Home DNA testing has gone from a niche pursuit to a simple way to map out your family tree. A DNA test can be used to determine paternity and research ancestry or familial origin. And over the past few years, they've become quite affordable, with a wide range of companies selling DNA test kits -- from trailblazers such as Ancestry and 23andMe to upstarts that include LivingDNA. Read: What AncestryDNA taught me about DNA, privacy and the complex world of genetic testing There's a lot you can learn from a NDA test. In addition to deepening your understanding of ancestry, some services will introduce you to relatives around the world or shed light on your predisposition to specific health issues and diseases. Here we present to you our roundup of the nine top DNA testing kits and services -- what they offer, how they work and how much they cost. We'll update this story in coming weeks as we continue our in-depth testing of these service. … [Read more...] about The best DNA testing kits for 2019
Simple online database
Chinese facial recognition company left database of people’s locations exposed
A Chinese facial recognition company left its database exposed online, revealing information about millions of people, a security researcher discovered. SenseNets, a company based in Shenzhen, China, offers facial recognition technology and crowd analysis, which the company boasted in a promotional video could track people across cities and pick them out in large groups. But the company failed to protect that database with a password, Victor Gevers, a Dutch security researcher with the GDI Foundation, discovered Wednesday. The database contained more than 2.5 million records on people, including their ID card number, their address, birthday, and locations where SenseNets' facial recognition has spotted them. From the last 24 hours alone, there were more than 6.8 million locations logged, Gevers said. Anyone would be able to look at these records and track a person's movements based on SenseNets' real-time facial recognition."Knowing when someone is not in the office or at home can be … [Read more...] about Chinese facial recognition company left database of people’s locations exposed
Chinese facial recognition company left database of people’s location exposed
A Chinese facial recognition company left its database exposed online, revealing information on millions of people, a security researcher discovered. SenseNets, a company based in Shenzhen, China, offers facial recognition technology and crowd analysis, which the company boasted in a promotional video could track people across cities and pick them out in large groups. The company left its database exposed online without a password, Victor Gevers, a Dutch security researcher with the GDI Foundation, discovered on Wednesday morning. The database contained more than 2.5 million records on people, including their ID card number, their address, birthday, and locations where SenseNets' facial recognition has spotted them. From the last 24 hours, there were more than 6.8 million locations logged, Gevers said. Anyone would be able to look at these records and track a person's movements based on SenseNets' real-time facial recognition."Knowing when someone is not in the office or at home can be … [Read more...] about Chinese facial recognition company left database of people’s location exposed
How Digital Fingerprinting Works
Hunting down movies and music on sites like YouTube is fun, but unlicensed sharing of copyrighted material is illegal. Screenshot by HowStuffWorks.com staff Picture this: The classic David Bowie and Queen collaboration "Under Pressure" pops into your head. You haven't heard it in years, and suddenly you can think of nothing but the lyrics. But you can't remember them all, so you instinctively hop online and look up the song and give it a listen. Where do you go first? You could go to iTunes, where you might find the song available as a 99 cent MP3. But instead, you go to YouTube. And then you want to share your find with your friends, so you post a link on Twitter. Within minutes a dozen people are listening to that same song without paying a dime. This is the kind of situation digital content creators aren't too wild about. Someone owns the rights to most of the content available on the Web, and all too often it's distributed without permission. How can companies monetize … [Read more...] about How Digital Fingerprinting Works
When should you contact a patent attorney?
Shawn Fanning (left), founder of file-sharing service Napster, listens as his attorney David Boies (second from right) addresses a press conference regarding the company's copyright infringement woes in October 2000. Alan Dejecacion/Getty Images Patent attorneys (also known as patent agents) help companies, universities and individual inventors protect their intellectual property rights. Intellectual property is any original creative idea in the form of manufactured items, machines, processes or chemical compounds [source: Dillon]. A patent is a form of legal protection issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Patents differ from trademarks -- words, names or symbols used to identify the source of a product or service -- and copyright, which protects "original works of authorship" like movies, songs, books and plays [source: USPTO]. Anyone can apply for a patent, but that doesn't mean that everyone should. The patent application … [Read more...] about When should you contact a patent attorney?