Author: Robin Edgar

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

The Open Source Project DeFlock Is Mapping License Plate Surveillance Cameras All Over the World

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] 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 Read more about The Open Source Project DeFlock Is Mapping License Plate Surveillance Cameras All Over the World[…]

Spotify’s Car Thing, Due For Bricking, Is Getting an Open Source Second Life

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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 Read more about Spotify’s Car Thing, Due For Bricking, Is Getting an Open Source Second Life[…]

Formula 1 drivers ask FIA to treat them like adults after swearing punishments

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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 Read more about Formula 1 drivers ask FIA to treat them like adults after swearing punishments[…]

LignoSat: First wood-panelled satellite launched into space

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The world’s first wood-panelled satellite has been launched into space to test the suitability of timber as a renewable building material in future exploration of destinations like the Moon and Mars. Made by researchers in Japan, the tiny satellite weighing just 900g is heading for the International Space Station […]. It will then be released Read more about LignoSat: First wood-panelled satellite launched into space[…]

Corning facing EU antitrust suit over Gorilla Glass seals

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Corning’s Gorilla Glass is found in countless tech products, from smartphones and wearables to automobile windshields, and the European Commission has an inkling its success is due in part to the US-based business cutting anticompetitive deals. The EC announced a formal antitrust investigation into Corning yesterday, accusing the company of abusing its dominant position as Read more about Corning facing EU antitrust suit over Gorilla Glass seals[…]

Plastic pollution is changing entire Earth system, scientists find

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[…] In 2022 at least 506m tonnes of plastics were produced worldwide, but only 9% gets recycled globally. The rest is burned, landfilled or dumped where it can leach into the environment. Microplastics are now everywhere, from the top of Mount Everest to the Mariana Trench, the deepest point on earth. The new study of Read more about Plastic pollution is changing entire Earth system, scientists find[…]

Things no one wants: Microsoft rolls out bloated AI-enabled Notepad

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Windows Insiders will soon get firsthand experience of Microsoft’s AI ambitions for Paint and Notepad: the image editor is getting Generative Fill and Erase and the text editor is getting a Rewrite function. We’d been hearing since January that Microsoft Notepad would get an AI makeover – and yesterday it was confirmed Microsoft will roll Read more about Things no one wants: Microsoft rolls out bloated AI-enabled Notepad[…]

Hacker bans thousands of Call of Duty gamers through anti-cheat software, shows how dangerous this poorly written kernel acces junk is.

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In October, video game giant Activision said it had fixed a bug in its anti-cheat system that affected “a small number of legitimate player accounts,” who were getting banned because of the bug. In reality, according to the hacker who found the bug and was exploiting it, they were able to ban “thousands upon thousands” Read more about Hacker bans thousands of Call of Duty gamers through anti-cheat software, shows how dangerous this poorly written kernel acces junk is.[…]

Singapore to increase road capacity by GPS tracking all vehicles. Because location data is not sensitive and will never be hacked *cough*

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Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) estimated last week that by tracking all vehicles with GPS it will be able to increase road capacity by 20,000 over the next few years. The densely populated island state is moving from what it calls Electric Road Pricing (ERP) 1.0 to ERP 2.0. The first version used gantries – Read more about Singapore to increase road capacity by GPS tracking all vehicles. Because location data is not sensitive and will never be hacked *cough*[…]

Synology and QNAP hurry out patches for zero-days exploited at Pwn2Own

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S Synology, a Taiwanese network-attached storage (NAS) appliance maker, patched two critical zero-days exploited during last week’s Pwn2Own hacking competition within days. Midnight Blue security researcher Rick de Jager found the critical zero-click vulnerabilities (tracked together as CVE-2024-10443 and dubbed RISK:STATION) in the company’s Synology Photos and BeePhotos for BeeStation software. As Synology explains in security Read more about Synology and QNAP hurry out patches for zero-days exploited at Pwn2Own[…]

Fake job postings proliferate in layoff-hit tech industry

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f you didn’t hear back about that great-looking tech position you applied for, it might not be because there were too many applicants scrambling to find a job amid rolling layoffs. There’s a distinct possibility the posting was fake to begin with. We’re talking here about “ghost jobs” a practice of posting openings for positions Read more about Fake job postings proliferate in layoff-hit tech industry[…]

How The Army Will Use Its Super Integrated Air Defense System

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Developed in partnership with Northrop Grumman, the Integrated Battle Command System, or IBCS, is the beating heart of the U.S. Army’s future air and missile defense architecture. […] This system networks with current and future sensors and weapons platforms – regardless of source, service, or domain – to create an integrated fire control network that Read more about How The Army Will Use Its Super Integrated Air Defense System[…]

Using mathematics to better understand cause and effect

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Consider an example from climate science. Experts studying large atmospheric circulation patterns and their impacts on global weather would like to know how these systems might change with warming climates. Here, many variables come into play: ocean and air temperatures and pressures, ocean currents and depths, and even details of the earth’s rotation over time. Read more about Using mathematics to better understand cause and effect[…]

The Prompt Report: A Systematic Survey of AI Prompting Techniques

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Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) systems are being increasingly deployed across all parts of industry and research settings. Developers and end users interact with these systems through the use of prompting or prompt engineering. While prompting is a widespread and highly researched concept, there exists conflicting terminology and a poor ontological understanding of what constitutes a Read more about The Prompt Report: A Systematic Survey of AI Prompting Techniques[…]

Bezos’ fear of Trump costs Washington Post: cancellations hit 250,000 – 10% of subscribers

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Deterioration of the Washington Post’s subscriber base continued on Tuesday, hours after its proprietor, Jeff Bezos, defended the decision to forgo formally endorsing a presidential candidate as part of an effort to restore trust in the media. The publication has now shed 250,000 subscribers, or 10% of the 2.5 million customers it had before the Read more about Bezos’ fear of Trump costs Washington Post: cancellations hit 250,000 – 10% of subscribers[…]

A Million People Play This Video Wargame. So Do Militaries across the world.

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Warfare is changing at a pace unseen in almost a century, as fighting in Ukraine and the Middle East shows. For military commanders, tackling that upheaval demands fast and constant adaptation. Increasingly, that entails playing games. Wargames—long the realm of top brass and classified plans—let strategists test varying scenarios, using different tactics and equipment. Now they Read more about A Million People Play This Video Wargame. So Do Militaries across the world.[…]

Fitness apps (Strava) still giving away locations of world leaders including Trump, Putin and Macron

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Some of the world’s most prominent leaders’ movements were tracked online through a fitness app used by their bodyguards, an investigation has suggested A report by French newspaper Le Monde said several US Secret Service agents use the Strava fitness app, which has revealed highly confidential movements of US president Joe Biden, presidential rivals Donald Read more about Fitness apps (Strava) still giving away locations of world leaders including Trump, Putin and Macron[…]

How to trick ChatGPT into writing exploit code using hex

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OpenAI’s language model GPT-4o can be tricked into writing exploit code by encoding the malicious instructions in hexadecimal, which allows an attacker to jump the model’s built-in security guardrails and abuse the AI for evil purposes, according to 0Din researcher Marco Figueroa. […] In a recent blog, Figueroa detailed how one such guardrail jailbreak exposed Read more about How to trick ChatGPT into writing exploit code using hex[…]

Washington Post and NYTimes suppressed by fascist Trump Through Billionaire Cowardice

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Newspaper presidential endorsements may not actually matter that much, but billionaire media owners blocking editorial teams from publishing their endorsements out of concern over potential retaliation from a future Donald Trump presidency should matter a lot. If people were legitimately worried about the “weaponization of government” and the idea that companies might silence speech over Read more about Washington Post and NYTimes suppressed by fascist Trump Through Billionaire Cowardice[…]

Researchers unlock a new way to grow quantum dots

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The type of semiconductive nanocrystals known as quantum dots are both expanding the forefront of pure science and also hard at work in practical applications including lasers, quantum QLED televisions and displays, solar cells, medical devices, and other electronics. A new technique for growing these microscopic crystals, published this week in Science, has not only Read more about Researchers unlock a new way to grow quantum dots[…]

Feds Say You Don’t Have a Right to Check Out Retro Video Games Like Library Books. Want you to pirate them apparently.

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Most of the world’s video games from close to 50 years of history are effectively, legally dead. A Video Games History Foundation study found you can’t buy nearly 90% of games from before 2010. Preservationists have been looking for ways to allow people to legally access gaming history, but the U.S. Copyright Office dealt them a heavy blow Read more about Feds Say You Don’t Have a Right to Check Out Retro Video Games Like Library Books. Want you to pirate them apparently.[…]

Largest Commercial Satellites Unfurl, Outshining Most of the Night Sky

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The dawn of annoyingly massive satellites is upon us, shielding our views of the shimmering cosmos. Five of the largest communication satellites just unfolded in Earth orbit, and this is only the beginning of a Texas startup’s constellation of cellphone towers in space. AST SpaceMobile announced today that its first five satellites, BlueBirds 1 to Read more about Largest Commercial Satellites Unfurl, Outshining Most of the Night Sky[…]

Recycled wind turbines may one day become tiny homes and floating solar farms

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Wind turbines are necessary for ensuring society’s sustainable future, but they still have a recycling problem. Decommissioned installations are destined for landfills in many cases, while the steel parts that actually make it to recycling facilities are only broken down after generating large amounts of (often dirty) greenhouse gas emissions. Two Dutch companies, however, recently Read more about Recycled wind turbines may one day become tiny homes and floating solar farms[…]

Anyone Can Learn Echolocation in Just 10 Weeks—And It Remodels Your Brain

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Human echolocation has at times allowed people to ride bikes or play basketball despite being completely blind from a very young age. These echolocators typically perceive their environment by clicking sharply with their tongues and listening to differences in the sounds reflected off objects. Brain-imaging studies reveal that expert echolocators display responses to sound in Read more about Anyone Can Learn Echolocation in Just 10 Weeks—And It Remodels Your Brain[…]