Techlife News #338

Tim Berners-Lee gave away the technology that he used to invent the World Wide Web, so it’s not surprising that he’s worried about the current state of the internet as Google, Facebook and Amazon become increasingly dominant in the digital world. When the web turned 29 years old in March, Berners-Lee shared some of his concerns in an annual letter that he writes as a director for the World Wide Web Foundation, an organization he founded to ensure the internet remains accessible to everyone. He expanded on why we should be worried about digital monopolies in an interview. The interview was conducted a few weeks before Facebook’s current privacy scandal, one triggered by revelations that its social networking service allowed a political data-mining firm to gain access to the information of millions…

Washington and London jointly accused the Russian government of maliciously targeting global internet equipment for political and economic espionage. The two governments said the Russian operations, which allegedly involve planting malware on internet routers and other equipment, could also lay the foundation for future offensive cyberattacks. A joint statement by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and the U.K.’s National Cyber Security Centre said the main targets include“government and private-sector organizations,”as well as providers of“critical infrastructure”and internet service providers. “Victims were identified through a coordinated series of actions between U.S. and international partners,”according to a companion technical alert issued by the U.S. Computer Emergency Response Team (US-CERT). Both nations have “high confidence”in the finding of Russian-sponsored cyber-meddling, which the alert said has been reported by multiple sources since 2015. Routers are devices…

Los Angeles should consider legal action against Waze over complaints that the traffic navigation app is recklessly guiding motorists off thoroughfares and into residential neighborhoods in search of shorter or quicker routes, a city council member said. Councilman David Ryu sent a letter to the city attorney’s office, outlining what he says are dangerous conditions created by Waze users. “Waze has upended our city’s traffic plans, residential neighborhoods, and public safety for far too long,” Ryu said. “Their responses have been inadequate and their solutions, non-existent.” Ryu claims one narrow street in his Sherman Oaks district sometimes sees more than 675 vehicles an hour because of drivers using the Google-owned app. The traffic is increasing accidents and damaging roads not meant for heavy traffic, he said. Waze spokeswoman Chelsea Russo declined comment on possible litigation…

The U.S. Army is training troops to use 3D printers to build concrete barracks, or to use drones to gather intelligence in contaminated spots that might be dangerous for soldiers. Or, scanner technology currently used by the law enforcement agencies to document crime scenes in 3D could someday be used on the battlefield to make maps with previously unthinkable levels of detail. Some of that technology is being tested at Fort Leonard Wood, which showed off the machines to journalists this week. It’s part of a program the Army calls the Maneuver Support, Sustainment, Protection, Integration Experiment. The goal is to allow service members who might use the devices during deployments to test them and have input before the technology is declared field-ready, The Springfield News-Leader reported. The strategy makes the military more…

Is the world ready for cows armed with artificial intelligence? No time to ruminate on that because the moment has arrived, thanks to a Dutch company that has married two technologies — motion sensors and AI — with the aim of bringing the barnyard into the 21st century. The company, Connecterra, has brought its IDA system, or “The Intelligent Dairy Farmer’s Assistant,” to the United States after having piloted it in Europe for several years. IDA uses a motion-sensing device attached to a cow’s neck to transmit its movements to a program driven by AI. The sensor data, when aligned repeatedly with real-world behavior, eventually allows IDA to tell from data alone when a cow is chewing cud, lying down, walking, drinking or eating. Those indicators can predict whether a particular cow is ill,…

When the Apple Watch Series 3 was releasedback in September of last year , there’s no doubt that the company had one thing in mind: to make it the best fitness tracker on the market. With the addition of LTE and an improved heart rate monitor, the watch had seriously uppedits game from the Series 2 , standing it in good stead to be an exercise staple. “HEY SIRI, LET’S GO FOR A WALK.” With the Series 3, users can finally work out without being confined to the shackles of their smartphone. Asking Siri to start a workoutsession is by far the easiest way to achieve that get up and go and can be done by simply holding the digital crown at the side of the watch, raising your wrist and saying…