Mike Wheatley
Latest from Mike Wheatley
Stop faking it: Computers can see when you’re in pain
Don’t say we didn’t warn you. You might be able to fool some people, but you’re unlikely to do the same thing with a computer. A new study from researchers at the University of California in San Diego and the University of Toronto suggests that computer software is able to spot genuine or fake expressions ...
Obama vows to crack down on NSA spying
Well here’s a surprise. According to a report in the New York Times, it seems that President Obama is none to happy about the NSA’s bulk collection of US citizen’s phone records, and is drawing up a legislative proposal that will “drastically overhaul” the program. Whether or not Obama’s apparent disgust at the NSA’s actions ...
ATMs look to Linux as Windows XP enters its death throes
In a move that will surprise few people, it’s been revealed that banks and ATM operators are finally considering switching to Linux-based operating systems as a replacement for the dying Windows XP that currently powers the vast majority of the world’s cash machines. What’s more surprising is that these organizations are only considering the switch ...
Google Flu Trends: A case of Big Data gone bad?
Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time, but sadly Google Flu Trends has turned out to be a prime example of what can go wrong when you read too much into your Big Data… When Google Flu Trends first kicked off back in 2009, the search giant thought it was being rather ...
Larry Page wants make your medical data public knowledge
Our medical history data is about as private as it’s possible to get, so when someone as high profile as Google founder Larry Page calls for all of this to be made public, the issue deserves our attention. Page made the suggestion during an appearance at the TED Conference, saying “Wouldn’t it be amazing to ...
NSA’s lawyer claims tech firms DID know about PRISM spying all along
Technology firms like Google, Facebook and Microsoft were fully aware of the NSA’s PRISM surveillance program and its mass monitoring of web traffic, says its general counsel Rajesh De. Speaking at a meeting organized by the US government’s Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) in Washington DC on Wednesday, De revealed that the NSA’s ...
The White House unleashes Big Data to fight Climate Change
The White House is reaching out to budding data scientists to help in its fight against climate change. Yesterday, the Obama administration gave an announcement about its new Climate Data Initiative – a program that’s bidding to use the gargantuan amount of climate change-related data its accumulated to build tools that local governments and city ...
Chinese scientists beef up Hadoop scheduling with SDN
Few would disagree that software-defined-networking (SDN) holds a lot of potential – it promises numerous benefits to organizations that run lots of virtual networks and machines, most obviously the automation and flexibility that it provides. Even so, there are plenty of critics who say that SDN just doesn’t have that many applications – after all, ...
The NSA’s MYSTIC powers – it can listen to and record every phone call in the world
Remember not so long ago the NSA’s innocent claim that it only collects the metadata of people’s phone calls? Well, apparently that’s not not entirely accurate, for not only does it actually listen into foreigners’ telephone conversations with alarming regularity, it also has the ability to record “every single” call in any given country and ...
Oracle blames US dollar exchange rates yet again as Q3 revenues disappoint
Oracle has declared Q3 revenues of $9.3 billion, a four percent rise year-on-year that still fell somewhat short of Wall Street’s expectations. According to Oracle’s Q3 2014 fiscal report, the company saw its GAAP earnings per share rise to $0.56, an eight percent increase that’s just short of its projected 10 percent rise. In addition, ...