The Linkielist

Linking ideas with the world

Software vendors dump open source, go for the cash grab – Redis is the latest

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Essentially, all software is built using open source. By Synopsys’ count, 96% of all codebases contain open-source software. Lately, though, there’s been a very disturbing trend. A company will make its program using open source, make millions from it, and then — and only then — switch licenses, leaving their contributors, customers, and partners in Read more about Software vendors dump open source, go for the cash grab – Redis is the latest[…]

Amazon fined almost $8M in Poland over dark patterns

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Poland’s competition and consumer protection watchdog has fined Amazon’s European subsidiary around $8 million (31.9 million Zlotys) for “dark patterns” that messed around internet shoppers. The preliminary ruling applies to Amazon EU SARL, which oversees Amazon’s Polish e-commerce site, Amazon.pl, out of Luxembourg. Poland’s Office of Competition and Consumer Protection said the decision, subject to Read more about Amazon fined almost $8M in Poland over dark patterns[…]

OpenAI reveals tool to re-create human voices

Posted on by Robin Edgar

OpenAI said on Friday it’s allowed a small number of businesses to test a new tool that can re-create a person’s voice from just a 15-second recording. Why it matters: The company said it is taking “a cautious and informed approach” to releasing the program, called Voice Engine, more broadly given the high risk of Read more about OpenAI reveals tool to re-create human voices[…]

Age Verification Laws Drag Us Back to the Dark Ages of the Internet

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The fundamental flaw with the age verification bills and laws passing rapidly across the country is the delusional, unfounded belief that putting hurdles between people and pornography is going to actually prevent them from viewing porn. What will happen, and is already happening, is that people–including minors–will go to unmoderated, actively harmful alternatives that don’t Read more about Age Verification Laws Drag Us Back to the Dark Ages of the Internet[…]

Lamborghini Is the Latest to Fall Victim to the Flat Logo Trend. Kills one of the most recognisable logos in the world

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Would it surprise you to know that there are still some automotive brands out there that haven’t drained the texture and depth out of their famous logos yet? Lamborghini was actually one of those storied marques that hadn’t responded to the so-called digital revolution up until now and, I think at this point, you would’ve Read more about Lamborghini Is the Latest to Fall Victim to the Flat Logo Trend. Kills one of the most recognisable logos in the world[…]

Posted in Art

Project Ghostbusters: Facebook Accused of Using Your Phone to Wiretap Snapchat, Youtube, Amazon through Onavo VPN

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Court filings unsealed last week allege Meta created an internal effort to spy on Snapchat in a secret initiative called “Project Ghostbusters.” Meta did so through Onavo, a Virtual Private Network (VPN) service the company offered between 2016 and 2019 that, ultimately, wasn’t private at all. “Whenever someone asks a question about Snapchat, the answer Read more about Project Ghostbusters: Facebook Accused of Using Your Phone to Wiretap Snapchat, Youtube, Amazon through Onavo VPN[…]

DDOS attack takes down NL provinces and government organizations’ websites

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Various websites of provinces and government organizations were down on Monday due to a DDOS attack. At the moment, the website of the Province of North Holland is still unavailable or unavailable again. The websites of the provinces of Groningen, Overijssel and North Brabant were also down for some time. The sites of the Senate Read more about DDOS attack takes down NL provinces and government organizations’ websites[…]

Rapid biodegradation of microplastics generated from bio-based thermoplastic polyurethane in compost

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Accumulation of microplastics in the natural environment is ultimately due to the chemical nature of widely used petroleum-based plastic polymers, which typically are inaccessible to biological processing. One way to mitigate this crisis is adoption of plastics that biodegrade if released into natural environments. In this work, we generated microplastic particles from a bio-based, biodegradable Read more about Rapid biodegradation of microplastics generated from bio-based thermoplastic polyurethane in compost[…]

GitHub’s new AI-powered tool auto-fixes vulnerabilities in your code

Posted on by Robin Edgar

GitHub introduced a new AI-powered feature capable of speeding up vulnerability fixes while coding. This feature is in public beta and automatically enabled on all private repositories for GitHub Advanced Security (GHAS) customers. Known as Code Scanning Autofix and powered by GitHub Copilot and CodeQL, it helps deal with over 90% of alert types in JavaScript, Read more about GitHub’s new AI-powered tool auto-fixes vulnerabilities in your code[…]

General Motors Quits Sharing Driving Behavior With Data Brokers – Now sells it directly to insurance companies?

Posted on by Robin Edgar

General Motors said Friday that it had stopped sharing details about how people drove its cars with two data brokers that created risk profiles for the insurance industry. The decision followed a New York Times report this month that G.M. had, for years, been sharing data about drivers’ mileage, braking, acceleration and speed with the Read more about General Motors Quits Sharing Driving Behavior With Data Brokers – Now sells it directly to insurance companies?[…]

Apple accused of monopolizing smartphone markets by US and 15 states. Loses $115 billion market cap

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The U.S. Department of Justice and 15 states on Thursday sued Apple (AAPL.O) , opens new tab as the government cracks down on Big Tech, alleging the iPhone maker monopolized the smartphone market, hurt smaller rivals and drove up prices. Apple joins competitors sued by regulators, including Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O) , opens new tab Google, Meta Read more about Apple accused of monopolizing smartphone markets by US and 15 states. Loses $115 billion market cap[…]

Burglars using Wifi jammers and deauth attacks to disable wireless smart home security

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Edina police believe that the suspects aren’t choosing houses at random –they’re researching carefully prior to burglarizing them. The suspects are stealing jewelry, safes, and high-end merchandise. “It’s believed the burglars are not violent and tend to choose unoccupied houses,” the police’s report reads. At the city safety meeting on January 31st, residents warned about Read more about Burglars using Wifi jammers and deauth attacks to disable wireless smart home security[…]

Researchers jailbreak AI chatbots with ASCII art

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Researchers based in Washington and Chicago have developed ArtPrompt, a new way to circumvent the safety measures built into large language models (LLMs). According to the research paper ArtPrompt: ASCII Art-based Jailbreak Attacks against Aligned LLMs, chatbots such as GPT-3.5, GPT-4, Gemini, Claude, and Llama2 can be induced to respond to queries they are designed Read more about Researchers jailbreak AI chatbots with ASCII art[…]

HackAPrompt – a taxonomy of GPT prompt hacking techniques

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] We present a comprehensive Taxonomical Ontology of Prompt Hacking techniques, which categorizes various methods used to manipulate Large Language Models (LLMs) through prompt hacking. This taxonomical ontology ranges from simple instructions and cognitive hacking to more complex techniques like context overflow, obfuscation, and code injection, offering a detailed insight into the diverse strategies used Read more about HackAPrompt – a taxonomy of GPT prompt hacking techniques[…]

Italy’s Piracy Shield Blocks Innocent Web Sites, Makes It Hard For Them To Appeal so ISPs are ignoring the law because it’s stupid

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Italy’s newly-installed Piracy Shield system, put in place by the country’s national telecoms regulator, Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni (Authority for Communications Guarantees, AGCOM), is already failing in significant ways. One issue became evident in February, when the VPN provider AirVPN announced that it would no longer accept users resident in Italy because of the “burdensome” requirements Read more about Italy’s Piracy Shield Blocks Innocent Web Sites, Makes It Hard For Them To Appeal so ISPs are ignoring the law because it’s stupid[…]

Our Brains Are in Trouble: Nearly Half the World Living with Neurological Illness

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…]According to the authors of this new paper, published this month in The Lancet Neurology, there hasn’t yet been a full accounting of all the illnesses tied to our brain and nervous system, such as neurodevelopmental disorders. For this study, scientists looked at 37 unique conditions in total, including migraines, seizures, various forms of dementia, Read more about Our Brains Are in Trouble: Nearly Half the World Living with Neurological Illness[…]

Commercial Bank of Ethiopia glitch lets customers withdraw millions

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Ethiopia’s biggest commercial bank is scrambling to recoup large sums of money withdrawn by customers after a “systems glitch”. The customers discovered early on Saturday that they could take out more cash than they had in their accounts at the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE). More than $40m (£31m) was withdrawn or transferred to other Read more about Commercial Bank of Ethiopia glitch lets customers withdraw millions[…]

Google DeepMind’s new AI assistant helps elite soccer coaches get even better

Posted on by Robin Edgar

They might want to add a new AI assistant developed by Google DeepMind to their arsenal. It can suggest tactics for soccer set-pieces that are even better than those created by professional club coaches. The system, called TacticAI, works by analyzing a dataset of 7,176 corner kicks taken by players for Liverpool FC, one of Read more about Google DeepMind’s new AI assistant helps elite soccer coaches get even better[…]

VPN Demand Surges 234.8% After Adult Site Restriction on Texas-Based Users

Posted on by Robin Edgar

VPN demand in Texas skyrocketed by 234.8% on March 15, 2024, after state authorities enacted a law requiring adult sites to verify users’ ages before granting them access to the websites’ content. Texas’ age verification law was passed in June 2023 and was set to take effect in September of the same year. However, a Read more about VPN Demand Surges 234.8% After Adult Site Restriction on Texas-Based Users[…]

Google researchers unveil ‘VLOGGER’, an AI that can animate a single still photos to allow them to talk

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Described in a research paper titled “VLOGGER: Multimodal Diffusion for Embodied Avatar Synthesis,” the AI model can take a photo of a person and an audio clip as input, and then output a video that matches the audio, showing the person speaking the words and making corresponding facial expressions, head movements and hand gestures. The Read more about Google researchers unveil ‘VLOGGER’, an AI that can animate a single still photos to allow them to talk[…]

Apex Legends streamers surprised to find aimbot and other hacks added to their PCs in the middle of major competition

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The Apex Legends Global Series is currently in regional finals mode, but the North America finals have been delayed after two players were hacked mid-match. First, Noyan “Genburten” Ozkose of DarkZero suddenly found himself able to see other players through walls, then Phillip “ImperialHal” Dosen of TSM was given an aimbot. Genburten’s hack happened part Read more about Apex Legends streamers surprised to find aimbot and other hacks added to their PCs in the middle of major competition[…]

Europe’s landmark AI Act passes Parliament vote

Posted on by Robin Edgar

After a 523-46 voting result, with 49 abstentions, the act heads down a lengthy and complex implementation path. An AI Office that will guide the process under the Commission’s wing has already started hiring. The Act sets out a tiered approach to regulation based on how risky applications of the technology are deemed and sets Read more about Europe’s landmark AI Act passes Parliament vote[…]

Dog DNA testing company identifies human as dog

Posted on by Robin Edgar

On Wednesday, WBZ News reported its investigations team receiving dog breed results from the company DNA My Dog after one of its reporters sent in a swab sample – from her own cheek. According to the results from the Toronto-based company, WBZ News reporter Christina Hager is 40% Alaskan malamute, 35% shar-pei and 25% labrador. Read more about Dog DNA testing company identifies human as dog[…]