PC magazine how to tell youre a tech addict tech companies and their responsibility how to keep your kids tech use in check april 2018

His report in this month’s PC Magazine Digital Edition proves he was right.. dan_costa@pcmag.com PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION I SUBSCRIBE I MAY 2018... —The Founder PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL E

DIGITAL EDITION

MAY 2018

TECH COMPANIES AND THEIR

RESPONSIBILITY

HOW TO KEEP YOUR KIDS’ TECH USE

IN CHECK

HOW TO TELL IF YOU’RE A TECH ADDICT (AND WHAT

TO DO ABOUT IT)

A guide to defeating the endless scroll

THE TECH INDUSTRY

RECKONS WITH ITS

RESPONSIBILITY

The ethics of how their products

affect consumers and society.

FEATURES

COVER STORY

MAY 2018

CONTENTS

IT WATCH

Want to Speed Up Your Users’ Internet? Look at Your DNS Server

TOP GEAR

What We Love Most This Month

WHAT’S NEW NOW

TIPS FOR KEEPING KIDS’ TECH USE IN CHECK

They can help grownups, too

HERE’S HOW THE EXTREMETECH STAFF STAYS BACKED UP

And they really know what they’re doing.

TIPS & HOW TOS

Tesla’s Tussle With Feds Over

Model X Accident Is a Fool’s

taken offline

PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION I SUBSCRIBE I MAY 2018

When Rob Marvin pitched me a feature

story on tech addiction, I was skeptical There’s been so much coverage of this topic already, and so much of it has been terrible The headlines, the personal anecdotes, the fear-mongering about new, poorly understood

technologies; it’s all just a little too perfect for sensation-seeking news media Was there anything original that we could add to this story?

Rob assured me there was His report in this

month’s PC Magazine Digital Edition proves he

was right

Our human inability to master the technologies we have created is not new Back in 1990, the New York Times reported:

The proposition that television can be addictive is proving to be more than a glib PHWDSKRU7KHPRVWLQWHQVLYHVFLHQWL¿F

VWXGLHVRISHRSOH¶VYLHZLQJKDELWVDUH¿QGLQJ that for the most frequent viewers, watching television has many of the marks of a

dependency like alcoholism or other addictions.

Although “Internet Addiction” was left out of the

latest Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of

Mental Disorders (DSM-5), “Internet Gaming

Disorder” was listed as a condition for further study The symptoms of gaming addiction are well known to anyone who’s had a child in the last 20

Tech Addiction

Nation

DAN COSTA

FIRST WORD

@dancosta years, and really, everyone who’s picked up a game

controller Even so, the American Psychiatric Association’s summary of the disorder is revealing:

The “gamers” play compulsively, to the exclusion of other interests, and their persistent and recurrent online activity UHVXOWVLQFOLQLFDOO\VLJQL¿FDQWLPSDLUPHQWRU distress People with this condition endanger their academic or job functioning because of the amount of time they spend playing They experience symptoms of withdrawal when kept from gaming

That was written in 2013 Since then, technology KDVJDPL¿HGRXWHQWLUHOLYHV*DPHGHVLJQHUVXVHG

to create addictive experiences to be enjoyed with special hardware at home after work Now we carry the hardware with us every day and never disconnect from a vast network of addictive digital feedbacks loops News, texts, alerts, apps,

Instagram, Twitter, Facebook wait, is that a new email? There is no quarter

:KDWXVHGWREHDSUREOHPIRUPLV¿WJDPHUVKDVinfected the whole culture Apps, websites, and pretty much all digital interfaces are constantly being optimized to make the user feel good and increase usage The online economy depends on selling your attention (Well, and your data, but one problem at a time.) None of this is accidental Trained professionals designers, UX experts, psychologists, data scientists constantly

researching and optimizing for greater usage They DUHE\GH¿QLWLRQSXVKHUV%XWDWOHDVWWKH\¶UH

human

Perhaps the more pernicious technology threat is that the addiction process can

be automated It’s easy to wrap your head around the concept of A/B testing, EXWPRGHUQWHFKQRORJ\OHWVWKHVHV\VWHPVGR$’3URJUDPPHUVFDQWHVWDQLQ¿QLWHYDULHW\RIRSWLRQVWR¿QGWKHRQHWKDWLVPRVWHIIHFWLYHDQGDGGLFWLYH,Q

JDPHGHVLJQWKLVNLQGRI$’WHVWLQJLVFDOOHGcolor coding As NYU marketing

professor and author Adam Alter explains in our story:

Color coding is where you’re trying to work out which of two versions of a mission works best,” said Alter “You tag the code associated with one

version of the mission red and the code associated with a different version yellow Let’s say you’re wondering whether a quest is more engaging if

\RX¶UHWU\LQJWRVDYHVRPHRQHYHUVXVWU\LQJWR¿QGDQDUWLIDFW6R\RXUXQ DQ$%WHVWUHOHDVLQJYHUVLRQ$WR¿YHPLOOLRQSHRSOHDQGYHUVLRQ%WR¿YH million people You measure different metrics, like how many people

return to the mission more than once and how long they spend If you

discover version A works better, you go with the red code and put aside the yellow And you keep doing that until you have the tenth, twentieth, or

thirtieth generation of a game

The entire world is being color-coded

Is technology addiction real? Are you an addict? Is it a treatable condition? Who LVSUR¿WLQJIURPWKLV":KDWH[DFWO\FDQ\RXGRDERXWLW"

Step 1 is reading our story

dan_costa@pcmag.com

PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION I SUBSCRIBE I MAY 2018

of anything you did intentionally—it had to be something else

—Ted Thomas

These trackers are BS I use a heart rate monitor with a strap for my running, biking, and rowing That’s all you need to know where your zone is

—OrangeDeek

I enjoyed this article, hopefully not only because

of the empathy I felt with another human trying

to make the best of it in this life I’ve never used one of these devices, as my willpower seems to VXI¿FHIRUQRZ:KRFDQVD\ZKDWLWZLOOEHOLNHDyear from now? I may have need in the future for

something of this sort If you can get to a point in your life where your normal

URXWLQHNHHSV\RXVXI¿FLHQWO\KHDOWK\DQG¿WDQGNHHSLWXS\RXVKRXOGUHDSWKHEHQH¿WV+RZHYHUPHDQV\RXPDQDJHWKLVLVXSWRHDFKRIXVRIFRXUVHEXWVLQFHOLIHhas a nasty habit of throwing curve balls, motivation and adaptability are key It’s amazing how easy it is to distill this life philosophy down to several sentences; trying

to live it is the real challenge Strength to you

—Dave Brumley

Thanks for the insights You’re not alone, as I know a few people wearing at least two different devices, me included Sorry you had to go through that movie scare, bad HQRXJKWKHGRXJK\RXKDYHWRGURSDQGQRZFUD]\RQWRSRILW,OLNHWRWKLQN¿WQHVVtrackers help, because I can clearly see weeks that are great and not so great If I

FDWFKLWHDUO\HQRXJK,FDQXVXDOO\WXUQWKLQJVDURXQGE\PDNLQJVXUH,JHWDKDOIhour walk or hop on the bike Looking forward to future tech of wearables

—TrailMixFan

The last FitBit I bought would record anywhere from 400 to 1000 steps on my drive

to work Kind of skewed the amount calories I was burning per day

—The Founder

PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION I SUBSCRIBE I MAY 2018

Ask us a question!

Have a question about a story in

PC Magazine, one of the products we cover, or how to better use a tech product you own? Email us at

letters@pcmag.com and we’ll respond to your question here

Questions may be edited slightly for

Fast Forward: Why Intel’s Diane Bryant Isn’t Afraid of AI

Fast Forward is a series of conversations with tech leaders hosted by Dan

Costa, PCMag’s Editor-in-Chief Diane Bryant is EVP and General Manager of ,QWHO¶V'DWD&HQWHU*URXS6KHDQG'DQVSRNHDERXWDUWL¿FLDOLQWHOOLJHQFH

Dan Costa: Most people think data centers are kind of boring, but you can do incredible things with them It’s also the most profitable

division inside of Intel People think of Intel as a chip company, but the data center business has exploded in recent years, and part of that is driving this AI revolution.

FAST FORWARD

WHAT’S NEW NOW

Diane Bryant: 5LJKW$EVROXWHO\7KHDUWL¿FLDO

Artificial intelligence can be difficult to define

How do you define it?

There’s a processing component to it, and it’s also

that you need the data sets to work with.

The data center business has exploded in recent years, and part of that is driving

this AI revolution.

In the old days, we were the PC Magazine.

There you go

Now we’re much more.

those predictive algorithms, which is a rapidly evolving space

Every business is becoming a technology business You may be a

retailer, but you need to not just use these tools, but use them to

innovate.

$W,QWHOWKHQRXUUHVSRQVLELOLW\LVREYLRXVO\WRFRQWLQXHWRVHUYHWKRVH

HQWHUSULVHVWKHLU,7RUJDQL]DWLRQVWKDWKDYHWKHWUDGLWLRQDO,7RSHUDWLRQVEXWDOVRRXUUHVSRQVLELOLW\LVWRKHOSWKRVHFRPSDQLHVHYROYHWKHPVHOYHVWRGLJLWL]HWRORRNIRUQHZUHYHQXHVWUHDPVDQGQHZUHYHQXHRSSRUWXQLWLHVEDVHGRQFORXGFRPSXWLQJ$QREYLRXVHDV\H[DPSOHRIDUWL¿FLDOLQWHOOLJHQFHDSSOLHGWRDQ

H[LVWLQJLQGXVWU\LVDXWRQRPRXVGULYLQJRUDVVLVWHGGULYLQJPRYLQJWRKLJKO\DXWRQRPRXVGULYLQJPRYLQJWRIXOO\DXWRQRPRXVGULYLQJRXWLQ

7KDWKDSSHQVEHFDXVH\RXKDYHDFDUPDQXIDFWXUHUDQGWKH\KDYHQRZHYROYHGWRZKHUHWKH\¶UHJRLQJWRGHSOR\FORXGVHUYLFHVWRWKHLUFRQVXPHUVVR,VHOO\RXWKHFDUEXWWKHQ,FRQWLQXHWRHQJDJHZLWK\RXDQGGHSOR\VHUYLFHVWRWKDWFDUZKHWKHULW¶VQDYLJDWLRQVHUYLFHVRUHQWHUWDLQPHQWVHUYLFHVRUPDLQWHQDQFH

VHUYLFHV7KRVHDUHDGGLWLRQDOVHUYLFHVWKDW,GHSOR\ZLWK\RXDQGWKHQRYHU

WLPH\RXHQGXSEHLQJDQDXWRQRPRXVFDUPDQXIDFWXUHUDQG\RX¶UHQRZUHDOO\DWHFKQRORJ\FRPSDQ\ZLWKFDUV

In terms of AI, it’s early days in a lot of ways, but there are AI systems available today Can you just describe some of the best examples?

<HDKWKHUH¶VDORWRIWKHP$VVLVWHGGULYLQJWRGD\²\RXKDYHFDUVWKDWZLOOJLYH

\RXDWKUHHSRLQWSDUNLQJVROXWLRQRUNHHS\RXLQ\RXUODQH7KHKHDOWKFDUHLQGXVWU\LVUDSLGO\GHSOR\LQJ$,VROXWLRQV:HZRUNHGZLWKVRPHRIWKHELJJHVWKRVSLWDOVLQ&KLQDUHFHQWO\RQDQ$,VROXWLRQWKDWDOORZVWKH$,V\VWHPWR

DFWXDOO\UHDG\RXUPHGLFDOLPDJHVWRGHWHUPLQHZKHWKHURUQRW\RXKDYHD

PDOLJQDQWWXPRU7KH\KDYHDVLJQL¿FDQWVKRUWDJHRIUDGLRORJLVWVWRGRWKDW

PDQXDOO\ZKHQ\RXKDYHDSRSXODWLRQRIELOOLRQSHRSOH2XWRIGHPDQGRXWRIDWUXHQHHGWKH\¶YHGHSOR\HGDQ$,VROXWLRQWRGRWKDW¿UVWSDVVDQGWKH\¶YHSURYHQQRZWKDWWKH$,VROXWLRQLVDFWXDOO\PRUHDFFXUDWHWKDQWKHKXPDQ

EDVHGVROXWLRQ

<RXKDYHDQRSSRUWXQLW\KHUHWKURXJK$,WRXQOHDVKDFRQVWUDLQW<RX¶UH

GHOLYHULQJDQ$,VROXWLRQHLWKHUWRGHOLYHU\RXVRPHWKLQJ\RXQHYHUKDGEHIRUHOLNHDVVLVWHGGULYLQJRUWRXQOHDVKDSK\VLFDOIXQGDPHQWDOFRQVWUDLQWLQWKHV\VWHPOLNHDVKRUWDJHRIDFHUWDLQVNLOOVHWRURSSRUWXQLW\

It seems like a lot of the promise of AI is to break through a lot of those constraints in all sorts of different industries.

,QDOOVRUWVRILQGXVWULHV:HWDONHGWKLVPRUQLQJZLWKDFRPSDQ\FDOOHG

)DUP/RJVDQGLWZDVIRXQGHGE\WZRNLGVWKDWJUHZXSRQIDUPV$QGWKH\

ORRNHGDWWKHZRUOGRIWHFKQRORJ\DQGVDLGµ+RZFRPHWHFKQRORJ\KDVQ¶WFRPHWRRXUZRUOGOHWDORQHWKHIDUPLQJFRPPXQLW\"¶7KHUH¶VDKXJHGHPDQGSHQWXSGHPDQG7KHZRUOGEDQNVZLOOVD\WKDWE\WKHZRUOGQHHGVWRLQFUHDVHIRRGSURGXFWLRQE\SHUFHQWLQRUGHUMXVWWRVHUYHWKHSRSXODWLRQDWWKDW

WLPH²ELOOLRQSHRSOHSURMHFWHG²DQGWRGRVRZKLOHWKHDPRXQWRIDJULFXOWXUDOODQGWRWDOLVGHFOLQLQJHYHU\VLQJOH\HDU

,W¶VDKXJHFKDOOHQJH<RXKDYHDKXJHFRQVWUDLQWDIXQGDPHQWDOFRQVWUDLQW

DURXQGIRRGSURGXFWLRQWKHUH¶VQRWKLQJPRUHEDVLF<RXWDNHDUWL¿FLDO

LQWHOOLJHQFH\RXDSSO\LWWRWKH¿HOG1RZ\RXFDQDJJUHJDWHGDWDDERXW

ZHDWKHUDQGVRLOFRQWHQWDQGIHUWLOL]DWLRQDQGRXWSXW\LHOGRIWKDWDFUHDJHRIODQGDQG\RXFDQQRZLPSURYHXSRQWKHSURGXFWLRQRIWKHODQGDQGKHOS

IDUPHUVJHWDELJJHUUHWXUQRXWRIWKHLU¿[HGFDSDFLW\

It’s really something that’s happening globally, too In the US, we have a certain set of problems, certain sets of issues, but when you start to scale this technology out globally, that’s where it really starts to make

a difference.

:HOOLWLV<RXWKLQNDERXW&KLQDDVDVWLOOGHYHORSLQJQDWLRQDQG\HWWKH\DUHWKH¿UVWWRHPEUDFHQH[WJHQHUDWLRQWHFKQRORJ\7KH\GRQ¶WKDYHWKHOHJDF\LQPDQ\LQVWDQFHV7KH\¶UHQRWFDUU\LQJDURXQGWKHZD\ZHXVHGWRGRWKLQJVDQGKDYLQJWRJRWKURXJKWKDWFKDQJHIDFWRU7KH\¶UHDFWXDOO\EULQJLQJXSVROXWLRQVDVFRPSXWHUEDVHG$,VROXWLRQV

See a video of the full interview and many more at forward.

pcmag.com/podcasts/fast-PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION I SUBSCRIBE I MAY 2018

WHAT’S NEW NOW

What is Nvidia Max-Q?

BY MATTHEW BUZZI

Traditionally, gaming laptops have been hulking machines with big

screens and short battery lives They were meant to stay put on a desk The cooling systems required to run the discrete graphics cards have typically makes standard gaming laptops large and heavy

6LJQL¿FDQWVWULGHVKDYHEHHQPDGHLQWKHSDVWIHZ\HDUVWRVROYHWKLVSUREOHP²5D]HUIRURQHGHVHUYHVDWLSRIWKHKDWIRULWVVOHHNDQGVOLP%ODGHOLQH%XWLI

\RXZDQWDVOLPJDPLQJODSWRS\RX¶OOQHHGWRPDNHVRPHVDFUL¿FHV7KHEHVWJUDSKLFV\RXFDQJHWLQWKHLQFK5D]HU%ODGHLVDQ1YLGLD*7;FDUGZKLFKLVDPRGHUDWHSHUIRUPHUZKHQLWFRPHVWRJDPLQJ

SHUIRUPDQFHEXWWKH\FDQ¿WLQPXFKVPDOOHUVSDFHV

%\OLPLWLQJWKHSRZHUFHLOLQJRIFDUGVOLNHWKH*7;DQG*7;OHVVKHDWLVSURGXFHGVROHVVURRPLVUHTXLUHGIRUFRROLQJDQGKHDWGLVVLSDWLRQ,QWXUQWKLVDOORZVKLJKHUHQGJUDSKLFVFDUGVWR¿WLQWRWKLQQHUFKDVVLVWKDQ

WUDGLWLRQDOO\SRVVLEOHUHVXOWLQJLQVOLPEXWSRZHUIXOJDPLQJODSWRSV

MAX-Q IN ACTION

7KHUHDUHWUDGHRIIVWRFRQVLGHU0D[4WXQHGJUDSKLFVFDUGVDUHQ¶WDVSRZHUIXODVVWDQGDUGYHUVLRQVSXVKLQJIHZHUIUDPHVSHUVHFRQGZKLOHJDPLQJ,QRXUWHVWLQJ0D[4JUDSKLFVFDUGYHUVLRQVSHUIRUPVRPHZKHUHEHWZHHQWKHFDUGEHORZLQWKHKLHUDUFK\DQGWKHVWDQGDUGFDUGVWKH\¶UHEDVHGXSRQ)RUH[DPSOHWKH$VXV52*=HSK\UXVWKH¿UVW0D[4QRWHERRNZHWHVWHG LQFOXGHVD0D[4

*7;WKDWSRVWHG'DQGJDPLQJQXPEHUVVLPLODUWRDVWDQGDUG*7;FDUG:HIRXQGWKDWWUHQGWREHFRQVLVWHQWLQRWKHUFRPSDULVRQVZLWKDVOLJKWvariance among laptops

HQKDQFHPHQWVVXFKDVDSHUIRUDWHGNH\ERDUGGHFNDQGERWWRPYHQWLODWLRQÀDSVWKDWRSHQZKHQWKHVFUHHQFODPVKHOOLVOLIWHG7KRXJKWKHÀDSVDUHDELWÀLPV\the laptop runs coolly and quietly, which is impressive

2QWKHRWKHUHQGRIWKHVSHFWUXPLVWKH06,*6955*6WHDOWK3URZKLFKKDVD0D[4*7;EXLOWLQWRDQH[LVWLQJFKDVVLVIURPDQRWKHU06,ODSWRSYes it’s thin, but without any special design considerations, so it runs noticeably hot

8QIRUWXQDWHO\EDWWHU\OLIHRQWKH0D[4QRWHERRNVZH¶YHWHVWHGKDV\HWWRIXOO\PDWFKWKHWKLQDQGOLJKWIRUPIDFWRU7KH=HSK\UXVODVWHGMXVWKRXUVDQGPLQXWHVRQRXUUXQGRZQWHVW7KH06,DQG2ULJLQ3&(926DW2ULJLQ3&IDUHEHWWHUUXQQLQJIRUDQGUHVSHFWLYHO\EXWQHLWKHUDUHespecially long

POWER VERSUS PORTABILITY

:KHWKHUD0D[4ODSWRSLVULJKWIRU\RXFRPHVGRZQWRRQHWKLQJ$UH\RX

ZLOOLQJWRVDFUL¿FHSRZHUIRUWKLQQHVVDQGSRUWDELOLW\",I\RX¶UHPRUHFRQFHUQHGZLWKSXVKLQJDVPDQ\SL[HOVDVSRVVLEOHDQGGRQ¶WSODQWRPRYH\RXUODSWRS

RIWHQ0D[4SUREDEO\LVQ¶WWKHVROXWLRQIRU\RX,I\RXWUDYHOIUHTXHQWO\RU

RIWHQSOD\JDPHVLQPXOWLSOHORFDWLRQVWKRXJK0D[4LVWKHEHVWPHWKRGZH¶YHVHHQIRU¿WWLQJWKHWRSWLHUJUDSKLFVFDUGVLQWRVOLPODSWRSEXLOGV

,WZRXOGEHLGHDOLIVOLPLQFKODSWRSVFRXOGSDFN*7;FDUGVEXWWKHWHFKQRORJ\VLPSO\LVQ¶WWKHUH\HW,IWKHLQLWLDOZDYHRI0D[4ODSWRSVSURYH

SRSXODUHQRXJKWRLWHUDWHXSRQZH¶OOOLNHO\VHHVOLPPHUV\VWHPVZLWKIHZHU

FRQFHVVLRQV+RSHIXOO\1YLGLDFDQFRQWLQXHWRWZHDNWKH0D[4IRUPXODDQGIXWXUHJDPLQJODSWRSVZLOOEHDEOHWRGHOLYHUHYHQPRUHSRZHUZLWKORQJHU

EDWWHU\OLIH

PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION I SUBSCRIBE I MAY 2018

I ‘m hooked up to a 16-channel brain machine interface with 12 channels of

EEG on my head and ears and four channels of electromyography (EMG) on

my arms An Oculus Rift VR headset occludes my vision Two inertial

measurement units (IMU) are stuck to my wrists and forearms, tracking the orientation of my arms, while the EMG monitors my electrical impulses and peripheral nerve activity

Dr Sook-Lei Liew, Director of USC’s Neural Plasticity and Neurorehabilitation Laboratory, and Julia Anglin, Research Lab Supervisor and Technician, wait to record my baseline activity and observe a monitor with a representation of my real arm and a virtual limb I see the same image from inside the Rift

“Ready?” asks Dr Liew “Don’t move—or think.”

How Virtual Avatars Help Stroke

Patients Improve Motor Function

BY S.C STUART

NEWS STORY

WHAT’S NEW NOW

I stay still, close my eyes, and let my mind go blank

Anglin records my baseline activity, allowing the

brain-machine interface to take signals from the EEG and

EMG, alongside the IMU, and use that data to inform

an algorithm that drives the virtual avatar hand

“Now just think about moving your arm to the avatar’s

position,” says Dr Liew

I don’t move a muscle, but I think about movement

while I’m looking at the two arms on the screen

Suddenly, my virtual arm moves toward the avatar

appendage inside the VR world

Something happened just because I thought about it!

I’ve read tons of data on how this works, even seen

other people do it, especially inside gaming

environments, but it’s something else to experience it

for yourself

“Very weird isn’t it?” says David Karchem, one of Dr

Liew’s trial patients Karchem suffered a stroke while

driving his car eight years ago, and he’s shown

remarkable recovery using her system

I don’t move

a muscle, but

I think about movement while I’m looking at the two arms

on the screen

VR rehab at USC

“My stroke came out of the blue, and it was terrifying, because I suddenly

couldn’t function I managed to get my car through an intersection and call the paramedics I don’t know how,” Karchem says

He gets around with a walking stick today and has relatively normal function on the right side of his body But his left side is clearly damaged from the stroke While talking, he unwraps surgical bandages and a splint from his left hand, crooked into his chest, to show Dr Liew the progress since his last VR session

As a former software engineer, Karchem isn’t fazed by using advanced

technology to aid the clinical process “I quickly learned, in fact, that the more intellectual and physical stimulation you get, the faster you can recover as the EUDLQVWDUWVWR¿UH,¶PVRPHWKLQJRIDODEUDWQRZDQG,ORYHLW´KHVD\V

VR rehab at USC (Photo: Nate Jensen)”My PhD in Occupational Science, with a concentration in Cognitive Neuroscience, focused on how experience changes brain networks,” explains Dr Liew “I continued this work as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke at the

National Institutes of Health, before joining USC, in my current role, in 2015

meaningful activities.”

(Photo: Nate Jensen) ne ni

“Our main goal here is to enhance neural plasticity or

neural recovery in individuals using noninvasive brain

stimulation, brain-computer interfaces, and novel

learning paradigms to improve patients’ quality of life

and engagement in meaningful activities,” she says

Here’s the science bit: The human putative mirror

neuron system (MNS) is a key motor network in the

brain that’s active both when you perform an action,

like moving your arm, and when you simply watch

someone else—like a virtual avatar—perform that same

action Dr Liew hypothesizes that for stroke patients

who can’t move their arm, simply watching a virtual

avatar that moves in response to their brain commands

will activate the MNS and retrain damaged or

neighboring motor regions of the brain to take over the

role of motor performance This should lead to

improved motor function

“In previous occupational therapy sessions, we found

many people with severe strokes got frustrated because

they didn’t know if they were activating the right neural

networks when we asked them to ‘think about moving’

while we physically helped them to do so,” Dr Liew

says “If they can’t move at all, even if the right

neurological signals are happening, they have no

biological feedback to reinforce the learning and help

them continue the physical therapy to recover.”

For many people, the knowledge that there’s “intent

before movement”—in that the brain has to “think”

about moving before the body will do so, is news We

also contain a “body map” inside our heads that predicts

our spacetime presence in the world (so we don’t bash

into things all the time and know when something is

wrong) Both of these brain-body elements face massive

disruption after a stroke The brain literally doesn’t

know how to help the body move

As a former software engineer, Karchem isn’t fazed by using

advanced technology to aid the clinical

process.

FROM THE CONFERENCE HALL TO THE LAB

What Dr Liew’s VR platform has done is show patients

how this causal link works and aid speedier and less

frustrating recovery in real life She got the idea while

geeking out in Northern California one day

“I went to the Experiential Technology Conference in

San Francisco in 2015 and saw demos of intersections

of neuroscience and technology, including EEG-based

experiments, wearables, and so on I could see the

potential to help our clinical population by building a

sensory-visual motor contingency between your own

body and an avatar that you’re told is ‘you,’ which

provides rewarding sensory feedback to reestablish

brain-body signals

“Inside VR, you start to map the two together; it’s

astonishing It becomes an automatic process We have

seen that people who have had a stroke are able to

‘embody’ an avatar that does move, even though their

own body, right now, cannot,” she says

Dr Liew’s system is somewhat hacked together, in the

best possible Maker Movement style; she built what

GLGQ¶WH[LVWDQGPRGL¿HGZKDWGLGWRKHUUHTXLUHPHQWV

We have seen that people who

have had a stroke are able

to ‘embody’ an avatar that does

move, even though their own cannot.

“We wanted to keep costs low and build a working device that patients could actually afford to buy We use Oculus for the [head-mounted display] Then, while most EEG systems are $10,000 or more, we use an OpenBCI system to build our own, with EMG, for under $1,000.

“We needed an EEG cap, but most EEG manufacturers wanted to charge us

$200 or more So, we decided to hack the rest of the system together, ordering a swim cap from Amazon, taking a mallet, and bashing holes in it to match up where the 12 positions on the head electrodes needed to be placed (within the 10-10 international EEG system) We also 3D print the EEG clips and IMU

holders here at the lab

“For the EMG, we use off-the-shelf disposable sensors This allows us to track the electromyography, if they do have trace muscular activity In terms of the software platform, we coded custom elements in C# from Microsoft and

implemented them in the Unity3D game engine.”

Dr Liew is very keen to bridge the gap between academia and the tech industry; she just submitted a new academic paper with the latest successful trial results from her work for publication Last year, she spoke at SXSW 2017 about how

VR affects the brain and debuted REINVENT at the conference’s VR Film

Festival It received a “Special Jury Recognition for Innovative Use of Virtual Reality in the Field of Health.”

Going forward, Dr Liew would like to bring her research to a wider audience: “I feel the future of brain-computer interfaces splits into adaptive, as with

implanted electrodes, and rehabilitative, which is what we work on What we hope to do with REINVENT is allow patients to use our system to re-train their neural pathways, [so they] eventually won’t need it, as they’ll have recovered

“We’re talking now about a commercial spinoff potential We’re able to license the technology right now, but, as researchers, our focus, for the moment, is in IXUWKHULQJWKLV¿HOGDQGGHOLYHULQJPRUHWULDOUHVXOWVLQSXEOLVKHGSHHUUHYLHZHGpapers Once we have enough data, we can use machine learning to tailor the system precisely for each patient and share our results around the world.”

PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION I SUBSCRIBE I MAY 2018

Want to Speed Up Your

Users’ Internet? Look at

Your DNS Server BY WAYNE RASH

The Domain Name System (DNS) is crucial to how your users experience

the internet Each time users need to reach a website, their PCs need to translate whatever they type in the address bar into an IP address Since most people can’t remember IP addresses, they type in the name of a website or other internet location

After someone types in something like “PCMag.com,” the computer sends that name out to a DNS server; it looks up the IP address and sends it back to the

PC Once the computer has the IP address, the user can navigate to the website

IT WATCH

WHAT’S NEW NOW

THE DNS SLOWDOWN

As you can imagine, it takes time for a DNS server to

look up an IP address It also takes time for the request

to reach the server and for the address to travel back to

the computer This causes latency, and enough latency

can cause users to swamp your helpdesk inbox with

trouble tickets complaining of “slow internet.”

Fortunately, a few DNS server operators are working on

this problem by speeding up their part of the process,

offering lookup services with as little latency as possible

In a move reminiscent of edge computing, these service

providers are not only spreading out the computing

load but are also putting their servers as close as

possible to users, which means “travel time” latency

tickets complaining of

‘slow internet.’

BETTER SECURITY

$QRWKHUEHQH¿WRIWKHVHQHZVHUYLFHVLVDKLJKHUOHYHORIVHFXULW\EH\RQGW\SLFDOmanaged endpoint safeguards, because they encrypt DNS requests This means that other services along the way, including a users’ internet service provider (ISP), can’t read what’s being requested

“Business or IT departments can update their routers and take advantage of

´H[SODLQHG0LFKHOOH=DWO\QFRIRXQGHUDQG&KLHI2SHUDWLQJ2I¿FHU

&22 RI&ORXGÀDUH³:H¶UHZRUNLQJZLWKGLIIHUHQW,63VWRPDNHLWHYHQHDVLHU

to access.”

=DWO\QVDLGWKDWWKHUH¶VQRFKDUJHIRUDQRUJDQL]DWLRQWRXVHWKH&ORXGÀDUH'16VHUYLFHDQGVKHVWUHVVHGWKHLPSRUWDQFHRIHQFU\SWLQJWKH'16UHTXHVWV³:H¶UHDSULYDF\¿UVW'16UHVROYHU´VKHVDLGPHQWLRQLQJWKDW&ORXGÀDUHLVZRUNLQJWRencourage widespread adoption, which is why there’s no charge Still, while any EXVLQHVVFDQXVHWKH&ORXGÀDUH'16VHUYLFHVLWZLOOZRUNEHWWHUIRUVRPHWKDQfor others

“Some businesses have no idea who they’re getting DNS from,” Zatlyn said,

³ZKLOHVRPHZDQWDOOVRUWVRI¿OWHULQJ´6KHVDLGWKDWDVLWFXUUHQWO\VWDQGVWKH

&ORXGÀDUH'16LVSUREDEO\QRWDSSURSULDWHIRUODUJHEXVLQHVVHVWKDWGHPDQGDlot of control over which websites are resolved and which are not

network in 150 cities around the world—across the US, Canada, Europe, and PDLQODQG&KLQD´=DWO\QVDLG³:H¶UHYHU\FORVHWRZKHUHSHRSOHDUHFRQQHFWLQJ

to the internet Because we’re closer, we’re faster.”

A GROWING NUMBER OF PLAYERS

&ORXGÀDUHVHUYLFH4XDGZKLFKZDVGHYHORSHGZLWKWKHKHOSRI,%0LVIUHH

Cisco offers OpenDNS, which is available for businesses of all sizes as well as for individual users It’s free for individuals and very small businesses but there is a charge for other services OpenDNS is part of the Cisco Umbrella offering,

which provides a wide range of capabilities designed to secure business users )RUODUJHUFRPSDQLHVWKDWQHHGWKH¿OWHULQJDQGRWKHUFDSDELOLWLHVWKDW=DWO\Qmentioned, this might be the answer

All three services are free to individual users, which means that you can try

them out and see if they make sense for you One potential difference is latency because, again, the farther you are from the service’s nearest DNS server, the greater the potential latency

Remember, latency is additive Your total lost time to latency in your business is the sum of the latency for all users And the lost time for each user is the sum of the delay for each website, each time a user visits it Add this to the time it takes your other internet-connected devices to get name resolution each time they need it Even a small change can make a big improvement

PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION I SUBSCRIBE I MAY 2018

What We Love Most

IDOLCAM

This innovative pocket-size camera combines a three-axis gimbal for stability,

interchangeable lenses with a magnetic attachment system, beauty lighting (like that used

by fashion photography), and a 180-degree flippable touchscreen into a compact and to-use device, created to take excellent video on the go.

easy-Starts at $350.00; www.kickstarter.com

TOP GEAR

WHAT’S NEW NOW

PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION I SUBSCRIBE I MAY 2018

GOOGLE’S PROJECT SOLI

Imagine your hands are the only interface you need That’s the promise

of Project Soli, a purpose-built interaction sensor in a compact chip that uses radar for motion-tracking hands At the core of how it works is a concept called Virtual Tools, which are similar to real-word tools such as

buttons, dials, and sliders.

TBD; https://atap.google.com/soli

AURA FITNESS BAND

This fitness wearable plans to take the

category to the next level by getting really

specific with data It tracks your body

composition, hydration levels, heart rate,

and activity using bioimpedance, which

creates a low-voltage electrical signal that

measures your body tissues’ resistance

The Aura also lets you send data directly to

your insurance company, fitness center, or

doctor

Starts at $99; www.kickstarter.com

WKHQ$SSOHLQWURGXFHGLWV¿UVWpersonal digital assistant (PDA), the

Newton, in 1992, it was clear from the start that it was not long for this world As a

concept, the Newton was a head-turner, but its

design and functions were weak, to say the least

The Newton’s biggest problem was the deeply

ÀDZHGKDQGZULWLQJUHFRJQLWLRQWHFKQRORJ\7KH

mobile processors available at the time were

incapable of handling this task with any level of

accuracy or precision, while the software was

poorly executed

,UHPHPEHUÀ\LQJWR&KLFDJRIRUWKHODXQFKRIWKH

1HZWRQDWWKHUHTXHVWRIWKHQ$SSOH&(2-RKQ

Sculley, who had driven the project from the

beginning But during the onstage demo, the

handwriting recognition failed repeatedly We

were told it was an early version of the software,

but I had a strong sense that Apple was

block sculpted to look like what would eventually

became the PalmPilot

Alexa, Teach Me How to

technology.

came to pen input and character recognition, one

needed to follow an exact formula and write the

characters as stated in the manual

programming, since the machine was teaching

me how to use it in the language it understood

Fast forward to today, and I believe we have a

VLPLODUWKLQJJRLQJRQZLWKGLJLWDODVVLVWDQWV2QH

big difference this time around is that processing

power along with AI and machine learning makes

these digital assistants much smarter—but they’re

not always accurate

,QZKDW,WKLQNRIDVD*UDI¿WLOLNHPRYH$PD]RQ

VHQGVPHZHHNO\HPDLOVWKDWLQFOXGHRYHUDGR]HQ

new questions Alexa can answer This is also

reverse programming of a kind, as it teaches me

to ask Alexa the proper questions

From a recent email, here are some of the new

things Alexa can respond to:

“Alexa, what’s on your mind?”

@Bajarin

“Alexa, what’s another word for ‘happy?’”

“Alexa, what can I make with chicken and

spinach?”

“Alexa, call Mom.”

“Alexa, test my spelling skills.”

“Alexa, wake me up in the morning.”

“Alexa, how long is the movie Black Panther?”

“Alexa, speak in iambic pentameter.”

“Alexa, how many days until Memorial Day?”

7KHVHZHHNO\SURPSWVDOORZPHDQGRWKHU(FKR

owners to understand the proper way to ask Alexa

DTXHVWLRQDQGWKH\EXLOGXSRXUFRQ¿GHQFHLQ

interacting with the platform

I have no doubt that as faster processors,

machine learning, and AI are applied to digital

assistants, they will get smarter But I suspect

that more and more companies that create digital

DVVLVWDQWVZLOODOVRVWDUWXVLQJ$PD]RQ¶VPRGHORI

teaching people how to ask questions that are

more in line with how their digital assistants want

me and other Echo owners to

understand the proper way

to ask Alexa a

question.

Silicon Valley trailblazers have reshaped

our lives with their innovations But the same irrepressible attitude and disregard for traditional rules that drive idiosyncratic

individuals and iconic company founders

including Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Uber’s

Travis Kalanick, Tesla’s Elon Musk, and Apple’s

Steve Jobs also often lead to clashes with

lawmakers

Zuckerberg’s testimony last week on Capitol Hill,

where he was grilled over user privacy, is

evidence of the “beg for forgiveness, not

permission” approach But at least Zuck issued a

mea culpa before Congress and took

DFFRXQWDELOLW\IRUWKH&DPEULGJH$QDO\WLFD¿DVFR

Contrast that with Tesla’s tit for tat with the

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)

The agency is investigating a fatal Model X crash

in California involving Tesla’s semi-autonomous

Autopilot feature, with which it has played fast

and loose compared to more conservative

automakers The Model X accident was within

days of another death involving an Uber

written for Popular

Mechanics, Road & Track, and other

publications, and is

the author of Car

Audio for Dummies.

COMMENTARY

It’s just the latest example of Silicon Valley’s

disdain for following the rules of the road When

*RRJOH¿UVWUHYHDOHGLQODWHWKDWLWVVHOI

GULYLQJFDUVKDGORJJHGPRUHWKDQPLOHV

in California, there were no laws against testing

autonomous cars on public roads in the

company’s home state But Google was aware it

was pushing the legal limits

“Keeping the project quiet enabled Google to test

under the radar of public opinion and

lawmakers,” recalls Seval Oz, who at the time

headed business development for the company’s

self-driving car project “We just didn’t want the

program to slow down for any reason.”

Silicon Valley has since become the epicenter of

self-driving technology, and the area’s “move fast

and break things” ethos has extended to

autonomous vehicle testing A large part of Uber’s

Huang, who struck the center divider on a

Northern California highway while behind the

wheel of a Model X

A week after the accident, Tesla revealed that the

vehicle’s Autopilot semi-autonomous feature was

turned on, that Huang didn’t have his hands on

the steering wheel for six seconds prior to the

crash, and he failed to take evasive action

The release of this information—and blaming the driver before the

investigation was complete, which can take months—violates an

DJUHHPHQWWRNHHSDFFLGHQWGDWDFRQ¿GHQWLDOXQWLOWKH176%LVUHDG\WRrelease it On Wednesday, Tesla withdrew from the investigation

“because it requires that we not release information about Autopilot to the public, a requirement which we believe fundamentally affects public safety negatively.”

But following what Bloomberg described as a tense phone call late

Wednesday between NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt and Elon Musk, the agency took the unusual step of removing Tesla from the

investigation

In a statement on Thursday, the agency said that “releases of incomplete information often lead to speculation and incorrect assumptions about the probable cause of a crash.” Sumwalt added that “it is unfortunate that Tesla, by its actions, did not abide by the party agreement.”

Later the same day, Tesla insisted it severed ties on the investigation with the NTSB, not the other way around And took a jab at the agency:

“It’s been clear in our conversations with the NTSB that they’re more concerned with press headlines than actually promoting safety,” Tesla said in a statement

As of press time, the tiff between Tesla and NTSB is still playing out Tesla will reportedly still provide data to the agency, which investigates accidents and makes safety recommendations but does not set policy, but will not be a formal party to the probe

Coming on the heels of the Uber autonomous car fatality, the Tesla

accident—and the company’s combative approach to the investigation—OLNHO\ZRQ¶WLQVSLUHFRRSHUDWLRQRUKHOSLQVWLOOFRQ¿GHQFHLQSXEOLF

Ben Dickson

Back n 2012, a group of scientists from the

University of Toronto made an FODVVL¿FDWLRQEUHDNWKURXJK$W,PDJH1HW

Many have praised deep learning and its superset,

machine learning, as the general-purpose

technology of our era and more profound than

4 Reasons Not to Fear

Deep Learning (Yet)

Ben Dickson is a software engineer who writes about disruptive tech trends, including artificial intelligence,

VR and AR, the IoT, and blockchain Ben also runs the blog Tech Talks.

COMMENTARY

Deep learning and deep neural networks, which

comprise its underlying structure, are often

FRPSDUHGWRWKHKXPDQEUDLQ%XWRXUPLQGVFDQ

learn concepts and make decisions with very little

data; deep learning requires tons of samples to

When their data is not inclusive and diverse,

deep-learning algorithms have even displayed racist and

DEEP LEARNING ISN’T FLEXIBLE

understanding keeps deep-learning applications

focused on limited tasks and prevents the

machine learning, as the

purpose technology of

general-our era.

DEEP LEARNING IS OPAQUE

8QOLNHWUDGLWLRQDOVRIWZDUHIRUZKLFKSURJUDPPHUVGH¿QHWKHUXOHVGHHSOHDUQLQJDSSOLFDWLRQVFUHDWHWKHLURZQUXOHVE\SURFHVVLQJDQG

DQDO\]LQJWHVWGDWD&RQVHTXHQWO\QRRQHUHDOO\NQRZVKRZWKH\UHDFKFRQFOXVLRQVDQGGHFLVLRQV(YHQWKHGHYHORSHUVRIGHHSOHDUQLQJ

DOJRULWKPVRIWHQ¿QGWKHPVHOYHVSHUSOH[HGE\WKHUHVXOWVRIWKHLU

FUHDWLRQV

7KLVODFNRIWUDQVSDUHQF\FRXOGEHDPDMRUKXUGOHIRU$,DQGGHHS

OHDUQLQJDVWKHWHFKQRORJ\WULHVWR¿QGLWVSODFHLQVHQVLWLYHGRPDLQVVXFKDVSDWLHQWWUHDWPHQWODZHQIRUFHPHQWDQGVHOIGULYLQJFDUV'HHSOHDUQLQJDOJRULWKPVPLJKWEHOHVVSURQHWRPDNLQJHUURUVWKDQKXPDQVEXWZKHQWKH\GRPDNHPLVWDNHVWKHUHDVRQVEHKLQGWKRVHPLVWDNHVVKRXOGEHH[SODLQDEOH,IZHFDQ¶WXQGHUVWDQGKRZRXU$,DSSOLFDWLRQVZRUNZHZRQ¶WEHDEOHWRWUXVWWKHPZLWKFULWLFDOWDVNV

DEEP LEARNING COULD GET OVERHYPED

XQGHUSHUIRUPDQFHOHDGVWRJHQHUDOGLVDSSRLQWPHQWDQGODFNRILQWHUHVW

0DUFXVVXJJHVWVWKDWGHHSOHDUQLQJLVQRW³DXQLYHUVDOVROYHQWEXWRQHWRRODPRQJPDQ\´ZKLFKPHDQVWKDWZKLOHZHFRQWLQXHWRH[SORUHWKHSRVVLELOLWLHVWKDWGHHSOHDUQLQJSURYLGHVZHVKRXOGDOVRORRNDWRWKHUIXQGDPHQWDOO\GLIIHUHQWDSSURDFKHVWRFUHDWLQJ$,DSSOLFDWLRQV

(YHQ3URIHVVRU*HRIIUH\+LQWRQZKRSLRQHHUHGWKHZRUNWKDWOHGWRWKHGHHSOHDUQLQJUHYROXWLRQEHOLHYHVWKDWHQWLUHO\QHZPHWKRGVZLOO

SUREDEO\KDYHWREHLQYHQWHG³7KHIXWXUHGHSHQGVRQVRPHJUDGXDWHVWXGHQWZKRLVGHHSO\VXVSLFLRXVRIHYHU\WKLQJ,KDYHVDLG´KHWROG

$[LRV

PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION I SUBSCRIBE I MAY 2018

brain-machine interface to take signals from the EEG and

EMG, alongside the IMU, and use that data to inform

an algorithm that drives the virtual avatar hand... simply watching a virtual

avatar that moves in response to their brain commands

will activate the MNS and retrain damaged or

neighboring motor regions of the brain to take over...

needed to follow an exact formula and write the

characters as stated in the manual

programming, since the machine was teaching

me how to use it in the language it understood