Predator populations survive because some of them starve.
Enlarge/ Ferocious, right? (The lion Animoji in iOS 11.3.) (credit: Apple)
It is well-known that physicists believe that studying physics makes you qualified to carry out research in every field of scientific endeavor. Hence, there are physics journals and papers devoted to all manner of topics, including evolution and population dynamics. In fact, the mathematical toy models that physicists use are good at abstracting things like the relationship between species. So, they can yield insights into what characteristics may be important to understand their interactions.
In a paper that fits nicely into this category, researchers have shown that starvation can help stabilize populations of predators (and I mean stable somewhere above a population of zero).
Predator vs. predator
Imagine that you have an ecosystem where two predators are also mutual prey: lions will eat tigers, and tigers will eat lions, while tigers don’t eat tigers, and lions don’t eat lions. A simple model will allow the animals to move around, eat each other, and reproduce. After letting the model run for a certain amount of time, you can examine the population density of each species.
Arkansas shoppers who like ordering their groceries online and picking them up at their local Walmart will soon get a bit of extra help from a self-driving robot—though few will realize it. In a deal announced this week, Walmart will use robo-vans from startup Gatik to help move goods from its Supercenter in Rogers, Arkansas, to a Neighborhood Market in nearby Bentonville, where customers can get their bags with laundry detergent, paper towels, potato chips, and whatever else.
In the pilot program, Palo Alto, California-based Gatik will run three of its modified Ford Transit Connect vans in this “middle mile” logistics scheme, making up to 10 runs a day, seven days a week, during daylight. With human safety operators behind the wheel as backups, the vans will follow one of two routes between the stores: a roundabout five-mile (one-way) trip that avoids some tricky driving scenarios, or a more direct, uncompromising two-mile shot. “The main aim is to do that repeatedly, safely, without a safety driver onboard,” says Gatik CEO Gautam Narang.
Der Mirobot funktioniert fast wie ein großer Industriearm, passt aber auf den Schreibtisch. Bastler können ihn mit Python-Scripts oder Lernsoftware für verschiedene Projekte programmieren – als Bildhauer, Maler oder Marsrover. Die Kampagne ist auf Kick…
Der Mirobot funktioniert fast wie ein großer Industriearm, passt aber auf den Schreibtisch. Bastler können ihn mit Python-Scripts oder Lernsoftware für verschiedene Projekte programmieren - als Bildhauer, Maler oder Marsrover. Die Kampagne ist auf Kickstarter bereits finanziert. (Roboter, Python)
Der neue Mac Pro entsteht zum großen Teil in China. Das könnte sich auf den Preis des Produktes auswirken, denn US-Präsident Donald Trump wird Strafzölle verlangen. Das hat er auf Twitter angekündigt. 9to5mac geht von bis zu 25 Prozent aus. (Donald Tru…
Der neue Mac Pro entsteht zum großen Teil in China. Das könnte sich auf den Preis des Produktes auswirken, denn US-Präsident Donald Trump wird Strafzölle verlangen. Das hat er auf Twitter angekündigt. 9to5mac geht von bis zu 25 Prozent aus. (Donald Trump, Apple)
Former Pirate Party leader Travis McCrea says he has “no case to answer” in the copyright lawsuit filed by John Van Stry. According to a request to file a motion to dismiss at a court in Texas, DMCA takedown notices previously sent to the eBook platform do not meet the standard required by US copyright law.
On March 27, 2019, US-based author John Van Stry filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Travis McCrea, the operator of eBook platform eBook.bike.
McCrea initially chose not to become involved in the suit and in June, Van Stry’s lawyers filed for a default judgment in a Texas court.
As reported here earlier this month, the presiding judge chose not to rubber-stamp the request but instead questioned whether the court had personal jurisdiction over McCrea, a Canada resident.
The parties were invited to file simultaneous briefs, indicating whether the alleged injury to the copyright holder occurred in Texas, whether any injury was sufficient enough to imply a “substantial connection” with the forum/state, and whether McCrea knew that “his acts would be felt” by Van Stry in Texas.
This week, Van Stry’s lawyers filed documents with the Court, sent to them by McCrea but yet to be officially filed by the defendant. That will happen in due course, the author’s legal team note. They make for interesting reading.
Representing himself, McCrea writes that his engagement in the case has been limited due to a number of factors including “massive waves of cyber bullying” and direct attacks on his ability to defend himself.
Van Stry previously launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise cash to fight McCrea, an effort that to date has raised more than $23,000. However, when McCrea opened his own fundraiser on the same platform, he says GoFundMe shut it down. In an earlier conversation, he told TF he didn’t know why that had happened.
“Why GoFundMe shut down my fundraiser but allowed his is beyond me,” he told us. “They cited ‘TOS Violations’ yet when I emailed asking for further elaboration they ignored my emails.”
In the documents filed by Van Stry’s team, McCrea informs the Court that “putting food” on the table had prevented him from being as engaged in the case as he would’ve liked but that shouldn’t be perceived as a sign of disrespect.
While acknowledging the motion for default judgment, he asks the Court to consider accepting a late motion to dismiss and a motion for change of venue, to be taken as part of the Court’s request for further information on jurisdiction.
“Regardless of any argument made by the Plaintiff, it is an inarguable fact that the Plaintiff did not file proper takedown notices as required by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act,” the motion reads.
“It is not my intent to argue safe harbor at this moment, but rather the failure of the Plaintiff to even properly file a take-down notice in the first place or provide me with any reasonable notice of the infringement at all (without proper notice, the argument of safe harbor cannot even be entertained. If I am not properly informed of copyright infringement, I cannot reply to said infringement).”
McCrea points out a number of alleged deficiencies in the notices sent by Van Stry but majors on the fact that the DMCA requires takedown notices to contain “information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to locate the material.” That usually means the precise URLs at which the content can be found, a detail reportedly missing from Van Stry’s notices.
One of the notices sent by Van Stry to eBook.bike
McCrea points out that one of the notices sent did contain a URL but it related to a search result page that contained no infringing material.
All notices, McCrea states, failed to meet other requirements as set out in law, by not offering “information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to contact the complaining party, such as an address, telephone number”, a statement that the complaining party “has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law”, and a statement that the “information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.”
In summary, due to the above McCrea says he has “no case to answer” because the original notices sent to him did not comply with the requirements of the DMCA.
“There are many details about my life in the initial claim and many not flattering, however, I have always shown a commitment to enforce copyright on websites I am involved with,” McCrea continues.
“I advocate change in copyright law, that’s true, but I advocate for copyright terms of 15 years not no copyright. I advocate for change through the law, not against it. Please don’t [allow] the Plaintiff to file a suit because of my religion and political beliefs without having to at least fulfill his legal obligations first.”
Finally, the documents indicate that McCrea will file a request for a change of venue from Texas to Seattle. This would be the closest state for him since he’s a resident of Canada, he adds.
The eBook.bike operator acknowledges that the existence of a motion for default judgment may limit his ability to file these requests but it will nevertheless prove interesting if the Court decides to examine the DMCA notice issue in addition to the matter of jurisdiction.
id Software verkauft die älteren Teile von Doom auch für die PS4, Nintendo Switch und als native Version für die Xbox One. Der Onlinezwang macht allerdings mobile Switch-Nutzer unglücklich, während Besitzer der Xbox-360-Versionen doppelt zahlen. (Doom,…
id Software verkauft die älteren Teile von Doom auch für die PS4, Nintendo Switch und als native Version für die Xbox One. Der Onlinezwang macht allerdings mobile Switch-Nutzer unglücklich, während Besitzer der Xbox-360-Versionen doppelt zahlen. (Doom, id Software)
Einige Apple-Vertragsarbeiter erhalten Sprachdateien von Siri, um diese zu analysieren und den Assistenten zu verbessern. Allerdings werden laut einer internen Quelle des Guardian oft private Momente aufgenommen – beim Sex, bei Geschäften und beim Gesp…
Einige Apple-Vertragsarbeiter erhalten Sprachdateien von Siri, um diese zu analysieren und den Assistenten zu verbessern. Allerdings werden laut einer internen Quelle des Guardian oft private Momente aufgenommen - beim Sex, bei Geschäften und beim Gespräch mit dem Arzt. (Siri, Google)
In a new report, Apple takes its turn in the crosshairs over how it reviews user recordings.
Enlarge/ "Siri, define the word "surprising.'" "Okay. Ask me to define the word 'mother' twice, then." (credit: Apple)
Voice assistants are growing in popularity, but the technology has been experiencing a parallel rise in concerns about privacy and accuracy. Apple’s Siri is the latest to enter this gray space of tech. This week, The Guardian reported that contractors who review Siri recordings for accuracy and to help make improvements may be hearing personal conversations.
One of the contract workers told The Guardian that Siri did sometimes record audio after mistaken activations. The wake word is the phrase “hey Siri,” but the anonymous source said that it could be activated by similar-sounding words or with the noise of a zipper. They also said that when an Apple Watch is raised and speech is detected, Siri will automatically activate.
“There have been countless instances of recordings featuring private discussions between doctors and patients, business deals, seemingly criminal dealings, sexual encounters and so on,” the source said. “These recordings are accompanied by user data showing location, contact details, and app data.”
Hutchins helped stop the WannaCry outbreak, but he had a dark past.
Enlarge/ Hutchins, right, walks to court with his lawyers in 2017. (credit: Joshua Lott/Getty Images)
British security expert and onetime malware developer Marcus Hutchins has been sentenced to time served, he announced in a Friday tweet.
Hutchins became famous in the security world in 2017 after he inadvertently stopped the WannaCry malware outbreak by registering a domain name that served as a kill switch for the sophisticated malware. Yet Hutchins, now in his mid-20s, had a dark past, having developed banking malware earlier in his life. At the time of his WannaCry efforts, Hutchins was already under investigation by US authorities for creating two banking trojans in the early 2010s.
Hutchins was arrested in August 2017 during a visit to the United States. He initially denied any role in developing malware. However, during his detention, federal prosecutors intercepted phone conversations in which he reportedly made incriminating statements. Under pressure from the authorities, Hutchins eventually came clean, admitting to his role in developing the malware. He took a plea deal in April.
Pay again to access “native” Xbox One versions—with mix of added, removed features.
Enlarge/ You can still purchase and play the first three Doom games on Xbox One consoles. But this comes after certain Xbox One-compatible ports of the series were apparently delisted on Friday. (credit: Aurich Lawson / id Software)
As part of its annual QuakeCon festivities, id Software surprise-announced a launch of all three "original" Doom games on modern consoles on Friday, effective immediately. That was solid news for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch owners, who've yet to get ports of Doom, Doom II, or Doom 3: BFG Edition.
But the news was different on Xbox One, where all three games had already received digital-download ports thanks to that platform's hearty Xbox 360 backwards-compatibility program. And on Friday, Bethesda gave those version's holders a rude awakening: the company completely delisted those Xbox 360 versions.
As of press time, those games' original SKUs can still be found in Larry "Major Nelson" Hyrb's definitive Xbox 360 backwards compatibility list, along with reminders that those games came back to life on Xbox One consoles in 2015 and 2016. Clicking any of the affected Doom games' listings right now, however, leads to dead Xbox 360 content pages, the kind you might find for delisted Xbox games like Marvel Ultimate Alliance.
Der Mirobot funktioniert fast wie ein großer Industriearm, passt aber auf den Schreibtisch. Bastler können ihn mit Python-Scripts oder Lernsoftware für verschiedene Projekte programmieren - als Bildhauer, Maler oder Marsrover. Die Kampagne ist auf Kickstarter bereits finanziert. (
Der neue Mac Pro entsteht zum großen Teil in China. Das könnte sich auf den Preis des Produktes auswirken, denn US-Präsident Donald Trump wird Strafzölle verlangen. Das hat er auf Twitter angekündigt. 9to5mac geht von bis zu 25 Prozent aus. (
id Software verkauft die älteren Teile von Doom auch für die PS4, Nintendo Switch und als native Version für die Xbox One. Der Onlinezwang macht allerdings mobile Switch-Nutzer unglücklich, während Besitzer der Xbox-360-Versionen doppelt zahlen. (
Einige Apple-Vertragsarbeiter erhalten Sprachdateien von Siri, um diese zu analysieren und den Assistenten zu verbessern. Allerdings werden laut einer internen Quelle des Guardian oft private Momente aufgenommen - beim Sex, bei Geschäften und beim Gespräch mit dem Arzt. (
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