Author: Robin Edgar

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

ICANN and Verisign Proposal Would Allow Any Government In The World To Seize Domain Names with no redress

Posted on by Robin Edgar

ICANN, the organization that regulates global domain name policy, and Verisign, the abusive monopolist that operates the .COM and .NET top-level domains, have quietly proposed enormous changes to global domain name policy in their recently published “Proposed Renewal of the Registry Agreement for .NET”, which is now open for public comment. Either by design, or Read more about ICANN and Verisign Proposal Would Allow Any Government In The World To Seize Domain Names with no redress[…]

Microsoft 365 and Teams hit in global partial outage – again

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] The problem kicked off this morning with Redmond saying it was looking into errors within its caching infrastructure. In an advisory, the Windows goliath wrote “some users may be intermittently unable to view or access web apps in Microsoft 365.” A range of Microsoft 365 online services are affected, such as Excel, the company Read more about Microsoft 365 and Teams hit in global partial outage – again[…]

AIs are too worried about answering stuff you can just google because… doomsayers?

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The article below is about how you can trick ChatGPT toj give you a napalm recipe. It’s pretty circumspect and clever that you need to say “my grandmother worked at a factory and told me how to make it” but why would you need to? Why are we somehow stricter about the output of an Read more about AIs are too worried about answering stuff you can just google because… doomsayers?[…]

Europe spins up AI research hub to apply Digital Services Act rules on Big Tech

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[…] The European Centre for Algorithmic Transparency (ECAT), which was officially inaugurated in Seville, Spain, today (April 18), is expected to play a major role in interrogating the algorithms of mainstream digital services — such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. ECAT is embedded within the EU’s existing Joint Research Centre (JRC), a long-established science facility Read more about Europe spins up AI research hub to apply Digital Services Act rules on Big Tech[…]

Chips Act: Council and European Parliament strike provisional deal

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The Council and the European Parliament have reached today a provisional political agreement on the regulation to strengthen Europe’s semiconductor ecosystem, better known as the ‘Chips Act’. The deal is expected to create the conditions for the development of an industrial base that can double the EU’s global market share in semiconductors from 10% to Read more about Chips Act: Council and European Parliament strike provisional deal[…]

3D bioprinting inside the human body could be possible thanks to new soft robot

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Engineers from UNSW Sydney have developed a miniature and flexible soft robotic arm which could be used to 3D print biomaterial directly onto organs inside a person’s body. 3D bioprinting is a process whereby biomedical parts are fabricated from so-called bioink to construct natural tissue-like structures. […] Their work has resulted in a tiny flexible Read more about 3D bioprinting inside the human body could be possible thanks to new soft robot[…]

AI-generated Drake and The Weeknd song pulled from streaming platforms

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If you spent almost any time on the internet this week, you probably saw a lot of chatter about “Heart on My Sleeve.” The song went viral for featuring AI-generated voices that do a pretty good job of mimicking Drake and The Weeknd singing about a recent breakup. On Monday, Apple Music and Spotify pulled Read more about AI-generated Drake and The Weeknd song pulled from streaming platforms[…]

Study shows human tendency to help others is universal

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A new study on the human capacity for cooperation suggests that, deep down, people of diverse cultures are more similar than you might expect. The study, published in Scientific Reports, shows that from the towns of England, Italy, Poland, and Russia to the villages of rural Ecuador, Ghana, Laos, and Aboriginal Australia, at the micro Read more about Study shows human tendency to help others is universal[…]

WhatsApp, Signal Threaten to Leave UK Over ‘Online Safety Bill’ – which wants big brother reading all your messages. So online snooping bill, really.

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Meta’s WhatsApp is threatening to leave the UK if the government passes the Online Safety Bill, saying it will essentially eliminate its encryption methods. Alongside its rival company Signal and five other apps, the company said that, by passing the bill, users will no longer be protected by end-to-end encryption, which ensures no one but Read more about WhatsApp, Signal Threaten to Leave UK Over ‘Online Safety Bill’ – which wants big brother reading all your messages. So online snooping bill, really.[…]

AutoGPT: An AI that thinks up your questions and answers them for you

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Auto-GPT dramatically flips the relationship between AI and the end user (that’s you). ChatGPT relies on a back-and-forth between the AI and the end user: You prompt the AI with a request, it returns a result, and you respond with a new prompt, perhaps based on what the AI gave you. Auto-GPT, however, only needs Read more about AutoGPT: An AI that thinks up your questions and answers them for you[…]

Microsoft Readies AI Chip as Machine Learning Costs Surge

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After placing an early bet on OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, Microsoft has another secret weapon in its arsenal: its own artificial intelligence chip for powering the large-language models responsible for understanding and generating humanlike language. The Information: The software giant has been developing the chip, internally code-named Athena, since as early as 2019, according Read more about Microsoft Readies AI Chip as Machine Learning Costs Surge[…]

Toucan Teaches You a New Language While You Browse the Internet

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[…] Toucan, a browser extension, is trying a different approach, and it might just be the thing that finally clicks for you. How Toucan works With Toucan installed for either Chrome, Edge, or Safari, the first time you visit a website or click on an article, you’ll notice something strange: Some of the words on the Read more about Toucan Teaches You a New Language While You Browse the Internet[…]

Stability AI of Stable Diffusion Launches open source StableLM LLM with 3 and 7 billion parameters

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Today, Stability AI released a new open-source language model, StableLM. The Alpha version of the model is available in 3 billion and 7 billion parameters, with 15 billion to 65 billion parameter models to follow. Developers can freely inspect, use, and adapt our StableLM base models for commercial or research purposes, subject to the terms Read more about Stability AI of Stable Diffusion Launches open source StableLM LLM with 3 and 7 billion parameters[…]

Imgur To Ban Nudity, Sexual or otherwise unsettling Content Next Month

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Online image hosting service Imgur is updating its Terms of Service on May 15th to prohibit nudity and sexually explicit content, among other things. The news arrived in an email sent to “Imgurians”. The changes have since been outlined on the company’s “Community Rules” page, which reads: Imgur welcomes a diverse audience. We don’t want Read more about Imgur To Ban Nudity, Sexual or otherwise unsettling Content Next Month[…]

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Medusa ransomware crew boasts of Microsoft Bing and Cortana code leak

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The Medusa ransomware gang has put online what it claims is a massive leak of internal Microsoft materials, including Bing and Cortana source code. “This leak is of more interest to programmers, since it contains the source codes of the following Bing products, Bing Maps and Cortana,” the crew wrote on its website, which was Read more about Medusa ransomware crew boasts of Microsoft Bing and Cortana code leak[…]

Why Video Editors are Switching to DaVinci Resolve in Droves

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Video editors are flocking to DaVinci Resolve in droves, marking a major paradigm shift in the editing landscape that we haven’t seen since the dreadful launch of Final Cut Pro X drove users to Adobe Premiere Pro. […] More a conglomeration of tools than a single program, Resolve came through some acquisitions Blackmagic made when Read more about Why Video Editors are Switching to DaVinci Resolve in Droves[…]

Scientists Identify Mind-Body Nexus In Human Brain

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An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Researchers said on Wednesday they have discovered that parts of the brain region called the motor cortex that govern body movement are connected with a network involved in thinking, planning, mental arousal, pain, and control of internal organs, as well as functions such as blood pressure and Read more about Scientists Identify Mind-Body Nexus In Human Brain[…]

💡 Pause AI Doomster Pessimism: An Open Letter – a call on AI doomsters to immediately pause for at least 6 months the alarmism that is hurting human progress.

Posted on by Robin Edgar

AI systems with human-competitive intelligence can offer significant benefits to society and humanity, as demonstrated by extensive research and acknowledged by top AI labs. Advanced AI has the potential to revolutionize the way we live, work, and interact with one another, and it should be welcomed and guided with optimism and foresight. Regrettably, recent months Read more about 💡 Pause AI Doomster Pessimism: An Open Letter – a call on AI doomsters to immediately pause for at least 6 months the alarmism that is hurting human progress.[…]

Undercutting Microsoft, Amazon Offers Free Access to Its AI Coding Assistant ‘CodeWhisperer’

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Amazon is making its AI-powered coding assistant CodeWhisperer free for individual developers, reports the Verge, “undercutting the $10 per month pricing of its Microsoft-made rival.” Amazon launched CodeWhisperer as a preview last year, which developers can use within various integrated development environments (IDEs), like Visual Studio Code, to generate lines of code based on a Read more about Undercutting Microsoft, Amazon Offers Free Access to Its AI Coding Assistant ‘CodeWhisperer’[…]

Pacific garbage patch providing a deep ocean home for coastal species

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A survey of plastic waste picked up in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre—aka the Giant Pacific Garbage Patch—has revealed that the garbage is providing a home to species that would otherwise not be found in the deep ocean. Over two-thirds of the trash examined plays host to coastal marine species, many of which are clearly Read more about Pacific garbage patch providing a deep ocean home for coastal species[…]

International Partners Publish Secure-by-Design and -Default Principles and Approaches   Guide – but don’t link to guide in press release

Posted on by Robin Edgar

 The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National Security Agency (NSA), and the cybersecurity authorities of Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, and New Zealand (CERT NZ, NCSC-NZ ) published today “Shifting the Balance of Cybersecurity Risk: Principles and Approaches for Security-by-Design and -Default.” This joint guidance urges Read more about International Partners Publish Secure-by-Design and -Default Principles and Approaches   Guide – but don’t link to guide in press release[…]

Need To Pick Objects Out Of Images? Segment Anything Does Exactly That

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Segment Anything, recently released by Facebook Research, does something that most people who have dabbled in computer vision have found daunting: reliably figure out which pixels in an image belong to an object. Making that easier is the goal of the Segment Anything Model (SAM), just released under the Apache 2.0 license. The online demo Read more about Need To Pick Objects Out Of Images? Segment Anything Does Exactly That[…]

A Computer Generated Swatting Service Is Causing Havoc Across America

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[…] Motherboard has found, this synthesized call and another against Hempstead High School were just one small part of a months-long, nationwide campaign of dozens, and potentially hundreds, of threats made by one swatter in particular who has weaponized computer generated voices. Known as “Torswats” on the messaging app Telegram, the swatter has been calling Read more about A Computer Generated Swatting Service Is Causing Havoc Across America[…]

Why fighting the urge to sleep may be bad for our health – a deep dive into sleep

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Scientists are finding that the timing of our sleep matters more than we know. Source: Why fighting the urge to sleep may be bad for our health Reuters has a deep dive into sleep on their website, lots of interesting information on what happens physiologically to people when they wake and sleep and the importance Read more about Why fighting the urge to sleep may be bad for our health – a deep dive into sleep[…]