The Linkielist

Linking ideas with the world

European Police Arrest 42 After Cracking another Covert comms App: Exclu

Posted on by Robin Edgar

European police arrested 42 suspects and seized guns, drugs and millions in cash, after cracking another encrypted online messaging service used by criminals, Dutch law enforcement said Friday. Police launched raids on 79 premises in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands following an investigation that started back in September 2020 and led to the shutting down Read more about European Police Arrest 42 After Cracking another Covert comms App: Exclu[…]

Stable Diffusion ‘Memorizes’ Some Images, Sparking Privacy Concerns, can be made to throw out training images

Posted on by Robin Edgar

On Monday, a group of AI researchers from Google, DeepMind, UC Berkeley, Princeton, and ETH Zurich released a paper outlining an adversarial attack that can extract a small percentage of training images from latent diffusion AI image synthesis models like Stable Diffusion. It challenges views that image synthesis models do not memorize their training data Read more about Stable Diffusion ‘Memorizes’ Some Images, Sparking Privacy Concerns, can be made to throw out training images[…]

Financial Times Sets Up Mastodon Server, Realizes Laws Exist (Which It Was Already Subject To), Pulls Down Mastodon Server

Posted on by Robin Edgar

With the rapid pickup of Mastodon and other ActivityPub-powered federated social media, there has been some movement among those in the media to make better use of the platform themselves. For example, most recently, the German news giant Heise announced it was setting up its own Mastodon server, where it will serve up its own Read more about Financial Times Sets Up Mastodon Server, Realizes Laws Exist (Which It Was Already Subject To), Pulls Down Mastodon Server[…]

Claims Datadog asked developer to kill open source data tool, which he did. And now he’s ressurected it.

Posted on by Robin Edgar

After a delay of over a year, an open source code contribution to enable the export of data from Datadog’s Application Performance Monitoring (APM) platform finally got merged on Tuesday into a collection of OpenTelemetry components. The reason for the delay, according to John Dorman, the software developer who wrote the Datadog APM Receiver code, Read more about Claims Datadog asked developer to kill open source data tool, which he did. And now he’s ressurected it.[…]

Luddites have a sad that Netflix Made an Anime Do boring background art Using AI Due to a ‘Labor Shortage’

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Netflix created an anime that uses AI-generated artwork to paint its backgrounds—and people on social media are pissed. In a tweet, Netflix Japan claimed that the project, a short called he Dog & The Boy uses AI generated art in response to labor shortages in the anime industry. “As an experimental effort to help the anime industry, which Read more about Luddites have a sad that Netflix Made an Anime Do boring background art Using AI Due to a ‘Labor Shortage’[…]

The bubbling universe: A previously unknown phase transition in the early universe resolves Hubble (constant) tension

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Think of bringing a pot of water to the boil: As the temperature reaches the boiling point, bubbles form in the water, burst and evaporate as the water boils. This continues until there is no more water changing phase from liquid to steam. This is roughly the idea of what happened in the very early Read more about The bubbling universe: A previously unknown phase transition in the early universe resolves Hubble (constant) tension[…]

FTC Fines GoodRx $1.5M for Sending Medication Data to Facebook, Google, others

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The Federal Trade Commission took historic action against the medication discount service GoodRx Wednesday, issuing a $1.5 million fine against the company for sharing data about users’ prescriptions with Facebook, Google, and others. It’s a move that could usher in a new era of health privacy in the United States. “Digital health companies and mobile Read more about FTC Fines GoodRx $1.5M for Sending Medication Data to Facebook, Google, others[…]

AMD, NVidia are ‘undershipping’ chips to keep CPU, GPU prices elevated

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] AMD’s client PC sales also dropped dramatically—a whopping 51 percent year-over-year—but the company managed to eke out a small profit despite the sky falling. So why aren’t CPU and GPU prices falling too? In a call with investors Tuesday night, CEO Lisa Su confirmed that AMD has been “undershipping” chips for a while now Read more about AMD, NVidia are ‘undershipping’ chips to keep CPU, GPU prices elevated[…]

A Drug Company Made $114 Billion Gaming America’s Patent System by adding tiny bits to the original patent

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The New York Times looks at the AbbVie’s anti-inflammatory drug Humira and their “savvy but legal exploitation of the U.S. patent system.” Though AbbVie’s patent was supposed to expire in 2016, since then it’s maintained a monopoly that generated $114 billion in revenue by using “a formidable wall of intellectual property protection and suing would-be Read more about A Drug Company Made $114 Billion Gaming America’s Patent System by adding tiny bits to the original patent[…]

Beijing grants XPeng X2 ‘flying car’ a flight permit

Posted on by Robin Edgar

HT Aero, a subsidiary of Chinese automaker XPeng, says the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has granted it a flight permit for its two-seater electric “flying car,” the XPeng X2. The aircraft is the first manned electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle to obtain the permit and HT Aero’s fifth-generation eVTOL. Calling the Read more about Beijing grants XPeng X2 ‘flying car’ a flight permit[…]

Space Sail Experiment Pushes Satellite to Deorbit and burn up, cleans space junk

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] The Drag Augmentation Deorbiting System (ADEO) braking sail was developed by High Performance Space Structure Systems as a way to deorbit satellites at the end of their mission. In a space-based test in December 2022 called “Show Me Your Wings,” ADEO was deployed from an ION Satellite Carrier built by private space company D-Orbit. Read more about Space Sail Experiment Pushes Satellite to Deorbit and burn up, cleans space junk[…]

ChatGPT: Study shows AI can produce academic papers good enough for journals – just as some ban it

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Some of the world’s biggest academic journal publishers have banned or curbed their authors from using the advanced chatbot, ChatGPT. Because the bot uses information from the internet to produce highly readable answers to questions, the publishers are worried that inaccurate or plagiarized work could enter the pages of academic literature. Several researchers have already Read more about ChatGPT: Study shows AI can produce academic papers good enough for journals – just as some ban it[…]

MusicLM generates music from text descriptions – pretty awesome

Posted on by Robin Edgar

We introduce MusicLM, a model generating high-fidelity music from text descriptions such as “a calming violin melody backed by a distorted guitar riff”. MusicLM casts the process of conditional music generation as a hierarchical sequence-to-sequence modeling task, and it generates music at 24 kHz that remains consistent over several minutes. Our experiments show that MusicLM Read more about MusicLM generates music from text descriptions – pretty awesome[…]

An ALS patient set a record communicating through a brain implant: 62 words per minute

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Eight years ago, a patient lost her power of speech because of ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, which causes progressive paralysis. She can still make sounds, but her words have become unintelligible, leaving her reliant on a writing board or iPad to communicate. Now, after volunteering to receive a brain implant, the woman has been Read more about An ALS patient set a record communicating through a brain implant: 62 words per minute[…]

This teacher has adopted ChatGPT into the syllabus

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] Ever since the chatbot ChatGPT launched in November, educators have raised concerns it could facilitate cheating. Some school districts have banned access to the bot, and not without reason. The artificial intelligence tool from the company OpenAI can compose poetry. It can write computer code. It can maybe even pass an MBA exam. One Read more about This teacher has adopted ChatGPT into the syllabus[…]

ChatGPT Is Now Finding, Fixing Bugs in Code

Posted on by Robin Edgar

AI bot ChatGPT has been put to the test on a number of tasks in recent weeks, and its latest challenge comes courtesy of computer science researchers from Johannes Gutenberg University and University College London, who find(Opens in a new window) that ChatGPT can weed out errors with sample code and fix it better than Read more about ChatGPT Is Now Finding, Fixing Bugs in Code[…]

How The Friedman Doctrine Leads To The Enshittification Of All Things

Posted on by Robin Edgar

We recently wrote about Cory Doctorow’s great article on how the “enshittification” of social media (mainly Facebook and Twitter) was helping to lower the “switching costs” for people to try something new. In something of a follow up-piece on his Pluralistic site, Doctorow explores the process through which basically all large companies eventually hit the Read more about How The Friedman Doctrine Leads To The Enshittification Of All Things[…]

Dutch hacker obtained, sold virtually all Austrians’ (and Dutch and Colombian?) personal data

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A Dutch hacker arrested in November obtained and offered for sale the full name, address and date of birth of virtually everyone in Austria, the Alpine nation’s police said on Wednesday. A user believed to be the hacker offered the data for sale in an online forum in May 2020, presenting it as “the full Read more about Dutch hacker obtained, sold virtually all Austrians’ (and Dutch and Colombian?) personal data[…]

An AI robot lawyer was set to argue in court. Scared lawyers shut it down with jail threats

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A British man who planned to have a “robot lawyer” help a defendant fight a traffic ticket has dropped the effort after receiving threats of possible prosecution and jail time. Joshua Browder, the CEO of the New York-based startup DoNotPay, created a way for people contesting traffic tickets to use arguments in court generated by Read more about An AI robot lawyer was set to argue in court. Scared lawyers shut it down with jail threats[…]

Wearable Ultrasound Patch size of a stamp Images the Heart in Real-Time

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A wearable ultrasound imager for the heart that is roughly the size of a postage stamp, can be worn for up to 24 hours, and works even during exercise may one day help doctors spot cardiac problems that current medical technology might miss, a new study finds. Heart disease is the leading cause of death Read more about Wearable Ultrasound Patch size of a stamp Images the Heart in Real-Time[…]

Pet food retailer Zooplus hits out at Royal Canin’s ‘excessive’ price increases – and offers customers 10% off its competitors

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] Customers have been reporting steep price increases across a number of items from Royal Canin – with one saying her food had increased by £15 for a 10kg bag in less than a year. Zooplus, an online pet food seller that stocks Royal Canin – among other brands – said it did not want Read more about Pet food retailer Zooplus hits out at Royal Canin’s ‘excessive’ price increases – and offers customers 10% off its competitors[…]

Meta’s WhatsApp fined 5.5 mln euro by lead EU privacy regulator

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Meta’s (META.O) WhatsApp subsidiary was fined 5.5 million euros ($5.95 million) on Thursday by Ireland’s Data Privacy Commissioner (DPC), its lead EU privacy regulator, for an additional breach of the bloc’s privacy laws. The DPC also told WhatsApp to reassess how it uses personal data for service improvements following a similar order it issued this Read more about Meta’s WhatsApp fined 5.5 mln euro by lead EU privacy regulator[…]

Microsoft rummages through your PC to look at Office installs

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Microsoft wants to know how many out-of-support copies of Office are installed on Windows PCs, and it intends to find out by pushing a patch through Microsoft Update that it swears is safe, not that you asked. Quietly mentioned in a support post this week, update KB5021751 is targeting versions of Office “including” 2007 and Read more about Microsoft rummages through your PC to look at Office installs[…]

Up to 925000 Norton LifeLock Accounts Targeted in credential stuffing attack

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Thousands of people who use Norton password manager began receiving emailed notices this month alerting them that an unauthorized party may have gained access to their personal information along with the passwords they have stored in their vaults. Gen Digital, Norton’s parent company, said the security incident was the result of a credential-stuffing attack rather Read more about Up to 925000 Norton LifeLock Accounts Targeted in credential stuffing attack[…]

Google Accused of Creating Digital Ad Monopoly in New Justice Dept. Suit

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Google Tuesday, accusing the tech giant of using its market power to create a monopoly in the digital advertising business over the course of 15 years. Google “corrupted legitimate competition in the ad tech industry by engaging in a systematic campaign to seize control of the wide Read more about Google Accused of Creating Digital Ad Monopoly in New Justice Dept. Suit[…]