The Defend Crypto Fund is said to be tailored specifically to fight the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) “on behalf of the future of crypto in the [United States].” So far, Kik itself has contributed $5 million to the fund, which is apparently held in special Coinbase accounts. Earlier this month, Coindesk quoted its CEO saying the firm had spent at least $5 million throughout the ordeal already. SEC regulators have already commenced legal action against Kik, which raised $98 million in late 2017 with an initial coin offering to develop the Kin blockchain protocol and cryptocurrency ecosystem....

A series of renders created in partnership with Pricebaba show off the devices’ exteriors, based off of “early prototyping schematics.” That means they are subject to change. These early prototypes often end up being representative of the final product, but not always. Still, there are a few interesting things to note. Most obvious is the giant square-ish camera module. It looks suspiciously similar to early renders of the 2019 iPhone, but at least the hump doesn’t seem to stick out as much....

The only thing more excruciating than working on a project being micro-managed to death is when that project is being micro-managed to death by someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing. In some cases, it’s called impostor syndrome. In others, it’s just the wrong person in the wrong place at the wrong time. But either way, it can kill a project dead before it even gets rolling. You can make sure you’re never stuck in a situation like that by being the one who knows how it’s supposed to work....

With most of the people that I see and maybe for you too, this is familiar. You worked hard, built a great product or career, tried to market it or yourself, and show the world that this is life-giving and worth experiencing. And magically, some of the people out in the world took you up on your invitation and bought your product or offer. In the beginning, almost all of us as entrepreneurs are expert risk-takers....

Your social media news feed is powered by a machine learning algorithm. The recommended videos you see on YouTube and Netflix are the result of a machine learning model. And Spotify’s Discover Weekly draws on the power of machine learning algorithms to create a list of songs that conform to your preferences. But machine learning comes in many different flavors. In this post, we will explore supervised and unsupervised learning, the two main categories of machine learning algorithms....

Developer Jeff Johnson informed Apple about an exploit that allowed an attacker to steal private data with a malicious clone of Safari over six months ago. Once a user is tricked into downloading the malicious file, the Safari clone is given undue access by macOS. Any restricted file available to Safari then becomes available to the attacker. Johnson explains that the exploit works because Apple’s Transparancy, Consent, and Control privacy protection performs an inadequate check on a file’s authenticity....

The UK arm of the fast-food chain is reportedly installing hundreds of EV chargers at its locations around the country after agreeing a partnership with infrastructure provider, InstaVolt, the Independent reports. While the burger chain hasn’t given a specific number of restaurants that will get the chargers, it says the units will be installed in its drive-thru locations, which does give us some idea. For reference, there are 924 McDonald’s drive-thrus across the UK and Northern Ireland — that’s a lot of chargers....

…and the winner was Dresden-based Meshmerize! Founded just 11 months ago, this high potential startup has already secured EXIST Forschungstransfer funding from the German government, and has now taken home the Start-up Games’ coveted golden gnome prize. But just what is it about this young startup that impressed the judges so much? TNW got an exclusive interview with CEO Sreekrishna Pandi to find out. It’s all about your network In a nutshell, Krishna and his team’s objective was to build a new kind of mesh network that would be reliable enough for industrial and low latency applications....

For the uninitiated, lawmakers are considering a new rule that requires tech companies to keep the data of European users within the boundaries of the continent. At the time, the tech giant said that if this law is passed, it “will likely be unable to offer a number of [its] most significant products and services, including Facebook and Instagram, in Europe.” Last night, Meta flipped. It clarified it’s “absolutely not threatening to pull out of Europe....

In a blog post, the Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center wrote that the “devices became points of ingress from which the actor established a presence on the network and continued looking for further access.” According to the post, Microsoft’s security researchers first discovered the attacks in April, noting that the actor had breached an office printer, a VOIP phone, and a video decoder in multiple locations. Each was communicating with a server belonging to “Strontium,” a state-sponsored hacking group better known as Fancy Bear or APT28....

Microsoft says xCloud officially works in Edge, Chrome, and Safari browsers on both desktop and mobile devices, and is currently available in 22 countries. Moreover, Microsoft says the service is now powered by custom Xbox Series X units, which will provide “faster load times, improved frame rates, and an experience of a new generation of gaming.” While the company doesn’t explicitly say Xbox Series X exclusives are coming to xCloud, the new hardware certainly makes that a strong possibility....

Today, less than five years later, Microsoft announced it will be closing all of its physical stores, at least in their current form. The company plans to ‘reimagine’ four locations — London, NYC, Sydney, and Redmond — as ‘experience centers’ (AKA showrooms) rather than actual stores. While the company doesn’t explicitly say the closing was precipitated by the coronavirus pandemic, it’s hard to imagine it not having an impact. The company did say that since it closed its stores at the outset of the pandemic, its retail team has been working to help customers transition to the new reality of online workplaces and schools....

The report comes from Kotaku’s Jason Schreier, who said a source confirmed that Microsoft still has the second console in the works. In contrast to the more powerful Scarlett, which is aimed at offering 4k gaming, this other console will be something more like 1440p and will operate without discs. Game developers have been asked to support both consoles. We don’t know what the pricing will be — that’ll have to wait until Microsoft makes whatever big reveal it plans for next year before the release....

With project management methodology and training exploding in popularity, it’s critical to have the right software for tracking your ongoing work. Thankfully, PC users likely don’t need to look any further than perennial partner Microsoft for help. Microsoft Project has been helping managers keep projects on track since the 80’s — and you can get onboard with this time-tested software with the training in The MS Project 2019 A to Z Bundle....

The app has launched a live transcription tool that creates a written record of what was said during a meeting. It identities each speaker, captures audio in “near real-time,” and generates a live transcript on the right-hand side of the window. After the meeting, the saved transcript will be available to download. [Read: How to use AI to better serve your customers] Shalendra Chhabra, a Teams program manager, said Microsoft had been working on the tool for years: The feature uses details such as meeting invitations, participant names, and attachments to automatically improve the accuracy of each transcript....

The algorithm adjusts to changes experienced by real-world systems by changing their underlying equations as they receive new data. “This is a way forward for the future of robot control, natural language processing, video processing — any form of time series data processing,” said Ramin Hasani, the study paper’s lead author. “The potential is really significant.” [Read: How this company leveraged AI to become the Netflix of Finland] Hasani said the system is inspired by a tiny worm — the C....

Take a look at what happened over the past weekend. 1. Ethereum dev conspires with North Korea US authorities have arrested developer Virgil Griffith, who has most recently been working at the Ethereum Foundation, for consulting with North Korea on how to use cryptocurrency to evade sanctions. “Despite receiving warnings not to go, Griffith allegedly traveled to one of the United States’ foremost adversaries, North Korea, where he taught his audience how to use blockchain technology to evade sanctions,” assistant attorney general John Demers said in a US Department of Justice statement....

The world is spending more time on social media too, with the typical user now spending roughly 15% of their waking life using social platforms. However, social media isn’t the only aspect of digital that’s delivering impressive numbers. The new Digital 2020 October Global Statshot Report – produced in partnership with Hootsuite and We Are Social – shows that connected tech continues to play an ever more important role in various aspects of people’s everyday lives....

A new machine learning model developed by NASA could dramatically improve their calculations, and give people in a hurricane’s path more time to prepare. Scientists at the space agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California developed the system after searching through years of satellite data. They discovered three strong signals that a hurricane will become more severe: abundant rainfall inside the storm’s inner core; the amount of ice water in the clouds within the tropical cyclone; and the temperature of the air flowing away from the eye of the hurricane....

As part of the deal, guests will be able to log into their streaming accounts (or sign up for a new one) at the beginning of a stay using the Netflix app on their rooms’ televisions. Once they check out, they’ll be automatically logged out of their accounts. Marriott’s starting with just six hotels – New York Marriott East Side, San Jose Marriott, Princeton Marriott, Newport Marriott, Dallas/Fort Worth Marriott Solana, and Bethesda Marriott Suites – but the chain plans to bring Netflix to 100 hotels by the end of the year, with the full rollout across the US completing in 2016....