Alterslash

the unofficial Slashdot digest
 

Contents

  1. Graduate Students Analyze, Crack, and Remove Under-Desk Surveillance Devices
  2. What is ChatGPT, the AI Chatbot That's Taking The Internet By Storm
  3. Trailers Released for 2023 First-Person Shooter 'Starship Troopers: Extermination'
  4. Physicists Use Google's Quantum Computer to Create Holographic Wormhole Between Black Holes
  5. 20 Videogame QA Testers in Albany Win Union Vote at Activision Blizzard
  6. Becoming America's #2 Seller of Electric Vehicles, Ford Passes Kia in November
  7. What Happened After Matt Taibbi Revealed Twitter's Deliberations on Hunter Biden Tweets?
  8. Computer Program For Particle Physics At Risk of Obsolescence
  9. America's TSA Begins Quietly Testing Facial Recognition Tech at 16 Airports
  10. FTX Subsidiary Plans Restarting Withdrawals in Japan, as US Requests Review of Fraud Allegations
  11. 2022's 'Earthshot Prizes' Recognize Five Innovative Responses to Climate Change
  12. Chinese Police are Using Cellphone Data to Track Down Protesters
  13. New CryWiper Data Wiper Targets Russian Courts, Mayor's Offices
  14. Apple Now Calling AR/VR Headset Operating System 'xrOS'
  15. Astronomers Say a New, Huge Satellite Is As Bright As the Brightest Stars

Alterslash picks up to the best 5 comments from each of the day’s Slashdot stories, and presents them on a single page for easy reading.

Graduate Students Analyze, Crack, and Remove Under-Desk Surveillance Devices

Posted by EditorDavidView on SlashDotSkip
"Graduate students at Northeastern University were able to organize and beat back an attempt at introducing invasive surveillance devices that were quietly placed under desks at their school," reports Motherboard:
Early in October, Senior Vice Provost David Luzzi installed motion sensors under all the desks at the school's Interdisciplinary Science & Engineering Complex (ISEC), a facility used by graduate students and home to the "Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute" which studies surveillance. These sensors were installed at night — without student knowledge or consent — and when pressed for an explanation, students were told this was part of a study on "desk usage," according to a blog post by Max von Hippel, a Privacy Institute PhD candidate who wrote about the situation for the Tech Workers Coalition's newsletter....

Students began to raise concerns about the sensors, and an email was sent out by Luzzi attempting to address issues raised by students.... Luzzi wrote, the university had deployed "a Spaceti occupancy monitoring system" that would use heat sensors at groin level to "aggregate data by subzones to generate when a desk is occupied or not." Luzzi added that the data would be anonymized, aggregated to look at "themes" and not individual time at assigned desks, not be used in evaluations, and not shared with any supervisors of the students. Following that email, an impromptu listening session was held in the ISEC. At this first listening session, Luzzi asked that grad student attendees "trust the university since you trust them to give you a degree...."

After that, the students at the Privacy Institute, which specialize in studying surveillance and reversing its harm, started removing the sensors, hacking into them, and working on an open source guide so other students could do the same. Luzzi had claimed the devices were secure and the data encrypted, but Privacy Institute students learned they were relatively insecure and unencrypted.... After hacking the devices, students wrote an open letter to Luzzi and university president Joseph E. Aoun asking for the sensors to be removed because they were intimidating, part of a poorly conceived study, and deployed without IRB approval even though human subjects were at the center of the so-called study.
von Hippel notes that many members of the computer science department were also in a union, and thus networked together for a quick mass response. Motherboard writes that the controversy ultimately culminated with another listening session in which Luzzi "struggles to quell concerns that the study is invasive, poorly planned, costly, and likely unethical."
"Afterwards, von Hippel took to Twitter and shares what becomes a semi-viral thread documenting the entire timeline of events from the secret installation of the sensors to the listening session occurring that day. Hours later, the sensors are removed..."

David Luzzi must be fired.

By S_Stout • Score: 4, Insightful • Thread
If this is what he feels is a good use of his time, spying on students who give the university money then lying about it, then he must be fired immediately as he provides negative value to the school.

Re:David Luzzi must be fired.

By larryjoe • Score: 4, Insightful • Thread

spying on students who give the university money

Most graduate students don't give money to the university. They receive money from the university. They are employees, not customers.

This is incorrect. Looking at federal loans, the average amount of debt for undergraduate and graduate loans is almost the same. Some graduate students at some schools get free tuition and some don't.

then lying about it

The proffered explanation, while stupid and unethical, is most likely true.

The proffered explanation and the students' claims are not necessarily exclusive. Just because there was some thought given to an academic, anonymized study does not preclude misused of the data.

These aren't concerns, concerns are a potential.

By Shadow of Eternity • Score: 3 • Thread

This "study" WAS terrible, unethical, and a waste of money. In fact I'm doubtful there ever was a study at all and imho this was most likely either some kind of quid pro quo for the spyware company or an attempt at further normalizing orwellian surveillance state behavior.

STOP! Just stop, please...

By kenh • Score: 3 • Thread

After that, the students at the Privacy Institute, which specialize in studying surveillance and reversing its harm, started removing the sensors, hacking into them, and working on an open source guide so other students could do the same. Luzzi had claimed the devices were secure and the data encrypted, but Privacy Institute students learned they were relatively insecure and unencrypted....

For goodness sake, these devices don't have cameras or microphones, it's a "person detector", it tracks when there is or is not a body at the desk. Why in the world would this need to be "encrypted"? What elaborate "security" is needed?

If the devices are on a network, they have a unique ID (MAC address, for example), but beyond that, they are tracking a Binary phenomenon, either there is or is not a body at the desk. If you don't match the unique ID of each sensor to a particular desk, there's plenty of security.

Please, explain the harm of an automated sensor that does exactly the same thing any person walking through the room would observe - detect if someone is at a particular desk.

Re: STOP! Just stop, please...

By bradley13 • Score: 4, Informative • Thread

Please, explain the harm of an automated sensor that does exactly the same thing any person walking through the room would observe - detect if someone is at a particular desk.

According to TFA, desks are assigned to individuals. So this is 24/7 monitoring if you at your workstation. When did you arrive? How many time did you step away from your desk? For how long?

Sure, someone walking by could do a headcount, but they probably aren't writing it down, and certainly aren't there 24/7.

What is ChatGPT, the AI Chatbot That's Taking The Internet By Storm

Posted by Slashdot StaffView on SlashDotSkip
A reader submits a report:
Artificial Intelligence (AI) research company OpenAI on Wednesday announced ChatGPT, a prototype dialogue-based AI chatbot capable of understanding natural language and responding in natural language. It has since taken the internet by storm, with people marvelling at how intelligent the AI-powered bot sounds. Some even called it a replacement for Google, since it's capable of giving solutions to complex problems directly," almost like a personal know-all teacher.

"We've trained a model called ChatGPT which interacts in a conversational way. The dialogue format makes it possible for ChatGPT to answer follow-up questions, admit its mistakes, challenge incorrect premises, and reject inappropriate requests," OpenAI wrote on its announcement page for ChatGPT.

ChatGPT is based on GPT-3.5, a language model that uses deep learning to produce human-like text. However, while the older GPT-3 model only took text prompts and tried to continue on that with its own generated text, ChatGPT is more engaging. It's much better at generating detailed text and can even come up with poems. Another unique characteristic is memory. The bot can remember earlier comments in a conversation and recount them to the user.
ChatGPT wrote a poem about Slashdot.

Try ChatGPT for yourself here.

Wants your cell number to sign up

By dskoll • Score: 5, Informative • Thread

It's bad enough that you need to give it an email address to try it out, but a mobile phone number? That's a big NOPE.

With all the shilled OpenAI stories lately

By 93 Escort Wagon • Score: 3 • Thread

I'd guess they're looking/hoping to get bought out in the next few months. Or maybe they're targeting an IPO soon.

A poem about a large penis

By xevioso • Score: 4, Interesting • Thread

I asked it to write a poem about a large penis, because after all, true linguistic intelligence can only be determined by how amusingly ribald one can get when the chips are down. And this is what it said:

"There once was a man, with a member so grand
It could be seen from across the land
It stood tall and proud, a true sight to behold
And all who laid eyes on it, were instantly sold

For this man was gifted, in a way most rare
With a tool of pleasure, beyond compare
And wherever he went, women would flock
To catch a glimpse of his impressive cock

But despite his endowment, he was a humble soul
And never once bragged, or tried to be bold
He simply let his member do the talking
And those who were lucky, were in for a shocking

So if you ever come across, a man so well-hung
Don't be afraid to stare, or even to lung
For a large penis, is a thing of beauty
And should be admired, by all who see."

This is pure gold. Simple and sublime. Funny, yet not overly dirty.

This is not your grandma's AI chatbot

By Flownez • Score: 4, Interesting • Thread
I asked a few questions about personal relationships, and it gave suprisingly good replies. Balanced, unbiased, and considerate of potential biases within the questions asked. It's hard to overstate how impressive this is. It is seriously worth checking out.

What is the 'open' in OpenAI?

By trawg • Score: 4, Insightful • Thread

Maybe this information is available somewhere obvious or everyone already knows the answer to this but I can't figure it out. Every time OpenAI projects come up I'm always impressed then left wondering if there is any open source in this. Are the models they use available for other projects? From what little I can tell they have a public tech demo thing and then I guess they have commercial APIs? What is open - is it just a name?

Trailers Released for 2023 First-Person Shooter 'Starship Troopers: Extermination'

Posted by EditorDavidView on SlashDotSkip
You can read the news in Military Times magazine. "Coming just after the 25th anniversary of the release of the cult classic Starship Troopers (November 1997), Offworld Industries and Sony Pictures Consumer Projects are bringing the fight against the Arachnids to a computer near you."

An official announcement and gameplay teaser were released for the upcoming game this week. "Starship Troopers: Extermination is a co-op FPS that puts you on the far-off front lines of an all-out battle against the Bugs!" explains its page on Steam. "Squad up, grab your rifle, and do your part as an elite Deep Space Vanguard Trooper set to take back planets claimed by the Arachnid threat!"

The page says an "Early Access" launch is planned for 2023:
In Starship Troopers: Extermination, our vision is to show a galactic war between the Federation and the Arachnid Empire. After our initial launch and throughout the course of Early Access development, players will get to engage with exciting new updates that expand upon the in-game universe, and provide feedback through the Steam Community Hub that our developers can take into consideration.... [W]e will be sharing an exciting and robust roadmap with content already planned for 2023. Throughout Early Access we will provide players with more weapons, an updated class leveling system as well as progression achievements and unlockable skins for both weapons and armor. Additionally we will be adding vehicles special call in attacks including massive Orbital Strikes to help during missions. On the enemy side we will be adding more bugs, flying enemies, and boss battles that require complex player coordination to accomplish.

As we progress in development, our goal is to then begin ongoing planetary battles where the player can explore new items and enemies introduced in previous updates as an epic war breaks out. This transition adds a new world as we head to the completion of Early Access. The intent throughout Early Access is to convey that this part of our development cycle is the beginning of the war and the battle will only increase in complexity and ferocity as we move to full release.

Starship Troopers: Extermination is expected to be in Early Access for approximately 1 year. The full version of Starship Troopers: Extermination will span multiple worlds to liberate them from the Arachnid Threat. This will include additional weapons, enemies types, class progression upgrades, community events, and encounters. The player will have a more diverse roster of customization options allowing them to tailor their Troopers to fit their playstyle and experience." Starship Troopers: Extermination will launch with a massive map on Planet Valaka. Up to twelve players can team up to complete side and main missions before escaping to the extraction zone. We'll have more to share closer to the Early Access launch in 2023!

We plan to work closely with the community on Steam's Community Hub and in the official Starship Troopers: Extermination Discord as we add features, tune gameplay, and develop new content.
"Starship Troopers is in a league of its own when it comes to 90s science fiction films," writes Boing Boing's Devin Nealy. "Despite serving as an adaptation of the Robert A. Heinlein book, Starship Troopers forges a unique identity through its striking visuals and deft use of satire."

Noting the two "pretty weak" straight-to-video sequels (and two more CGI-animated films), Nealy argues that "Until the franchise finds a creative team that can properly capture the essence of the first film, a video game might be the best option for the series."

Physicists Use Google's Quantum Computer to Create Holographic Wormhole Between Black Holes

Posted by EditorDavidView on SlashDotSkip
"In an experiment that ticks most of the mystery boxes in modern physics, a group of researchers announced Wednesday that they had simulated a pair of black holes in a quantum computer," reports the New York Times [alternate URL here. But in addition, the researchers also sent a message between their two black holes, the Times reports, "through a shortcut in space-time called a wormhole.

"Physicists described the achievement as another small step in the effort to understand the relation between gravity, which shapes the universe, and quantum mechanics, which governs the subatomic realm of particles....

Quanta magazine reports:
The wormhole emerged like a hologram out of quantum bits of information, or "qubits," stored in tiny superconducting circuits. By manipulating the qubits, the physicists then sent information through the wormhole, they reported Wednesday in the journal Nature. The team, led by Maria Spiropulu of the California Institute of Technology, implemented the novel "wormhole teleportation protocol" using Google's quantum computer, a device called Sycamore housed at Google Quantum AI in Santa Barbara, California. With this first-of-its-kind "quantum gravity experiment on a chip," as Spiropulu described it, she and her team beat a competing group of physicists who aim to do wormhole teleportation with IBM and Quantinuum's quantum computers.

When Spiropulu saw the key signature indicating that qubits were passing through the wormhole, she said, "I was shaken."

The experiment can be seen as evidence for the holographic principle, a sweeping hypothesis about how the two pillars of fundamental physics, quantum mechanics and general relativity, fit together.... The holographic principle, ascendant since the 1990s, posits a mathematical equivalence or "duality" between the two frameworks. It says the bendy space-time continuum described by general relativity is really a quantum system of particles in disguise. Space-time and gravity emerge from quantum effects much as a 3D hologram projects out of a 2D pattern. Indeed, the new experiment confirms that quantum effects, of the type that we can control in a quantum computer, can give rise to a phenomenon that we expect to see in relativity — a wormhole....

To be clear, unlike an ordinary hologram, the wormhole isn't something we can see. While it can be considered "a filament of real space-time," according to co-author Daniel Jafferis of Harvard University, lead developer of the wormhole teleportation protocol, it's not part of the same reality that we and the Sycamore computer inhabit. The holographic principle says that the two realities — the one with the wormhole and the one with the qubits — are alternate versions of the same physics, but how to conceptualize this kind of duality remains mysterious. Opinions will differ about the fundamental implications of the result. Crucially, the holographic wormhole in the experiment consists of a different kind of space-time than the space-time of our own universe. It's debatable whether the experiment furthers the hypothesis that the space-time we inhabit is also holographic, patterned by quantum bits.

"I think it is true that gravity in our universe is emergent from some quantum [bits] in the same way that this little baby one-dimensional wormhole is emergent" from the Sycamore chip, Jafferis said. "Of course we don't know that for sure. We're trying to understand it."
Here's how principal investigator Spiropulu summarizes their experiment. "We found a quantum system that exhibits key properties of a gravitational wormhole yet is sufficiently small to implement on today's quantum hardware."

This again?

By Demented Otaku • Score: 3, Informative • Thread
Repetition doesn't make this any less silly.

Not the holographic principle

By locater16 • Score: 5, Informative • Thread
This isn't "direct evidence of the holographic principle", that's just what the investigators want it to be, so it's what they see.

What it actually is, is still neat. They used quantum teleportation to transport a scrambled many body system. Which is very cool. That some of the mathematical predictions of a wormhole show up is very cool. That these effects can be computed in holography is neat. But the principles themselves admit it's not wormhole, it doesn't actually look like holographic gravity or bear the signature of such. And they needed to do all the normal quantum teleportation stuff, including a classical communication channel, to quantumly teleport information.

In fact the only thing the experiment proves is that a self consistent theory of mathematics describing many body teleportation has proven physically correct. But instead of celebrating this fact they take it a step too far and celebrate that an analog of a physical theory working must be evidence of the theory itself working, even if that doesn't necessarily follow. EG we've found "Majorana edge modes", a useful analog to the hypothesized "Majorana fermion", but people that work with such don't take it as direct evidence that the fermion itself actually exists.

Re:Jeebus

By presidenteloco • Score: 4, Insightful • Thread
Yes, and it's only "simulate one as yet unproven model of what a wormhole might be like".

Interesting work, for sure, but the hype-factor and dumbed-downness in the reporting is more massive than the average black hole.

20 Videogame QA Testers in Albany Win Union Vote at Activision Blizzard

Posted by EditorDavidView on SlashDotSkip
"A group of about 20 quality assurance testers at Activision Blizzard's Albany location won their bid for a union Friday afternoon," reports the Washington Post:
The workers join the Game Workers Alliance, a union at the gaming company that already includes testers from Wisconsin-based Raven Software. Amanda Laven, a Blizzard Albany quality assurance tester, said that the union vote comes just about a year after the testers first began collecting signatures for a union. "We knew we were gonna win, but it's still extremely exciting and gratifying, especially because tomorrow marks the first anniversary of when we started organizing," Laven said.

The testers are the lowest paid workers at Blizzard Albany, formerly called Vicarious Visions, a studio known for its work on the Guitar Hero and Crash Bandicoot franchises. The Game Workers Alliance is the first union at a major video game company in the U.S., and Friday's news marks the union's second significant win in an industry that has historically not organized....

The Blizzard Albany testers took their cues from seeing testers at Call of Duty-maker Raven petition the company and gather signatures. On May 28, Raven testers won their bid to unionize. They're currently undergoing bargaining efforts for a contract.

Becoming America's #2 Seller of Electric Vehicles, Ford Passes Kia in November

Posted by EditorDavidView on SlashDotSkip
CNBC reports:
Ford Motor said Friday that it has achieved CEO Jim Farley's goal of becoming the second best-selling automaker of electric vehicles in the U.S. The Detroit automaker, citing third-party industry data, narrowly topped Hyundai/Kia to hit the goal....

Ford said its share of the electric vehicle segment was 7.4% through November, up from 5.7% a year earlier. Ford reported sales of 53,752 all-electric vehicles in the U.S. through November. Tesla, which does not break out domestic results, reported global deliveries of more than 908,000 EVs through the third quarter.

Hyundai's sales do not include the Nexo hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. The company says with that vehicle, it slightly outsold Ford in battery- and fuel cell-powered vehicles of 54,043 units through November. The sales come after the South Korean automaker lost incentives that gave buyers of its EVs tax credits of up to $7,500 under the Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act, which took effect in August. Vehicles such as Ford's EVs that are produced in North America still qualify for the credit.
The article notes that General Motors — America's second-largest automaker — also "plans to significantly step up EV production in the coming years."

Although so far, through the third quarter of this year, "it reported sales of less than 23,000 EVs."

Re:They lose $11000 on every car

By MikeDataLink • Score: 5, Informative • Thread

So they are REALLY a bargain. Ford expects its electric vehicles to generate a positive Gross Margin only by 2026.

You can certainly spin it like that. But its disingenuous at best. It costs money to build factories and infrastructure. They are not free.

If I spend $200K building a sandwich shop and the first year I am paying back my original investment, then yes... I lost $10 per sandwich sold. The next year though I am profitable.

And that's exactly what Ford has said. They plan to be 8% up in 2023 instead of 25% down. You have to pay back investment costs. And that's not really losing money unless you need to paint a political picture.

Re:My dad sold Ford for 33 years

By whoever57 • Score: 4, Insightful • Thread

I won't buy another ICE until I can have it refuel itself overnight while parked overnight in my garage.

It's easy to come up with a set of unreasonable requirements to justify your biases.

What Happened After Matt Taibbi Revealed Twitter's Deliberations on Hunter Biden Tweets?

Posted by EditorDavidView on SlashDotSkip
"Twitter CEO Elon Musk turned to journalist Matt Taibbi on Friday to reveal the decision-making behind the platform's suppression of a 2020 article from the New York Post regarding Hunter Biden's laptop," reports Newsweek.

"Taibbi later deleted a tweet showing [former Twitter CEO] Jack Dorsey's email address," adds the Verge, covering reactions to Taibbi's thread — and the controversial events that the tweets described:
At the time, it was not clear if the materials were genuine, and Twitter decided to ban links to or images of the Post's story, citing its policy on the distribution of hacked materials. The move was controversial even then, primarily among Republicans but also with speech advocates worried about Twitter's decision to block a news outlet. While Musk might be hoping we see documents showing Twitter's (largely former) staffers nefariously deciding to act in a way that helped now-President Joe Biden, the communications mostly show a team debating how to finalize and communicate a difficult moderation decision.
Taibbi himself tweeted that "Although several sources recalled hearing about a 'general' warning from federal law enforcement that summer about possible foreign hacks, there's no evidence - that I've seen - of any government involvement in the laptop story."

More from the Verge:
Meanwhile, Taibbi's handling of the emails — which seem to have been handed to him at Musk's direction, though he only refers to "sources at Twitter" — appears to have exposed personal email addresses for two high-profile leaders: Dorsey and Representative Ro Khanna. An email address that belongs to someone Taibbi identifies as Dorsey is included in one message, in which Dorsey forwards an article Taibbi wrote criticizing Twitter's handling of the Post story. Meanwhile, Khanna confirmed to The Verge that his personal Gmail address is included in another email, in which Khanna reaches out to criticize Twitter's decision to restrict the Post's story as well.

"As the congressman who represents Silicon Valley, I felt Twitter's actions were a violation of First Amendment principles so I raised those concerns," Khanna said in a statement to The Verge. "Our democracy can only thrive if we are open to a marketplace of ideas and engaging with people with whom we disagree."

The story also revealed the names of multiple Twitter employees who were in communications about the moderation decision. While it's not out of line for journalists to report on the involvement of public-facing individuals or major decision makers, that doesn't describe all of the people named in the leaked communications.... "I don't get why naming names is necessary. Seems dangerous," Twitter co-founder Biz Stone wrote Friday in apparent reference to the leaks.... The Verge reached out to Taibbi for comment but didn't immediately hear back.

Twitter, which had its communications team dismantled during layoffs last month, also did not respond to a request for comment.
Wired adds:
What did the world learn about Twitter's handling of the incident from the so-called Twitter Files? Not much. After all, Twitter reversed its decision two days later, and then-CEO Jack Dorsey said the moderation decision was "wrong."
In other news, "Twitter will start showing view count for all tweets," Elon Musk announced Friday, "just as view count is shown for all videos." And he shared other insights into his plans for Twitter's future.

"Freedom of speech doesn't mean freedom of reach. Negativity should & will get less reach than positivity."

Re:You left out something

By sinij • Score: 5, Insightful • Thread

"because it violated Twitter TOS regarding the release of personal information".

If somebody illegally released sensitive information about you from your laptop over on Twitter I wonder how much free speech you'd be in favor of.

As we now know as the result of Musk disclosing relevant emails, it was first decided they are going to suppress the story and then they went looking for a pretext to do so. More so, there Twitter policy team objected, correctly pointing out that at the time it was suppressed there were no official claims it was hacked.

Re:Too bad Congressman Khanna

By HalcyonBlue • Score: 5, Interesting • Thread

doesn't bother to understand to whom the First Amendment does and just as importantly doesn't limit restricting speech. You wonder if he bothered to read the document he swore an oath to defend and yet he has no problem using the heavy hand of his office to interfere with the decisions of a non-government organization.

Congressman Khanna's argument is that the United States government may have broken the law by working with a third party to accomplish what it does not have the power to do itself.

Re:You left out something

By quantaman • Score: 5, Informative • Thread

What corruption?

Who do you think "The Big Guy" Hunter Biden refereed to? Santa Claus?

If you believe "The Big Guy" was Joe Biden (which I agree with) then you need to follow up with the big guy's response to the whole deal, and that was an "
emphatic no".

Basically, Hunter Biden came up with some sort of sketchy business deal. When it came time to actually get his Dad involved his Dad wanted nothing to do with it.

I'm not clear how that reflects poorly on Joe Biden in any way*.

* Except possibly his parenting, though I'm reluctant to hold parents too responsible for the actions of their children.

Re:No anti-conservative bias folks, move along

By swillden • Score: 5, Informative • Thread

I hope we can once and for all acknowledge that it was California's technocrats and not Russia that meddled in elections and got away with it?

Russia did meddle, extensively. This was thoroughly proven by Mueller's team, who indicted a dozen or so Russians who played key roles in it, and has even been publicly admitted by Russia. Mueller didn't find sufficient evidence to prove that Trump's team conspired with Russia in the meddling.

Re: You left out something

By Local ID10T • Score: 5, Interesting • Thread

-Hunter Biden has publicly acknowledged that it "probably" is his laptop, but that he was smoking crack at the time and didn't actually remember taking it in for repair.

-One of the files supposedly recovered from the laptop was a voicemail from Joe Biden saying he loved him, and urging him to get help.

-It's not really a stretch to imagine a wealthy child trading on his daddy's name to get business deals.

Given all of the above... there is still no evidence that Joe Biden was involved in any of his son's deals. There are only statements from people who knew Hunter Biden to the effect of: "Hunter said his dad would help him out..." and "Hunter said he would talk to him next time he is in town...".

Computer Program For Particle Physics At Risk of Obsolescence

Posted by EditorDavidView on SlashDotSkip
"Maintenance of the software that's used for the hardest physics calculations rests almost entirely with a retiree," reports Quanta magazine, saying the situation "reveals the problematic incentive structure of academia."
Particle physicists use some of the longest equations in all of science. To look for signs of new elementary particles in collisions at the Large Hadron Collider, for example, they draw thousands of pictures called Feynman diagrams that depict possible collision outcomes, each one encoding a complicated formula that can be millions of terms long. Summing formulas like these with pen and paper is impossible; even adding them with computers is a challenge. The algebra rules we learn in school are fast enough for homework, but for particle physics they are woefully inefficient.

Programs called computer algebra systems strive to handle these tasks. And if you want to solve the biggest equations in the world, for 33 years one program has stood out: FORM. Developed by the Dutch particle physicist Jos Vermaseren, FORM is a key part of the infrastructure of particle physics, necessary for the hardest calculations. However, as with surprisingly many essential pieces of digital infrastructure, FORM's maintenance rests largely on one person: Vermaseren himself. And at 73, Vermaseren has begun to step back from FORM development. Due to the incentive structure of academia, which prizes published papers, not software tools, no successor has emerged. If the situation does not change, particle physics may be forced to slow down dramatically...

Without ongoing development, FORM will get less and less usable — only able to interact with older computer code, and not aligned with how today's students learn to program. Experienced users will stick with it, but younger researchers will adopt alternative computer algebra programs like Mathematica that are more user-friendly but orders of magnitude slower. In practice, many of these physicists will decide that certain problems are off-limits — too difficult to handle. So particle physics will stall, with only a few people able to work on the hardest calculations.

In April, Vermaseren is holding a summit of FORM users to plan for the future. They will discuss how to keep FORM alive: how to maintain and extend it, and how to show a new generation of students just how much it can do. With luck, hard work and funding, they may preserve one of the most powerful tools in physics.
Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader g01d4 for submitting the story.

Re:Obvious question

By Going_Digital • Score: 4, Insightful • Thread
I agree, I have worked on code for physics experiments and it is hard if you don’t understand the physics or more precisely the mathematical model behind it. It is the age old problem of a physicist not knowing how to code well and a coder not knowing how to do physics. In many realms it is possible to bridge the gap, but in advanced science that is far more difficult.

Re: Obvious question

By PPH • Score: 4, Insightful • Thread

Maybe, just maybe, you are not so good at explaining things to others.

Assume for the moment that the domain experts are seated just across the table from the software people. In something like an (shudder) Agile Scrum or whatever. It is as much the responsibility of the software experts to question the domain people when there is a hole in the specification or something that they don't understand.

When I, as a domain expert, find myself in meetings with s/w people who just push a requirements specification template across the table and expect me to fill it out, they are often MBAs sitting across from me. Who probably don't know squat about actually building an app and couldn't spot a missing piece of information that the coders will need. In other words, they expect me to be a coder*. Their job consists of obtaining the spec, having it translated into Hindi and forwarding it to the development subcontractor.

*In many cases, it takes longer to write a contractually sound** spec than it does to just write the damned app.

**By contractually sound, I mean something that can be handed to a subcontractor without incurring too many change orders, associated additional fees and legal department involvement. As opposed to something done in house, where the coder can just wander into my cubicle and ask me to "Please explain this shit!" with no penalties or delays.

Re:Obvious question

By Yo,dog! • Score: 5, Informative • Thread
You're totally off the mark. FORM is custom code that runs far faster than a Matlab or Mathematica solution would be expected to run (and which would be no easier to develop) and the mostly C code looks well structured and well maintained. It's the code's future that's under discussion.

Re:FLOSS avoid this

By Phronesis • Score: 4, Insightful • Thread

Just open source too

It is FLOSS, licensed under GPL. FLOSS provides the opportunity to maintain the software, but as the fine article observes, it doesn't provide incentives for people to do the work. The incentives, are the problem, not the availability of the code.

Re:Obvious question

By arglebargle_xiv • Score: 4, Insightful • Thread

Wish I had mod points. I occasionally work with nuclear physicists and it would take me anything from years to a lifetime to learn what they're doing in their code and why, and how to change it without breaking things.

And to the person who keeps bleating "you just need to explain it, if you can't do that you're an idiot": We have about 6.023e23 books on writing secure software, it's been explained endlessly in hundreds of different ways, and yet we don't have anything like secure software. On top of that, security is simple compared to some of the physics we're dealing with.

America's TSA Begins Quietly Testing Facial Recognition Tech at 16 Airports

Posted by EditorDavidView on SlashDotSkip
America's Transportation Security Administration "has been quietly testing controversial facial recognition technology for passenger screening at 16 major domestic airports — from Washington to Los Angeles," reports the Washington Post.

Their article adds that the agency "hopes to expand it across the United States as soon as next year."
Kiosks with cameras are doing a job that used to be completed by humans: checking the photos on travelers' IDs to make sure they're not impostors.... You step up to the travel document checker kiosk and stick your ID into a machine. Then you look into a camera for up to five seconds and the machine compares your live photo to the one it sees on your ID. They call this a "one to one" verification system, comparing one face to one ID. Even though the software is judging if you're an impostor, there's still a human agent there to make the final call (at least for now).

So how accurate is it? The TSA says it's been better at verifying IDs than the manual process. "This technology is definitely a security enhancement," said [TSA program manager Jason] Lim. "We are so far very satisfied with the performance of the machine's ability to conduct facial recognition accurately...." But the TSA hasn't actually released hard data about how often its system falsely identifies people, through incorrect positive or negative matches. Some of that might come to light next year when the TSA has to make its case to the Department of Homeland Security to convert airports all over the United States into facial recognition systems....

The TSA says it doesn't use facial recognition for law-enforcement purposes. It also says it minimizes holding on to our face data, so it isn't using the scans to build out a new national database of face IDs. "The scanning and match is made and immediately overwritten at the Travel Document Checker podium. We keep neither the live photo nor the photo of the ID," said Lim. But the TSA did acknowledge there are cases in which it holds on to the data for up to 24 months so its science and technology office can evaluate the system's effectiveness....

"None of this facial recognition technology is mandated," said Lim. "Those who do not feel comfortable will still have to present their ID — but they can tell the officer that they do not want their photo taken, and the officer will turn off the live camera." There are also supposed to be signs around informing you of your rights.
Here's the TSA's web page about the program. Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader SonicSpike for sharing the article.

Re:horrible idea, screw these people

By DaHat • Score: 5, Insightful • Thread

Can you explain why you think it a terrible idea?

Often the biggest complaint about facial recognition is doing a one in many search. Have a photo of an unknown, look through oodles of photos of known people to find a match.

That is a very hard problem, and yes, often not as accurate as many would like, doubly so when there are allegations of racial bias.

That's not what this system is, it's a one to one, "is the person standing in front of the machine who they proport to be?", which has a much much much higher accuracy rate than a one in many.

What is wrong with that?

I believe that - not...

By jenningsthecat • Score: 4, Insightful • Thread

... it isn't using the scans to build out a new national database of face IDs

Weasel words. In the first place they say they aren't creating a new national database, so they may be creating local ones which could then be amalgamated into a national one. In the second place, does anybody who's been paying attention really believe that a government agency could possibly resist collecting all that biometric data?

It occurs to me that there's an additional question here, namely, how secure is that data against hackers?

Haven't we had these in Europe for years?

By HuskyDog • Score: 3 • Thread
Perhaps I am missing something here, but isn't what is being described just like the automated passport checking machines which we have had in Europe for years now? The small difference (which I might have misunderstood) is that with the passport checking machines you need a passport with a chip containing a reference photo whereas I get the impression that these machines work directly from the physical photo on the ID.

Much though I can fret about "Big Brother" as well as the next Slashdoter, I really can't see what additional personal information the Government is acquiring here. They already know what your face looks like because they have the photo on your government issues ID (e.g. passport or driving licence). Also, if you are passing through an airport then this information also already exists. When - if ever - were you able to take a flight as anonymously as you can a bus?

The automatic passport gates I have used (mostly in the UK and Finland) tend to work fairly well. Some people aren't permitted to use them (for example children) and for these people there is always a human who can do a manual check. If the machine doesn't get a match (has happened to me a few times) then an operative simply directs you over to manual checking queue.

Re:horrible idea, screw these people

By codebase7 • Score: 4, Interesting • Thread
The difference is that the human forgets. The machine will very much remember exactly where you were on Saturday December 03, 2022 @07:13AM Inmate #63099484. Now back to your reeducation.....

Re:Here we go again

By ac22 • Score: 4, Informative • Thread

The first poster has terrible karma, so all their posts start at -1. The first post has since been modded up to zero by somebody at the time of writing.

FTX Subsidiary Plans Restarting Withdrawals in Japan, as US Requests Review of Fraud Allegations

Posted by EditorDavidView on SlashDotSkip
"FTX Japan is looking to restart withdrawals," reports CoinDesk, "after a plan to return deposits was approved by its parent, the failed FTX exchange."

"If the plan works out, the collapsed crypto exchange's users in Japan might be some of the first customers to get their money back...."
In a notice posted on its website, FTX Japan said it was able to confirm with the company's bankruptcy lawyers in the U.S. that Japanese customers' funds "should not be part of FTX Japan's estate given how these assets are held and property interests under Japanese law." FTX Japan had been working on the plan to restart withdrawals for the last two weeks, and says it was approved by the FTX Trading management team....

"As part of the plan, we are incorporating controls, security audit, reconciliations and reviews to put in place a robust and secure process," the notice said.
Meanwhile, America's Department of Justice "has requested that an independent examiner be appointed to review 'substantial and serious allegations of fraud, dishonesty' and 'incompetence'," reports CNBC:
FTX's bankruptcy case demands an independent review, the Department of Justice said, because of allegations of fraud and dishonesty which could damage the entire crypto industry. Andrew Vara, the U.S. bankruptcy trustee for FTX's case, said Sam Bankman-Fried and his team mismanaged the company or potentially engaged in fraudulent conduct.

The DOJ is seeking an independent examiner to investigate what happened...
Former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti told CNBC that the move "shows a level of interest and attention that they're paying to this that should be troubling to Mr. Bankman-Fried."

Don't expect fast withdrawls

By jhecht • Score: 3 • Thread
Given that the huge mess at the parent FTX, a flock of lawyers will be filing suits over coming days to stop distribution of much money from any part of FTX until the bankruptcy courts can determine more about what money exists, where it is, who has rights to the money, and how much can be clawed back from deposits.

2022's 'Earthshot Prizes' Recognize Five Innovative Responses to Climate Change

Posted by EditorDavidView on SlashDotSkip
"Childhood friends in Oman who figured out how to turn carbon dioxide into rock are among five winners chosen for the Prince of Wales's prestigious Earthshot Prize," reports the BBC:
The annual awards were created by Prince William to fund projects that aim to save the planet. Each winner will receive £1m ($1.2m) to develop their innovation.... "I believe that the Earthshot solutions you have seen this evening prove we can overcome our planet's greatest challenges," Prince William said during the ceremony. "By supporting and scaling them we can change our future," he said.
1,500 projects were nominated, according to the event's web site. Here's the five winners:

Five prizes will be awarded each year until 2030.


Re: Half Earth

By chthon • Score: 4, Informative • Thread

Probably better that conservatives don't reproduce either, because they are the biggest polluters and supporters of polluters.

Chinese Police are Using Cellphone Data to Track Down Protesters

Posted by EditorDavidView on SlashDotSkip
CNN reports on the aftermath of last weekend's protests against the Chinese government:
A protester told CNN they received a phone call Wednesday from a police officer, who revealed they were tracked because their cellphone signal was recorded in the vicinity of the protest site.... When they denied being there, the caller asked: "Then why did your cellphone number show up there?"

In China, all mobile phone users are required by law to register their real name and national identification number with telecom providers. The protester was also told to report to a police station for questioning and to sign a written record....

In Shanghai, where some of the boldest protests took place with crowds calling for Xi's removal on two consecutive nights, police searched residents' cellphones in the streets and in the subway for VPNs that can be used to circumvent China's internet firewall, or apps such as Twitter and Telegram, which though banned in the country have been used by protesters. Police also confiscated the cellphones of protesters under arrest, according to two protesters who spoke to CNN.

A protester who was arrested over the weekend said they were told to hand over their phone and password to the police as "evidence." They said they feared police would export the data on their phone after it was confiscated by officers, who told them they could pick it up a week later. Another protester said police returned their phone upon their release, but officers had deleted the photo album and removed the WeChat social media app.
One protester told CNN they successfully avoided being contacted by the police as of Thursady afternoon.

During the demonstration, they'd kept their phone in airplane mode.

We're not on a good path

By Miles_O'Toole • Score: 5, Insightful • Thread

China is currently creating the most oppressive tech-driven surveillance state the world has ever seen. Unfortunately, rather than viewing their terrifying experiment as a lesson on the dangers of failure to regard personal privacy as a right, Free World governments and their corporate owners see China as a blueprint.

Re:Stingray or Chinese knockoff?

By drinkypoo • Score: 5, Informative • Thread

They don't need any such thing. The government controls the telcos, they can just ask them for the location data.

Tim Cook's Silence Speaks Volumes

By schwit1 • Score: 5, Funny • Thread

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/...

VAUGHN: Hi, Mr. Cook. Do you support the Chinese people's right to protest?

*TIM COOK SILENT*

VAUGHN: Do you have any reaction to the factory workers that were beaten and detained for protesting COVID lockdowns?

*TIM COOK SILENT*

VAUGHN: Do you regret restricting AirDrop access that protesters used to evade surveillance from the Chinese government?

*TIM COOK SILENT*

VAUGHN: Do you think it's problematic to do business with the Communist Chinese Party when they suppress human rights?

*TIM COOK SILENT*

Freedom of speech

By RobinH • Score: 5, Insightful • Thread
Every generation has to learn this same lesson, and it's hard every time. Freedom of speech is painful and messy, but we have it for a reason. Yes it sucks that people can say factually untrue things and the government won't stop them. But there is no magical group of unbiased fairies that know the whole truth, only a few groups that think they do. Better to live with fake news than hand over control of what you hear to the government. Oh, and letting unregulated private organizations decide what's true (like social media and cable news) is just as dumb. At least broadcast news used to be pseudo-regulated by the fairness doctrine. We lost something valuable when we gave that up.

Re:We're not on a good path

By larryjoe • Score: 4 • Thread

I'm starting to think it's deliberate misdirection. By claiming China is doing it, the reader is lead to think that it is exceptional and something that the democracy they live in would never do.

Yes, the US is doing the exact same thing as China, but only in a simplistic binary view where either the police employ all surveillance methods or none at all. It's that nonsensical binary view that is not only incorrect but very misleading.

This story about Chinese police involves methods that are rare in the US. Yes, the US government most definitely has wide surveillance, but most of this surveillance is in the background because open surveillance is embarrassing. It's this lack of embarrassment that allows the Chinese police to openly utilize surveillance techniques that would cause trouble for US police (due to pesky enforcement of police restrictions by the courts and the press). In fact, the Chinese police want the public to know about their willingness to openly use heavy-handed techniques as a further psychological extension of their power.

New CryWiper Data Wiper Targets Russian Courts, Mayor's Offices

Posted by BeauHDView on SlashDotSkip
An anonymous reader quotes a report from BleepingComputer:
A previously undocumented data wiper named CryWiper is masquerading as ransomware, but in reality, destroys data beyond recovery in attacks against Russian mayor's offices and courts. CryWiper was first discovered by Kaspersky this fall, where they say the malware was used in an attack against a Russian organization. [...] CryWiper is a 64-bit Windows executable named 'browserupdate.exe' written in C++, configured to abuse many WinAPI function calls. Upon execution, it creates scheduled tasks to run every five minutes on the compromised machine.

Next, it contacts a command and control server (C2) with the name of the victim's machine. The C2 responds with either a "run" or "do not run" command, determining whether the wiper will activate or stay dormant. Kaspersky reports seeing execution delays of 4 days (345,600 seconds) in some cases, likely added in the code to help confuse the victim as to what caused the infection. CryWiper will stop critical processes related to MySQL, MS SQL database servers, MS Exchange email servers, and MS Active Directory web services to free locked data for destruction.

Next, the malware deletes shadow copies on the compromised machine to prevent the easy restoration of the wiped files. CryWiper also modifies the Windows Registry to prevent RDP connections, likely to hinder intervention and incident response from remote IT specialists. Finally, the wiper will corrupt all enumerated files except for ".exe", ".dll", "lnk", ".sys", ".msi", and its own ".CRY", while also skipping System, Windows, and Boot directories to prevent rendering the computer completely unusable. After this step, CryWiper will generate ransom notes named 'README.txt,' asking for 0.5 Bitcoin (approximately $8,000) in exchange for a decrypter. Unfortunately, this is a false promise, as the corrupted data cannot be restored.

By "unfortunately" do you mean "fortunately?"

By JoshuaZ • Score: 3 • Thread
Even before the invasion of Ukraine, Russia was one of the primary sources of ransomware, much of which also lied about being able to actually restore data. Some the Russian government just refused to crack down on, while other was made with clear government complicity. Even if Russia had not invaded Ukraine, this would seem like a not so bad taste of their own medicine. Given Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and large scale crimes against humanity there, I'm rooting for the malware here. Wreck all the Russian computers.

Re:By "unfortunately" do you mean "fortunately?"

By Miles_O'Toole • Score: 5, Interesting • Thread

I couldn't help but wonder if some family members of Russia's flourishing, state-supported malware community came home in body bags, which would probably engender some animus against the government that sent them off to be slaughtered in an ill-considered military adventure. Or perhaps a malware community member was one of those young Russian men recently called up to serve as cannon fodder in Putin's catastrophic invasion of Ukraine. It would be a lot harder to track down conscripts with government records deleted or in disarray.

Re:Closed source==Govt backdoors

By test321 • Score: 5, Interesting • Thread

Creating chaos in your enemy's country is very sound strategy. CIA specializes in this.

But the justice system of Russia is already in chaos. You only win if you re paying the judge *more* than the opponent, also you cannot win against anyone close to the circle of power, be it local or federal. A computer system is not of much use to them for this kind of justice system.

If it s CIA, they are wasting their shots at an irrelevant target (that removes surprise and gives Russia time to ) just like Russia is wasting precision missiles hitting energy generators.

Good

By cstacy • Score: 3 • Thread

Good

Apple Now Calling AR/VR Headset Operating System 'xrOS'

Posted by BeauHDView on SlashDotSkip
Apple has decided to call the software that will run on its upcoming AR/VR headset "xrOS," an update from the original "RealityOS or "rOS" naming the company was planning on, according to Bloomberg. MacRumors reports:
The name change comes as Apple begins to prepare for the launch of the headset, which is expected at some point in 2023. The headset will feature its own operating system, much like the Apple TV and the Apple Watch, and it will have a dedicated App Store. "XR" is meant to stand for extended reality, which pertains to both augmented and virtual reality. Rumors indicate that the headset Apple is working on will be "mixed reality" like the Microsoft HoloLens, supporting both augmented and virtual reality capabilities. Augmented reality augments what the user is seeing in the real world, while virtual reality is an entirely digital experience.

Apple internally referred to the headset's operating system as "rOS" during the development process, but Bloomberg suggests that xrOS is a less generic name that will allow the headset to stand out more. In addition to confirming the name change with unnamed Apple sources, Bloomberg also discovered that a shell company named Deep Dive LLC has been registering the xrOS name across several countries, and Apple could potentially be behind these filings. Apple often uses shell companies to try to secretly register for trademarks for upcoming products.

Jesus...

By reanjr • Score: 3, Funny • Thread

They finally got to the point of self satisfaction when they start calling their shit "Jesus OS"

X is lexigraphically almost identical to the Greek letter chi. R is almost identical to Greek letter rho.

Chi rho is used by Catholics and others as shorthand for Xristos (using Latin letter instead of Greek), or Jesus.

So, now they have a "Jesus OS" that gets pronounced "cross".

Astronomers Say a New, Huge Satellite Is As Bright As the Brightest Stars

Posted by BeauHDView on SlashDot
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica:
Last month, a Texas-based company announced that it had successfully deployed the largest-ever commercial communications satellite in low-Earth orbit. This BlueWalker 3 demonstration satellite measures nearly 65 square meters, or about one-third the size of a tennis court. Designed and developed by AST SpaceMobile, the expansive BlueWalker 3 satellite is intended to demonstrate the ability of standard mobile phones to directly connect to the Internet via satellite. Large satellites are necessary to connect to mobile devices without a ground-based antenna. [...] Since BlueWalker3's launch in September, astronomers have been tracking the satellite, and their alarm was heightened following its antenna deployment last month. According to the International Astronomical Union, post-deployment measurements showed that BlueWalker 3 had an apparent visual magnitude of around 1 at its brightest, which is nearly as bright as Antares and Spica, the 15th and 16th brightest stars in the night sky.

For a few years, astronomers have been expressing concerns about megaconstellations, such as SpaceX's Starlink satellites. While these are more numerous -- there are more than 3,000 Starlink satellites in orbit -- they are much smaller and far less bright than the kinds of satellites AST plans to launch. Eventually, AST plans to launch a constellation of 168 large satellites to provide "substantial" global coverage, a company spokesperson said. Even one is enough for astronomers, however. "BlueWalker 3 is a big shift in the constellation satellite issue and should give us all reason to pause," said Piero Benvenuti, a director at the International Astronomical Union.

The organization of astronomers is also concerned about the potential for radio interference from these "cell phone towers in space." They will transmit strong radio waves at frequencies currently reserved for terrestrial cell phone communications but are not subject to the same radio quiet zone restrictions that ground-based cellular networks are. This could severely impact radio astronomy research -- which was used to discover cosmic microwave background radiation, for example -- as well as work in related fields. Astronomers currently build their radio astronomy observatories in remote areas, far from cell tower interference. They are worried that these large, radio-wave transmitting satellites will interfere in unpopulated areas.
"We are eager to use the newest technologies and strategies to mitigate possible impacts to astronomy," AST said in a statement to Ars. "We are actively working with industry experts on the latest innovations, including next-generation anti-reflective materials. We are also engaged with NASA and certain working groups within the astronomy community to participate in advanced industry solutions, including potential operational interventions."
AST is "committed to avoiding broadcasts inside or adjacent to the National Radio Quiet Zone in the United States [...] as well as additional radioastronomy locations," adds Ars.

Re:Huge antenna

By Lord Rust • Score: 5, Informative • Thread
You could cut the glare by painting satellites black, but there's a reason for the white color: Temperature control is a huge problem in space as vacuum is an excellent insulator. As your satellite slowly rotates, parts of it move from shade to sun and back. Sunlit sections can get quite hot (~100 C = 200 F) while parts in shade can fall to -170 C = -300 F! There are many ways to mitigate this problem. Making reflective/white helps. If you do not absorb sunlight, you will not get hot in space and you do not have to worry about thermal cycles.

As bright as the brightest stars

By 93 Escort Wagon • Score: 5, Funny • Thread

"According to the International Astronomical Union, post-deployment measurements showed that BlueWalker 3 had an apparent visual magnitude of around 1 at its brightest, which is nearly as bright as Antares and Spica, the 15th and 16th brightest stars in the night sky."

What? You can't be Sirius.

Re: As bright as the brightest stars

By pitch2cv • Score: 5, Informative • Thread

This!!
By its very definition, mag 1 is Sirius indeed! No idea why fluffy Ars had to make comparisons to these other stars.

This new satellite is only the first part of yet another mega constellation to come. This is very problematic for professional astronomy, a field that almost entirely hinges on long exposures.

And, yay, Ars make it seem that Bluebird they're are so kind to turn off transmissions over radio-quiet areas. Do they even know everyone does that, cos that's mandatory?

For those who are into that stuff, a more scientific article I read some days ago: https://theconversation.com/bl...

Dear/. Editors

By JoeRobe • Score: 4, Interesting • Thread

The /. summary is a copy/paste of about 2/3 of the actual article linked to in the summary. Why not just paste the whole thing and not call it a summary? This is bringing the standard - nobody is actually summarizing anymore, just pasting a chunk of the article.

Can we get back to summaries actually being a small fraction of the original story? Maybe a maximum number of sentences, or 1 paragraph?

Seems easy.

By jd • Score: 3 • Thread

Russia needs hard currency and has satellite killers. This seems very resolvable.