Magic Leap raises another $500+ million in series D funding Magic Leap remains shrouded in mystery but continues to impress investors; the company’s just raised another $502 million in a Series D round of funding. The round was led by Temasek with participation from EDBI, Grupo Globo, Janus Henderson, Alibaba Group, Fidelity Management and others. UploadVR
Exploring ADINT: Using ad targeting for surveillance on a budget — or — how Alice can buy ads to track Bob The online advertising ecosystem is built upon the ability of advertising networks to know properties about users (e.g., their interests or physical locations) and deliver targeted ads based on those properties. Much of the privacy debate around online advertising has focused on the harvesting of these properties by the advertising networks. In this work, we explore the following question: can third-parties use the purchasing of ads to extract private information about individuals? (PDF) University of Washington
Turning the optical fiber network into a giant earthquake sensor Optical fibers can do more than transmit data—they can actually sense what’s going on around them, including the earliest rumbles of an earthquake. For the past year, Biondo Biondi, a professor of geophysics at Stanford University, has used a 4.8-kilometer (or 3-mile) test loop of optical fibers installed on the Stanford campus to record vibrations caused by earthquakes, and distinguish those from vibrations caused by other sources, such as passing cars. IEEE Spectrum
Warning of 'ecological Armageddon' after dramatic plunge in insect numbers The abundance of flying insects has plunged by three-quarters over the past 25 years, according to a new study that has shocked scientists. Insects are an integral part of life on Earth as both pollinators and prey for other wildlife and it was known that some species such as butterflies were declining. But the newly revealed scale of the losses to all insects has prompted warnings that the world is “on course for ecological Armageddon”, with profound impacts on human society. The Guardian
Federal judge unseals New York Crime Lab’s software for analyzing DNA evidence A federal judge this week unsealed the source code for a software program developed by New York City’s crime lab, exposing to public scrutiny a disputed technique for analyzing complex DNA evidence. Judge Valerie Caproni of the Southern District of New York lifted a protective order in response to a motion by ProPublica, which argued that there was a public interest in disclosing the code. Pro Publica
Spitballing the performance of Nvidia's purported GTX 1070 Ti The smoke around Nvidia's purported GeForce GTX 1070 Ti has become too thick to ignore of late. We've seen full specs of the card leak over the past few weeks, and a prematurely-posted product page from board partner KFA2 (spotted by the folks at Hexus, and now removed) has more or less confirmed that such a card is coming. The Tech Report
The Internet is rife with in-browser miners and it's getting worse each day Ever since mid-September, when Coinhive launched and the whole cryptojacking frenzy started, the Internet has gone crazy with in-browser cryptocurrency miners, and new sites that offer similar services are popping up on a weekly basis. While one might argue that mining Monero in a site's background is an acceptable alternative to viewing intrusive ads... Bleeping Computer
Office network upgrade part 1: infrastructure For longtime readers, it should come as no surprise the robustness of our internal network at the PC Perspective offices isn't necessarily our primary focus. We spend a lot of time here dealing with misbehaving hardware and software, so when something works, we tend to stick with it—especially when our day-to-day workflow depends on it. However, I have recently taken it upon myself to make some changes. PC Perspective
Alphabet's X delivery drones drop burritos in Australia What is it with delivery drones and burritos? The Burrito Bomber was one of the very early drone delivery concepts to emerge back in 2012, then last year Alphabet began bringing Chipotle burritos to students of Virginia Tech. Now the tech giant will start using experimental aircraft to drop off tightly wrapped tubes of rice 'n' beans to folk in rural Australia as it looks to step up its drone delivery game. New Atlas
Chris McVeigh's my first computer DOS edition Even if you’ve not heard of Chris McVeigh, you’ve probably seen his builds in one way or another, especially his iconic Classic Mac that’s been featured quite a bit across the media. As a brick artist, Chris specializes in capturing fragments of details in tiny builds that give maximum impact. The other great part about Chris’s builds is that all of his build guides are available free for download... Brothers Brick
Companies turn blind eye to open source security risks Many software developers and enterprise users have been lax or oblivious to the need to properly manage open source software, suggest survey results Flexera released Tuesday. Companies are not mindful of open source components and fail to monitor security implications, according to the report, which highlights the consequences of failure to establish open source acquisition and usage policies, and to follow best practices. Linux Insider
The AI that has nothing to learn from humans It was a tense summer day in 1835 Japan. The country’s reigning Go player, Honinbo Jowa, took his seat across a board from a 25-year-old prodigy by the name of Akaboshi Intetsu. Both men had spent their lives mastering the two-player strategy game that’s long been popular in East Asia. Their face-off, that day, was high-stakes: Honinbo and Akaboshi represented two Go houses fighting for power, and the rivalry between the two camps had lately exploded into accusations of foul play. The Atlantic
Practical public key cryptography Encryption is one of the pillars of modern-day communications. You have devices that use encryption all the time, even if you are not aware of it. There are so many applications and systems using it that it’s hard to begin enumerating them. Ranging from satellite television to your mobile phone, from smart power meters to your car keys, from your wireless router to your browser, and from your Visa to your Bitcoins — the list is endless. Hackaday
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