Is world's shortest man this 22-inch-tall Nepalese 72-year-old?
U.S. Official Signals Growing Concern Over Anonymous Group's Capabilities
Alert on Hacker Power Play
The director of the National Security Agency has warned that the hacking group Anonymous could have the ability within the next year or two to bring about a limited power outage through a cyberattack.
Gen. Keith Alexander, the director, provided his assessment in meetings at the White House and in other private sessions, according to people familiar with the gatherings. While he hasn't publicly expressed his concerns about the potential for Anonymous to disrupt power supplies, he has warned publicly about an emerging ability by cyberattackers to disable or even damage computer networks.
NSA's Perfect Citizen Program: What You Need to Know
London advertisement targets consumers by gender with facial recognition
As reported by The Independent recently, a two-week trial for gender-specific targeting of advertisements is launching in London’s West End this week. Utilizing facial recognition technology, the interactive advertisement uses a high definition camera to scan pedestrians walking by a specific bus stop on Oxford Street. With a 90 percent accuracy rating, the computer built into the placement analyzes and guesses gender based on specific facial attributes of the jawline, cheekbones, nose and eyes. Based on the current guess of a pedestrian’s gender, the digital placement shows an advertisement targeted at a man or a woman. As this technology continues to be applied to the field of advertising, the computer could also make a judgement about a person’s age, race or body type. The first advertisement in this placement on Oxford Street is being produced by a children’s charity called Plan UK. Linked to an ad campaign that promotes education of girls within impoverished countries, the digital placement will show a 40-second video when a female is scanned by the facial recognition software. If a male pedestrian is scanned by the advert, he will only see a brief message to take a look at the Plan UK site on the Internet for more information. According to Plan UK chief executive Marie Staunton, she stated “We’re not giving men and boys the choice to see the full ad on this occasion – so they get a glimpse of what it’s like to have basic choices taken away.” According to an article in the BBC News, the advertisement cost the organization £30,000, approximately $60,000, but they expect to raise a quarter of a million pounds in the next four months for the “Because I Am a Girl” cause. Clear Channel UK and 3D Exposure are working together to integrate facial recognition technology with advertising and are responsible for ads that are being displayed within this placement. The placement also includes multi-touch technology similar to Apple’s iPad and the facial recognition software shows similarities to Microsoft’s Kinect accessory for the Xbox 360. While the initial trial only includes one placement in London, Clear Channel UK communications manager Guy Melzack stated “We are currently working on a campaign by campaign basis, but if the technology proves to be popular, more screens could be installed,” in an interview with PCMag. While The Open Rights Group called the advertisement “creepy,” this isn’t the first time that facial recognition technology has been used to target consumers. The Venetian resort in Las Vegas uses facial recognition tech to offer suggestions for possible entertainment and restaurant options. A group of bars in Chicago use the technology to analyze age as well the percentage of males and females at the bars. Using a smartphone, a potential customer can check the average age range and breakdown of gender before heading out. In an interview with the L.A. Times during August 2011, Intel director of retail marketing Christopher O’Malley stated “You can put this technology into kiosks, vending machines, digital signs. It’s going to become a much more common thing in the next few years.” This article was originally posted on Digital Trends More from Digital Trends Apple applies for patent concerning face recognition on iOS devices Advertising comes to Facebook’s real-time ticker UK capital to introduce talking trash cans in fight against litter Social media profile pics are a gateway to privacy breaches
Supreme Court to review affirmative action again
WASHINGTON, Feb. 21 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to take another look at affirmative action in college admissions in a case involving the University of Texas.
Justice Elena Kagan withdrew from consideration of the case. She was U.S. solicitor general in 2010 when her office filed a brief in the dispute.
More than three-fourths of freshmen enroll at the Austin school under a state law that gives automatic admission to students in the top 10 percent of their high school classes. For the remainder, the school considers a number of factors, including race.
Two white students denied UT admission under the policy challenged it in federal court.
A three-judge appellate panel upheld the admissions policy, and the full 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, one of the most conservative in the country, refused to rehear the case by a vote of 9-7. The majority said UT's admissions program was "narrowly tailored," as required by a 2003 Supreme Court precedent.
The Texas Parte law blog reported one of the circuit dissenters, Chief Judge Edith H. Jones, said the panel's decision "gives a green light to all public higher education institutions in this circuit, and perhaps beyond, to administer racially conscious admissions programs without following the narrow tailoring that (Supreme Court precedent) requires. Texas today is increasingly diverse in ways that transcend the crude white/black/Hispanic calculus that is the measure of the university's race conscious admissions program."
The case accepted by the high court was brought by one of the two white students, Abigail Fisher, who applied to the school in 2008. Fisher was not entitled to admission under the Top 10 Percent Law, but her academic credentials exceeded many of those non-Top 10 students who were accepted, her petition said.
Justice Elena Kagan withdrew from consideration of the case. She was U.S. solicitor general in 2010 when her office filed a brief in the dispute.
More than three-fourths of freshmen enroll at the Austin school under a state law that gives automatic admission to students in the top 10 percent of their high school classes. For the remainder, the school considers a number of factors, including race.
Two white students denied UT admission under the policy challenged it in federal court.
A three-judge appellate panel upheld the admissions policy, and the full 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, one of the most conservative in the country, refused to rehear the case by a vote of 9-7. The majority said UT's admissions program was "narrowly tailored," as required by a 2003 Supreme Court precedent.
The Texas Parte law blog reported one of the circuit dissenters, Chief Judge Edith H. Jones, said the panel's decision "gives a green light to all public higher education institutions in this circuit, and perhaps beyond, to administer racially conscious admissions programs without following the narrow tailoring that (Supreme Court precedent) requires. Texas today is increasingly diverse in ways that transcend the crude white/black/Hispanic calculus that is the measure of the university's race conscious admissions program."
The case accepted by the high court was brought by one of the two white students, Abigail Fisher, who applied to the school in 2008. Fisher was not entitled to admission under the Top 10 Percent Law, but her academic credentials exceeded many of those non-Top 10 students who were accepted, her petition said.
Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2012/02/21/Supreme-Court-to-review-affirmative-action-again/UPI-15231329842453/#ixzz1n2Lyypjg
Dow crosses 13,000 for first time since before 2008 financial crisis
The 13,000 level is a psychological milepost, but in a market built on perception, it could influence more cautious investors to pump more money back into the stock market, analysts said.
“You need notches along the way to measure things, and that’s as good as any,” said John Manley, chief equity strategist for Wells Fargo’s funds group. “Is 50 older than 49 and a half? Yes, by six months. Do those six months really make a difference? Probably not. But it does give us a fixed point, something we can look at.”
Stocks dropped back slightly after hitting the mark. Just after 11:45 a.m. EST, the Dow was up 37 points at 12,987. In other trading, the Standard & Poor’s 500 was up five points at 1,366. The Nasdaq composite index was up nine points at 2,961.
European markets fell after the Greece deal was announced. Stocks were down almost 4 percent in Greece, a little more than 1 percent in Spain and less than 1 percent in France and Britain. But the euro rose slightly at $1.32, which could be seen as a sign of confidence in European markets.
Investors noted that Greece remains in deep recession. Its private-sector investors were also forced to take a 53.5 percent loss on the face value of their bonds, which could discourage future investment.
The U.S. stock market has climbed steadily this year, primarily because of optimism about the economy. High gasoline prices are emerging as a chief concern for the economic recovery for the rest of the year, though.
A gallon of regular costs $3.57 on average, 40 cents more than a year ago and the highest on record for this time of year. With tension building over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Iran has halted oil exports to Britain and France and threatened to stop shipping to other European countries.
On Tuesday, U.S. markets enjoyed strong earnings reports from several big-name companies, including Home Depot and Dollar Thrifty. The exception was Wal-Mart, which reported a 15 percent drop in quarterly profits.
Overall, though, investors seemed comfortable moving money into the higher-risk stock market and out of safer investments like government bonds. The yield on the government’s benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.05 percent from 2.01 percent Friday, a sign that fewer investors wanted the bonds.
MTVHive.com Playlist - Featured HD Concert Performances
MTVHive.com Playlist - Featured HD Concert PerformancesCompeting currency being accepted across Mid-Michigan
Competing currency being accepted across Mid-Michigan: "Supporters of competing currencies say their money is worth more and is inflation proof."
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