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A new — and theoretical — system for blockchain-based data storage could ensure that hackers will not be able to crack cryptocurrencies once the quantum era starts. The idea, proposed by researchers at the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand, would secure cryptocurrency futures for decades using a blockchain technology that is like a time machine.
To understand what’s going on here we have to define some terms. A blockchain stores every transaction in a system on what amounts to an immutable record of events. The work necessary for maintaining and confirming this immutable record is what is commonly known as mining. But this technology — which the paper’s co-author Del Rajan claims will make up “10 percent of global GDP… by 2027” — will become insecure in an era of quantum computers.
Therefore the solution to store a blockchain in a quantum era requires a quantum blockchain using a series of entangled photons. Further, Spectrumwrites: “Essentially, current records in a quantum blockchain are not merely linked to a record of the past, but rather a record in the past, one that does not exist anymore.”
Yeah, it’s weird.
From the paper intro:
Our method involves encoding the blockchain into a temporal GHZ (Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger) state of photons that do not simultaneously coexist. It is shown that the entanglement in time, as opposed to an entanglement in space, provides the crucial quantum advantage. All the subcomponents of this system have already been shown to be experimentally realized. Perhaps more shockingly, our encoding procedure can be interpreted as non-classically influencing the past; hence this decentralized quantum blockchain can be viewed as a quantum networked time machine.
In short, the quantum blockchain is immutable because the photons that it contains do not exist at the current time but are still extant and readable. This means the entire blockchain is visible but cannot be “touched” and the only entry you would be able to try to tamper with is the most recent one. In fact, the researchers write, “In this spatial entanglement case, if an attacker tries to tamper with any photon, the full blockchain would be invalidated immediately.”
Is this possible? The researchers note that the technology already exists.
“Our novel methodology encodes a blockchain into these temporally entangled states, which can then be integrated into a quantum network for further useful operations. We will also show that entanglement in time, as opposed to entanglement in space, plays the pivotal role for the quantum benefit over a classical blockchain,” the authors write. “As discussed below, all the subsystems of this design have already been shown to be experimentally realized. Furthermore, if such a quantum blockchain were to be constructed, we will show that it could be viewed as a quantum networked time machine.”
Don’t worry about having to update your Bitcoin wallet, though. This process is still theoretical and not at all available to mere mortals. That said, it’s nice to know someone is looking out for our quantum future, however weird it may be.

May 02, 2018
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It goes without saying that getting dressed is one of the most critical steps in our daily routine. But long practice has made it second nature, and people suffering from dementia may lose that familiarity, making dressing a difficult and frustrating process. This smart dresser from NYU is meant to help them through the process while reducing the load on overworked caregivers.
It may seem that replacing responsive human help with a robotic dresser is a bit insensitive. But not only are there rarely enough caregivers to help everyone in a timely manner at, say, a nursing care facility, the residents themselves might very well prefer the privacy and independence conferred by such a solution.
“Our goal is to provide assistance for people with dementia to help them age in place more gracefully, while ideally giving the caregiver a break as the person dresses – with the assurance that the system will alert them when the dressing process is completed or prompt them if intervention is needed,” explained the project’s leader, Winslow Burleson, in an NYU news release.
DRESS, as the team calls the device, is essentially a five-drawer dresser with a tablet on top that serves as both display and camera, monitoring and guiding the user through the dressing process.
There are lots of things that can go wrong when you’re putting on your clothes, and really only one way it can go right — shirts go on right side out and trousers forwards, socks on both feet, etc. That simplifies the problem for DRESS, which looks for tags attached to the clothes to make sure they’re on right and in order, making sure someone doesn’t attempt to put on their shoes before their trousers. Lights on each drawer signal the next item of clothing to don.
If there’s any problem — the person can’t figure something out, can’t find the right drawer or gets distracted, for instance — the caregiver is alerted and will come help. But if all goes right, the person will have dressed themselves all on their own, something that might not have been possible before.
DRESS is just a prototype right now, a proof of concept to demonstrate its utility. The team is looking into improving the vision system, standardizing clothing folding and enlarging or otherwise changing the coded tags on each item.
May 02, 2018
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Artificial intelligence and cybernetics
Nature,  one of the most prestigious scientific journals in the world, has just announce plans to create a Machine Intelligence imprint, and researchers are not happy. The field has been doing fine with open-access journals — why clog it up with the paid-access model everyone has been trying to escape for decades? Over two thousand have signed a statement saying they won’t publish in it.
Academic publishing is a tumult right now, with open-access journals and proponents thereof battling with the old-guard prestige of the likes of Science and Nature — along with the fees from jealous keepers such as Elsevier and Springer. Meanwhile sites like Sci-Hub have worked to liberate the data held by paid journals, illegally of course, and become indispensable in the process.
The statement comes from Tom Dietterich at Oregon State University, founding president of the International Machine Learning Society.
“Machine learning has been at the forefront of the movement for free and open access to research… We see no role for closed access or author-fee publication in the future of machine learning research and believe the adoption of this new journal as an outlet of record for the machine learning community would be a retrograde step,” it reads.
The statement cites past opposition in the community to paid journals and the fact that all the major ones in existence charge nothing as well “The following list of researchers,” it continues, “hereby state that they will not submit to, review, or edit for this new journal.”
There are nearly 2,300 signatures from all over the world. Students, professors, researchers, architects, and engineers people the list; there are representatives of many major companies in the field: Google, Intel, Amazon, Microsoft, IBM; many of the world’s most august learning institutions can be found on it as well.
It’s not that machine learning is fundamentally incompatible with paid access, Diettrich told me in an email; rather, the field has grown to prominence so recently that free and open-access journals have just been the better option from the start.
“Our research community has been fortunate to develop an expectation of free and open access to published research, but many other areas of science and mathematics are moving in the same direction,” he wrote.
I asked if he thought Nature’s interest manifesting in this way indicated a healthy field. “It is a sign that Nature Publishing Group believes they can make money in this relatively young area of research,” he answered.
But the pledge seems like a widely supported one, he concluded: “My impression is that we have excellent representation from all of the major research labs in universities and companies.”
Nature may still draw papers because of its clout, but it looks like at least a significant number of researchers in this area will give it the cold shoulder. Are you among their number? Feel free to add your name to the list.

May 02, 2018
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Cryptocurrency wallet manufacturer Ledger claims to offer foolproof hardware wallet for storing cryptocurrencies, but a 15-year-old programmer named Saleem Rashid managed to hack into the Ledger Nano S.
In his post, Rashid discussed the vulnerabilities of the Ledger’s $100 hardware wallet caused by the use of custom architecture.
He explained that a flaw in the wallet allowed hackers to steal private keys physically before or even after the device was shipped.

Physical access before setup of the seed

In this scenario, termed as a “supply chain attack” a hacker can modify the generated recovery seed. As all private keys are obtained from this recovery seed, it becomes easy to steal the funds loaded onto the device.

Physical access after setup

This method is known as “Evil Maid Attack”, which enables an attacker to extract PIN, recovery seed and any BIP-39 passphrases used if the device has been used at least once after the attack.

Malware combined with social engineering

Here, the user is prompted to update the MCU firmware on an infected computer. On confirming the update, the malware infects MCU with malicious code and takes control of the display and confirmation buttons.
After these security vulnerabilities were exposed, Ledger released an update to its firmware 1.4.1 on 20th March. This update patches a total of three security issues including that pointed out by Rashid.
The company also assured that the update would “verify the integrity of your device” and a successful update means that “your device has not been the target of any of the patched attack.”
March 22, 2018
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On Sunday evening, a self-driving Uber car hit and killed a woman pedestrian who was crossing a road. The incident took place in Tempe, Arizona, which has become a hub for testing self-driving technology.
The victim of the mishap has been identified as 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg. She was taken to a local area hospital where she died.
In a tweet, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said that the company is working with the local law enforcement.
dara khosrowshahi✔@dkhos
Some incredibly sad news out of Arizona. We’re thinking of the victim’s family as we work with local law enforcement to understand what happened. https://twitter.com/uber_comms/status/975776694857474048 …
10:28 PM - Mar 19, 2018
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As per the Tempe Police Department, the vehicle hit the pedestrian on Mill Avenue. At the time of the collision, the car was in the autonomous mode. However, a driver was also present behind the wheel, the police told Fortune.
As a result of this unfortunate incident, Uber has halted all its testing operations in Tempe, Pittsburg, Toronto, and San Fransisco.
While this incident will surely draw attention to the company’s testing methodology and self-driving tech in general, the police chief of Tempe has said that Uber is likely not at fault for the incident, as per San Fransisco Chronicle.
As per the initial probe and the video footage with at least two cameras mounted on the vehicle, the police has made the statement. “It’s very clear it would have been difficult to avoid this collision in any kind of mode (autonomous or human-driven) based on how she came from the shadows right into the roadway,” chief said.

This incident follows the 2016 Tesla Autopilot accident that resulted in the death of the driver. As a result, Tesla made changes and opted for new hardware that disabled the ability to stop the car automatically in case of emergencies.
March 22, 2018
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Every year, Stack Overflow conducts its developer survey and shares the results with the public for analysis.  Expanding the teritory, this year over 100,000 developers took part in the 30-minutes survey  and told how they learn about new technologies, which tools they use to get the job done, and what they look for while hunting some job.

Today we will be sharing the different findings of the survey about the platforms that were most commonly used by developers over the past years.

Developers Favorite Platform

When we look at this year's data, we can notice that 48.3%  developers responded with linux as the platform they have done development work for this year. It was followed by Windows Desktop & Servers with 35.4%.

The platform that follows these top two are Android, AWS, macOS, Raspberry Pi, Wordpress, and iOS.

Now you shouldn't confuse the most popular coding platform with the operating  systems preferred by developers. Where Windows still got the  heads up with about 50% of the entire share. The rest half is divided uniformly between macOS and Linux



Linux also topped the list of the most loved platforms to work for, followed by serverless infrastructure and AWS


image source:- stack-overflow

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March 22, 2018
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With the 3GPP finally standardizing the 5G NR specifications last December, networks are working overtime to bring the new technology to their customers. While the commercial roll-out of 5G networks was initially expected to happen some time in 2019, it is now widely believed to start this year itself, which means demand for 4G equipment is falling drastically.,
With the slowdown in the deployment of 4G networks resulting in a severe downturn for the industry at large, Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri has expressed optimism that the expected early roll-out of 5G networks is the best thing that stakeholders could have hoped for. The Finnish company is one of the three largest telecom equipment manufacturers in the world alongside China’s Huawei and Sweden’s Ericsson.
In the lead-up to the ongoing Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Suri told Reuters that, “The confidence about where that 5G uplift comes from is understanding the accelerated timelines operators now have”. According to him, the fact that the timeline has accelerated by almost a year, “is good news for the sector, because then they’ll be the next wave of investment coming”.
He, however, sounded less-than-optimistic about Europe’s 5G timeline, saying that, US and Asia will trump the old continent in terms of 5G deployment. According to Suri, “Far and away, the U.S. and China activity will dwarf Europe … (but) I think some 5G will be launched (in Europe) at some point in 2019”.
Suri also revealed the company’s plans to give home Wi-Fi a boost by releasing a range of mesh Wi-Fi products, including gateways and associated “beacons” in an effort to improve in-home connectivity.
Nokia has been investing heavily of late in an attempt to win more 5G clients, which will increase its operating margins from 6-9 percent this year to around 9-12 percent in 2019. The company also says that it is collaborating with Facebook to deliver wireless internet in densely-populated urban areas that are not yet connected by fiber optic cables.
February 26, 2018
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Ever since HMD Global revived the iconic Nokia phone brand, the company has been quite vocal about its dedication to rolling out timely Android updates. True to its promise, the company has now started seeding the Android Oreo update for the low-end Nokia 3 smartphone via the official beta channel.
The announcement was made by the Finnish company’s Chief Product Officer, Juho Sarvikas, via a tweet which asked Nokia 3 users to test the beta build of Android Oreo and help the firm in ironing out the flaws before a stable release.
Juho Sarvikas✔@sarvikas
You can now get for in . Please help us test and perfect for commercial release! Thank you 🙏
2:59 PM - Feb 26, 2018
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The freshly released Android Oreo beta build for Nokia 3 is apparently the Android 8.1 version, as promised earlier by the HMD Global executive. The latter had previously revealed that the Nokia 3 will receive the major software upgrade on February 26, beginning with a rollout via the company’s Beta Labs program.
The release of Android Oreo for Nokia 3 has been a tricky affair for the company, as the device is equipped with a MediaTek processor, while other Nokia smartphones pack a Qualcomm SoC. With that in mind, HMD Global reportedlyhad to gain an assurance from MediaTek regarding the support for Android 7.1.1 and later versions if their chipset was to be used in a Nokia device. “We told them they would not be the chipset provider if they do not support the latest software”, said the company.

With the latest beta update, the Nokia 3 is skipping the Android 7.1.2 Nougat upgrade altogether and is jumping straight to Android 8.1 Oreo. Users who are interested in testing Android 8.1 Oreo’s beta build for Nokia 3 can register for HMD Global’s Beta Labs program to get the update. The official changelog of Nokia 3’s Android 8.1 Oreo beta update has not been revealed so far, neither has the release date for a stable update has been announced, but we’ll keep you posted with new information as and when it is announced.
February 26, 2018
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Royal Enfield Thunderbird X
On February 28 motorcycle manufacturer Royal Enfield will unveil its newest creation, the Royal Enfield Thunderbird X.  While the date has not yet been confirmed by the company, current customers have been receiving invitations to the unveiling.  Two models will be presented, the Thunderbird 350X and the Thunderbird 500X with the 500X sporting a more powerful engine of 499cc.  The engine on the 350X will be a 346cc.
The original Thunderbird 350 made its debut in 2000 and the Thunderbird 500 in 2012 which solved all of the complaints against the 350.  Royal Enfield has retained the mechanical features for the 350X and the 500X with mostly cosmetic changes for the new bikes.  Reportedly, the new models will have better performance, less chrome in favor of grey and matte black paint, a single piece seat, and uniquely styled handlebars.  The 350X will have a carburetor and 500X will be fuel injected.
Royal Enfield has been in business since 1890 making motorcycles, lawn mowers and bicycles out of Redditch, Worcestershire in Great Britain.  In 1909 they produced a 2 ¼ horsepower motorcycle with a Swiss V-twin engine.  The 1911 model increased horsepower to 2 ¾. The JAP 6 HP 770 CC V twin came out in 1912 and included a side car proving to be the company’s most popular model.  Royal Enfield produced a motorcycle with their own engine in 1914.  With the onset of World War I, an attachment for a machine gun was adopted for the side car that could be aimed straight up to attack low flying planes.  Royal Enfield became a major supplier of military motorcycles for both the United Kingdom and Russia.
The Great Depression negatively affected Royal Enfield but thanks to their bicycle department, it was able to remain afloat.  During the Second World War the company, again, provided motorcycles for Great Britain.  The Royal Enfield WD/RE was a 125cc designed to be dropped by parachute along with troops.
Royal Enfield Thunderbird X
In 1949 Royal Enfield began selling in India and in 1955 the government of India used the Bullet 350 model for its police force and border control agents.  Enfield India was born when the Redditch Company merged with Madras Motors to manufacture the Bullet.
In 1968 Royal Enfield sold the United Kingdom division to Norton-Triumph-Villiers.  By 1971 the division was discontinued, and the Indian manufacturing branch took over.  The company was doing so well that by the 1980s they were exporting motorcycles all over Europe.
In 1990 when Enfield India merged with the Eicher Group the name was changed to Royal Enfield.  They were the first to adopt the new emission standards imposed by the Indian government and proudly continue to focus on emissions.
Since the merger with the Eicher Group, Royal Enfield has continued to raise the bar with modern equipment, the best designers and listening to input from customers.  The main branch located in Chennai, India received the ISO 9001 certification and high praise for its modernization, high quality standards and safe working environment.  The idea that “You can feel the pulse of your customers only if you get close to them” has been a standard motto for Royal Enfield and has been instrumental in setting up over two hundred fifty authorized dealers across India as well as over two hundred service centers.  The company exports to the United States, France, Germany, Japan, Great Britain and Argentina with more than three hundred dealers worldwide.  They hold annual biking tours such as the Tour of Rann of Kutch, the Tour of NH 17 from Mumbai to Goa, the Tour of Rajasthan, the Himalayan Odyssey and the Southern Odyssey.  The annual festival of biking in Goa, Rider Mania, is also hosted by Royal Enfield.
The company’s web site, https://royalenfield.com has a unique photo collage showing the progression of their motorcycles from the very beginningin 1890 to the present under the history tab.
February 24, 2018
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iPhone 9
One thing Apple fans can be sure of is something new and exciting will be announced in September.  The release of the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and the iPhone X came in September of 2017 but with no iPhone 9 yet it’s difficult to second guess Apple for 2018.  Will it be an iPhone 9, iPhone X Plus or will they skip a number and go straight to an iPhone 11?
The demand for iPhone X was much less than what Apple has anticipated.  Some objected to the steep price of $999 and up, the removal of the home button on the screen and the phone’s tendency to lock up.  According to Forbes, the iPhone X has a tendency to butt dial 911 emergency services and then the user is unable to hang up.  The face recognition tool, Face ID, has become a problem as well with issues for people who strongly resemble each other and those with Asian features.  KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes Apple will discontinue the iPhone X after the introduction of the 2018 phones as it would “hurt product brand value & lineup of 2018 new models if it continues to sell at a lower price…” while Apple CEO Tim Cook claims the iPhone X has a 99% customer satisfaction rate, but no hard supporting data was produced.
It’s probably safe to assume Apple will correct these issues before the new iPhone comes out.  It is believed the all glass back giving the phone the ability to charge wirelessly will be continued.  The OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diodes) screen should still be available perhaps even larger than the iPhone X’s 5.8 inch display. As it stands now, the OLED screens are more expensive which may cause Apple to go back to an LCD display on their budget models.  The lower priced models may also skip the glass back in favor of a stainless steel or other type of metal back.
The A11 Bionic Chip may be improved upon, and hopefully battery life will be extended.  The amazing 12-megapixel dual lens camera on the iPhone X may be included – especially if Apple continues the Face ID technology.
Apple may decide to do a dual launch of a new top of the line model and an economy model as they did with the iPhone 5C and 5S.  According to Tech Adviso, it’s also possible Apple will re-launch the iPhone X but in a smaller size.
There is also the possibility for a new phone rumored to be called the iPhone SE2, which goes back to 2016’s iPhone SE.  Like the iPhone SE, the iPhone SE2 will be probably manufactured by Wistron, a giant tech manufacturer based in Taiwan with locations around the world.  Currently, Wistron is in the process of constructing a new plant in Bengaluru, India that will be devoted exclusively to manufacturing iPhones.  Another rumor going around is that the new iPhone SE2 will have a glass back and may have a flat glass LCD-TFT screen with no borders or home button.
Unless Apple makes a surprise announcement speculation will continue until September of 2018 when the new Apple iPhone or iPhones will be announced
February 24, 2018
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Harley-Davidson’s electric bike
While the premium cruiser bike giant has been down a rough road of late; with their sales witnessing a constant crunch the last few years haven’t been much of a success for Harley Davidson. Last year’s statistics show that Harley Davidson’s sale went down considerably. A report published in a popular magazine tells that the sales were lesser in 2017 and it was a 6.7% sales drop worldwide for all premium bikes and overall sales of Harley Davidson brand. Adding to the “bad news” for Harley is another fact: in 2017 alone, their sales dropped 8.5 % in United States, Harley’s business stronghold, the report reveals.  The situation has pushed Harley to such an extent that this drop in sales is being attributed to the closing of their Kansas City, Missouri, plant and shifting the operations to their Pennsylvania plant.
So what comes next amidst these sales drops that has become more of a pattern over the years for Harley? You guessed it right and it is their New Electric bike which they would be releasing in 18 months, which is somewhere mid of 2019. This is a bit unexpected as they had previously announced to release their electric bike somewhere around 2021. The early release announcement has given the critics an opportunity to term Harley’s new announcement as a strategy to sustain themselves in the market amidst chronic sales drop down.
Matt Levatich, Harley-Davidson’s president and CEO in an interview to the Milwaukee Business Journal told that “The EV motorcycle market is in its infancy today, but we believe premium Harley-Davidson electric motorcycles will help drive excitement and participation in the sport globally,”. He added, “As we expand our EV capabilities and commitment, we get even more excited about the role electric motorcycles will play in growing our business.” Though he did not talk about the specifics of the new bike, but it is expected to be similar or a bit more advanced than the 2014 live wire prototype.
With 74-horsepower and 56 pound-feet of torque and claiming to shoot from a zero to 60 in 4 seconds, it was in 2014 when Harley Davidson almost shocked the biking community and enthusiasts with their Livewire concept. They also claimed it would run a minimum range of 50 miles. This was the first time the heavy cruise bike makers showed their interest in the making of electric bikes, and it took many by surprise.
Harley-Davidson’s electric bike
“Chief Financial Officer John Olin’s statement that the company will spend $25 million to $50 million per year over the next several years on electric motorcycle technology adds to the fact that Harley is serious about their electric bike and are keen to dominate the market. Last Tuesday Matt Levatich, the president and chief executive officer of Harley-Davidson said that the world has heard them talk about Livewire in 2014 and now they are preparing to bring it in the market in 18 months. This has put an end to the rumors floating around and has given a strong message to the existing electric bike makers that the king of the cruise is all set to speed up with their new project.
The full specializations of Harley’s Electric motorbike are still not out, but it is said to be at par with their livewire prototype, if not better. Though it has created a ripple in the biking avenues of the world, and so are the speculations flooding the market; to know what actually these Harley Electric bikes will be like, we most certainly have to wait at least a year if not 18 months altogether. It’s only then we would know how the Electric Harley’s drive past their cruiser counterparts
February 24, 2018

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