Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×

Comment Risk Management (Score 2) 76

During covid, there was massive overhiring to lock up talent, to make sure you had it when you needed it, because it was expensive to recruit and find people "just in time", and possibly (for some companies) to deny their competition access to labor. In the games industry, this took the form of acquiring smaller game studios - (many of whom now have had their projects cancelled and since been shuttered.)

With this whole AI thing, companies are now panicking that they have too many people on the bench if AI hits, so they're shedding headcount to conserve cash, which is now leading to too many people in a certain number of industries, chasing too few jobs. It's not just that they think they can produce more with fewer people - there's a potential threat from smaller competitors being able to outcompete them because the moat of needing hundreds of people to build a complex AAA title is potentially dissolving. (I would argue that the whole idea you needed to go for crazy high end graphics over gameplay is a wrong-headed expression of that need for a moat, but either way, you get the same result - worse return on investment than expected.)

What these companies aren't taking into account is... every one of these employees is now potentially capable of creating one of those small competitors to compete with their former employers (assuming you're in a state where non-competes are not unenforceable). I don't know if a successful crowdfunding of a game like Star Citizen can happen again, but the free/open source tools available to people with skills and experience using similar tools and workflows in their normal industry, plus the bonus of the (VC subsidized) AI tools means that we could start seeing better product from smaller game/vfx studios soon. Palworld was accused of using AI in their games creation, but was a success nonetheless, using a fairly small team (which scaled up.) Imagine a dozen companies like the team that made Palworld, starting small and scaling up as they gain traction.

I liken this (and now I'm showing my age) to the desktop publishing transition. People with no prior experience doing layout and design, taking a computer and a printer, and starting off with awful clipart, getting to the point where at a superficial level, they were competing with professionals who were trained in doing layout and design, and spent many years using specialized tools like optical typesetters, wax pasteup, letteraset transfers. However, the trained professionals, once they got a hold of the same tools, were able to really up their game, and a production shop of half a dozen people might have their jobs consolidated into a single workstation and a couple of people doing finishing.

You can look at this as glass half full for former employees who are willing to make the jump and start their own businesses, or glass half empty, because the people they've unleashed with the skills and experience that they have, aren't cheap labor to potentially rehire later, but potential competition for the same audience.

Comment Re:More relevant than ever (Score 1) 395

Nancy Pelosi would not be safe at all from a moderate democrat opponent, and possibly not from a moderate republican. The fact that San Francisco is 55% left should not mean the person being elected is considered too far left by perhaps 75% of the population.

What is needed is an open election to any candidate and voters can vote for any set of them they want. Winner is the one that gets the most yes votes. But this is never going to happen, because it will mean moderates will get elected, and nobody in power right now is a moderate.

Comment Re:Is AI going to make medical researchers unemplo (Score 1) 33

Because a human is still needed to perform experiments and validate the results.

Technically speaking, humans are needed to validate software too, but for some reason they don't want the people who were formerly in charge of writing the software to switch over to testing it for functionality?

Comment Re:Company selling (Score 1) 168

Strangely enough, this might have actual application.

https://calculatorshub.net/ind...

"The Lbs to Gallons Jet Fuel Calculator is an essential tool that converts the weight of jet fuel, measured in pounds, into its equivalent volume in gallons. This conversion is crucial for fuel logistics, planning, and ensuring that aircraft carry the correct fuel load for their missions.
Formula of Lbs to Gallons Jet Fuel Calculator

To convert pounds of jet fuel to gallons, it's important to understand the role of density. Density, which can vary slightly by jet fuel type and temperature, is crucial for this conversion. For Jet-A, the most common type of jet fuel, the average density is about 6.7 pounds per gallon."

The question is, is the AI smart enough to surface all the required items to do the internal conversion (ideal temperature/density vs. real temperature/density depending on use case), and then make them visible to the end user?

(Weight of fuel is critical for doing weight and balance calculations... which has an impact on aircraft handling.)

Comment How would it work? (Score 1) 168

In a simple case, a line that displays the current inventory of widgets.
What does it say?
Widgets: 10
10 Widgets
You have 10 widgets

How will it handle the 1 case?
Widgets: 1
1 Widgets
1 Widget
You have 1 widgets
You have 1 Widget(s)
You have one widget

How and where are the rules defined? Are they kept somewhere with the resulting code?
How does "Make it bigger and move it to the left a little more, No, not so much." work?
And this is a simple case.

Sounds like investor bait.

Comment Re:Car Drivers (Score 1) 93

Wow, I had not known about this... thanks for the heads up.

Reference for others:

" Government authorities can now shoot down privately owned drones

A provision in the FAA Reauthorization Act allows government officials to shoot down drones they deem a threat. "

https://www.cnet.com/tech/comp...

Page 337 of the bill here.

https://www.govinfo.gov/conten...

And, yes, they can seize any drones they deem to be a threat:

"...ââSEC. 210G. PROTECTION OF CERTAIN FACILITIES AND ASSETS FROM
UNMANNED AIRCRAFT... ...
ââ(c) F ORFEITURE.â"Any unmanned aircraft system or unmanned
aircraft described in subsection (a) that is seized by the Secretary
or the Attorney General is subject to forfeiture to the United States."

Comment Re:Car Drivers (Score 1) 93

I anticipate that soon laws will be passed for mandatory taking of drones failing to identify themselves, similar to the idea that if you drive a car without license plates, prepare yourself to be pulled over and questioned.

At that point, I would then expect those who don't want to be identified or have their drone interdicted, to start spoofing real beacons, similar to situations where people have stolen license plates, or made fake paper plates.

One type of beacon tech is bluetooth broadcast:

https://aerodefense.tech/a-qui...

To my knowledge, the signals are not encrypted or cryptographically secured (if I'm wrong, please let me know) because they're sent in the clear, as a one way broadcast. According to this IETF standard, it is probably as described as part of the background here:

https://www.ietf.org/archive/i...

" 1.2.1. Broadcast RID

[F3411-19] defines a set of UAS RID messages for direct, one-way, broadcast transmissions from the UA over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. These are currently defined as MAC-Layer messages. Internet (or other Wide Area Network) connectivity is only needed for UAS registry information lookup by Observers using the directly received UAS ID. Broadcast RID should be functionally usable in situations with no Internet connectivity.
The minimum Broadcast RID data flow is illustrated in Figure 1.
[diagram omitted due to slashdot's lameness filter]

Broadcast RID provides information only about unmanned aircraft (UA) within direct Radio Frequency (RF) Line-Of-Sight (LOS), typically similar to Visual LOS (VLOS), with a range up to approximately 1 km. This information may be 'harvested' from received broadcasts and made available via the Internet, enabling surveillance of areas too large for local direct visual observation or direct RF link-based ID (see Section 6)."

This, to me, implies then, that any operator relying on these unicast beacons, would be vulnerable to your standard radio attacks, basically cloning your identifier. Once you've cloned it, you can reuse it or modify it.

The flip side of this is saturating an area with false drone signatures. Example of a proof of concept, capable of spoofing drone beacons:

https://github.com/llorencroma...

All of the above was basically to say: Bad actors have ways of avoiding detection, and our current system actually puts law-abiding operators at risk if we start hunting people down based on their IDs once people start spoofing beacons. (Basically, after detouring through some of the details of how drone identification currently works, I am in agreement with the sentiments of the parent poster.)

Going back to my license plate analogy:

https://www.live5news.com/2024...

"The Huntington grandmother who was losing her eyesight, gave up driving, sold her car and surrendered her license plates in 2020.

âoeI want to cry because itâ(TM)s a simple matter that they could have fixed,â Koorey said.

But Kooreyâ(TM)s New York plates shared the same number as the âoeStar Trekâ spaceship USS Enterprise: NCC 1701.

Trekkies all over the globe have been buying matching novelty plates, putting them on their vehicles and racking up hundreds of tickets delivered to Kooreyâ(TM)s mailbox."

Comment Re:The headline is misleading (Score 1) 93

DJI probably doesn't want to be in the position of deciding whether you can fly or not.

https://www.faa.gov/uas/advanc...

For example, let's assume you are a first responder flying a DJI drone. You need to do overflights adjacent to a restricted area. You've gotten approval from the FAA, but under the previous system, you'd need to get separate approval from DJI to "unlock" your drone.

https://www.aerotas.com/blog/f...

"Best Workflow

Getting caught in DJI Geofencing can put a real kink in your workday. We find that the best way to avoid surprise geofences is to consider the following:

        If you need to file an airspace authorization with the FAA, you are likely flying near a DJI geofence. You should be checking dji.com/flysafe any time you are requesting FAA authorization.

        Always update the âoegeozone databaseâ when prompted on your drone. DJI often changes the limits of their geofences. Updating the system will ensure your drone agrees with their current database.

For more information on FAA airspace authorizations or drone surveying in general, visit the resources section of our site aerotas.com/resources"

This unfortunately puts DJI at risk if they fail to keep their geofence database up to date, or if somehow it takes longer than expected to approve an exception (or it somehow falls between the cracks.) They can be sued for giving people the impression that they're preventing people from getting into restricted areas (on of their advertised benefits) when in fact there are ways of circumventing the geofencing (by preventing the drone from getting updates to geofencing information, or by spoofing location). They could also potentially be sued for failing to provide someone with legitimate access.

While some people are expecting DJI to bend backwards to accommodate "good neighbor" requests (in this case, keeping pesky unlicensed drone operators out of restricted areas), keep in mind that DJI is also under scrutiny as a Chinese company with potential national security implications. Do you really want a Chinese company to control where your drones are able to fly?

Given the recent move to ban Chinese/Russian cars/suppliers/software because of the potential for domestic surveillance, DJI may be reading the writing on the wall and trying to divest themselves of any capabilities that can be used against them as an argument for a future ban.

This all just my guess. DJI may have decided that they're headed for ban territory anyways, so it's not worth it to spend any more money maintaining a system for authorizations and geofencing in a country where they'll no longer be allowed to operate.

I also have to question the idea that drones are "toys"... given that apparently a sub 250 gram DJI was able to puncture the leading wing of a DeHavilland 415 during air operations over Los Angeles. Non part-107 operators might treat them carelessly because you can buy them over the counter, but it doesn't make them any less dangerous than any other tool you can get from the hardware store, if abused.

Maybe this is DJIs power move... let all the idiots cause havoc in the national airspace, get the non 107 exemption revoked, and then local law enforcement will be the ones responsible for policing drone operators, instead of DJI...

Comment Re:That's OK (Score 1) 113

We would need to fast-charge extremely little. I suspect if we had a full EV, we would still drive 50km or less each day, and could do all our recharging overnight using the 110v outlet (though I would be tempted to install a 220v recharger, mostly because it seems silly to not pay for that after paying a bunch for the car).

Comment Time to fork just out of principle? (Score 2) 49

Because it sounds like this guy is losing it. I am reminded of other principal maintainers that decided to sabotage their projects to make a statement.

https://www.theverge.com/2022/...

With that said though, maybe it's time for people to move on from WordPress and leave all that PHP behind them...

Comment Re:Built homes in middle of forest fire prone area (Score 2) 150

I got a notice from the Southern California Gas company. Their Prop 65 warning was a picture of Southern California.

"Pursuant to Proposition 65, the State of California lists
substances known to cause cancer or reproductive harm.
SoCalGas® strives to provide safe and reliable service to
all of our customers. We want you to be aware of these
substances as they relate to natural gas service so that
you can reduce possible exposure. Our service territory
encompasses approximately 20,000 square miles across
Central and Southern California. We have numerous facilities
and worksites within the service territory and natural gas is
used throughout this area (see attached map). Please be
advised of the following Proposition 65 Warning:"

You can see it here:

https://www.socalgas.com/sites...

Comment Re:Is it illegal? (Score 1) 82

Actually, times have changed (As of June 2021)

https://www.faa.gov/uas/recrea...

"The law requires that all recreational flyers pass an aeronautical knowledge and safety test and provide proof of passage if asked by law enforcement or FAA personnel. The Recreational UAS Safety Test (TRUST) was developed to meet this requirement.

TRUST provides education and testing on important safety and regulatory information. If you fly your drone recreationally under the Exception for Recreational Flyers, you must pass the test before you fly. "

Note that this is separate from the requirements for flying under part 107, which requires both testing and licensing.

https://www.faa.gov/uas/commer...

If you're already a private pilot, you can get drone certification as an add on.

Drone registration and beaconing has also been a requirement for a while.

https://www.faa.gov/faq/do-i-n...

"Federal law requires all drones operated under 14 CFR Part 107 to be registered. The limited statutory exception for recreation requires registration of all aircraft weighing more than .55 pound (250 grams). All registered aircraft must have their registration number displayed on the exterior. Review the UAS registration information to learn more about the program."

https://www.faa.gov/uas/gettin...

"Registering Drones With Remote ID

Recreational drone pilots may register once and apply their registration number to all the devices listed within their inventory. During registration, you must list the serial number(s) of each Standard Remote ID drone and/or the Remote ID broadcast module. If you use a Remote ID broadcast module, the Remote ID serial number attached to the module must be listed for each drone not equipped with Standard Remote ID you add to your inventory. This will permit you to move the module from one drone not equipped with Standard Remote ID to another so long as each of the drones make/model are listed within the same inventory."

There is an exception to the remote beaconing requirement for drone aircraft (I imagine this is basically a model aircraft carve out) flown in FAA recognized identification areas:

https://www.faa.gov/uas/gettin...

Comment Re:That's OK (Score 1) 113

We have a PHEV (Prius prime) and it is on electricity only form probably 95% of our trips. It is recharged overnight with a Level-1 (not even 2!) 110 volt charger.

IMHO it works quite well. The problem is that we are carrying around hundreds of pounds of useless engine, gas, and other parts. But if we had a regular electric car we would be lugging possibly even more weight in useless extra batteries.

I think the future is pure-electric but PHEV is working very well right now.

Comment Re: So (Score 1) 203

In California rainwater cachment/rainbarrels are required for new home construction.

As of 2012, as long as you comply with some basic regulations, it is fully legal in California to capture rainwater (before it goes into the ground). This water is unmetered.

https://ktla.com/weather/is-it...

https://leginfo.legislature.ca...

"(1) Under existing law, the State Water Resources Control Board (state board) and the California regional water quality control boards prescribe waste discharge requirements for the discharge of stormwater in accordance with the national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) permit program and the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act. Under existing law, the state board administers a water rights program pursuant to which the state board grants permits and licenses to appropriate water, upon an application to appropriate water.
This bill would enact the Rainwater Capture Act of 2012, which would provide that use of rainwater collected from rooftops does not require a water right permit from the state board."

https://www.waterboards.ca.gov...

"Does storage of rainwater harvested from rooftops require a water right permit?

No. Water Code section 10574 provides that rainwater harvesting from rooftops does not require a water right permit. The State Water Board encourages methods of water collection or diversion, such as rooftop rainwater harvest, that reduce demand on streams and reduce water quality problems associated with stormwater runoff.
"

If you live on a hillside, there's nothing stopping you (aside from normal structure and environmental regulation permitting) from putting in a water storage tank or a pool that can double as a reserve for fire fighters. People have done this.

https://www.sfgate.com/nation/...

"
Wealthy landowner provides critical base for firefighting
By Matt StilesUpdated Nov 4, 2019 2:25 p.m.

LOS ANGELES â" Perched atop the Santa Monica Mountains, thereâ(TM)s a prime chunk of real estate with stunning ocean views thatâ(TM)s owned by a wealthy former radio executive.

You wonâ(TM)t find a palatial mansion or an infinity pool there, however. Instead, the former executive and county firefighters have transformed the picturesque property into a remote base for helicopters to refill their water tanks â" a spot thatâ(TM)s helping prevent small fires from turning catastrophic.

Known as 69 Bravo, itâ(TM)s the result of an unusual partnership between the executive, whose legal name is Simon T, and the Los Angeles County Fire Department. The countyâ(TM)s helicopters rely on the base as a quick and easy spot to refill water during blazes, such as the Palisades fire last month."

Slashdot Top Deals

1 + 1 = 3, for large values of 1.

Working...