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A researcher used ChatGPT to create dangerous data-stealing malwareupstart writes:The malware even escaped detection on VirusTotal:

owl writes:https://www.righto.com/2023/04/8086-microcode-string-operations.html

fliptop writes:Astronomers have detected a repeating radio signal from an exoplanet and the star that it orbits, both located 12 light-years away from Earth. The signal suggests that the Earth-size planet may have a magnetic field and perhaps even an atmosphere.

Freeman writes:https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/04/fda-details-slew-of-failures-at-plant-that-made-eye-drops-linked-to-deaths/

takyon writes:Kioxia, formerly Toshiba Memory Holdings, has demonstrated "hepta-level-cell" NAND memory:Kioxia Researchers Demo Hepta-Level Cell NAND Flash, Nearly Doubling the Capacity of QLC

hubie writes:Intricate glass designs can be made with origami and cutting techniques, which can be combined with 3D printing to make more complex shapes:

upstart writes:noyb will take immediate action to stop this illegal practice:

upstart writes:Microsoft is the latest US tech giant under investigation by Germany's competition watchdog:

upstart writes:89% of citizens want them gone – at least among the 7.46% who showed up to vote:

upstart writes:Fear also plays a part:

upstart writes:The RISC-V alternative to Raspberry Pi is almost ready to ship:

hubie writes:Using running to escape from negative experiences rather than using it to escape to positive ones may lead to exercise dependence:

upstart writes:The invasion of Ukraine supercharged the decline of the country's already struggling tech sector—and undercut its biggest success story, Yandex:You may think, as I did, that Russia's current tech woe's are as a result of their invasion of Ukraine, or perhaps the annexation of Crimea. But it seems that the real problem started back around 2011 when it decided that the population having free access to information was not a good thing and, anyway, there must be money to be made if someone can take the tech industry under their control.

upstart writes:German Police Raid DDoS-Friendly Host 'FlyHosting':

canopic jug writes:The Tor Project and Mullvad VPN have both announced collaboration on a privacy-oriented web browser. The joint browser, which is based on Firefox, has the features of the Tor Browser but operates over the Mullvad Virtual Private Network rather than Tor's onion routers. The collaboration has helped polish interface improvements and address several long standing issues.

upstart writes:Uber Eats and other food-delivery drivers will receive paid sick leave under rules approved by the Seattle City Council:

Freeman writes:https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/03/ads-are-coming-for-the-bing-ai-chatbot-as-they-come-for-all-microsoft-products/

upstart writes:Images of the previously unknown snailfish species were taken deeper than 8,000 meters, off the coast of Japan:

upstart writes:Mozilla won't abandon Microsoft's tried and tested platform anytime soon:

fliptop writes:These read like a proof of concept for replacing human writers:

Freeman writes:https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/03/ftc-chair-refused-musks-meeting-request-told-him-to-stop-delaying-investigation/

upstart writes:A620 chipset is missing features, but (mostly) not the important ones:

hubie writes:Strawberries tend to be blander and less nutritious when treated with particular pesticides:

Freeman writes:https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/04/stable-diffusion-copyright-lawsuits-could-be-a-legal-earthquake-for-ai/

upstart writes:Transparency? Redmond's heard of it:

upstart writes:The space agency's Crawler Transporter 2 has officially broken the Guinness World Record for the heaviest self-powered vehicle:

Freeman writes:https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/03/google-assistant-might-be-doomed-division-reorganizes-to-focus-on-bard/

Ometecuhtli writes:https://www.vice.com/en/article/4a3ddb/restrict-act-insanely-broad-ban-tiktok-vpns[...] The bill could have implications not just for social networks, but potentially security tools such as virtual private networks (VPNs) that consumers use to encrypt and route their traffic, one said. Although the intention of the bill is to target apps or services that pose a threat to national security, these critics worry it may have much wider implications for the First Amendment."The RESTRICT Act is a concerning distraction with insanely broad language that raises serious human and civil rights concerns," Willmary Escoto, U.S. policy analyst for digital rights organization Access Now told Motherboard in an emailed statement. [...][...] Under the RESTRICT Act, the Department of Commerce would identify information and communications technology products that a foreign adversary has any interest in, or poses an unacceptable risk to national security, the announcement reads. The bill only applies to technology linked to a "foreign adversary." Those countries include China (as well as Hong Kong); Cuba; Iran; North Korea; Russia, and Venezuela.The bill's language includes vague terms such as "desktop applications," "mobile applications," "gaming applications," "payment applications," and "web-based applications." It also targets applicable software that has more than 1 million users in the U.S."The RESTRICT Act could lead to apps and other ICT services with connections to certain foreign countries being banned in the United States. Any bill that would allow the US government to ban an online service that facilitates Americans' speech raises serious First Amendment concerns," Caitlin Vogus, deputy director of the Center for Democracy & Technology's Free Expression Project, told Motherboard in an emailed statement. "In addition, while bills like the RESTRICT Act may be motivated by legitimate privacy concerns, banning ICT services with connections to foreign countries would not necessarily help protect Americans' privacy. Those countries may still obtain data through other means, like by purchasing it from private data brokers." [...]Original SubmissionRead more of this story at SoylentNews.

upstart writes:Amazon's smart speakers may've landed the tech giant in hot water:

Freeman writes:https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/03/fearing-loss-of-control-ai-critics-call-for-6-month-pause-in-ai-development/

hubie writes:U of A expert contests popular claims about a "wood-wide web":

guest reader writes:ACM Queue magazine has an article with the title "Catch-23: The New C Standard Sets the World on Fire". This article offers opinions and analysis of a new major revision of the C language standard, C23, expected to be voted on in 2023:

upstart writes:Why sharing ebooks is good for people – and good for publishers:

ChatGPT writes:Twitter has released its content recommendation algorithm, known as "Responsible ML," to the public under an open-source license. The company says it hopes that the code will be used by other organizations to promote responsible development of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) systems. Twitter's Responsible ML system is used to make content recommendations to users, such as suggesting accounts to follow or tweets to engage with. The company says that the system is designed to promote healthy conversations on the platform and reduce the spread of misinformation.Twitter's move to open-source the algorithm comes after criticism from some quarters about the company's use of AI and ML. In particular, there have been concerns about the way that algorithms can amplify harmful content, such as hate speech or conspiracy theories. Twitter says that it has taken steps to address these concerns, such as using human reviewers to evaluate content recommendations and implementing transparency measures to give users more control over their feeds.The release of Responsible ML also comes amid wider debates about the regulation of AI and ML systems. Some experts have called for greater transparency and accountability in the development of these technologies, while others have warned about the potential risks of using algorithms to make decisions that affect people's lives.The decision to open-source Responsible ML is part of Twitter's broader efforts to promote ethical and responsible development of AI and ML systems. The company says that it will continue to work with the academic community and other organizations to advance the field of responsible ML.Submission created with ChatGPTRead more of this story at SoylentNews.

upstart writes:There once was a cosmic seed that sprouted the Milky Way galaxy. Astronomers have discovered its last surviving remnants:

upstart writes:Multi-die system or chiplet-based technology is a big bet on high-performance chip design:

"ChatGPT" (a pseudonym of one of our long-time contributors who has used ChatGPT to produce this submission) writes:Hackers exploit WordPress plugin flaw that gives full control of millions of sitesHackers have been exploiting a critical vulnerability in a popular WordPress plugin called 'Loginizer' that allows them to take full control of affected sites. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2023-27728, is a SQL injection flaw that allows attackers to insert malicious code into the site's database, giving them access to sensitive data and the ability to execute remote code. Loginizer is installed on millions of WordPress sites, and the vulnerability affects all versions up to and including 1.6.5. The plugin is designed to provide security features such as two-factor authentication and brute-force protection.Security researchers have identified multiple hacking groups actively exploiting the vulnerability in recent weeks. The attackers are scanning the internet for WordPress sites that have the vulnerable plugin installed and are using automated tools to inject malicious code into the site's database. Once a site is compromised, the attackers can use it for various malicious purposes, such as stealing user data or distributing malware.The plugin's developers have released a patch for the vulnerability, and WordPress site owners are advised to update their installations immediately. However, given the widespread use of the plugin, it is likely that many sites remain vulnerable to exploitation. Loginizer is just one of many WordPress plugins that have been found to have security flaws in recent years, highlighting the importance of regular security updates and monitoring for site owners.Original SubmissionRead more of this story at SoylentNews.

canopic jug writes:The videos from Southern California Linux Expo 20x (SCaLE 20X) are now online.(Alternative via Invidious and its mirrors). SCaLE 20X took place in Pasadena, California from Thursday, March 9 through Sunday, March 12, 2023.The keynote speakers were Arun Gupta, Dr. Kitty Yeung, and Ken Thompson. There were nearly 100 sessions covering everything from open government to embedded, security, and FOSS@HOME to name only a few. Ceph, DevOps LA, Kubernetes and PostgreSQL also had presences at the event. Ken Thompson's keynote covered several topics including a long running project of his regarding music playback, which now includes a Raspberry Pi powered jukebox with tens of thousands of albums available. For the older material, the jukebox does playback through a player piano.Original SubmissionRead more of this story at SoylentNews.

upstart writes:Crescent Space will be 'well positioned' to get a piece of NASA's cash pie, no contract yet:

Freeman writes:https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/03/elemental-music-interactive-periodic-table-turns-he-fe-ca-into-do-re-mi/

Freeman writes:

quietus writes:If you still want your Mao memorabilia, you better hurry down to Tiananmen Square, Beijing, while you still have the chance.In China, the State Council is somewhat comparable to the Cabinet. Headed by the Prime Minister and consisting of the heads of the various Ministries (Defense, Commerce, Education, Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Justice, Civil Affairs, State Security, Public Security and so on), it handles the day-to-day running of the country while formulating economic policy.Its operational procedures are described in a document, conveniently titled "Working Procedures for the State Council". On March 18, an updated version of that document was published, and it has a couple of changes.First off, the State Council now has to "report any major decisions, major events and important situations" to the Central Committee "in a timely manner." Previous edition sentences like "administration according to law, seeking truth from facts, democracy, openness, pragmatism and integrity" have been scrapped, as has the requirement for the State Council "to correct illegal or inappropriate administrative actions", or to "guide and supervise" the bureaucracy. In other words, its wings have been seriously clipped.Secondly, any and all references to Marxism/Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, the thought of Deng Xiaoping and the ideologies of former presidents Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao are now verboten. Only references to Xi Jinping Thought are allowed, as that is "the essence of Chinese culture and the spirit of the times".To drive the point home, the Central Committee of the CCP launched another nationwide disciplinary campaign among its 96 million members.This round will check them for loyalty to supreme leader Xi Jinping, weeding out "black sheep" and "two-faced" officials.Original SubmissionRead more of this story at SoylentNews.

Freeman writes:https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/03/judge-finds-google-destroyed-evidence-and-repeatedly-gave-false-info-to-court/

upstart writes:AI image generator Midjourney has stopped free trials of its software:

upstart writes:Your victim status won't last long if your response is nonexistent:

upstart writes:Tech giants want to build massive, "hyperscale" data centers in the Netherlands, but a popular political movement wants them stopped:

upstart writes:Isar Aerospace recently secured $165 million in funding to gear up for the inaugural launch of its Spectrum rocket:

upstart writes:Food safety authorities in the US and Singapore have already approved synthetic meat and the EU is also expected to:

upstart writes:A rare 'ultramassive' black hole, 30 billion times the mass of the Sun, is lurking in the cosmos:

upstart writes:Netflix has been releasing mobile video games since 2021, but this would be the company's first attempt at TV-based video games: