Author: Robin Edgar

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

Hollywood studios proposed AI contract that would give them likeness rights ‘for the rest of eternity’

Posted on by Robin Edgar

During today’s press conference in which Hollywood actors confirmed that they were going on strike, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA’s chief negotiator, revealed a proposal from Hollywood studios that sounds ripped right out of a Black Mirror episode. In a statement about the strike, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) said that its proposal Read more about Hollywood studios proposed AI contract that would give them likeness rights ‘for the rest of eternity’[…]

Discussing The Tastier Side Of Desktop 3D Printing

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[…] After nearly a decade in development, Ellie Weinstein’s Cocoa Press chocolate 3D printer kit is expected to start shipping before the end of the year. Derived from the Voron 0.1 design, the kit is meant to help those with existing 3D printing experience expand their repertoire beyond plastics and into something a bit sweeter. Read more about Discussing The Tastier Side Of Desktop 3D Printing[…]

How AI could help local newsrooms remain afloat in a sea of misinformation – read and learn, Gizmodo staffers

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It didn’t take long for the downsides of a generative AI-empowered newsroom to make themselves obvious, between CNet’s secret chatbot reviews editor last November and Buzzfeed’s subsequent mass layoffs of human staff in favor of AI-generated “content” creators. The specter of being replaced by a “good enough AI” looms large in many a journalist’s mind Read more about How AI could help local newsrooms remain afloat in a sea of misinformation – read and learn, Gizmodo staffers[…]

New privacy deal allows US tech giants to continue storing European user data on American servers

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Nearly three years after a 2020 court decision threatened to grind transatlantic e-commerce to a halt, the European Union has adopted a plan that will allow US tech giants to continue storing data about European users on American soil. In a decision announced Monday, the European Commission approved the Trans-Atlantic Data Privacy Framework. Under the Read more about New privacy deal allows US tech giants to continue storing European user data on American servers[…]

Rolls-Royce won’t let customers buy another car if they sell its new EV for a profit

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The first Rolls-Royce EV, the Spectre, is going on sale soon at a cool $425,000 — and at that price, purchasing slots will be limited, to say the least. But any buyers planning to flip one for a quick profit may want to think twice. CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös said that any customers attempting to resell Read more about Rolls-Royce won’t let customers buy another car if they sell its new EV for a profit[…]

How An AI-Written ‘Star Wars’ Story Shows Yet Again the Luddism at Gizmodo

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G/O Media is the owner of top sites like Gizmodo, Kotaku, Quartz, and the Onion. Last month they announced “modest tests” of AI-generated content on their sites — and it didn’t go over well within the company, reports the Washington Post. Soon the Deputy Editor of Gizmodo’s science fiction section io9 was flagging 18 “concerns, Read more about How An AI-Written ‘Star Wars’ Story Shows Yet Again the Luddism at Gizmodo[…]

BMW’s Heads-Up Display Glasses Could Make You Feel Like a Motorcycle-Riding Cyborg

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f you’ve ever been riding your motorcycle and thought it’d be cool to have a Terminator-like head-up display, giving you vehicle and navigation data, BMW has just the thing for you. They’re called the BMW ConnectedRide Smartglasses—smart sunglasses with a head-up display (HUD) built into the right lens. For a smart pair of glasses, with Read more about BMW’s Heads-Up Display Glasses Could Make You Feel Like a Motorcycle-Riding Cyborg[…]

Brave to stop websites from port scanning visitors – wait that hasn’t been done by everyone yet?!

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The Brave browser will take action against websites that snoop on visitors by scanning their open Internet ports or accessing other network resources that can expose personal information. Starting in version 1.54, Brave will automatically block website port scanning, a practice that a surprisingly large number of sites were found engaging in a few years Read more about Brave to stop websites from port scanning visitors – wait that hasn’t been done by everyone yet?![…]

Joby Aviation gets first passenger electric VTOL testing certification from FAA

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Joby Aviation, Inc. (NYSE:JOBY), a company developing all-electric aircraft for commercial passenger service, today announced it has received a Special Airworthiness Certificate for the first aircraft built at its Pilot Production Line in Marina, California. Issued by the Federal Aviation Administration, the certificate allows Joby to begin flight testing of its first production prototype. The Read more about Joby Aviation gets first passenger electric VTOL testing certification from FAA[…]

Google Says It’ll Scrape Everything You Post Online for AI

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Google updated its privacy policy over the weekend, explicitly saying the company reserves the right to scrape just about everything you post online to build its AI tools. If Google can read your words, assume they belong to the company now, and expect that they’re nesting somewhere in the bowels of a chatbot. “Google uses Read more about Google Says It’ll Scrape Everything You Post Online for AI[…]

Valve All But Bans AI-Generated Content from Steam Games

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Game developers looking to distribute their playable creations via Valve’s popular Steam hub may have trouble if they’re looking to use AI during the creative process. The game publisher and distributor says that Steam will no longer tolerate products that were generated using copyright-infringing AI content. Since that’s a policy that could apply to most—if not Read more about Valve All But Bans AI-Generated Content from Steam Games[…]

Big Business Isn’t Happy With FTC’s ‘Click to Cancel’ Proposal – says people enjoy tortuous cancellations

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The Federal Trade Commission’s recent proposal to require that companies offer customers easy one-click options to cancel subscriptions might seem like a no-brainer, something unequivocally good for consumers. Not according to the companies it would affect, though. In their view, the introduction of simple unsubscribe buttons could lead to a wave of accidental cancellations by Read more about Big Business Isn’t Happy With FTC’s ‘Click to Cancel’ Proposal – says people enjoy tortuous cancellations[…]

Film companies demand names of Reddit users who discussed piracy in 201

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Reddit is fighting another attempt by film companies to unmask anonymous Reddit users who discussed piracy. The same companies lost a previous, similar motion to identify Reddit users who wrote comments in piracy-related threads. Reddit avoided revealing the identities of eight users by arguing that the First Amendment protected their right to anonymous speech. Reddit Read more about Film companies demand names of Reddit users who discussed piracy in 201[…]

AI Tool Decodes Brain Cancer’s Genome During Surgery

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Scientists have designed an AI tool that can rapidly decode a brain tumor’s DNA to determine its molecular identity during surgery — critical information that under the current approach can take a few days and up to a few weeks. Knowing a tumor’s molecular type enables neurosurgeons to make decisions such as how much brain Read more about AI Tool Decodes Brain Cancer’s Genome During Surgery[…]

Sacramento Sheriff is sharing license plate reader data with anti-abortion states, records show

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In 2015, Democratic Elk Grove Assemblyman Jim Cooper voted for Senate Bill 34, which restricted law enforcement from sharing automated license plate reader (ALPR) data with out-of-state authorities. In 2023, now-Sacramento County Sheriff Cooper appears to be doing just that. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) a digital rights group, has sent Cooper a letter requesting Read more about Sacramento Sheriff is sharing license plate reader data with anti-abortion states, records show[…]

Comedian, novelists sue OpenAI for reading books. Maybe we should sue people for reading them as well?

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Award-winning novelists Paul Tremblay and Mona Awad, and, separately comedian Sarah Silverman and novelists Christopher Golden and Richard Kadrey, have sued OpenAI and accused the startup of training ChatGPT on their books without consent, violating copyright laws. The lawsuits, both filed in the Northern District Court of San Francisco, say ChatGPT generates accurate summaries of Read more about Comedian, novelists sue OpenAI for reading books. Maybe we should sue people for reading them as well?[…]

GPT detectors are biased against non-native English writers, can be fooled very easily

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GPT detectors frequently misclassify non-native English writing as AI generated, raising concerns about fairness and robustness. Addressing the biases in these detectors is crucial to prevent the marginalization of non-native English speakers in evaluative and educational settings and to create a more equitable digital landscape. […] if AI-generated content can easily evade detection while human Read more about GPT detectors are biased against non-native English writers, can be fooled very easily[…]

Phone cam array – An open-source, modular photogrammetry system made of Android phones

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Photogrammetry is a 3D reconstruction technique using photographs of the target from multiple angles. Taking pictures around a static object with a single camera can yield high-quality models, but if the subject moves between images, 3D reconstruction might fail. One way to mitigate this is to use multiple cameras. This project aimed to develop a Read more about Phone cam array – An open-source, modular photogrammetry system made of Android phones[…]

Elizabeth Holmes’ Prison Sentence Quietly Reduced by Two Years, as is Theranos CEO’s

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Disgraced Theranos co-founder Elizabeth Holmes’ prison sentence has been reduced by two years, according to the Bureau of Prisons records. Holmes was sentenced to 11 years and three months in prison for defrauding investors by claiming her blood-testing company provided quick and reliable results but she was found to have lied about the reliability of Read more about Elizabeth Holmes’ Prison Sentence Quietly Reduced by Two Years, as is Theranos CEO’s[…]

Amazon claims it isn’t a “Very Large Online Platform” to evade EU rules

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Amazon doesn’t want to comply with Europe’s Digital Services Act, and to avoid the rules the company is arguing that it doesn’t meet the definition of a Very Large Online Platform under EU law. Amazon filed an appeal at the EU General Court to challenge the European Commission decision that Amazon meets the criteria and Read more about Amazon claims it isn’t a “Very Large Online Platform” to evade EU rules[…]

Mom pleads guilty to abortion after Meta gives DMs to cops – 2023 and these are the witch hunts we see in the land of the free, USA

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A Nebraska mother pleaded guilty on Friday to giving her 17-year-old daughter pills for an abortion last year and to helping her dispose of the 29-week-old fetus. Jessica Burgess, 42, in a plea agreement admitted providing an abortion to her daughter Celeste after 20 weeks of pregnancy, false reporting, and tampering with human remains, according Read more about Mom pleads guilty to abortion after Meta gives DMs to cops – 2023 and these are the witch hunts we see in the land of the free, USA[…]

An Alarming 87 Percent Of Retro Games Are Being Lost To Time

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[…] The Video Game History Foundation (VGHF) partnered with the Software Preservation Network, an organization intent on advancing software preservation through collective action, to release a report on the disappearance of classic video games. “Classic” in this case has been defined as all games released before 2010, which the VGHF noted is the “year when Read more about An Alarming 87 Percent Of Retro Games Are Being Lost To Time[…]

France Allows Police to Remotely Turn On GPS, Camera, Audio on Phones

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Amidst ongoing protests in France, the country has just passed a new bill that will allow police to remotely access suspects’ cameras, microphones, and GPS on cell phones and other devices. As reported by Le Monde, the bill has been criticized by the French people as a “snoopers” charter that allows police unfettered access to Read more about France Allows Police to Remotely Turn On GPS, Camera, Audio on Phones[…]

Amazon’s iRobot Roomba acquisition under formal EU investigation

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European Union regulators have opened an official investigation into Amazon’s proposed $1.7 billion acquisition of iRobot, the company behind the popular Roomba lineup of robot vacuum cleaners. In a press release, the European Commission said it’s concerned that “the transaction would allow Amazon to restrict competition in the market for robot vacuum cleaners (‘RVCs’) and Read more about Amazon’s iRobot Roomba acquisition under formal EU investigation[…]

People Are Using Forged Court Orders To Disappear Content They Don’t Like using DMCA

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Copyright is still high on the list of censorial weapons. When you live in (or target) a country that protects free speech rights and offers intermediaries immunity via Section 230, you quickly surmise there’s a soft target lying between the First Amendment and the CDA. That soft target is the DMCA. Thanks to plenty of Read more about People Are Using Forged Court Orders To Disappear Content They Don’t Like using DMCA[…]