Linking ideas with the world
A federal judge this week rejected Google’s motion to throw out a class-action lawsuit alleging that it invaded the privacy of users who opted out of functionality that records a users’ web and app activities. A jury trial is scheduled for August 2025 in US District Court in San Francisco. The lawsuit concerns Google’s Web Read more about Google goes to court for collecting data on users who opted out… again…[…]
Meta is abandoning the use of independent fact checkers on Facebook and Instagram, replacing them with X-style “community notes” where commenting on the accuracy of posts is left to users. In a video posted alongside a blog post by the company on Tuesday, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said third-party moderators were “too politically biased” and Read more about Meta to get rid of fact-checkers, turn Facebook into a kind of X for Trump[…]
Scientists have used high-energy particle collisions to peer inside protons, the particles that sit inside the nuclei of all atoms. This has revealed for the first time that quarks and gluons, the building blocks of protons, experience the phenomenon of quantum entanglement. […] despite Einstein’s skepticism about entanglement, this “spooky” phenomenon has been verified over Read more about Scientists find ‘spooky’ quantum entanglement within individual protons[…]
[…] In this article, we present a comparative analysis of the carbon emissions associated with AI systems (ChatGPT, BLOOM, DALL-E2, Midjourney) and human individuals performing equivalent writing and illustrating tasks. Our findings reveal that AI systems emit between 130 and 1500 times less CO2e per page of text generated compared to human writers, while AI Read more about The carbon emissions of writing and illustrating are lower for AI than for humans[…]
Some of the best tech we see at CES feels pulled straight from sci-fi. Yesterday at CES 2025, I tested out Neural Lab’s AirTouch technology, which lets you interact with a display using hand gestures alone, exactly what movies like Minority Report and Iron Man promised. […] Neural Lab’s software is compatible with tablets, computers Read more about Neural Lab’s AirTouch brings gesture control to Windows and Android devices with just a webcam. Unfortunately charges huge subscription, dooming it to failure.[…]
About seven years after the HDMI 2.1 specification was introduced, the HDMI Forum has announced the next generation: HDMI 2.2, which will require new cables to take advantage of its most high-performance features. It will not require a new connector, though, thankfully. Though the HDMI Forum is officially calling the new specification HDMI 2.2, the Read more about HDMI 2.2 debuts, but not really, with an ‘Ultra96’ cable and not very impressive specs[…]
[…] contemplating November’s annual Pew Research Center survey of public confidence in science. The Pew survey found 76 percent of respondents voicing “a great deal or fair amount of confidence in scientists to act in the public’s best interests.” That’s up a bit from last year, but still down from prepandemic measures, to suggest that Read more about The Real Reason People Don’t Trust in Science: They buy propaganda lies[…]
Flying a first-person view (FPV) remote controlled aircraft with goggles is an immersive experience that makes you feel as if you’re really sitting in the cockpit of the plane or quadcopter. Unfortunately, while your wearing the goggles, you’re also completely blind to the world around you. That’s why you’re supposed to have a spotter nearby Read more about FPV Flying In Mixed Reality Is Easier Than You’d Think | Hackaday[…]
A Volkswagen software subsidiary called Cariad experienced a massive data leak that left 800,000 EV owners exposed, according to reporting by the German publication Spiegel Netzwelt. The leak allowed personal information to be left online for months, including movement data and contact information. This included precise location data for 460,000 vehicles made by VW, Seat Read more about Volkswagen data leak exposed the precise locations of 800,000 EV owners[…]
German electric air taxi company Volocopter has filed for bankruptcy protection, the latest in a string of similar startups to hit financial turbulence. The company plans to keep operating while it searches for new investors. “We are ahead of our industry peers in our technological, flight test, and certification progress. That makes us an attractive Read more about Air taxi Volocopter latest to file for bankruptcy[…]
Apple has agreed to pay $95 million to settle a lawsuit alleging that its voice assistant Siri routinely recorded private conversations that were then shared with third parties and used for targeted ads. In the proposed class-action settlement—which comes after five years of litigation—Apple admitted to no wrongdoing. Instead, the settlement refers to “unintentional” Siri Read more about Siri “unintentionally” recorded private convos on phone, watch, then sold them to advertisers; yes those ads are very targeted Apple agrees to pay $95M, laughs to the bank[…]
[…]A year after introducing waiting periods and a cumbersome community participation and request system, it’s slashed bootloader unlock allowances to just one device per user, per year[…] Historically, manufacturers have let buyers unlock that access and customize what software their phones run. Notable exceptions in the US have, for the most part, only included carrier-specific Read more about Xiaomi changes bootloader unlock policy to wait and one device per year. Who owns the device you bought?[…]
New research from Anthropic, one of the leading AI companies and the developer of the Claude family of Large Language Models (LLMs), has released research showing that the process for getting LLMs to do what they’re not supposed to is still pretty easy and can be automated. SomETIMeS alL it tAKeS Is typing prOMptS Like Read more about JailBreaking AI still easy, can be done with StRanGe CaSINg[…]
This report summarizes insights from the inaugural 2024 Open Source Software Funding Survey1, a collaboration between GitHub, the Linux Foundation, and researchers from Harvard University. The objective of this study was to better understand how organizations2 fund, contribute to, and otherwise support open source software. Key Findings Scale Organizations contribute $7.7 billion USD annually to Read more about 2024 Open Source Software Funding Report[…]
PayPal-owned browser extension Honey manipulates affiliate marketing systems and withholds discount information from users, according to an investigation by YouTube channel MegaLag. The extension — which rose in popularity after promising consumers it would find them the best online deals — replaces existing affiliate cookies with its own during checkout, diverting commission payments from content Read more about PayPal Honey extension to find deals instead hides discounts and reroutes commissions from promoters[…]
British soldiers have successfully trialled for the first time a game-changing weapon that can take down a swarm of drones using radio waves for less than the cost of a pack of mince pies. The Radio Frequency Directed Energy Weapon (RFDEW) development system can detect, track and engage a range of threats across land, air Read more about British soldiers successfully test drone killer radiowave weapon for first time[…]
[…] following a Dec. 5 driver update that skipped GeForce Experience in favor of the Nvidia App (all future updates will follow its lead). The new app is meant to streamline the grab bag of features Nvidia has accumulated over the years, pairing its driver updating utility with a streamlined gaming overlay and improved tools Read more about This Nvidia App Setting Is Tanking Your Frame Rate – the rest of the problems it causes cannot be fixed[…]
Digital license plates, already legal to buy in a growing number of states and to drive with nationwide, offer a few perks over their sheet metal predecessors. You can change their display on the fly to frame your plate number with novelty messages, for instance, or to flag that your car has been stolen. Now Read more about Hackers Can Jailbreak Digital License Plates to Make Others Pay Their Tolls and Tickets[…]
Hackers aligned with the Chinese government have infiltrated U.S. telecommunications infrastructure so deeply that it allowed the interception of unencrypted communications on a number of people, according to reports that first emerged in October. The operation, dubbed Salt Typhoon, apparently allowed hackers to listen to phone calls and nab text messages, and the penetration has Read more about Feds Warn SMS Authentication Is Unsafe[…]
Hundreds of websites will be shut down on the day that Britain’s Online Safety Act comes into effect, in what are believed to be the first casualties of the new internet laws. Microcosm, a web forum hosting service that runs 300 sites including cycling forums and local community hubs, said that the sites would go Read more about Hundreds of websites to shut down under UK’s ‘chilling’ internet laws[…]
The tool, named “EagleMsgSpy,” was discovered by researchers at U.S. cybersecurity firm Lookout. The company said at the Black Hat Europe conference on Wednesday that it had acquired several variants of the spyware, which it says has been operational since “at least 2017.” Kristina Balaam, a senior intelligence researcher at Lookout, told TechCrunch the spyware Read more about Researchers uncover Chinese spyware used to target Android devices[…]
The advent of Bluetooth trackers has made it a lot easier to find your bag or keys when they’re lost, but it has also put inconspicuous tracking tools in the hands of people who might misuse them. Apple and Google have both implemented tracker alerts to let you know if there’s an unknown Bluetooth tracker Read more about Android will let you find unknown Bluetooth trackers instead of just warning you about them[…]
[…] new research suggests these batteries, once thought to have short-lived, inherently expendable shelf-lives, may actually last significantly longer than expected. In some cases, properly cared for EVs may even outlive their fossil fuel counterparts. That’s potentially good news: longer-lasting EVs might buy manufacturers much-need time to fabricate components needed to meet increasing global demands. Read more about Surprise: EV batteries might have a longer shelf live than once thought[…]
A US bankruptcy court has blocked the sale of Infowars to parody news site The Onion, ruling that the auction didn’t yield the best potential bids. At the same time, judge Christopher Lopez rejected claims by Infowars‘ owner, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, that any “collusion” was involved in the case. The Onion reportedly outbid competitor Read more about Judge rejects The Onion’s bid for Infowars, changes the rules after the game is played[…]
[…]300-plus musicians who have signed an open letter supporting the Internet Archive as it faces a $621 million copyright infringement lawsuit over its efforts to preserve 78 rpm records. The letter, spearheaded by the digital advocacy group Fight for the Future, states that the signatories “wholeheartedly oppose” the lawsuit, which they suggest benefits “shareholder profits” Read more about 300 Artists Back Internet Archive in $621 Million Copyright Attack from Record Labels – over music older than the 1950s[…]