Day: November 13, 2024
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Now the copyright industry wants to apply deep, automated blocking to the Internet’s core routers
A central theme of Walled Culture the book (free digital versions available) and this blog is that the copyright industry is never satisfied. Now matter how long the term of copyright, publishers and recording companies want more. No matter how harsh the punishments for infringement, the copyright intermediaries want them to be even more severe.…
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Judge: Just Because AI Trains On Your Publication, Doesn’t Mean It Infringes On Your Copyright. Another case thrown out.
I get that a lot of people don’t like the big AI companies and how they scrape the web. But these copyright lawsuits being filed against them are absolute garbage. And you want that to be the case, because if it goes the other way, it will do real damage to the open web by…
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Mapping the ionosphere with millions of phones
The ionosphere is a layer of weakly ionized plasma bathed in Earth’s geomagnetic field extending about 50–1,500 kilometres above Earth1. The ionospheric total electron content varies in response to Earth’s space environment, interfering with Global Satellite Navigation System (GNSS) signals, resulting in one of the largest sources of error for position, navigation and timing services2. Networks…
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Ubisoft Facing Lawsuit Over Shutting Down Online Game
In 2014, Ubisoft launched The Crew as an open-world, always-online racing game with a campaign and multiplayer mode. It was a fairly successful game for Ubisoft, spawning two sequels—The Crew 2 and Crew: Motorfest. But in December 2023, Ubisoft suddenly delisted the racing game from digital stores and, in April 2024, completely shut off its…
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LG’s New Stretchable Screen Can Morph like a Piece of Laffy Taffy
Imagine a display as flexible as plastic wrap—so malleable you could stretch it over your face in a futuristic impression of expert Saran-wrapping serial killer Dexter. LG is supposing the future will be full of such flexible displays, and its latest rendition of the concept screen is capable of stretching up to 50% of its…
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Pakistan limits outdoor activities, market hours to curb air pollution-related illness – attacks symptom but not cause
Pakistan’s Punjab province banned most outdoor activities and ordered shops, markets and malls in some areas to close early from Monday to curb illnesses caused by intense air pollution. The province has closed educational institutions and public spaces like parks and zoos until Nov. 17 in places including Lahore, the world’s most polluted city in…
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Retailers Eye Radio emitting ink on fibres to Stop Shoplifting
[…] small Spanish technology company, Myruns, and telecommunications operator Telefónica SA about the possible application of a system based on an anti-theft alarm product so thin it’s imperceptible to the naked eye […] The technology from Myruns, in San Sebastian, Spain, may be just one of the efforts to curb thefts that have been studied…
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The Open Source Project DeFlock Is Mapping License Plate Surveillance Cameras All Over the World
[…] Flock is one of the largest vendors of automated license plate readers (ALPRs) in the country. The company markets itself as having the goal to fully “eliminate crime” with the use of ALPRs and other connected surveillance cameras, a target experts say is impossible. In Huntsville, Freeman noticed that license plate reader cameras were…
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Spotify’s Car Thing, Due For Bricking, Is Getting an Open Source Second Life
If you have Spotify’s soon-to-be-bricked Car Thing, there are a few ways you can give it a new lease on life. YouTuber Dammit Jeff has showcased modifications to Car Thing that makes the device useful as a desktop music controller, customizable shortcut tool, or a simple digital clock. Ars Technica’s Kevin Purdy reports: Spotify had…
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Formula 1 drivers ask FIA to treat them like adults after swearing punishments
Formula 1 drivers have urged the sport’s governing body to treat them like adults after Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc were punished for swearing. The Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA) has also criticised FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem for his “tone and language” when addressing the topic. An open letter from the GPDA said: “There…
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