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Submission Summary: 0 pending, 110 declined, 49 accepted (159 total, 30.82% accepted)

Submission + - Defense AI models 'a risk to life' alleges spurned tech firm (theregister.com)

Dotnaught writes: Danny Coleman, CEO of AI firm Chatterbox Labs, says the US government accused him of blackmail for challenging the withdrawal of a responsible AI contract and the fitness of the Defense Department's Algorithmic Warfare models. "The lies, deceit, and contract cover-ups are endless at the US DoD even when the subject is AI safety," Coleman claims. "It's in the public interest to understand why AI safety is non-existent."

Submission + - Privacy advocate challenges YouTube's ad blocking detection scripts under EU law (theregister.com)

Dotnaught writes: Privacy advocate Alexander Hanff has filed a complaint with the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) challenging YouTube's use of JavaScript code to detect the presence of ad blocking extensions in the browsers of website visitors. He claims that under Europe's ePrivacy Directive, YouTube needs to ask permission to run its detection script because it's not technically necessary. If the DPC agrees, it would be a major win for user privacy.

Submission + - Google is working on Blink-based iOS browser, contrary to Apple's WebKit rule (theregister.com)

Dotnaught writes: Google's Chromium developers have begun work on an experimental web browser for Apple's iOS using the search giant's Blink engine. That's unexpected because the current version of Chrome for iOS uses Apple's WebKit rendering engine under the hood. Apple requires every iOS browser to use WebKit, per its App Store Guidelines. Google insists this is an experiment and isn't intended for release. But the stripped-down, Blink-based browser could be preparation for European competition rules that look like they will require Apple to stop requiring that other browser makers use its WebKit engine.

Submission + - Drone maker Lily faked video, sued for false advertising (theregister.co.uk)

Dotnaught writes: Lily Robotics says its decision on Thursday to shut down and return pre-order payments for a never-delivered drone, which came on the same day that San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón charged the company with false advertising and misleading business practices, was purely coincidental.
Apple

Submission + - Steve Jobs Weighs In On Section 3.3.1 (taoeffect.com)

Dotnaught writes: Greg Slepak, founder of software company Tao Effect, wrote Apple CEO Steve Jobs to complain about Apple's mandate that iPhone applications be originally written in C/C++/Objective-C. Job's response was to endorse a post by John Gruber on the Daring Fireball blog. Jobs called it "very insightful," suggesting Gruber's prediction that third-party iPhone development tools are out might be right. Jobs sent a second reply that also doesn't bode well for third-party iPhone development tools: "We’ve been there before, and intermediate layers between the platform and the developer ultimately produces sub-standard apps and hinders the progress of the platform."

Submission + - Memory Management Technique Makes Apps 20% Faster (informationweek.com)

Dotnaught writes: A paper to be presented later this month at the IEEE International Parallel and Distributed Processing Symposium in Atlanta, Georgia, describes a new approach to memory management that allows software applications to run up to 20% faster on multicore processors. Yan Solihin, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at NCSU and co-author of the paper, says that using the technique is just a matter of linking to a library in a program that makes heavy use of memory allocation.

Submission + - Photoshop 1.0 Recreated On iPhone (anscamobile.com) 2

Dotnaught writes: Photoshop co-creator Russell Brown asked Ansca Mobile to re-create Photoshop 1.0, originally introduced in 1990, for the iPhone. The resulting app, created in three days using the Corona SDK, was distributed to 50 attendees of an event celebrating Photoshop's 20th anniversary. Programmer Evan Kirchhoff in a blog post explains that Ansca took the project on to prove its claims about how Corona makes iPhone development faster.
Apple

Submission + - Apple's Change Of Heart (anscamobile.com)

Dotnaught writes: In a blog post, Walter Luh, co-founder of Ansca Mobile and a former employee of both Apple and Adobe, recounts how Apple once promoted Flash on the iPhone then changed its mind because Flash didn't provide the optimal user experience. "I think that Apple came to the same conclusion I’ve come to — namely that Flash has its strengths, but not when it comes to creating insanely great mobile experiences," he writes. Luh makes the case for mobile development using the Corona SDK, a Lua-based programming environment that strives to recapture the simplicity of early versions of Flash.
The Internet

Submission + - CBS Interactive Sued For Distributing Green Dam (informationweek.com)

Dotnaught writes: Solid Oak Software, maker of Internet filter CYBERsitter, on Monday filed a $1.2 million copyright infringement lawsuit against CBS Interactive's ZDNet China for distributing the Green Dam Internet filtering software. Green Dam was going to be mandatory on all PCs in China starting in July, but widespread criticism, including reports of stolen code, forced the Chinese government to reconsider. The lawsuit, if it succeeds, could force companies to give more thought to the risks of complying with mandates from foreign governments that violate US laws.
Security

Submission + - Sony Begins Shipping PCs With Green Dam In China (informationweek.com)

Dotnaught writes: "Sony is now shipping computers in China with Green Dam installed, in advance of the Chinese government's July 1 deadline. But the company is disclaiming responsibility for any damage caused by the Web filtering software. Documents posted by Hong Kong-based media studies professor Rebecca MacKinnon also suggest that the Chinese government is considering similar filtering requirements for mobile phones."
Mozilla

Submission + - Adblock Plus Maker Proposes Change To Help Sites (informationweek.com) 1

Dotnaught writes: "Wladimir Palant, maker of the Firefox extension Adblock Plus, on Monday proposed a change in his software that would allow publishers, with the consent of Adblock Plus users, to prevent their ads from being blocked. Palant suggested altering his software to recognize a specific meta tag as a signal to bring up an in-line dialog box noting the site publisher's desire to prevent ad blocking. The user would then have to choose to respect that wish or not."
Cellphones

Submission + - Cell Phone Use Study Sees Increased Cancer Risk (informationweek.com)

Dotnaught writes: "Frequent cell phone users face a 50% greater risk of developing tumors of the parotid gland than those who don't use cell phones, according to a recently published study. The study, led by Tel Aviv University epidemiologist Dr. Siegal Sadetzki, appeared last December in the American Journal of Epidemiology. Even with the increased risk, however, you're still about three times more likely to die in a car crash in a given year."
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft Pushes Copyright Education Curriculum (informationweek.com)

Dotnaught writes: "Backed by a study that says teens show more respect for copyrights when told of possible jail time for infringement, Microsoft is launching a new intellectual property curriculum to educate kids about IP law. To support its teachings, Microsoft has launched MyBytes, a Web site where students can create custom ringtones, share content — "their own content," as Microsoft makes clear — and learn more about intellectual property rights."
Security

Submission + - CIA Says Cyber Attackers Blacked Out Cities (informationweek.com) 1

Dotnaught writes: "Cyber attackers it seems can reach the power grid. "We have information, from multiple regions outside the United States, of cyber intrusions into utilities, followed by extortion demands," CIA senior analyst Tom Donahue said at a New Orleans security conference. "We suspect, but cannot confirm, that some of these attackers had the benefit of inside knowledge. We have information that cyberattacks have been used to disrupt power equipment in several regions outside the United States. In at least one case, the disruption caused a power outage affecting multiple cities. We do not know who executed these attacks or why, but all involved intrusions through the Internet." Is it time to invest in battery backup?"

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