The repository offers tools to manipulate the webcam LED on a ThinkPad X230, illustrating how malware could potentially record video without LED notification.- The process involves reflashing the webcam firmware via USB, a technique that could be applied to various laptops, using scripts for firmware manipulation and LED control.- The webcam uses a Ricoh R5U8710 controller, and caution is advised as reflashing could damage the webcam; further insights are available in the "Lights Out" talk at POC 2024.
Malware has the capability to disable webcam LEDs and record video without user knowledge, as demonstrated on a ThinkPad X230.- Unlike MacBooks, which have hardwired LEDs to signal camera use, many other laptops lack this feature, raising privacy concerns.- To enhance security, experts recommend using physical covers or switches for webcams and microphones to prevent unauthorized access and protect sensitive information.
The tariff structure for Cloud servers (CCX and CPX lines) and Load balancers in Ashburn and Hillsboro, US, is being updated.- New prices and traffic amounts will apply to newly-created and rescaled servers starting December 1, 2024, with existing servers seeing changes from February 1, 2025.- The update aims to provide fairer pricing based on local conditions, while traffic overage prices remain unchanged.
Hetzner is revising its pricing model for Cloud servers and Load balancers in the US, reducing included traffic from 20TB to as low as 1TB and raising prices.
The changes will take effect in December 2024 for new servers and February 2025 for existing ones, aiming to balance costs between low and high-resource users.
The decision has led to debates about fairness and business strategies, with some users unhappy about the drastic reduction in included traffic.
Australia has passed new legislation banning children under 16 from using social media, with the aim of protecting mental health.
Social media companies have a year to comply, facing fines up to $50 million for non-compliance, while users and parents face no penalties.
The law does not apply to messaging apps, online gaming, or educational services, and has received mixed reactions from mental health experts, politicians, and tech companies.
Australia is set to ban children under 16 from using social media, necessitating ID verification to confirm age, which has sparked privacy concerns.
Critics worry this could grant the government access to social media data and diminish user anonymity, with some suggesting legacy media backs the law to limit social media competition.
The law's effectiveness and enforcement are uncertain, with potential loopholes and challenges in its implementation.
QwQ (Qwen with Questions) is an AI model designed to explore problems with curiosity and philosophical inquiry, constantly questioning its assumptions.
Despite limitations such as language mixing and recursive reasoning loops, QwQ excels in technical domains, achieving high scores on benchmarks like GPQA, AIME, MATH-500, and LiveCodeBench.
The model demonstrates strong problem-solving abilities in mathematics and programming, contributing to the ongoing journey of understanding AI reasoning and machine intelligence.
Alibaba's QwQ, a reasoning large language model (LLM), is gaining attention for its impressive performance on diverse hardware, including MacBooks, and its ability to solve complex tasks with detailed explanations.
Discussions around QwQ include its hardware requirements, potential censorship issues on sensitive topics, and its openness and reasoning capabilities, despite some noted limitations.
The conversation highlights the broader implications of open-source LLMs and the competitive dynamics in the field of artificial intelligence development.
Ed Simon emphasizes the lasting significance of print reading, referencing Sven Birkerts' "The Gutenberg Elegies" to highlight concerns about digital media's impact on deep reading and misinformation.
Simon argues that print books provide a unique, immersive experience that digital media cannot replicate, fostering introspection and privacy away from the internet's constant noise.
He concludes that preserving literacy and deep reading is essential for maintaining individual thought and resisting the pervasive influence of digital technology.
The debate between print and digital reading centers on concerns about digital media's impact on deep engagement with content.- Proponents of digital reading cite convenience and accessibility, while critics worry about its effects on critical thinking and attention spans.- This discussion reflects broader issues of technology's influence on information consumption and the balance between technological progress and traditional knowledge acquisition.
Voice-Pro is an open-source Gradio WebUI designed for advanced audio manipulation, including zero-shot voice cloning and a voice changer with over 50 celebrity voices.
It offers features like YouTube audio downloading, vocal isolation, multi-language text-to-speech, and translation, utilizing Whisper engines.
Voice-Pro is particularly beneficial for content creators, developers, and audio enthusiasts, with resources available on GitHub and video tutorials on YouTube.
Voice-Pro is an open-source AI tool that enables voice cloning in 15 seconds, featuring zero-shot voice cloning and a voice changer with over 50 celebrity voices.- It includes functionalities like YouTube audio downloading, vocal isolation, and multi-language text-to-speech and translation, powered by Whisper engines, and is available on GitHub.- Despite its creative potential, there are concerns about misuse for identity theft and scams, and it currently lacks support for Linux or MacOS, with questions about installation and hidden costs.
London's historic Smithfield and Billingsgate markets, significant for their 850-year history, will close by 2028 as the City of London Corporation withdraws support.- The markets, known as the UK's largest wholesale meat and inland fish markets, will be replaced by new developments, with traders receiving compensation and relocation assistance.- Plans to move the markets to Dagenham were abandoned due to high costs, raising concerns about the future supply of fish in London and marking a loss of tradition.
London's historic food markets, such as Smithfield and Billingsgate, are planned to close, with the City of London Corporation promoting it as a "positive new chapter" for traders.- Critics suggest the closures are intended to facilitate real estate development, turning the area into a commercial hub, raising concerns about cultural heritage loss.- The decision awaits parliamentary approval, with worries about the potential negative impact on local businesses.
picoCAD, a 3D modeling tool for creating retro-style models, was released on November 27, 2024, by Apskeppet, catering to both beginners and experts.- The tool is available for Windows and macOS, with an introductory price of $5.09 until December 4, 2024.- Users are encouraged to join the community and explore tutorials to enhance their creativity with picoCAD.
picoCAD is a straightforward 3D modeling tool favored for its simplicity and ease of use, especially for creating low-poly models, compared to more complex software like Blender.- Developed by Johan Peitz, picoCAD allows export to obj/mtl formats, though it lacks native binary export on Picotron.- Users appreciate its unique aesthetic and simplicity, often comparing it to other tools like Crocotile and Kenney Shape.
The paper introduces "self-tagging," a method for encoding type information within 64-bit objects, optimizing memory layout for dynamic languages without sacrificing data space.
Self-tagging improves execution time in float-heavy benchmarks by 2.3x in Scheme and 2.7x in JavaScript, offering a more efficient alternative to existing methods like tagged pointers and NaN-tagging.
This approach allows for efficient encoding of both data and type, enhancing performance without affecting other operations, making it a promising solution for handling 64-bit IEEE754 double-precision floats in dynamic languages.
The paper introduces "Float Self-Tagging," a technique aimed at optimizing float storage in dynamic programming languages by using high bits for tagging, allowing most floats to remain unboxed and improving performance.
Critics of the paper argue that its comparisons are flawed and recommend testing against established methods such as NaN-tagging, which is a technique for encoding additional information in the NaN (Not-a-Number) values of floating-point numbers.
The technique is noted for its simplicity and potential, with similar methods already implemented in languages like Koka and CRuby, and related optimizations seen in systems like Apple's Objective-C and the Java Virtual Machine (JVM).
Rising healthcare costs in the Netherlands are attributed to bureaucracy, waste, and unnecessary care, highlighting systemic inefficiencies.
A Dutch hospital developed a cancer drug independently of major pharmaceutical companies, offering a treatment five times cheaper than a comparable American therapy, demonstrating the potential for non-profit hospitals to reduce healthcare costs.
Despite the innovation, the expensive and complex European Medicines Agency (EMA) registration process deters hospitals; however, the AVL hospital has funded a phase 3 study through donations, aiming for EMA approval to maintain their affordable therapy against costly pharmaceutical competition.
A hospital has successfully developed a cancer drug independently, demonstrating that drug development can occur without the involvement of major pharmaceutical companies.- The traditional drug development process is criticized for being costly and influenced by non-scientific factors, such as ego and politics.- The discussion emphasizes the complexities in drug development, including regulatory challenges and the high failure rate of drugs during clinical trials.
In 1974, M.I.T. hosted a course where participants, including Marc Rosenbaum and Harriet Fell, constructed aluminum bicycle frames, with Rosenbaum's design being the lightest track bicycle at the time.- Rosenbaum's bike, made from 6061-T6 aluminum and titanium, featured larger diameter tubes and precision bearings, weighing 12 lbs. 5 oz., and is now displayed at the M.I.T. Museum.- Harriet Fell's frame was involved in a patent dispute between Cannondale and Klein, with Cannondale using it to argue against Klein's patent by claiming prior art.
In 1974, MIT considered aluminum for bicycle frames, rejecting magnesium due to its brittleness and corrosion issues, though modern magnesium alloys like LPSO show potential.- Historical attempts with magnesium frames, such as Kirk's, often failed due to material weaknesses, while carbon fiber and titanium are favored for their strength and flexibility.- Despite advancements in materials, weight remains a focus in bicycle design, with increasing emphasis on aerodynamics and rider comfort.
Dell has been releasing unsigned updates on their website, leading to installation failures and raising security concerns about potential exploitation by hackers.
Users have reported mismatches between update catalogs and signatures, with some issues resolved following complaints, but criticism remains regarding Dell's update management.
The situation underscores the critical need for verifying software updates to ensure security and reliability across various platforms, including Apple and Linux.
In 1970, IBM's Bill Harding initiated Project SWIFT, aiming to automate wafer-fabrication to produce integrated circuits (ICs) in under a day, a significant reduction from the typical month-long process.- SWIFT achieved a 5-hour turnaround per layer, a feat still unmatched, and introduced innovations like automated processing and real-time control, foundational to modern semiconductor manufacturing.- Despite its brief existence, Project SWIFT's advancements and Harding's visionary leadership significantly influenced the evolution of semiconductor production techniques.
IBM once led the charge in automated fabrication, aiming for complete vertical integration from raw materials to software, making custom chips more viable than standard options.- Due to the high costs of advancing technology, many companies, including IBM, have outsourced production or spun off their fabrication facilities.- Current efforts, such as Jim Keller's Atomic Semi, focus on making small fabrication runs economical, exploring innovations like structured ASICs (Application-Specific Integrated Circuits) and maskless lithography to reduce costs and improve accessibility to custom silicon.
The US Copyright Office has rejected a DMCA exemption request that aimed to allow libraries to remotely share digital access to preserved video games, concluding a three-year campaign by the Video Game History Foundation (VGHF) and the Software Preservation Network.
The proposed exemption would have facilitated a digital library for historians and researchers to access out-of-print games, but was denied due to concerns about potential recreational use and market harm, as argued by industry groups.
The VGHF expressed disappointment, criticizing the decision as being heavily influenced by industry lobbying, which prioritized industry interests over public access to historical games.
The US Copyright Office has declined a proposal aimed at preserving video games, due to concerns that these games might be used for recreational purposes rather than preservation.
This decision has ignited discussions among retro game enthusiasts, who argue that older games provide more enjoyment and nostalgia compared to modern games.
Critics of the decision believe that current copyright laws are overly restrictive, impeding the preservation of cultural and historical media, and suggest shortening copyright terms to promote innovation and allow older works to enter the public domain sooner.
The article introduces "prospective configuration," a novel credit assignment principle in learning, as an alternative to the traditional backpropagation method.
Prospective configuration involves neural networks predicting desired neural activity patterns before adjusting synaptic weights, enhancing efficiency and effectiveness in learning.
This method aligns more closely with observed neural activity in human and animal studies and may offer advantages in both biological and artificial learning systems over backpropagation.
A new theory, "prospective configuration," is proposed to explain how the brain addresses the credit assignment problem, differing from the backpropagation method used in artificial neural networks (ANNs).
The theory suggests that neural activity changes precede synaptic weight modifications, contrasting with backpropagation where weight changes lead to altered neural activity.
This approach may better align with biological processes and could provide insights into developing more efficient learning algorithms, contributing to debates on AI and human brain learning similarities and differences.