Comment From 2022? (Score 2) 18
Why is an article being posted that was published in 2022?
May 11, 2022 15:17
May 11, 2022 15:17
Submission + - Video Game Actors End 11-Month Strike With New AI Protections (san.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Hollywood video game performers ended their nearly year-long strike Wednesday with new protections against the use of digital replicas of their voices or appearances. If those replicas are used, actors must be paid at rates comparable to in-person work. The SAG-AFTRA union demanded stronger pay and better working conditions. Among their top concerns was the potential for artificial intelligence to replace human actors without compensation or consent.
Under a deal announced in a media release, studios such as Activision and Electronic Arts are now required to obtain written consent from performers before creating digital replicas of their work. Actors have the right to suspend their consent for AI-generated material if another strike occurs. “This deal delivers historic wage increases, industry-leading AI protections and enhanced health and safety measures for performers,” Audrey Cooling, a spokesperson for the video game producers, said in the release. The full list of studios includes Activision Productions, Blindlight, Disney Character Voices, Electronic Arts Productions, Formosa Interactive, Insomniac Games, Llama Productions, Take 2 Productions and WB Games.
SAG-AFTRA members approved the contract by a vote of 95.04% to 4.96%, according to the announcement. The agreement includes a wage increase of more than 15%, with additional 3% raises in November 2025, 2026 and 2027. The contract expires in October 2028. [...] The video game strike, which started in July 2024, did not shut down production like the SAG-AFTRA actors’ strike in 2023. Hollywood actors went on strike for 118 days, from July 14 to November 9, 2023, halting nearly all scripted television and film work. That strike, which centered on streaming residuals and AI concerns, prevented actors from engaging in promotional work, such as attending premieres and posting on social media. In contrast, video game performers were allowed to work during their strike, but only with companies that had signed interim agreements addressing concerns related to AI. More than 160 companies signed on, according to The Associated Press. Still, the year took a toll.
Under a deal announced in a media release, studios such as Activision and Electronic Arts are now required to obtain written consent from performers before creating digital replicas of their work. Actors have the right to suspend their consent for AI-generated material if another strike occurs. “This deal delivers historic wage increases, industry-leading AI protections and enhanced health and safety measures for performers,” Audrey Cooling, a spokesperson for the video game producers, said in the release. The full list of studios includes Activision Productions, Blindlight, Disney Character Voices, Electronic Arts Productions, Formosa Interactive, Insomniac Games, Llama Productions, Take 2 Productions and WB Games.
SAG-AFTRA members approved the contract by a vote of 95.04% to 4.96%, according to the announcement. The agreement includes a wage increase of more than 15%, with additional 3% raises in November 2025, 2026 and 2027. The contract expires in October 2028. [...] The video game strike, which started in July 2024, did not shut down production like the SAG-AFTRA actors’ strike in 2023. Hollywood actors went on strike for 118 days, from July 14 to November 9, 2023, halting nearly all scripted television and film work. That strike, which centered on streaming residuals and AI concerns, prevented actors from engaging in promotional work, such as attending premieres and posting on social media. In contrast, video game performers were allowed to work during their strike, but only with companies that had signed interim agreements addressing concerns related to AI. More than 160 companies signed on, according to The Associated Press. Still, the year took a toll.
Submission + - Bitwarden launches MCP server to securely connect AI agents with your passwords (nerds.xyz)
BrianFagioli writes: Bitwarden is bringing artificial intelligence into your password workflow without compromising privacy or security. The open source password manager has just released a new Model Context Protocol server that lets AI agents securely interact with credential data including generating and retrieving passwords. The big deal is that it maintains Bitwardenâ(TM)s zero knowledge end to end encryption model while keeping everything local.
The new MCP server runs directly on the userâ(TM)s machine. That local first design means sensitive data does not have to travel to the cloud just to be useful. The tool ties into the Bitwarden CLI which allows users to automate vault operations and credential access through terminal commands. For even more control there is support for self hosted deployments.
This is not just a Bitwarden specific tool either. The Model Context Protocol is an open standard that helps AI systems safely interact with human applications like developer tools and content platforms through a consistent interface. Instead of duct taping together a mess of APIs MCP offers a way for AI to get structured context across multiple platforms.
As AI agents become more autonomous they need secure access to sensitive workflows like credential management. Bitwardenâ(TM)s MCP server provides a privacy focused way to give AI assistants that access without breaking encryption or giving up control. It is a serious answer to the growing question of how AI should handle your most private information.
Bitwarden is not chasing hype here. The company is focused on real world use cases that matter to developers sysadmins and privacy conscious users. The MCP server is fully open source and available now on Bitwardenâ(TM)s GitHub with expanded documentation and packaging coming soon.
Whether you are testing AI automation or looking to streamline credential workflows Bitwardenâ(TM)s new tool helps make that possible while keeping your passwords secure.
The new MCP server runs directly on the userâ(TM)s machine. That local first design means sensitive data does not have to travel to the cloud just to be useful. The tool ties into the Bitwarden CLI which allows users to automate vault operations and credential access through terminal commands. For even more control there is support for self hosted deployments.
This is not just a Bitwarden specific tool either. The Model Context Protocol is an open standard that helps AI systems safely interact with human applications like developer tools and content platforms through a consistent interface. Instead of duct taping together a mess of APIs MCP offers a way for AI to get structured context across multiple platforms.
As AI agents become more autonomous they need secure access to sensitive workflows like credential management. Bitwardenâ(TM)s MCP server provides a privacy focused way to give AI assistants that access without breaking encryption or giving up control. It is a serious answer to the growing question of how AI should handle your most private information.
Bitwarden is not chasing hype here. The company is focused on real world use cases that matter to developers sysadmins and privacy conscious users. The MCP server is fully open source and available now on Bitwardenâ(TM)s GitHub with expanded documentation and packaging coming soon.
Whether you are testing AI automation or looking to streamline credential workflows Bitwardenâ(TM)s new tool helps make that possible while keeping your passwords secure.
Submission + - It Took 33 Years For Someone to Find the Easter Egg in This Apple II Game
Jason Koebler writes: Gumball, a game released in 1983 for the Apple II and other early PCs, was never all that popular. For 33 years, it held a secret that was discovered this week by anonymous crackers who not only hacked their way through advanced copyright protection, but also became the first people to discover an Easter Egg hidden by the game’s creator, Robert A. Cook. Best of all? Cook congratulated them Friday for their work.
Submission + - Movie Written By Algorithm Turns Out To Be Hilarious and Intense (arstechnica.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Ars is excited to be hosting this online debut of Sunspring, a short science fiction film that's not entirely what it seems. It's about three people living in a weird future, possibly on a space station, probably in a love triangle. You know it's the future because H (played with neurotic gravity by Silicon Valley's Thomas Middleditch) is wearing a shiny gold jacket, H2 (Elisabeth Gray) is playing with computers, and C (Humphrey Ker) announces that he has to "go to the skull" before sticking his face into a bunch of green lights. It sounds like your typical sci-fi B-movie, complete with an incoherent plot. Except Sunspring isn't the product of Hollywood hacks — it was written entirely by an AI. To be specific, it was authored by a recurrent neural network called long short-term memory, or LSTM for short. At least, that's what we'd call it. The AI named itself Benjamin.
Submission + - More than 40% of US honeybee colonies died in a 12-month period ending in April (wsj.com) 2
walterbyrd writes: While the precise cause of the honeybee crisis is unknown, scientists generally blame a combination of factors, including poor diets and stress. Some bees die from infestations of the Varroa mite, a bloodsucking parasite that weakens bees and introduces diseases to the hive.
Environmental groups also point to a class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids. In April, the Environmental Protection Agency said it would stop approving new outdoor uses for those types of chemicals until more studies on bee health are conducted.
Environmental groups also point to a class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids. In April, the Environmental Protection Agency said it would stop approving new outdoor uses for those types of chemicals until more studies on bee health are conducted.
Comment Re:Any download versus streaming options? (Score 1) 196
I'm in Seattle and have 1gbps/1gbps for $80 (or 100/100mbps for $60) a month. I'm not sure why you are encapsulating all of Seattle in your post. Some of us in Seattle actually do have a decent selection for internet, although not a majority. All of my friends have decent connections, of at least 25mbps or more. I do feel for you, though, as it seems you are in one of those neglected areas of the city that has been shackled by the government arguments, and rights to run needed infrastructure being denied for cash under the table reasons.
I sure hope the situation gets better for you, but for some of us in the Seattle area, especially the people that don't watch ESPN, this is a practical option.
Submission + - Single group dominates second round of Anti Net-Neutrality Comment Submissions (sunlightfoundation.com)
aquadood writes: According to the Sunlight Foundation's analysis of recent comment submissions to the FCC regarding Net Neutrality, the majority (56.5%) were submitted by a single organization called American Commitment with "shadowy" ties to the Koch brothers' network. The blog article goes on to break down the comments in a very in depth way, showing a roughly 60% anti and 40% pro split.
Security Fix Leads To PostgreSQL Lock Down 100
hypnosec writes "The developers of the PostgreSQL have announced that they are locking down access to the PostgreSQL repositories to only committers while a fix for a "sufficiently bad" security issue applied. The lock down is temporary and will be lifted once the next release is available. The core committee has announced that they 'apologize in advance for any disruption' adding that 'It seems necessary in this instance, however.'"
Comment Re:As a side note (Score 1) 101
The sprint pre-order required payment up front... sadly. I was about to do this until I saw I had to pay, then wait on the phone. Thankfully, my logical side asked me to wait.
Submission + - Jury Rules Google Violated Java Copyright, Google Moves for Mistrial (arstechnica.com) 1
eldavojohn writes: Details are thin but the long covered Oracle Vs Google trial has at least partially been decided in favor of Oracle against Google violating copyrights in Android when when it used Java APIs to design the system. Google moved for a mistrial after hearing the incomplete decision. The patent infringement accusations have yet to be ruled upon.
Comment Re:Backfire (Score 1) 137
Same exact thing for me. My honeywell thermostat was being so annoying that I've had it shut off for 3 weeks. This story gave me just enough nudge to look at what the nest actually does from end to end, causing me to like what I saw. Purchase confirmed! I can't wait to rip the Honeywell off the wall.
Submission + - Why Apple's iPad Has Been Good for Sprint (itworld.com) 1
itwbennett writes: Today, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse said in an interview with Om Malik that iPad has been good to his company because many people are opting for the Wi-Fi only iPad and pairing it with Sprint's 3G/4G Overdrive MiFi device (which the company sells with a special Overdrive case for the iPad) rather than choosing an iPad 3G that is limited to AT&T's network. The statement illustrates that many consumers are seeing the advantages to of choosing lower-cost devices without integrated 3G and pairing one or more of them with a more robust MiFi solution.
Astronomers Solve the Mystery of 'Hanny's Voorwerp' 123
KentuckyFC writes "In 2007, a Dutch school teacher named Hanny van Arkel discovered a huge blob of green-glowing gas while combing though images to classify galaxies. Hanny's Voorwerp (meaning Hanny's object in Dutch) is astounding because astronomers have never seen anything like it. Although galactic in scale, it is clearly not a galaxy because it does not contain any stars. That raises an obvious question: what is causing the gas to glow? Now a new survey of the region of sky seems to have solved the problem. The Voorwerp lies close to a spiral galaxy which astronomers now say hides a massive black hole at its center. The infall of matter into the black hole generates a cone of radiation emitted in a specific direction. The great cloud of gas that is Hanny's Voorwerp just happens to be in the firing line, ionizing the gas and causing it to glow green. That lays to rest an earlier theory that the cloud was reflecting an echo of light from a short galactic flare up that occurred 10,000 years ago. It also explains why Voorwerps are so rare: these radiation cones are highly directional so only occasionally do unlucky gas clouds get caught in the crossfire."
1,400 Megapixel Pan-STARRS Telescope Comes Online 54
ElectricSteve writes "Astronomers in Hawaii have announced they've successfully managed to boot up the Pan-STARRS (Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System) telescope. Working from dusk to dawn every night, Pan-STARRS is able to map one-sixth of the sky each month, allowing astronomers to track all moving objects, calculate their orbits, and identify any potential threats to Earth. There are four Pan-STARRS cameras in total, each capable of capturing around 1.4 billion pixels over a sensor measuring 40 centimeters square. The focal plane of each camera contains an almost complete 64x64 array of CCD devices, each containing approximately 600x600 pixels, for a total resolution of 1.4 gigapixels."
