| SpaceX launches a spy satellite and gets its rocket back, algorithms are ripe territory for ethicists as well as engineers, and the thin client dream revives for the hundredth time in the history of computing. All that and more in The Daily Crunch for May 1, 2017. 1. SpaceX's latest successful launch is a big one SpaceX's latest launch just landed it a lucrative new client: The National Reconnaissance Organization. The NRO is the agency that runs America's spy satellites, and it hasn't used a new launch provider in a long, long time. The launch appears to have gone smoothly, although because of the classified nature of the payload, we may never know whether it was a complete success; if SpaceX gets another NROL mission, however, we'll know it probably went without issue. 
2. The problem with algorithms As machine learning increasingly takes over key aspects of our lives, there's a big issue that needs further study, and real solutions: Algorithmic bias. Megan discusses the problem, its implications, and its potential solutions. 3. Thin client era at last? It's a dream older than Romain himself: Truly distributed computing, where your client device handles basically none of the heavy computing. But his treatise on why the time might finally be right is still definitely worth a look. 4. Privacy activists cautiously celebrate a rare win The NSA rolled back a surveillance tactic that many privacy activists lobbied against, and now those same activists are celebrating the victory... tentatively. This group doesn't get many wins these days. 5. Watch Elon Musk's tunnel talk TED talks are typically grandiose, but few are quite as grandiose as those delivered by the grandfather of grandiosity himself, Elon Musk. This one is a doozy, so strap in. 6. AI diagnostic stroke identification service launches If I was a medical imaging pro, I would be looking at alternate employment opportunities. Just saying. 7. Samsung gets the green light for autonomous testing at home Samsung is now approved to start testing its self-driving cars on public roads in South Korea. It's around the 20th company to get that nod, but Apple was far from first in California either, and it's too early to claim anyone is too far behind in this emerging market. You can actually find out more about how close we are to self-driving cars at Disrupt NY 2017 from May 15 - May 17, where Ford CTO Raj Nair will dish on his company's progress. Click below to get tickets. 
| 
No comments:
Post a Comment