דלג לתוכן הראשי

2023-06-12

Reddit Strike Has Started​

  • Many subreddits are going dark or read-only on June 12th and after as part of a strike.
  • The strike is in response to Reddit's lack of action against hate speech and racism on the platform.
  • Reddark is a site providing a 24/7 stream of darkened subreddits and third-party instances are available if the main server isn't working.

Industry Reactions​

  • Reddit users are on strike against senior executives due to banned subreddits hosting hateful content or violating site rules
  • There is a debate on Reddit's future, with some arguing that changes to the platform have already hurt its business model
  • The discussion revolves around monetizing user-generated content platforms and maintaining a healthy balance between economic interests and community values.

Thousands of subreddits pledge to go dark after the Reddit CEO's recent remarks​

  • Over 100 subreddits have gone dark in protest of upcoming API changes that would force many third-party apps to shut down.
  • The protests stem not only from the API changes but also from a lack of transparency and communication from the Reddit CEO and leadership.
  • Subreddit moderators and third-party app developers have lost trust in Reddit's leadership and are calling for improvement in API issues, accessibility for blind people, and parity in access to NSFW content.

Industry Reactions​

  • Thousands of subreddits are planning to go dark in response to negative community feedback towards Reddit's leadership.
  • There are concerns about Reddit's monitization strategy, including accusations of undervaluing third-party apps and pushing changes that negatively impact moderators and user-generated content.
  • The article explores debates on the need for a decentralized internet and profit sharing mechanisms to ensure sustainability of online communities, as well as criticisms towards Reddit's API pricing and lack of professionalism from the CEO during an AMA session.

Before he was the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski was a mind-control test subject​

  • Ted Kaczynski, also known as the Unabomber, was a mathematics genius who entered Harvard University at the age of 16 on a scholarship.
  • Kaczynski participated in an experiment run by Harvard psychologist Henry A. Murray, which was backed by the Central Intelligence Agency and reportedly involved mock interrogations that criticized participants' beliefs.
  • There have been debates over whether or to what extent Kaczynski's participation in the experiment contributed to his transformation into a domestic terrorist, with some suggesting it may have exacerbated his schizophrenia.

Industry Reactions​

  • The article reports on Ted Kaczynski's participation in mind-control experiments while at Harvard, funded by the CIA's MKUltra program.
  • Commenters discuss government experimentation and question widely held assumptions about scientific research and language's power to shape thinking.
  • The post emphasizes critical thinking and finding scientific evidence to support claims, while also discussing mass shootings in the US and debunking conspiracy theories.

The Dutch government wants automatic permission to target victims of hackers​

  • The Dutch government is proposing an addition to its intelligence and security services act that would automatically extend warrants to hacking victims.
  • This means that if group X is being targeted, the warrant would also extend to victims who were hacked by group X.
  • The addition, which involves no further approval process, raises questions about privacy and whether it complies with Article 8 of the ECHR.

Industry Reactions​

  • Dutch government passes law allowing warrants for hacking, targeted interception, and data access operations to extend to victims of targeted organizations, leading to concerns about potential government overreach and infringement on innocent victims' privacy.
  • Advocates argue this is a practical step for law enforcement to combat cyberattacks, and targets would only be pursued if proportional and non-targets are considered.
  • The Netherlands has also introduced a new national security law that grants automatic permission for targeted surveillance but has been met with criticism for violating privacy and potentially being used to target political opponents.

Intel is all-in on backside power delivery​

  • Intel showcased its PowerVia interconnect technology, which delivers power through the backside of a chip, leading to a 6% performance gain.
  • The technology allows for more compact and efficient chips with little need for silicon, as power-delivering interconnects sit below the transistors and data-slinging interconnects above.
  • The demonstration suggests Intel's commitment to innovative chip technology that prioritizes performance and efficiency.

Industry Reactions​

  • Intel invested heavily in backside power delivery technology to improve heat dissipation, with wiring on both sides of the chip and buried transistors.
  • The system presents challenges for debugging, but could improve efficiency for portables and desktop devices.
  • Intel aims to lead competitors with a two-year head start over TSMC and new nanosheet transistors on the horizon, while also seeing a changing of the guard with new CEO Pat Gelsinger.

CS:GO: From Zero to 0-Day​

  • Researchers found three critical vulnerabilities in the game Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO).
  • The vulnerabilities can be triggered by connecting to a malicious python server, and allow attackers to execute privileged commands on the client.
  • The bugs were found through Valve's bug bounty program, and the researchers received a bounty of 7.5k per bug.

Industry Reactions​

  • Valve took over a year to fix a full RCE vulnerability in CS:GO, indicating a lack of prioritization of security by the company.
  • Networked games, particularly those built with C++, are vulnerable to potential security weaknesses due to shortcutting for performance and lack of attention from developers.
  • The discovery of the vulnerability and Valve's response highlight the importance of prioritizing security measures during game development.

JPEG XL against AVIF tested on ImageEngine​

  • Safari is set to support JPEG XL, raising expectations like the hype that surrounded AVIF, but recent tests suggest that JPEG XL can go one step further by reducing file sizes by an additional 11%, while visual quality is 13% better than AVIF.
  • There is a need for more developers to test using JPEG XL for their needs, as it has the potential to replace all existing JPEGs, still GIFs (mostly memes), PNGs, and WebPs (both lossy and lossless) while delivering smaller file sizes with a better quality.
  • However, there may be resistance to JPEG XL among some communities, as seen in the current response to WebPs, where sharing unsupported images is a common issue.

Industry Reactions​

  • JPEG XL and AVIF were tested on ImageEngine, with varying results in terms of detail preservation and artifacting.
  • JPEG XL has the advantage of universality and handling a variety of image formats and compression rates.
  • Both formats have strengths and weaknesses, making the best format choice dependent on the specific image being compressed.

CIA 2010 covert communication websites​

  • The CIA used covert communication channel websites in the late 2000s to early 2010s which led to the imprisonment and execution of several assets in Iran and China.
  • The article examines the methodology used to identify these websites and provides a list of probable candidates, calling for further assistance.
  • The network fell in 2013, and the existence of these websites was first reported in 2018, with fully public disclosures in 2018 and 2022.

Industry Reactions​

  • CIA's mistakes in designing covert communication websites criticized on Discussion Service.
  • Some users attempted to decompile .jar files and found swing (gui) drawing code and references to flash, activex, and more.
  • TOR is criticized as a bad tradeoff for single agents, and commercial browser fingerprinting and geolocation are suggested to detect the assets.

Mental Liquidity​

  • Mental liquidity is the ability to quickly abandon previous beliefs when the world changes or when new information is available.
  • Changing your mind is hard because it's easier to fool yourself into believing a falsehood than admit a mistake, but it's important to allow room for the possibility that your convictions might be wrong or incomplete.
  • People tend to cling to their beliefs because it's too painful to accept that their beliefs might be wrong, temporary, or subjective. Therefore, it's crucial to be careful what beliefs become a part of your identity, and understand that most fields only have a handful of laws, while everything else is just a theory of maybes.

Industry Reactions​

  • The article discusses "mental liquidity," the ability to entertain new ideas without permanently adopting them, and the importance of intellectual integrity and challenging beliefs.

  • The need for cognitive flexibility, cultivating humility, avoiding sunk cost fallacy, and exploring issues from multiple perspectives are highlighted in the online forum discussion.

  • The importance of openness and adaptability for personal growth, scientific inquiry, and building a successful startup culture is emphasized in both the article and online forum discussion.

One man's 8-bit quest to finish his teenage Commodore 64 RPG​

  • Mike Brixius is attempting to finish his Commodore 64 CRPG project from 1984, Digital Dungeon Master, almost 40 years later with the help of his supporters.
  • The game is based on Telengard, with Brixius wanting to re-create its limited line of sight while adding a surface world similar to Ultima IV, and he's working with executable machine code, printed-out memory dumps, handwritten notes, maps, and other explanations of the game's design.
  • Brixius has already accomplished creating a facsimile of a simple overworld and dungeon working and has committed to finishing the project by 2024.

Industry Reactions​

  • A man completed his Commodore 64 RPG game that he started in 1984
  • Some comments reflect on similar experiences with old technology
  • Some recommend looking at the Commander X16 computer for creative projects.