Illuminating the Pentagon's Bumper Sticker for Bitcoins

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Are the Warriors worth talking about? What is an Astroboffin? A new solution to identity from the Pentagon. AI recognizing cars. Ben tries Siempo. And much much more – including Bitcoin power usage with Cake and Lightbulbs.

Astroboffins spy the most greedy black hole yet gobbling a Sun a day

Astronomers have spotted the greediest supermassive black hole going through the fastest growth spurt some 12 billion years ago.

The FIRST app of its kind! Apollo: Immersive illumination

Apollo is the first application to use the depth data of portrait mode photographs, to realistically add light sources to a scene. Development of the app began as an experiment back in November 2017, when we first got our hands on a brand new iPhone 8+. We wanted to see what could be achieved by taking advantage of the depth information of portrait photos. Our hypothesis looked simple: if depth information can be superimposed on a 2D photo, it should be possible to re-illuminate objects with custom light sources.

Photo of Miles

“Natural Light”, “Stage Light”, “Contour Light”, and “Studio Light”

The Pentagon Has a Big Plan to Solve Identity Verification in Two Years

The technology, which will be embedded in smartphones’ hardware, will analyze a variety of identifiers that are unique to an individual, such as the hand pressure and wrist tension when the person holds a smartphone and the person’s peculiar gait while walking, said Steve Wallace, technical director at the Defense Information Systems Agency.

Forget scanning license plates; cops will soon ID you via your roof rack

ELSAG LPR upgrade can ID “spare tire, bumper sticker, or a ride-sharing company decal.”

Siempo makes your phone less fun to use

Siempo replaces the stock Android home screen with a calmer, less distracting interface and allows you to personalize what message you see dozens or even hundreds of times per day.

Tap the text on the home screen to edit and save your “intention.” An intention is a goal or an idea that you want to focus on. Unlike a task, it might never be “complete”, but your top priority may change. Keep it short and positive, and try using command verbs. Whenever you unlock, take note of your intention for a moment.

Workflow — Powerful automation made simple.

Spend less taps, get more done.

Nobody Knows Exactly How Much Energy Bitcoin Is Using

New research suggests that Bitcoin will account for 0.5 percent of the world’s electricity demand by the end of this year. But one researcher says he still isn’t getting the whole picture.

Crypto Currencies and the Block Chain

Fellow software engineer Kyle Bahr joins me for a good metaphoric description of Block Chain Tech. Why does Bitcoin burn so much power and are all crypto currencies like that? Also a look at what other neat things are being done using bitcoin technology. And how smart contracts work. Learn a bit about initial coin offerings (ICO) and get a good general understanding of crypto currencies without any math nor too many complex terms.

Google and Microsoft disclose new CPU flaw, and the fix can slow machines down

“If enabled, we’ve observed a performance impact of approximately 2-8 percent based on overall scores for benchmarks like SYSmark 2014 SE and SPEC integer rate on client 1 and server 2 test systems,” explains Leslie Culbertson, Intel’s security chief.

Barack and Michelle Obama sign multiyear deal with Netflix

Barack and Michelle Obama have entered a multiyear agreement with Netflix to produce series and features.
The Obamas say they hope “to promote greater empathy and understanding between peoples, and help them share their stories with the entire world.”