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2023-05-19

What happened with ASUS routers this morning?​

  • ASUS routers experienced connection issues due to a possible firmware glitch or vulnerability exploit, causing the router to crash and disable internet service.
  • The problem was fixed by power cycling the router and updating the firmware, which many people were affected by.
  • The incident highlights the importance of keeping routers up to date to avoid potential security flaws and glitches.

Industry Reactions​

  • Users discuss manual vs automatic router updates, and suggest various solutions for better connectivity and mesh networking

  • Readers provide a range of suggestions for router and firmware options, and discuss network security and vulnerability concerns, as well as the reliability of consumer- grade hardware

ChatGPT app for iOS​

  • Introducing the ChatGPT app for iOS, bringing the latest model improvements to your fingertips and supporting voice input
  • The app is free to use and syncs your history across devices, with ChatGPT Plus subscribers getting exclusive access to GPT-4's capabilities and faster response times
  • Discover the versatility of ChatGPT with features such as instant answers, tailored advice, professional input, creative inspiration, and learning opportunities.

Industry Reactions​

  • The ChatGPT webapp audience is largely non-technical too, so there's a need for native apps in the App Store.
  • Despite mixed feedback, the ChatGPT iOS app generated discussion among tech enthusiasts and those interested in natural language processing and machine learning.

Why is my dryer radioactive?​

  • A Geiger counter measures radiation levels, and during a dryer cycle, it measures a higher level than normal background radiation.
  • Uranium and thorium in heavy rocks can diffuse out as radon into the air and accumulate in poorly ventilated areas, like a concrete basement with granite countertops.
  • Electrically-polarized molecules attracted to statically charged surfaces in a clothes dryer explain the higher radiation level measured by the Geiger counter.

Industry Reactions​

  • Some radiation detectors may not identify all types of radiation, including ingested radioactive materials like polonium-210.
  • The comment thread discusses radon exposure and its potential health risks, as well as the use of phosphogypsum in test road construction in Florida, despite expert concerns about the risk of radon gas accumulation.

User In Yer Face, a worst-practise UI experiment (2018)​

  • "User Inyerface" is a game that challenges users to complete forms quickly and accurately.
  • The game is designed to explore user interactions and design patterns.

Industry Reactions​

  • Amazon modifies prices based on users' search histories and interests while automated pricing may adjust dynamically based on user interactions.
  • Dynamic in-store shelf pricing and subscription cards in print magazines are suggested solutions, while bad UI examples continue to entertain people on subreddits and Twitter.

Legend of Zelda game sells 10M copies in three days​

  • The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom sold 10 million copies in just three days, becoming the fastest-selling Zelda game ever released and 2023's biggest physical video-game launch in the UK.
  • Tears of the Kingdom is the sequel to Breath of the Wild and has sold more copies than any other Zelda game except Breath of the Wild itself, which sold almost 30 million units.
  • While Tears of the Kingdom's sales are impressive, it still falls short of Elden Ring, which had sold an estimated 20.5 million units as of March 2023, but Elden Ring was released on multiple consoles while Tears of the Kingdom was a Switch exclusive.

Industry Reactions​

  • Nintendo prioritizes gameplay mechanics, art direction, and story over raw specs and technological advancements for their consoles
  • Commentators debate different aspects of Zelda: Breath of the Wild's gameplay and performance, including discussions of gacha mechanics, microtransactions, FPS drops, and design decisions

European standards bodies are inaccessible to Open Source projects​

  • The Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) proposes that European standards bodies develop suitable standards to simplify conformance, but the European Standardisation Organizations (ESO) are corporate-controlled and expensive to engage.
  • None of these standards development organizations - CEN, CENELEC, and ETSI - are accessible to open-source projects, and ETSI is predominantly controlled by telecoms industries and celebrates its role as a proponent of FRAND licensing, which is incompatible with open-source communities.
  • Bert Hubert argues that standards bodies making related standards must consult and include the open-source community, or else developers will be forced to pay for third-party process auditors to achieve conformity assessment.

Industry Reactions​

  • Some commenters criticize the lack of vision and the need for accessible and inexpensive standards to promote economic growth.
  • Open source developers and advocates raise concerns over EU legislation that could impose fines for noncompliance, cutting off small competitors who cannot afford certification.
  • The United States Supreme Court has ruled in favor of Lynn Goldsmith in The Andy Warhol Foundation v. Goldsmith case, stating that Warhol's use of Goldsmith's photo of Prince was not fair use but copyright infringement.
  • The court held that new expression, meaning, or message may be relevant to whether a copying use has a distinct purpose or character, but it is not dispositive of the first factor.
  • This case is being celebrated as a win for photographers, as it adds clarification to what constitutes "transformation" in the context of fair use analysis and will have wide-ranging implications for intellectual property.

Industry Reactions​

  • The ruling sparked discussion about the legal concept of transformative art, the inheritability of intellectual property, and the complicated mess caused by eternal copyrights.
  • The posts include debates about the legality of copying artwork, the use of generative AI to create artwork, and suggestions for reform of copyright laws.

One million cancel broadband as living costs rise​

  • Up to a million people have canceled their broadband subscriptions in the UK over the past year due to high living costs, according to a survey by Citizens Advice.
  • Reportedly, a cheaper social tariff or low-cost packages could have benefited those who found it difficult to afford broadband.
  • Ofcom has warned that around 4.3 million eligible people still miss the deals while the take-up of social tariffs was just about 5% of those eligible as of January last year.

Industry Reactions​

  • Discussions involve taxes and expenses in the UK and US, healthcare, retirement contributions, and tips.
  • Some suggest cost-efficient alternatives, such as pay-as-you-go phone plans combined with free WiFi and BT Wifi, to reduce expenses.

Where have all the hackers gone?​

  • The article emphasizes the importance of taking risks and exploring exotic technologies to reduce innovation tokens.
  • The author argues that conversations around programming languages often focus on the atmosphere at the expense of taking risks and exploring new technology choices.
  • The gaps in developers' knowledge of the tools they use and the importance of skilled mentors are discussed, as well as the importance of training and scalability when making tech choices.

Industry Reactions​

  • Some commenters believe that the passion for technology is becoming less common, while others hold onto the belief that there are still passionate developers out there.
  • The importance of fostering creativity and a love of learning in younger generations and providing cultural insights is highlighted.

Language models cost much more in some languages than others​

  • Tokenization is the process of breaking down text into smaller units called tokens for language models to process and generate text sequences
  • Different languages have varying tokenization processes, resulting in some languages requiring up to 10x more tokens than English to tokenize equivalent messages
  • Language disparity in tokenization could limit the amount of information a model can process, cost more money, and take longer to run.

Industry Reactions​

  • English's dominance is due to its prevalence rather than efficiency, and there are concerns about the implications of the Anglophone internet and the potential cultural supremacy of those who can impose their language.
  • The post generates a debate about the influence of language and culture on the development of technology, including the potential use of Large Language Models (LLMs) optimized for different languages by state actors or forward-looking governments.