Geekish

Anyone who works as a freelancer these days has to be at least a bit familiar with techie things. But it isn’t just that. When I was a kid and those vaguely SF puppet shows were on the television and all the other kids wanted to be Greg Gogetem or Steve Savetheuniverse, I wanted to be the guy in a white coat and glasses called Doc or Brains. Here are some technology-related feeds I find useful and/or entertaining.

Slashdot » Despite Initial Claims, AMD Confirms Ryzen 8000G APUs Don't Support ECC RAM

Saturday 17 February 17:34:00 UTC 2024

Slashdot reader ffkom shared this report from Tom's Hardware: When AMD formally introduced its Ryzen 8000G-series accelerated processing units for desktops in early January, the company mentioned that they supported ECC memory capability. Since then, the company has quietly removed mention of the technology from its website, as noted by Reddit users. We asked AMD to clarify the situation and … [Link]

Slashdot » Microsoft President: 'You Can't Believe Every Video You See or Audio You Hear'

Saturday 17 February 16:34:00 UTC 2024

"We're currently witnessing a rapid expansion in the abuse of these new AI tools by bad actors," writes Microsoft VP Brad Smith, "including through deepfakes based on AI-generated video, audio, and images. "This trend poses new threats for elections, financial fraud, harassment through nonconsensual pornography, and the next generation of cyber bullying." Microsoft found its own tools being used in … [Link]

Slashdot » Will 'Precision Agriculture' Be Harmful to Farmers?

Saturday 17 February 15:34:00 UTC 2024

Modern U.S. farming is being transformed by precision agriculture, writes Paul Roberts, the founder of securepairs.org and Editor in Chief at Security Ledger. Theres autonomous tractors and "smart spraying" systems that use AI-powered cameras to identify weeds, just for starters. "Among the critical components of precision agriculture: Internet- and GPS connected agricultural equipment, highly accurate remote sensors, 'big data' analytics … [Link]

Slashdot » SoftBank's Son Seeks To Build a $100 Billion AI Chip Venture

Saturday 17 February 13:00:00 UTC 2024

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: SoftBank Group Chief Executive Officer Masayoshi Son is looking to raise up to $100 billion for a chip venture that will rival Nvidia, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing people with knowledge of the matter. The project, code named Izanagi, will supply semiconductors essential for artificial intelligence (AI), the report added. The … [Link]

Slashdot » Zeus, IcedID Malware Kingpin Faces 40 Years In Prison

Saturday 17 February 10:00:00 UTC 2024

Connor Jones reports via The Register: A Ukrainian cybercrime kingpin who ran some of the most pervasive malware operations faces 40 years in prison after spending nearly a decade on the FBI's Cyber Most Wanted List. Vyacheslav Igorevich Penchukov, 37, pleaded guilty this week in the US to two charges related to his leadership role in both the Zeus and … [Link]

Slashdot » Scientists Discover Water On Surface of an Asteroid

Saturday 17 February 7:00:00 UTC 2024

For the first time, scientists say they've detected water molecules on the surface of an asteroid. Space.com reports: Scientists studied four silicate-rich asteroids using data gathered by the now-retired Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), a telescope-outfitted plane operated by NASA and the German Aerospace Center. Observations by SOFIA's Faint Object InfraRed Camera (FORCAST) instrument showed that two of the … [Link]

Slashdot » California Bill Wants To Scrap Environmental Reviews To Save Downtown San Francisco

Saturday 17 February 3:30:00 UTC 2024

An anonymous reader quotes a report from the San Francisco Chronicle: San Francisco's leaders have spent the past few years desperately trying to figure out how to deal with a glut of empty offices, shuttered retail and public safety concerns plaguing the city's once vibrant downtown. Now, a California lawmaker wants to try a sweeping plan to revive the city's … [Link]

New Scientist – News » Realism of OpenAI’s Sora video generator raises security concerns

Saturday 17 February 2:30:28 UTC 2024

The latest AI model capable of converting text into video is attracting praise from some AI researchers, while also raising concerns about the risks of video deepfakes during global elections in 2024 [Link]

Slashdot » Scientists Propose AI Apocalypse Kill Switches

Saturday 17 February 2:02:00 UTC 2024

A paper (PDF) from researchers at the University of Cambridge, supported by voices from numerous academic institutions including OpenAI, proposes remote kill switches and lockouts as methods to mitigate risks associated with advanced AI technologies. It also recommends tracking AI chip sales globally. The Register reports: The paper highlights numerous ways policymakers might approach AI hardware regulation. Many of the … [Link]

Slashdot » New Bill Would Let Defendants Inspect Algorithms Used Against Them In Court

Saturday 17 February 1:25:00 UTC 2024

Lauren Feiner reports via The Verge: Reps. Mark Takano (D-CA) and Dwight Evans (D-PA) reintroduced the Justice in Forensic Algorithms Act on Thursday, which would allow defendants to access the source code of software used to analyze evidence in their criminal proceedings. It would also require the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to create testing standards for forensic … [Link]

Slashdot » Apple Readies AI Tool To Rival Microsoft's GitHub Copilot

Saturday 17 February 0:45:00 UTC 2024

According to Bloomberg (paywalled), Apple plans to release a generative AI tool for iOS app developers as early as this year. Insider reports: The tech giant is working on a tool that will use artificial intelligence to write code as part of its plans to expand the capabilities of Xcode, the company's main programming software. The revamped system will compete … [Link]

Slashdot » New 'Gold Pickaxe' Android, iOS Malware Steals Your Face For Fraud

Saturday 17 February 0:02:00 UTC 2024

An anonymous reader quotes a report from BleepingComputer: A new iOS and Android trojan named 'GoldPickaxe' employs a social engineering scheme to trick victims into scanning their faces and ID documents, which are believed to be used to generate deepfakes for unauthorized banking access. The new malware, spotted by Group-IB, is part of a malware suite developed by the Chinese … [Link]

John Gordon Ross

A Man for All Reasons