Rain is out of beta and offering flat rate cellular data @ R50 / Gb (no contract, no bundles, only pay for what you use at the end of the month)

Machine learning is a complex topic - difficult to illustrate and explain. What if there was an easy way for your learners to do some machine learning programming for themselves? In Scratch? Using the power of IBM's Watson supercomputer? All online without having to install software? Check out the AI section below for a really exciting and amazing tool....

Light. Radio. X-Rays. Gamma Rays. Infra-red. Ultra-violet. Microwaves. These are all essentially part of the same range of physical phenomena - the Electromagnetic Spectrum. If our eyes had evolved differently we might be able to see radio waves. Maybe there are aliens out there who can actually do this. Thinking outside the box, MIT researchers have tried using radio waves like a less lethal for of X-Rays. They can use the fact that your body interferes with the radio waves sent out by your WiFi router and use that to track your movements - even through walls.

Motherboard has the details.

Fake News

• Google and the white squatters

AI

• Machine Learning - with Scratch!

• The Next Web asks: What happens when the AI bubble bursts?
• AI runs thousands of simulations to predict winner of the world cup. Their favourite: Spain!
• AI learning to understand 3D space the way we do (technical but interesting)

Hacks, Cracks, Malware, Etc...

• FBI arrests 74 in global phishing ring takedown
• Would you recognise it is someone sent you mail posing as your boss?
• Meet Microsoft's malware defence team...

Social Media

• The Next Web disses Facebook.... 'Facebook mostly apologises...'
• Facebook cracking down on advertisers... sort of

Social implications

• Tanzania implementing blog 'licensing' scheme which is actually a form of censorship...
• One drone, a big drop in crime
• Customer rewards - XKCD style...

Hardware (and Supercomputing)

• Intel demo of 5Ghz 28 core chip - overclocked, not a standard chip and also Digital Trend's take...
• US gets back title of fastest supercomputer
• Laptops might have keyboards replaced by touchscreens...

• Stools that tell you if your posture is bad

Software

• If you are still using XP or Vista then prepare to kiss your steam games goodbye (UPGRADE already!)
• Lifehacker's Google search tips
• Old is New: MS Office to get new ribbon design (looks like the old toolbar before the 'ribbon' was created)

History...

• First 'portable' computer: 20 tons and two trailers long

Tags: Cellular Data, Machine Learning, Rain, Scratch, WiFi

This week Intel announced a new CPU with 28 cores that runs at 5 Ghz. A day later AMD announced a CPU with 32 cores (no speed specified). Both announcements are a clear indication of the direction CPU development is taking for the future. Though no prices were announced these top of the range CPUs are likely to cost around R20 000 or R30 000 (just for the CPU). Maybe one day when I'm all grown up I'll get me one of those....

• Intel 28 Core
• AMD 32 core

Microsoft moves under the sea

If you ever need proof that servers are designed not to be accessed directly by humans (but rather only through the network) then look no further than Microsoft's new data centre. It contains only 864 servers but, to save on energy costs it is submerged beneath the ocean off the Scottish shore. The sea keeps it cool without power hungry air conditioning - and it completely powered by renewable energy. Motherboard has the details.

Buyer beware

Just because you see a 'deal' online don't believe that it's all that it's cracked up to be. MyBroadband investigates 'deals' on Takealot and finds that they come up seriously short... Remember always do some research and price comparisons before you click that 'buy' button.

Apple vs the plunderers of privacy

At its WWDC conference keynote held on Monday, Apple announce that its OS and browser (Safari) will take some serious measures to counter the way that you (the user) are tracked online by data vendors such as Facebook, Instagram, Google, etc. There are TWO main prongs to this defence:

• any site containing Facebook 'like' buttons (or the equivalent from other services) will prompt you to agree to being tracked by these services
• your digital fingerprint will be minimised so that all people browsing with Safari will look identical

On top of that, law enforcement (and therefore anyone else who can lay their hands on the technology) has been able to 'crack' and log into phones by using a box that connects to the phone by USB cable and brute forces its way through the password. No more. The new version of iOS will allow you to disable USB access if the phone has been inactive for an hour.

Here are some relevant links:

• See how much data your browser shares about your system
• Summary of what Apple did
• Pop Sci explains the digital fingerprint
• Joy of Tech comic

Apple and your digital health

Apple didn't stop with privacy. People have also been complaining that our devices are too addictive and demanding that manufacturers do something about it. Well Apple took these complaints to heart. The new iOS has a feature called Screentime which will allow you to track how much you use your device - in detail. You will be able to see how often you look at your phone or tablet, which apps take up most of your time (precisely measured). More than that, you will be able to set time limits for usage - and even specify these limits by app. So, for example, you can allocate yourself 15 minutes a day for Facebook. The OS will track the time you use (on your phone and tablet together), show you how much tome you have used, how much is left and in the end cut you off (obviously they do allow you to override the cutoff and continue). This could be a shocking eye opener for some of us...

Hacks, cracks and malware

• VPNFilter - a serious Russian malware hack of routers. Check if yours might be affected....
• MyHeritage hacked. 92 Million email addresses leaked.
• Cellphones. The ultimate weak link in the identity theft chain? (Worth a look if only for the photo of one of the first cellphones....)
• 'New Age' web site was mining cryptocurrency

Social media

• Facebook shared data with device manufacturers
• Facebook accidentally makes private posts public (you don't even have to be logged into Facebook to see them)
• What happens to your data when you die? Planning for it....
• How to spot a bot... (BBC - good for fake news detection)
• Facebook usage by teens on the decline
• Oversharing...

Hardware

• Curious how specs have changed? MyBroadband compares average gaming machine specs from 5 years ago vs today.

Robots, Drones, etc.

• See how the drone Time cover was created

• A different take on Robots and jobs.

Social implications

• European Visa outage (also a take from the BBC)
• German court rules YouTube can be held liable for copyright infringement

That's it for this week....

Tags: Apple, CPU, Data Centre, Digital Fingerprint, Hardware, Privacy, VPNFilter

Every now and then a new development in IT turns what we know and expect on its head. This week such a development was announced. Intel plans to release Optane RAM. Optane is a super fast SSD type of memory chip. Using it in RAM means that two things we take for granted about RAM are no longer valid. RAM will no longer be volatile. It will act just like an SSD type of storage. RAM will also no longer be small in size. It is quite conceivable that you could affordably put hundreds of gigabytes (or even terabytes) or RAM into your computer. Available next year. Welcome to the future of computing...

Ars Technica has the details.

ALSO: Time to rethink your old password rules!

AI

• AI powered tractors target weeds with pesticide rather than spraying blanket style.
• BUT: They might be replaced by robots doing the same thing....

Privacy & GDPR

• American media blocks EU readers
• Series of tweets show how GDPR causes tracking to be removed - and speeds up web sites
• Amazon selling facial recognition to police

Bugs and outages

• Australian bank's systems go down. 9 Million people left without access to their money
• ABSA bug converts 1 fraud transaction into multiple charges

3D Printing / Medicine

• Scientists 3D print a human cornea

Social implications

• Egypt bans YouTube for a month
• Bitcoin overwhelming power grids in the US
• Google thinks your data should belong to society and your descendants...
• IBM bans flash drives: Discuss...

Hacking and Scams

• Crash a computer / damage a HDD with sound
• Scammers claim they are paid to kill you and demand cash to 'not do it'
• ViewFines hacked - 1 million South Africans data leaked (including ID nos)
• Scammers redirect invoice payments to their own bank accounts

Resources

• Video explaining Digital Footprints

That's it for this week. Good luck with exams!

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