Five full months have passed since the defense team for Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht launched their appeal for a new trial. That 170-page argument represents Ulbricht’s last hope of escaping a life sentence after being convicted of running a conspiracy to traffic in drugs, launder money, and sell computer hacking tools. Now the prosecution has responded with its own, equally massive document rebutting those arguments one by one, an attempt to put the final seal on the fate of the man behind the dark web’s most notorious black market.

In a 186-page brief filed Friday evening, the prosecutors rehash much of Ulbricht’s 11-day trial early last year and defend repeated decisions by Judge Katherine Forrest in the prosecution’s favor—a series of moves to suppress defense evidence, deny defense witnesses, and admit prosecution evidence that led Ulbricht’s attorneys to call for a mistrial no less than five times. But perhaps the most notable rebuttal concerns the controversy over the role of two corrupt federal agents who used their roles in the investigation to extort and steal money from the Silk Road, and whose involvement was kept entirely secret from the jury—and to some extent even from Ulbricht’s defense—during his trial.

Here are the prosecution’s most important arguments.

Argument: Criminal Feds Are Irrelevant

As the defense outlined in its appeal, DEA agent Carl Mark Force and Secret Service agent Shaun Bridges both abused their access to the Silk Road in insanely egregious ways: Bridges used an informant’s account to steal $800,000 in bitcoins from the site, while Force attempted to blackmail Ulbricht using one pseudonym while selling him law enforcement information using another. The defense has argued that it wasn’t told about the full extent of Force’s misbehavior until the trial concluded, and wasn’t told about Bridges’ role at all.

But in its latest rebuttal, the prosecution argues that any disclosures it should have made are irrelevant, because Force’s and Bridges’ behavior has nothing to do with disproving Ulbricht’s guilt. “Ulbricht’s appeal based on the corruption of two Baltimore agents fails for the simple reason that, even now, Ulbricht has not explained how the information he sought to compel or admit was exculpatory,” the brief reads. “Nowhere does Ulbricht explain how Force’s and Bridge’s crimes impeach the Government’s ‘overwhelming’ proof.”

The brief points to the prosecution’s laundry list of powerful evidence against Ulbricht that it argues has no relation to the corrupt agents. That damning evidence includes a logbook and journal found on his laptop, records of transactions on bitcoin’s public ledger known as the blockchain that trace $18 million in bitcoins sent from the Silk Road servers to that laptop, and FBI agents’ catching Ulbricht “red-handed” in a San Francisco library, logged into the Silk Road as its top administrator, even accessing a so-called “mastermind” page. Lawyers for Ulbricht’s defense declined to comment on the prosecution’s rebuttal.

Argument: Evidence Could Not Be Planted

The defense has argued that Bridges or Force could have used their illegal access to the Silk Road to tamper with its accounts or even somehow plant evidence on his laptop. But in its response, the prosecution points out that the Silk Road staff account that Secret Service agent Bridges hijacked from an informant didn’t actually have the “root” access necessary for that kind tampering. And it also argues that the defense knew about DEA agent Force’s crimes to the degree that if it had suspected some kind of evidence-planting on Ulbricht’s laptop, it could have tried to prove that foul play at trial. (In fact, Ulbricht’s defense did make arguments that evidence could have been planted on his laptop via a bittorrent connection, which the prosecution seemed to convince the jury were bogus. “There were no little elves that put that evidence on [Ulbricht’s] computer,” prosecutor Serrin Turner said in his closing argument.)

Argument: Defense Actually Shows More Guilt

Most damningly, the prosecution argues, Force’s actions show Ulbricht to be even more guilty, as they demonstrate that Ulbricht, then using the pseudonym the “Dread Pirate Roberts” or “DPR,” was using Force as a mole, paying for inside information on the ongoing investigation against him. “If anything, Force’s attempts to sell information to ‘DPR’ or otherwise extort him were ‘inculpatory as [they] suggest[ed] that Ulbricht, as ‘DPR,’ was seeking to pay law enforcement for inside information to protect his illegal enterprise,’” the brief reads.

In Defense of the Judge

The role of the corrupt agents is only one piece of Ulbricht’s campaign for a new trial, and the prosecution brief goes on to rebut its other points, too: It argues that warrants to seize and search Ulbricht’s digital files online and on his laptop were appropriately limited, and that the judge in the case was correct to preclude the defense’s cross-examination of a DHS agent, aimed at bringing out evidence suggesting bitcoin entrepreneur Mark Karpeles could be an alternate suspect in the search for Silk Road’s administrator. (That evidence was thin, and quickly dismissed by the Silk Road’s investigators.) And it defends the judge’s decision to block the defense from calling two last-minute expert witnesses, calling that tactic “trial by ambush.”

Why a Life Sentence Is Appropriate

Finally, the brief ends by addressing Ulbricht’s controversial life sentence. The defense argued that life without parole was unjust, based on spurious claims that Ulbricht was directly responsible for Silk Road buyers who died from drug overdoses as a result of substances they bought on his black market. The defense also argued that the deterrence effect Judge Forrest sought against future dark web entrepreneurs didn’t require that extreme sentence, writing that the punishment “shocks the conscience.”

It’s worth noting that the prosecution, during trial, never actually sought a life sentence. Instead, prosecutors suggested a sentence “substantially above the mandatory minimum” of 20 years. But in Friday’s brief, it fully backs the judge’s harsh rule.

The prosecution points to sentencing guidelines that show Ulbricht was entirely eligible for life in prison. And it argues that Ulbricht was directly responsible for those who died from overdoses as a result of the Silk Road’s sales. “In the Government’s view, Ulbricht was the kingpin of a global drug-trafficking enterprise who was responsible for all of the foreseeable consequences of his actions, including the multiple deaths tied to drug sales on Silk Road,” the brief reads. “Ulbricht knew, and sometimes mocked the fact, that his customers were often addicts struggling to quit, and he took their money, all the same.”

Read the full brief arguing against Ulbricht’s motion for a new trial below.

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O Google não está de brincadeira quando afirma que quer espaço no mercado corporativo. A companhia disponibilizou uma série de novas ferramentas que ajudam empresas a acessarem e compartilharem informações internamente. As ofertas de produto se assemelham ao Microsoft SharePoint.

O novo aplicativo Springboard chega para dar aos funcionários de empresas usuárias do Apps for Work uma caixa de pesquisa unificada que ajuda a encontrar praticamente toda informação das companhias, de arquivos no Drive a mensagens no Gmail e contatos.

A companhia disponibilizou também uma versão beta melhorada do Google Sites. A solução vem com a promessa de permitir que usuários corporativos com menos conhecimento em TI desenvolvam websites para compartilhamento interno de informações.

A ferramenta utiliza templates e uma interface de edição simplificada. Dessa forma, o plano é permitir a criação de páginas com layout interessante para demandas de comunicação entre equipes e departamentos.

Esses dois produtos chegam para competir no campo dos softwares corporativos de colaboração, como o Microsoft SharePoint, que serve tanto como repositório de dados quanto plataforma de hospedagem de sites que podem ser usados para comunicação interna.

Além dos recursos de busca por informação, o Springboard também mostrará arquivos e contatos para usuários com base em algoritmos de aprendizado de máquina que facilitam as tarefas e a organização das rotinas. Isso estará disponível em através de app para Android e, no futuro, também para plataforma iOS.

A ferramenta é uma expansão dos esforços do Google para ganhar terreno nas empresas. Historicamente, a gigante de buscas tenta conquistar um espaço dominado pelo Office com sua suíte Apps for Work. Agora, a companhia amplia seus esforços para bater a Microsoft em outros campos.

This year’s E3 was home to tons of new games across all platforms – even the mysterious NX from Nintendo. As Nintendo promised, the NX was not at E3, but there were some games that we know will be on the NX when it surfaces next year. We’ve rounded up each and every NX game from the show and ranked our favorites.

2. Just Dance 2017
Just Dance is a huge franchise for Ubisoft, but doesn’t exactly have much hardcore appeal. Even so, it has found massive success and become a best-seller for Ubisoft. Maybe the short clip below featuring music from Queen might explain why.

Or maybe it won’t. I don’t know about you, but I certainly feel like I am supposed to be excited. At the tail end of Just Dance 2017’s stage time at Ubisoft’s E3 press conference, the company confirmed the game will be coming to NX next year, but offered no additional details.

1. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Breath of the Wild was the centerpiece of Nintendo’s E3 presence with the release of a trailer and the majority of its first day of streaming wholly devoted to the game. We even got hands-on with it and spoke with series producer Eiji Aonuma about the game at length. All of that however, was dedicated to the Wii U version of the game. We did not see or play the game on NX, but Nintendo confirmed its intention to bring it to the platform back in April. And for that reason, even though we have not seen it in action or know how it will work on the NX, it’s at the top of the list of our favorite NX games from E3 2016.

What were your favorite NX games revealed at E3 2016? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

A Hewlett-Packard Enterprise acredita que, no futuro, os computadores serão capazes de tomar decisões semelhantes às tomadas por um humano. A companhia desenvolveu o protótipo de uma máquina que emula a forma como o cérebro de uma pessoa funciona. A solução é baseada em uma nova arquitetura que, talvez, redefina parâmetros da informática atual.

Um cérebro pode ser encarado como um computador biológico extremamente eficiente, capaz de relacionar uma infinidade de tipos de dados, como sons e cheiros, e realizar processamento paralelo disso sem que haja perdas em termos de velocidade.

A meta da HPE é criar chips que garantam o processamento rápido para tomada de decisões baseado em probabilidades e associações. Esses chips usariam modelos de aprendizado e algoritmos para entregar resultados aproximados que ajudem a embasar a tomada de decisão.

Esse processo de desenvolvimento ainda está longe de ser viabilizado comercialmente, mas a fabricante testa um protótipo com essa abordagem. O sistema “beta” consiste em uma placa de circuitos e memória e foi revelado pela primeira vez durante o Discover, evento que a empresa promoveu essa semana.

A solução foi desenvolvida para operar de forma idêntica a neurônios, organizados em uma rede neural com trilhões de conexões, chamadas sinapses. Isso permite que aproximadamente 100 bilhões de neurônios realizem processamento paralelo, que é transmitido via impulsos elétricos e químicos ao corpo de uma pessoa. A ideia da HPE é usar uma estrutura semelhante em um circuito.

“Estamos replicando essa arquitetura de computação paralela do cérebro usando tecnologia de memristor e um design específico”, afirmou Cat Graves, pesquisador científico do Hewlett Packard Labs.

Menristor é um novo tipo de estrutura de armazenamento em memória que pode fazer com que sistemas de inteligência artificial, no futuro, compreendam mais dados de forma mais correta. Trata-se de um modelo diferente dos SSDs e DRAM atuais, que apenas armazenam dados.

Com sinapses, o aprendizado e retenção em um circuito é determinado pela corrente e fluxo de dados. O plano é levar esse modelo às máquinas. “Há um potencial de que tal abordagem seja incrivelmente mais poderosa, economize tempo, reduza a complexidade computacional e não sofra com gargalos”, afirma Graves.

Os pesquisadores da HPE organizaram esses memristores em uma estrutura em grid para ver como isso as configurações trabalhariam de forma mais eficientes para diferentes tipos de algoritmo. Cerca de 8 mil cálculos foram gerenciados em um ciclo, provando que o modelo ganhava velocidade quando a organização da estrutura do hardware atendia especificidades do software.

A abordagem não substitui processadores de uso geral, como GPUs e CPUs. Todo tipo de computação usando chip neuromórfico ainda é aproximativa, baseada em probabilidade e não totalmente precisa. “E em um banco você não vai querer que os cálculos sejam apenas aproximados”, balanceou.

O plano da HPE é que a estrutura atue como uma espécie de “coprocessador” que adicione inteligência ao computador em tarefas específicas, como reconhecimento de imagem ou de voz.

A abordagem proposta é diferente da defendida por companhias como Qualcomm, com inclinação mais orientada ao software, e IBM, que defende um tipo diferente de arquitetura. Como a indústria ainda engatinha na criação dessas inovações, ainda há muito que evoluir para saber quais modelos tendem a prevalecer.