Facial Recognition Coming To Tranportation

I’m sure I saw this movie. It was either Jason Bourne or Ethan Hunt or one of the X-Men, and they were walking through a bus terminal or an airport… sorry, the scenario does tend to run together because it’s a bone-chilling concept. Our beloved character is trying to blend in with the crowd, only the bad guys (re: someone from the government, actually) are tracking him via facial recognition software.

Of course our hero gets away, but it’s no thanks to the software that’s trying to pick him out of the crowd. But this isn’t the stuff of action movies anymore; this technology does exist and it’s being put in place in these very kinds of locations.

One of the latest cities to bring facial recognition software on board is Dallas, Texas, whose DART mass transit system has long suffered without so much as security cameras in many of its high-traffic locations. Now, with the installation of closed-circuit cameras to monitor passenger safety, the city is going one step further by planning on incorporating facial recognition software, presumably to watch for wanted criminals or head off any suspicious activity.

In order to avoid accusations that this is a little too much like the aforementioned action movies, it’s important to note that the software may be wholly ineffective. According to the Dallas News‘ transportation blog, DART’s software will not cross-reference faces against any police databases or watch lists. Instead, it will only pick up on faces that the transportation authority entered into its own database. So far, the only uses DART has come up with for this software are to catch known fare evaders (yes, people who’ve been banned from the city’s transportation system for hopping the turnstiles), and the more useful application of searching for wanted or missing persons that the police have issued bulletins for.

The post Facial Recognition Coming To Tranportation appeared first on FileHippo News.

via FileHippo News http://ift.tt/1QMAvto

IBM Launches BitCoin Like Blockchain Technology To Get Ahead

Or rather, International Business Machines has announced that it will be making a big push to utilise the same blockchain technology that underpins crypto currency BitCoin.

In a statement on its website, IBM unleashed a slew of announcements and investments yesterday all centred around the how it will look to find business solutions based on the emergent and rapidly evolving blockchain technology as a service

IBM has  thrown its hat and its considerable weight behind “distributed ledger or blockchain technology for real world applications.” Altogether IBM has said that there are more than 100 technical architects working  on trying to fast-track blockchain applications for businesses.

The announcement is seen by many as just the first round by IBM to try and charge into the blockchain industry with a working gambit that its offering is better than anyone else’s. It hopes to be at the forefront of what it think will change the way many multinationals do business.

IBM’s new strategy was unveiled as presenting blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS), and rather than being a separate undertaking, will instead be combined with existing company assets like its primary IT system for the world’s top banks, IBM z Systems.

Crucially, in an effort to encourage developers, BaaS will also be used in IBM’s dev workshop, Bluemix Garage, and also the Watson Internet of Things platform.

Seeking rapid growth

IBM also announced that it had dropped a substantial amount of resources to developing standards for the use of blockchain in the open-source Linux Foundation Collaborative Project, Hyper Ledger. The tech giant has devoted 35 researchers and software engineers to writing 44,000 lines of code for the project.

IBM has also announced the formation of collaborative spaces for block chain development in 4 of the world’s major financial hubs. (London, New York, Singapore and Tokyo)

The “IBM garages” will hopefully accelerate the design, development and implementation of blockchain for business, and bring together IBM experts and developers in the one place.

IBM becomes the second major tech giant to launch a BaaS. Microsoft unveiled its platform for blockchain development last October.

 

The post IBM Launches BitCoin Like Blockchain Technology To Get Ahead appeared first on FileHippo News.

via FileHippo News http://ift.tt/1ovi0De

Apple Refuses Judge’s Order To Unlock Killer’s iPhone

In a highly publicized incident that (at the time) seemed to divide the country on a number of public issues, Syed Rizwan Farook entered a holiday party last December and opened fire, killing fourteen and wounding 21 others; he and his wife (who is also suspected of being part of the plot) were later killed by police in a shootout. The crime has left shockwaves due to so many unanswered questions: was it racially or religiously motivated? was it just another case of disgruntled workplace violence? do we need stronger gun control laws?

Unfortunately, investigators believe the answers to at least some of the key questions are locked up in the Farook’s iPhone. FBI experts have been unable to bypass the phone’s passcode, and gave up after ten failed attempts out of fear of permanently disabling the phone. Their request directly from Apple to assist in opening the phone was unsuccessful; as the manufacturer has stated in the past, Apple has no access to a user’s passcode and therefore has no ability to unlock a phone, even if it was willing to do so.

Now, a federal judge is compelling Apple to not only unlock the phone for investigators, but to develop new technology and software to make that possible. Apple, who had no hand in the crime whatsoever, is being ordered by Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym of the Federal District Court for the District of Central California to put their engineers on the problem and produce the ability to bypass a passcode lock at their own expense.

Apple has obviously refused, and no, it’s not because they support the killing of US citizens. In the company’s own words, there’s a reason this technology doesn’t exist and it’s not because Apple didn’t think of it: creating the software the judge wants would amount to building a backdoor into every Apple device. That’s something the company isn’t willing to do, not just to thwart the efforts of law enforcement, but because the existence of such a backdoor leaves every Apple user’s phone vulnerable to hackers.

“The F.B.I. may use different words to describe this tool, but make no mistake: Building a version of iOS that bypasses security in this way would undeniably create a back door,” Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote in a statement, refusing to comply with the judge’s order. “And while the government may argue that its use would be limited to this case, there is no way to guarantee such control.”

That last part is the real crux of the problem. Yes, hacking is a major threat. But in Apple’s view, building an inherent workaround allows the government to access citizens’ devices whenever they see fit. The US Supreme Court has already ruled that smartphones contain as much personal and incriminating information as an individual’s home. Following in the still-unresolved aftermath of the Edward Snowden government spying crisis, handing over more keys to citizens’ private data is unacceptable.

The post Apple Refuses Judge’s Order To Unlock Killer’s iPhone appeared first on FileHippo News.

via FileHippo News http://ift.tt/1ovhZPU

Top 5 Add-Ons for Being More Productive at Google Docs

With the introduction of add-ons for Docs two years back, Google made its office suite much more comprehensive and flexible. There are not many options available when compared to Chrome’s extensions, but a few good ones can really make you more productive.

For starters, add-ons for Google Docs are just like extensions you download for Chrome. They integrate with Google Docs and provide additional (third party) functionalities that are missing from the platform.

Our criteria for finding the top add-ons for Google Docs is they should be free, useful, lightweight and easy to use. They should also not spam your account, or make false promises or provide sub-standard experience.

First, how to install a Google Docs add-on?

Installing any add-on is nothing different than what you do with Chrome extensions. The main difference here is that you access the store from Google Docs. First off, open a document and at the main menu on top, you will find a dropdown for “Add-ons”.

Click on the tab for “Get Add-ons” link, which will lead you to the store, from where you download these add-ons.

Do note, to access any settings/options of a particular add-on, you will need to guide yourself to this same dropdown.

The Top Add-ons for Google Docs

#1. Lucidchart for creating diagrams, wireframes and charts

By default, Docs doesn’t provide any way to sketch diagrams and make flowcharts and that can be really annoying if you’re working on something that requires more than text and images. With Lucidchart, you can create and insert diagrams, flow charts, UMLs, wireframes, sitemaps in documents.

This, however, does not mean that you are going to get a complete interface integrated into the Docs itself. You will have to create diagram on Lucidchart web application and then inserting them in Google Docs through the addon’s sidebar. This might not sound as useful, if you never went through the process of saving a project as image and then importing that in Docs. Lucidchart make this whole process very easy and thus it is at top of our list.

After installing the extension, you can access it from the add-ons menu on top and then choosing “Insert Diagram” to get started.

#2. UberConference lets you have a conference call while you’re editing a doc

UberConference’s nifty extension lets you take conference calls right in the Google Docs interface, there’s no requirement of leaving the document you’ve been working on whatsoever. You can end, record and even invite people straight from the mini app which can be really handy if there’s a team involved.

Uberconference itself is a good service which provides device free conference calls. They work with a freemium model, so it will be free for personal use.

#3. Better Word Count

Google Docs does provide you word and character count (Ctrl+Shift+C), however what’s missing is the live update and a more elementary way to check it. “Better Word Count” is a free extension that fills this gap by showing the count in real time on the right sidebar, making the process much more facile.

You even get the option to exclude some elements including headings, stricken through texts and much more, all of which can be checked out from the settings.

#4. Openhere, for bookmarking your long documents

If you’re writing a long document and want to resume from a specific line, install Openhere. It’s an extremely minimal tool that basically lets you resume from a particular spot. As soon as you reopen your document after setting a point, Openhere automatically scrolls the page and moves your cursor to the beginning of that line, which is pretty neat.

Unlike other extensions we saw, Openhere does not have any sidebar to work. To add an open position, first move your cursor to the desired location, hit the add-ons menu on top followed by Openhere and then “add open position”. To remove that open position, click “remove open position” instead in the same dropdown.

#5. Remove Line Breaks

If you copy text content from a PDF, chances are the pasted text will get separated with new lines. Now, instead of manually deleting these new lines, you can use the Remove Line Breaks addon to automatically clean the line breaks.

How to delete an add-On?

If you did not find any extension useful, Google allows you to easily get rid of them through that add-on menu we saw in the beginning.

This time, however, we’ll go into the “manage add-ons” option where you will find the list of all the add-ons you installed. By clicking that green manage button, you can either disable it for a particular document or completely remove it from your account.

Those were our favorite top Google Docs add-ons. Hope that they help you with your work.

The post Top 5 Add-Ons for Being More Productive at Google Docs appeared first on Google Tricks Blog.

Related posts:

1. Convert PDF into MS Word format using Google Docs
2. Creating Comments in Google Docs, Slides and Sheets on Web and Mobile
3. Read or Embed Documents Online with Google Docs Viewer

via Gtricks http://ift.tt/1WuvtWz

TeamViewer 11.0.55321

http://ift.tt/Op6NeA TeamViewer is the All-In-One Solution for Remote Access and Support over the Internet. TeamViewer connects to any PC or server around the world within a few seconds. You can remote control your partner's PC as if you were sitting right in front of it. Features: control computers remotely via the internet, record your session and covert it to...

via FileHippo.com http://ift.tt/1bknyoY [[ We are also giving web service. Email:wasim.akh2@gmail.com]]

ConstEdit 2.5.0005

http://ift.tt/1QLgQig ConstEdit is a HTML5 editor that provides users with the possibility to create and edit web pages from an intuitive, easy-to-use interface. Unlike cloud apps and online html editors, it does not require an internet connection to work with; it runs locally on your computer for better performance, convenience and security. ConstEdit is an easy-to...

via FileHippo.com http://ift.tt/1NCdx9z [[ We are also giving web service. Email:wasim.akh2@gmail.com]]

Google Chrome 49.0.2623.54 Beta

http://ift.tt/20FGO94 Google’s game changing browser Chrome combines sophisticated technology with a simple UI, to create a faster, safer and easier browsing experience. Launched in 2008, Google Chrome quickly dominated the browser market to become the most used browser globally within 4 years of its public release. Google’s rapid and continuous development cycle ensure...

via FileHippo.com http://ift.tt/1otkmT4 [[ We are also giving web service. Email:wasim.akh2@gmail.com]]