Computing
March 23rd: FTC and FCC Hosting Joint Policy Forum and Consumer Expo to Fight the Scourge of Illegal Robocalls
“Consumers are fed up with illegal robocalls that disturb their privacy and often pitch scams,” said Acting FTC Chairman Ohlhausen. “We’re going to expand our fight against this scourge through initiatives like the upcoming Technology Expo and Policy Forum, which amplify our impact through close coordination with the FCC and other partners.” “Scam robocalls and deceptive spoofing are real threats to American consumers, and they are the number one consumer complaint at the FCC,” said FCC Chairman Pai. “We’re committed to confronting this problem using every tool we have. I’m pleased to announce these efforts in our continued work with the FTC to protect consumers.” more »
My New Roommates, Alexa and Google Home
Rose Madeline Mula writes: After living alone for over thirty years, I recently acquired two new roommates. The adjustment is proving to be very interesting — not only regarding my relationships with them, but also theirs with each other. Their names are Alexa and Google Home, and they reside in opposite ends of my condo — Alexa lives in my den, and Google in my bedroom. I myself am an insomniac, and they are awake and available around the clock to tell me the time, the temperature, the weather, and the news of the world, or any celebrity gossip. (I was shocked when Google identified the latest person to be accused of sexual harassment!) more »
The Touch of a Ladybug: Creating a New Class of Flexible, Stretchable Electronically-sensitive Synthetic Materials
Restoring some semblance of the sensation of touch has been a driving force behind Stanford chemical engineer Zhenan Bao's decades-long quest to create stretchable, electronically-sensitive synthetic materials. Such a breakthrough could one day serve as skin-like coverings for prosthetics. But in the near term, this same technology could become the foundation for the evolution of new genre of flexible electronics that are in stark contrast with rigid smartphones that many of us carry, gingerly, in our back pockets. more »
Reprising Kissing a Frog, A Math Problem for the Princess and A Mathematicians's Guide to Mating
From Prof. Billingham's essay: "I'm told that when men meet women, they sometimes rate each other on a scale of 1 to 10. Of course, mathematicians are far too intelligent and sophisticated do this. We rate people on a scale of 0 to 1. In our original mathematical model, all we could do was compare one possible frog with another. The numbers didn't mean anything in themselves; they just told the princess whether one frog was "better" than another. Let's change the fairytale slightly so that the 100 frogs are now labelled with numbers drawn randomly from those that lie between 0 and 1, with the handsome prince having the highest number. What's the princess's best strategy now?" more »