Pepiras Technologies

Thursday, 24 November 2016

RBI admits anomalies in new Rs 500 notes, says both notes valid, nothing to worry

Reserve Bank of India on Thursday admitted that there were anomalies in the new Rs 500 notes issued under the Mahatma Gandhi series post November 8. However, both normal and anomaly version are valid for use, the RBI has said.
Reserve Bank of India on Thursday admitted that there were anomalies in the new Rs 500 notes issued under the Mahatma Gandhi series post November 8. However, both normal and anomaly version are valid for use, the RBI has said.

The submission from the central bank came after two variants of the new Rs 500 note surfaced and went viral on social media.

Better pic highlighting the mismatches https://twitter.com/ramkossocial/status/802043864026464256

Two notes, totally different design. Is government giving fake currency? 😓
Better pic highlighting the mismatches

RBI spokesperson has told media that the printing defect was due to the rush in the wake of demonetisation, and that there is nothing to panic.

RBI spokesperson said, "It's not a variant. Such a printing deficiency can happen once in a million. It is a valid legal tender and can be freely used in transactions. But if someone does not want to use it and return it to RBI, that too can be done and we will give them full value."

JuJu Offers Speedy Model-Driven Software Approach

The JuJu cloud platform developed by Canonical integrates a wide variety of cloud services and servers on both public and private clouds using an innovative model-driven software approach.

That success has changed fundamentally the nature of software operations as organizations move to cloud-scale services, according to Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Canonical.

The impact on cloud operations is very much like the transition that happened with the big data community, Shuttleworth told technology writers and analysts during a teleconference earlier this week.

"That brought about a velocity of change in the data field -- the same thing we believe is happening with the cloud software," he said.

Juju is an interesting approach to managing installation and configuration in a visual or model-driven way, observed Al Hilwa, program director for software development research at IDC.

"In this sense, it brings many of the benefits of modeling which have typically been used in software development to the realm of software configuration and life cycle management," he told LinuxInsider.

What It Does

Canonical developed JuJu as an open source service orchestration management tool. The platform facilitates fast deployment, integration and scaling of software using a wide choice of cloud services or servers.

JuJu is built around a service modeling tool that provides a quick way to model, configure, deploy and manage applications in the cloud with only a few commands. JuJu can deploy hundreds of preconfigured services, OpenStack, or an organization's own code to any public or private cloud.

"The big challenge today is for corporations to operate the same way on the public clouds and the private infrastructure," said Shuttleworth. "JuJu solves that problem."

JuJu lets users integrate complex software to scale very quickly. It gives operators an effective way to share the cost of integration and operations across all of the consumers of the software, he said.

How It Works

JuJu employs preconfigured bundles and customized charms, which are available from the JuJu app store.

Charms are sets of scripts that simplify the deployment and management tasks of a service. They are regularly reviewed and updated.

Bundles are collections of charms that link applications together. That enables the deployment of whole chunks of infrastructure in one action.

"While the tool is competitive with other configuration management tools in some ways, it is really intended to operate at a higher-level of abstraction across multiple software domains," said Hilwa.

Juju's success will rely on two factors, according to Hilwa. One is its support for multiple environments. The second is the ecosystem support it receives to install and connect more and more products.

Costly Operations

"The cost of operating software today is shifting. Organizations have to learn to optimize operations cost rather than purchasing strategy effectively," said Shuttleworth.

Ubuntu is the platform that most people use as they move into the cloud. That is true just as in the previous generation Linux started replacing Windows and Solaris, largely on RedHat and Suse, he said.

"In this generation, Ubuntu is very much the lead platform," Shuttleworth claimed. "We see more than 50 percent of software consumers, like big banks, moving to Ubuntu today. They are moving to Ubuntu because of the operations in the cloud we are talking about today."

Playing With Models

Software is becoming more complex because of microservices, noted Shuttleworth. Today's software has massive components that run on hundreds of nodes instead of a few nodes. The pace of change has never been seen before.

"The way to handle all this is to change to a model-driven operation," he said.

JuJu is the open source version of the model-driven software approach used for data operations of companies like Google, Amazon and Goldman Sachs, noted Shuttleworth. All of these large companies have their own homegrown versions.

Twitter Cracks Down on Cyber Hate

Twitter on Tuesday suspended the account of Richard Spencer, one of the leading voices of the alt-right movement, amid a wider crackdown on hate speech and cyberbullying. It also expanded the use of several existing tools and changed policies to make it easier for users to fight back against abuse and harassment.
Twitter suspended the accounts of Spencer, president of the National Policy Institute, a white nationalist think tank. It also suspended the account of the organization, as well as the accounts of its online magazine and Washington Summit Publishers, which is Spencer's book publishing firm.
Spencer referred to the move as "corporate Stalinism."
The suspensions and larger crackdown come amid an increase in reported hate crimes since the presidential election, which was praised by a number of alt-right groups while thousands of protesters took to the streets in cities across the country.
"The Twitter rules prohibit violent threats, harassment, hateful conduct and multiple account abuse, and we will take actions on accounts violating those policies," a Twitter spokesperson told TechNewsWorld.
Twitter's mute button, which allows users to block certain accounts, has been enhanced to allow users to block keywords, phrases and entire conversations they consider offensive, similar to the Unfollow feature on Facebook.
Who Ya Gonna Call?

The change comes months after the widely reported onslaught against Ghostbusters star and Saturday Night Live cast member Leslie Jones. After being bombarded by racist and sexist attacks, she temporarily unplugged her own Twitter account.
"Twitter provides an opportunity for users to have more control of their experience on the site," said Zack Fuller, paid content analyst at Midia Research. "I expect the feature to be welcomed by the Twitter community."
The mute function for words and hashtags applies only to user notification, and the tweets will still show up in the timeline and via search, Twitter noted.
Twitter's hateful conduct policy already bans conduct that targets users based on race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religion, age, disability or disease. The new tools give users a more direct ability to report that type of abuse going forward.
Twitter has retrained all of its support teams on the cultural and historical context of hateful conduct, and it has implemented a refresher program.
The company had received feedback from users that "people didn't always know where or if they could report hateful conduct, especially if not targeted at them personally," Twitter spokesperson Brielle Villablanca told TechNewsWorld.
Red Lines

Policing hate speech on a social network can be difficult, because it begins to creep into activity that is considered censorship, noted Jim McGregor, principal analyst at Tirias Research.
"Eventually, artificial intelligence will make it easier," he told TechNewsWorld, "but that is going to be further into the future -- and even then, nothing is perfect, because AI needs to learn and adapt just like a human."
Despite those concerns, cracking down on hate speech and abusive behavior will be important for social networks to avoid driving users away altogether.
Cyberbullying has been an ongoing problem on Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms, and it reportedly was a factor in Twitter's inability to find a buyer last month, when companies such as Salesforce, Disney and others considered making a bid for the company

Thursday, 10 November 2016

Mark Zuckerberg: Facebook fake news didn't sway election

Mark Zuckerberg: Facebook fake news didn't sway election

SAN FRANCISCO — Mark Zuckerberg addressed growing criticism of Facebook's ascendant power to sway public opinion, saying the "small amount" of fake news that spread on the social network during the election did not influence the outcome.

"To think it influenced the election in any way is a pretty crazy idea," Zuckerberg said Thursday evening during the Techonomy conference in Half Moon Bay, Calif.

Zuckerberg said people underestimated support for president-elect Donald Trump. "I do think there is a certain profound lack of empathy in asserting that the only reason someone could have voted the way they did is they saw some fake news," Zuckerberg said. "If you believe that, then I don’t think you have internalized the message the Trump supporters are trying to send in this election."

His remarks came as Trump's presidential win prompted Silicon Valley soul searching, with some wondering whether the tools created here had run amok.

Tech investor Dave McClure, founder of the business accelerator 500 Startups, called technology "a propaganda medium" that has contributed to the growing spread of fake information. Social media seems to have also contributed to the dramatic rise in abuse and harassment on the Internet.

"People aren’t aware of the [expletive] they’re being told," he said at the Web Summit in Lisbon, Portgual, addressing Trump's victory.

Google's Pixel Wins a Place in the Sun India Tamilnadu

Google's Pixel smartphone, which made its debut last month, has gathered some high praise from reviewers.

"The Google Pixel is now the best Android smartphone you can buy," wrote Joanna Stern in The Wall Street Journal.

"The other leading contender was disqualified due to spontaneous combustion," she added, referring to Samsung's doomed Galaxy Note7, which was recalled for safety reasons.

Stern was impressed with Pixel's display; its high pixel count made the blacks in photos appear deeper, colors more vibrant, and everything sharper.

"The AMOLED display makes photos look better -- even ones taken on an iPhone," she wrote.

Keep Your Pixels Dry

Pixel "offers the look and competence of an iPhone with a truly great cameraand loads of innovative software and services," David Pierce noted in a review for Wired.

"It changes my answer to the question I hear most often: 'What phone should you get?' You should get a Pixel," he wrote.

"The immediate joke everyone, including me, made on Twitter after the Pixel launch was that Google made an iPhone," Pierce added. "Well, that's true. As it turns out, an iPhone running Android is exactly what I've been waiting for."

Pixel is a standout compared to other heavyweights in the market, according to Lisa Eadicicco, who reviewed it for Time.

"All told, the Pixel is Google's first smartphone that can go toe-to-toe with Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy flagship," she wrote. "It's on equal footing with those phones in most of the areas that really matter, although its lack of water resistance is a setback. Still, Android fans who pick up the Pixel should be pleased, so long as they keep it dry."

Smooth Performance

Google hit a home run with its first branded smartphone, said Cnet reviewer Lynn La.

"With Pixel, Google stepped up to bat, called its shot andknocked it out of the park," she wrote.

It's a departure from Google's earlier Nexus smartphones, because you don't have to be an Android enthusiast to appreciate what Google has accomplished with the Pixel.

"The only thing you'll have to be enthusiastic about is owning a phone that's beautiful, takes awesome photos, and has smooth performance," La wrote. "If you are, the Pixel's for you."

The Pixel's performance was won kudos from Jason Cross, writing for PC World.

"Android fans often complain about phones (especially Samsung's) that lead benchmark charts, but still somehow seem to stutter, chop, and sputter when you use them," he explained.

"The Pixel XL does none of that," he wrote. "At every turn it is smooth, fast, and most of all, responsive."

"Indeed, this may be the smoothest and most responsive Android phone I've ever used," he added.

Rain on Pixel's Parade

Some reviewers were unimpressed by Google's smartphone offering.

"The absence of a major competing Android device works out especially well for Google because the Pixel is, relatively speaking, mediocre," Brian X. Chen wrote for The New York Times.

"It is slower than Apple's iPhone 7 and the Galaxy S7, Samsung's smaller flagship phone," he noted.

"Photos shot with Pixel's camera don't look as good as the iPhone's," Chen continued. "And Google's built-in artificially intelligent virtual assistant, called Assistant, is still fairly dumb."

Pricing may be an issue with the Pixel models, noted David McQueen, research director for consumer devices and strategic technology at ABI Research.

The Pixel is priced at US$650 and the larger Pixel XL is selling for $770.

"This is quite expensive for what you're getting, and the build quality isn't as good as other flagship phones in the market," McQueen told TechNewsWorld. "It's going to be a bit problematic for Google to create differentiation for the hardware at that price point."

Google's Hardware Future

However, baking Google Assistant into Pixel's hardware could do that, McQueen continued.

"Since it's the first device to carry Google Assistant, that will be a differentiator in an Android market where it's very difficult to make any sort of differentiation on the hardware," he said.

Indeed, Google Assistant may not only be Pixel's prime asset, but also a key component of Google's hardware future.

"The Pixel's greatest strength is really not anything in the hardware side," said Mark Hung, a research vice president at Gartner.

It's Google Assistant, which is only available on Pixel, he pointed out.

"It's the future of not only Pixel, but of the Google hardware ecosystem," Hung told TechNewsWorld. "Google is looking to make artificial intelligence the next platform after mobile and social."

Gunning for Apple

Reviewers taking the measure of Pixel never failed to mention the iPhone. There's a simple reason for that.

"They're going after iPhone customers and other high-end phone buyers," said Ross Rubin, principal analyst at Reticle Research.

It may be difficult for Pixel to make headway in that target market, though.

"In developed markets, we're seeing a lot of saturation," Rubin noted. "It's a pretty late time to be a newcomer to the space, even if you have all the advantages that Google has."

iPhone users were Pixel's target market, but the product also will benefit from the recall of the Samsung Note7, pbserved Kevin Krewell, a principal analyst at Tirias Research.

"The Pixel will be the major alternative to the Note7," he told TechNewsWorld, "even though it lacks the Samsung product's stylus and wider carrier distribution."

Daydream Believers May Boost VR, Suggest Early Reviews

Reviews for Google's Daydream View VR headset began to appear on Thursday, and the consensus among those who were able to test the new US$79 device appears to be two thumbs up.

Although it has limitations, Daydream could be a gateway to affordable virtual reality technology, they suggested. The headset, which is powered by the VR platform introduced in Android 7.1 Nougat, needs to be paired with Google's new line of Pixel and Pixel XL phones.

Unlike Google's low-end Cardboard headset, Daydream is made of lightweight fabric and paired with a simple yet intuitive controller.

As with any new technology platform, there is a chicken-and-egg challenge to overcome regarding software for the device, but Google already has lined up content from a number of partners, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today and CNN, in addition to its own offerings.

Early adopters will be able to make virtual visits to museums, faraway cities, other planets and more.

The View headset also can operate as a very personal home theater, providing a virtual big screen experience. Google has lined up partners including YouTube, Hulu, HBO Now and Netflix. Daydream also can be used as a VR video gaming platform.

VR Done Simple

The Daydream View is a rather simple unit, but it provides a true VR experience for the budget-minded early adopter.

"The View might be significantly more wearable than a Google Cardboard viewer, but it's still essentially the same thing: a phone holster with some lenses in it," wrote Peter Rubin for Wired.

"One of the strongest points Daydream View has in its favor is the comfort of wearing it. ... Google has hit the mark with its design," noted Digital Trends' Julian Chokkattu.

Among the Daydream View's limitations are power consumption.

"VR apps and games will drain your phone's battery quicker than almost any other activity," wrote Nathan Olivarez-Giles for The Wall Street Journal.

Control Issues

The controller for the Daydream View, which reviewers mostly praised, is not without its issues. The consensus view seems to be that there is much room for improvement.

"It sometimes stops working," noted Chokkattu, in his case, possibly due to a lost Bluetooth connection.

"My controller's position sometimes drifted out of place, mostly during experiences that snap the cursor toward something on screen, pulling it away from the remote's real-world orientation," wrote The Verge's Adi Robertson.

The Reality of VR Today

VR technology is still in its early days, but Daydream View is a "much more serious crack at bringing VR to mainstream audiences," said Roger Kay, principal analyst at Endpoint Technologies Associates.

"It is a great showcase for YouTube VR," he told TechNewsWorld.

However, Daydream View "is really still just the entry level to VR," observed Roger Entner, principal analyst at Recon Analytics.

"This is a device that the early evangelist will adopt, as it provides a basic VR capability," he told TechNewsWorld.

"Google Daydream View has the benefit of being Android device-agnostic as opposed to the Samsung Gear VR, and at a lower price -- $79 vs. $99," noted Stephanie Llamas, lead analyst for AR/VR technology at SuperData Research.

"The Google name also lends itself to brand visibility, which will attract the trust of many consumers," she told TechNewsWorld.

From Dream to Reality

Along with its many pros, Daydream View has some challenges to overcome.

One obstacle is its lack of compatibility with most phones on the market right now, suggested Super Data Research's Llamas.

"Users need to purchase a Pixel phone until more phones are compatible with Android Nougat and the device itself, and even then they will need to upgrade, which may exclude a lot of consumers for a long time," she explained.

That said, ubiquity is likely to be one of its strengths in the future, suggested Recon Analytics' Entner.

"Many phones will have great Daydream capabilities in a short time, and it is Google's drive to build a standard," he pointed out.

The Daydream's content catalog leaves much to be desired, but by the time the adoption of compatible devices is realized, "Google will have rolled out more experiences that both come from reputable developers and reach a wider audience," predicted Llamas.

Even if it achieves compatibility among phone models, the mobile platform could pose difficulties.

"Mobile is still the weakness, as a phone doesn't have the horsepower to do VR right," Entner warned.

"This is really a VR-lite solution -- and while everyone can have it, the technology really can't hold a candle to a computer-based solution," he added. "Who wants to do VR if it isn't really fully VR?"

VR in the Real World

It can be argued that mobility isn't advantageous for a technology that disconnects users from their physical surroundings.

"VR needs to be used in a protected environment," said Entner.

"You are truly replacing your reality with a virtual one, and this can put you at risk when you can't see the real world," he cautioned.

"You need VR in a room with no obstacles and where people mean you no ill -- so mobile isn't the best way to go," Entner said. Still, "this is still the early days -- and for the early adopters, this is a way to wet the whistle."

Top App Developers in India

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