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Lily Camera Drone

 The Lily drone seeks to carve its niche as the easy-to-use flying camera.

Rather than pilot the craft with a controller, Lily flies autonomously. You simply throw the 2.8 pound drone into the air and it will fly off, following its owner through a wristband tracker.  Either through an app or the waterproof wristband, Lily can be commanded to hover, follow, loop around or zoom in to a subject, all while recording videos and stills.

The Lily can cruise along between 10 and 30 feet in the air at a top speed of 25MPH for about 20 minutes. It can loiter as close as five feet from its owner or fly as far away as 100 feet. It's waterproof, too, so it can be thrown into the water for takeoff. Using computer vision, Lily executes its landing into the palm of your hand. 

A free app for iOS and Android devices will give you more control over Lily, including the ability to change camera settings, create flight plans, and edit and share your videos and stills.

Lily's built in camera sports a 12-megapixel sensor capable of 1920x1080p60 video recording (audio recording is handled by the wristband remote). You can enjoy frame rates of 120fps if you drop to 720p resolution. The lens delivers a 94-degree field of view for videos. Footage is saved to a MicroSD card or 4GB of internal memory. The internal battery takes about two hours to fully recharge.

The drone will cost $499 for pre-orders submitted over the next 29 days and $999 when it ships in February of 2016. Its not expensiv for this advantures 

Source: Author

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FailArmy Presents: Street Troller

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It's Mothers' Day!

Mother's Day  is annually held on the second Sunday of May. It celebrates motherhood and it is a time to appreciate mothers and mother figures. Many people give gifts, cards, flowers, candy, a meal in a restaurant or other treats to their mother and mother figures, including grandmothers, great-grandmothers, stepmothers, and foster mothers.

Flowers and other gifts are given to mothers on Mother's Day.

What do people do?

Many people send cards or gifts to their mother or mother figure or make a special effort to visit her. Common Mother's Day gifts are flowers, chocolate, candy, clothing, jewelry and treats, such as a beauty treatment or trip to a spa. Some families organize an outing for all of their members or hold a special meal at home or in a restaurant. In the days and weeks before Mother's Day, many schools help their pupils to prepare a handmade card or small gift for their mothers.

Public life

Mother's Day is not a federal holiday. Organizations, businesses and stores are open or closed, just as they are on any other Sunday in the year. Public transit systems run to their normal Sunday schedules. Restaurants may be busier than usual, as some people take their mothers out for a treat.

Background

The origins of Mother's Day are attributed to different people. Many believe that two women, Julia Ward Howe and Anna Jarvis were important in establishing the tradition of Mother's Day in the United States. Other sources say that Juliet Calhoun Blakely initiated Mother’s Day in Albion, Michigan, in the late 1800s. Her sons paid tribute to her each year and urged others to honor their mothers.

Around 1870, Julia Ward Howe called for Mother's Day to be celebrated each year to encourage pacifism and disarmament amongst women. It continued to be held in Boston for about ten years under her sponsorship, but died out after that.

In 1907, Anna Jarvis held a private Mother's Day celebration in memory of her mother, Ann Jarvis, in Grafton, West Virginia. Ann Jarvis had organized "Mother's Day Work Clubs" to improve health and cleanliness in the area where she lived. Anna Jarvis launched a quest for Mother's Day to be more widely recognized. Her campaign was later financially supported by John Wanamaker, a clothing merchant from Philadelphia.

In 1908, she was instrumental in arranging a service in the Andrew's Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia, which was attended by 407 children and their mothers. The church has now become the International Mother's Day Shrine. It is a tribute to all mothers and has been designated as a National Historic Landmark.

Mother's Day has become a day that focuses on generally recognizing mothers' and mother figures' roles. Mother's Day has also become an increasingly important event for businesses in recent years. This is particularly true of restaurants and businesses manufacturing and selling cards and gift items.

Source:http://www.timeanddate.com/

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US court says NSA phone data program is illegal

The US government has long argued that the program is legal under the controversial Patriot Act, but a federal appeals court sees things differently.

A US Appeals court has sent shockwaves through the government and security industry after ruling that the National Security Agency's wholesale collection of phone call data is illegal.

The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled on Thursday that section 215 of the Patriot Act doesn't authorize the NSA's practice of collecting metadata on nearly all phone calls placed across the US. The appellate judges said the program "exceeds the scope of what Congress has authorized" in the Patriot Act, adding that the case will now be handed back to a district court for further litigation.

The NSA might have one less trick up its sleeve in the coming weeks.Declan McCullagh/CNET

The 97-page ruling has opened a new front in theongoing war between privacy advocates, including the American Civil Liberties Union, and the US government. The Patriot Act, signed into law in October 2001, was pitched as a tool the government could use to more effectively combat global terrorism, but since the beginning, critics have characterized it as a massive privacy-infringement law.

After former NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked documents in 2013 detailing the ways in which the secretive US government agency was collecting data, the already-heated debate over the Patriot Act intensified. The leaked documents revealed that, among other things, the NSA was collecting records on nearly every phone call placed in the US and then comparing that against known contact information of possible terrorists. Through the program, the NSA collects metadata -- including what phone numbers were on the call, when the call was placed and how long it lasted -- and saves that in a database.

Opinions have been split over the data collection. Both the Bush and Obama administrations, as well as many lawmakers and government officials, have argued that the collection of metadata is protected by the Patriot Act. They argue that since the actual phone conversations are not being recorded, there is also no violation to the US Constitution.

In 2013, US District Judge William Pauley ruled on the data collection case, saying that it's not only legal, but acting faithfully within the law:

There is no evidence that the Government has used any of the bulk telephony metadata it collected for any purpose other than investigating and disrupting terrorist attacks. While there have been unintentional violations of guidelines, those appear to stem from human error and the incredibly complex computer programs that support this vital tool. And once detected, those violations were self-reported and stopped. The bulk telephony metadata collection program is subject to executive and congressional oversight, as well as continual monitoring by a dedicated group of judges who sit on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

Pauley went even further, saying that the data collection is a necessary component in the fight against terrorism. He even hinted that such data collection could prevent another attack on the scale of September 11.

"No doubt, the bulk telephony metadata collection program vacuums up information about virtually every telephone call to, from, or within the United States," Pauley said in his conclusion. "That is by design, as it allows the NSA to detect relationships so attenuated and ephemeral they would otherwise escape notice. As the September 11th attacks demonstrate, the cost of missing such a thread can be horrific."

The ACLU, which serves as the plaintiff in the case on metadata collection, has been one of the program's most outspoken critics. In a statement Thursday celebrating its victory, the ACLU said the appeals court's decision was the right step toward following the rule of law.

"This decision is a resounding victory for the rule of law," ACLU staff attorney Alex Abdo, who argued the case before the three-judge panel in September, said in a statement. "For years, the government secretly spied on millions of innocent Americans based on a shockingly broad interpretation of its authority. The court rightly rejected the government's theory that it may stockpile information on all of us in case that information proves useful in the future. Mass surveillance does not make us any safer, and it is fundamentally incompatible with the privacy necessary in a free society."

Indeed, the court's ruling provides further support for the ACLU and others who believe that Section 215 of the Patriot Act should be tossed out. A June deadline draws near for Congress to vote on whether it should renew Section 215. While many lawmakers have said that at least parts of it should be kept in place, Section 215, which the US government has said allows it to collect metadata, is potentially on the chopping block.

Last year, for example, President Barack Obama issued a new plan on data collection that took aim at Section 215. He said that rather than the US government collecting metadata, telephone companies would take up that task and keep the data on hand for a set period of time. Obama also said that access to the metadata should require a judge's approval based on national security concerns and would be available only for a limited time.

Whether even that would be legal is up for debate. The appeals court on Thursday not only said that phone call metadata collection under Section 215 is illegal but also that the entire, "unprecedented" activity of the wholesale collection of metadata could be called into question.

"If the government is correct, it could use Section 215 to collect and store in bulk any other existing metadata available anywhere in the private sector, including metadata associated with financial records, medical records and electronic communications (including e-mail and social-media information) relating to all Americans," the court wrote. "Such expansive development of government repositories of formerly private records would be an unprecedented contraction of the privacy expectations of all Americans."

Major technology companies agree. In March, Google announced that it had joined the Reform Government Surveillance coalition, made up of civil rights groups, trade associations and other companies -- including Apple and Microsoft -- in issuing a letter to Obama, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and NSA Director Michael Rogers. That letter contained an outline of "essential" elements that must be included in surveillance reform:

There must be a clear, strong and effective end to bulk collection practices under the Patriot Act, including under the Section 215 records authority and the Section 214 authority regarding pen registers and trap & trace devices.

Any collection that does occur under those authorities should have appropriate safeguards in place to protect privacy and users' rights. [Any reform] bill must contain transparency and accountability mechanisms for both government and company reporting, as well as an appropriate declassification regime for Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court decisions.

We believe addressing the above must be a part of any reform package, though there are other reforms that our groups and companies would welcome, and in some cases, believe are essential to any legislation.

So far, however, it's unclear what will actually happen to Section 215. The Wall Street Journal reportedon Thursday, citing sources, that Senate Republican leaders are hoping to extend the program for at least three months. Democrats, led by Obama, would like to see Section 215 removed and data collection handed to phone companies. The House Judiciary Committee has already voted in favor of such a move, but privacy advocates have criticized the idea.

"The current reform proposals from Congress look anemic in light of the serious issues raised by the Second Circuit," Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the ACLU, said in a statement. "Congress needs to up its reform game if it's going to address the court's concerns."

Whatever Congress decides, it'll need to move quickly: the deadline is just weeks away.

The National Security Council, which is fielding the court ruling, had this to say about Thursday's court decision:

We are in the process of evaluating the decision handed down this morning. Without commenting on the ruling today, the president has been clear that he believes we should end the Section 215 bulk telephony metadata program as it currently exists by creating an alternative mechanism to preserve the program's essential capabilities without the government holding the bulk data. We continue to work closely with members of Congress from both parties to do just that, and we have been encouraged by good progress on bipartisan, bicameral legislation that would implement these important reforms.

Source:http://www.cnet.com/

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Yahoo sues former staffer for alleged leaks to writer

Yahoo is going after a former employee the company claims was spilling its secrets.

The lawsuit alleges that Cecile Lal, who was chief of staff to a vice president at Yahoo, leaked information about the company to journalist Nicholas Carlson for his book "Marissa Mayer and the Fight to Save Yahoo!" The suit was filed in Santa Clara County in California on Wednesday and was first reported by Bloomberg.

Carlson, chief correspondent at the website Business Insider, chronicles in his book the tenure of Yahoo CEO Mayer, a former Google executive, as she's tried to turn around the troubled Internet giant since taking the helm in 2012.

Yahoo says Cecile Lal, a former employee, leaked information to author Nicholas Carlson.Richard Nieva/CNET

Yahoo claims Lal violated her employment agreement by divulging secrets to Carlson through email and phone conversations. The company claims Lal's correspondence with Carlson began in April 2014.

Some of what Lal allegedly leaked was information from Yahoo's weekly "FYI" meetings, which Mayer holds to address goings-on at the company. The meetings include a question and answer session with employees, and transcripts are available on a password-protected site called Backyard. Yahoo said Lal apparently shared her password to the site with Carlson.

"Lal's unapologetic breaches of her confidentiality obligations to Yahoo and Yahoo's trust in her took many forms," the company said in the complaint.

Lal could not immediately be reached for comment. A Yahoo spokeswoman said the company couldn't comment on active litigation.

Source:http://www.cnet.com/

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'Incredible shrinking car' drives sideways to park in tiny spaces

As cities continue to grow at a dizzying rate, commuters are constantly battling ever-increasing congestion on the roads and a lack of parking, just to get to work.

But now a team of German engineers have come up with an ingenious solution -- a "flexible" electric vehicle capable of shrinking, driving sideways (think like a crab) and turning on a dime.

The EO Smart Connecting Car 2 is an innovative design from DFKI Robotics Innovation Center, based in Bremen, Germany, where a team of software developers and designers, as well as electronics and construction engineers, have been refining the smart micro car project for the last three years.

First announced in 2012, the team have moved onto their second iteration of the vehicle. It drives like a traditional car but because each wheel is powered by its own motor, it also has the capability of driving sideways, allowing it to slide into tight spaces in urban areas where parking is limited, explains Timo Birnschein, project manager for the vehicle.

He adds: "The whole process -- the transition between normal driving and driving sideways -- takes about four seconds."

Shrink and drive

The prototype has a top speed of 65 km/h (or 40mph) and can travel 50 to 70 kilometers (30 to 44 miles) on a single four-hour full charge of the battery. But it's the two-seater's ability to shrink to around 1.5 meters in length that has the team excited about its uses in future cities, says Birnschien.

"It is able to reduce it's own size by about 80cm, which makes it almost as small as a bike in length. And with this kind of feature you can go into very tiny parking spaces," he says. "You are still able to turn on the spot, you are still able to drive sideways and you are still able to connect to charging stations, for example."

EO2 smart car.

Looking like part "Transformer" and part DeLorean out of "Back to the Future," the car reduces its size by partly folding itself. It shifts the rear axle to the front and slides on a set of rails which raises the interior upwards, while still remaining comfortable for the passenger.

Touted as a "micro car for a megacity," the team are working hard to make their vehicle roadworthy and envision it as a communal public resource, similar to existing urban car-sharing schemes. The idea is that when you need a car, you could head to your nearest docking station and select the vehicle that's charged enough to drive the distance you need. It would then detach itself and you would be on your way.

"[It] is very comparable feature-wise to the first prototype," says Birnschein. "The second version is much more reliable and almost road-legal. It's not really, but it's almost there and we are trying to bring this car to the road -- but it's a big hassle to be honest because we have so many new technologies in the car that the technical advisory guys are skeptical."

He adds that the team have invited several manufacturers to test drive the vehicle, with positive response, but the enthusiasm ends there.

"The problem is for most car manufacturers, they are not really interested if they didn't invent it themselves. They may buy from Bosch or Siemens or whatever, technology parts like ESP and other things, but not complete systems."

But his team remain undeterred as they continue working on autonomous features like auto pilot and self parking. Meanwhile Birnschein likens the situation to the rise in smartphones over the last decade -- from non-existence to oversaturation.

"It will be the same with computer power and autonomy," he says. "In the next 10 years we will most likely see autonomous cars from big car manufacturers -- Mercedes S class will have autonomous functions within three or four years. Some of other manufacturers like GM announced they will have semi-autonomous cars by 2020. And many other car manufacturers are already working on this type of technology.

"They are driving all the time on the autobahn with autonomous vehicles. I believe it will be coming -- it will be there within the next decade."

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