Apple has revealed updates to its iOS, Safari, and App Store to align with the Digital Markets Act in the EU.
The updates involve enhanced app distribution and payment processing options for developers and improved controls and disclosures for users.
The changes will roll out to EU users from March 2024, and developers can explore and test the new features in the iOS 17.4 beta. Apple will offer resources to assist EU users in understanding and adapting to the modifications.
The discussion revolves around Apple potentially violating anti-circumvention provisions in the EU's Digital Markets Act with changes to its iOS, Safari, and App Store.
There is debate about whether Apple is using fear tactics to maintain its App Store monopoly or if there are legitimate security concerns.
The discussion explores criticism of Apple's actions, including photo scanning and its response to EU regulations, and concerns about limitations and restrictions in the Apple app store.
The discussions focus on various aspects of chess, such as alternative designs for chess pieces, different movements for the knight, the influence of visual aids on learning the game, the significance of different pieces, and the possibility of creating new chess variants.
Participants express their opinions, propose enhancements, and analyze the pros and cons of different concepts.
This is an engaging and collaborative forum for chess enthusiasts to explore and exchange ideas for enhancing the game.
NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter has successfully concluded its mission after surpassing its original goal of five flights in 30 days by completing 72 flights over nearly three years.
The helicopter sustained damage to its rotor blades during its last landing and is no longer capable of flying.
Ingenuity served as a technology demonstration and an aerial scout for NASA's Perseverance rover, showing that powered and controlled flight on Mars is possible despite challenges like power issues during the Martian winter. The Ingenuity team will now conduct final tests and download remaining data to officially conclude the mission.
The Mars helicopter Ingenuity has sustained damage to its rotor blades and will not be able to fly again, marking the end of its three-year project after over 70 flights.
Despite this setback, Ingenuity has paved the way for future Mars rotorcraft missions and has been praised for its innovation and the valuable data it has provided.
Discussions revolve around various topics related to space exploration, such as the accuracy of dust storms on Mars, the durability of sample tubes collected on Mars, NASA's use of advanced technology, and the ownership of lunar territory. There are also debates about the ethical considerations of establishing a human colony on Mars and the potential for a service or repair station on the planet.
Faircamp is a free alternative platform for musicians following the acquisition of Bandcamp by Songtradr.
It is a static site generator that musicians can self-host, providing customization and payment options for albums and tracks.
Faircamp has received positive feedback from the music community, with some artists using RadioFreeFedi's infrastructure to host their own Faircamp sites, making it a promising alternative for supporting musicians in the Fediverse.
The discussion revolves around several aspects of Bandcamp, such as its strengths, community features, and cultural impact.
Users express their opinions on the platform's acquisition by Epic Games, the importance of supporting artists, and alternative platforms for hosting and selling music.
Topics like payment systems, content restrictions, discoverability, ownership, reliability, and the influence of corporations on online platforms are also covered, emphasizing the significance of community, curation, and supporting independent musicians.
Microsoft is cutting 1,900 jobs, around 8% of its gaming division, including employees at Activision Blizzard and Xbox, following its recent acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
The layoffs will impact Xbox and ZeniMax employees, and Blizzard president Mike Ybarra will be leaving the company.
The cancellation of projects, including Blizzard's survival game, is also part of the restructuring. Other gaming companies are also making similar cutbacks.
The discussion touches on various topics like job layoffs, unemployment challenges, starting a business, and the effects of acquisitions on companies and employees.
They also talk about the gaming industry, the decline of certain companies, and the role of AI in creative works.
There are discussions regarding specific games, quality concerns, profit-driven practices in the gaming industry, and the potential uses and implications of AI technology.
A critical vulnerability (CVE-2023-40547) has been discovered in the shim EFI bootloader used by Linux distros for Secure Boot.
Attackers can exploit the bug locally, from an adjacent network, or remotely via HTTP boot to bypass Secure Boot and gain unauthorized access.
This vulnerability has sparked discussions about the limitations of Secure Boot, Microsoft's implementation of it, the compatibility of the GPLv3 license, the use of encryption and signatures, and the potential risks associated with HTTP boot. The bug exposes security vulnerabilities and raises concerns about the effectiveness of Secure Boot.
The article explores the challenges and limitations of EPUB and PDF formats and suggests potential improvements and alternatives.
Ideas for enhancing EPUB's layout and rendering include improving typography tools and pre-calculating line breaks.
Concerns are raised about EPUB readers' lack of support for certain features and reliance on JavaScript, while PDF is preferred for technical documentation despite its drawbacks.
OpenAI has launched new embedding models, including smaller and larger versions, and made updates to the GPT-4 Turbo and GPT-3.5 Turbo models.
The new models offer improved performance and reduced pricing.
OpenAI has introduced enhanced API key management and usage understanding, allowing developers to assign permissions and track usage on a key level. They have also released an updated moderation model for identifying harmful text.
OpenAI has released new embedding models and API updates, enabling dimensionality reduction directly from the API.
Users are discussing the performance of OpenAI's GPT-4 and GPT-4 Turbo models, with some concerns raised about the quality of certain text embeddings.
The impact of dimensionality reduction on latency and the challenges of transitioning between different embedding sets are also being discussed.
Workers are expressing anxiety about job displacement and its potential impact on data quality.
The affordability of OpenAI's new embeddings model is highlighted, along with comparisons to open-source models and discussions about competition and pricing in the AI-as-a-Service industry.
Suggestions are made to address the issue of "laziness" in the models.
Moderation actions are being taken against users who violate guidelines on sensitive discussions.
Japan's lunar mission, SLIM, successfully landed on the moon's surface but upside-down, with its solar batteries facing the wrong direction and unable to generate power.
There is hope that the probe can recharge once the moon enters its daytime.
This mission marks Japan's entrance as the fifth country to reach the moon and is considered a significant achievement for Japan's space technology.
Japan's moon lander, the SLIM, successfully landed on the moon but seems to be upside-down, sparking concerns and discussions about the landing procedure and potential failure modes.
The lander released two rovers that transmitted images back to Earth, showcasing the capability for precision exploration.
Despite the landing mishap, the mission is considered groundbreaking and paves the way for future missions, while also prompting discussions on previous missions and challenges faced by Japan's space agency.
Trail of Bits and the Python Cryptographic Authority have developed cryptography-x509-verification, a fast and memory-safe implementation of the X.509 path validation algorithm in Rust.
This implementation provides an alternative to OpenSSL's X.509 APIs for certificate verification in protocols like TLS and has been integrated into Cryptography's release series for use by Python developers.
Trail of Bits has also created x509-limbo, a test vector and harness suite designed to evaluate the conformance and behavior of various X.509 path validation implementations, aiming to enhance the security of the Python ecosystem and contribute to the open-source community.
The article discusses the development of X.509 chains and the importance of well-developed test suites.
It explores the potential benefits and challenges of using Rust in internet security, particularly in preventing denial of service attacks.
The implementation of interchangeable Prolog programs as policies in the pyca/cryptography library is discussed, along with the challenges and limitations of certificate revocation.
Mozilla's CRLite solution and the use of short-lived certificates are mentioned as potential alternatives to revocation.
The conversation covers various topics including the implementation of dynamic constraints, the 'webpki' crate, alternatives to X.509 certificates, and the interoperability of the Python ecosystem with C.
A recent study conducted in Scotland has shown that women born between 1988-1996 and fully vaccinated against HPV at ages 12-13 had zero cases of cervical cancer.
This is the first national study to track a group of women over a long period and find no instances of cervical cancer, demonstrating the effectiveness of the HPV vaccine.
The study highlights the importance of timely vaccination and suggests that even receiving the vaccine between ages 14-22 still significantly reduces the risk of cervical cancer. However, it's important to note that other HPV strains not covered by the vaccine can still cause cervical cancer. Continued screening for early detection is crucial.
Zeb Figura from CodeWeavers has suggested a Windows NT synchronization primitive driver to enhance the performance of running Windows apps and games on Linux using Wine/Proton.
The proposed driver would directly implement the NT synchronization primitives in the Linux kernel, eliminating the need for RPC and boosting performance.
Initial tests have shown promising performance improvements in various games, although the specific gains may vary depending on the hardware and software setup.
If the driver is approved and implemented, it could significantly enhance gaming performance on Linux, including on the upcoming Steam Deck with Wine and Proton.
The article explores ways to enhance gaming performance on Linux, such as proposed Windows NT sync drivers, integrating OpenVZ into the Linux kernel, and implementing syscalls for improved compatibility with Windows software.
Various GPU options are discussed, along with frustrations regarding proprietary drivers and experiences with AMD GPUs on Linux.
The comment section addresses the potential for resolving issues with running Windows software on Linux platforms and raises concerns about security and anti-cheat systems in gaming.
The article explores two types of Merkle Conflict-free Replicated Data Types (CRDTs): Merkle-DAG CRDTs and Merkle Search Tree CRDTs.
Merkle-DAG CRDTs use a directed acyclic graph to store concurrent updates and minimize syncing bandwidth between replicas.
Merkle Search Tree CRDTs maintain an ordered set of keys in a self-balancing and unique tree structure. The article also discusses the similarities between Merkle CRDTs and Git and the potential for implementing composable CRDTs.
Conflict-Free Replicated Data Types (CRDTs) are being used and implemented in decentralized social networks and collaborative applications.
The Merkle Search Tree (MST) design is gaining recognition and adoption, with independent implementations in Go and Rust.
The article discusses the self-balancing feature of MSTs, their use in AT Protocol's data repository structures, and the optimization of the Merkle DAG data structure in Dolt.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has partnered with 110 NGOs to voice their concerns about the UN Cybercrime Treaty draft.
They believe that the current version of the treaty lacks sufficient protection for human rights and has transformed into a tool for surveillance.
The EFF is calling on states to reject the treaty unless significant changes are made and will be present at the concluding session from January 29 to February 10.