Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror

Comment CEO makes argument for industry regulation (Score 1) 185

by doc1623 (#66315740) Attached to: BMW Blames Young People For Loss of Real Buttons In New Cars

Too me, this is funny. I'm not going to make any argument for or against buttons, but if buttons are safer, and the CEO is saying we are making less safe cars because of customers, then doesn't it follow that industry wide regulation would be the best solution?

We did it for seatbelts but since then the right wing... think regulation of any-kind is evil which is ...well... crazy e.g. can you imagine if drugs and/or food had no regulation. My guess is we have too little regulation and enforcement in our food industry already as we have more and more sh*t on greens diseases (in the U.S.), which is so sickening (no pun intended)

Submission + - Solar power and batteries have been keeping Europe's grid stable. (euronews.com)

Submitted by AleRunner
AleRunner writes: "Solar has been doing the “heavy lifting” to help Europe meet its energy needs amid a string of blistering heatwaves." Euronews tells us as Europe's energy demands in the meantime, heat and Jellyfish have been causing shutdowns and reduced power output at multiple reactors at French nuclear plants as we already discussed

Submission + - We Tracked a Shipment of Rare Books. It Ended at an Amazon AI Training Facility (404media.co)

Submitted by alternative_right
alternative_right writes: Amazon is buying massive quantities of books, scanning them for AI training data, and destroying them in the process.

A 404 Media investigation was able to reveal Amazonâ(TM)s book buying operation, which hasnâ(TM)t been previously reported, by placing a tracking device in a rare book we suspected would be acquired by an AI company for training data, and following it around the country to its final destination.

That final destination was an Amazon warehouse in Las Vegas, Nevada. Amazon employees who work at this location say all they do is receive massive shipments of printed books which they then cut the bindings off in order to scan the books more quickly. The printed book is destroyed in the process. The logo of the Amazon team that works at this warehouse, called VGT3, is a dinosaur, brandishing its teeth and with a book in its hands.

Comment Re:Good, Bad, and Ugly (Score 1) 58

My VA clinic (and the closest), hospital has gotten much worse since that article was written. Leaders are all about saving money over the patients, and covering their own tails. It was never perfect but the best providers are now driven out. They just can't keep them.

Unfortunately, I've lost trust in the 'specialty' clinics. They follow the same prioritize money and cya over patients. Community care could be good. It wasn't easy to try and use the DB of providers before, but now it's impossible. On VA.gov years ago, I was able to find 15 pages of orthopedic doctors in my area but since then they quit paginating. So, you can be in the middle of NY city and will only get a small number of results.

The DB was never maintained well as Triwest/VA said it was the others responsibility and doctors where supposed to let them know, if they no longer took it. How stupid is that, any company would have a non-activity hook/flag and check if their insurance hadn't been used in a year or more. Of course Triwest itself has been a boondoggle from day 1

Submission + - Ukraine Finds Nvidia AI Chip in New Russian Missile (kyivpost.com)

Submitted by AmiMoJo
AmiMoJo writes: Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR) has identified an Nvidia Jetson Orin computer module inside Russia’s new S-71 Monochrome air-launched cruise missile, potentially indicating the use of artificial intelligence technology in the weapon, the agency said Wednesday, Aug. 12.

The finding was published in the “Components in Weapons” section of the HUR’s War&Sanctions portal, which documents foreign electronic components found in Russian weapons used against Ukraine.

The latest research identified 35 electronic components in Russian weapons, according to the HUR.

HUR specialists identified the Nvidia Jetson Orin module in the S-71 Monochrome, a new Russian air-launched cruise missile.

The agency said the use of the computer module may indicate the integration of artificial intelligence technologies into the missile.

The HUR did not provide further details on the specific functions performed by the Nvidia module in the weapon.

Submission + - Proposed ICE Shock Gloves are purely Torture Devices

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Wired Reports on how the shock gloves sought by ICE actually work, and they are not in fact intended for pacifying subjects, but specifically for causing them pain:

Classified as a CD3 (conductive distraction and de-escalation device), the gloves don't work like stun guns or Tasers, which shoot out probes or use high voltages to cause neuromuscular incapacitation that overrides the central nervous system. Instead, the GLOVE works using neuro-peripheral interference, essentially shocking the skin to bombard the sensory nerves and temporarily short-circuit the brain's focus.

The latest ("Gen 5") model is capable of delivering 90 total minutes of pain shocks between charges. On just one charge, you can torture a person for an hour and a half.

Comment Re:Great (Score 1) 177

by doc1623 (#66287146) Attached to: Paramount Considers Leaving California Amid Antitrust Suit
I don't disagree but there are a lot of factors that went into it. No one is happy in America today. Day to day, I think those of us that are struggling have the same issues. The difference is Fox News made a horrible precedent. A billionaire wanted the country distracted from the plutocracy. News was never perfectly unbiased, but they used spin so well to redirect anger, and blame; so much so that it became a model for others like the Sinclaire Group. It's sad though because around 2016, there were a lot of op-eds discussing how news should concentrate on being trustworthy, but that's not what happened. Even sources that are much better than others, are more biased than they were. No one is represents labor. Citizens United was the death nail but there are other issues. The Democratic party gave up on the working class. My history isn't great, so I don't know why, but my guess would be corporate funding. Lobbyist/Money have killed democracy. We are effectively without representation at this point; well 'we' the labor class. Billionaires/Executives get there way, while the rest don't. It's obvious in even browsing the web, we have less control over our own browsers/computers as the corps control them (web standards, or just norms like admin access to your own devices). Then billionaires control the corps. They are only a lever for power and wealth for those that are wealthiest among us, already.

Comment I use trackers but would prefer no google/apple (Score 1) 61

by doc1623 (#66287116) Attached to: The Pixel Tag Is Google's Answer To the AirTag

I use trackers for my keys and wallet, but my normal usage is at home, and yeah google really messed that up. I would prefer to use Chipolo network with no google, but that may die and of course there is no guarantee they aren't sharing/selling data now that they have partnered with google (or before, but a bit less likely). The trouble is their wallet one sucks for me. It seems they wanted to advertise thinness but made the button an outtie, instead of an innie so it gets pressed and dies for me.

For now, I have to use a Tile for ONLY my wallet. I need the 'where did I drop my wallet', in the house, more than 'where in the world' is my wallet. The latter has helped me twice over the years. Once when I left my wallet at a store, at the checkout, but I just needed to know I left it not exact location. Then another time where a dealership picked it up and wasn't going to give it to me except, I kept wondering around because I knew it was in the area... Yeah, google tracking sucks...but I really like tracker functionality for my keys and wallet, at least. If there was just a non-google/apple affiliated one, that made a good (men's) wallet tracker. I only say men's, because without a protective outer purse/cover mine will get pressed and die from battery usage, unless it has an innie button like Tile's.

let me know, if there are solutions that work better, for my needs and or what you use, especially if you need the cold/hot indicator in close quarters ;P

Submission + - An Ancient Poop Explosion Could Have Helped Complex Life Evolve (sciencealert.com)

Submitted by alternative_right
alternative_right writes: If the earliest animals hadn't been such prolific poopers, life might not have diversified into all the weird and wonderful forms we see today.

That's the conclusion reached by a new review study published in Trends in Ecology & Evolution.

The team of scientists in Australia and Germany found that the Cambrian explosion â" a period around 540 million years ago when the ancestors of most animal groups arose â" could have been partly set in motion by an explosion of feces, left by those that came before.

Submission + - Apple Launches Legal Challenge Against UK Government Demand to Access Data (theguardian.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Apple has launched a new legal challenge against a UK government demand to access its customers’ highly encrypted data, a year after the Home Office agreed to abandon its previous request. The US tech company launched the legal complaint last month at the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT), an independent court that has the power to investigate claims that the UK intelligence services have acted unlawfully. The UK government had made a second request to Apple to grant it a “back door” to encrypted iCloud data belonging to British users, according to an order issued by the court.

Britain backed down on its original demand for access to data from UK and US customers last year, after a heated transatlantic tussle over encryption between London and Washington. UK authorities subsequently issued a new “technical capability notice” (TCN) to Apple that did not apply to American users. Apple is seeking to challenge the British government’s powers to issue TCNs under the UK Investigatory Powers Act, according to the details of the new legal case first reported by the Financial Times. [...] The original TCN issued last year asked Apple for the right to see users’ encrypted data protected by its advanced data protection (ADP) program in the event of a national security risk.

Apple said the removal of the tool – which not even it can access – would make users more vulnerable to data breaches from bad actors and other threats to customer privacy. Creating a “back door” would also mean all data was accessible by Apple, which it could be forced to share with law enforcement possessing a warrant. As a result, Apple withdrew UK customers’ access to its ADP program in January 2025. The Home Office has maintained that the Investigatory Powers Act, under which such orders are issued, contains robust safeguards and is used only when absolutely necessary.

Comment sue the sh*t out of them (Score 3) 53

by doc1623 (#66259098) Attached to: Big Tech Accused of Stonewalling European Social Media Researchers
Sue... that's the only thing these mega corps understand and it's the only thing that can be done. A single country can't (or won't as in the U.S.) enforce any laws, whether monopoly, fraud, compliance or whatever ... so lawsuit is the only thing left. Sue for enough to really impact their revenue. Personally, I would be okay if you put them in the red..but that's not likely.

Comment Police work against the U.S. populous (Score 1) 36

Police in this country are poorly designed. They work for the Mayor, and he works for the largest campaign contributions (money is #1 factor in determining elections, from what I've read). So, they work for the wealthiest locals and corporations. The ideal of "protect and serve" only came out because of abuses and has never really been true. Police will tell you that. Of course, internal auditing/oversight (internal affairs) is never the best idea. (Boeing 737 is a great (or horrid) example, depending on how you see the phrase).

They exist with inherent conflict of interest because of the aforementioned. Civil Forfeiture, is one example of this but you will find loads of uncontested misdemeanor arrest that weren't within the law, but people don't have the money and/or time to fight the arrest; so most will just accept a guilty plea because it's faster, easier, and cheaper.

Submission + - FCC Officials Took Pricey Gifts From Paramount as the Company Needed Approval fo (propublica.org)

Submitted by joshuark
joshuark writes: ProPublica reports that disclosures show FCC Chair Brendan Carr and Federal Communications Commissioner Olivia Trusty are among seven FCC commissioners who have accepted Kennedy gala tickets from CBS or its parent company over the last decade. Ethics experts told ProPublica this poses a blatant conflict of interest since the commission regulates the network. Carr’s previous financial statements show he has accepted tickets at least seven times since his 2017 appointment, totaling over $63,000 in gifts. It’s unclear if Paramount gifted Carr the premium seats because the FCC has yet to make public his financial disclosure for last year.

Federal ethics rules ban employees from taking gifts from any entity that does business with, is regulated by or seeks official action from their agency.

Four ethics experts told ProPublica that by accepting the premium tickets Trusty and Carr compromised the FCC’s impartiality and should not take part in any upcoming decision on the merger.

“There’s no way that any top federal regulator should ever, ever accept a gift from a regulated company with interests their work will foreseeably affect,” said Walter Shaub, who led the federal Office of Government Ethics from 2013 to 2017. “The appearance of taking gifts like that is terrible. What’s at stake is nothing less than the public’s trust in government.”

The FCC’s review of the merger is one of the final hurdles facing a historic $110 billion consolidation of two of the five largest film studios in Hollywood. The deal would unite Paramount Skydance with Warner Bros., bringing under the control of one company Paramount+ and HBO Max streaming services; CBS and CNN; and scores of other major broadcast channels, cable networks, and digital platforms.

American and international regulators are evaluating the deal for its potential national security implications and impacts to consumers worldwide. Last week, the British government signaled it planned to investigate whether the new entertainment titan that would emerge from the union would unfairly stifle competition. The FCC’s ongoing review includes examining the Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds backing the deal, including from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

The FCC usually has five commissioners — all appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate to serve five-year terms — but the agency currently has only three. Any vote by the full commission would likely be decided by Republicans Carr and Trusty over Democrat Anna Gomez.

The experts warned the commissioners’ gifts might become central in legal challenges and said the Justice Department should investigate potential violations of federal rules or laws.

Neither Carr nor Trusty responded to ProPublica’s requests for comment. Gomez said in a statement that she followed agency advice when she attended the event in 2023 and 2024. Her statement did not elaborate or otherwise address why taking gifts from Paramount did not pose a conflict of interest.

An FCC spokesperson said agency ethics officers have for years cleared commissioner appearances, finding it consistent with ethics law.

“FCC Chairs and officials have attended the same event, in the same ways, consistently from the Trump Administration to the Biden Administration to the Obama Administration,” the FCC said in a statement. “There has been no change in recent years.”

Shaub called the justification outrageous.

“It’s no excuse to say that you took the gift because everyone else was doing it or that your agency has had a bad habit of indulging in gift taking for a long time,” Shaub said. “That kind of explanation doesn’t work for school children, and it sure as hell doesn’t work for government officials who are supposed to have better judgment than a fifth grader.”

Richard Painter, a former White House ethics attorney in the administration of George W. Bush, said while courts often defer to the government’s judgment, they also can become skeptical if a regulatory agency is shown to have violated ethics rules.

“A judge may very well say that the merger decision of the FCC isn’t worth jack because the process was corrupted,” he said.

Slashdot Top Deals

Men take only their needs into consideration -- never their abilities. -- Napoleon Bonaparte

Close