דלג לתוכן הראשי

2023-05-07

Intel OEM Private Key Leak: A Blow to UEFI Secure Boot Security

  • MSI was attacked by a ransomware group in April, resulting in the exfiltration of 1.5TB of data.
  • The private key (KeyManifest) provided by Intel to its OEM partners, which significantly affects the UEFI secure boot security, has been leaked.
  • The leaked private keys affect Intel's 11th, 12th, and 13th-generation processors and were distributed to various OEMs, including Lenovo, Supermicro, and Intel itself, potentially posing a significant threat if employed in production environments.

Industry Reactions

  • Microsoft's mandatory TPM and Secure Boot requirements for Windows 11 are controversial as gamers and tech enthusiasts argue that the restrictions limit their control over their own hardware, while IT admins see them as essential to prevent insider attacks.
  • OEMs' use of commonly trusted PKI keys led to a leak of private security keys that can compromise systems, leading to discussions about the need for good key management and the desirability of users being at the root of the chain of trust.

Sailing boat rescued by the Götheborg

  • The sailing boat Corto lost its rudder while at sea and sent a distress call.
  • The Götheborg, the largest ocean-going wooden sailing ship in the world, came to the rescue, which was a first for both the ship and an east indiaman.
  • The crew of the Götheborg showed professionalism and kindness, towing the sailing boat to safety and ensuring their well-being until a French rescue boat arrived.

Industry Reactions

  • Readers discuss the history of sailing and seafaring, including the Polynesians, classic paintings and the Vasa museum in Stockholm.
  • The post includes comments about emergency communication requirements, legal obligations for larger ships, and salvaging contracts.

Atuin replaces your existing shell history with a SQLite database

  • Atuin replaces the current shell history with a SQLite database and records more command context, also allowing encrypted synchronization of command history between machines using the Atuin server.
  • Atuin allows the user to rebind ctrl-r and up (configurable) to a complete screen history search UI, backup and sync encrypted shell history, and track all the information like exit code, cwd, hostname, session, command duration, etc.
  • Atuin has a community Discord, quick start guide, comprehensive documentation, various installation options, and can be used with multiple shells like zsh, bash, fish, nu shell, etc.

Industry Reactions

  • Atuin supports distributed syncing, an encrypted history service, and the ability to import history from other services.
  • Some users have reported friction and slower searches with large command histories, but the Atuin team claims the benefits of new features like directory search and sync.

Wikipedia user edits over 90k uses of "comprised of"

  • The phrase "comprised of" is often considered poor phrasing and criticized by language purists.
  • A Wikipedia editor has been working on a project to remove the phrase "comprised of" from the site since 2007, and has edited out the phrase in around 67,000 articles.
  • Reactions to the project have been mixed, with some calling it "semi-vandalism", whilst others have praised it.

Industry Reactions

  • The editor's campaign was criticized as overzealous, while others argued "comprised of" is an accepted usage and language inevitably evolves over time.
  • The discussion on Hacker News touched on the pros and cons of prescriptivism and descriptivism, language evolution, and the importance of clarity in technical writing.

Open source Background Remover: Remove Background from images and video using AI

  • BackgroundRemover is a command-line tool that uses AI to remove the background from images and videos.
  • It requires Python 3.6, Torch, TorchVision, and FFmpeg 4.4+ to be installed.
  • The tool can be used to remove backgrounds from images and videos, as well as create transparent GIFs and matte key files.

Industry Reactions

  • The tool was compared to other services such as Remove.bg and Adobe and showed good results in most cases.
  • Some users had concerns about the loss of historical or forensic significance when unwanted backgrounds are removed, but others pointed out that the original images would still exist and digital tools simply make the process more accessible.

I'm in Wyoming to celebrate the next nuclear breakthrough

  • Bill Gates is celebrating the announcement of a new nuclear power plant funded by him in Kemmerer, Wyoming.
  • The Natrium plant, designed by TerraPower, is set to be the most advanced nuclear facility when it opens around 2030, and it boasts improvements in safety and produces less waste than conventional reactors.
  • The design uses liquid sodium as a coolant, which can absorb more heat and maintain a consistent pressure, and it includes an energy storage system necessary for integrating with power grids that use variable sources like solar and wind.

Industry Reactions

  • Different coolants, including molten salts such as FLiBe and pressurized water reactors, are discussed for their potential uses in nuclear reactors.
  • There is ongoing debate between the viability of renewable energy sources and nuclear power to address climate change, with some experts suggesting a combination of both.

Shap-E: Generate 3D objects conditioned on text or images

  • Shap-E is a code and model release for generating 3D objects based on text or images.
  • Examples of its text-conditional model generating various objects, like a chair that looks like an avocado or a spaceship, are available.
  • To use Shap-E, installation with pip, notebooks, and Blender version 3.3.1 or higher are needed.

Industry Reactions

  • This model can generate 3D objects based on text or images.
  • Users can generate ideas for new products or use the models as a source of inspiration.

AI's biggest risk is the corporations that control them

  • AI systems are increasingly being controlled by large corporations, which poses a risk to society.
  • These companies' bottom-line profit motives may not align with the greater good, resulting in corrupt or dangerous use of AI.
  • There is a need for more transparency and accountability in AI development and deployment to ensure the safety and ethical use of these systems.

Industry Reactions

  • AGI poses significant risks, including control by malicious individuals and exacerbating existing societal inequalities.
  • Algorithmic regulation by corporations without regulation has led to the creation of de-facto oligopolies, dehumanizing individuals, and a bifurcation of society.

It looks like GPT-4-32k is rolling out

  • A new GPT-4 model with 32k parameters has been spotted in the Playground.
  • A sample API call with a postmodern fiction prompt about MC Hammer was used to showcase the model's capabilities.
  • The text generated by the model was full of evocative imagery and philosophical musings about the cultural significance of MC Hammer.

Industry Reactions

  • Users discuss the limitations and potential of GPT-4 and express frustration over its slow rollout and cost.
  • Some users are finding ways to work around the cost by carefully constructing their prompts or pruning older messages, but GPT-4 is not yet widely available.

Using ChatGPT to generate a GPT project end-to-end

  • The author uses ChatGPT to generate a project end-to-end, starting from project foundations, unit tests, and even the project name.
  • ChatGPT is a productivity multiplier for those who already possess some knowledge but can also help fill gaps of knowledge for those who don't.
  • ChatGPT has limitations with dealing with abstractions beyond two layers, but it's an impressive tool for generating Agda and formalizing pure math.

Industry Reactions

  • GPT-based tools have shown potential in various applications like code generation, data analysis, and language translation.
  • Despite their limitations and the need for human intervention for quality control, LLMs like GPT may outperform humans on many professional and everyday tasks, but choosing the right version remains a challenge.