Four short links: 28 April 2017
FM Backscatter, 20 People, Information Operations, and Techniques of Magic
- FM Backscatter (Adrian Colyer) — The prototype system built by the authors achieved data rates of up to 3.2 kbps, and ranges of 5-60 feet, while consuming as little as 11.07 μW of power.
- 20 People Creating The Future (Wired) — some new folks amidst familiar faces like Maciej Ceglowski, Parisa Tabriz, and Matt Cutts.
- Information Operations and Facebook — We define information operations, the challenge at the heart of this paper, as actions taken by organized actors (governments or non-state actors) to distort domestic or foreign political sentiment, most frequently to achieve a strategic and/or geopolitical outcome. These operations can use a combination of methods, such as false news, disinformation, or networks of fake accounts aimed at manipulating public opinion (we refer to these as “false amplifiers”). As Maciej said, The three threats the doc outlines—content creation, false amplification, and targeted data collection—are literally the Facebook business model.
- Teller Reveals His Secrets (Smithsonian) — 1. Exploit pattern recognition; 2. Make the secret a lot more trouble than the trick seems worth; 3. It’s hard to think critically if you’re laughing; 4. Keep the trickery outside the frame; 5. To fool the mind, combine at least two tricks; 6. Nothing fools you better than the lie you tell yourself; 7. If you are given a choice, you believe you have acted freely.
