Facebook Hackathon Gives Super Mario Millennial Touch

The nature and habit of playing games have changed a lot in the aftermath of introduction of internet and online gaming options. The erstwhile outdoor or indoor games have taken a backstage and online games are now in hot demand and not only children but people of all wakes and age are now addicted with various online games.

The ongoing and still flourishing online game has become a billion dollar business throughout the world and newer opportunities are opening up for online games and apps developers, who have the potential to carry forward this business to another level of success. Super Mario is one such online game, which entered in to the gaming world with a bang and immediately won the heart of millions and still considered one of the best games, produced ever.

A Brief about Super Mario game

The well known Japanese company, Nintendo Co., Ltd. developed, almost 30 years back, the famous platform video game Super Mario, which comes in a series as Super Mario series. The simple game follows the mascot of Nintendo, Mario in his adventures in the fictional kingdom of Mushroom, where Mario is essentially a player character, occasionally accompanied by the brother, Luigi.

The concept of the game is; Mario and his team use to run or jumps platforms at different level to beat the enemy for rescuing of Princess Peach from the clutches of kidnapper Bowser, the principal antagonist. As per the record up to March, 2011; almost 262 million copies of this game are being sold out and makes the Super Marion, the best selling game series in the history of online games.

The New Developments and Special Features

Some of the developers in facebook hackathon have developed the super Mario series, with some add ons, a far more interesting and exciting game, compared to the erstwhile version. The facebook hackathon is nothing but a time bound workshop or event, organized by facebook, where computer programmers, along with other associates, occupied themselves in development of computer software and hardware, which often involved professionals, such as, project managers, interface and graphic designers.

The intensive collaboration of different software developers and professional are the key issue in this hachathon, which is also known as kack day, codefest or hackfest. In all these events, there are lots of innovative or add on features are being developed by professionals and now they have developed the Super Mario to a new touch.
A team of well versed professional, who took part in the facebook hackathon, had taken the initiative to develop the Marion Super game to another level with more excitement and enthusiasm, according the present day scenario and available options.

Their main target was to give the already famous game some contemporary touches that can makes it popular among the millennial kids, most of whom born in this century. The original inventor and developer of the Super Mario series, Nintendo is planning to release the newest version of the game, with the millennial touch that developed in the facebook hackathon, on September 11, 2015 to mark the thirtieth year of anniversary of the game.

Philae Space Probe Finds 'Building Blocks of Life' on a Distant Comet

Philae Space Probe – Building Blocks of Life

Some scientists are suspicious that comets `seeded’ life on Earth and have now moved a step closer in proving that theory. The Philae space probe, on comet 67P, found the so-called, `building blocks of life’. Professor Monica Grady of the Open University informed the Times that they had found things which were on the pathway to building sugars and amino acids which tend to be important in the construction of DNA and this is the confirmation that building blocks of life are present in comets.

This fearless probe observed water, carbon monoxide and 14 other organic compounds which included four of which had never been seen on a comet, earlier. Information published in the respected journal Science, recently also portrayed that the comet is only loosely packed with about 80% of its mass made up of empty space which is covered by a 20 cm layer of dust coating, a hard cratered surface with rocks and boulders. The temperature ranges from -143 to 183 C. at daytime and though the environment is not favourable to life, Professor Ian Wright, lead scientist states that the chemicals which are present on the comet could spark the development of living organisms.

Comet Loaded with Raw Materials –To Assemble Complex Organic Molecules

According to him, if the material are placed on the surface of a primitive body like the Earth and provide the right amount of heat and whatever is needed, possible, it could form life. In November, the space explorer had crash landed on the comet as first bouncing off prior to managing in anchoring itself to the speeding rock’s surface. The scientists immediately set to work conducting 63 hours of experiments till the system became inactive due to lack of power from the Sun.

 The craft woke briefly in June on capturing adequate energy from the sun to start transmitting once again. However, the connection by then had been lost and it is not sure if Philae would be communicating again. The craft has used two separate instruments for sniffing molecules at the time of its mission on the Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet.

A senior scientific adviser at the European Space Agency, Mark McCaughrean, informs that the `comets are loaded with all the raw materials such as water, CO2, ammonia, methane, that are needed to assemble more complex organic molecules, perhaps sparked by UV-photons from the Sun or cosmic rays, or in the shock that occurs when a comet hits the surface of a planet like the young Earth’.

Comets Good Place for Building Blocks of Molecules

Researchers have stated in an article published in the journal Science that, it was not clear whether the complex molecules that were found in the comet were made in the early solar system or formed later on. Mr McCaughrean has commented that either way it seems that comets are pretty good places to find the building blocks of molecules which later on could be used for life.

The scientists have also gained new visions in the comet’s rocky ground together with its unexpectedly hard surface which could prove vital to future comet missions. Philae project manager Stephan Ulamec has added his comments saying that `they have definitely learned at least one thing with this first comet landing – bouncing is a bigger problem than a possible sinking into the ground’.

Privacy Analysis Shows Battery status API as Tracking Tool

Most of the Smartphone nowadays contain a feature which is essential to their usage i.e. battery status. A HTML 5 coded Battery analysis API is found to have major flaws in it which is leaving the privacy vulnerable. The flaws in the battery status API are extremely threatening and need to be resolved at the earliest.

The flaw mainly resides in the battery status API of most of the Smartphone. The set of protocols set in HTML5, which is the current language of the internet. This API unknowingly provides a web browser like Google Chrome and Firefox regarding the sensitive information of the Smartphone. Later on, this API also helps in activating a power saving mode which helps the Smartphone users in making more out of their devices.

How severe is the flaw?

Battery Status API has the capability to extract and pull several pieces of information related to the device’s battery, which includes the battery level, charging times along with discharging time. When this data is combined together it helps in creating a digital fingerprint of the device and it can be used by the potential attackers for tracking the activities of the users on the internet.

Recent studies on battery status

A recent study was conducted by the four researchers from France and Belgium on the battery status API. The research paper has been titled “The leaking battery: A privacy analysis of the HTML5 Battery Status API”. The researchers have concluded that the Battery Status API can serve as a potential tracking identifier when it is used in the hands of the notorious trackers.

The study had showed that HTML5 Battery Status API secretly enables the websites to access the battery state on any device ranging from the mobile device to laptops. Most of this information related to battery is extracted from the devices without the knowledge of the users. This API is extremely dangerous to the protection of the privacy, as no permission is required by the API to send out the details.

This study had even showed that when this API is implemented by Firefox Browser it happens to enable the fingerprinting and tracking of devices in short time intervals. Same results were found by the researchers on other popular web browsers like Chrome and Opera. The only web browser which possesses strong measures of defense against fingerprinting by the Battery Status API is Tor Browser. This particular web browser simply initiates a procedure, which completely disables the API and stops it any fingerprinting attempts.

Private browsing can’t stop Battery Status API

Most of the people nowadays use private browsing in order to maintain their privacy online but Battery Status API can still allow the attackers to track the online activities through battery data. A script used by the Battery Status API can help in tracking the people who had already deleted their browsing data. This script even reinstates the identifier such as cookies without the knowledge of the users. This study is conducted with the hope of identifying the glaring loopholes and flaws in the Battery API and to draw people attention towards its effects.

Google Street View Cars will Soon Measure Pollution

Recently a firm by the name of Aclima, building environmental sensors has teamed up with the web giants Google, and in turn has set out with a novelty…the street car of Google that is equipped with environmental sensors and a load of other new technologies that is capable of accumulating a vast and varied amounts of data directly from the street while this supposed techy piece of automobile shall cruise the asphalt. The greatest implication of this novelty is its radical technological outfit that makes this vastly suitable for some of the mundane street jobs which are yet of greatest value…namely monitoring pollution.

The hardware placed on these vehicles is equipped with sensors that are capable of measuring the components of air like nitrogen dioxide, nitric oxide, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) etc.

Though the whole idea is still in its early foetal stage, it can be expected that in near future there will be a time when the atmosphere information will be added even to the Google maps. The joint venture by both the companies has already had their set of trial runs and experiments on the streets of Denver.

Three of the Google vehicles fitted with their new outfit cruised the streets of the city for about a month and gathered information. A remarkable 150 data points was the net accumulation, a result of 750 hours of driving. The soon to be expected new development in this mass project is its shift to a new ground for experimentation and further modification.

San Francisco has been chosen as the new ground for operations, where local scientists are expected to take up quite an important role in developing the whole setup to a finer tuning, thereby making it conducive to this new locale and also increase it potential. A more viable method to utilize this gathered information is also on the agenda to make this even more conducive and productive.

What’s more? 

Usually stationary air pollution sensors are placed across the city that measure and give a feedback of the air pollution in a specific locale. This monitoring setup is a design dedicated at air quality regulation. However, this is barely capable of providing a detailed picture of a community or an urban area, and its exact pollution situation to the people.

The new cars fitted with the new technology are more conducive at mapping and setting up a friendly model of the environment, which is much more specific and easily understandable; thereby opening a new portal for the masses. A quite interesting happening is the already successful use of these street cars to measure gas leaks.

American Business Act on Climate Pledge

Google and twelve other American businesses have already signed the American Business Act on Climate Pledge and thereby committing to a 140 billion dollar in low carbon investments. Google themselves have also decided to power its operations with 100 percent renewable energy.

What is worth noting in all these new developments in the field of tracing the rising pollution levels across the globe is the simple hope for a better morrow where even if the world is not much greener, one will have the option to choose a greener pocket in his or her locality.

Is Artificial Intelligence The Next Step In Advertising?

First Ever Artificially Intelligent Poster Campaign

Artificial intelligence for some is a step into science fiction. The variety of artificial intelligence would perhaps not bring about ruin of humanity but could be used to shape how advertising can be created and directed. Partnership of M&C Saatchi, Clear Channel and Posterscope had recently disclosed what they dubbed as `the world’s first ever artificially intelligent poster campaign’.

Chief innovation officer of M&C Saatchi, David Cox, had defined its significance – that it’s the first time a poster has been let loose to entirely write itself, based on what works, instead of just what a person thinks could work. The basic evidence is that the poster which is based around a fictional instead of an ordinary coffee brand,`Bahio’ could read the reactions of its audience and adjust itself accordingly.

22 ads were created in each generation from its initial `gene pool’ of pictures as well as copy, with the poster evaluating the level of success of an ad and if successful, a certain ad moves onto the next gene pool, being a part of the next generation. Those which tend to be unsuccessful are removed. Cox states that `it’s a Darwinian algorithm, it will evolve to be more and more effective and so we are hoping to see fewer outcomes emerging over time’.

Big Ideas for AI Posters – Future of Out-of-Home Advertising

Till July 20, 1540 ads were automatically generated over 70 generations and the initial outcome indicated that shorter copy was more popular, with heart images, which was a frequent incidence at the time of viewing. Poster using Kinect to work out and who’s standing in its vicinity, could assess 12 people at a time. At the time of taking into account the reactions, its audience does not see immediate alterations.

The main part of the concept is to capture movements that of the consumers. Initial trial runs over 42,000 interactions were tracked by the ad. Based on initial viewing, art directors as well as copywriters would be able to rest easy.

 Cox admits that it is not writing the best ad in the world, but there is a lot of weird copy though in 10 years, one may not know the outcome of it. CMO of Clear Channel, Sarah Speake, has big ideas for what AI posters could mean for the future of out-of-home advertising.

AI – Ability in Perceiving/Understand Meaning

Speake states that they could be pushing the boundaries of where creativity meets technology in a very scalable way with a level of engagement that has not been possible till now and this symbolizes where they are going and creating the future of the industry’.

The reason why AI has shown to be so controversial as well as elusive is due to the concept of intelligence which is difficult to define. A working definition could be difficult to make. Nevertheless, intelligence in the broadest sense could refer to the ability in perceiving and understand meaning.

According to David Chalmers, Australian National University philosopher, he states that intelligence is external performance, in a sense, it is about sophisticated behaviour’. Established on this definition, it is speculated whether computers would be anywhere near achieving an artificial version of such intelligence.