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Category: internet – Page 79

Scientists trace objects behind a wall using WiFi signals

Scientists develop an approach which uses WiFi signals to trace still objects.

WiFi can read through the walls. A team of researchers has developed a new method that can replicate the image of a still object from behind a wall using WiFi. Does this mean we can spy on our neighbors next door? Quite unlikely.

Sensing moving things using WiFi signals has shown promise; there’s a challenge in doing the same for non-moving objects because they lack motion, enabling calls to track them, explain the researchers in the press release.

Dating in the world of “Deep Fakes”

Here’s my new article for Aporia magazine, the final futurist story in my 4-part series for them!

Written by Zoltan Istvan.

I met my wife on Match.com 15 years ago. She didn’t have a picture on her profile, but she had written a strong description of herself. It was enough to warrant a first date, and we got married a year later.

But what if ordinary dating sites allowed users to see their potential date naked using advanced AI that could “virtually undress” that person? Let’s take it a step further. What if they gave users the option to have virtual sex with their potential date using deepfake technology, before they ever met them in person? Some of this technology is already here. And it’s prompting a lot of thorny questions – not just for dating sites but for anyone who uses the web.

Deepfakes are synthetic media created by deep learning algorithms (a form of artificial intelligence). These videos, images and audio recordings depict faces, voices or entire personas that are often indistinguishable from the real thing. They have raised concerns due to their potential to deceive and manipulate. While originally used to create humorous or satirical content, they will increasingly be misused to spread fake news and to commit fraud or blackmail. Of particular concern is how they might affect personal relationships.

Google has a new tool to outsmart authoritarian internet censorship

Its Outline VPN can now be built directly into apps—making it harder for governments to block internet access, particularly during protests.

Google is launching new anti-censorship technology created in response to actions by Iran’s government during the 2022 protests there, hoping that it will increase access for internet users living under authoritarian regimes all over the world.

Jigsaw, a unit of Google that operates sort of like an internet freedom think tank and that creates related products, already offers a suite of anti-censorship tools including Outline, which provides free, open, and encrypted access to the internet through a VPN. Outline uses a protocol that makes it hard to… More.

Bing, Bard, and ChatGPT: How AI is rewriting the internet

Meta is reportedly planning to train a new model that it hopes will be as powerful as OpenAI’s latest and greatest chatbot.

Meta has been snapping up AI training chips and building out data centers in order to create a more powerful new chatbot it hopes will be as sophisticated as OpenAI’s GPT-4, according to * The Wall Street Journal.* The company reportedly plans to begin training the new large language model early in 2024, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg evidently pushing for it to once again be free for companies to create AI tools with.

The *Journal *writes that Meta has been buying more Nvidia H100 AI-training chips and is beefing up its infrastructure so that, this time around, it won’t need to rely on Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform to train the new chatbot. The company reportedly assembled a group earlier this year to build the model, with the goal of speeding up the creation of AI tools that can emulate human expressions. company aims to release its new model next year.

Elon Musk recaps Tesla FSD neural network at All-In Summit 2023

During a conference this week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk reiterated claims that the Full Self-Driving (FSD) beta is nearing higher levels of autonomy. The statements echo recent details learned from previews of a new Musk biography, highlighting the FSD system’s many developments in the last several months alone.

Musk was featured in an interview during the All-In Podcast’s 2023 Summit held on Wednesday, during which he discussed topics like Starlink, X, China, artificial intelligence, and more. Among the topics covered was a brief outro on the FSD beta, which he says is “very close” to becoming safer than a human driver without being monitored.

“Yeah, I think it’s getting very close to being in a situation where, even if there’s no human oversight or intervention, that the probability of a safe journey is higher with FSD and no supervision — like even if you’re asleep in the car — than if a person is driving. We’re very close to that,” Musk said on a video call into the summit.

SpaceX no longer taking losses to produce Starlink satellite antennas, a key step to improving profitability

PARIS – Elon Musk’s SpaceX is no longer absorbing the cost of the Starlink antennas that it sells with its satellite internet service, a company executive said on Wednesday, a key step to the company improving its profitability.

“We were subsidizing terminals but we’ve been iterating on our terminal production so much that we’re no longer subsidizing terminals, which is a good place to be,” Jonathan Hofeller, SpaceX vice president of Starlink and commercial sales, said during a panel at the World Satellite Business Week conference.

SpaceX sells consumer Starlink antennas, also known as user terminals, for $599 each. For more demanding Starlink customers – such as mobile, maritime, or aviation users – SpaceX sells antennas with its service in a range from $2,500 to $150,000 each.

Intel Introduces Thunderbolt 5 Connectivity Standard

What It Does: Thunderbolt 5 will deliver 80 gigabits per second (Gbps) of bi-directional bandwidth, and with Bandwidth Boost it will provide up to 120 Gbps for the best display experience. These improvements will provide up to three times more bandwidth than the best existing connectivity solution, providing outstanding display and data connections. Thunderbolt 5 will meet the high bandwidth needs of content creators and gamers. Built on industry standards – including USB4 V2 – Thunderbolt 5 will be broadly compatible with previous versions of Thunderbolt and USB.

Why It Matters: Bandwidth needs of content creators, gamers and professionals are increasing significantly. These users want high-resolution displays and low-latency visuals while working with increasingly larger video and data files. Thunderbolt 5 has been designed to massively improve connectivity speed and bandwidth to ensure modern PC users can enjoy the highest-quality visuals and immersive experiences for years to come.

“Microsoft is excited to closely collaborate with Intel to bring the latest USB4 standard to Windows customers,” said Ian LeGrow, corporate vice president of Core OS product management at Microsoft Corp. “Thunderbolt 5 is fully USB 80Gbps standard compliant to support the next generation of high-performance displays, storage and connectivity.”

Scientists develop an energy-efficient wireless power and information transfer system

Industrial Internet of Things (IIoTs) refers to a technology that combines wireless sensors, controllers, and mobile communication technologies to make every aspect of industrial production processes intelligent and efficient. Since IIoTs can involve several small battery-driven devices and sensors, there is a growing need to develop a robust network for data transmission and power transfer to monitor the IIoT environment.

In this regard, is a promising technology. It utilizes to power small devices that consume minimal power. Recently, simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT), which utilizes a single radio frequency signal to simultaneously perform and information decoding, has attracted significant interest for IIoTs.

Additionally, with smart devices rapidly growing in number, SWIPT has been combined with nonorthogonal multiple access (NOMA) system, which is a promising candidate for IIoTs due to their ability to extend the battery life of sensors and other devices. However, the energy efficiency of this system falls significantly with transmission distance from the central controller.

Did Elon Musk prevent a Russia-Ukraine nuclear war?

New details of Musk’s involvement in the Ukraine-Russia war revealed in his biography.

Elon Musk holds many titles. He is the CEO of Tesla SpaceX and owns the social media company X, which was recently rebranded from Twitter. Going by an excerpt of his biography, published in the Washington Post.

According to the excerpt from Walter Isaacson’s book, Musk disabled his company Starlink’s satellite communication networks, which were being used by the Ukrainian military to attack the Russian naval fleet in Sevastopol, Crimea, sneakily. The Ukrainian army was using Starlink as a guide to target Russian ships and attack them with six small… More.

Musk’s biographer alleges he prevented nuclear war between Ukraine and Russia by turning off Starlink satellite network near Crimea, but Musk says, ‘SpaceX did not deactivate anything’.

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