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Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

Motion at speeds beyond the speed of light is one of the most controversial issues in physics. Hypothetical particles that could move at superluminal speeds, called tachyons (from the Greek tachýs — fast, quick), are the ‘enfant terrible’ of modern physics. Until recently, they were widely regarded as creations that do not fit into the special theory of relativity.

At least three reasons for the non-existence of tachyons within quantum theory were known so far. The first: the ground state of the tachyon field was supposed to be unstable, which would mean that such superluminal particles would form `avalanches’. The second: a change in the inertial observer was supposed to lead to a change in the number of particles observed in his reference system, yet the existence of, say, seven particles cannot depend on who is looking at them. The third reason: the energy of the superluminal particles could take on negative values.

[...] It turned out that the ‘boundary conditions’ that determine the course of physical processes include not only the initial state but also the final state of the system. The results of the international team of researchers have just been published in the prestigious journal Physical Review D.

To put it simply: in order to calculate the probability of a quantum process involving tachyons, it is necessary to know not only its past initial state but also its future final state. Once this fact was incorporated into the theory, all the difficulties mentioned earlier completely disappeared and tachyon theory became mathematically consistent. “It’s a bit like internet advertising — one simple trick can solve your problems,” says Andrzej Dragan, chief inspirer of the whole research endeavor.

“The idea that the future can influence the present instead of the present determining the future is not new in physics. However, until now, this type of view has at best been an unorthodox interpretation of certain quantum phenomena, and this time we were forced to this conclusion by the theory itself. To ‘make room’ for tachyons we had to expand the state space,” concludes Dragan.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

The AI Act is finally here and big changes are on the way. Here are the key details of the Act and the tips businesses should heed before its full arrival.

The EU’s AI Act – its landmark regulation to rein in the growing power of artificial intelligence – has officially entered into force today (1 August), heralding big changes for Big Tech.

The Act has been in development for years, being first discussed in 2021 and altered in recent years with the sudden rise of generative AI technology. The Act has also been put under heavy scrutiny – challenges from member states towards the end of 2023 made it seem like the Act could collapse before coming to fruition.

But after delays, adjustments and multiple landslide votes, the AI Act is finally here. The changes won’t be felt immediately – it will be years until all of the rules come into effect – but this will give businesses and member states time to prepare for the Act’s full arrival.

Simply put, the AI Act is an attempt to balance managing the risks of this technology while letting the EU benefit from its potential. It has been argued that this is the most robust and detailed form of AI regulation in the world, which could influence legislation in other parts of the world.

The Act is designed to regulate AI technology through a risk-based approach – the riskier an AI application is, the more rules that apply to it. Minimum risk systems such as spam filters and recommender systems do not face any obligations under the AI Act.

Meanwhile, high-risk applications such as AI systems used for recruitment, AI-based loan assessments or autonomous robots will face much stricter requirements, including human oversight, high-quality data sets and cybersecurity. Some systems are banned entirely, such as emotion recognition systems used at the workplace.

The AI Act also introduces rules for “general-purpose AI models”, which are highly capable AI models that are designed to perform a wide variety of tasks such as generating human-like text – think ChatGPT and similar chatbots.

Just to give you advance notice that the continual problem with the renewal of SSL certificates is due to occur on Monday 5 Aug.

Nobody in the new team has the necessary access nor knowledge of the current hardware configuration, and control remains with NCommander. The transfer of assets has been initiated but as one of the two members of the current Board is out of the country everything has temporarily ground to a halt. We cannot reconfigure the existing structure as legally we do not yet 'own' the database or existing hardware assets.

I have requested that NCommander assist by renewing the certificates but that depends upon his availability. He has been kind enough to help in the past. There is nothing more I can do at the moment.

I know that this is easily fixed - but until the formal exchange of the assets takes place we are on very shaky ground with regards to liabilities and responsibilities.

owl writes:

https://coldwar-ct.com/Home_Page_S1DO.html

The Cheshire ATT facility is an underground complex originally built in 1966. It was an underground terminal and repeater station for the hardened analog L4 carrier cable (coax) that went from Miami to New England carrying general toll circuits and critical military communication circuits. It reportedly housed an AUTOVON 4-wire switch as part of the switching fabric of that critical global military communications network. Cheshire also connected via terrestrial microwave to the major, semi-hardened AT&T Durham station which linked to many other sites including paths to New London (Navy Sub base) and to Green Hill, RI to meet a transatlantic cable to Europe.

Original Submission

Freeman writes:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/07/amazon-forced-to-recall-400k-products-that-could-kill-electrocute-people/

Amazon failed to adequately alert more than 300,000 customers to serious risks—including death and electrocution—that US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) testing found with more than 400,000 products that third parties sold on its platform.
[...]
Instead of recalling the products, which were sold between 2018 and 2021, Amazon sent messages to customers that the CPSC said "downplayed the severity" of hazards.

In these messages—"despite conclusive testing that the products were hazardous" by the CPSC—Amazon only warned customers that the products "may fail" to meet federal safety standards and only "potentially" posed risks of "burn injuries to children," "electric shock," or "exposure to potentially dangerous levels of carbon monoxide."

Typically, a distributor would be required to specifically use the word "recall" in the subject line of these kinds of messages, but Amazon dodged using that language entirely.
[...]
The CPSC has additional concerns about Amazon's "insufficient" remedies. It is particularly concerned that anyone who received the products as a gift or bought them on the secondary market likely was not informed of serious known hazards. The CPSC found that Amazon resold faulty hair dryers and carbon monoxide detectors, proving that secondary markets for these products exist.

"Amazon has made no direct attempt to reach consumers who obtained the hazardous products as gifts, hand-me-downs, donations, or on the secondary market," the CPSC said.
[...]
After the CPSC's testing, Amazon stopped allowing these products to be listed on its platform, but that and other remedies were deemed insufficient. So, over the next two months, to protect the public, Amazon must now make a plan to "provide notice of the product hazards to purchasers and the public" and "incentivize the removal of these hazardous products from consumers' homes," the CPSC ordered.
[...]
To make up for "significant deficiencies" in Amazon's initial messaging, mandatory recall notices will likely include "a description of the product (including a photograph), hazard, injuries, deaths, action being taken, and remedy," provide "relevant dates and number of units" sold, and specifically use "the word 'recall' in the heading and text," the CPSC said.

Amazon's spokesperson told Ars that "in the event of a product recall in our store, we remove impacted products promptly after receiving actionable information from recalling agencies, and we continue to seek ways to innovate on behalf of our customers."

"Our recalls alerts service also ensures our customers are notified of important product safety information fast, and the recalls process is effective and efficient," Amazon's spokesperson said.

Customers can keep up with Amazon recalls in a designated safety alert section of its website.

Original Submission

fliptop writes:

Automakers accelerating release of upgraded models, unlike typical 5-year cycle for gasoline cars; Hyundai introduces updated Ioniq 5, and BYD will soon unveil refreshed SEAL; how will this impact used car market?

In recent weeks, two refreshed car models have been launched: Hyundai's Ioniq 5 and BYD's SEAL. Both models, introduced in 2021 and 2022 respectively, are receiving significant updates ahead of the typical five-year facelift cycle. This global automotive industry standard generally involves cosmetic upgrades to keep cars relevant.

However, these updates are more than just aesthetic. The Hyundai Ioniq 5 now features a substantial battery upgrade, increasing from 72.6 kWh to 84 kWh. This enhancement boosts the top model's range from 480 km to over 550 km. Other upgrades include new wheel designs and interior materials, but the major improvements lie beneath the surface.

[...] These updates reflect a broader trend among electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers, who have announced major enhancements to existing models. Unlike mid-life upgrades in gasoline cars, which often focus on superficial enhancements like sound systems and wheel designs, EV upgrades are core technological improvements. This trend is driven by several factors.

[...] Recent trends in the used EV market show that the introduction of significantly upgraded models or superior competing models can deter buyers unless substantial discounts are offered. The new Ioniq 5's increased range and the SEAL's faster charging capabilities could negatively affect the resale value of older models.

Related:

• Auto Woes
• EU Battery Passport - Lifetime Record of BEV and Other Large Li Batteries
• "Corolla Killer:" BYD Launches $US15,000 EV in Direct Attack on Legacy Makers
• A Chinese EV Squeezed 650 Miles Of Range From Its 150 kWh Battery
• Why are All the EVs so Expensive?

Original Submission

canopic jug writes:

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has has commented on the a draft of an International Convention on Countering the Use of Information and Communications Technologies for Criminal Purposes:

EFF's Key Concerns

The Title of the Draft Convention is Misleading and Problematic: Cybercrime is a real issue but equating it with any crime involving ICTs is conceptually and practically harmful. Recent efforts at the domestic level to broaden its definition have led to the criminalization of legitimate activities, such as online criticism, religious expression, or LGBTQ support. In the proposed treaty, it encourages expansive interpretations that could lead to human rights abuses and transnational repression. Recommendation: Restrict the definition to "core cybercrimes" like technical attacks on computers, devices, data, and communications systems. Exclude human rights-protected activities from the scope of the treaty to prevent misuse and ensure these rights are not unjustly targeted due to equating cybercrime with any crime using ICT.

Expansive Scope and Over-Criminalization Risks: The draft Convention's criminalization chapter dangerously broadens its scope by including crimes like "grooming" and CSAM, not just cybercrimes. Its CSAM definition risks criminalizing consensual conduct between minors. Even worse, a proposed Protocol could add two more Ad Hoc sessions to discuss even more crimes, further expanding its broad scope. Recommendation : Criminalization must be limited to Articles 7 to 11. Narrow the scope of the CSAM article to target only intentional, malicious actions, exclude from criminalization consensual activity between minors, make exemptions for self-generated content by minors mandatory, ensure financing provisions target only those knowingly involved in illegal activities, and exclude the public interest use of such materials, such as evidence in crime investigations, and scientific or artistic materials.

The organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) already weighed in back in January with similar concerns.

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

US border agents must obtain a warrant, in New York at least, to search anyone's phone and other electronic device when traveling in or out of the country, another federal judge has ruled.

Judge Nina Morrison of the Eastern District of New York issued a decision [PDF] last week that Customs and Border Patrol ([CBP]) officials need a warrant to search citizens and non-citizens' electronics in all but the most exceptional of circumstances. 

"It is one thing for courts to give border officials the authority to briefly detain and question air travelers and search their physical belongings," Judge Morrison opined. "But it is an entirely different matter for courts to exempt those agents from the Fourth Amendment's probable cause and warrant requirements in the vastly more intrusive context of a cellphone search."

The case in question involved the detention and questioning of naturalized US citizen Kurbonali Sultanov at New York's John F. Kennedy airport in March 2022 on suspicion he was in possession of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). After being told by CBP officers that he had no choice but to give them access to his phone, Sultanov provided his password and allowed officers to search his device. 

Based on a cursory search, and comments Sultanov made to CBP, officers obtained a warrant to search two additional phones found in his possession, leading to his indictment on alleged possession of CSAM.

The judge's decision last week pertained to Sultanov's request to suppress both the contents of his phones found in the search and his comments to CBP. The former was a violation of his Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure, Sultanov argued, while entering his statements into evidence violated his fifth amendment right against self-incrimination. 

Morrison decided that, while the government was wrong to perform its initial search of Sultanov's phone without a warrant, the evidence would be allowed to stand "because the search warrant was issued and executed in good faith." 

Because Sultanov is not a native English speaker who was unable to be properly informed of his Miranda rights, Morrison decided to strike his comments from evidence. 

hubie writes:

Elimination of most Next Generation Internet funding 'incomprehensible,' says OW2 CEO Pierre-Yves Gibello:

Funding for free and open source software (FOSS) initiatives under the EU's Horizon program has mostly vanished from next year's proposal, claim advocates who are worried for the future of many ongoing projects.

Pierre-Yves Gibello, CEO of open-source consortium OW2, urged EU officials to re-evaluate the elimination of funding for the Next Generation Internet (NGI) initiative from its draft of 2025 Horizon funding programs in a recently published open letter. Gibello said the EU's focus on enterprise-level FOSS is essential as the US, China and Russia mobilize "huge public and private resources" toward capturing the personal data of consumers, which the EU's regulatory regime has decided isn't going to fly in its territory.

FOSS software, Gibello argued, is key to protecting European interests from the data-guzzling economy that's grown up elsewhere, which is why he's perplexed at the decision not to fund NGI.

"We find this transformation incomprehensible, moreover when NGI has proven efficient and economical to support free software as a whole, from the smallest to the most established initiative," Gibello said.

"Contrary to common perception, technical innovations often originate from European rather than North American programming communities, and are mostly initiated by small-scaled organizations," he added.

The NGI initiative has taken to its own defense as well, releasing an impact report on the program last week which aligns with Gibello's claims.

[...] The funding that Gibello is concerned about losing comes from the EU's massive Horizon program that kicked off in 2020 to fund technological and scientific research in the bloc, of which NGI is just a small portion.

Horizon funding has been doled out multiple times since the program began. NGI has received tens of millions of euros over the past few years under Cluster 4 of the program, which doles out cash for digital, industry and space projects.

Gibello told us that NGI is mentioned in two sections of the 2025 Horizon Europe Maine Work Programme, which is still being hammered out and isn't publicly available: Driving the evolution of the internet toward "open and interoperable Web 4.0 and virtual worlds," and support for the Virtual Worlds Partnership and Web 4.0 initiative.

"The new proposal says nothing about community building, commons, and civil rights. And has no ambition with regards to the overall internet infrastructure," Gibello said in an emailed statement. "It is just 'Horizon as usual,' with always the same large academics and companies obtaining grants - then pouring a few nuts to feed the ecosystem monkeys."

Those monkeys being "the ones who provide them their infrastructure software and collaboration tools," Gibello added.

[...] "Our French [Horizon national contact point] was told - as an unofficial answer - that because lots of budget are allocated to AI, there is not much left for Internet infrastructure," Gibello said.

Original Submission

Freeman writes:

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/07/logitech-has-an-idea-for-a-forever-mouse-thatrequires-a-subscription/

Logitech CEO Hanneke Faber recently discussed the possibility of one day selling a mouse that customers can use "forever." The executive said such a mouse isn't "necessarily super far away" and will rely on software updates, likely delivered through a subscription model.

Speaking on a July 29 episode of The Verge's Decoder podcast, Faber, who Logitech appointed as CEO in October, said that members of a "Logitech innovation center" showed her "a forever mouse" and compared it to a nice but not "super expensive" watch.
[...]
Speaking with Faber, Decoder host and Verge Editor-in-Chief Nilay Patel suggested that a "forever mouse" could cost $200. While that would be expensive compared to the typical mouse, such a product wouldn't be the first software-heavy, three-figure-price computer mouse. Still, a price tag of around $200 would limit the audience to professionals or enthusiasts.
[...]
Alternatively, the price of the mouse's hardware could be subsidized by subscription payments.

In any case, pushing out software updates would require Logitech to convince its customers to use an app to control their mouse. Such software can offer a lot of programmability and macro support, but the need to constantly run peripheral software could be a nuisance that eats up computer resources. Earlier this year, users complained when Logitech added a ChatGPT launcher to its peripherals.
[...]
Faber said subscription software updates would mean that people wouldn't need to worry about their mouse.
[...]
Having to pay a regular fee for full use of a peripheral could deter customers, though. HP is trying a similar idea with rentable printers that require a monthly fee.
[...]
Logitech already sells parts for self-repairs of some of its mice and other gadgets through iFixit. This shop could be expanded to feature more parts, offer more guides, and support more products.

A "forever mouse" would also benefit from a design with self-repairability in mind. Features like hot-swappability for mouse button switches for upgrades/repairs; easily replaceable shells, wheels, and feet; detachable cables; and customization options—all accompanied by readily available parts and guides—could go a long way toward making a mouse that fits users' long-term needs.

Original Submission

NotSanguine writes:

US Senators are asking the FTC to look into the data-selling practices of several automobile manufacturers.

From the article in Fortune Magazine (archive link):

Two U.S. senators are calling on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate automakers selling customers' driving data to brokers who package it and then sell it to insurance companies.

In a letter to FTC Chairwoman Linda[sic] Khan, Democrats Ron Wyden of Oregon, and Edward Markey of Massachusetts allege that General Motors, Hyundai, Honda and perhaps others are sharing drivers' data, such as sudden braking and acceleration.

The automakers, the senators said in a statement Friday, used deceptive tactics to manipulate customers into signing up for disclosure of the data to brokers.

After reading a report in The New York Times, Wyden's office looked into the three automakers and found that they shared data with broker Verisk Analytics. In the letter to Khan, the senators wrote that all three automakers confirmed disclosure of the data. GM also confirmed that it disclosed customer location data to two other companies that the automaker would not name, the letter said.
[...]
"If the FTC determines that these companies violated the law, we urge you to hold the companies and their senior executives accountable," the senators wrote to Khan.

GM wouldn't say how many cars' data was sent to brokers or what it was paid, according to the letter. Wyden's office found that Hyundai shared data from 1.7 million vehicles and was paid just over $1 million, while Honda got just under $26,000 for data from 97,000 vehicles, the senators said.

What say you, Soylentils? Do you own a car or cars from any of the above manufacturers? If so, were you aware of the data sales? Will this (perhaps depending on the outcome of an FTC probe, if that actually happens) affect your auto purchase decisions?

Original Submission

canopic jug writes:

An increasing number of sites are reporting about increased bandwidth being lost to AI crawlers. The documentation sharing site, Read the Docs, has an analysis of the attacks against it by AI crawlers. Several examples are included.

We have been seeing a number of bad crawlers over the past few months, but here are a couple illustrative examples of the abuse we're seeing:

73 TB in May 2024 from one crawler

One crawler downloaded 73 TB of zipped HTML files in May 2024, with almost 10 TB in a single day. This cost us over $5,000 in bandwidth charges, and we had to block the crawler. We emailed this company, reporting a bug in their crawler, and we're working with them on reimbursing us for the costs.

[...] This was a bug in their crawler that was causing it to download the same files over and over again. There was no bandwidth limiting in place, or support for Etags and Last-Modified headers which would have allowed the crawler to only download files that had changed. We have reported this issue to them, and hopefully the issue will be fixed.

Many of the bots even ignore the robots.txt file and its contents.

Original Submission

upstart writes:

The NASA rover's accidental discovery challenges what we know about the region:

For the last 10 months, NASA's curiosity has been investigating a region of Mount Sharp that is of high interest. It has signs of a violent watery past and the chemical analysis has revealed the presence of many minerals including sulfates. And as the rover moved about it accidentally cracked open a rock. And inside it saw pure sulfur crystals.

Pure sulfur had never been seen before on Mars. And while sulfates have sulfur, there is not a clear relationship between the formation of those molecules and the pure crystals. Elemental sulfur crystals form only in a narrow range of conditions. And none of those have been expected for this region.

"Finding a field of stones made of pure sulfur is like finding an oasis in the desert," Curiosity's project scientist, Ashwin Vasavada of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said in a statement. "It shouldn't be there, so now we have to explain it. Discovering strange and unexpected things is what makes planetary exploration so exciting."

The region Curiosity is exploring is known as the Gediz Vallis channel. It is a groove across Mount Sharp that has been an area of interest since long before the rover began climbing the relief in 2014. From orbit, scientists could see the presence of large mounds of debris. But the cause of them was not apparent. Was it landslides or ancient floodwaters that shifted the material along the channel?

Curiosity has been able to provide an answer. A bit of column A and a bit of column B. Rocks shifted by water are smoother and rounded. Those shifted by dry avalanches are angular and sharp. Both types of rocks are found among the mounds.

"This was not a quiet period on Mars," said Becky Williams, a scientist with the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona, and the deputy principal investigator of Curiosity's Mast Camera, or Mastcam. "There was an exciting amount of activity here. We're looking at multiple flows down the channel, including energetic floods and boulder-rich flows."

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Company after company is swallowing the hype, only to be forced into embarrassing walkbacks by anti-AI backlash:

Earlier this month, a popular lifestyle magazine introduced a new "fashion and lifestyle editor" to its huge social media following. "Reem", who on first glance looked like a twentysomething woman who understood both fashion and lifestyle, was proudly announced as an "AI enhanced team member". That is, a fake person, generated by artificial intelligence. Reem would be making product recommendations to SheerLuxe's followers – or, to put it another way, doing what SheerLuxe would otherwise pay a person to do. The reaction was entirely predictable: outrage, followed by a hastily issued apology. One suspects Reem may not become a staple of its editorial team.

This is just the latest in a long line of walkbacks of "exciting AI projects" that have been met with fury by the people they're meant to excite. The Prince Charles Cinema in Soho, London, cancelled a screening of an AI-written film in June, because its regulars vehemently objected. Lego was pressured to take down a series of AI-generated images it published on its website. Doctor Who started experimenting with generative AI, but quickly stopped after a wave of complaints. A company swallows the AI hype, thinks jumping on board will paint it as innovative, and entirely fails to understand the growing anti-AI sentiment taking hold among many of its customers.

[...] Some members of the anti-AI movement have reclaimed the name "luddites". I come from tech circles, where luddite is considered an insult – but this new movement is proud of the designation. As Brian Merchant, author of Blood in the Machine, points out, the original luddites did not immediately turn to rebellion. They sought dialogue and compromise first. The new luddites, too, seek dialogue and compromise. Most realise AI is here to stay; they demand not a reversal, but an altogether more reasonable and fair approach to its adoption. And it's easy to see how they might be more successful than their 19th-century counterparts. The apocryphal Ned Ludd did not have social media. Downtrodden workers used to be easier to ignore. The internet is the greatest tool for organising in history.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

With a unanimous 5-0 vote, the FCC says it is moving forward with plans that should make unlocking your mobile phone easier than ever. According to a new FCC announcement, the agency say it will begin crafting new rules that will require that wireless carriers unlock customers’ mobile phones within 60
days of activation.

At various times unlocking your phone was deemed downright illegal under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Things have eased some over the years; very often it’s now possible to unlock your device and change carriers if your phone is paid off and you’re no longer under contract.

But the FCC noted that the current guidelines surrounding unlocking are a mish mash of voluntary industry standards and more stringent unlocking requirements usually affixed to either merger conditions or the use of certain spectrum. The new rules should create some uniformity, and the FCC is contemplating whether they should even apply to users still under contract with their wireless carrier.

[...] The wireless industry only appears to have a few complaints about the order, suggesting it won’t be that dramatic of a shift for the industry. The industry already had to be dragged kicking and screaming out of an era where it not only tried to lock down devices, but tried to block consumer choice as it pertains to apps, software and services (remember when Verizon wouldn’t let you use competing GPS apps?).

Chiseling away at the draconian DMCA as well as merger and spectrum purchase conditions already did most of the heavy lifting, and if the FCC’s rules are well crafted, they should help finish the job.

Original Submission