Edit Distance Reveals Hard Computational Problems

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As far as computer scientists know, the only general-purpose method to find the correct answer to a SAT problem is to try all possible settings of the variables one by one. The amount of time that this exhaustive or “brute-force” approach takes depends on how many variables there are in the formula. As the number of variables increases, the time it takes to search through all the possibilities increases exponentially. To complexity theorists and algorithm designers, this is bad. (Or, technically speaking, hard.)

SETH takes this situation from bad to worse. It implies that finding a better general-purpose algorithm for SAT — even one that only improves on brute-force searching by a small amount — is impossible.

Source: Edit Distance Reveals Hard Computational Problems | Quanta Magazine

The Jocks of Computer Code Do It for the Job Offers

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The Hacker Cup goes much the same way as other sport-coding contests: five puzzles to finish in any order over three hours. Keep the programming as efficient as possible. The cleanest, most accurate code in the fastest time takes first place. A common type of problem might ask for the shortest route between San Francisco and Los Angeles given a number of constraints. Or perhaps the problem is about how to tile a floor in a specific pattern. The questions typically revolve around a well-known algorithm or mathematical structure with a fresh twist. Elite sport coders must figure out the underlying logic quickly and then trust their abilities.

Source: The Jocks of Computer Code Do It for the Job Offers

‘Chatbot Rose’ wins Loebner AI competition, but $100,000 prize remains unclaimed

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The Loebner prize for artificial intelligence is a $100,000 award for the person or team that creates a computer that can hold a conversation with a human in such a way that the person can’t identify whether they’re talking to a computer or another person – an implementation of the Turing test.

Source: ‘Chatbot Rose’ wins Loebner AI competition, but $100,000 prize remains unclaimed

South Korea-backed app puts children at risk

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In April, Seoul required new smartphones sold to those 18 and under to be equipped with such software, a first-of-its-kind move, according to Korea University law professor Park Kyung-sin. The Korean Communications Commission has promoted Smart Sheriff and schools have sent out letters to parents encouraging them to download the app, which is free.

Source: APNewsBreak: South Korea-backed app puts children at risk – Houston Chronicle

Children’s phone numbers, birth dates, web browsing history and other personal data were being sent across the Internet unencrypted, making them easy to intercept. Authentication weaknesses meant Smart Sheriff could easily be hijacked, turned off or tricked into sending bogus alerts to parents. Even worse, they found that many weaknesses could be exploited at scale, meaning that thousands or even all of the app’s 380,000 users could be compromised at once.

Nine of world’s biggest banks join to form blockchain partnership

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Rutter said the initial focus would be to agree on an underlying architecture, but it had not yet been decided whether that would be underpinned by bitcoin’s blockchain or another one, such as one being built by Ethereum, which offers more features than the original bitcoin technology.

Once that had been agreed on, Rutter said, the first use of the technology might be the issuance of commercial paper on the blockchain.

Source: Nine of world’s biggest banks join to form blockchain partnership | Reuters

Microsoft is downloading Windows 10 to your machine ‘just in case’

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Microsoft told us: “For individuals who have chosen to receive automatic updates through Windows Update, we help upgradable devices get ready for Windows 10 by downloading the files they’ll need if they decide to upgrade.

Source: Microsoft is downloading Windows 10 to your machine ‘just in case’

From: The Appeal of Free: 75 Million Users Download Windows 10 in First Month

Free Windows is proving to be a very attractive price indeed. Seventy-five million users have downloaded Windows 10 to their personal computers and tablets in the first month of its release, Microsoft announced on Wednesday.

HTTP is obsolete. It’s time for the distributed, permanent web

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IPFS is still in the alpha stages of development, so we’re calling this an experiment for now. It hasn’t replaced our existing site storage (yet). Like with any complex new technology, there’s a lot of improvements to make. But IPFS isn’t vaporware, it works right now. You can try it out on your own computer, and already can use it to help us serve and persist Neocities sites.

Source: HTTP is obsolete. It’s time for the distributed, permanent web

Patent Law Shouldn’t Block the Sale of Used Tech Products

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This case raises important questions about the reach of American patent law and how much control a manufacturer can exert after its products have been lawfully sold. Taken to their logical conclusion, Lexmark’s arguments would mean that producers could use patent law to dictate how things like computers, printers and other patented goods are used, changed or resold and place restrictions on international trade.

Source: Patent Law Shouldn’t Block the Sale of Used Tech Products

To encourage innovation, the government gives inventors patents on their creations for a limited time. But patents should not give the manufacturer indefinite control over the product after it has been sold.

Super Mario Maker Exposes More YouTube Copyright Stupidity

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Playboy, obviously, does not own Mario. It did not create Mario Maker. It did not build the level on display in my video. And yet my video was still flagged. What gives?

Source: Super Mario Maker Exposes More YouTube Copyright Stupidity

This, he reasoned, must be the source of the copyright claim. Because automatic Mario Maker levels play out the exact same way for everyone that experiences them, that segment of footage was identical for both of us—down to the very last frame. YouTube’s automated system seems to have flagged it for that reason, even though my footage was uploaded first. Pretty silly!