Two Microsoft Employees Are Claiming That Microsoft Gave Them PTSD

FOX News: Two employees are suing Microsoft, alleging their jobs gave them PTSD

Two Microsoft employees claim the company made them look at photos and videos "designed to entertain some of the most twisted and sick minded people in the world." Now they're suing.

Courthouse News reports Henry Soto and Greg Blauert were part of Microsoft's online safety team whose job was to figure out what online content should be taken down and when it should be reported to police.

In that position, Soto and Blauert say they had to look at images of child pornography, murder, bestiality, and "indescribable sexual assault." They filed a lawsuit against Microsoft last month, accusing the company of negligence, disability discrimination, and violation of the Consumer Protection Act.

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CSN Editor: They are claiming that Microsoft didn't warn them about what to expect in the job and didn't provide psychological support. I find this hard to believe. Unless they have lived in a bubble for most of their life .... everyone knows that the internet has a lot of garbage that is not for the faint of heart.

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Demonstration of 4 color printing with acrylic slides pic.twitter.com/q2BBqWdurU

— World and Science (@WorldAndScience) January 16, 2017

The Riemann Hypothesis

Jørgen Veisdal, Medium: The Riemann Hypothesis, explained

In loving memory of John Forbes Nash Jr.

You remember prime numbers, right? Those numbers you can’t divide into other numbers, except when you divide them by themselves or 1? Right. Here is a 3000 year old question:

2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, p. What is p? 31. What is the next p? It’s 37. The p after that?41. And then? 43. How, but… …how do you know what comes next?

Present an argument or formula which (even barely) predicts what the next prime number will be (in any given sequence of numbers), and your name will be forever linked to one of the greatest achievements of the human mind, akin to Newton, Einstein and Gödel. Figure out why the primes act as they do, and you will never have to do anything else, ever again.

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This Professor Is Teaching The NSA's Best Hackers

PPP group photo after winning @Defcon CTF 2016 pic.twitter.com/BpDYmMH7nA

— David Brumley (@thedavidbrumley) August 8, 2016

Cyber Scoop: Meet the man responsible for teaching some of the NSA’s best young hackers

The National Security Agency is an enormous organization by nearly any corporate standard, with more than 35,000 employees. Former Deputy Director Chris Inglis once joked that the spy agency is “the biggest employer of introverts.” More frequently though, the NSA refers to itself as the largest employer of mathematicians. In recent years, while the U.S. has continuously confronted new threats in cyberspace, the agency has increasingly become a training ground for young, talented, highly educated computer security professionals.

Underlining the NSA’s race to hire the best and brightest is a list of 213 universities that the spy agency has designated as “National Centers of Academic Excellence.”

These schools offer a myriad of computer security training programs, each providing a stepping stone into the secretive agency. In this context, Carnegie Mellon University is to the NSA what the University of Alabama is to the NFL. And Professor David Brumley is CMU’s Nick Saban.

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CSN Editor: His Twitter page is interesting (the link is here).

A Human-Powered Paper Centrifuge

Americans Love Their Internet And Smartphones

The Pew Research Center survey found 77 percent of American adults owning a smartphone in late 2016, more than double the level of 2011, when 35 percent said they used such devices

Phys.org: Smartphone, internet use at record high in US: survey

More than three-fourths of American adults now use a smartphone, helping to boost internet adoption to a record level, a survey showed Thursday.

The Pew Research Center survey found 77 percent owning a smartphone in late 2016, more than double the level of 2011, when 35 percent said they used such devices.

The rise was fueled by a "sharp uptick" in smartphone use by those with low incomes and those 50 and older, Pew said.

"Smartphones are nearly ubiquitous among younger adults," said Pew researcher Aaron Smith, noting that 92 percent of adults under 29 own one.

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CSN Editor: I am surprised that only 77% own a smartphone .... I thought it was closer to 90%.

The European Parliament Wants To Give Robots Legal Status By Calling Them 'Electronic Persons'

The report proposes a kill switch on robots. © Francois Lenoir / Reuters

RT: Robot kill switches & legal status: MEPs endorse AI proposal

A European Parliament committee has voted in favor of a draft report that proposes granting legal status to robots, categorizing them as “electronic persons”.

The draft report, approved by 17 votes to two and two abstentions by the European Parliament Committee on Legal Affairs, proposes that “The most sophisticated autonomous robots could be established as having the status of electronic persons with specific rights and obligations, including that of making good any damage they may cause.”

Authored by Luxembourg MEP Mady Delvaux, the report proposes definitions and outlines rules to govern how robots interact with humans “now that humankind stands on the threshold of an era” that it claims will see artificial intelligence (AI) “unleash a new industrial revolution.”

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WNU Editor: I will not be surprised if this is past by the EU parliament.

A U.S. Bee Species Has Been Placed On The Endangered Species List.

AFP: Bee placed on endangered list after US habitat loss

Miami (AFP) - US officials for the first time have placed a bee found in the continental United States on the endangered species list.

Authorities said Wednesday the move was taken after a precipitous decline in the rusty patched bumblebee population, due to pesticides, disease and climate change.

These once common bumblebees are now "balancing precariously on the brink of extinction," said a statement from the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

"Abundance of the rusty patched bumble bee has plummeted by 87 percent, leaving small, scattered populations in 13 states and one province," down from 28 states in the 1990s.

The final rule listing the rusty patched bumble bee as endangered appeared in the January 11 edition of the Federal Register and takes effect on February 10.

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CSN Editor: I expect other bee species to be placed on this list.

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This is how a dental implant is installed pic.twitter.com/NlckkkOt0I

— Science World (@ScienceworId) January 11, 2017

An AI Robot To Combat Loneliness

Elli.Q reminds lonely elderly people to take medication, talk to family and stay active

The Telegraph: AI robot 'friend' launched to chat and play games with lonely elderly

A talking robot which chats to elderly people, reminding them to take their medication and stay active, has been launched in London.

Elli.Q, which is one of the most advanced social companion robots in the world, has been designed to convey emotion through different speech tones, lights and body language to be as engaging as possible.

The little robot suggests activities such as reading, going for a walk, playing games to keep mentally active or phoning friends and family.

And she is programmed to learn what her owner enjoys, gradually tailoring her programming to fit.

Elli.Q has been developed by Intuition Robotics to prevent older people feeling socially isolated, and keep them connected to family and friends.

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CSN Editor: I can see this being valuable for seniors who live alone.

World Economic Forum Warns That Artificial Intelligence Needs Strong Governance

Computer Weekly: World Economic Forum warns of AI business risk

Ahead of its annual meeting in Davos, the World Economic Forum warns that artificial intelligence needs strong governance

The World Economic Forum’s Global Risk Report 2017 has highlighted risks associated with artificial intelligence (AI).

Based on a survey of 750 experts, the report warned that AI, biotech and robotics have among the highest benefits to society, but they also require the most legislation.

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CSN Editor: No one is ready for the large scale unemployment that the adoption of AI would create.

The World Economic Forum Releases Its Top Global Risks For 2017

CNBC: Top five global risks for 2017: WEF

The World Economic Forum's (WEF) flagship annual report surveyed 750 experts to identify the most significant global concerns. Here are the top five:

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Update: Zero Hedge has a good summary .... These Are The Top Global Risks For 2017 According To The World Economic Forum (Zero Hedge).

CSN Editor: The World Economic Forum's report is here.

More News And Details On The iPhone 8 Are Becoming Known

The latest rumor to hit the web comes from an ‘upstream supply chain’ that says the Cupertino company is ditching the aluminium back cover. Instead, it will be designed with a stainless steel forging process .Pictured is an iPhone 8 concept render

Daily Mail: iPhone 8 to have stainless steel frame, all glass front and back and 'invisible' speakers and cameras

* Latest iPhone 8 rumor suggests Apple is ditching the aluminium back cover
* Instead will be designed with new stainless steel forging process
* Will bring together two reinforced glass panels supported by a metal frame
* Apple also received patent to hide components under the screen

It may still be months away, but speculations about Apple’s iPhone 8 are sweeping the internet.

The latest rumor came from an ‘upstream supply chain’ that suggests the Cupertino company is ditching the aluminium back cover.

Instead, it will be designed with a stainless steel forging process that brings together two reinforced glass panels supported by a metal frame.

Read more ....

CSN Editor: It looks sharp.

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The world's movement of people – in one map https://t.co/vKRtNs3NaQ #migration pic.twitter.com/SvtNyE5a8b

— World Economic Forum (@wef) January 10, 2017

The Inside Story Of The First iPhone

BBC: 'Sweating bullets' - The inside story of the first iPhone

"Steve had expressly told me it was totally top secret. He said he was going to fire anyone who tells the world.

"I was sweating bullets."

Tony Fadell was pondering just how he was going to explain to Steve Jobs that he'd lost the prototype of what would become the most successful technology product of all time, the Apple iPhone which launched 10 years ago on Monday.

He'd just got off a plane, felt his pockets, and... nothing.

"I was walking through every scenario thinking about what could happen," he told me. None of them ended well.

After two hours, relief - thanks to the efforts of a search party that didn’t know what it was trying to find.

"It fell out of my pocket and it was lodged in between the seats!"

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CSN Editor: The above video is Steve Jobs announcing the first iPhone in 2007

A Robot-Powered Burger Restaurant Is Coming To San Francisco

This is the only known image of a burger manufactured by Momentum Machines technology. Momentum Machines / The Wharton School, The University of Pennsylvania

Business Insider/Tech Insider: This robot-powered restaurant could put fast food workers out of a job

A robot-powered burger joint is coming to San Francisco.

In 2012, secretive robotics startup Momentum Machines debuted a machine that could crank out 400 made-to-order hamburgers in an hour. It's fully autonomous, meaning the robot can slice toppings, grill a patty, and assemble and bag the burger without any help from humans. The internet flipped out.

Years of relative silence ensued, but in January, Hoodline's Brittany Hopkins learned that the San Francisco-based startup had applied for a building permit to convert a ground-floor retail space in the SoMa neighborhood into a restaurant.

Now it looks like the restaurant is actually happening. A job posting on Craigslist from early June gives us our first glimpse into how the company's future flagship, presumably opening soon, might work.

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CSN Editor: I suspect that this restaurant will also be more cleaner.

Experts Say AIs Will Soon Understand Human Emotions

Daily Mail: The rise of the robot interrogator: Experts say AIs will soon understand our emotions - and could do everything from give therapy to quiz terrorists

* Artificial intelligence (AI) has become increasingly good at reading emotion
* AI can now recognise faces, speech and even turn sketches into photos
* AI may be able to match humans in recognising emotions in a few decades
* An emotionally intelligent AI has potential benefits, be it to give someone a companion or to help us performing certain tasks – ranging from criminal interrogation to talking therapy

How would you feel about getting therapy from a robot?

Emotionally intelligent machines may not be as far away as it seems.

Over the last few decades, artificial intelligence (AI) have got increasingly good at reading emotional reactions in humans.

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CSN Editor: Humans have trouble understanding the emotions of others .... it is going to be interesting to see how AIs will perform.

Are We Facing A Global Cooling Trend?

Extreme cold and snow pound the northern hemisphere as some scientists warn of the potential for ice age conditions. Photo of Greenland by NASA (public domain)

Climate Depot: Pravda: ‘Scientists Now Warn Of A New Ice Age’ As Temperature Plummets to – 80°F In Russia

Some impressive winter events have been taking place all across the northern hemisphere lately. Especially eastern and southeastern Europe have been pounded by massive snowfalls and tremendously cold temperatures. Turkey has been buried by heavy snows and extreme temperatures have gripped the entire USA and vast areas of Russia.

The global warming climate appears to have been hacked by natural factors.

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CSN Editor: I know that the source is from Pravda .... but where I live (Montreal, Canada) .... it has been an unusually cold winter.

Purple Rocks Found On Mars

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

This new image from the Mars Curiosity rover captures purple-colored rocks on the surface of lower Mount Sharp. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Space: NASA's Curiosity Rover Spots Purple Rocks on Mars

Mars may appear red when viewed from Earth, but NASA's Curiosity rover has captured an up-close photo of the planet's mountainous landscape, with purple-colored rocks littered across the foreground.

This remarkable new photo was captured near the base of Mars' Mount Sharp. The image's three frames were taken by Curiosity's Mast Camera (Mastcam)on Nov. 10.

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CSN Editor: Purple rocks?!?!

European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope In Chile Will Be Modified To Search For Planets

This artist's impression shows the planet orbiting the star Alpha Centauri B, a member of the triple star system that is the closest to Earth in this image released on October 17, 2012. REUTERS/ESO/L. Calcada/N. Risinger

Reuters: Giant telescope in Chile to seek habitable planets in Alpha Centauri

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - The European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile will be modified in order to allow it to search more effectively for potentially habitable planets in Alpha Centauri, the nearest star system to Earth.

The ESO said it has signed a deal with Breakthrough Starshot, a venture that aims to deploy thousands of tiny spacecraft to travel to the system and send back pictures.

Starshot, which is backed by internet billionaire Yuri Milner and physicist Stephen Hawking, will provide funding to allow equipment on the Very Large Telescope that studies in the mid-infrared to be adapted to better detect faint planets, the ESO said in a statement on Monday.

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CSN Editor: The search for life beyond out solar system has just gotten a bit more interesting.