What have they found? Do they ever disclose that information?

http://www.zdnet.com/article/warrantless-phone-laptop-searches-at-the-us-border-hit-record-levels/

Warrantless phone, laptop searches at the US border hit record levels

New figures released Friday reveal that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers searched 30,200 devices – an increase of about 60 percent year-over-year – between October 2016 and September 2017.

That averages out to about 2,500 searches each month out of more than 397 million who crossed the border -- or less than 0.01 percent of all international travelers, according to the agency charged with enforcing immigration and customs rules at the nation's ports of entry.

… The agency said newly-issued guidelines, replacing a 2009 directive that allow border searches of devices belonging to both Americans and foreign nationals without a warrant, will now require "reasonable suspicion" for border authorities to conduct a deeper, so-called "advanced search" of a travelers' phone or laptop.

But basic searches carried out at random – which don't require any reasonable suspicion – are still permitted, the guidelines say.

Perspective. Something my Data Management students will have to consider.

https://techcrunch.com/2018/01/04/on-demand-streaming-now-accounts-for-the-majority-of-audio-consumption-says-nielsen/

On-demand streaming now accounts for the majority of audio consumption, says Nielsen

U.S. album sales declined in 2017 as streaming continues to grow, according to Nielsen’s year-end music report released this week. The report found that album sales, including both digital and physical, fell 17.7 percent last year to 169.15 million copies, down from 205.5 million in 2016. Meanwhile, streaming once again soared, leading the overall music industry to growth, largely due to the significant 58.7 percent increase in on-demand audio streams over last year.

In total, on-demand audio streams surpassed 400 billion streams in 2017, compared to 252 billion in 2016, and overall on-demand streams, including video, exceeded 618 billion. This led to the music industry’s growth of 12.5 percent in total volume, over 2016.

If I call it (register it) as a drone, can I skip all that tedious training to get a pilots license?

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/307065?utm_source=google-news&utm_medium=syndication&utm_campaign=google-editors-pick&google_editors_picks=true

Humans Can Fly in This Drone-Like Electric Hybrid 'Octocopter'

The company that partnered with UPS to create a package-delivering drone is ready to fly its new passenger aerial vehicle.

The SureFly, a two-seater electric hybrid helicopter (or “octocopter,” because of its eight propellers), has received approval from the FAA to take a test flight at CES in Las Vegas on Jan. 8.

Clearly we can’t recognize a human mind that is ready to commit violence...

https://venturebeat.com/2018/01/05/ai-weekly-if-we-create-artificial-intelligence-will-we-know-it/?google_editors_picks=true

AI Weekly: If we create artificial intelligence, will we know it?

When people talk about creating an artificial intelligence, the conversation is often focused on human or superhuman AI — systems that would equal or surpass us in intelligence. But what if we create an artificial intelligence that’s deserving of respect, but don’t recognize it as such?

That’s a question I’ve had bouncing around in my head for the past several months. Over the course of human history, we’ve proven very poor as a species at successfully evaluating the intelligence of other beings, whether they’re human or non-human. Consider crows, who learn from their dead, recognize individuals, use tools, and even bring gifts to those they like — are they … intelligent?

… Take octopuses, for instance, which have proven to be highly intelligent and talented escape artists. Should they — or AIs that match them in intelligence — be treated differently because of the way their brains work?

(Related)

http://dilbert.com/strip/2018-01-06

Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!

https://venturebeat.com/2018/01/05/twitter-admits-world-leaders-like-trump-have-special-status/?google_editors_picks=true

Twitter admits world leaders like Trump have special status

Twitter Inc on Friday reiterated its stance that accounts belonging to world leaders have special status on the social media network, pushing back against users who have called on the company to banish U.S. President Donald Trump.

“Blocking a world leader from Twitter or removing their controversial Tweets would hide important information people should be able to see and debate,” Twitter said in a post on a corporate blog.

Twitter had already said in September that “newsworthiness” and whether a tweet is “of public interest” are among the factors it considers before removing an account or a tweet.

For my Java geeks.

How to Make a Web Crawler With Selenium

Ciao, comrade?