryptocurrency and blockchain since January 2015. During this time, I’ve seen banks dismiss the digital currency but declare their undying love for its underlying blockchain technology, and more recently open up about plans to possibly launch their own version. I’ve witnessed the wild conspiracy theories, the proofs-of-concept, the crime, the hype — you name it, I’ve seen it, and probably even written about it. Blockchain is clearly not the only emerging technology that’s gained momentum in recent years. Advancements in artificial intelligence or the internet-of-things, for example, have…

This story continues at The Next Web

I pimped up my house with these cool LEDs and I’m still a loser

Something’s been missing in my life lately. Cash? No. I work in media, I’m rich. Power? Sure, I could always use more of that. But that’s not it. Beauty? Fuck no, I’m gorgeous. Yet I still feel like a loser. Because my house lacks a certain… Instagrammableness. (Disclaimer: this review is a piece of satire, but the opinions expressed about the product are still genuine.) It’s a huge problem, really — and it’s been a tremendous blow to my self-esteem. Having a trendy-looking house is an essential part of being cool these days, and I have always struggled to achieve decent Feng…

This story continues at The Next Web

These prosthetics designers harness AI to assist India’s amputees

“With amputations being reported on a daily basis, India’s vast rural hinterland is comparable to a warzone,” says Abhit Kumar, who makes practical, affordable prosthetic devices designed to get amputees back into the workforce. More than two thirds of India’s 1.3 billion inhabitants live in low-income rural areas, where accidents resulting in loss of limbs frequently occur from using unsafe agricultural machinery, working on rail and road construction, or as a result of snakebites. According to estimates, India has more than half a million amputees, with tens of thousands added to the amputee population every year. And rehabilitation support from…

This story continues at The Next Web

New top story on Hacker News: Uncover, Understand, Own – Regaining Control over Your AMD CPU [video]

Uncover, Understand, Own – Regaining Control over Your AMD CPU [video]
8 by DyslexicAtheist | 0 comments on Hacker News.

New top story on Hacker News: FDA approves new treatment for adults with migraine

FDA approves new treatment for adults with migraine
12 by apsec112 | 3 comments on Hacker News.

Research: DNA pinpoints region in northern Botswana as humanity’s birthplace

Where was the evolutionary birthplace of modern humans? The East African Great Rift Valley has long been the favored contender – until today. Our new research has used DNA to trace humanity’s earliest footsteps to a prehistoric wetland called Makgadikgadi-Okavango, south of the Great Zambezi River. Our analysis, published in Nature today, shows that the earliest population of modern humans (Homo sapiens sapiens) arose 200,000 years ago in an area that covers parts of modern-day Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe. Today it is a dry and dusty land with scattered salt pans, and it is hard to believe that modern humans…

This story continues at The Next Web

New top story on Hacker News: A New York Railroad Uses Scorching Lasers to Stay on Schedule

A New York Railroad Uses Scorching Lasers to Stay on Schedule
5 by tomohawk | 3 comments on Hacker News.

New top story on Hacker News: I have 500 unread mails, 2K unread articles and 5K unread posts. I am drowning

I have 500 unread mails, 2K unread articles and 5K unread posts. I am drowning
5 by tobyntishpowzd | 5 comments on Hacker News.
And that's on top of the hundreds of tweets that I also "bookmark" in order to check later, on top of a couple of client projects I am currently working on, on top of my relationship that often feels neglected and on top of my life as an individual (= my friends, my family, books I want to read, movies I want to watch, music I want to listen to, places I want to go to, etc etc). But to add some more context: I am a freelance developer (web, mostly), one of my clients is a company that has hired me to do data analytics for them in a field that's quite new (and so there's a lot of studying (about statistics) and research (about the field) from my side) and I really, really , like exploring, studying and learning new things in many areas. So, over the years, I've been collecting pieces of knowledge or other general information that I found interesting. And now, I find myself just before the start of a new year (= reflectioning and resolutioning) and just before a commitment that will require some very effective time management for the next few months, thinking that I just can't do it. Now, to "do it" means to take action over all of these ~7.5K items. With very simple mathematics, if each item requires an action of ~5' each (this number is quite off but I am using it just to make more sense), I need something like ~26 days of doing nothing else other than "actioning" on these items (or ~52 days if I split the day in two halves, etc etc). Not very possible. And here I am, asking for thoughts, opinions, advice. How do I do it? I could just "-f delete -all" in my inbox, pocket and bookmarks folder but I just "can't". Have any of you been in any similar positions? How did you deal with it? Is it some sort of standard "digital hoarding" situation? Is there something deeper? Should I seek for professional help, maybe?

How cognitive psychologists can improve crime scene forensic

When a jury decides the fate of a person, they do so based on the evidence presented to them in the courtroom. Evidence obtained from forensic analysis, such as DNA analysis, is often interpreted as strong evidence by jurors. This perception of forensic evidence is enhanced by popular TV shows like CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, where physical evidence is used to solve murders in a “whodunit” showdown between deductive cops and crafty criminals covering their tracks. All it takes is the right evidence to piece the story together. But recent research suggests that the reality of forensic analysis is that…

This story continues at The Next Web

New top story on Hacker News: Railroad Grade Pocket Watches

Railroad Grade Pocket Watches
5 by akehrer | 0 comments on Hacker News.

New top story on Hacker News: Mileage runs are last-minute dashes for airline status

Mileage runs are last-minute dashes for airline status
2 by wallflower | 0 comments on Hacker News.

New top story on Hacker News: Headphone Specs Explained (2017)

Headphone Specs Explained (2017)
3 by Tomte | 0 comments on Hacker News.

New top story on Hacker News: Rivian's platform approach to electric vehicles helped it raise $3B this year

Rivian's platform approach to electric vehicles helped it raise $3B this year
14 by reallydontask | 6 comments on Hacker News.

5 expectant bike tech trends to expect in 2020

Welcome to Riding Nerdy, TNW’s fortnightly dive into bicycle-based tech, where we go into too much detail and geek out on all things related to pedal-powered gadgets. The new year is here, while we might only just be done with saying goodbye to 2019 and the last decade, there’s an exciting year ahead. Join Riding Nerdy this week, where we look forward with our top 5 predictions for bike tech in the coming year. 1. Ebikes…. ebikes everywhere! The past year has been great in terms of uptake, but ebikes are still yet to take over the European market. In…

This story continues at The Next Web

Decade of Diversity: How tech failed to fix its gender disparity problem

A lack of diversity is one of the biggest problems the tech industry faces, despite a significant growth in the number of women working in the tech industry, female representation has stalled over the last decade. Currently, just 18 percent of leadership roles are filled by women, and the stats are even bleaker for women of color. Research has proven, on numerous occasions, that diverse teams are good for business — as they bring new perspectives, attract new talent, and improve company culture. This is why Alison Wynn, a research associate with the Stanford VMware Women’s Leadership Innovation Lab, spent…

This story continues at The Next Web

New top story on Hacker News: Germany Calls for European Firewall Against U.S. Sanctions

Germany Calls for European Firewall Against U.S. Sanctions
22 by jtangelder | 6 comments on Hacker News.

How to understand an entire book in only 12 minutes

12min is an app that isn’t ready for you to give up on the wisdom found in a good book.  Right now, you can get a lifetime subscription to their massive micro-book library for only $29, over 90 percent off the regular price, from TNW Deals.

Real estate investing isn’t just for the rich. For $39, get the data insights you need.

Mashvisor is churning out results that used to take seasoned real estate investors months to find. Now, you can take advantage of this one-stop resource for finding hidden real estate treasures with a lifetime subscription to Mashvisor, now only as low as $39 (over 90 percent off) from TNW Deals.

New top story on Hacker News: Pro-Indian ‘fake’ websites aimed at influencing decision-making in Europe

Pro-Indian ‘fake’ websites aimed at influencing decision-making in Europe
53 by known | 28 comments on Hacker News.

The 20 biggest tech flops of the 2010s

Google Glass Google Glass is the embodiment of a product ahead of its time. Few in the tech world doubt that augmented reality wearables will eventually be big, but if the world isn’t ready for them in 2019, it most definitely wasn’t back in 2014. Google Glass was an awesome concept, but the hardware was simply too sluggish, cumbersome, and creepy to ever catch on. Windows Phone Breaking into the smartphone market is notoriously difficult, even more so when you’re trying to create a new platform altogether. Microsoft had a head start over both Apple and Google, what with the…

This story continues at The Next Web

From the iPhone 4 to the S7, these are TNW’s most beloved phones of the 2010s

Technologically, the 2010s were insane — especially when it came to phones. In the past decade, we’ve not just seen the capabilities of these devices explode, but their prevalence has skyrocketed too. The black rectangles are everywhere. They’ve taken over. We carry them everywhere. But getting to this point wasn’t as simple as it just, well, happening. No, instead there were thousands-upon-thousands of phones released in the past ten years that got us to this point, many of them deeply flawed, weird, or not very good — but we loved them anyway. Now, rather than rounding up the most “influential” or…

This story continues at The Next Web

New top story on Hacker News: Show HN: Localdots – HTTPS domains for localhost with autoconfig and hot reload

Show HN: Localdots – HTTPS domains for localhost with autoconfig and hot reload
9 by lfarzati | 0 comments on Hacker News.

Genetically modifying mosquitoes to prevent disease carries unknown risks

Every year, around one million people die of mosquito-borne diseases according to the World Health Organization (WHO). This is why mosquitoes are considered one of the deadliest living creatures on the planet — not because they are lethal themselves, but because many of the viruses and parasites they transmit are. Consider, for example, dengue fever. This mosquito-borne virus is a leading cause of hospitalization and death among children and adults in several countries in Asia and Latin America. In 2016, member states in three of the six WHO regions reported 3.34 million cases. In the absence of an effective vaccine…

This story continues at The Next Web

New top story on Hacker News: The US inmates billed per night in jail

The US inmates billed per night in jail
5 by vector_spaces | 1 comments on Hacker News.

Electric cars could benefit your health more than the planet

About half of the world’s electric vehicles are sold in China. It’s the largest market in the world for EVs, buoyed by government subsidies. The main goals for these incentives have been to reduce fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions. Now a new study in Nature Sustainability shows that by reducing air pollution, a growing fleet of EVs in the nation could also save thousands of lives. If just over a quarter of privately owned cars and a slightly larger share of commercial vehicles were electric, researchers say in the study, the cuts in air pollution could avoid almost 17,500 deaths. What’s more,…

This story continues at The Next Web

Here’s how to spot legitimate AI from marketing fluff

Within the Data Science community, there’s a joke that goes like this: Q: What’s the difference between AI and Machine Learning (ML)? A: If it’s written in Python, it’s ML. If it’s written in PowerPoint, it’s AI. There are a lot of companies out there that claim to do artificial intelligence (AI). You’ll find the omnipresent initials appended to domain names or within the first few words of a pitch deck, but, frankly, a lot of it is BS. Usually, it’s a set of simple regressions and/or heuristics that require a human monitor, making it more of a semi-automation system.…

This story continues at The Next Web

New top story on Hacker News: U.S. government ‘retires’ (read removes) detailed pollution map from internet

U.S. government ‘retires’ (read removes) detailed pollution map from internet
14 by arparthasarathi | 0 comments on Hacker News.

New top story on Hacker News: Digital Exile: How I Got Banned for Life from Airbnb

Digital Exile: How I Got Banned for Life from Airbnb
30 by jnbiche | 7 comments on Hacker News.

3 security steps you should take to protect your company from fraud

Fraud is one of the most prominent threats facing the UK economy, costing a reported £130 billion each year. Due to the relentless activities of cyber criminals, businesses, and consumers alike are suffering from the devastating effects of fraud. In the first half of 2019, there were over 1.3 million cases of payment card fraud, a 16 percent rise on the same period last year, according to UK Finance. Furthermore, half of UK businesses have fallen victim to cyber fraud in the past two years, explaining why 42 percent believe cybercrime will have the greatest impact on businesses over the next two-year period.…

This story continues at The Next Web

Why your organization needs to adopt a DataOps approach in 2020

I’m confident 2020 will be remembered as the year DataOps came of age, as companies are discovering the need to maximize the inherent business value of their data. DataOps adds the observations that are needed in all aspects of data management that keeps tracks of data moving at speed across the organization. That data will rewire the way businesses operate is now an inevitability. But to truly make the most of it, a DataOps function has to be included — it’s the only way to make use of data’s huge opportunity. As we head into the new year, here are…

This story continues at The Next Web

Streaming 2019: Netflix and Disney vs the world (and we’re not complaining)

Streaming in 2019 is massively different to what it was a few years ago. This year alone, multiple new services have either launched or been revealed, disrupting what was, until recently, a one-horse race. So do we, the viewers, win or lose in this big race for our attention? Netflix and shill There was a time when Netflix was the only game in town. It started a revolution in the digital film distribution, and once upon a time you could find just about anything you wanted on it (particularly when its DVD business was more of a cornerstone than it…

This story continues at The Next Web

For $39, you can load up on IT certification training in 2020’s most popular arenas

You can go a long way to shoring up your IT knowledge, as well as getting accredited in some of those major tech arenas, with the training found in The Complete 2020 IT Certification Exam Prep Mega Bundle. It’s on sale right now at a fraction of its regular price, only $39 from TNW Deals.

New top story on Hacker News: A Robot That Explains Its Actions Is First Step Towards AI We Can (Maybe) Trust

A Robot That Explains Its Actions Is First Step Towards AI We Can (Maybe) Trust
7 by YeGoblynQueenne | 2 comments on Hacker News.

Startups’ focus should shift from growth to profitability in 2020

A reversal in the fortunes of a string of startup darlings this year has hammered home that massive growth alone does not make a business successful and sustainable. Throughout 2019, we’ve seen a number of ‘success stories’ slashed in value, cutting jobs, and facing an uphill struggle to restructure and turn themselves around, most notably at the unicorn stable of Softbank. So, has reality finally caught up with the startup growth illusion? It might be the big names that hit the headlines, but the growth illusion is as much of an issue among startups just setting up shop. A culture has…

This story continues at The Next Web

GDPR will force programmatic advertising to evolve in 2020 — and that’s a good thing

The introduction of GDPR saw programmatic ad spending sharply decline, but with Digiday reporting that this had begun to recover as little as a month after the new legislation was enforced, the usefulness of data protection hasn’t gone unnoticed by brands. In fact, it’s set to benefit companies ever more so in 2020 with better targets and personalization among some of the advantages.  Here, I will be explaining what exactly GDPR will mean for programmatic advertising in 2020.  Fewer targets, but more relevant ones Unsurprisingly, since GDPR was implemented, it’s been increasingly difficult for advertisers to harvest user-data, which was…

This story continues at The Next Web

5 milestones that shaped 50 years of internet history

Fifty years ago, a UCLA computer science professor and his student sent the first message over the predecessor to the internet, a network called ARPANET. On Oct. 29, 1969, Leonard Kleinrock and Charley Kline sent Stanford University researcher Bill Duval a two-letter message: “lo.” The intended message, the full word “login,” was truncated by a computer crash. Much more traffic than that travels through the internet these days, with billions of emails sent and searches conducted daily. As a scholar of how the internet is governed, I know that today’s vast communications web is a result of governments and regulators…

This story continues at The Next Web

Lab-grown mini brains could soon outsmart us

The cutting-edge method of growing clusters of cells that organize themselves into mini versions of human brains in the lab is gathering more and more attention. These “brain organoids,” made from stem cells, offer unparalleled insights into the human brain, which is notoriously difficult to study. But some researchers are worried that a form of consciousness might arise in such mini-brains, which are sometimes transplanted into animals. They could at least be sentient to the extent of experiencing pain and suffering from being trapped. If this is true – and before we consider how likely it is – it is…

This story continues at The Next Web

New top story on Hacker News: Elroy Air’s autonomous hybrid aircraft can pick up cargo containers on its own

Elroy Air’s autonomous hybrid aircraft can pick up cargo containers on its own
4 by prostoalex | 0 comments on Hacker News.

New top story on Hacker News: The Ethical Failures Behind the Boeing Disasters

The Ethical Failures Behind the Boeing Disasters
1 by whack | 0 comments on Hacker News.

New top story on Hacker News: In praise of property-based testing

In praise of property-based testing
22 by yhoiseth | 0 comments on Hacker News.

Your home isn’t smart, it’s just connected — here’s why

Just like how certain types of technology and operating systems give way to new, updated versions and become outdated, so does the terminology we use to describe them. We no longer refer to appliances like washing machines or water heaters as ‘automated,’ because in our world today, we just know and expect them to be automated. The more technology advances, the farther away we get from having to specify that a piece of technology is “manual” or “analog” vs. “automated.” By this same logic, we’re getting to the point in 2020 where we should reassess what it truly means to…

This story continues at The Next Web

New top story on Hacker News: Online hate speech could be contained like a computer virus, say researchers

Online hate speech could be contained like a computer virus, say researchers
4 by hhs | 0 comments on Hacker News.

New top story on Hacker News: How Disinformation Hacks Your Brain

How Disinformation Hacks Your Brain
3 by Elof | 0 comments on Hacker News.

The 10 video games that defined the 2010s

The games industry has undergone several serious changes in the last few years. YouTubers and are now the bread-and-butter of game advertising, mods are almost as interesting as the games they’re changing, and battle royale is effing everywhere. So where’d these changes come from? They came from a few games that, through their impact and popularity, changed the gaming industry as a whole. I won’t lie to you: trying to rank influence is really difficult. There are so many games that left ripples on the industry that judging the size of those ripples can be a tricky exercise in sorting…

This story continues at The Next Web

New top story on Hacker News: Raiders of the Lost Web (2015)

Raiders of the Lost Web (2015)
4 by indigodaddy | 0 comments on Hacker News.

New top story on Hacker News: Ask HN: How do you justify taking unpaid vacation as self employed?

Ask HN: How do you justify taking unpaid vacation as self employed?
10 by Markoff | 10 comments on Hacker News.
I am working from home and my workload steadily picked up over years currently almost reaching my limits working basically full time, some days 08-18 only with few minutes break for lunch. I always enjoyed working from home for few hours and having much more spare hours than regular employees who have to sit in work no matter, if they have actual work or no. But since I don't wanna be potentially replaced by competition I haven't taken vacation in years (that was not problem before since I was not that busy and could rest enough every day to have free morning or afternoon) and I don't won't to refuse any projects to miss on money I can't imagine taking vacation, because I'm not gonna lose only vacation expenses, but also similar amount in lost income for every day I would not work. Oh and I forgot to mention because of my partner company is in China I can't follow even my European holidays (while living in Europe), meaning I worked even on Christmas, yesterday and today and have only few free days during CNY and October golden week (but none of them actually as long as in China since I get anyway more tasks in advance or some Chinese will give tasks to us even during Chinese holidays). The best case scenario would be if my partner company decreased amount of projects, since I would be perfectly fine even with half money I earn in exchange for saving half of the work hours without me rejecting anything, but that doesn't seem realistic. So how would you justify taking unpaid vacation with family under such circumstances? As I see it now I will give family vacation, meaning wife and children can enjoy different place (beach) and I will work from hotel room, possibly finding few free hours in early morning or late afternoon and free weekend.

Here’s how law enforcement catches cryptocurrency criminals

When Satoshi Nakamoto first created Bitcoin, they probably had no idea that it would go on to become the dark web’s favorite cryptocurrency — or that it would, in fact, pave the way for other coins that would eventually be used to fulfill other illicit purposes. The links between cryptocurrency and crime have long been documented. Silk Road’s infamous collapse after it was shut down by law enforcement in 2013, for example, highlighted how the technology was being exploited by criminals in the hidden corners of the internet. Criminals use cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin for various purposes: laundering dirty money,…

This story continues at The Next Web

New top story on Hacker News: How to Manage Apache Airflow with Systemd on Debian or Ubuntu

How to Manage Apache Airflow with Systemd on Debian or Ubuntu
4 by njanakiev | 0 comments on Hacker News.

We forced an actual designer to review our writers’ DIY article images

Here at TNW we do something most other large tech sites don’t: get our writers to create their own article images. If you take a quick glance at other big news outlets, you’ll see the majority of images have a very stock photo feel to them. But not at TNW. Here, we’re all about DIY article images. Why? Well, by making our own visual art, we — the writers —get to add another element to our stories. We can stretch our creative muscles, use the medium of image to highlight a specific element of our story, create a vibe, or,…

This story continues at The Next Web

12 ear-tingling podcasts we LOVED in 2019

Right now, there are more than 700,000 active podcasts and more than 29 million podcast episodes, as illustrated by Music Oomph. So it’s no wonder 2019 feels like ‘the year’ for podcasts as a Twitter user perfectly illustrated in a meme: Starting a podcast in 2019 pic.twitter.com/Lrx39rXNSp — Mike Camerlengo (@MCamerlengo) October 19, 2019 As thousands of podcasts are uploaded to streaming platforms every day, searching for a new series or episode isn’t an easy job — you’ll find yourself wading through the mediocre, the over-enthusiastic, and the unrelatable shows. So, to save you the hassle of finding your next go-to podcasts, TNW’s editorial…

This story continues at The Next Web

New top story on Hacker News: A Tapestry of Time and Terrain (2013)

A Tapestry of Time and Terrain (2013)
3 by bookofjoe | 0 comments on Hacker News.

New top story on Hacker News: Imsai 8080 Replica

Imsai 8080 Replica
18 by kqr2 | 2 comments on Hacker News.

New top story on Hacker News: Lawmakers Warn Against Private Equity Firm's .Org Takeover

Lawmakers Warn Against Private Equity Firm's .Org Takeover
19 by miles | 0 comments on Hacker News.

How birds drop ‘unnecessary’ genes can help us understand evolution

Humans, the latest tally suggests, have approximately 21,000 genes in our genome, the set of genetic information in an organism. But do we really need every gene we have? What if we lost three or four? What if we lost 3,000 or 4,000? Could we still function? Humans have variation in their genomes, but the overall size does not vary dramatically among individuals, with the exception of certain genetic disorders like Down’s syndrome, which is caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21 and all the genes that it carries. Each gene in a genome provides the code for a…

This story continues at The Next Web

New top story on Hacker News: AirPods Are Becoming a Platform

AirPods Are Becoming a Platform
8 by bdr | 1 comments on Hacker News.

Why your cat is lousy at chess yet way smarter than even the most advanced AI

If you share your home with a dog or a cat, look at it carefully and you will get a good overview of everything we don’t know how to do in artificial intelligence. “But my cat does nothing all day except sleep, eat and wash herself,” you may think. And yet your cat knows how to walk, run, jump (and land on her feet), hear, see, watch, learn, play, hide, be happy, be sad, be afraid, dream, hunt, eat, fight, flee, reproduce, educate her kittens – and the list is still very long. Each of these actions requires processes that…

This story continues at The Next Web

New top story on Hacker News: Brain-Like Functions Emerging in a Metallic Nanowire Network

Brain-Like Functions Emerging in a Metallic Nanowire Network
25 by missosoup | 0 comments on Hacker News.

New top story on Hacker News: LSD – My Problem Child by Albert Hofmann (Entire Book Under “Fair Use” Ruling) [pdf]

LSD – My Problem Child by Albert Hofmann (Entire Book Under “Fair Use” Ruling) [pdf]
5 by bookofjoe | 2 comments on Hacker News.

Human art evades understanding so how will we ever ‘get’ machinic art?

Assuming that the emergence of consciousness in artificial minds is possible, those minds will feel the urge to create art. But will we be able to understand it? To answer this question, we need to consider two subquestions: when does the machine become an author of an artwork? And how can we form an understanding of the art that it makes? Empathy, we argue, is the force behind our capacity to understand works of art. Think of what happens when you are confronted with an artwork. We maintain that, to understand the piece, you use your own conscious experience to…

This story continues at The Next Web

If Santa screwed up, here are four late holiday deals to help make it right.

If the big man misfired on a gift this season (or maybe if he just airballed the whole thing and forgot), you can help bail him out with one of these “too late for Christmas, but not too late to matter” gift suggestions.