KT Corporation, a major South Korean telecom company, intentionally infected over 600,000 users with malware to disrupt Webhard's BitTorrent-based Grid Service, starting in May 2020.
The malware caused issues such as missing files, strange folders, and disabled PCs, and was traced back to KT's data center.
Authorities have charged 13 individuals, including KT employees, and KT defended its actions by citing network strain and unpaid usage fees, though the unauthorized malware installation led to significant customer problems.
South Korean telecom company allegedly targets torrent users with malware, raising significant privacy and ethical concerns.
The incident highlights ongoing issues with internet service providers (ISPs) in South Korea, including high fees and potential misuse of power.
This situation has sparked discussions about the state of internet freedom and infrastructure in South Korea, which was once known for its fast internet speeds but now faces criticism for outdated practices and government control.
Paramount has shut down ComedyCentral.com, removing over 25 years of clips from The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, directing visitors to TV providers or Paramount+.
Other shows like The Opposition with Jordan Klepper and Lights Out with David Spade are also affected, with older episodes not available on Paramount+.
This move is part of Paramount's cost-cutting measures to manage over $14 billion in debt, following similar actions with MTV.com and CMT.com, aiming to streamline sites and drive viewers to Paramount+.
Paramount has removed 25 years of video clips from the Comedy Central website, sparking criticism over their management's perceived undervaluation of the content.
Critics argue that the content could have been monetized or preserved, highlighting the complexities of media rights and regulatory challenges in distributing older content.
The removal is viewed as a cost-cutting measure by Paramount amid financial difficulties, with some lamenting the loss of cultural history and suggesting piracy as a means of preservation.
Google Sheets has transitioned from JavaScript to WasmGC (WebAssembly Garbage Collection) to enhance performance, particularly for large spreadsheets.
WasmGC supports garbage-collected languages like Java, offering near-native speed on the web, and Google Sheets is among the first to implement it.
Initial performance of WasmGC was slower than JavaScript, but subsequent optimizations have significantly improved its speed, demonstrating its potential to revolutionize web application development.
Google Sheets transitioned its calculation engine from JavaScript to WasmGC, initially experiencing slower performance but later optimizing it to be twice as fast as the JS version.
The move involved significant reimplementation efforts, including devirtualization and leveraging browser APIs, aiming to improve performance and utilize the native V8 garbage collector.
Despite improvements, some users still find Google Sheets slower compared to native applications like Excel, highlighting the ongoing evolution and optimization of web technologies.
Anthropic has introduced the Projects feature for Pro and Team users, allowing multiple projects with their own reference materials, enhancing convenience for users.
Claude 3.5 Sonnet is receiving praise for its coding abilities, with users noting it helps expert programmers move faster and is superior to other models like GPT-4.
Users are discussing the practical applications and limitations of Claude 3.5 Sonnet, including its performance in summarization, recommendation tasks, and coding assistance, with some preferring it over OpenAI's offerings.
The Forth Deck mini is a portable Forth computer with a discrete CPU, featuring a 40x4 character LCD, 56-button QWERTY keyboard, and 6.6 Wh LiPo battery with 6 hours runtime.
It includes an 8-bit CMOS logic CPU, 32 KB ROM, 32 KB RAM, up to 256 KB EEPROM, and RS-232 with 4800 baud, reminiscent of 70s and 80s home computers with built-in Basic interpreters.
The device can be assembled using a kit from Budgetronics, excluding the battery and charging circuitry, and is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The Forth Deck mini is a portable Forth computer featuring a discrete CPU built with a few logic chips and an EEPROM, operating on an 8-bit data and address bus.
Enthusiasts are discussing its design, potential modifications, and comparisons to other CPUs like the Novix NC4000, as well as the idea of a Forth-based Factor dialect for scripting.
The conversation highlights the challenges of creating modern hobbyist computers with good keyboards and displays, referencing devices like the TRS-80 Model 100 and the AlphaSmart, and mentioning alternatives like the M5Stack Cardputer and the Zorzpad.
Scientists have uncovered new details about the brain's waste-removal system, which is essential for maintaining brain health and preventing disorders.
Research published in Nature reveals that slow electrical waves during sleep help push waste-laden fluid from deep within the brain to its surface, where it is absorbed into the bloodstream and removed by the liver and kidneys.
This glymphatic system is crucial for clearing amyloid, a substance linked to Alzheimer's disease, and impaired waste removal may contribute to various brain disorders like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, headaches, and depression.
Scientists have identified that deep sleep plays a crucial role in clearing brain waste, including amyloid proteins, which are linked to Alzheimer's and dementia.
Research suggests that inducing slow electrical waves in the brain through light and sound stimulation could enhance this waste clearance, though most studies are currently on mice.
Factors such as coffee consumption, exercise, and sleep patterns are also being discussed for their potential impact on brain health.
Experimentation with voice interfaces and large language models (LLMs) began following the release of GPT-4, highlighting the engaging nature and new challenges of voice interactions with generative AI.
Achieving a 500ms voice-to-voice response time is challenging but possible by hosting transcription, LLM inference, and voice generation together, optimizing data routing, and ensuring good wifi and VRAM caching.
A demo of a 500ms-capable voice bot and a container for deployment on A10/A100/H100 GPUs is available, with current metrics showing a total response cycle of 759ms, indicating rapid AI evolution and potential future simplifications.
Voice bots achieving 500ms response times are possible by optimizing transcription, LLM inference, and voice generation processes, along with efficient data routing and caching.
Metrics for voice-to-voice response total 759ms, but future LLMs with native audio capabilities may further reduce this time.
Users highlighted the importance of low latency in AI interactions, especially in customer service, and discussed potential technical improvements like browser support and on-device processing.
Next-gen 3D metal printing by Fabric8Labs employs electrochemical methods for precise, fast, and versatile manufacturing, achieving micron-level resolution.
This technique combines additive and subtractive processes, primarily depositing pure metals and some alloys, making it safer and more energy-efficient by avoiding high temperatures and metal powders.
Fabric8Labs' technology is promising for applications such as PCBs (Printed Circuit Boards) and complex internal structures, and the company is exploring commercial opportunities with this unique approach.
A new package called Eplot has been released for creating charts in Emacs, a popular text editor among developers.
The package has garnered attention for its simplicity and flexibility, with suggestions to enhance user experience by leveraging Emacs' file- and directory-local variables.
Discussions highlight comparisons with other charting tools like Gnuplot and Matplotlib, noting the strengths and weaknesses of each in the context of Emacs.
A former tech PR professional reveals their past in promoting overhyped startups, which funded a lavish lifestyle but led to ethical doubts.
They decided to leave the profitable but morally questionable industry to focus on honest writing about the real human impact of technology and venture capital.
Despite financial and career risks, they find integrity and personal fulfillment in their new path, rejecting the tech industry's empty promises.
The author expresses disillusionment with the tech industry, noting a shift from solving human problems to extracting value over the past 25 years.
Key observations include a Reddit post claiming the 90s were peak humanity and a viral quote about AI doing chores instead of creative work, highlighting a nostalgic view of past technological optimism.
Despite concerns about data exploitation and profit-driven motives, there is still hope in open-source communities and innovative hacks, though the relentless pursuit of profit has led to widespread disillusionment.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that federal whistleblowers can receive compensatory damages for future lost earnings if their firing harmed their earning potential.
Deborah Perlick, fired after reporting missing funds, successfully argued for additional compensation beyond back pay, impacting future job prospects.
This ruling sets a precedent for federal whistleblowers, allowing claims for future lost earnings without needing guaranteed future employment, and the case was remanded to the Merit Systems Protection Board for a final decision.
A court has ruled that federal whistleblowers are entitled to damages for missed future pay, even without a guaranteed future job, provided there is sufficient evidence of likely future employment.
This decision may encourage more whistleblowers by alleviating concerns about losing future earnings and aligns federal employees' rights with those of private-sector employees.
The case, involving a VA (Veterans Affairs) employee, emphasized that reputational harm affecting future earnings is compensable.
"Lessons I Wish I Had Been Taught (1996)" by Gian-Carlo Rota sparked discussions on Hacker News, with users sharing unique units of measurement like "microcentury" (50 minutes) and "nanoacre" (4 square millimeters).
Conversations also covered lecture durations, attention spans, and the significance of engaging introductions in academic papers, reflecting on Rota's impactful teachings.
The thread highlighted a recurring interest in Rota's insights, with users reminiscing about personal experiences and referencing related discussions and resources.
Lawyers for the Post Office held a secret meeting with a judge in 2013 to prevent disclosure of a report revealing potential issues with the Horizon system to defence solicitors in a criminal trial.
The inquiry heard that prosecuting solicitor Martin Smith admitted he did not comply with his duties and lacked the necessary expertise, raising concerns about past convictions and disclosure practices.
The ongoing inquiry continues to uncover several disclosure issues as the Post Office approaches mediation and reviews of past convictions.
Post Office lawyers secretly met with a judge to block evidence disclosure, resulting in wrongful convictions.
Public defenders are overwhelmed, managing up to 700 cases annually, which hampers effective defense.
The justice system favors those who can afford private attorneys, underscoring the need for legal reforms and better funding for public defenders to ensure fair trials.
Doordash listed a pizzeria without the owner's permission, leading to issues with cold deliveries and incorrect pricing.
An arbitrage opportunity emerged due to Doordash's pricing errors, allowing profit from ordering at lower prices and selling at higher restaurant prices.
The article critiques the food delivery business model as inefficient and exploitative, suggesting a more integrated approach like Domino's might be more sustainable.
DoorDash and similar food delivery services face criticism for unsustainable business models that depend on underpaid labor and high customer acquisition costs.
Critics argue these practices exacerbate economic inequality and suggest taxing accumulated capital to redistribute wealth.
The debate includes concerns about the negative impact on restaurant quality and the ethics of these delivery services, questioning their long-term sustainability and benefits.
Corcel is a PHP library built on Eloquent ORM from Laravel, enabling direct data retrieval from a WordPress database, usable with Laravel or any PHP project via Composer.
Key features include support for custom post types, shortcodes, taxonomies, pages, attachments, revisions, thumbnails, options, menus, users, and authentication.
Installation and configuration are straightforward, with auto-registration for Laravel 5.5+ and manual setup for older versions or non-Laravel projects.
Corcel enables the use of a WordPress backend with Laravel or any PHP application, proving effective in production environments.
Users have successfully integrated Corcel with Laravel, Filament, and LunarPHP to improve performance, such as rescuing slow WooCommerce sites.
Corcel is praised for its seamless interface with WordPress data, offering a maintainable solution for PHP projects needing to interact with WordPress databases, and is compared favorably to tools like Prismic, Strapi, and Shopify.