WordPress co-founder and CEO of Automattic Matt Mullenweg is trolling contributors and users of the WordPress open-source project by requiring them to check a box that says "Pineapple is delicious on pizza." From a report: The change was spotted by WordPress contributors late Sunday, and is still up as of Monday morning. Trying to log in or create a new account without checking the box returns a "please try again" error. Last week, as part of the ongoing legal battle between WP Engine and Automattic, the company that owns WordPress.com, a judge ordered Mullenweg to remove a controversial login checkbox from WordPress.org that required users to pledge that they were not affiliated with WP Engine before logging in.

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Google DeepMind announced a next-gen video-generating AI tool to rival OpenAI's Sora. Called Veo 2, it can generate AI video clips longer than two minutes with resolutions up to 4K (4096 x 2160). TechCrunch reports: In Google's experimental video creation tool, VideoFX, where Veo 2 is now exclusively available, videos are capped at 720p and eight seconds in length. (Sora can produce up to 1080p, 20-second-long clips.) VideoFX is behind a waitlist, but Google says it's expanding the number of users who can access it this week. Eli Collins, VP of product at DeepMind, also told TechCrunch that Google will make Veo 2 available via its Vertex AI developer platform "as the model becomes ready for use at scale." "Over the coming months, we'll continue to iterate based on feedback from users," Collins said, "and [we'll] look to integrate Veo 2's updated capabilities into compelling use cases across the Google ecosystem ... [W]e expect to share more updates next year."

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An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: The fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 was a seminal moment in 20th century history, paving the way for German reunification. Many segments, both large and small, were preserved for posterity -- including portions covered in graffiti or murals. A team of Italian scientists used a combination of spectroscopic analysis and machine learning to study paint chips from wall fragments to learn more about the chemistry of the paints and pigments used, according to a new paper published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. [...] Nondestructive techniques like Raman spectroscopy are often used to identify the molecular signatures of pigments, dyes, and other chemical compounds, but this usually requires bringing samples to the lab. Handheld Raman devices are used for cases where analysis must be done on-site, but they are far less precise than full-size laboratory equipment. So [Francesco Armetta of the University of Palermo and co-authors of the paper] decided to adopt a machine-learning approach to enhance the precision and sensitivity of spectral data collected by those handheld devices. The team collected 15 pictorial fragments of five different colors from Berlin Wall paintings. They used handheld Raman spectroscopy on the paint chips and compared that spectral data to a commercial library of pigment spectra, confirming those findings with X-ray fluorescence and optical fiber reflectance spectroscopy. Most of the fragments had two top layers that had been painted with a brush rather than spray paint; brushstrokes were clearly visible under a microscope in several cases. The underlying third layer, in contact with the masonry, was white and probably used to prepare the surface for painting. Calcium and titanium were the most abundant elements in all the samples. Chromium and lead were present in a green-colored sample, and the authors think this was mixed with another color to get that particular shade. There were also traces of copper in blue and green samples. Armetta et al. also created their own mock-up samples by mixing commercial German acrylic paints (commonly used since the 1800s) in different ratios to try to match colors and tints from the fragments -- crucial information for restoration. This is where their machine-learning algorithm (dubbed SAPNet) proved useful. They trained it on the Raman spectral data from the Berlin Wall samples and used it to determine the percentage of pigment. The model concluded that the Berlin Wall paint chips contained titanium white and as much as 75 percent pigment. "The identification of most of the components of the fragments was only possible through the comprehensive evaluation of the results provided by all the techniques [combined]," the authors concluded, further augmented by the development of SAPNet. "While SAPNet was specifically tailored for pigment mixture analysis, its robust framework demonstrates the transformative potential of deep learning methodologies for Raman spectral analysis across diverse scientific and industrial applications."

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An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: The European Union is forging ahead with plans for a constellation of internet satellites to rival Elon Musk-owned Starlink, after signing a $11.1 billion deal to launch nearly 300 satellites into low- and medium-Earth orbits by 2030. The bloc wants the space tech to boost its digital sovereignty by providing secure comms to governments. First announced in 2022, Iris^2 (Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite) is a public-private partnership whose initial cost estimate (6 billion euros) leapt 76% through a fraught negotiation process. In the end, the program will be 61% funded from the public purse; an industry consortium called SpaceRise, selected in October, is making up the difference. This grouping includes French satellite giant Eutelsat, which merged with European rival OneWeb back in 2022.

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Arctic Wolf has acquired Cylance, BlackBerry's beleaguered cybersecurity business, for $160 million -- a significant discount from the $1.4 billion BlackBerry paid to acquire the startup in 2018. From a report: Under the terms of the deal, which is expected to close in BlackBerry's fiscal Q4, BlackBerry will sell its Cylance assets to Arctic Wolf for $160 million in cash. BlackBerry will get ~$80 million at closing and the rest of the tranche a year later, along with roughly 5.5 million common shares in Arctic Wolf.

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An anonymous reader shares a report: Google announced it's rolling out ChromeOS M131 to non-beta users, bringing with it a handy "Safety reset" feature that lets Chromebook users reset their laptops without totally wiping them. The update also introduced a new "Flash notifications" accessibility option to help those who might not otherwise easily hear or see them. Like Powerwash in ChromeOS, Safety reset will wipe the slate clean if you're experiencing computer virus-like behavior such as unusual pop-ups. But where Powerwash is a full factory reset, Safety reset preserves local data and apps, as well as things like bookmarks and saved passwords, according to a help document about the feature.

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Apple is preparing a series of major design and format changes to its lineup of iPhones and potentially other products, according to WSJ, a bid to revive growth after years of offering largely incremental upgrades. From the report: Starting next year, Apple plans to introduce an iPhone that will be thinner than the approximately 8-millimeter profile of current models, said people familiar with the company's plans. The model is intended to be cheaper than Pro models, with a simplified camera system to reduce costs. The company is also planning two foldable devices, the people said. A larger device, intended to serve as a laptop, would have a screen that unfolds to be nearly as large as some desktop monitors, at about 19 inches. A smaller model would unfold to a display size that would be larger than an iPhone 16 Pro Max, intended to serve as a foldable iPhone, the people said. Both foldable designs have been in development for years, but some key parts weren't ready. Major challenges included improving the hinge, a mechanism that allows the device to fold and unfold, and the display cover, a flexible material protecting the foldable screen. Current foldable phones on the market aren't thin, light or energy-efficient enough to meet Apple's standards, which is why Apple has been slower to enter this segment, said Jeff Pu, an analyst with Hong Kong-based brokerage Haitong International Securities.

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An anonymous reader shares a report: Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son will announce a $100 billion investment in the U.S. over the next four years during a Monday visit to President-elect Donald Trump's residence Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, sources familiar with the matter told CNBC's Sara Eisen. The billionaire investor and founder of the Japanese tech-investing firm will also promise in the joint announcement with Trump to create 100,000 jobs focused on artificial intelligence and related infrastructure, the sources said. The money will be deployed before the end of Trump's term. The funding could come from various sources controlled by Softbank, including the Vision Fund, capital projects or chipmaker Arm Holdings, where the firm is majority owner.

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One in five adults in developed nations demonstrate primary school-level literacy and numeracy skills, according to an OECD study of 160,000 people across 31 countries released December 10. The decennial Survey of Adult Skills reveals declining literacy rates over the past decade despite rising secondary education completion. Finland topped rankings across all tested areas -- numeracy, literacy, and problem-solving -- while Japan, Norway and the Netherlands performed above average. The United States showed declining scores, with Chile, Italy, Poland and Portugal reporting high proportions of below-average performers. The study found widening skill gaps between top and bottom performers, with declining scores concentrated among lower-performing adults.

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This month Bill Gates recommended four books about making sense of the world, including The Coming Wave, by Mustafa Suleyman. Gates calls it "the book I recommend more than any other on AI — to heads of state, business leaders, and anyone else who asks — because it offers something rare: a clear-eyed view of both the extraordinary opportunities and genuine risks ahead." After helping build DeepMind from a small startup into one of the most important AI companies of the past decade, [Suleyman] went on to found Inflection AI and now leads Microsoft's AI division. But what makes this book special isn't just Mustafa's firsthand experience — it's his deep understanding of scientific history and how technological revolutions unfold. He's a serious intellectual who can draw meaningful parallels across centuries of scientific advancement. Most of the coverage of The Coming Wave has focused on what it has to say about artificial intelligence — which makes sense, given that it's one of the most important books on AI ever written. And there is probably no one as qualified as Mustafa to write it... But what sets his book apart from others is Mustafa's insight that AI is only one part of an unprecedented convergence of scientific breakthroughs. Gene editing, DNA synthesis, and other advances in biotechnology are racing forward in parallel. As the title suggests, these changes are building like a wave far out at sea — invisible to many but gathering force. Each would be game-changing on its own; together, they're poised to reshape every aspect of society... [P]rogress is already accelerating as costs plummet and computing power grows. Then there are the incentives for profit and power that are driving development. Countries compete with countries, companies compete with companies, and individuals compete for glory and leadership. These forces make technological advancement essentially unstoppable — and they also make it harder to control... How do we limit the dangers of these technologies while harnessing their benefits? This is the question at the heart of The Coming Wave, because containment is foundational to everything else. Without it, the risks of AI and biotechnology become even more acute. By solving for it first, we create the stability and trust needed to tackle everything else... [Suleyman] lays out an agenda that's appropriately ambitious for the scale of the challenge — ranging from technical solutions (like building an emergency off switch for AI systems) to sweeping institutional changes, including new global treaties, modernized regulatory frameworks, and historic cooperation among governments, companies, and scientists... In an accompanying Christmas-themed video, Gates adds that "Of all the books on AI, that's the one I recommend the most." Gates also recommends The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt, saying it "made me reflect on how much of my younger years — which were often spent running around outside without parental supervision, sometimes getting into trouble — helped shape who I am today. Haidt explains how the shift from play-based childhoods to phone-based childhoods is transforming how kids develop and process emotions." (In the video Gates describes it as "kind of a scary book, but very convincing. [Haidt] writes about the rise of mental illness, and anxiety in children. He, unlike some books, actually has some prescriptions, like kids not using phones until much later, parenting style differences. I think it's a super-important book.") Gates goes into the book's thesis in a longer blog post: that "we're actually facing two distinct crises: digital under-parenting (giving kids unlimited and unsupervised access to devices and social media) and real-world over-parenting (protecting kids from every possible harm in the real world). The result is young people who are suffering from addiction-like behaviors — and suffering, period — while struggling to handle challenges and setbacks that are part of everyday life." [Haidt] makes a strong case for better age verification on social media platforms and delaying smartphone access until kids are older. Literally and figuratively, he argues, we also need to rebuild the infrastructure of childhood itself — from creating more engaging playgrounds that encourage reasonable risk-taking, to establishing phone-free zones in schools, to helping young people rediscover the joy of in-person interaction. Gates also recommends Engineering in Plain Sight, by Grady Hillhouse, a book which he says "encourages curiosity." ("Hillhouse takes all of the mysterious structures we see every day, from cable boxes to transformers to cell phone towers, and explains what they are and how they work. It's the kind of read that will reward your curiosity and answer questions you didn't even know you had.") And finally, Gates recommends an autobiography by 81-year-old Pulitzer Prize-winning historian/biographer/former sports journalist Doris Kearns Goodwin, who assesses the impact of President Lyndon Johnson's policies in a surprising "personal history of the 1960s."

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"Envy the lumberjacks, for they perform the happiest, most meaningful work on earth," the Washington Post wrote almost two years ago, after analyzing more than 13,000 journals from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' time-use survey. (For the first time the surveys asked how workers felt during the day.) And outdoor forestry jobs "look awesome by that metric, dangerous as they often are in the long run," the Post wrote in a recent follow-up. [Alternate URL.] But is that really the right metric? "Readers kept reminding us that there's more to a fulfilling job than how happy you are while doing it." What about those wanting jobs where they're meaningfully impacting the world? We didn't have a stellar way to measure other feelings about work, but we kept our eye on an often-overlooked federal data provider: AmeriCorps. The independent agency, which CEO Michael D. Smith described to us as "bite-sized" but "punching well above our weight," funds the Civic Engagement and Volunteering Supplement, part of the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey... In 2021 and again in 2023, the researchers behind the CEV asked if you agree or disagree with these four statements: - I am proud to be working for my employer. - My main satisfaction in life comes from work. - My workplace contributes to the community. - I contribute to the community through my work.... The workers most likely to say they're proud to be working for their employer and that they gain satisfaction from work are — surprise! — the self-employed. The self-employed who are incorporated — a group that often includes small-business owners — are almost twice as likely as private-sector, for-profit workers to strongly profess pride in their employer. Government and nonprofit workers fall somewhere in the middle on those questions. But they rank at the very top on "My workplace contributes to the community" and "I contribute to the community through my work." Local government workers, who include teachers, take the top spot for strong agreement on both, followed by nonprofit workers. Private-sector, for-profit workers once again lag behind. The jobs that do worse on these measures tend to be in manufacturing or other blue-collar production and extraction jobs, or at the lower-paid end of the service sector. Folks in food services (e.g., bartenders and food prep), janitorial roles and landscaping, and personal services (e.g., barbershops, laundry and hotels) all struggle to find greater meaning in their work. Though some better-paid service jobs also struggle by some measures — think sales, engineering or software development. On the questions regarding pride in your employer and life satisfaction, we see managers and our old friends in agriculture and forestry take the top spots. But right behind them — and actually in the lead in the other question — lurks the real standout, a set of jobs we'd classify as "care and social services." That includes, most notably, religious workers. Looking a bit deeper at about 100 occupations for which we have detailed data, we see clergy were most likely to strongly agree on every question. Other observations from the article: "As a rule, you feel better about your job as you get older. Presumably, it's some mix of people who love their work delaying retirement, people job-hopping until they find meaningful employment, and people learning to love whatever hand they've been dealt." "Most measures of satisfaction also rise with education, often quite sharply. Someone with a graduate degree is twice as likely as a high school dropout to strongly agree their workplace contributes to the community." But... "More-educated folks are actually a bit less likely to strongly agree that work is their main satisfaction in life."

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Today's anonymous submitter supplies us with a classic antipattern: padding via switch:

string TransactionOrder = (string)dr["TransactionOrder"].ToString().Trim(); switch (TransactionOrder.Length) { case 1: TransactionOrder = "000" + TransactionOrder; break; case 2: TransactionOrder = "00" + TransactionOrder; break; case 3: TransactionOrder = "0" + TransactionOrder; break; default: TransactionOrder = TransactionOrder; break; }

There's not much to say here, as we've seen this before, and we'll see it again. It's wrong, it's not how anything should be done, yet here it is, yet again. In this case, it's C#, which also has a lovely set of built-in options for doing this, making this code totally unnecessary.

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An anonymous reader shared this report from Computerworld: Microsoft has announced Phi-4 — a new AI model with 14 billion parameters — designed for complex reasoning tasks, including mathematics. Phi-4 excels in areas such as STEM question-answering and advanced problem-solving, surpassing similar models in performance. Phi-4, part of the Phi small language models (SLMs), is currently available on Azure AI Foundry under the Microsoft Research License Agreement and will launch on Hugging Face [this] week, the company said in a blog post. The company emphasized that Phi-4's design focuses on improving accuracy through enhanced training and data curation.... "Phi-4 outperforms comparable and even larger models on tasks like mathematical reasoning, thanks to a training process that combines synthetic datasets, curated organic data, and innovative post-training techniques," Microsoft said in its announcement. The model leverages a new training approach that integrates multi-agent prompting workflows and data-driven innovations to enhance its reasoning efficiency. The accompanying report highlights that Phi-4 balances size and performance, challenging the industry norm of prioritizing larger models... Phi-4 achieved a score of 80.4 on the MATH benchmark and has surpassed other systems in problem-solving and reasoning evaluations, according to the technical report accompanying the release. This makes it particularly appealing for domain-specific applications requiring precision, like scientific computation or advanced STEM problem-solving. Microsoft emphasized its commitment to ethical AI development, integrating advanced safety measures into Phi-4. The model benefits from Azure AI Content Safety features such as prompt shields, protected material detection, and real-time application monitoring. These features, Microsoft explained, help users address risks like adversarial prompts and data security threats during AI deployment. The company also reiterated that Azure AI Foundry, the platform hosting Phi-4, offers tools to measure and mitigate AI risks. Developers using the platform can evaluate and improve their models through built-in metrics and custom safety evaluations, Microsoft added... With Phi-4, Microsoft continues to evolve its AI offerings while promoting responsible use through robust safeguards. Industry watchers will observe how this approach shapes adoption in critical fields where reasoning and security are paramount.

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Does space need environmentalists, asks the headline from a new article in Noema magazine. "As astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson notes, the first trillionaire will be made in space. "But amid such promising developments are worries among some scientists and environmentalists who fear humans will repeat the errors that resource extraction has wrought on Earth..." If we have mining in space, do we need a preemptive anti-mining campaign to protect our solar system from rampant exploitation before it is too late? Earth-bound environmental advocates and astrobiologists alike have concluded that, indeed, we need an environmental movement in space... [Daniel Capper, an adjunct professor of philosophy at the Metropolitan State University of Denver] is part of a small but growing chorus of intellectuals who argue that we must carve out protections sooner rather than later — backed by a concrete theoretical and legal framework — for certain areas of the solar system. The United Nations has convened a working group on the use of space resources, and the International Astronomical Union has set up a different working group to delineate places of special scientific value on the moon. Some researchers have proposed creating a planetary park system in space, while others advocate for a circular space economy that minimizes the need for additional resources. The nonprofit For All Moonkind is advocating for the protection of space sites of cultural importance, like the Apollo 11 landing site. And the Astra Carta, backed by Britain's King Charles, advocates for making sustainability a key component of space activities... [Martin Elvis, an astronomer with the Center for Astrophysics at Harvard University and the Smithsonian Institution] proposed setting aside 7/8ths of the solar system as wilderness, in a paper published in 2019 in Acta Astronautica that he coauthored with King's College London philosopher Tony Milligan... [T]he lack of norms — clear rules and regulations around space — is one of the most pressing threats to the space environment, advocates say. What might happen, for example, if the United States simply began scooping up asteroids for platinum, or if Blue Origin established a mine at the lunar South Pole without securing consensus from others? "We do not have good answers to those questions right now," Hanlon said. "This is something that I'm really concerned about." Much of the legal basis for the space environmentalism movement is currently contained in just one article of the Outer Space Treaty (OST), said Christopher Johnson, the director of legal affairs and space law at the Secure World Foundation. Article 9 of the OST contains the harmful contamination language and says actors must pay "due regard" to the interests of others. It also stipulates that "harmful interference" with the activities of others must be avoided. Those phrases could be interpreted in multiple ways and have yet to be meaningfully tested. The article cites two concrete proposals moving forward: "The Artemis Accords, a set of principles for exploring and using resources in outer space established by the U.S. in 2020, argues that resource extraction does not constitute national appropriation, and is therefore allowed by the OST. It's an initial step toward securing a consensus on space regulations, and one that's to date received the signatures of 47 nations including Japan, the United Kingdom, France and Germany (though China and Russia are notably absent). Signing the Artemis Accords allows nations to participate in the Artemis program, and also play a role in shaping future norms in space, Johnson said, a potentially lucrative incentive... " "The UN's COPUOS, the same one responsible for the OST and the Moon Agreement, published a working paper in 2019 that laid out voluntary guidelines for the long-term sustainability of outer space activities. Recommendations from the committee's working group on principles for the use of space resources are due in 2027, and Johnson said draft guidelines are likely to emerge in early 2025." "One day, our descendants might live among the stars," the article concludes. "But we must ask ourselves, what kind of place will they inherit?"

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They provide training data to top AI companies including OpenAI and Meta, according to its web site. Founded in 2016, San Francisco-based Scale AI now has over 900 employees, eventually growing beyond "unicorn" status with over $1.35 billion in ivnestments. In May the company's valuation was over $14 billion, with investors including Amazon, Meta, Nvidia, Cisco, Intel, and AMD (as well as earlier investments from Y Combinator and $100 million from Peter Thiel's Founders Fund). SFGate calls them "a buzzy San Francisco startup with high-dollar ties across the tech industry". But SFGate also report Scale AI "was sued Tuesday by a former worker with allegations that the company is committing wage theft and misclassifying workers." Steve McKinney filed the suit against Scale and several top executives, including 27-year-old billionaire CEO Alexandr Wang, in San Francisco Superior Court. With the filing, the former contractor aims to be a lead plaintiff for a class-action lawsuit against Scale; a judge will need to certify his proposed class of current and former contractors within California... McKinney, whose complaint says he was paid on an hourly basis and worked on a project eventually sold to Meta, is accusing Scale of amassing its clout and cash by exploiting workers. "Scale AI is the sordid underbelly propping up the generative AI industry," the complaint says, before rattling off a list of allegations about its treatment of contractors. The document accuses Scale of bait-and-switch hiring promises; demanding off-the-clock, unpaid work; denying overtime pay; and unfairly booting contractors from projects... The Tuesday complaint calls Scale's control over its contractors "Orwellian." The company makes contractors download a tool to track much of their computer use, including by taking periodic screenshots, the suit alleges. The lawsuit also alleges that Scale reassigns the workers to varyingly paid projects and docks pay if a task takes more than it was supposed to, plus posits that Scale is in violation of California's "ABC" test, which monitors use of the designation "independent contractor." It argues that contracted "Taskers" like McKinney should be classified as employees instead... The complaint, along with arguing for class-action certification, seeks restitution, punitive damages and changes to Scale's worker classification model. The article adds that "Per Fortune, Scale's armies of contractors marked up images for Cruise and Waymo to help autonomous cars understand their surroundings..."

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Saturday night two men were arrested near Boston "following a hazardous drone operation near Logan Airport's airspace," according to a police statement. They credit an officer "leveraging advanced UAS monitoring technology" who "identified the drone's location, altitude, flight history, and the operators' position." Recognizing the serious risks posed by the drone's proximity to Logan's airspace, additional resources were mobilized. The Boston Police Department coordinated with Homeland Security, the Massachusetts State Police, the Joint Terrorism Task Force, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and Logan Airport Air Traffic Control to address the situation. "Both suspects face charges of trespassing, with additional fines or charges potentially forthcoming." Meanwhile on Friday night "Officials at Stewart International Airport, located roughly 60 miles north of New York City, said they shut down their runways for an hour," reports ABC News, after America's Federal Aviation Administration "alerted them that a drone was spotted in the area around 9:30 p.m." Though officials say flight operations weren't impacted during the closure, the article notes that New York's governor is now calling for federal assistance, including more federal law enforcement officers, saying "This has gone too far." [Governor Hochul] called on Congress to pass the Counter-UAS Authority Security, Safety, and Reauthorization Act, which would strengthen the FAA's oversight of drones and give more authority to state and local law enforcement agencies to investigate the activity. The article explores the larger problem of Americans reporting drone sightings: Officials from a wide range of federal agencies spoke with reporters Saturday on a phone call and emphasized that the federal investigation into drone sightings in New Jersey is ongoing. One FBI official said that out of the nearly 5,000 tips they have received, less than 100 have generated credible leads for further investigation. A Department of Homeland Security official said that they are "confident that many of the reported drone sightings are, in fact, manned aircraft being misidentified as drones." The FBI official also talked about how investigators overlaid the locations of the reported drone sightings and found that "the density of reported sightings matches the approach pattern" of the New York area's busy airports including Newark-Liberty, JFK, and LaGuardia. But, an FAA official says that there have "without a doubt" been drones flying over New Jersey, pointing to the fact that there are nearly a million drones registered in the U.S. "With nearly a million registered [unmanned aircraft systems] in the United States, there's no doubt many of them are owned and operated here within the state," the FAA official said... A Joint Chiefs of Staff official said that there have been visual sightings of drones reported by "highly trained security personnel" near Picatinny Arsenal and Naval Weapons Station Earle in New Jersey. The official said that they do not believe the sightings "were aligned with a foreign actor, or that they had malicious intent." "We don't know what activity is. We don't know if it is criminal, but I will tell you that it is irresponsible," the official said. "Here on the military side, we are just as frustrated with the irresponsible nature of this activity." Later ABC News reported that the FAA had imposed temporary drone flight restrictions in New Jersey over the Picatinny Arsenal military base. And they added that America's Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas "said the federal government is taking action to address the aerial drones that have prompted concern among New Jersey residents. "I want to assure the American public that we in the federal government have deployed additional resources, personnel, technology to assist the New Jersey State Police in addressing the drone sightings...." There have been numerous reports of drone activity along the East Coast since November. Mayorkas cited the 2023 change of a Federal Aviation Administration rule that allows drones to fly at night as to why there might be an uptick in sightings. "I want to assure the American public that we are on it," he said, before calling on Congress to expand local and state authority to help address the issue. "It is critical, as we all have said for a number of years, that we need from Congress additional authorities to address the drone situation," Mayorkas said. "Our authorities currently are limited and they are set to expire. We need them extended and expanded... We want state and local authorities to also have the ability to counter growing activity under federal supervision," he added, echoing sentiments from local officials... Addressing national security concerns the sightings have prompted, Mayorkas said the U.S. knows of no foreign involvement and that it remains "vigilant" in investigating the drone sightings. [ABC News anchor George] Stephanopoulos pressed Mayorkas about past security threats drones have caused, including the arrest of a Chinese national last week who allegedly flew a drone over an Air Force base in California. "When a drone is flown over restricted airspace, we act very, very swiftly," the homeland security secretary said. "In fact, when an individual in California flew a drone over restricted airspace, that individual was identified, apprehended and is being charged by federal authorities."

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A 19-year-old wrongfully accused of using AI told the Guardian's reporter that "to be accused of it because of 'signpost phrases', such as 'in addition to' and 'in contrast', felt very demeaning." And another student "told me they had been pulled into a misconduct hearing — despite having a low score on Turnitin's AI detection tool — after a tutor was convinced the student had used ChatGPT, because some of his points had been structured in a list, which the chatbot has a tendency to do." Dr Mike Perkins, a generative AI researcher at British University Vietnam, believes there are "significant limitations" to AI detection software. "All the research says time and time again that these tools are unreliable," he told me. "And they are very easily tricked." His own investigation found that AI detectors could detect AI text with an accuracy of 39.5%. Following simple evasion techniques — such as minor manipulation to the text — the accuracy dropped to just 22.1%. As Perkins points out, those who do decide to cheat don't simply cut and paste text from ChatGPT, they edit it, or mould it into their own work. There are also AI "humanisers", such as CopyGenius and StealthGPT, the latter which boasts that it can produce undetectable content and claims to have helped half a million students produce nearly 5m papers... Many academics seem to believe that "you can always tell" if an assignment was written by an AI, that they can pick up on the stylistic traits associated with these tools. Evidence is mounting to suggest they may be overestimating their ability. Researchers at the University of Reading recently conducted a blind test in which ChatGPT-written answers were submitted through the university's own examination system: 94% of the AI submissions went undetected and received higher scores than those submitted by the humans... Many universities are already adapting their approach to assessment, penning "AI-positive" policies. At Cambridge University, for example, appropriate use of generative AI includes using it for an "overview of new concepts", "as a collaborative coach", or "supporting time management". The university warns against over-reliance on these tools, which could limit a student's ability to develop critical thinking skills. Some lecturers I spoke to said they felt that this sort of approach was helpful, but others said it was capitulating. One conveyed frustration that her university didn't seem to be taking academic misconduct seriously any more; she had received a "whispered warning" that she was no longer to refer cases where AI was suspected to the central disciplinary board. The Guardian notes one teacher's idea of more one-to-one teaching and live lectures — though he added an obvious flaw: "But that would mean hiring staff, or reducing student numbers." The pressures on his department are such, he says, that even lecturers have admitted using ChatGPT to dash out seminar and tutorial plans. No wonder students are at it, too. The article points out "More than half of students now use generative AI to help with their assessments, according to a survey by the Higher Education Policy Institute, and about 5% of students admit using it to cheat." This leads to a world where the anti-cheating software Turnitin "has processed more than 130m papers and says it has flagged 3.5m as being 80% AI-written. But it is also not 100% reliable; there have been widely reported cases of false positives and some universities have chosen to opt out. Turnitin says the rate of error is below 1%, but considering the size of the student population, it is no wonder that many have found themselves in the line of fire." There is also evidence that suggests AI detection tools disadvantage certain demographics. One study at Stanford found that a number of AI detectors have a bias towards non-English speakers, flagging their work 61% of the time, as opposed to 5% of native English speakers (Turnitin was not part of this particular study). Last month, Bloomberg Businessweek reported the case of a student with autism spectrum disorder whose work had been falsely flagged by a detection tool as being written by AI. She described being accused of cheating as like a "punch in the gut". Neurodivergent students, as well as those who write using simpler language and syntax, appear to be disproportionately affected by these systems. Thanks to Slashdot reader Bruce66423 for sharing the article.

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Launched in 2013, itch.io lets users host and sell indie video games online — now offering more than 200,000 — as well as other digital content like music and comics. But then someone uploaded a page based on a major videogame title, according to Game Rant. And somehow this provoked a series of overreactions and missteps that eventually knocked all of itch.io offline for several hours... The page was about the first release from game developer 10:10 — their game Funko Fusion, which features characters in the style of Funko's long-running pop-culture bobbleheads. As a major brand, Funko monitors the web with a "brand protection" partner (named BrandShield). Interestingly, BrandShield's SaaS product "leverages AI-driven online brand protection," according to their site, to "detect and remove" things like brand impersonations "with over 98% success. Our advanced takedown capabilities save you time..." (Although BrandShield's CEO told the Verge that following AI reports "our team of Cybersecurity Threat hunters and IP lawyers decide on what actions should be taken.") This means that after automatically spotting the itch.io page with its web-crawling software, it was BrandShield's "team of Cybersecurity Threat hunters and IP lawyers" who decided to take action (for that specific page). But itch.io founder Leaf Corcoran commented on social media: From what I can tell, some person made a fan page for an existing Funko Pop video game (Funko Fusion), with links to the official site and screenshots of the game. The BrandShield software is probably instructed to eradicate all "unauthorized" use of their trademark, so they sent reports independently to our host and registrar claiming there was "fraud and phishing" going on, likely to cause escalation instead of doing the expected DMCA/cease-and-desist. Because of this, I honestly think they're the malicious actor in all of this. Corcoran says he replied to both his registrar (iwantmyname) and to his site's host, telling them he'd removed the offending page (and disabled its uploader's account). This satisfied his host, Corcoran writes — but the registrar's owner later told him they'd never received his reply. "And that's why they took the domain down." In an interview with Polygon, Corcoran points out that the web page in question had already been dealt with five days before his registrar offlined his entire site. "No communication after that.... No 'We haven't heard from you, we're about to shut your domain down' or anything like that." Defending themselves over the incident, BrandShield posted on X.com that they'd identified an "infringement" (also calling it an "abuse"), and that they'd requested "a takedown of the URL in question — not of the entire itch.io domain." They don't say this, but it seems like their concern might've been that the page looked official enough to impersonate Funko Fusion. But X.com readers added this context. "Entire domains do not go down on the basis of a copyright takedown request of an individual URL. This is the direct result of a fraudulent claim of malicious activity." And Corcoran also posted an angry summation on X.com: I kid you not, @itchio has been taken down by @OriginalFunko because they use some trash "AI Powered" Brand Protection Software called @BrandShieldltd that created some bogus Phishing report to our registrar, @iwantmyname, who ignored our response and just disabled the domain. The next day Funko's official account on X.com also issued their own statement that they "hold a deep respect and appreciation for indie games, indie gamers, and indie developers." (Though "Added Context" from X.com readers notes Funko's statement still claimed a "takedown request" was issued, rather than what Corcoran says was a false "fraud and phishing" report.) Funko.com also posted that they'd "reached out" to itch.io "to engage with them on this issue." But this just led to another angry post from Corcoran. "This is not a joke, Funko just called my mom." Cocoran then posted what looks like a screenshot of a text message his mother sent him. Though she doesn't say which company was involved, his mother's text says she "Got a strange call from a company about accusatory statements on your social media account. Call me..." Thanks to ewhac (Slashdot reader #5,844) for sharing the news.

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The non-profit, free certificate authority Let's Encrypt shared some news from their executive director as they approach their 10th anniversary in 2025: Internally things have changed dramatically from what they looked like ten years ago, but outwardly our service hasn't changed much since launch. That's because the vision we had for how best to do our job remains as powerful today as it ever was: free 90-day TLS certificates via an automated API. Pretty much as many as you need. More than 500,000,000 websites benefit from this offering today, and the vast majority of the web is encrypted. Our longstanding offering won't fundamentally change next year, but we are going to introduce a new offering that's a big shift from anything we've done before — short-lived certificates. Specifically, certificates with a lifetime of six days. This is a big upgrade for the security of the TLS ecosystem because it minimizes exposure time during a key compromise event. Because we've done so much to encourage automation over the past decade, most of our subscribers aren't going to have to do much in order to switch to shorter lived certificates. We, on the other hand, are going to have to think about the possibility that we will need to issue 20x as many certificates as we do now. It's not inconceivable that at some point in our next decade we may need to be prepared to issue 100,000,000 certificates per day. That sounds sort of nuts to me today, but issuing 5,000,000 certificates per day would have sounded crazy to me ten years ago... It was hard to build Let's Encrypt. It was difficult to scale it to serve half a billion websites... Charitable contributions from people like you and organizations around the world make this stuff possible. Since 2015, tens of thousands of people have donated. They've made a case for corporate sponsorship, given through their Donor-Advised Funds, or set up recurring donations, sometimes to give $3 a month. That's all added up to millions of dollars that we've used to change the Internet for nearly everyone using it. Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader rastos1 for sharing the news.

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"In a tiny handful of places..." Wired wrote last month, "you can find yourself flanked by taxis with no one in the drivers' seats." But they added that "Granted, practically everyone has been numbed by the hype cycle." Wired's response? "[P]ile a few of us into an old-fashioned, human-piloted hired car, then follow a single Waymo robotaxi wherever it goes for a whole workday" to "study its movements, its relationship to life on the streets, its whole self-driving gestalt. We'll interview as many of its passengers as will speak to us, and observe it through the eyes of the kind of human driver it's designed to replace." This week Wired senior editor John Gravios discussed the experience on the business-news radio show Marketplace (with Marketplace host Kai Ryssdal): Ryssdal: What kinds of reactions did you get from people once you track them down, what did they say about their experience in this driverless car? Gravios:It was pretty uniform and impressive how much people just love it. They just like the experience of the drive, I guess it's a little bit less herky-jerky than a human driver, but I think a lot of it just comes down to people are just kind of relieved not to have to talk to somebody else, as as sad as that is... Ryssdal: Tell me about Gabe, your Uber driver, and his thoughts on this whole thing, because that was super interesting. Gravios: So Gabe, this is a guy whose labor is directly at stake. You know, he's a guy whose labor is going to be replaced by a Waymo. He's had 30 years of experience as a professional driver, first as a taxi driver. He even organized a taxi driver strike in the days before Uber. His first, I think his prejudice with Waymo is having shared the road with them sort of sporadically, he thought of them as kind of dopey, rule-following, frustrating vehicles to share the road with. But over the course of the day, he started to recognize that the Waymo was driving a lot like a taxi driver. The Waymo was doing things that were aggressive, that are exactly the kinds of things that a taxi driver is trained to be aggressive with and doing things that were cautious that are exactly the kinds of things that taxi drivers are trained to be cautious with. Ryssdal: Can we talk unit economics here? According to the math from a study you guys' cite, Waymo is not making a whole lot of money per vehicle, right? And eventually they're going to scale, and it's going to work out, but for the moment, even though they've gotten 11 billion-something-dollars, they're not turning a whole lot of profit here. Gravios: Yeah, that's a big question, and the math is, even that study, based on a lot of guesswork. It's really hard to say what the unit economics are. What we can say is that the ridership rates are going up so fast that that study is already well out of date. When we were doing our chase, I think the monthly ridership for Waymo was 100,000 rides a month. By October, it was already 150,000 rides a month. So, the economics are just shifting under our feet a lot.

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