Day: August 13, 2021

Categories
Cyber Security

Facebook stops NYU researchers from examining misinformation, is criticized for ‘silencing’ transparency efforts| CyberScoop

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Facebook has deactivated the accounts of researchers from New York University’s Ad Observatory who were examining misinformation, citing a violation of the company’s regulations on automated data collecting. The researchers claim that Facebook blocked their access because their research, which focused on false political adverts and vaccination disinformation, had brought the corporation bad exposure. The suspension is the culmination of years of conflict between researchers and the platform. Researchers say that they should be exempt from Facebook’s policy prohibiting the automatic collecting of data since it contains significant information about how the corporation affects democracy and social concerns in the United States. 

Source: https://www.cyberscoop.com/facebook-nyu-research-misinformation/ 

Categories
Space Force

An exclusive look into how Space Force is defending America | WAAY 

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Nothing compares to getting a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the newly formed US Space Force. The “Guardians” of the Space Force work hundreds, if not thousands, of kilometers away from the front lines of the conflicts they fight. The hundreds of US government and commercial spacecraft monitored and defended by the Guardians of the Space Force today include missile warning satellites. The problem is that space, which was long regarded as primarily friendly territory, has now become a possible battleground. China is launching “kidnapper” satellites, which are equipped with grapple arms capable of removing satellites from orbit. Russian “kamikaze” satellites are being deployed, capable of ramming and destroying US space assets. Russia also has a new weapon known as the “Nesting Doll” by the Russian Space Force. 

Source: https://www.waaytv.com/content/news/575062842.html 

Categories
Robots

Yandex partners with Grubhub to operate delivery robots on college campuses | Robotics and Automation News

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Grubhub, an online and mobile food-ordering and delivery platform for college campuses has committed to a multi-year agreement with Yandex Self-Driving Group, which is controlled by Russia’s largest internet search engine firm. Grubhub and Yandex SDG’s collaboration will result in faster and more cost-effective delivery on college campuses across the United States. Grubhub’s sophisticated food delivery infrastructure, created exclusively for life on campus, will be joined by Yandex autonomous delivery robots. Grubhub works with over 250 college campuses across the United States and will begin testing autonomous robot delivery at a few of them later this fall.   

Source: https://roboticsandautomationnews.com/2021/08/09/yandex-partners-with-grubhub-to-operate-delivery-robots-on-college-campuses/44560/ 

Categories
Machine Learning

What is federated learning? | TechTalks

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The demand for large amounts of information is one of the most difficult aspects of machine learning. Obtaining training datasets for machine learning models entails confidentiality, security, and computational concerns that businesses would prefer to avoid. “Federated learning” is one strategy that can help with some of these issues. The fundamental concept of federated learning is to use user data to train a machine learning model without having to send the data to cloud servers. The problem is that federated learning isn’t applicable to every machine learning application. If the model is too huge to operate on the user’s device, the developer will have to come up with other ways to protect the user’s privacy.   

Source: https://bdtechtalks.com/2021/08/09/what-is-federated-learning/ 

Categories
Information Warfare

China’s growing international voice| CGTN

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China has gotten increasingly forceful in recent years. Even by objective criteria, China is recognized as having a good and functional political system and government, and there is nothing to be embarrassed about. On the other side, there is growing uncertainty about the future in the West: the more seriously divided the West’s democratic system gets, the more hostile it becomes to China as a rival force. More and more people recognize that the Western liberal narrative no longer holds true. Indeed, the “rules-based international order” has served only to strengthen Anglo-American hegemony. We are already in the process of transitioning from the old to the new order. 

Source: https://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-08-09/China-s-growing-international-voice-12AGAP1CAVy/index.html