Would You Like Microchips With That? Wendy's Unveils Touch-Screen Ordering At Many Locations

Well, it's been at least a week since our last robot report, detailing which jobs are now going to be outsourced to non-humans.  Clearly manufacturing was headed this way since mechanization proved how woefully weak humans are at churning out cheap goods without the need for rest of any kind, but what about the service industry?

Robot bartenders may not be able to talk about your problems, robot hoteliers may not be able to score you the best drugs on the DL...will robot fast-food workers really improve things so humans can "have it our way"?

Fast, good, cheap...pick two.
Guess which ones Wendy's owners are going with?
(Image courtesy vocativ.com.)

New "Greenhouse" Plug-In Exposes Corporate Political Pay-Outs

It's been a running joke for some time that American politicians should wear advertising logos, a'la racecar drivers, to indicate which corporations they are shilling for.  Despite this idea not yet rising to prominence, now, there's an easier way to tell who (and how much) has been paid to play in politics.

Usually when teenagers say "Greenhouse", weed is somehow involved.
Surprisingly, not this time.
(Image courtesy welikeit.fr.)

Can You Feel The Love Tonight? If Not, Try This New Dating Site For Disney Fans

Are you searching for a very special kind of romantic partner? Someone who will show you a whole new world, be part of your world, and create something there that wasn't there before?  Now, there's a weirdly-specific website for that.

"I love you toooooo."
But only if you're a crazy enough Disney fan to be able to translate Elliott the Dragon's brrrp-speech.
(Image courtesy highdefdigest.com.)

Mining And Shining: Updated SPACE Act Passes Congress, Bound For The Stars

Many people believe that America's space program would be greatly augmented if only we could find a space-based resource to mine for materials and subsequently sell.  Well, we haven't had a gold rush for the red planet yet, but now some new guidelines for being a space prospector are in place...

Thar's gold in them thar hills!  Well, at least, minerals in them thar asteroids.
(Image courtesy ibitimes.com.)

X Marks The Spotted: Windows 10 Is Watching You

As citizens of the cyber-community, we've unfortunately become conditioned to seeing ads that are eerily targeted to things we say, emails that appear from long-forgotten websites, and other evidence of deep data gathering made manifest for use of moneymaking.  Now, with the launch of Windows 10 becoming a necessity for some users, Microsoft seems to have pulled out even more stops to speed up their spying...

Seriously, what ISN'T spying on us these days?
(Image courtesy hackread.com.)

Welcome To The Machines: Chinese Factories To Drastically Outnumber Human Workers With Robots

Robot bartenders.  Robot chefs.  Teachable robots in industry.  Yes, robots might be a little bit poised to take over the world.  And now, China isn't even trying to hide it...

Even your computer science degree is nothing, next to an actual computer.
(Image courtesy bloomberg.com.)

Keeping Quiet? Better Buy It. AT&T To Charge For Online Surveillance Opt-Out

So it's come to this.  We're now "afforded" the option to bribe companies out of spying on us...

The Big Daddy Of Big Data: U.S. Appoints First-Ever "Chief Data Scientist"

Due to the vast influx of intelligence from many forms of modern media, treasuring our data technology is now a job that requires a major position in the United States government.  Meet America's chief cyber crusader, D.J. Patil...

E-Emotional Rescue: Computer Programs That Deal In Your Feelings

Experts say that your computer is a better judge of your personality than even your closest family and friends.  It knows your preferences, correspondents, written words, tastes in imagery, secrets kept and deleted, and more.  But what happens in the possibly-near future when machines begin using all of this information to actually UNDERSTAND you?

When it comes to emotional intelligence and your computer, what constitutes too much information?
(Image courtesy singularityhub.com.)

According to the New Yorker, this may be happening more quickly than we expect.  Computers can already attempt to determine moods from vocal pitch and intensity, while simultaneously analyzing any attendant videos for evidence of micro-expressions or gestures that could reveal even more about an interaction.  Even the placement of words in a sentence can be taken to imply other things, indicating how angry, passionate, or spectacularly talented certain authors are.  Now, computers can not only be aware of these elements, but use them to temper their own responses or advice.

Rana el Kaliouby, an Egyptian scientist who runs the Boston-based company Affectiva, is on the forefront of this mecha-emotional leap.  Affectiva's most prominent software, Affdex, is trained to recognize four major emotions:  happy, confused, surprised, and disgusted.  Breaking down the user's face-image into deformable and non-deformable points, the software analyzes how far certain parts of one's face will move (such as a smile or frown raising or lowering the corners of the mouth) in relation to other set points on the face (such as the tip of the nose.)  Things like skin texture (where wrinkles appear, or not) also factor in.  These metrics are analyzed into computing what you feel.

Based off the research of 1960s scientist Paul Ekman, the idea behind this technology stems from a simple, universal concept:  all humans, regardless of race, gender, age or language barriers, have at least six specific facial expressions that register particular emotions.  Ekman broke these expressions down into their constituent movements and wrote a 500-page epic called FACS (Facial Action Coding System) on the subject.  The work has been considered the preeminent treatise on this topic for decades now.

Other companies are on the e-emotional bandwagon too, with names like Emotient, Realeyes, and Sension.  Companies who rely on videoconferencing could now have a useful extra line on what their clients and associates are thinking.  Emotions, which have been found to be closely neurologically related to decision-making and common sense, now can be deduced from faces and choices with a degree of accuracy that seems like mind-reading.

We're less unique than anyone thinks.
(Image courtesy thewaylifeis.com.)

While useful (and now predominantly operational) in business, Kaliouby also spent time researching if this specific recognizance could act as an "emotional hearing aid" for those with autism.  The National Science Foundation offered Kaliouby and her mentor nearly a million dollars to develop this idea.  This proved successful, but the idea was almost immediately extrapolated by businesses from Pepsi to Toyota in the interest of learning more about their consumers' preferences.  These requests overwhelmed the scientists, leading to the creation of Affectiva.  The company, which claims to have refused requests to use the software for espionage (corporate and personal), wanted to generate revenue from investors to augment their autism-relating research.

Thus Affdex began testing users' response to advertisements, giving the promotions industry a leg up on what consumers would be feeling when exposed to their sales pleas.  More than two million videos from eighty countries lent the program an unprecedented amount of information, all adding up to more accuracy in prediction from the program.  Affectiva now deals in these negotiations and improvements full-time.  In coming years, with more "smart" devices and internet-enabled items out there for our interaction, emotional electronics could use their ever-increasing knowledge to hopefully make our lives better.

These programs have our attention, which is a valuable resource.  Now, can that be used to hold our interest, connect us more completely, and/or improve our circumstances (even just by knowing we need the room temperature raised a little?)  Or will it simply serve as another metric to keep tabs on a passive populace?  Will we have the right to know when and where we are being emotionally analyzed, and will we be able to thwart such advances if desired?  Kaliouby maintains that there must be an overall altruistic tilt to the usage of the program, explaining to various advertisers that, “In our space, you could very easily be perceived as Big Brother, as opposed to the gatekeeper of your own emotional data—and it is two very different positions. If we are not careful, we can very easily end up on the Big Brother side.”

Whether we'll end up selling our attention to gain happiness points to sell for more happiness remains uncertain.  But the fact remains that the market for your emotions is vast and lucrative.  Companies will want to know you're happy if it makes them feel they're doing something right.  Other more insidious organizations may be tickled to learn that you're feeling deeply unsettled and on edge (right where some of them want you.)  Will the future be made of humans wearing constant poker faces, lest we be called out by computers?  Will there be surcharges for extra super-sized doses of happiness from certain places or products?  Or should we maybe turn the lens in on ourselves, and understand the nature of our own feelings, before we release them into the wild to be tagged and tracked...or hunted?

And remember, all of this information is taken from imagery alone.  We're not even really "plugged in" yet...
(Image courtesy rdn-consulting.com)

Pew Report: 90% Of Americans Feel They've "Lost Control" Over Data Privacy

It's no secret that most civilian information in the United States is not secret.  But just how bad has the encroachment on our privacy gotten?  In a new Pew Research Center report, it seems that the cognitive dissonance of the American Dream is frustrating, but still not something people feel ready to fix...even though it is more critical now than ever to stop the erosion from the invasion.

It's not just a feeling.  It's their first move.
(Image courtesy mb.com.ph.)

The Washington Post reports that a recent study indicated Americans were very aware of the "privacy dystopia" they were living in, with 61% stating that they "would like to do more" to protect their online information.  Over 90% were aware that they had "lost control" over how private organizations were able to obtain and utilize their personal information.

Unfortunately, 55% were admittedly willing to trade personal information for free services online, which doesn't seem to be in line with most peoples' stated desires for privacy (yes, it DOES require sacrifice of some things, unfortunately, but perhaps someday with effort, that could be changed.  Cognizance of this is the first step to correcting it.)

Whatever this is, it isn't worth your security.
(Image courtesy news.softpedia.com.)

Other data from the report included some interesting findings:

-60% reported that revealing data to companies over the internet did not significantly improve their online experience

-88% did not trust advertisers the majority of the time

-82% did not trust the government all or most of the time

-Only 24% felt they could be easily anonymous online

-Perhaps most importantly, over 60% disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement "it is a good thing for society if people believe that someone is keeping an eye on the things that they do online."

Cell phones, land lines, and social media site security were also assessed, but the overall results were clear:  the snooping needs to stop.  And until we cease squandering our own operational security or surrendering our data for the benefit of fleeting internet fun, this is going to be difficult to change.  It is no longer enough to disagree with privacy-violating practices - consumers and citizens must make the powers that be stop shamelessly snooping and selling our security.  Big Brother has become a bully, and it's time to fight back.

More technological shutters must be closed to block a variety of prying eyes.
(Image courtesy nypost.com.)

Shine On, Mine On: Solar And Wind Power Make Electricity 70% Cheaper For Mining

The clean energy revolution could stand to gain many supporters when it's proven to work effectively for big business.  Now, the mining industry is looking towards alternative energy to fuel their pursuits, with some interesting and prosperous results.

As reported by cleantechnica.com, renewable solar and wind power is up to 70% more cost-effective for the mining industry than diesel fuel - a startling revelation.  With many remote mining areas amenable to wind and unhindered sunlight,  as well as factoring in the cost of NOT having to truck fuel out to the far-flung sites, the benefits of going green begin to add up considerably.

Dig this:  it's a bright future thanks to solar power (and other renewables.)
(Image courtesy energymanagertoday.com.)

One Australian mining site uses solar power to the tune of offsetting some 600,000 gallons of diesel fuel.  Another Alabama steel mill is run mainly on solar power, and one of the world's preeminent copper mining companies is set to follow suit with a 70 MW solar array.  It's not just for hippies anymore.  If the metal crews are into it, what's to stop the rest of society?

For those who would be interested in arming their business with the might of the sun, there exists an online aggregator of clean tech called Renewables And Mining.  It contains information on "Photovoltaics, concentrated photovoltaics, concentrated solar power, solar thermal, and wind power" for comparison to assess what might work best for a particular type of industrial site.  Why spend tons when you can invest in the sun?  For those who work at removing some of the precious things the environment has to offer, why not harness a similar energy for the harvesting itself?

Even old mines can get in on the usefulness!
(Image courtesy spiegel.de.)

Shrug Off "Atlas", Facebook's New Ad-Stalking Network

You are a target.  Your likes, dislikes, and desires, as manifested via the internet, make you prime material for directed advertising, and social media giant Facebook knows it.  That's why they're stepping in to make their ads follow you around the internet, like a lost dog of consumerism, or perhaps an over-egregious door-to-door salesman inside your screen.

According to mashable.com, the targeted ads will start following you immediately.  You selections and mentions on facebook help them to direct material that they think you will be prone to clicking on, and thus your creepily-pertinent ad distractions will appear if you visit other facebook-affiliated sites (such as Amazon or various news outlets.)

Facebook's new ad network, Atlas, is responsible for this collection and dispersal.  A former Microsoft company which Facebook purchased for $100 million last year, Atlas tracks your verbiage and serves up what it feels is appropriate topical consumer choices.  Atlas CEO Erik Johnson stated this is superior to the logging of your info by your computer's "cookies", stating in a blog post that, "Cookies don’t work on mobile, are becoming less accurate in demographic targeting and can’t easily or accurately measure the customer purchase funnel across browsers and devices or into the offline world."

Now that they've stepped up their game, so can you.  Services like Adblock, Ghostery, NoScript and Disconnect.me can help to combat the ever-encroaching e-eyeballs and protect your privacy.  So if you've ever had the sneaking suspicion that your paper trail needs to be burned, now you know how to fire it up.

You don't want to be on the shoulders of the Atlas that hefts the world wide web.

Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun: Investors Bet On Renewable Energy

In a move that would have been more useful to the world a century or so ago, a major player in the banking industry seems to be rallying behind solar power and other renewable energy sources, telling investors to put there money where it's sunny.

UBS, the world's largest private bank, has officially predicted that large "traditional" power stations will be outmoded in as little as ten years' time, with the focus switching to decentralized methods of obtaining and storing power. This decision reflects the fossil fuel industry's waning appeal in the face of numerous other options, not the least of which is tempered by consumer regard for more environmentally-friendly options.

As reported by theguardian.com, UBS issued a statement urging investors to "join the revolution." The authors explained their reasoning in logical terms when saying, “Power is no longer something that is exclusively produced by huge, centralised units owned by large utilities. By 2025, everybody will be able to produce and store power. And it will be green and cost competitive, ie, not more expensive or even cheaper than buying power from utilities.”

The company, which has assets of over $1.5 trillion, went on to explain the nuances of how electric cars will be driving down the currently-expensive sustainable battery prices, which will then lead to more general acceptance in many areas as batteries become better and more available. This will ultimately, according to them, make fuel-burning cars too expensive. A similar effect would occur with solar technology.

“Battery storage should become financially attractive for family homes when combined with a solar system and an electric vehicle. As a consequence, we expect transformational changes in the utility and auto sectors,” the UBS paper says. “By 2020 investing in a home solar system with a 20-year life span, plus some small-scale home battery technology and an electric car, will pay for itself in six to eight years for the average consumer in Germany, Italy, Spain, and much of the rest of Europe.”

This is not to say that every home now must be maintained as a survivalist would. Decentralized power could mean collection facilities such as hydroelectric turbines or windmills that are shared between small cities or neighborhoods, which could bridge the gap while the technology is rapidly progressing to the point where individuals are easily able to use clean energy to gain and store all the power needed for personal use. Such facilities could also serve as a backup in case of emergency or failure of an individual's power system. And they'll quickly pay for themselves...with no deep-sea drilling or blowing the tops off of mountains required.

While the banksters have often proven themselves untrustworthy, when it comes to power, one would think that world-class financiers would know what they're talking about. These people love power in any form, and if they're putting their cash power behind another form of force, that seems like a sound bet indeed.

Turn it into a nightclub/skate park/music studio or something.

'Bots On The Docks: Super-Strength Exoskeleton For Super-Sized Shipbuilding

If you've ever wanted superhero strength but don't even like hitting the gym, a new invention may help give you a little extra lift. A robotic exoskeleton, developed for the heavy-lifting laborers of the shipbuilding industry, can heft up to 30 extra kilograms when donned by a human.

According to NewScientist.com, the 28-kilogram frame of carbon, aluminum alloy and steel uses a variety of hydraulic joints and electric motors to allow the wearer to heft extra-large loads. The suit encompasses much of the human form, beginning with footpads and spanning the length of the body with supports, straps and connections to enable the labor. A backpack-mounted unit powers the device.

Individualized components, such as a small crane that would aid in lifting by jutting out over the wearer's head, are also able to interconnect with the exoskeleton. According to South Korean scientist Gilwhoan Chu, the lead engineer for Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, "Our current research target of the lifting capacity is about 100 kilograms." Current problems with the prototype include stability issues on slopes and slippery surfaces, as well as a need for more rotational capability. Still, the prototype is already useful, and will grow ever more so.

Created by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, the suits will aid the shipbuilding company in their next major endeavor. Daewoo, one of the world's largest shipbuilders, is under contract from shipping magnates Maersk to build 10 massive shipping freighters, 400 meters long and able to bear 18,000 shipping containers apiece. If effective, this may continue a trend already in place: at one South Korean shipyard assessed by the U.S. Navy, 68% of operations were completed by robots.

I AM IRONMAN.

Politics And Pay: "Greenhouse" App Turns Up The Heat On Lobbyist Loot

Our system of capitalism now allows the flow of money as a means of free speech, and some of our politicians have been hearing it loud and clear. With lobbyists spending devastatingly large amounts to get their way with politicians (and the overall system widely unchecked by their constituents), it is a great breakthrough that now, thanks to an app by 16-year-old Nick Rubin, we can monitor the money.

The app, called Greenhouse, was conceptualized when Rubin was doing a class project on corporate personhood. This was Rubin's entrance to the rabbit hole of American oligarchy. "What concerns me is the sheer amount of money being pumped into the system because there really is a lot," Rubin told vice.com. "During the development of Greenhouse and looking over these numbers and seeing how much is being donated—it’s really scary."

Rubin maintains that he simply wants "a system that works", and that Greenhouse is a nonpartisan resource. Bickering over individual parties' perceived superiority doesn't change the fact that both sides take massive money to enact legislature. As the Greenhouse motto states, "Some are red. Some are blue. All are green."

Greenhouse is designed to be simple enough for people of all ages to use, and Rubin hopes the information it offers will compel more involvement and positive change in the world we are allowing to be shaped. He wisely states that, "I really do believe that increased transparency will help fix the problem. Easy access to data empowers voters to make better decisions. Once people are informed, they will reject elected officials who are motived by money instead of principles."

The first step to fixing problems is identifying them, and the moral morass of Washington likes to make that difficult. The Greenhouse app should hopefully spread some light on the problems, making informed opinions grow to help nourish our sometimes-sickly political system.

Fuel, food, pills and bills:  some of the notably lucrative crossovers between industry and politics.

Energy Companies E-Sabotaged? Dragonfly Cyberattacks Target Industrial Control Systems

Beginning by targeting defense and aerospace companies in 2011, the online organization called Dragonfly has now changed its target to American and European energy companies. The cyberattackers, thought to be members of a government agency due to their high degree of technological prowess, wreak computerized havoc on industrial control systems (ICS) of petroleum pipelines as well as ICS all over the energy grid (including energy industry industrial equipment providers.)

The operation was multifaceted and well-funded. According to Symantec.com, "The group initially began sending malware in phishing emails to personnel in target firms. Later, the group added watering hole attacks to its offensive, compromising websites likely to be visited by those working in energy in order to redirect them to websites hosting an exploit kit. The exploit kit in turn delivered malware to the victim’s computer. The third phase of the campaign was the Trojanizing of legitimate software bundles belonging to three different ICS equipment manufacturers."

Symantec was quick to offer solutions to protect computer systems from these attacks, which resemble the Stuxnet virus (aimed at the Iranian nuclear program, it was the first major malware ICS sabotage.) The goal of the recent attacks was further-reaching, intending to achieve a level of cyberespionage that could play a major role in sabotaging any of the infected systems.

No Pizza Blitzkrieg Yet: Delivery Drones Deemed Illegal

The Federal Aviation Administration wants to remind everyone that delivery-via-drone, whether for commercial for private purposes, is currently still illegal.

Although the rules regarding the airborne robots are set to be reassessed in 2015, the FAA has allowed drone usage in a limited amount by police and scholars who hold proper "Certificate Of Authority" documentation. They also allowed one company, BP, to use a drone in Alaska to monitor oil pipelines in the deep wilderness.

Regardless of what the rules become in 2015, major businesses that could benefit from drone delivery remain undeterred in their quest to utilize the flying delivery droids. Paul Misener, Vice President of Global Public Policy for Amazon, claims the ruling "has no effect on our plans...this is about hobbyists and model aircrafts, not Amazon."

Drone dogfights to follow?

Birdwatching in 2015 is going to get weird.

At&T Is Preparing to Follow Other Companies and Sell Your Data

From Fierce Wireless:

AT&T (NYSE:T) said it "may" begin selling anonymous information about its customers' wireless and Wi-Fi locations, U-verse usage, website browsing, mobile application usage and "other information" to other businesses. The carrier said it will protect its customers' privacy by providing the data in aggregate so it cannot be used to identify an individual. The carrier also said its customers can opt out of the program.

AT&T is not the first company to sell anonymous information about its customers' location and behavior. Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) and most other Internet companies have long sold such data. In the wireless industry, Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) launched its Precision Market Insights business last year, which also anonymizes and sells customer location and usage information. Further, companies such as AirSage and SAP have recently begun selling aggregated location and usage information from wireless carriers.

US Government and Corporations Lobby Against European Data Privacy Rights

The US government along with allied corporations represent a threat not only to the data privacy rights of Americans, they are going after the Europeans too.  From Info World:

Some of the proposed changes to Europe's data protection laws would strip citizens of their privacy rights, a coalition of international civil liberties organizations said Thursday.  The European Parliament is currently considering proposals from the European Commission for a complete overhaul of the E.U.'s data protection laws . . .

Creating one regulation to replace national data protection and privacy laws in the 27 E.U. countries obviously requires compromise, but many parliamentarians report never seeing lobbying on such a scale before. In an effort to reach some sort of consensus, more than 4,000 changes to the draft text have been proposed. . . .

The civil liberties coalition, which includes Access, Bits of Freedom, EDRI, La Quadrature du Net and Privacy International, has set up a website, nakedcitizens.eu, to help concerned citizens contact their representatives in the Parliament. The groups have also presented a report based on their analysis of the proposed amendments.

"Among the thousands of amendments tabled are a large number that threaten to severely weaken privacy rights in the U.K.," the report said. "These damaging amendments are largely the result of an unprecedented lobbying storm by big U.S. tech companies, the U.S. government and the advertising industry."

See Naked Citizens for more information.