canopic jug writes:Multiple sites are covering H.R.7521 - Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act which aims to ban Bytedance's Tiktok, a platform for influence and surveillance, from the US.
wirelessduck writes:Google's swanky new "Bay View" campus apparently has a major problem: bad Wi-Fi. Reuters reports that Google's first self-designed office building has "been plagued for months by inoperable or, at best, spotty Wi-Fi, according to six people familiar with the matter." A Google spokesperson confirmed the problems and said the company is working on fixing them.Bay View opened in May 2022. At launch, Google's VP of Real Estate & Workplace Services, David Radcliffe, said the site "marks the first time we developed one of our own major campuses, and the process gave us the chance to rethink the very idea of an office." The result is a wild tent-like structure with a striking roofline made up of swooping square sections. Of course, it's all made of metal and glass, but the roof shape looks like squares of cloth held up by poles-each square section has high points on the four corners and sags down in the middle. The roof is covered in solar cells and collects rainwater while also letting in natural light, and Google calls it the "Gradient Canopy."
[We have had several complaints recently (polite ones, not a problem) regarding the number of AI stories that we are printing. I agree, but that reflects the number of submissions that we receive on the subject. So I have compiled a small selection of AI stories into one and you can read them or ignore them as you wish. If you are making a comment please make it clear exactly which story you are referring to unless your comment is generic. The submitters each receive the normal karma for a submission. JR]Image-scraping Midjourney bans rival AI firm for scraping imagesFreeman writes:https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/03/in-ironic-twist-midjourney-bans-rival-ai-firm-employees-for-scraping-its-image-data/
hubie writes:Modern voice preferences among wide cross-cultural sample clarifies evolutionary origins, with lower pitches seen as more attractive and formidable:
anubi writes:It's well known, Americans don't trust Chinese IT hardware. Well, guess what?They don't trust ours either!https://www.wsj.com/world/china/china-technology-software-delete-america-2b8ea89fCan you blame them? It's got to the point I trust an Arduino - that I personally program - far more than anything out there.I believe computers also follow the "Peter Principle". Each new update becomes more and more encrusted with layers of fix code that no matter how fast the CPU runs, or how much memory one has, the "attack surface" grows so immense that deliberately hiding secret backdoors and "sleeper cell" code makes vetting trusted code nearly impossible.https://html.duckduckgo.com/html?q=peter%20principleSo the Chinese don't trust American IT. Gee, I don't trust it either!I am sure the Chinese are really fed up with all the nebulous terms, conditions, disclaimers, hold harmless, copyright violation threats, and the risk of being given the Roku treatment, with contracts written in such a manner they can be changed after payment clears, enforced by code, then forcing whatever terms to continue or consider the investment in the proprietary technology a sunk cost.If you need it done right, learn to do it yourself, or forever be under the control of someone else who does.Another thing ... If you are strong enough, you can dictate the rules of the game tooOriginal SubmissionRead more of this story at SoylentNews.
fliptop writes:The ubiquitous phone feature has powered a surveillance technique used to catch suspected kidnappers and pedophiles. It's also fueled fears of a 'privacy nightmare' at a time when abortion is criminalized:
canopic jug writes:Bruce Perens is working on licensing for a new, post-Open Source era to take open source licensing past the apparent stalling point it has reached on its way towards software freedom. As he noted earlier, current licenses are not meeting that goal and businesses have either found loophole or just plain been allowed to ignore the licensing. A move more towards a contract is needed.