Daily Archives: November 7, 2019

Keith Farner | 10 hours ago

One coach who is familiar with running an offense and what its like changing a programs offensive playbook, not to mention in the SEC West, is Florida Atlantic coach Lane Kiffin, of course, a former Alabama offensive coordinator.

In a radio interview with 104.5 FM in Baton Rouge, Kiffin described facing the LSU offense when he was at Alabama as a unit that was 10 or 15 years behind.

I really think Ed did what Coach (Nick) Saban did however many years ago, seven years ago, when he said I want to change, Kiffin said. Im tired of defending this stuff. I dont like it, but I want to change.

Kiffin said Saban told him when he brought him in that its time to change and evolve.

Kiffin said he hasnt watched a lot of LSU this season, but have talked to people who have, including people at Alabama. He said the difference is the Tigers go faster in some areas, and dont run a million plays.

Thats really what true tempo is, is you cant have a million plays like you used to, Kiffin said. You cant get it all done, you cant get it all called and it takes too long.

He added that the coaching change to bring in Joe Brady as passing game coordinator from the New Orleans Saints completely changed the program.

Kiffin said hes not surprised with how Alabama coach Nick Saban has described QB Tua Tagovailoas availability, as he said the game-time decision label was designed to answer fewer questions.

(Tua) could have been 100 percent or zero percent, Kiffin said, and it still would have been game time decision two weeks ago.

Kiffin said that if President Donald Trump wanted to talk to the Alabama team in the locker room before the game, he would have a hard time getting Saban to allow it.

Not a chance, Kiffin said. No way.

Kiffin didnt make a prediction in the LSU-Alabama game, but said there would be a lot of points scored, and winning in Tuscaloosa is difficult, but if there was ever a year to do it, it seems like everything is aligned the right way for it to happen.

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Lane Kiffin discusses LSUs offensive evolution, how Ed Orgeron followed Nick Sabans footsteps - Saturday Down South

Earlier this week, a massive Pokmon Sword and Shield leak revealed the evolutions for all three new starters (Grookey, Scorbunny, and Sobble) along with the entire Pokdex, which is missing some key Pokmon. But the leaks didnt stop there, recent tweets from Sword and Shield leaker account @CentroLeaks allegedly revealed the full stats, abilities, and moves for the final evolutions of each starter (Rillaboom, Cinderace, and Inteleon; respectively) at level 50, giving us an even better understanding of how they compare.

Heres everything we learned about the Pokmon Sword and Shield starter evolutions in the latest leaks, and what it means for your decision as you set out on the next big Pokmon adventure.

According to a @CentroLeaks tweet, Rillaboom is set to be the tank of this trio, boasting tons of health to soak up damage, powerful attacks, but relatively low speed. Heres the full breakdown:

He also has a special ability, Overgrown, which boosts the power of grass-type attacks when his health is low. Rillaboom can learn grass, fighting, and ground moves (among others). His Drum Beating attack boasts 80 Power, 100 Accuracy, and lowers the speed of its target to even the playing field.

Of the three, Scorbunnys final evolution feels like the most balanced option. Based on that same leak, Cinderace offers solid health and attack stats along with impressive speeds.

Cinderace also has a similar ability to Rillabooms, just with a buff for fire moves. It can learn fire, psychic, poison, and steel moves. Its Pyro Ball attack has power 120, accuracy 90, and burns the enemy.

Finally, we have Inteleon, whos biggest strength is an impressive Special Attack stat and a powerful attack to go with it. According to @CentroLeaks, Inteleon can learn a move called Snipe Shot thats capable of targeting opponents even when theyre using abilities or moves that would evade attack (like Fly or Dig, I think). Snipe Shot has power 80, accuracy 100.

Heres the rest of the stats:

Inteleon can learn water, ice, and ghost attacks, and its Torrent ability boosts water attacks when its health is low.

So what does this all mean? Well, the important thing to remember is that any of these three Pokmon Sword and Shield starters will turn into powerful Pokmon that can get you through the game. That said, there are pros and cons to each depending on your playstyle and strategy

For pure strength, Rillaboom is the way to go, while Cinderace is more balanced and Inteleon gets the coolest attack. Its also worth noting that while we dont know much about the games narrative structure right now, its usually safe to assume youll come across plenty of grass-type Pokmon early on. So if youre hoping to create a balanced team early on Grookey might not be the way to go.

Then again, if youre basing your decision off which Sword and Shield starter looks the coolest in its final evolution, theres really no competition. Its Grookey/Rillaboom.

Pokmon Sword and Shield launches on November 15 for Nintendo Switch.

Read more from the original source:

'Pokmon Sword and Shield' leaks: Starter evolution stats, abilities, moves - Inverse

Privacy can assume many forms and occur on many levels. The technologies that blockchain architects originally envisioned for privacy coins are now being utilized by an array of crypto stakeholders, from enterprises to exchanges. What began as a means of transacting anonymously has spawned a burgeoning industry, built upon technologies designed to conceal, but which can also be programmed to reveal to a select few.

Also read: Chinese Communist Party Reportedly Filling Roles at Top Exchange Huobi

zk-Snarks are best known for their use in privacy coin protocols such as Zcash. These zero knowledge proofs have far broader applications than simply masking the sender and receiver when transmitting crypto via a public ledger. A zero-knowledge proof allows one party to prove to another that a statement is true, without revealing any information about the statement itself.

To break this down into a simple analogy, imagine that Farmer Bob is selling some livestock at the market. He wishes to prove to the auctioneer that there is a cow in his trailer, but without opening the door (cos then the creature would escape). Using a heat sensor installed inside the trailer, Bob can prove that there is a living, breathing animal inside, but the auctioneer will have no way of knowing which cow it is, or even whether the animal is a cow (unless it moos and gives the game away). That, essentially, is how a zk-Snark operates: proof that something is true, while disclosing zero knowledge about the thing in question.

As for how zk-Snarks can be deployed outside of privacy coin transactions, look no further than smart contracts. Quras, for example, is using the technology to provision privacy-enabled smart contracts that run on its eponymous VM. Applications include concealing information pertaining to credit history; enabling healthcare and medical information from IoT devices to be shared confidentially; and facilitating sealed auctions that are executed using smart contracts.

Mohammad Mazen is the CEO of Burency, a cryptocurrency exchange and blockchain research and development platform. Expounding on why private smart contracts are desirable, he told news.Bitcoin.com: Smart contracts have the potential to automate business processes ranging from calculating insurance premiums to powering decentralized synthetics markets, but for this to happen, there needs to be privacy built in. Broadcasting information on-chain nullifies any benefits that might otherwise have been gained through using blockchain, since publicly verifiable smart contracts enable observers to frontrun markets and steal competitors proprietary algorithms. Privacy technology provides a means to conceal the secret sauce thats in a smart contract, while still enabling its integrity to be verified.

zk-Snarks arent the only privacy technology whose applications extend far beyond those originally envisioned by its pseudonymous creator. The origins of Mimblewimble dont need retelling again, but its evolution does. Although utilized by both Grin and Beam and soon Litecoin too it is the Beam iteration of Mimblewimble that has applications for the broadest range of users. Understanding how Mimblewimble works isnt easy, unless youre au fait with elliptic curve cryptography. Even Beams attempt at explaining the process via a series of dumbed down metaphors takes some digesting.

Whats relevant here isnt so much the way in which Mimblewimble works, but the fact that it can provide complete transactional anonymity between parties while being compatible with implementations such as Beam that enable optional audibility. Digitally signed documentation can be attached to transactions, giving an approved auditor permission to view the transactions associated with a particular key. For cypherpunks intent on concealing their activity from snooping governments, that ability will be of little interest, but for businesses that wish to conceal their day-to-day affairs from the public (paying staff, contractors, and purchasing goods) while still remaining compliant from an accounting perspective, its extremely useful.

Bulletproofs are actually part of the zero-knowledge proofs family and allow multiple range proofs from different parties to be aggregated into one proof. What this means, in practice, is that bulletproofs allow for information to be significantly compressed without compromising its validity. When integrated into Monero last year, for example, bulletproofs slashed transaction fees through reducing the average size of each transaction.

There is a number of interesting applications for bulletproofs outside of facilitating confidential transactions. They can be used in proof of solvency, for instance, with one research paper noting: A Bitcoin exchange with 2 million customers needs approximately 18GB to prove solvency in a confidential manner Using Bulletproofs and its variant protocols this size could be reduced to approximately 62MB. The same paper lists a total of eight use cases for bulletproofs, including smart contracts and crypto derivatives.

Privacy coin tech follows the same adoption curve as other disruptive technologies: first its used by criminals, outlaws, and geeks. Then by enterprises, ordinary end users and even governments. Just as it was with encryption, so it is proving to be with privacy-preserving tech: from unknown to ostracized to indispensable in under a decade.

What other privacy technologies have broad applications beyond simply enabling anonymous transactions? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

Did you know you can verify any unconfirmed Bitcoin transaction with our Bitcoin Block Explorer tool? Simply complete a Bitcoin address search to view it on the blockchain. Plus, visit our Bitcoin Charts to see whats happening in the industry.

Kai's been manipulating words for a living since 2009 and bought his first bitcoin at $12. It's long gone. He's previously written whitepapers for blockchain startups and is especially interested in P2P exchanges and DNMs.

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Conceal and Reveal: The Evolution of Privacy Coin Technology - Bitcoin News

Microchips, equation-decorated whiteboards and NASA coffee cups are all spread across Warrant Technologies' Thinker Labs, which recently opened in Fountain Square Mall in downtown Bloomington.

The creative space is occupied by Derek Whitley, a fifth year Ph.D. candidate at Indiana University. Whitley is pursuing dual doctoral degrees in complex systems at the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering and cognitive science in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.

While working on his Ph.D., he also has a full-time day job as a senior engineer at Warrant Technologies. And if that's not enough, he is the principal investigator on a grant from NASA, working on artificial intelligence technology for future NASA missions to the moon and Mars.

The grant was awarded to Warrant Technologies and is part of NASA's Small Business Innovation Research program. Warrant Technologies, a certified Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business, is one of roughly 100 first-time recipients of a NASA SBIR grant.

Whitley may not get much sleep, but that's OK with him. After graduating high school in Boonville, Indiana, Whitley joined the U.S. Navy, where he was drawn to computers and technology.

"Joining the Navy, I knew I wanted to be involved with computers, and being a cryptologic technician was my path to the field of advanced technology," he said.

Following the Navy, Whitley moved to Bloomington to do software support for Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane and noticed one of the world's best universities was in his backyard.

"I realized I need to go back to school," Whitley said. "My research has grown as a result of having a full-time job and from being a part of a Ph.D. program, letting me have one foot in industry that allows me to be mindful of the tech world and one foot in academia where I'm paying attention to new papers and research that is emerging."

One of Whitley's Ph.D. advisors, Randall Beer, would agree with that sentiment.

"Derek's work focuses on evolvable hardware -- that is, integrated circuits that can be dynamically reconfigured by an evolution-like process in order to accomplish some task of interest," said Beer, who is a professor of computer science, informatics and cognitive science at IU Bloomington. "Derek's receipt of a grant through NASA to support his application of this approach is quite a testament to his entrepreneurial spirit."

That entrepreneurial spirit led to the creation of Warrant Technologies' Thinker Labs, with a hoped-for outcome of attracting other rising-star scientists to apply for similar grants and retain their talent in Indiana.

Warrant Technologies, founded in 2013, is a systems and software engineering company working primarily with Crane and the Department of Defense. The company also supports the state of Indiana in naval education training command and has 30 employees.

"We're hoping that Thinker Labs will grow as an engine to both attract young scientists and give them an opportunity to work on some exciting projects," said Michael Norris, president and CEO of Warrant Technologies. "At the same time, we want to draw in and attract the external market, both government and commercial, to leverage this talent."

For now, Whitley will continue Phase I of his grant, focusing on creating artificial intelligence methods that do not rely on traditional computers, including artificial intelligence algorithms that "evolve" based on the needs of the technology. For his grant, Whitley proposed an electronic device with a minimal spatial footprint and extremely low power consumption.

"My research at IU is focused on creating new evolutionary artificial intelligence methods that do not execute in a traditional way," Whitley said. "It's effectively using AI to generate a special circuit that runs a different type of AI. It's exciting technology."

NASA feels the same way as it looks to advance the capabilities needed to land astronauts on the moon in five years and establish a sustainable presence there.

"We are excited about the entrepreneurial, innovative ideas that these small businesses are bringing to the table," Jim Reuter, associate administrator for NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate, said in NASA's press release. "The technologies show great promise in helping NASA achieve its objectives across all mission areas, including our efforts to send American astronauts to the moon, and then on to Mars, while also providing a long-term boost to the American economy."

Whitley hopes his work with NASA will also inspire others to shoot for the stars.

"This is cutting-edge technology, and exciting projects like this can help keep talent right here in Indiana," he said. "Every part of the country has had some kind of economic boom that has struck it for some reason or another. Why can't AI take place here in Indiana?"

Nicole Wilkins is executive director of research communications in the Office of the Vice President for Research.

Description of the following video:

[Audio: music begins]

[Video: Dynamic headshot of Derek Whitley and motion graphic title appears]

Whitley speaks in voiceover: After I returned back from the Navy and getting my undergraduate degree coming back to Indiana and working here at Crane ...

[Video: Whitley is shown speaking, corresponding to the voiceover, and title fades away]

Whitley speaks in voiceover: ... I've seen that there is an enormous amount of talent in Indiana.

[Video: Slow motion of Whitley's hands pointing at his technological hardware.]

Whitley speaks in voiceover: There's a whole lot of potential to create technology, to create business, to grow Indiana in a very positive way.

[Video: Whitley is at his desk talking to Mike Norris (without audio of actual clip)]

Whitley speaks in voiceover: I looked into cognitive science to kind of bridge that gap of, alright ...

[Video: Whitley is shown speaking, corresponding to the voiceover]

Whitley speaks in voiceover: complex systems will give me the mode of thinking that I want to be able to ascribe to my scientific research but ...

[Video: Slow motion of technological hardware on Whitley's desk]

Whitley speaks in voiceover: ... cognitive science is going to fill the gap of how do I make cerebral systems.

[Video: Mike Norris is shown speaking, corresponding to the voiceover, as motion graphic title appears]

Norris speaks in voiceover: We are a systems and software engineering company.

[Video: Camera swings from Whitley's computer screens to show Norris standing while listening to Whitley speak]

Norris speaks in voiceover: Our primary customer is NSWC Crane, the DOD, Department of Defense.

[Video: Mike Norris is shown speaking corresponding to the voiceover]

[Video: Sweeping slow motion from left to right of Whitley's mobile robot on a table]

Norris speaks in voiceover: We support naval sea systems command, naval air systems command.

[Video: Slow motion of Norris and Whitley standing next to each other smiling]

Norris speaks in voiceover: We also support the state of Indiana and Naval Education Training command.

[Video: Whitley is shown speaking, corresponding to the voiceover]

Whitley speaks in voiceover: An SBIR is a small business innovation research grant.

[Video: Sweeping left to right of Whitley speaking to someone out of frame]

Whitley speaks in voiceover: Which is a type of grant issued to 'small businesses that can actually compete and perform the work,' technological scientific work, that some agency may want done.

[Video: Slow-motion sweeping left to right of Whitley's mobile robot on table]

[Video: Slow-motion panning of Whitley's technological hardware]

[Video: Whitley is shown speaking corresponding to the voiceover]

Whitley speaks in voiceover: So for example, NASA doesn't have the manpower to go and develop all of the technology that they need developed for shuttle, for robots, for everything.

[Video: Slow motion of space shuttle launch]

[Video: NASA robot]

[Video: Slow motion of Whitley's hands pointing at his technological hardware]

Whitley speaks in voiceover: So they'll issue an SBIR 'so that other companies can go and develop that work, develop that technology, for them.

[Video: Slow-motion sweeping left to right of Whitley's mobile robot on table]

[Video: Whitley is shown speaking corresponding to the voiceover]

[Video: Rotating shot left to right of Whitley talking to someone off screen]

Whitley speaks in voiceover: Now we have this grant from NASA to study and research this exact work.

[Video: Whitley is shown speaking corresponding to the voiceover]

[Video: Slow motion push in on Whitley's technological hardware]

Whitley speaks in voiceover: This allows me the bandwidth to give my direct attention, my day job attention and my academic attention to my research.

[Video: Slow motion from left to right of Whitley sitting down looking up at Norris]

[Video: Whitley is shown speaking corresponding to the voiceover]

[Video: Slow motion of technological hardware]

[Video: Mike Norris is shown speaking corresponding to the voiceover]

Norris speaks in voiceover: We're hoping that the Thinker Lab will turn into and grow as an engine to both attract these young scientists and bring them in, give them an opportunity to work on some exciting projects ...

[Video: Slow motion panning of Thinker Lab logos on windows and doors of Thinker Labs]

[Video: Young man and woman sitting together looking at and working on robotics]

[Video: Young man looking through an opening of technology with safety glasses on]

[Video: Mike Norris is shown speaking corresponding to the voiceover]

[Video: Low angle of Whitley and Norris smiling and walking toward camera]

Norris speaks in voiceover: and at the same time draw in and attract the external market, both government and commercial, to come in and leverage that talent.

[Video: Norris and Whitley having a conversation]

[Video: Norris is shown speaking corresponding to the voiceover]

[Video: Slow motion of Whitley smiling and laughing]

Whitley speaks in voiceover: There's no reasons that scientists, engineers, can't stick around and help grow Indiana.

[Video: Whitley is shown speaking corresponding to the voiceover]

Whitley speaks in voiceover: Why can't AI take place here in Indiana?

[Video: Indiana University Brand logo and words "Indiana University iub.edu" appear then fade out]

[Audio: Music fades out]

Read more here:

Evolutionary AI inspires IU student to shoot for the moon - IU Newsroom

The Romanian meat processing and preservation sector had seen an increased profitability in 2018, but the revenues have decreased. In the same year 35 percent of the companies in the sector registered loses and 50 percent have a level of indebtedness of over 80 percent.

A new study by Coface Romania on the Meat Processing and Preservation Sector indicates a negative evolution of revenues for 2018, with a decrease of approx. 19 percent compared to the previous year. Thus, the African swine fever (ASF) lead to cuts of over RON 1 billion in the turnover of these companies, the consolidated revenues at sectoral level decreasing from RON 6.13 billion (2017) to only RON 4.96 billion (2018), the minimum in the last 5 years. According to NSVFSA (NationalSanitaryVeterinary and Food Safety Authority), almost 1.000 outbreaks of African swine fever are registered in Romania, just two months before Christmas. The Coface study aggregated the data of 507 companies that submitted their financial statements for the year 2018 and generated a consolidated turnover of RON 4.96 billion.

Companies in this sector recorded a current liquidity of 0.96 throughout 2018, while the working capital, at a slightly negative level, was relatively exposed to negative shocks and volatility (lower revenues or non-collection of receivables). The average duration of debt collection increased to 64 days in 2018, compared to 55 days in 2017, indicating a significant call for commercial credit received from suppliers. As a result, due to the growing financial difficulties, companies in this sector pay their suppliers almost 3 weeks later, increasing their dependency on business partners.

In 2018, the net result consolidated at the sector level was 3.5 percent, higher compared to 2017 (1.2 percent). However, 35 percent of the companies recorded a net loss at the end of 2018, with 17percent of the companies having a loss of more than -20 percent, and 7percent of the companies generating more than 20 percent profit.

The marginal increase in profit is due almost exclusively to the price increase in the context of excess demand over the available supply, the latter being affected domestically by the PPA virus. Thus, according to the latest figures published by the NIS (National Institute of Statistics), the average price of pork has increased by 5.4percent in the first 9 months of this year, after an increase of 2.5percent in 2018 and 5.5percent in 2017 (a consolidated average price increase of almost 14percent over the last 3 years).

During the last year, the companies in the analyzed sector allocated significant investments for the expansion of fixed assets. The ratio between capital expenditures (CAPEX) and depreciation ratio was 155percent in 2018, which means that investments in fixed assets covered the depreciated fixed assets. Almost half of the companies (44% percent) made investments in 2018, with a supraunitary Capex/Amortization report.

Of the 372 companies active in this sector, only 134 companies registered revenues of over EUR 1 million in 2018, concentrating almost 99percent of the sector. Analysis of the evolution of companies with turnover of over EUR 1 million reveals that in 2017 the frequency of payment incidents, both major and minor, was very low. However, about a year after the first case of African Swine fever virus, the payment incidents of the big companies in this sector exploded, reaching the maximum of the last five years in the 3rd quarter of 2018.

The Coface study reveals the difficult situation of the meat processing companies operating in Romania: the consolidated revenues have plummeted to the minimum of the last decade, half of the companies are over-indebted, the refuseddebitpayment instruments exploded in 2018, as suppliers are paid with delays, and the outstanding tax liabilities registered in the first semester of 2019 are at the maximum of the last decade. The African swine fever virus (PPA) cut almost 20percent of the revenues of companies in this sector, with losses estimated at almost RON 1 billion. Although the authorities declare that the number of active outbreaks has been decreasing lately, there are two months until the winter holidays and 1,000 active outbreaks. The vulnerable financial situation of companies active in this sector, as illustrated by the study, creates the conditions for more imports of meat products for the end of this year and the next one, stated Iancu Guda, Services Director Coface Romania.

According to an offcial statement of NationalSanitaryVeterinary and Food Safety Authority, Since the first report of the presence of the PPA virus in Romania, as of July 31, 2017 and until now, 524,590 pigs affected by the disease have been eliminated and there are 2,208 cases in boars. In this context, the outstanding tax liabilities reported by the companies active in this sector have exploded, constantly exceeding the threshold of RON 500 million in the period 2017-2018, 3 times over the previous average of the last decade.

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Meat processing and preservation sector: negative evolution of revenues in 2018, with 19 percent decrease - Business Review

Red deer populations in the Scottish Highlands have genetically evolved over the last four decades to give birth earlier in the year in response to climate change and increasing temperatures, according to new research published in the journal PLOS Biology. The genetic changes highlight a rare case of adaptive evolution occurring over a short time period. It is also one of the first examples of wildlife evolution as a direct reaction to climate change.

The study, led by scientists in the United Kingdom and Australia, built on previous research on red deer populations on Scotlands Isle of Rum. Starting in the 1980s, the timing of when red deer on the island give birth has shifted earlier 4 days per decade due to rising temperatures. In total, that means birth timing has advanced nearly 2 weeks in 40 years.

The scientists also looked specifically at genetic data collected from the Isle of Rum red deer over 45 years, from 1972 to 2017. They found that the deer with earlier birth dates experienced significantly greater breeding success over their lifetimes, giving birth to a higher total number of offspring than deer that gave birth later in the year. As a result, the genes that cause such early births are now increasingly common among the red deer population providing a unique demonstration of natural selection at work.

This research is particularly important for understanding how wildlife populations may react to current and future environmental change. This is one of the few cases where we have documented evolution in action, showing that it may help populations adapt to climate warming, Timothe Bonnet, a biologist at The Australian National University and the lead author of the study, said in a statement.

Elisheva Mittelman

See more here:

Red Deer in Scotland Have Genetically Evolved in Response to Climate Change - Yale Environment 360