The Linkielist

Linking ideas with the world

Samsung’s new Sensor OLED display can read fingerprints anywhere on the screen

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Samsung has unveiled a new display technology that could lead to new biometric and health-related capabilities in future phones and tablets. The tech giant has debuted what it calls the Sensor OLED Display that can read your fingerprints regardless of what part of the screen you touch at this year’s SID Display Week in LA. Read more about Samsung’s new Sensor OLED display can read fingerprints anywhere on the screen[…]

Meta’s open-source speech AI recognizes over 4,000 spoken languages | Engadget

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Meta has created an AI language model that (in a refreshing change of pace) isn’t a ChatGPT clone. The company’s Massively Multilingual Speech (MMS) project can recognize over 4,000 spoken languages and produce speech (text-to-speech) in over 1,100. Like most of its other publicly announced AI projects, Meta is open-sourcing MMS today to help preserve Read more about Meta’s open-source speech AI recognizes over 4,000 spoken languages | Engadget[…]

Establishing a wildflower meadow bolstered biodiversity and reduced greenhouse gas emissions, study finds

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A new study examining the effects of planting a wildflower meadow in the historic grounds of King’s College, Cambridge, has demonstrated its benefits to local biodiversity and climate change mitigation.   The study, led by King’s Research Fellow Dr. Cicely Marshall, found that establishing the meadow had made a considerable impact to the wildlife value Read more about Establishing a wildflower meadow bolstered biodiversity and reduced greenhouse gas emissions, study finds[…]

Brain waves can tell us how much pain someone is in

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Brain signals can be used to detect how much pain a person is experiencing, which could overhaul how we treat certain chronic pain conditions, a new study has suggested. The research, published in Nature Neuroscience today, is the first time a human’s chronic-pain-related brain signals have been recorded. It could aid the development of personalized Read more about Brain waves can tell us how much pain someone is in[…]

Meta ordered to suspend Facebook EU data flows as it’s hit with record €1.2BN privacy fine under GDPR – 10 years and 3 court cases later

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] Today the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) announced that Meta has been fined €1.2 billion (close to $1.3 billion) — which the Board confirmed is the largest fine ever issued under the bloc’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). (The prior record goes to Amazon which was stung for $887 million for misusing customers data Read more about Meta ordered to suspend Facebook EU data flows as it’s hit with record €1.2BN privacy fine under GDPR – 10 years and 3 court cases later[…]

HP Can’t Fix Bricked Printers After Faulty Firmware Update which bricked non HP-ink cartridges

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Last week the Telegraph reported that a recent firmware update to HP printers “prevents customers from using any cartridges other than those fitted with an HP chip, which are often more expensive. If the customer tries to use a non-HP ink cartridge, the printer will refuse to print.” Some HP “Officejet” printers can disable this Read more about HP Can’t Fix Bricked Printers After Faulty Firmware Update which bricked non HP-ink cartridges[…]

How a 35-year-old weed smoker behind 10 million scam calls made his fortune

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Millions of people get phone calls from scammers and wonder who is at the other end. Now we know: rather than someone in a call centre far away, a “bright young man” living in a lush flat in London has been unmasked as the mastermind behind so many of these calls. Tejay Fletcher’s trial exposed Read more about How a 35-year-old weed smoker behind 10 million scam calls made his fortune[…]

Online age verification is coming, and privacy is on the chopping block

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A spate of child safety rules might make going online in a few years very different, and not just for kids. In 2022 and 2023, numerous states and countries are exploring age verification requirements for the internet, either as an implicit demand or a formal rule. The laws are positioned as a way to protect Read more about Online age verification is coming, and privacy is on the chopping block[…]

The Supreme Court’s Warhol decision could have huge copyright implications for ‘fair use’, apparently made by blind judges

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The Supreme Court has ruled that Andy Warhol has infringed on the copyright of Lynn Goldsmith, the photographer who took the image that he used for his famous silkscreen of the musician Prince. Goldsmith won the justices over 7-2, disagreeing with Warhol’s camp that his work was transformative enough to prevent any copyright claims. In Read more about The Supreme Court’s Warhol decision could have huge copyright implications for ‘fair use’, apparently made by blind judges[…]

Automakers Are Making Basic Car Functions A Costly Subscription Service… Whether You Like It Or Not

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Automakers are increasingly obsessed with turning everything into a subscription service in a bid to boost quarterly returns. We’ve noted how BMW has embraced making heated seats and other features already in your car a subscription service, and Mercedes has been making better gas and EV engine performance something you have to pay extra for Read more about Automakers Are Making Basic Car Functions A Costly Subscription Service… Whether You Like It Or Not[…]

Logitech partners with iFixit for self-repairs

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Hanging on to your favorite wireless mouse just got a little easier thanks to a new partnership between Logitech and DIY repair specialists iFixit. The two companies are working together to reduce unnecessary e-waste and help customers repair their own out-of-warranty Logitech hardware by supplying spare parts, batteries, and repair guides for “select products.” Everything Read more about Logitech partners with iFixit for self-repairs[…]

Human DNA can be pulled from the air: A Boon For Science, While Terrifying Others

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Environmental DNA sampling is nothing new. Rather than having to spot or catch an animal, instead the DNA from the traces they leave can be sampled, giving clues about their genetic diversity, their lineage (e.g. via mitochondrial DNA) and the population’s health. What caught University of Florida (UoF) researchers by surprise while they were using Read more about Human DNA can be pulled from the air: A Boon For Science, While Terrifying Others[…]

The ‘invisible’ cellulose coatings that mitigate surface transmission of pathogens (kills covid on door handles)

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Research has shown that a thin cellulose film can inactivate the SARS-CoV-2 virus within minutes, inhibit the growth of bacteria including E. coli, and mitigate contact transfer of pathogens. The coating consists of a thin film of cellulose fiber that is invisible to the naked eye, and is abrasion-resistant under dry conditions, making it suitable Read more about The ‘invisible’ cellulose coatings that mitigate surface transmission of pathogens (kills covid on door handles)[…]

LLM emergent behavior written off as rubbish – small models work fine but are measured poorly

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] As defined in academic studies, “emergent” abilities refers to “abilities that are not present in smaller-scale models, but which are present in large-scale models,” as one such paper puts it. In other words, immaculate injection: increasing the size of a model infuses it with some amazing ability not previously present. […] those emergent abilities Read more about LLM emergent behavior written off as rubbish – small models work fine but are measured poorly[…]

Fallout continues from fake net neutrality comments

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Three digital marketing firms have agreed to pay $615,000 to resolve allegations that they submitted at least 2.4 million fake public comments to influence American internet policy. New York Attorney General Letitia James announced last week the agreement with LCX, Lead ID, and Ifficient, each of which was found to have fabricated public comments submitted Read more about Fallout continues from fake net neutrality comments[…]

Ex-Ubiquiti engineer behind “breathtaking” data theft, attempts to frame co-workers, calls it a security drill, assaults stock price: 6-year prison term

Posted on by Robin Edgar

An ex-Ubiquiti engineer, Nickolas Sharp, was sentenced to six years in prison yesterday after pleading guilty in a New York court to stealing tens of gigabytes of confidential data, demanding a $1.9 million ransom from his former employer, and then publishing the data publicly when his demands were refused. […] In a court document, Sharp Read more about Ex-Ubiquiti engineer behind “breathtaking” data theft, attempts to frame co-workers, calls it a security drill, assaults stock price: 6-year prison term[…]

Fake scientific papers are alarmingly common and becoming more so

Posted on by Robin Edgar

When neuropsychologist Bernhard Sabel put his new fake-paper detector to work, he was “shocked” by what it found. After screening some 5000 papers, he estimates up to 34% of neuroscience papers published in 2020 were likely made up or plagiarized; in medicine, the figure was 24%. Both numbers, which he and colleagues report in a Read more about Fake scientific papers are alarmingly common and becoming more so[…]

Millions of mobile phones come pre-infected with malware

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Miscreants have infected millions of Androids worldwide with malicious firmware before the devices even shipped from their factories, according to Trend Micro researchers at Black Hat Asia. This hardware is mainly cheapo Android mobile devices, though smartwatches, TVs, and other things are caught up in it. The gadgets have their manufacturing outsourced to an original Read more about Millions of mobile phones come pre-infected with malware[…]

HP disables customers’ printers if they use ink cartridges from cheaper rivals

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Hewlett-Packard, or HP, has sparked fury after issuing a recent “firmware” update which blocks customers from using cheaper, non-HP ink cartridges in its printers. Customers’ devices were remotely updated in line with new terms which mean their printers will not work unless they are fitted with approved ink cartridges. It prevents customers from using any Read more about HP disables customers’ printers if they use ink cartridges from cheaper rivals[…]

European Media Freedom Act is a free pass to spread fake news, directly goes against DSA

Posted on by Robin Edgar

“Disinformation is a threat to our democracies” is a statement with which virtually every political group in the European Parliament agrees. Many political statements have been made on the subject calling for more to be done to counter disinformation, especially since the Russian attack on Ukraine. As part of that effort, the EU recently adopted Read more about European Media Freedom Act is a free pass to spread fake news, directly goes against DSA[…]

Google introduces PaLM 2 large language model

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] Building on this work, today we’re introducing PaLM 2, our next generation language model. PaLM 2 is a state-of-the-art language model with improved multilingual, reasoning and coding capabilities. Multilinguality: PaLM 2 is more heavily trained on multilingual text, spanning more than 100 languages. This has significantly improved its ability to understand, generate and translate Read more about Google introduces PaLM 2 large language model[…]

YouTube begins warning: ‘Ad blockers are not allowed’

Posted on by Robin Edgar

YouTube has begun showing a pop-up to some viewers warning them that “ad blockers are not allowed” on the video-sharing site. The banner, which you can see below, appears if the Google subsidiary reckons you’re using some kind of content blocker that prevents videos from being interrupted by or book-ended with adverts. According to YouTube, Read more about YouTube begins warning: ‘Ad blockers are not allowed’[…]

Scientists discover microbes in the Alps and Arctic that can digest plastic at low temperatures

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Finding, cultivating, and bioengineering organisms that can digest plastic not only aids in the removal of pollution, but is now also big business. Several microorganisms that can do this have already been found, but when their enzymes that make this possible are applied at an industrial scale, they typically only work at temperatures above 30°C. Read more about Scientists discover microbes in the Alps and Arctic that can digest plastic at low temperatures[…]

OpenAI attempts to use Language models can explain neurons in language models, open source

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] One simple approach to interpretability research is to first understand what the individual components (neurons and attention heads) are doing. This has traditionally required humans to manually inspect neurons to figure out what features of the data they represent. This process doesn’t scale well: it’s hard to apply it to neural networks with tens Read more about OpenAI attempts to use Language models can explain neurons in language models, open source[…]

Coqui.ai Text to Speech library – create your own voice

Posted on by Robin Edgar

🐸TTS is a library for advanced Text-to-Speech generation. It’s built on the latest research, was designed to achieve the best trade-off among ease-of-training, speed and quality. 🐸TTS comes with pretrained models, tools for measuring dataset quality and already used in 20+ languages for products and research projects. Github page: https://github.com/coqui-ai/TTS