Leftovers

• Robert Birming ☛ My Brother Thinks My Blog is Broken (He Might Be Right)

  Long after I'd finished creating the theme for this blog, I still thought the design was spot on (and still do). It's the ideal theme in my opinion.

• Science

  • The Conversation ☛ 2024-08-02 [Older] How the last meal of a 3,000-year-old Egyptian crocodile was brought back to life using modern science

  • Mark-Jason Dominus ☛ The Universe of Disco : Examples of left and right inverses

    Like almost everyone except Alexander Grothendieck, I understand things better with examples. For instance, how do you explain that

    $$(f\circ g)^{-1} = g^{-1} \circ f^{-1}?$$

    Oh, that's easy. Let !!f!! be putting on your shoes and !!f^{-1}!! be taking off your shoes. And let !!g!! be putting on your socks and !!g^{-1}!! be taking off your socks.

  • The Conversation ☛ 2024-08-02 [Older] The Higgs particle could have ended the universe by now – here’s why we’re still here

• Education

  • Jacky Alciné ☛ I Read 'The Tech Resume Inside Out' and Updated My Resume

    After posting a request for Gergely's book on the tech resume, I decided to try to write what I learned from it to both demonstrate what it's helped me with and to help other folks who are in a similar position as me: hitting that wall of at least 3 automated rejections on a good day, usually on Monday or Sunday evening (if it's from Indeed) and wanting to eject from the industry as a whole. I'll go through this via its major parts; the hiring process, writing the resume and reflecting on examples and inspiration.

  • Lou Plummer ☛ Moving

    I started school in 1970, before North Carolina had mandated kindergarten. In the United States, then and now, public education consists of additional 12 grades. During those 12 years, I attended 13 public schools, even though I was very fortunate to be able to attend the same high school for three years.

  • Wouter Groeneveld ☛ The Creative Programmer Was Published In Japan!

    Silliness aside, I’m so stoked that the book was translated. I only know very few words and expressions myself so have no clue what any of the inside text says. Still, it’s fun to flip through and discover that even the crappy sketches I drew and annotated were translated, which I imagine will have been a painstaking work:

• Hardware

  • IBM

    • The Wall Street Journal ☛ Mainframes Find New Life in AI Era

      The industrial-strength mainframe computer, invented decades ago for heavy-duty data processing, is proving its staying power even as next-generation artificial intelligence takes center stage.

      The two are interconnected: Banks, insurance providers and airlines are a few of the big industries that still rely on the mainframe for high-speed data processing. And now, some are looking to apply AI to their transaction data at the hardware source, rather than in the cloud.

      For banks, analyzing potentially fraudulent transactions must be accomplished in milliseconds. “You can’t go off to the cloud, go do a search, go do a generative AI query, because it will just time out,” said Steven Di-kens, vice president and practice leader for cloud at Futurum Group, a research and advisory firm. That means performing a query, looking it up and analyzing it can only happen in real time, on the mainframe, he said.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Pro Publica ☛ Carbon Monoxide Poisonings After Hurricane Beryl Are the Highest Since Texas Winter Storm

    Texas lawmakers nearly three years ago promised changes to prevent the devastation from a deadly winter storm from happening again. But the damage caused by Hurricane Beryl last month shows that much remains the same, particularly when it comes to preventing carbon monoxide poisoning.

    Roughly 400 Texans landed in emergency rooms for CO poisoning after Hurricane Beryl pummeled the state on July 8, marking the highest numbers since the 2021 winter storm, state data shows. Two people died of CO poisoning in Harris County, according to Texas Division of Emergency Management Chief W. Nim Kidd. (The county Medical Examiner’s Office has not yet confirmed the deaths.)

  • Public health science saves lives

    One of the developments during the COVID-19 pandemic that, I must admit, I did not foresee was the rapid development of widespread resistance to mask mandates leading to their rapid politicization, with most of the resistance coming from the right. I should not have been blindsided; that I was surprised was a result of my not having been sufficiently aware of history, given that during the influenza pandemic of 1918 there arose similar resistance to masking and mask mandates, but, of course, in 1918 there was no mass media beyond newspapers and other publications, nor was there the Internet or social media. Of course, it wasn’t just resistance to masking that became an issue during the most recent pandemic; it was resistance to public health interventions in general, including mask mandates, restrictions on public gatherings, and, of course, vaccines. Of these, I realized that the antivaccine movement would quickly transfer its old misinformation, disinformation, tropes, pseudoscience, and conspiracy theories to the new COVID-19 vaccines, and so it did. However, it was broader than that. It was about public health, with resistance to vaccines being part of the entire package of resistance to other public health interventions, such as mask mandates, school closures, business closures, and restrictions on public gatherings.

  • The Washington Post ☛ Minor files lawsuit against Meta over ‘addicting’ Instagram features

    A minor from New York on Monday filed a lawsuit seeking class-action status against Meta, alleging the social media giant sought to keep teens hooked on Instagram while knowingly exposing them to harmful content.

  • The Record ☛ European Commission forces TikTok rewards program to shut down on the continent

    The TikTok Lite Rewards program is the first DSA case the Commission has closed, officials said. An ongoing investigation of TikTok, which is probing the platform’s rules for protecting children and compliance with transparent advertising regulations, puts the social media platform at risk of stiff fines.

    The EU crackdown comes amid a multifront attack on the platform in the U.S. On August 2, the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission sued TikTok and its parent company ByteDance, arguing that the platform has flouted children’s privacy rules for years.

  • MIT Technology Review ☛ The allure of AI companions is hard to resist. Here’s how innovation in regulation can help protect people.

    However, we foresee a different, but no less urgent, class of risks: those stemming from relationships with nonhuman agents. AI companionship is no longer theoretical—our analysis of a million ChatGPT interaction logs reveals that the second most popular use of AI is sexual role-playing. We are already starting to invite AIs into our lives as friends, lovers, mentors, therapists, and teachers.

  • The Age AU ☛ Paris Olympics 2024: Tokyo was meant to be the COVID Games. It’s far, far worse in Paris

    It is Paris where the virus has truly come to play.

  • Greg Morris ☛ Why I Hate Instagram Now

    This is what drives me insane about modern social media because it’s not even just Instagram. In the constant search for engagement, they serve you entertainment before the things that you actually want to see. You know, posts from the people you follow.

• Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • IT Wire ☛ Organizations report a four-fold increase in the deployment of generative AI since 2023

    Organizations are rapidly embracing generative AI, spurred by an uptick in investment and the value of this transformative technology. It has permeated across sectors and various functions within organizations, driving a shift in operations and business models. That’s according to the Capgemini Research Institute’s latest report, “Harnessing the value of generative AI 2nd edition: Use cases across sectors,” which shows the adoption curve has increased with utilization of use cases across the spectrum. For all organizations, there has been a notable rise, with nearly one quarter currently integrating generative AI into some of their locations or functions, an increase from 6% in 2023.

  • New York Times ☛ How 2024 Became the Zoom Election

    Hastily assembled mega-rallies conducted over Zoom are raising millions to elect Kamala Harris, giving the videoconferencing app an unexpected role in this year’s campaign.

  • [Old] The Washington Times ☛ Zoom hit with allegations of enabling spying by China, hackers

    Ms. Allen-Ebrahimian wrote that China’s Ministry of State Security tasked Zoom employee Julien Jin to monitor specific people outside China’s borders, and that the videoconferencing platform’s rapid growth gave China an unprecedented opportunity to use it to disrupt political activity.

  • [Old] Citizen Lab ☛ Move Fast and Roll Your Own Crypto: A Quick Look at the Confidentiality of Zoom Meetings - The Citizen Lab

    This report examines the encryption that protects meetings in the popular Zoom teleconference app. We find that Zoom has “rolled their own” encryption scheme, which has significant weaknesses. In addition, we identify potential areas of concern in Zoom’s infrastructure, including observing the transmission of meeting encryption keys through China.

  • [Old] Associated Press ☛ Zoom says it isn’t training AI on calls without consent. But other data is fair game

    An update to Zoom’s terms of service is raising alarm bells on social media, with users claiming it reveals the videoconferencing company is now tapping their online doctor visits and virtual happy hours to train artificial intelligence models.

  • Wired ☛ Zoom Is Going After Google and Microsoft With AI-Driven Docs

    Starting Monday, Zoom users will have the option to open a document tool from within their video calling app and create sharable files based on their meetings—but they’ll also be prompted to use generative AI to help them write and edit them. This new feature, essentially Zoom’s version of Google Docs, is the latest effort to compete with Microsoft and Google to become an everything workplace for businesses.

  • Futurism ☛ Tesla Sued by Family of Motorcyclist Mowed Down by Car on Autopilot

    The plaintiffs contend that Autopilot, which is a driver assistance system and is not fully autonomous — even if its name implies otherwise — as well as other Tesla safety features equipped on its cars are "defective and inadequate."

  • Reuters ☛ Tesla sued by family of motorcyclist killed in Autopilot crash

    The parents of a motorcyclist who was killed in a 2022 crash involving a Tesla Model 3 on Autopilot in Utah sued the electric carmaker and the vehicle's driver, claiming that the driver assistant software and other safety features are "defective and inadequate." Landon Embry, 34, died on the scene after the Model 3 put on Autopilot at 75-80 miles per hour struck the back of his Harley Davidson motorcycle, throwing him from the bike, according to the lawsuit filed in state court in Salt Lake City last week.

  • VOA News ☛ US expected to propose barring Chinese software in autonomous vehicles

    The Biden administration plans to issue a proposed rule that would bar Chinese software in vehicles in the United States with Level 3 automation and above, which would have the effect of also banning testing on U.S. roads of autonomous vehicles produced by Chinese companies.

    The administration, in a previously unreported decision, also plans to propose barring vehicles with Chinese-developed advanced wireless communications abilities modules from U.S. roads, the sources added.

  • New York Times ☛ Nvidia Tumbles After Reports of Chip Delay

    Nvidia shares tumbled more than 10 percent in early trading on Monday after reports that the company would delay shipments of its newest artificial intelligence chip, but the stock later rebounded as investors’ concerns about the costs of the delay faded.

  • CNN ☛ Why the stock market is freaking out again [Ed: And they try to blame sentiments, not reality]

    Fear has set in on Wall Street, and stocks are having another miserable day.

    The Dow tumbled more than 1,000 points, and the broader market plunged 3% Monday. The Nasdaq, full of risky tech stocks, dropped 3.5%.

• Security

  • Krebs On Security ☛ Low-Drama ‘Dark Angels’ Reap Record Ransoms

    A ransomware group called Dark Angels made headlines this past week when it was revealed the crime group recently received a record $75 million data ransom payment from a Fortune 50 company. Security experts say the Dark Angels have been around since 2021, but the group doesn’t get much press because they work alone and maintain a low profile, picking one target at a time and favoring mass data theft over disrupting the victim’s operations.

  • Pro Publica ☛ Cybersecurity Expert Finds Another Flaw in Georgia’s Voter Portal

    Until Monday, a new online portal run by the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office contained what experts describe as a serious security vulnerability that would have allowed anyone to submit a voter cancellation request for any Georgian. All that was required was a name, date of birth and county of residence — information easily discoverable for many people online.

    The flaw was brought to the attention of ProPublica and Atlanta News First over the weekend by a cybersecurity researcher, Jason Parker. Parker, who uses they/them pronouns, said that after discovering it, they attempted to contact the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office. The office said it had no records of Parker’s attempts to reach out.

  • Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

    • Unmitigated Risk ☛ CA Misissuance: A Tale of Two Incident Responses

      CAs are trusted because user agents—typically web browsers—chose to delegate the “Trust On First Use” (TOFU) problem to these authorities. A user agent acts on behalf of the user, aiming to serve and protect the user’s interests while navigating the internet. In this context, ensuring secure communication with the correct site is managed through this delegation of domain control verification to CAs.

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • EFF ☛ To Fight Surveillance Pricing, We Need Privacy First

      Increasingly, companies exploit this information to set individualized prices based on personal characteristics and behavior. This “surveillance pricing” allows retailers to charge two people different prices for the exact same product, based on information that the law should protect, such as your internet browsing history, physical location, and credit history. Fortunately, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is stepping up with a new investigation of this dangerous practice.  

      Surveillance pricing analyzes massive troves of your personal information to predict the price you would be willing to pay for an item—and charge you accordingly. Retailers can charge a higher price when it thinks you can afford to spend more—on payday, for example. Or when you need something the most, such as in an emergency.  

      For example, in 2019, investigative journalists revealed that prices on the Target app increased depending on a user’s location. The app collected the user’s geolocation information. The company charged significantly higher prices when a user was in a Target parking lot than it did when a user was somewhere else. These price increases were reportedly based on the assumption that a user who has already traveled to the store is committed to buying the product, and is therefore willing to pay more, whereas other shoppers may need a greater incentive to travel to the store and purchase the product. 

    • The Record ☛ New Android spyware is tracking Russian victims, researchers say

      The malware, dubbed LianSpy, has been active since at least 2021, but due to its “sophisticated evasive techniques” it was only discovered and analyzed this spring, researchers at the Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky said.

      Kaspersky told Russian media they were able to detect 10 spyware targets in Russia but declined to disclose who the victims were. The researchers said this wasn’t a mass espionage campaign but that the spyware operators infected specific targets.

    • YLE ☛ More parents opting to get watch phones for school-aged kids

      As the debate over schoolchildren’s phone use heats up in Finland, more parents are opting for internet-free, game-free 'watch phones' as their children’s first mobile device.

• Defence/Aggression

  • Greece ☛ TikTok agrees to withdraw rewards feature after EU raised concerns about potential online addiction

    It was the first resolution of an investigation under the 27-country EU’s sweeping Digital Services Act , which went into effect in February and aims to ensure a “safe and accountable online environment” by regulating large digital platforms.

    TikTok made the commitment without conceding the feature violated the Digital Services Act, officials said.

  • VOA News ☛ Terror groups poised to fill void with US forces gone from Niger

    The U.S. abandonment this week of its $110 million drone base in Niger, once seen as a key hub for counterterrorism efforts, adds to a growing list of Western withdrawals, all steadily ceding ground to terror groups affiliated with Islamic State and al-Qaida.

  • Air Force Times ☛ Transforming war: A strategic integration of unmanned aerial systems

    DJI and Autel, both Chinese companies, control more than 90% of the global drone market. In the mid to late 2000s, subsidized pricing allowed DJI to penetrate global markets rapidly, including within the U.S. and NATO countries, to the detriment of domestic manufacturers.

    The ubiquity and cost advantages of Chinese drones have disrupted foreign markets while introducing security vulnerabilities in sensitive areas such as critical infrastructure, military bases and urban surveillance. Reports have surfaced of data from Chinese-made drones being transmitted back to servers in China, raising concerns about espionage and data security. China’s collaboration with Russia to enhance Russian FPV drone production capabilities could also pose a further challenge to the U.S. and NATO.

  • Wired ☛ How Project 2025 Would Put US Elections at Risk

    Trump has disavowed Project 2025—a 900-page document full of controversial proposals—but its authors have close ties to his former administration and his campaign, and many of its recommendations align with Trump’s agenda. If he wins a second term, Trump is likely to embrace Project 2025’s combative approach to CISA, whose director he fired for debunking his lies about the 2020 election. That makes the 2024 election an existential moment for CISA.

  • India Times ☛ TikTok, bowing to EU, withdraws rewards programme

    The commission kickstarted an investigation into the Lite app in April amid concerns over "addictive" effects, which forced TikTok to temporarily suspend the programme.

    The case is now closed after TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, made the binding commitments.

    Any breach of the promises could lead to heavy fines under the DSA.

  • Security Week ☛ Justice Department Sues TikTok, Accusing the Company of Illegally Collecting Children's Data

    The latest lawsuit focuses on allegations that TikTok, a trend-setting platform popular among young users, and its China-based parent company ByteDance violated a federal law that requires kid-oriented apps and websites to get parental consent before collecting personal information of children under 13. It also says the companies failed to honor requests from parents who wanted their children’s accounts deleted, and chose not to delete accounts even when the firms knew they belonged to kids under 13.

  • VOA News ☛ Putin’s welcome ends speculation around true identity of Pablo Gonzalez

    When Pablo González stepped off a plane to be greeted by Vladmir Putin last week it appeared to confirm suspicions that he was indeed a Russian spy who had used the cover of a journalist to gather intelligence.

  • New York Times ☛ Pentagon Hands Over Last Base in Niger as Extremism Spreads in the Sahel

    Those negotiations could take months or longer, however, as groups that have declared allegiance to Al Qaeda and the Islamic State menace large swaths of the Sahel, the vast, semiarid region south of the Sahara where U.S. counterterrorism efforts have been focused.

  • Alabama Reflector ☛ Michigan officials investigating Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC that claims to help register voters

    “So that person who wanted help registering to vote? In the end, they got no help at all registering. But they did hand over priceless personal data to a political operation,” said the CNBC report.

    “Every citizen should know exactly how their personal information is being used by PACs, especially if an entity is claiming it will help people register to vote in Michigan or any other state, “ said Angela Benander, a spokesperson for Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, in a statement provided to Michigan Advance.

• Transparency/Investigative Reporting

  • Marcy Wheeler ☛ After CNN and NYT Get Punked by Trump, They Prioritize Free Dick Stories Over Bribery

    American democracy has almost entirely spun free of any substance. And Trump is exploiting that situation to avoid any accountability.

• Environment

  • Common Dreams ☛ Fossil Free Media Launches Nationwide "Make Polluters Pay" Billboard Campaign

    Building on the success of last year's viral billboard campaign, this year's effort features even bolder visuals and messaging. The billboards feature dramatic images of climate disasters specific to each state, such as the Paradise fires in California and Hurricane Ida's impact in New York. Bold text overlays the images with phrases like "Brought to you by Big Oil" and "Superstorms: Sponsored by Big Oil."

    The campaign aims to cut through the fossil fuel industry's carefully crafted public image and expose the direct link between their operations and the escalating climate crisis.

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Kev Quirk ☛ How Much Does It Cost to Charge My EV for a Month?

      Back in June I wrote about whether I've saved money by switching to an EV. But I charge my car at work quite a lot, so how much does it actually cost to charge my EV For a month?

    • New Yorker ☛ Trump’s Dangerous Embrace of Bitcoin and the [Cryptocurrency] Bros

      Of course, it’s richly comedic to see Trump, a technophobe who, in 2019, said that the value of bitcoin was “based on thin air,” now promoting himself as its biggest champion and trying to cash in on it politically and personally. At the Nashville event, according to CNBC, dozens of [cryptocurrency] boosters, including the Winklevoss twins and Kid Rock, paid five hundred thousand dollars apiece to attend a private roundtable with the former President. A few days later, a company that Trump owns listed online a “limited” run of gold sneakers emblazoned with a Bitcoin symbol and the words “TRUMP [CRYPTOCURRENCY] PRESIDENT.” The high-tops were listed at five hundred dollars per pair. (According to one report, they subsequently appeared on eBay at prices of up to twenty-five hundred dollars, with one listing tagged at $69,999.)

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • The Revelator ☛ Hope Blooms: A Tale of Two Manzanitas

    • Deccan Chronicle ☛ Elephant Count Goes up to 3,063 in Tamil Nadu

      The integrated elephant census was held from May 23, 2024 to May 25, 2024 in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

  • Overpopulation

    • Greece ☛ ‘Boreholes are bringing up air, not water’

      Meanwhile, in Thessaly, central Greece, a seemingly paradoxical situation is unfolding: Areas still dealing with the aftermath of last September’s floods are now experiencing severe water shortages that hinder irrigation for corn and other grains, cotton and industrial tomatoes. Large regions of Karditsa and Larissa rely on Local Organizations of Land Reclamation (TOEB) for irrigation from Lake Plastira, as the Smokovo reservoir has been dry for a month. “Many boreholes are bringing up air, not water,” producers say.

    • Wired ☛ Jane Goodall Thinks It’s Not Too Late to Save the World

      While immersed in fieldwork earlier in life, Goodall recognized that lifting people out of poverty was integral to preserving biodiversity in the national park. Hence, she initiated the Tacare program, which offers microloans to kick-start sustainable businesses, scholarships for girls previously deprived of secondary education, and family-planning counseling. Additionally, farmers receive advice on chemical-free, sustainable farming practices, such as permaculture.

      “I realized the reason the trees were cut down was because people were struggling to survive,” reflects the scientist. “Their families were growing, and they couldn’t afford to buy food from elsewhere. Their own farmland was infertile with overuse. And so they were cutting down the trees, either to make land, to grow food, or to make money from charcoal or timber.”

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Wired ☛ Elon Musk’s X Is Leaving San Francisco

    Employees in San Francisco reportedly will be moved to new locations in the Bay Area, “including the existing office in San Jose and a new engineering focused shared space with [xAI, Musk’s AI startup] in Palo Alto,” the note said. The company’s executive team is said to be working on “transportation options” for staff. X did not respond to WIRED's request for comment.

  • New York Times ☛ X to Close Flagship San Francisco Office

    Since Mr. Musk bought Twitter in 2022, the company has skipped rent payments to Shorenstein, the real estate company that manages X’s office building at 1355 Market Street. X also tried to cut costs by turning some of the space into bedrooms for traveling employees.

  • The Washington Post ☛ Elon Musk’s X will leave San Francisco, the social network’s hometown

    The social network’s departure will mark the end of an era for San Francisco’s downtown Mid-Market neighborhood, where city officials once courted tech companies with incentives dubbed the “Twitter tax break.” Musk made deep cuts to Twitter’s workforce when he acquired the company in October 2022, and X only has about 120 employees left in San Francisco, said a person familiar with the company’s plans, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss company plans they were not authorized to disclose. The employees will be moved to office space in San Jose and Palo Alto, where Musk’s AI start-up, xAI, operates out of, the person said, and the company will conduct a survey to figure out where individual employees want to work.

  • Wired ☛ The Controversial Kids Online Safety Act Faces an Uncertain Future

    But the bill created a massive divide among the digital rights and tech accountability community. If passed, the legislation would require online platforms to block users under 18 from seeing certain types of content that the government considers harmful.

  • The Hill ☛ Tech stocks tumble amid market selloff and recession fears

    Major tech stocks, which were already on shaky footing after mixed second-quarter results over the past two weeks, are also reeling from Warren Buffett’s decision to cut Berkshire Hathaway’s stake in Apple by half.

  • BIA Net ☛ Erdoğan labels critics of Instagram ban ‘house niggers’

    President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has lashed out at critics of Turkey's decision to block Instagram, following accusations that the platform restricted posts commemorating the assassinated Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

    The president used harsh language to describe those opposing the ban, referring to them as ‘house niggers’ who align themselves with foreign interests over national sovereignty, and accused social media giants of ‘digital fascism’ during a speech at a human rights event at his ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) headquarters.

  • US News And World Report ☛ As Instagram Remains Blocked in Turkey, Erdogan Accuses Social Media Companies of 'Digital Fascism'

    Several media reports said however, that the action was in response to Instagram removing posts by Turkish users that expressed condolences over the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh. It was the latest instance of a clampdown on websites in the country which has a track record of censoring social media and other online platforms.

  • RTL ☛ Instagram frozen: Turkish president slams social media 'fascism' amid Instagram battle

    The US-owned platform, which has an estimated 50-60 million subscribers in Turkey, has been accused by government officials of censorship and failing to remove posts the authorities deem offensive.

    Turkey's BTK communications authority ordered access to Instagram frozen on Friday, without giving a reason. Company representatives have been summoned to a government meeting on Monday.

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • RTL ☛ X's AI chatbot spread election misinformation, US officials say

      Five US states sent an open letter Monday to Elon Musk, urging him to fix his social media platform X's AI chatbot after it shared misinformation about the upcoming presidential election.

      The letter comes as researchers express concern that the influential site, formerly named Twitter, is a hotbed of political misinformation, while Musk -- who has endorsed Donald Trump -- appears to be swaying voters ahead of the November election by spreading falsehoods on his personal account, which has nearly 193 million followers.

    • VOA News ☛ Secretaries of state urge Elon Musk to fix AI chatbot spreading election misinformation on X

      While Grok is available only to subscribers to the premium versions of X, the misinformation was shared across multiple social media platforms and reached millions of people, according to the letter. The bogus ballot deadline information from the chatbot also referenced Alabama, Indiana, Ohio and Texas, although their secretaries of state did not sign the letter. Grok continued to repeat the false information for 10 days before it was corrected, the secretaries said.

      The letter urged X to immediately fix the chatbot “to ensure voters have accurate information in this critical election year.” That would include directing Grok to send users to CanIVote.org, a voting information website run by the National Association of Secretaries of State, when asked about U.S. elections.

    • LRT ☛ Moscow’s propaganda in Baltics achieves limited success

      Moscow’s mouthpieces continue to spread propaganda and lies in the Baltic states, but a leaked hatch of reports suggests that their results have been quite limited. TikTok and Telegram are their channels of choice after most of their websites have been banned.

    • VOA News ☛ Kremlin-backed TV channel woos Africa

      What they don't advertise is that the Russian outlet being promoted has been largely blocked in the West for being part of Putin's propaganda network and for pushing disinformation, including about the war in Ukraine.

      The ad campaign seeks to tap into Africa’s colonial past — another tactic that disinformation experts say Russia regularly uses to try to sow division.

    • The Scotsman ☛ Wes Streeting warns social media disinformation is an 'existential threat' as he condemns 'sickening' riots

      Matthew Stadlen, who was standing in for Mr Dale due to illness, then asked about the spread of disinformation on social media and its impact on riots in England and Northern Ireland. He asked Mr Streeting how concerned he was about the spread of disinformation and misinformation.

      The senior Labour minister said: "I think it's an existential threat to democracy, frankly. I think to live in a world where people can manufacture fake images and fake audio, it's dangerous, and we've got to wake up, not just as Britain, but as democracies collectively, to what is actually a threat to our democracy, to our national security, to trust in politics, which is already rock bottom anyway. It feels like we're now plumbing into new depths.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Games ☛ Game Informer's closure and the state of games media | Microcast

    Latest episode available to download now, also discusses Bungie layoffs and financials season

  • CPJ ☛ Mexican crime reporter Alejandro Martínez Noguez killed while under police protection

    Martínez, who went by the nickname “El Hijo del Llanero Solitito” (The Son of the Lone Ranger) and ran a popular Facebook page covering crime in Celaya – an area known for violent turf wars between drug gangs and where several reporters have been killed in the past five years – had been assigned police guards after a previous attempt on his life.

  • Harvard University ☛ Jason Rezaian offers advice to three Americans just released from Russia

    Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian, held for 544 by Iran, offers advice to three Americans just released by Russia

  • TruthOut ☛ Police Are Increasingly Encrypting Their Radios to Block Scrutiny by Journalists

    Encrypting police radio transmissions has become increasingly common nationwide. In fact, the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA), the largest professional organization dedicated solely to broadcast and digital journalism, has said that radio encryption is the foremost concern among its members. “[T]he consequences of encryption prevent the public from accessing information about the activities of police in real-time. These communications provide individuals and newsrooms with essential updates on issues happening in their communities such as violent crime, hazardous conditions or officer-involved shootings,” Dan Shelley, the president and CEO of RTDNA, wrote in January 2023. “The move to encrypt police scanner communications puts the public — and the newsrooms that serve them by seeking and reporting the truth — at risk.”

  • Jacobin Magazine ☛ Paul Foot Showed What Journalism Could Be

    The investigative journalist Paul Foot embodied a spirit lost among members of his profession today. He was unflinching in his criticism of the powerful but held himself to the highest standards of journalistic rigor, which even his critics admired.

  • Kansas Reflector ☛ One year after chilling police raid on Kansas newspaper, aftershocks linger in Marion

    In the absence of information, she’s left to wonder why special prosecutors have kept an investigative report into the raid a secret. For her, closure remains elusive.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • El País ☛ Can being homeless be illegal? The heated debate over what to do with the 650,000 people without housing in the US

    A Supreme Court ruling ignited the debate. As has now become customary in the United States, decisions by the country’s highest court have defined some of the most heated discussions on social issues, from abortion — with its decision to overturn women’s federal right to terminate a pregnancy —, to affirmative action, immigration and deportations. On June 28, the issue at stake was the situation of homeless people, an endemic problem that in 2023 reached a historic high, with more than 650,000 people living on the streets, a rise of 12% compared to the previous year.

  • Hengaw Organization for Human Rights Hengaw Organization for Human Rights ☛ Security Forces Arrest and Disappear Tehran Artist Zara Esmaeili

    Zara Esmaeili, an artist and singer residing in Tehran, whose videos of her street performances without compulsory hijab had recently been widely circulating on social networks, has been arrested by the Iranian security forces.

    According to a report received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, in recent days, Zara Esmaeili, a young artist and singer residing in Tehran, has been arrested by security forces, and after several days, no information is available about her whereabouts or condition.

  • ANF News ☛ Yazidi women freed from ISIS tell of their 10-year ordeal

    Two Yazidi women and a girl who had been kidnapped by ISIS in Shengal on 3 August 2014 were rescued by the YPJ in the Hol Camp in the Cizire region of northeastern Syria last week. According to the YPJ, Ezîze Xalid Elî was rescued in Hol Camp and Tawaf Dawûd Çeto was rescued on the Syrian-Iraqi border while trying to save herself from the gangs. In addition, a Yazidi child named Xunav, who grew up with Ezîze Xalid Elî, was rescued together with two Yazidi women.

    The two Yazidi women, Ezîze Xalid Elî (25) and Tawaf Dawûd Çeto (24), who were rescued by YPJ on 1 August 2024, spoke about the atrocities they experienced and witnessed during ten years of captivity in the hands of ISIS.

  • Marcy Wheeler ☛ Two Views Of Protection Of Rights

    The Supreme Court Has Always Been Terrible. In Chapter 2 of How Rights Went Wrong, Jamal Greene selects three examples of terrible cases: Dred Scott v. Sanford, Plessy v. Ferguson, and Lochner v. New York. These three cases are so blatantly horrible that no one can support their outcomes and be considered acceptable in academia. Or in polite society, if you ask me.

  • Canada ☛ Star Wars dubbed in Ojibwe to hit Winnipeg theatres

    Theresa Eischen, the voice actor for Princess Leia, said she took her lead from the Hollywood stars.

    "I recorded each line that Princess Leia said, as Carrie Fisher said them," said Eischen. "And then I would automatically say them in English first to get the sound, the way she sounded. Then I would say them in Anishinaabemowin. And it just came together after that."

    The result is a new take on the galaxy far, far away --- one that people involved in the project believe will resonate with Indigenous audiences.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • APNIC ☛ Bytes from IETF 120 — deep-space networking

    It takes some 2.4 to 2.7 seconds to send a signal to the moon and back. If we are talking about sending a signal to Mars and back, then the comparable delays are between 10 to 45 minutes. There is also the factor of extended interruption where an orbiting spacecraft is behind the object it is orbiting. If we look at communications with other planets in the solar system, there is a periodic interval when the planet aligns with the sun. For example, for an interval of around two weeks, the Earth’s view of Mars is blocked by the Sun every two years.

    Such protracted Round-Trip Time (RTT) intervals are well beyond what we experience in the everyday Internet, even in the most bizarre of fault scenarios! For an end-to-end reliable protocol, the sender must retain a copy of the sent data until it is acknowledged as received from the other end. We have become used to a network where the RTT intervals are of a few tens of milliseconds, so simple interactions, such as a three-way TCP handshake, or a DNS query and response can happen within the limits of human perception. When such interactions blow out to some 30 minutes or so, is an end-to-end interaction model the right architectural choice?

  • Inside Towers ☛ Court Ices Net Neutrality; Final Decision Down the Road

    The FCC passed the new net neutrality rules with a split 3-2 vote on April 25, Inside Towers reported. Rosenworcel said at the time they would pass court review. FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr predicted they wouldn’t. Carr welcomed the latest court decision to stop what he called “Biden-Harris overreach.”

    The rules were immediately appealed by trade associations representing ISPs including AT&T (NYSE: T), Charter (NASDAQ: CHTR), Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ). They asserted the reinstated net neutrality rules to prevent blocking, throttling and favoring paid content weren’t necessary because they’re not taking those actions. Carr and colleague FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington also pointed out that internet prices are lower and speeds are faster than they had been in 2015, when the Tom Wheeler-led FCC passed net neutrality rules. Those were revoked in 2018, by the Ajit Pai-led Commission.

  • [Old] World Wide Web Consortium ☛ The Internet is Broken: Idealistic Ideas for Building a NEWGNU Network [PDF]

    All of the above facts are well-known and even discussed in ordinary news venues before Edward Snowden decided to expose some of the systemic abuses supported by these design flaws.

    We will present ideas for fixing the network, with the goal of building a GNU1 network, where users have the freedom (0) to securely access information (“run” the network), (1) the freedom to study all aspects of the network’s operation (“access the code”), (2) the freedom to distribute information (“copy”), as well as (3) the freedom to deploy new applications (“modify”). Today, monitoring infrastructure, proprietary implementations, traffic shapers and firewalls restrict all of these essential freedoms to some degree.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• The Straits Times ☛ Apple’s shift to AI is poised to soften blow from Google ruling

  The decision on Aug 5 did not mandate the ways Google could satisfy the government, but Judge Amit Mehta scheduled a hearing in September to discuss timing of a separate trial on that topic.

• Digital Music News ☛ Google Stunned by Judge’s Decision in Search Antitrust Case

  “For years, Google has secured default placements through distribution contracts. It has entered into such agreements with browser developers, mobile device manufacturers, and wireless carriers. These partners agree to install Google as the search engine that is delivered to the user right out of the box at key search access points,” the decision asserts. “Google pays huge sums to secure these preloaded defaults.”

  “After having carefully considered and weighed the witness testimony and evidence, the court reaches the following conclusion: Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” writes US District Judge Amit Mehta. “It has violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act.”

• Digital Music News ☛ United States of America et al., Plaintiffs, v. Google LLC, Defendant. Case No. 20-cv-3010 (APM) and State of Colorado et al., Plaintiffs, v. Google LLC, Defendant. Case No. 20-cv-3715 (APM)[PDF]

  Specifically, the court holds that (1) there are relevant product markets for general search services and general search text ads; (2) Google has monopoly power in those markets; (3) Google’s distribution agreements are exclusive and have anticompetitive effects; and (4) Google has not offered valid procompetitive justifications for those agreements. Importantly, the court also finds that Google has exercised its monopoly power by charging supracompetitive prices for general search text ads. That conduct has allowed Google to earn monopoly profits.

  Other determinations favor Google. The court holds that (1) there is a product market for search advertising but that Google lacks monopoly power in that market; (2) there is no product market for general search advertising; and (3) Google is not liable for its actions involving its advertising platform, SA360. The court also declines to sanction Google under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(e) for its failure to preserve its employees’ chat messages.

• Matt Birchler ☛ What if Google just didn’t pay Apple?

  Genuinely, let’s say 2025 rolls in, Apple execs are expecting Google to write their annual mega-check like they have for years, and Google just says no. What happens? Does Apple leave Google the default since it’s what customers want? Does Apple make something else the default? If so, what? Does Apple fast track their own search engine?

• The Washington Post ☛ Google is an illegal monopoly, federal judge rules in antitrust lawsuit

  Mehta ruled that the Justice Department was right in saying that Google violated antitrust law by forging restrictive contracts with Apple and other phone makers that required them to install Google as the default search engine on smartphones. He also decried other practices of the Alphabet Inc. unit that prevented its rivals from competing on an even playing field.

• The Washington Post ☛ United States of America et al., Plaintiffs, v. Google LLC, Defendant. Case No. 20-cv-3010 (APM) and State of Colorado et al., Plaintiffs, v. Google LLC, Defendant. Case No. 20-cv-3715 (APM) [PDF]

  For more than 15 years, one general search engine has stood above the rest: Google. The brand is synonymous with search. Once a scrappy start-up founded by two Stanford University students in a rented garage, Google is now one of the world’s most valuable companies. Its parent company, Alphabet Inc., today has a market capitalization (the value of its outstanding shares of stock) of more than $2 trillion. Much of that value is due to Google’s extremely profitable advertising business.

  Google’s dominance has gone unchallenged for well over a decade. In 2009, 80% of all search queries in the United States already went through Google. That number has only grown. By 2020, it was nearly 90%, and even higher on mobile devices at almost 95%. The second-place search engine, Microsoft’s Bing, sees roughly 6% of all search queries—84% fewer than Google.

  Google has not achieved market dominance by happenstance. It has hired thousands of highly skilled engineers, innovated consistently, and made shrewd business decisions. The result is the industry’s highest quality search engine, which has earned Google the trust of hundreds of millions of daily users.

  But Google also has a major, largely unseen advantage over its rivals: default distribution. Most users access a general search engine through a browser (like Apple’s Safari) or a search widget that comes preloaded on a mobile device. Those search access points are preset with a “default” search engine. The default is extremely valuable real estate. Because many users simply stick to searching with the default, Google receives billions of queries every day through those access points. Google derives extraordinary volumes of user data from such searches. It then uses that information to improve search quality. Google so values such data that, absent a user-initiated change, it stores 18 months-worth of a user’s search history and activity.

• Macworld ☛ Federal judge rules Google an illegal search monopoly

  The company paid $26 billion in 2021 to device makers, carriers, browser makers, etc. to be the default search engine. Doing so gives Google not only a much bigger share of the advertising market but a vast treasure trove of data that is used to further improve its search performance.

  This is of note because Google reportedly pays a huge chunk of that to Apple to be the default search engine for Safari on iPhone and iPad. You can change the default search engine in Settings > Safari, but most users don’t–as is often the case with defaults, most aren’t even aware there are other options.

• PC World ☛ Google's search business officially ruled as illegal monopoly

  For now, then, nothing will change. But the 277-page decision (plus appendices) clearly labels Google as an illegal monopolist in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act. Google said it would appeal the decision.

• Wired ☛ Google Search Is an Illegal Monopoly, US Judge Rules

  His findings are arguably the most comprehensive modern examination of Google’s search business, which over the past 26 years has become a $175 billion annual revenue behemoth that accounts for much of parent company Alphabet’s profits. Google will appeal, as it risks losing its prominent placement on iPhones and other gateways to the web.

• US News And World Report ☛ Google Has an Illegal Monopoly on Search, US Judge Finds

  Mehta noted that Google had paid $26.3 billion in 2021 alone to ensure that its search engine is the default on smartphones and browsers, and to keep its dominant market share.

  "The default is extremely valuable real estate," Mehta wrote. "Even if a new entrant were positioned from a quality standpoint to bid for the default when an agreement expires, such a firm could compete only if it were prepared to pay partners upwards of billions of dollars in revenue share and make them whole for any revenue shortfalls resulting from the change."

• New York Times ☛ ‘Google Is a Monopolist,’ Judge Rules in Landmark Antitrust Case

  Google acted illegally to maintain a monopoly in online search, a federal judge ruled on Monday, a landmark decision that strikes at the power of tech giants in the modern internet era and that may fundamentally alter the way they do business.

• Reuters ☛ Google has an illegal monopoly on search, US judge finds

  "The court reaches the following conclusion: Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly," U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, Washington, D.C., wrote. Google controls about 90% of the online search market and 95% on smartphones. The "remedy" phase could be lengthy, followed by potential appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court. The legal wrangling could play out into next year, or even 2026.

• The Straits Times ☛ Google has an illegal monopoly on search, US judge finds

  The “remedy” phase could be lengthy, followed by potential appeals to the D.C. Circuit and US Supreme Court. The legal wrangling could play out into next year, or even 2026.

• The Korea Times ☛ Google has illegal monopoly on search, US judge finds

  Shares of Alphabet fell 4.5 percent on Monday amid a broad decline in tech shares as the wider stock market cratered on recession fears. Google advertising was 77 percent of Alphabet's total sales in 2023.

  Alphabet said it plans to appeal Mehta's ruling. "This decision recognizes that Google offers the best search engine, but concludes that we shouldn’t be allowed to make it easily available," Google said in a statement.

• CoryDoctorow ☛ Pluralistic: Leveraged buyouts are not like mortgages

  Here's an open secret: the confusing jargon of finance is not the product of some inherent complexity that requires a whole new vocabulary. Rather, finance-talk is all obfuscation, because if we called finance tactics by their plain-language names, it would be obvious that the sector exists to defraud the public and loot the real economy.

  Take "leveraged buyout," a polite name for stealing a whole goddamned company: [...]

• Patents

  • Software Patents

    • [Old] MH Sub I LLC ☛ Future Fords might detect speeding and report you to the cops

      A patent application from the automaker titled "Systems and Methods for Detecting Speeding Violations" was published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Jul. 18 2024, and was originally filed by Ford Jan. 12, 2023.

• Copyrights

  • Torrent Freak ☛ Mayor Shows Pirated Copy of "Inside Out 2" on Town Square Big Screen in Brazil

    The mayor of a small municipality in Brazil recently hosted a public screening of the blockbuster hit "Inside Out 2". The open-air town square event was a great success, but not without critique. Watermarks on the meters-high screen showed that the public was watching a pirated copy of the film. When the press got wind of it, the major countered that "everyone was happy", which is hard to argue with, especially since there are no official cinemas nearby.

  • Torrent Freak ☛ Google & Cloudflare Summoned to Explain Their Plans to Defeat Pirate IPTV

    Six months after the launch of the Piracy Shield blocking system, it appears that IPTV piracy hasn't been defeated as planned. As a result, telecoms regulator AGCOM has summoned Google and Cloudflare to an official meeting to hear all about their plans to defeat piracy. The Italian Competition and Market Authority recently launched an antitrust investigation against Google, so the meeting in September will take place under dark clouds.

  • 404 Media ☛ Leaked Documents Show Nvidia Scraping ‘A Human Lifetime’ of Videos Per Day to Train AI

    Nvidia scraped videos from Youtube and several other sources to compile training data for its AI products, internal Slack chats, emails, and documents obtained by 404 Media show.

    When asked about legal and ethical aspects of using copyrighted content to train an AI model, Nvidia defended its practice as being “in full compliance with the letter and the spirit of copyright law.” Internal conversations at Nvidia viewed by 404 Media show when employees working on the project raised questions about potential legal issues surrounding the use of datasets compiled by academics for research purposes and YouTube videos, managers told them they had clearance to use that content from the highest levels of the company.

  • Tech Central (South Africa) ☛ 'It's stealing': music industry to battle AI firms in court

    The big record labels are worried, too. Sony Music, Universal Music Group and Warner Music sued Udio and another music AI company called Suno in June, marking the music industry’s entrance into high-stakes copyright battles over AI-generated content that are just starting to make their way through the courts.