With Comcast out, Charter eyes Time Warner Cable merger again

Comcast is out, but that doesn’t mean Time Warner Cable is off the market. Charter, which already cast a losing bid for the provider in 2014, is considering trying to acquire TWC again, according to the Washington Post. Charter’s continued interest isn’t much of a surprise. In February CEO Tom Rutledge said that if the Comcast deal fell through, he might make another offer. Being the fourth largest cable TV provider, it might not be subject to the same level of regulatory scrutiny as Comcast, which is the nation’s largest. But, Charter already began moving on a consolation prize last month in Bright House Networks. So getting approval to swallow up the second largest pay-TV provider in the country won’t be easy if it does decide to carry through with a bid. There’s also no guarantee that Time Warner Cable will accept a bid from Charter, which had its original offer of roughly $130 per share rebuffed in 2013.

Filed under: Home Entertainment

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Source: Washington Post

Department of Defense creates new cyberunit in Silicon Valley

In order to better combat cyberthreats to national security, the US Department of Defense is setting up shop in Silicon Valley. At a lecture today at Stanford University, Defense Secretary Ash Carter outlined the department’s new focus on cyberdefense, including tapping into the ecosystem of Silicon Valley to drive innovation against cyber attacks against “US interests.” Carter announced that he’s setting up the Defense Innovation Unit X (X stands for Experimental) inside the DOD, staffed by active-duty and military personnel alongside reservists. “They’ll strengthen existing relationships and build new ones; help scout for new technologies; and help function as a local interface for the department,” Carter explained. “Down the road, they could help startups find new work to do with DOD.”

“But in addition to dangers, there are also really great opportunities to be seized through a new level of partnership between the Pentagon and Silicon Valley — opportunities that we can only realize together,” Carter continued. He went on to cite projects like Google’s self-driving car and Apple’s Siri that have roots in government-backed projects.

By 2018, the DOD wants to have a Cyber Mission Force of 133 teams in place

By 2018, the DOD wants to have a Cyber Mission Force of 133 teams in place. The teams are divided into four groups: National Mission, Cyber Protection, Combat Mission and Support. National Mission teams will “defend the United States and its interests against cyberattacks of significant consequence” while Cyber Protection keeps close watch on the DOD systems and networks. As you might expect, Combat Mission teams support those in combat on the internet front, and Support teams lend a hand to both National and Combat mission teams as needed.

If you’ll recall, the Department of Homeland Security announced this week that it would set up a satellite office in Silicon Valley, too. It, like the DOD, is looking to strengthen relationships with tech companies in the area and recruit new talent. For the Department of Defense, attracting said talent means expanding its Fellows Program to allow one year of work in the government and a second in the private sector at companies like Oracle and Cisco.

What’s more, the DOD is creating its own branch of the US Digital Service. Carter says that this office will “help solve some of our most intractable IT and data problems in DOD.” In fact, one team is already working at the Pentagon to transfer electronic medical records to Veterans Affairs. This new office will also be a means of recruitment, as Carter was quick to follow the announcement with an invitation for those in attendance to join the cause.

Filed under: Internet

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Via: Ars Technica

Source: Department of Defense (1), (2), (3)

App of the Day: File transfer by Infinit

Transferring files from your smartphone over to your computer or other devices can either be as simple as clicking a button and boom, or as hard as having to climb a mountain with nothing but a toothpick (or you know, maybe something a bit less drastic). Unfortunately though, there do not exist many great file transfers options that allow you to move files fast and easy. Many of them require that you sign up for a plan to get fast transfers or make you go through hoops just to sign up. Thankfully for us, there exist such apps like out App of the Day, File transfer by Infinit, that are easy to use and provide blazing fast transfers. Now you can send your friends that awesome 2-hour long video you just took of your cat (though we highly recommend you don’t).

File transfer by Infinit is an app that promotes itself as being “…the easiest app for sending any kind and size of files to your friends…” From our initial testing of the app, we couldn’t really disagree. Files were transferred quickly and difficulty, with no issues at all. We had some random videos lying around that we decided to transfer over and they all arrived in record time. For group projects or just random fun, File transfer by Infinit is a great tool for those that find themselves needing to transfer files on a daily basis. If all of this talk about data has garnered your interest, make sure to use the widget below to download and give File transfer by Infnit a try, for the one-time payment of nothing. Since its free and all, and who doesn’t like free? Well, other than babies.

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Cooking with Watson: Austrian asparagus and pig’s feet croquettes

‘Cognitive Cooking with Chef Watson‘ is a collaboration between IBM and the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City. Once a week, as part of an ongoing series, we’ll be preparing one recipe from the book until we’ve made all of them. Wish us luck.

“Austrian grilled asparagus” that should be simple. Let’s see… Pig’s feet? Sous vide? Croquettes? Mustard “foam”? Damn it Watson!

Well, if the carrot pearls from last week weren’t sufficiently weird for you, fear not. This week’s recipe is the sort of thing that would send most casual cooks running for the hills. And to make matters worse, the title lulls you into a false sense of security. The first two steps in this recipe, that’s theoretically for grilled asparagus, are to brine two pig’s feet overnight, then to cook them in a 162 degree water bath (sous vide) for 24 hours. Yes, 24 hours. Between the eight-plus hour brine and the 24 hour cook, this is already the most time intensive dish I’ve ever made.

Before we get to the pig’s feet croquettes lets talk about the other elements of this dish. The grilled asparagus, is just that: quickly blanched and char-grilled asparagus. Don’t get worried by the “Austrian” part of the title, all you’re doing is dressing the vegetable in a mustard foam once it’s done. And, while the word “foam” may have initially triggered some anxiety, I’ve got to say it proved to be unfounded. The “foam” is basically just a sauce made from milk and Dijon mustard that’s processed with a blender. The spinach coulis, is essentially the same: some spinach, oil, garlic and milk that is pureed within an inch of its life. Now, using the method in the cookbook you won’t get a very stable foam, but it will still be a tasty sauce to pour over your veggies. If you want something that looks little bit more like what you’d find in a fancy-pants restaurant, and won’t run all over the plate on you, try soy lecithin. Also, might I suggest using a regular blender for the coulis. I attempted to use my immersion blender and ended up with a tasty, but still sort of chunky sauce. The end result was more creamed spinach than coulis.

The real surprising part of the dish, however, was the pig’s feet croquettes. For one, I’ve never cooked pigs feet before and the idea of combining the flavors of pigs feet and asparagus seemed like a bit out of left field. Especially when the pigs feet, most commonly associated with southern American food, are seasoned with turmeric and mustard seed, a combination often associated with Indian cuisine. Chef James Briscione was definitely able to take the somewhat bizarre ingredient list served up by Watson and turn in a dish that is pleasing to the human palate. It’s only the second recipe in the book, but it’s already the first that seems to accomplish its goal of pushing chefs creativity through cognitive computing.

Not a single one of my taste testers was excited about this dish. The idea of pig’s feet croquettes did not sit well, but they were all converts after the first bite. The delicate Dijon sauce added considerable life to the asparagus. And the salty, pungent and slightly sweet meat that was rolled up tightly in each panko-crusted potato log added a nice balance to what could have easily been a brick of deep fried starch. The only complaint is that pig’s feet simply don’t deliver enough meat. Especially considering the amount of time needed to brine, cook and disassemble them. This is a collection of flavors that’s going in my permanent kitchen playbook (thanks Watson, sorry about cursing at you earlier), but I’ll definitely be swapping out the pigs feet for ham hocks or pork butt next time.

Update: The original version of this story referred to the recipe as “Australian” instead of “Austrian” asparagus.

AUSTRIAN GRILLED ASPARAGUS

Pig’s Feet Sous Vide

2 cups water
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
1 ½ tablespoon garlic, minced
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
1 tablespoon fenugreek
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 pig’s feet

1. In a bowl, mix the water, whole-grain mustard, garlic, mustard seeds, fenugreek, vinegar, salt and sugar.

2. Place the marinade and the pig’s feet into a sous vide pouch. Seal and refrigerate overnight.

3. Cook the pig’s feet in a 162 degree Fahrenheit water bath for 24 hours.

4. Take the feet out of the pouch. Remove the bones and chop the meat, discarding any bits of tough connective tissue or cartilage. Reserve the strained cooking liquid from the pouch.

Pig’s Feet Croquettes

6 cups water
1 tablespoon salt
2 Idaho potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup pig’s feet meat, minced
½ cup Swiss cheese, grated
All-purpose flour, as needed
1 egg, beaten
Potato flakes or panko bread crumbs, as needed

1. Combine the water, salt and potatoes in a saucepot. Bring to a simmer and cook until the pieces are easily pierced with the tip of a paring knife.

2. Drain the potatoes, then let rest for 30 minutes.

3. Heat the mustard and fenugreek seeds with the oil in a small saucepan over low heat for 2 minutes.

4. Add the garlic and sauté over medium heat for 1 minute. Add the pig’s feet and cook for 2 minutes, stirring regularly. Let cool.

5. Rice the potatoes in a bowl and mix in the cheese.

6. Take a quarter of the potatoes and shape into a flat patty. Place some of the meat mixture in the middle, then roll into a log 4 inches long by 1 inch in diameter. Repeat until you have 4 logs.

7. Refrigerate the croquettes for at least one hour. Pass them through a standard breading procedure, rolling the croquette in flour, then dipping it in the egg, and finally coating in bread crumbs/potato flakes. Deep-fry at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until golden brown.

Spinach Coulis

2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon canola oil
1 cup packed spinach
½ cup low-fat milk
Pinch of salt

1. Sauté the garlic in the oil in a pan over medium heat for about 1 minute. Add the spinach and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

2. Add the milk and salt, and simmer for about 5 minutes.

3. Blend and process until smooth. Reserve, and keep warm.

Mustard Foam

½ cup low-fat milk
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1. Heat the milk and mustard in a saucepan for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Reserve.

Grilled Asparagus

12 large spears asparagus, stems trimmed
1 tablespoon canola oil

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the asparagus and blanch until halfway done.

2. Drain the asparagus, drizzle with the oil and cook on a hot grill until done and nicely charred.

3. Remove from the heat and plate immediately.

To Serve

1. Transfer the mustard foam to a blender and process on high speed until foamy.

2. On each plate, spread a small amount of spinach coulis. Place 3 asparagus spears in the center and 2 croquette halves on the side. Top with the mustard foam.

This recipe and others can be found in Cognitive Cooking with Chef Watson.

Filed under: Household

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BitTorrent reportedly laid off dozens of employees

According to Buzzfeed, BitTorrent drastically reduced its US workforce on Thursday. Multiple anonymous sources reportedly confirmed that about 40 of the company’s 150 domestic employees were sacked yesterday morning. BitTorrent has struggled to turn a profit over the last couple of years. Despite its ubiquitous name recognition and multiple profit-sharing partnerships with major musical acts, the company never quite shook the “pirated media” stigma with mainstream consumers. It also offered a string of peer-to-peer based products that never really went anywhere. I mean, do you remember Bleep, BitTorrent’s P2P messaging app? No, of course you don’t. BitTorrent reportedly made the cuts in order to streamline its business and focus on Sync, a cloud storage system based on it’s peer-to-peer file sharing system.

Update: Bittorrent PR has issued a comment on the reported firings.

We’ve recently realigned resources based on a regular evaluation of the business. Regrettably, this did include some employee departures. The business however, remains healthy, profitable and growing.

Filed under: Internet

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Source: Buzzfeed

Formula 1 aerodynamics will make grocery stores more efficient

No, that’s not a typo. It turns out Formula 1 racing technology, specifically aerodynamics, can help rid grocery stores of the so-called “cold aisle” issue. Using aerofoils that are designed to guide the direction of air flow around a race car, Williams F1’s engineering department and UK start-up Aerofoil Engery aim to keep the cool temps inside the open refrigerators at the market. The aerofoils attach to each shelf, guiding the cold air so that not only is that section more comfy for shoppers, but energy use is reduced as well. In fact, Sainsbury’s, the second largest grocery store chain in the UK, is already testing the tech. “This Formula 1 inspired innovation has already shown it can cut carbon produced by major refrigerators,” said John Skelton, the retailer’s head of refrigeration. The project is still in the testing phase, so if could be a while before its ready for widespread installation.

Filed under: Transportation

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Via: TechRadar

Source: Williams F1