Author: Robin Edgar

Organisational Structures | Technology and Science | Military, IT and Lifestyle consultancy | Social, Broadcast & Cross Media | Flying aircraft

FB, Uni of Michigans latest AI doesn’t just detect deep fakes, it knows where they came from

Posted on by Robin Edgar

On Wednesday, Facebook and Michigan State University debuted a novel method of not just detecting deep fakes but discovering which generative model produced it by reverse engineering the image itself. Beyond telling you if an image is a deep fake or not, many current detection systems can tell whether the image was generated in a Read more about FB, Uni of Michigans latest AI doesn’t just detect deep fakes, it knows where they came from[…]

Android, Apple Mobile Ecosystems Face UK Antitrust Probe Amid Competition Fears

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Google and Apple Inc. face a sweeping probe into the “duopoly” power of their mobile ecosystems, in the U.K. antitrust watchdog’s latest attack on Silicon Valley. The increasingly tech-focused Competition and Markets Authority opened a 12-month market study into broad aspects of the iOS and Android systems, saying it feared the companies’ dominance is stifling Read more about Android, Apple Mobile Ecosystems Face UK Antitrust Probe Amid Competition Fears[…]

Southwest Airlines cancels 500 flights after computer glitch grounds fleet – for 2nd time in 24 hours

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Southwest Airlines (LUV.N) said on Tuesday it canceled about 500 flights and delayed hundreds of others after it was forced to temporarily halt operations over a computer issue — the second time in 24 hours it had been forced to stop flights. The Federal Aviation Administration said it had issued a temporary nationwide groundstop at Read more about Southwest Airlines cancels 500 flights after computer glitch grounds fleet – for 2nd time in 24 hours[…]

Amazon is blocking Google’s FLoC

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Most of Amazon’s properties including Amazon.com, WholeFoods.com and Zappos.com are preventing Google’s tracking system FLoC — or Federated Learning of Cohorts — from gathering valuable data reflecting the products people research in Amazon’s vast e-commerce universe, according to website code analyzed by Digiday and three technology experts who helped Digiday review the code. Amazon declined to comment on this story. As Google’s system Read more about Amazon is blocking Google’s FLoC[…]

Open-source projects glibc and gnulib look to sever copyright ties with Free Software Foundation

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The GNU C Library (glibc) and GNU Portability Library (gnulib) are laying the groundwork to divorce themselves from the troubled Free Software Foundation by removing the requirement for copyright assignment. This move follows in the footsteps of the same shift by the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) on 2 June. Like many projects under the GNU Read more about Open-source projects glibc and gnulib look to sever copyright ties with Free Software Foundation[…]

Ukraine police collar six Clop ransomware gang suspects in joint raids with South Korean cops

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Ukrainian police have arrested six people, alleged to be members of the notorious Clop* ransomware gang, seizing cash, cars – and a number of Apple Mac laptops and desktops. “It was established that six defendants carried out attacks of malicious software such as ‘ransomware’ on the servers of American and [South] Korean companies,” alleged Ukraine’s Read more about Ukraine police collar six Clop ransomware gang suspects in joint raids with South Korean cops[…]

Alibaba suffers billion-item data leak including usernames and mobile numbers

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Alibaba’s Chinese shopping operation Taobao has suffered a data breach of over a billion data points including usernames and mobile phone numbers. The info was lifted from the site by a crawler developed by an affiliate marketer. Chinese outlet 163.com reported the case last week and today it was picked up by the Wall Street Read more about Alibaba suffers billion-item data leak including usernames and mobile numbers[…]

Finding next-gen space tech: DASA launches the Space to Innovate Campaign

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[..] To promote space resilience and operational effectiveness, the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) is pleased to announce that we have teamed up with the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) Space Programme to launch the Space to Innovate Campaign. […] The first challenge drop, called the “Alpha challenge drop” in the Space to Innovate Read more about Finding next-gen space tech: DASA launches the Space to Innovate Campaign[…]

Tracking China’s Sudden Airpower Expansion Along Its Western Border

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[…] China’s heavy investment in airpower-related facilities in the region is already being leveraged by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF), as evidenced by an unprecedented level of activity along the Sino-Indian border as of late. This is in addition to massive growth in ground-based air defenses, as well as the construction of Read more about Tracking China’s Sudden Airpower Expansion Along Its Western Border[…]

Use of PFAS in cosmetics ‘widespread,’ new study finds – not a good thing

Posted on by Robin Edgar

According to the study, 56% of foundations and eye products, 48% of lip products and 47% of mascaras tested were found to contain high levels of fluorine, which is an indicator of PFAS use in the product. . Credit: University of Notre Dame Many cosmetics sold in the United States and Canada likely contain high levels Read more about Use of PFAS in cosmetics ‘widespread,’ new study finds – not a good thing[…]

Scientists Create Enzyme That Can Destroy Plastic Within Days, Not Years

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[…] it looks like researchers have developed the perfect thing to combat this problem. They’ve developed a cocktail of plastic-eating enzymes which can actually degrade plastic in a matter of days — something that normally takes hundreds of years to degrade. The enzyme cocktail includes PETase and MHETase. These are produced by a type of Read more about Scientists Create Enzyme That Can Destroy Plastic Within Days, Not Years[…]

House introduces five antitrust bills targeting Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Lawmakers in the House have introduced five new bills that would place significant limits on major tech companies, including Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon.The proposed legislation is part of a broader effort to step up antitrust enforcement against tech giants.The bills would place new limits on the companies’ ability to acquire new business and change Read more about House introduces five antitrust bills targeting Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon[…]

New Quantum Microscope Can See Tiny Structures in Living Cells

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A team of researchers in Germany and Australia recently used a new microscopy technique to image nano-scale biological structures at a previously unmanageable resolution, without destroying the living cell. The technique, which employs laser light many millions of times brighter than the Sun, has implications for biomedical and navigation technologies. The quantum optical microscope is Read more about New Quantum Microscope Can See Tiny Structures in Living Cells[…]

Risk and reward: Nefilim ransomware gang mainly targets fewer, richer companies and that strategy is paying off, warns Trend Micro

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The Nefilim ransomware gang might not be the best known or most prolific online extortion crew but their penchant for attacking small numbers of $1bn+ turnover firms is paying off, according to some latest research. The crew has made comparatively fewer headlines next to better-known criminals such as Darkside, perpetrators of the infamous US Colonial Read more about Risk and reward: Nefilim ransomware gang mainly targets fewer, richer companies and that strategy is paying off, warns Trend Micro[…]

DOJ Vows to Hunt Down Whoever Let the Public Know How Little Billionaires Pay in Taxes

Posted on by Robin Edgar

This week, ProPublica released a massive scoop—a treasure trove of financial records showing how some of the U.S.’s wealthiest billionaires scamper off with virtually no tax burden. And the U.S. government knows exactly what to do in response: find whoever released those embarrassing records and incarcerate the shit out of them. Priorities, people! ProPublica obtained Read more about DOJ Vows to Hunt Down Whoever Let the Public Know How Little Billionaires Pay in Taxes[…]

Crypto Miners Overrun Docker Hub’s Autobuild, so they have to close free version

Posted on by Robin Edgar

This week, Docker announced some changes to Docker Hub Autobuilds — the primary one of interest being that autobuilds would no longer be available to free tier users — and much of the internet let out a collective groan to the tune of “this is why we can’t have nice things!” *sigh* A story as Read more about Crypto Miners Overrun Docker Hub’s Autobuild, so they have to close free version[…]

Apple and Microsoft Say They Had No Idea Trump-Era DOJ Requested Data on Political Rivals

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Apple didn’t know the Department of Justice was requesting metadata of Democratic lawmakers when it complied with a subpoena during a Trump-era leak investigation, CNBC reports. And it wasn’t the only tech giant tapped in these probes: Microsoft confirmed Friday it received a similar subpoena for a congressional staffer’s personal email account. Both companies were under Read more about Apple and Microsoft Say They Had No Idea Trump-Era DOJ Requested Data on Political Rivals[…]

Facebook AI Can Now Copy Text Style in Images Using Just a Single Word

Posted on by Robin Edgar

We’re introducing TextStyleBrush, an AI research project that can copy the style of text in a photo using just a single word. With this AI model, you can edit and replace text in images. Unlike most AI systems that can do this for well-defined, specialized tasks, TextStyleBrush is the first self-supervised AI model that replaces Read more about Facebook AI Can Now Copy Text Style in Images Using Just a Single Word[…]

The Elephant Ethogram – Google Translate for Animals

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The Elephant Ethogram is a uniquely detailed catalogue, or library, of the behavior and communication of African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana). It is based on decades of ElephantVoices behavioral studies, photographs, and audio and video recordings, the referenced research of other elephant biologists, as well as professional and amateur footage made available to ElephantVoices. You can read more Read more about The Elephant Ethogram – Google Translate for Animals[…]

Internal data + games source code from breach CD Projekt Cyberpunk 2077 circulating online

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Internal company data leaked during a February security breach is now being circulated on the internet, Polish video games maker CD Projekt (CDR.WA) said in a statement published on Thursday. The attack, which compromised some of its internal systems including the source code to its much-hyped game Cyberpunk 2077, dealt another blow to the Warsaw-based Read more about Internal data + games source code from breach CD Projekt Cyberpunk 2077 circulating online[…]

Volkswagen says a vendor’s security lapse exposed 3.3 million drivers’ details

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Volkswagen says more than 3.3 million customers had their information exposed after one of its vendors left a cache of customer data unsecured on the internet. The car maker said in a letter that the vendor, used by Volkswagen, its subsidiary Audi and authorized dealers in the U.S. and Canada, left the customer data spanning Read more about Volkswagen says a vendor’s security lapse exposed 3.3 million drivers’ details[…]

McDonald’s Hit by Data Breach – WSJ

Posted on by Robin Edgar

McDonald’s Corp. said hackers stole some data from its systems in markets including the U.S., South Korea and Taiwan, in another example of cybercriminals infiltrating high-profile global companies. The burger chain said Friday that it recently hired external consultants to investigate unauthorized activity on an internal security system, prompted by a specific incident in which Read more about McDonald’s Hit by Data Breach – WSJ[…]

Engineers at MIT Have Created Actual Programmable Fibers – chip clothing

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Featured in Nature Communications, this new research could result in the development of wearable tech that could sense, store, analyze, and infer the activity(s) of its wearers in real-time. The senior author of the study, Yeol Fink, believes that digital fibers like those developed in this study could help expand the possibilities for fabrics to “uncover the Read more about Engineers at MIT Have Created Actual Programmable Fibers – chip clothing[…]

One Fastly customer triggered internet meltdown by changing a setting

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A major internet blackout that hit many high-profile websites on Tuesday has been blamed on a software bug. Fastly, the cloud-computing company responsible for the issues, said the bug had been triggered when one of its customers had changed their settings. The outage has raised questions about relying on a handful of companies to run Read more about One Fastly customer triggered internet meltdown by changing a setting[…]