Mozilla is working on a geolocation data service using cell tower and Wi-Fi signals to give developers what it says will be a more privacy-aware option than current alternatives.
The service, which is in its early stages, would be mobile-focused, though laptops without GPS hardware could also use it to quickly identify their approximate location, the Firefox browser maker announced Monday.
Geolocation data constitutes a crowded space -- commercial players include Neustar IP Intelligence, MaxMind, IPligence and Google. But there is still no large public service option, Mozilla said. Also, Mozilla's standing as an open-source software developer puts it in a better position to grapple with issues around privacy, the company said.
"None of the current companies offering this type of service have any incentive to improve on privacy," Mozilla said in its Wiki page devoted to the project. "In order to do this assessment, we need to understand the technological challenges and get real data," the company said.
The data would be provided by cell towers, Wi-Fi and IP address information, Mozilla said, and it would not have to be monetized. It could be made available to the public, the company said. And Mozilla is already in a good place to start, given its access to Firefox data on both mobile and desktop PCs.
The experimental service already provides basic service coverage in select locations to some early adopters, Mozilla said. Countries where it is active include the U.S., Brazil, Russia, Australia and Indonesia. People can start giving Mozilla data for the project by installing the company's stumbler application.
Google, meanwhile, is one of the bigger players in geolocation data, though the company has faced legal troubles by sniffing and storing certain data from Wi-Fi networks. Google also operates its Maps Engine Platform for companies looking to build maps to help run their business.
Zach Miners covers social networking, search and general technology news for IDG News Service. Follow Zach on Twitter at @zachminers. Zach's e-mail address is zach_miners@idg.com
Zach Miners, IDG News Service , IDG News Service
Zach Miners covers social networking, search and general technology news for IDG News Service More by Zach Miners, IDG News Service
An important part of the Apple shopping experience is the retail stores, and during today's Q4 2013 earnings call Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer elaborated on how well the stores have been doing this quarter:
$4.5billion total revenue, an increase of 6%, $10.9million revenue per store for the quarter
A growth of 36% per store, per week, year-on-year
Total of 416 stores, 162 outside the U.S.
99million total visitors
Oppenheimer also looked ahead to fiscal 2014 for the retail stores, promising 30 new stores for the year, 2/3 of which will be outside the United States. Additionally, 30 further stores will be re-modelled throughout 2014, building on the 2 that have been completed throughout Q4 2013.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The doctor convicted of killing Michael Jackson was released from jail Monday after serving nearly two years of a four-year sentence.
Conrad Murray was released from a downtown Los Angeles jail at 12:01 a.m., according to the sheriff's office. A change in California law allowed his incarceration time to be significantly cut down.
"He was elated to be out of there," Murray's attorney Valerie Wass said. She said the former physician plans to spend time with his girlfriend and children and to readjust to his life outside jail.
The former cardiologist was convicted in 2011 of causing Jackson's death in June 2009 by providing the superstar with an overdose of the powerful anesthetic propofol as a sleep aid. Jackson was in the midst of preparations for a series of comeback concerts and Murray was serving as his personal physician.
Murray's prospects are uncertain: At age 60 his license to practice medicine has been suspended or revoked in three states and his face and name are well known due to his association with Jackson and his highly publicized involuntary manslaughter trial.
Wass said Murray did a lot of writing while incarcerated, but she didn't know if he had plans for a book or any other projects that would allow him to earn a living.
The former doctor is appealing his conviction, although an appeals court has questioned whether it needs to hear the case. His attorney has argued that the court should not dismiss the appeal because it could alter his overall sentence and reduce some of the stigma his conviction has caused.
Despite being jailed, Murray hasn't been entirely silent. Audio recordings of his calls have been posted on celebrity website TMZ and the ex-doctor told the Today show that he cried tears of joy after a civil jury recently determined that the promoters of Jackson's comeback shows did not negligently hire Murray.
He did not, however, testify in the civil case or take the stand during his criminal trial.
Murray previously maintained clinics in Houston and Las Vegas and frequently complained about conditions in jail after his conviction. He was allowed to serve his entire sentence in a Los Angeles jail rather than a state prison due to a law aimed at easing overcrowding by shifting nonviolent offenders to local lockups.
"Dr. Murray has not received any special treatment in jail and in fact has many less privileges than most inmates because of his notoriety," Wass said in a statement earlier this year.
Jurors in a lawsuit filed by Jackson's mother against concert giant AEG Live LLC determined that the doctor was not unfit or incompetent to serve as Jackson's tour doctor earlier this month. The panel heard testimony about Jackson and Murray's relationship throughout the five-month trial, but the panel said it did not condone the physician's conduct.
"That doesn't mean we felt he was ethical," jury foreman Gregg Barden said of Murray after the AEG Live verdict.
No doctor or medical expert has condoned Murray's treatments of Jackson during either the ex-doctor's criminal case or the civil litigation. The former cardiologist told police he gave the superstar nightly doses of propofol to help him sleep but lacked the proper medical or monitoring equipment that's required to administer anesthesia.
Although widely used, propofol is intended only for surgical settings and experts have noted that its effects are not actually sleep.
This week's pick for World Cafe: Next is Austin, Texas' Wild Child. Led by vocalists Kelsey Wilson and Alexander Beggins, the band formed in 2009 and just released its second album, The Runaround.
This past March, the group won Best Indie Act and Best Folk Act at the Austin Music Awards — but on its new album, which features production from Ben Kweller, Wild Child appears to move away from folk and toward a more all-encompassing sound. Hear two tracks from the record and download this week's podcast.
Contact: Claus Habfast claus.habfast@esrf.fr 33-666-662-384 European Synchrotron Radiation Facility
How mice and rats developed a unique masticatory apparatus making them evolutionary champions
The subfamily of rodents known as Murinae (mice, rats, etc.), which first appeared in Asia 12 million years ago, spread across the entire Old World (Eurasia, Africa, Australia) in less than 2 million years, a remarkably fast rate. Researchers have long suspected that one of the reasons for their evolutionary success is related to their unique masticatory apparatus. Now, researchers have used the brilliant X-ray beams produced at the European Synchrotron (ESRF) to study several hundred specimens, both extant and extinct, to describe the evolutionary processes that caused rats and mice to acquire this characteristic feature. The study was published in the journal Evolution on 28 November 2013.
The research team, from the Institut de Paloprimatologie, Palontologie Humaine: volution et Paloenvironnements (CNRS / Universit de Poitiers), was able to determine the diet of extinct species and to trace the evolutionary history of these rodents. Today, the Murinae comprise 584 species, which represents over 10% of the diversity of present day mammals.
In their study the researchers were able to identify two key evolutionary moments in the acquisition of this masticatory apparatus.
The first one occurred around 16 million years ago when the ancestors of the Murinae changed from a herbivorous diet to an insectivorous diet. This new diet was encouraged by the acquisition of chewing movements that are unusual in mammals, forwardly directed but continuing to interlock opposing teeth. This aquisition helped them reduce tooth erosion and better preserve pointed cusps, which are used to puncture the exoskeletons of insects.
Then, twelve million years ago, the very earliest Murinae returned to a herbivorous diet, while at the same time retaining their chewing motion. This also enabled them to use both their mandibles simultaneously during mastication. The change in diet gave way to the formation of three longitudinal rows of cusps on their teeth. Their ancestors, like other related rodents such as hamsters and gerbils, only have two rows, as do humans.
To reconstruct this series of evolutionary events, the scientists studied several hundred teeth belonging to extant or extinct rodents at the European Synchrotron (ESRF) in Grenoble. The team applied methods originally used in map-making to analyze 3D digital models of the dental morphology of these species. Comparison of the dental structures of present day and fossil rodents enabled them to determine the diet of the extinct species. In addition, studying the wear on their teeth allowed them to reconstruct the chewing motion, either directed forwardly or obliquely, of these animals.
The study traces the way in which evolution progresses by trial and error, ending up with a morphological combination that lies behind the astonishing evolutionary success of an animal family.
The innovative methods used by the researchers to analyze and compare masticatory systems could be used to study dietary changes in other extinct mammals. This might prove to be especially interesting with regard to primates, since, before the appearance of hominids, primates underwent several dietary changes that affected their subsequent evolutionary history.
###
Reference: Correlated changes in occlusal pattern and diet in stem murinae during the onset of the radiation of old world rats and mice. Coillot Tiphaine, Chaimanee Yaowalak, Charles Cyril, Gomes-Rodrigues Helder, Michaux Jacques, Tafforeau Paul, Vianey-Liaud Monique, Viriot Laurent, Lazzari Vincent. Evolution. Volume 67, Issue 11, pages 3323, November 2013.
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Chewing their way to success
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
28-Oct-2013
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Contact: Claus Habfast claus.habfast@esrf.fr 33-666-662-384 European Synchrotron Radiation Facility
How mice and rats developed a unique masticatory apparatus making them evolutionary champions
The subfamily of rodents known as Murinae (mice, rats, etc.), which first appeared in Asia 12 million years ago, spread across the entire Old World (Eurasia, Africa, Australia) in less than 2 million years, a remarkably fast rate. Researchers have long suspected that one of the reasons for their evolutionary success is related to their unique masticatory apparatus. Now, researchers have used the brilliant X-ray beams produced at the European Synchrotron (ESRF) to study several hundred specimens, both extant and extinct, to describe the evolutionary processes that caused rats and mice to acquire this characteristic feature. The study was published in the journal Evolution on 28 November 2013.
The research team, from the Institut de Paloprimatologie, Palontologie Humaine: volution et Paloenvironnements (CNRS / Universit de Poitiers), was able to determine the diet of extinct species and to trace the evolutionary history of these rodents. Today, the Murinae comprise 584 species, which represents over 10% of the diversity of present day mammals.
In their study the researchers were able to identify two key evolutionary moments in the acquisition of this masticatory apparatus.
The first one occurred around 16 million years ago when the ancestors of the Murinae changed from a herbivorous diet to an insectivorous diet. This new diet was encouraged by the acquisition of chewing movements that are unusual in mammals, forwardly directed but continuing to interlock opposing teeth. This aquisition helped them reduce tooth erosion and better preserve pointed cusps, which are used to puncture the exoskeletons of insects.
Then, twelve million years ago, the very earliest Murinae returned to a herbivorous diet, while at the same time retaining their chewing motion. This also enabled them to use both their mandibles simultaneously during mastication. The change in diet gave way to the formation of three longitudinal rows of cusps on their teeth. Their ancestors, like other related rodents such as hamsters and gerbils, only have two rows, as do humans.
To reconstruct this series of evolutionary events, the scientists studied several hundred teeth belonging to extant or extinct rodents at the European Synchrotron (ESRF) in Grenoble. The team applied methods originally used in map-making to analyze 3D digital models of the dental morphology of these species. Comparison of the dental structures of present day and fossil rodents enabled them to determine the diet of the extinct species. In addition, studying the wear on their teeth allowed them to reconstruct the chewing motion, either directed forwardly or obliquely, of these animals.
The study traces the way in which evolution progresses by trial and error, ending up with a morphological combination that lies behind the astonishing evolutionary success of an animal family.
The innovative methods used by the researchers to analyze and compare masticatory systems could be used to study dietary changes in other extinct mammals. This might prove to be especially interesting with regard to primates, since, before the appearance of hominids, primates underwent several dietary changes that affected their subsequent evolutionary history.
###
Reference: Correlated changes in occlusal pattern and diet in stem murinae during the onset of the radiation of old world rats and mice. Coillot Tiphaine, Chaimanee Yaowalak, Charles Cyril, Gomes-Rodrigues Helder, Michaux Jacques, Tafforeau Paul, Vianey-Liaud Monique, Viriot Laurent, Lazzari Vincent. Evolution. Volume 67, Issue 11, pages 3323, November 2013.
[
| E-mail
Share
]
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Microsoft today used the first day of O'Reilly Strata Conference + Hadoop World in New York City to announce that its Windows Azure HDInsight Service is now generally available after a year in preview.
The HDInsight Service, designed in partnership with Hadoop specialist Hortonworks, makes standard Apache Hadoop available as a service in Microsoft's Azure cloud, allowing you to deploy Hadoop clusters in minutes and shut them down just as easily.
Integration with the Microsoft data platform means that you can access and analyze your data with PowerPivot, Power View and other Microsoft BI tools, like Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS).
"Hadoop is a cornerstone of big data," says Quentin Clark, corporate vice president, Microsoft Data Platform. "The need for the insights and results and transformations from big data is really there. There are companies talking to us about how they don't feel they can even be competitive without embracing the big data phenomenon."
"The estimated 2,000 DNA sequences worldwide are generating 15 petabytes of genome data every year. Many institutions simply do not have the computational and storage resources required to work with data sets of this size. We're generating data faster than we can analyze it." -- Wu Feng, professor of Computer Science, Virginia Tech<
The goal, Clark says, is to bring Hadoop together with the flexibility of cloud deployment and the security that enterprises require to help customers achieve the competitive edge they need.
DNA sequencing with HDInsight Service The use cases are many and varied. For instance, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University has been using the HDInsight Service to aid its life sciences research in DNA sequencing.
Leveraging a grant from the National Science Foundation, Virginia Tech computer scientists developed an on-demand, cloud computing model using Windows Azure HDInsight Service that helps locate undetected genes in a massive genome database.
"Of the estimated 2,000 DNA sequences worldwide, they are generating 15 petabytes of genome data every year," says Wu Feng, professor of Computer Science at Virginia Tech. "Many life sciences institutions simply do not have access to the computational and storage resources required to work with data sets of this size. We're generating data faster than we can analyze it."
Fend and his team used the grant to develop two software artifacts: SeqInCloud, a popular genetic variant pipeline called the Genome Analysis Toolkit (GATK), and CloudFlow, a workflow management framework that uses both client and cloud resources.
This year has seen an influx of internet-connected devices, from home locks, to smoke alarms, to egg trays. But the long arm of Bluetooth has left bike locks relatively untouched—until now.