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Submission + - ISPs Can Charge Extra For Fast Gaming Under FCC's Internet Rules, Critics Say (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Some net neutrality proponents are worried that soon-to-be-approved Federal Communications Commission rules will allow harmful fast lanes because the plan doesn't explicitly ban "positive" discrimination. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel's proposed rules for Internet service providers would prohibit blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization. The rules mirror the ones imposed by the FCC during the Obama era and repealed during Trump's presidency. But some advocates are criticizing a decision to let Internet service providers speed up certain types of applications as long as application providers don't have to pay for special treatment. Stanford Law Professor Barbara van Schewick, who has consistently argued for stricter net neutrality rules, wrote in a blog post on Thursday that "harmful 5G fast lanes are coming."

"T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon are all testing ways to create these 5G fast lanes for apps such as video conferencing, games, and video where the ISP chooses and controls what gets boosted," van Schewick wrote. "They use a technical feature in 5G called network slicing, where part of their radio spectrum gets used as a special lane for the chosen app or apps, separated from the usual Internet traffic. The FCC’s draft order opens the door to these fast lanes, so long as the app provider isn’t charged for them." In an FCC filing yesterday, AT&T said that carriers will use network slicing "to better meet the needs of particular business applications and consumer preferences than they could over a best-efforts network that generally treats all traffic the same."

Van Schewick warns that carriers could charge consumers more for plans that speed up specific types of content. For example, a mobile operator could offer a basic plan alongside more expensive tiers that boost certain online games or a tier that boosts services like YouTube and TikTok. Ericsson, a telecommunications vendor that sells equipment to carriers including AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile, has pushed for exactly this type of service. In a report on how network slicing can be used commercially, Ericsson said that "many gamers are willing to pay for enhanced gaming experiences" and would "pay up to $10.99 more for a guaranteed gaming experience on top of their 5G monthly subscription."

Submission + - "Crescendo" method can jailbreak LLMs using seemingly benign prompts (scmagazine.com)

Submitted by spatwei
spatwei writes: Microsoft has discovered a new method to jailbreak large language model (LLM) artificial intelligence (AI) tools and shared its ongoing efforts to improve LLM safety and security in a blog post Thursday.

Microsoft first revealed the “Crescendo” LLM jailbreak method in a paper published April 2, which describes how an attacker could send a series of seemingly benign prompts to gradually lead a chatbot, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, Meta’s LlaMA or Anthropic’s Claude, to produce an output that would normally be filtered and refused by the LLM model.

For example, rather than asking the chatbot how to make a Molotov cocktail, the attacker could first ask about the history of Molotov cocktails and then, referencing the LLM’s previous outputs, follow up with questions about how they were made in the past.

The Microsoft researchers reported that a successful attack could usually be completed in a chain of fewer than 10 interaction turns and some versions of the attack had a 100% success rate against the tested models. For example, when the attack is automated using a method the researchers called “Crescendomation,” which leverages another LLM to generate and refine the jailbreak prompts, it achieved a 100% success convincing GPT 3.5, GPT-4, Gemini-Pro and LLaMA-2 70b to produce election-related misinformation and profanity-laced rants.

Submission + - NASA scraps Mars sample return mission due to cost (bbc.com)

Submitted by SonicSpike
SonicSpike writes: The US space agency says the current mission design can't return the samples before 2040 on the existing funds and the more realistic $11bn (£9bn) needed to make it happen is not sustainable.

Nasa is going to canvas for cheaper, faster "out of the box" ideas.

It hopes to have a solution on the drawing board later in the year.

Returning rock samples from Mars is regarded as the single most important priority in planetary exploration, and has been for decades.

Just as the Moon rocks brought home by Apollo astronauts revolutionised our understanding of early Solar System history, so materials from the Red Planet are likely to recast our thinking on the possibilities for life beyond Earth.

But Nasa now acknowledges the way it's going about achieving the samples' return is simply unrealistic in the present fiscal environment.

"The bottom line is that $11bn is too expensive, and not returning samples until 2040 is unacceptably too long," Nasa administrator Bill Nelson told reporters in a Monday teleconference.

The former US senator said he would not allow other agency science missions to be "cannibalised" by the Mars project.

Submission + - SPAM: 3.8V supercapacitor helps smart water meters Precise operation

Submitted by Amydoelly
Amydoelly writes: The 3.8V leaded supercapacitor launched by YMIN has the advantages of long life, ultra-low self-discharge rate and maintenance-free, perfecting smart water meters to achieve remote monitoring and management through Internet of Things technology, with high-precision measurement, remote monitoring, and automatic meter reading. , abnormal alarm, water use analysis, water saving reminder and other functions. The water meter industry has a development history of more than 100 years, and its products have also developed from all-mechanical structures to today's complete range of water metering instrumentation product series with diverse functions, including mechanical water meters, smart meters, etc. At present, the global annual total demand for water meters is about hundreds of millions. The main producing countries include Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Poland, the Czech Republic, China, Japan, the United States, etc. China has become one of the world's largest water meter manufacturing countries. In recent years, the world's demand for water meters has continued to grow. In addition to the economically developed countries that have experienced a steady and moderate increase, the demand for water meters has increased significantly in a large number of developing countries, such as some countries in South America, South Africa, some Asian countries, Russia and its neighboring countries. The world is currently facing an increasing energy crisis. Water resources are an important part of the global ecosystem and an important element for the survival of animals and plants. How to effectively use water and how to achieve precise control in daily life and not waste water resources have become the most important issues. In recent years, in the development process of our products such as smart water meters, how to achieve accurate readings and remote accurate control has become the most important issue. Smart water meters often need to save data, perform measurements, and implement remote communication functions without external power. In order to comply with the current market development trend of smart water meters, Shanghai Yongming Electronics Co., Ltd. has launched a 3.8V lead-type supercapacitor product. Its low-temperature resistance, long life, ultra-low self-discharge rate, and maintenance-free product features make it a high-performance Energy-density energy storage components are connected in parallel with lithium batteries in the NB-LOT water meter, which can compensate for the inability of lithium batteries to provide instantaneous high-power output. At the same time, it can prevent battery passivation problems and ensure that smart water meters can complete data upload in a short time. or system maintenance and other tasks. Lead type 3.8V supercapacitor series launched by Shanghai Yongming Electronics Co., Ltd. SLA 40F 3.8V dimension8x20mm SLR 40F 3.8V dimension10x14mm SLA 80F 3.8V dimension10x20mm SLR 50F 3.8V [spam URL stripped] As one of the best capacitor manufacturers in China, Shanghai Yongming Electronics Co., Ltd. develops and manufactures 3.8V lead-type supercapacitors specifically for the smart water meter market. It has the following advantages; 01 Low temperature resistance: Supercapacitors have a wide operating temperature range, such as -40 to +70, which enables Yongming 3.8V supercapacitors to maintain stable operation in various harsh environments. It is especially suitable for smart water meters in cold areas to ensure that it operates at low temperatures. It can still provide normal power supply and maintain metering and data transmission functions under certain conditions. 02Long life: Compared with traditional lithium batteries, supercapacitors have extremely long service life and cycle stability due to their non-chemical reaction energy storage principle. Yongming supercapacitors are known for their long life. When applied to smart water meters, they can significantly reduce maintenance costs and potential environmental impacts caused by battery replacement. 03Ultra-low self-discharge rate: Yongming supercapacitors have extremely low self-discharge performance and static power consumption as low as 1-2uA, ensuring low static power consumption of the entire machine and longer battery life. 04Maintenance-free: In smart water meters, supercapacitors are used in parallel with batteries. By utilizing the supercapacitor's powerful discharge capacity, ultra-high power density, good low-temperature characteristics, and extremely low self-discharge performance, the parallel use with lithium-ion batteries becomes NB-LOT. The best combination of water meters. YMIN 3.8V supercapacitors are widely used in the design of smart water meters due to their low temperature resistance, long life, ultra-low self-discharge and maintenance-free advantages, providing reliable energy solutions for smart water systems and ensuring that water meters operate without human intervention. Provide long-term and stable metering and remote communication services in a guarded environment. About Shanghai Yongming Electronic Co.,Ltd Shanghai Yongming Electronic Co. Ltd is a leading manufacturer in providing and selling diversified Aluminum Electrolytic Capacitors, which includes Aluminum Electrolytic Capacitors (Radial Leaded Type, SMD Type, Snap-In Type, and Screw Terminal Type), Conductive Polymer Aluminum Solid Electrolytic Capacitors, Conductive Polymer Hybrid Aluminum Solid Electrolytic Capacitors, MLPCs, MLCC and super capacitors.
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Submission + - Framework's software and firmware have been a mess. (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by snikulin
snikulin writes:

"Driver bundles remain un-updated for years after their initial release. BIOS updates go through long and confusing beta processes, keeping users from getting feature improvements, bug fixes, and security updates. In its community support forums, Framework employees, including founder and CEO Nirav Patel, have acknowledged these issues and promised fixes but have remained inconsistent and vague about actual timelines."

As a recent Framework 13/AMD owner, I can confirm that it does not sleep properly on a default Windows 11 install. When I close the lid in the evening, the battery is dead the next morning. It's interesting to hear from Linux Sebastian (LTT) on the topic because he is a stakeholder in Framework.

Submission + - Tesla lays off 'more than 10%' of its global workforce (electrek.co)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: “We don’t know which specific teams will be most or least affected by Tesla’s layoffs, but two well-known Tesla executives are now missing the “Tesla-affiliated” badge on twitter – Drew Baglino and Rohan Patel.”

Submission + - Alleged Cryptojacking Scheme Consumed $3.5 Million of Stolen Computing (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Federal prosecutors indicted a Nebraska man on charges he perpetrated a cryptojacking scheme that defrauded two cloud providers—one based in Seattle and the other in Redmond, Washington—out of $3.5 million. The indictment, filed in US District Court for the Eastern District of New York and unsealed on Monday, charges Charles O. Parks III—45 of Omaha, Nebraska—with wire fraud, money laundering, and engaging in unlawful monetary transactions in connection with the scheme. Parks has yet to enter a plea and is scheduled to make an initial appearance in federal court in Omaha on Tuesday. Parks was arrested last Friday. Prosecutors allege that Parks defrauded “two well-known providers of cloud computing services” of more than $3.5 million in computing resources to mine cryptocurrency. The indictment says the activity was in furtherance of a cryptojacking scheme, a term for crimes that generate digital coin through the acquisition of computing resources and electricity of others through fraud, hacking, or other illegal means.

Details laid out in the indictment underscore the failed economics involved in the mining of most cryptocurrencies. The $3.5 million of computing resources yielded roughly $1 million worth of cryptocurrency. In the process, massive amounts of energy were consumed. [...] Prosecutors didn’t say precisely how Parks was able to trick the providers into giving him elevated services, deferring unpaid payments, or failing to discover the allegedly fraudulent behavior. They also didn’t identify either of the cloud providers by name. Based on the details, however, they are almost certainly Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. If convicted on all charges, Parks faces as much as 30 years in prison.

Submission + - California Exceeds 100% of Energy Demand With Renewables Over a Record 30 Days (electrek.co)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: In a major clean energy benchmark, wind, solar, and hydro exceeded 100% of demand on California’s main grid for 30 of the past 38 days. Stanford University professor of civil and environmental engineering Mark Z. Jacobson has been tracking California’s renewables performance, and he shares his findings on Twitter (X) when the state breaks records.

Jacobson notes that supply exceeds demand for “0.25-6 h per day,” and that’s an important fact. The continuity lies not in renewables running the grid for the entire day but in the fact that it’s happening on a consistent daily basis, which has never been achieved before. On April 2, the California Independent System Operator (ISO) recommended 26 new transmission projects worth $6.1 billion, with a big number being devoted to offshore wind. In response, Jacobson predicted on April 4 that California will entirely be on renewables and battery storage 24/7 by 2035.

Submission + - The IRS's New Tax Software: Rave Reviews, But Low Turnout (washingtonpost.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The Biden administration marked the close of tax season Monday by announcing it had met a modest goal of getting at least 100,000 taxpayers to file through the Internal Revenue Service’s new tax software, Direct File — an alternative to commercial tax preparers. Although the government had billed Direct File as a small-scale pilot, it still represents one of the most significant experiments in tax filing in decades — a free platform letting Americans file online directly to the government. Monday’s announcement aside, though, Direct File’s success has proven highly subjective.

By and large, people who tried the Direct File software — which looks a lot like TurboTax or other commercial tax software, with its question-and-answer format — gave it rave reviews. “Against all odds, the government has created an actually good piece of technology,” a writer for the Atlantic marveled, describing himself as “giddy” as he used the website to chat live with a helpful IRS employee. The Post’s Tech Friend columnist Shira Ovide called it “visible proof that government websites don’t have to stink.” Online, people tweeted praise after filing their taxes, like the user who called it the “easiest tax experience of my life.”

While the users might be a happy group, however, there weren’t many of them compared to other tax filing options — and their positive reviews likely won’t budge the opposition that Direct File has faced from tax software companies and Republicans from the outset. These headwinds will likely continue if the IRS wants to renew it for another tax season. The program opened to the public midway through tax season, when many low-income filers had already claimed their refunds — and was restricted to taxpayers in 12 states, with only four types of income (wages, interest, Social Security and unemployment). But it gained popularity as tax season went on: The Treasury Department said more than half of the total users of Direct File completed their returns during the last week.

Submission + - A D&D Actual Play Show Is Going To Sell Out Madison Square Garden (techcrunch.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Dropout’s Dungeons & Dragons actual play show, Dimension 20, is getting pretty close to selling out a 19,000-seat venue just hours after ticket sales opened to the general public. To the uninitiated, it may seem absurd to go to a massive sports arena and watch people play D&D. As one Redditor commented, "This boggles my mind. When I was playing D&D in the early eighties, I would have never believed that there was a future where people would watch live D&D at Madison Square Garden. It’s incomprehensible to me.” It is indeed bizarre, albeit fun. But in this monumental moment for the actual play genre, the triumph is eclipsed by the biggest frustration that links sports, music and now D&D fans: Ticketmaster. As Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan said amid the Taylor Swift-Ticketmaster scandal, the company’s failures “ended up converting more Gen Zers into anti-monopolists overnight than anything [she] could have done.”

In the case of Taylor Swift’s Eras tour, fans were upset because demand was so high that Ticketmaster’s system couldn’t handle the traffic. For Dimension 20, the culprit is Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing. As more people try to buy tickets, the price of the tickets increase. About an hour after the Madison Square Garden tickets went on sale, the few dozen upper bowl tickets left were $800. Three hours after, these tickets are around $330, which is still very inflated. “Went onto the presale, tickets were $500+ for the worst ones, we assumed they were scalpers and that the actual sale today would have normal priced tickets $2000 for the lower bowl!? I know it’s not dropout setting the price but wow is that a LOT of cash,” a Redditor posted. And as a commenter astutely pointed out, thanks to dynamic pricing, Ticketmaster itself is actually the scalper. Of course, Dimension 20 fans are frustrated, especially since the show’s content is overtly anti-capitalist. Despite the pricing debacle, the demand for the show is a great sign for both actual play shows and the creator economy at large.

Submission + - Trillions of tons of carbon locked in soil left out of environmental models (theconversation.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Trillions of tonnes of carbon locked in soil has been left out of environmental models – and it’s on the move

We all know about the carbon in Earth’s atmosphere, and probably about the carbon contained in plants and the bodies of animals. But a substantial fraction of the carbon in the planet’s land-based ecosystems is held in something so obvious we might overlook it: soil.

Even if we do think about carbon in soil, we are usually thinking of carbon in organic matter in the soil, such as plant litter, bacteria or animal waste. However, the inorganic, mineral component of soil also contains carbon.

In a new study just published in Science, we show there is much more soil inorganic carbon than anybody realised – and that it may be a surprisingly big player in Earth’s carbon cycle.

Submission + - The US Government Has a Microsoft Problem (archive.is) 2

Submitted by echo123
echo123 writes: Microsoft has stumbled through a series of major cybersecurity failures over the past few years. Experts say the US government’s reliance on its systems means the company continues to get a free pass.

Submission + - Fallout is actually good! (youtube.com) 1

Submitted by christoban
christoban writes: OK, Amazon's Fallout is actually quite good. It's only a little woke, and it sticks to the the feel and ethos of the game quite well.

There is a little reconning, and a tacked on, chemistry-free love story, but the guys who ruined Rings of Power somehow did this one right! It's faithful to the ethos, characters are complex, and no Mary Sues. Only one actor kind of sucks, and only one obligatory sexually ambiguous person (who gets called 'they' since in the wasteland apparently they still respect pronouns!), but they're a pretty good character!

RottenTomatoes.com has it at 88% audience and 94% critics.

Ignore the idiots on the far right. Even Critical Drinker really likes it.

Submission + - SPAM: The Best 5 Desktop Computers in 2024

Submitted by vrstechnologiesllc
vrstechnologiesllc writes: Discover the ultimate computing experience with VRS Technologies LLC's Desktop Rental Dubai range, showcasing the top 5 desktop computers of 2024. Enhance your workflow with the latest technology, designed to supercharge productivity. Reach out to us at +971-55-51827418 and upgrade your workspace now!
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