Its Technical

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Motor City
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Re: Its Technical

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Scientists generate 'electricity from thin air.' Humidity could be a boundless source of energy, they say.
Sure, we all complain about the humidity on a sweltering summer day. But it turns out that same humidity could be a source of clean, pollution-free energy, according to a new study.

"Air humidity is a vast, sustainable reservoir of energy that, unlike solar and wind, is continuously available," said the study, which was published recently in the journal Advanced Materials.

“This is very exciting,” said Xiaomeng Liu, a graduate student at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and the paper’s lead author. “We are opening up a wide door for harvesting clean electricity from thin air.”

In fact, researchers say that nearly any material can be turned into a device that continuously harvests electricity from humidity in the air.

“The air contains an enormous amount of electricity,” said Jun Yao, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and the paper’s senior author. “Think of a cloud, which is nothing more than a mass of water droplets. Each of those droplets contains a charge, and when conditions are right, the cloud can produce a lightning bolt – but we don’t know how to reliably capture electricity from lightning.

"What we’ve done is to create a human-built, small-scale cloud that produces electricity for us predictably and continuously so that we can harvest it.”

The heart of the man-made cloud depends on what Yao and his colleagues refer to as an air-powered generator, or the "air-gen" effect for short......
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ZoWie
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Re: Its Technical

Post by ZoWie »

Yes, the demand is that human writers be mandatory to rewrite AI scripts, not that the practice be banned. They just want to ensure that there is still an above-the-line job for writers.

That does not negate the fact that changes in the nature and governance of US and world business are at the base of most of what has gone wrong with the entertainment industry in the past 40 years. Employment was up, so that muted the opposition to the complete transformation of the business from a highly speculative art into a daily grind. The studios, in particular, evolved from heavily guarded, walled-off, personal fiefdoms into just more corporate divisions with new bosses every 8 years and financing that drifts off into the great transnational capitalist nowhere.

The best example is MGM, once the fullest realization of the fiefdom model of studios, and also for whatever reason by far the best lot to work at in the old long-gone industry that existed before the transnational conglomerate era. Since that started around the beginning of the Ray Gun presidency, the old lot has been bought and sold so many times that no one is quite sure who owns it. It's still called Sony Studios, but I doubt Sony is involved on any kind of daily basis. There's still a library of old movies, but good luck finding out who owns it this year.

The original parent company is pretty much out of entertainment altogether and mostly a casino operator. Then there's Fox, which became a wholly owned/operated tentacle of our fine friend Rupert Murdoch, and Warners which is owned by a new conglomerate every 10 years. Paramount is an Internet streaming giant with a studio lot kind of tacked onto the whole octopus as an afterthought. They buy half the ad space in Times Square to pitch dumb series to teenagers. United Artists barely exists except as a brand name for the conglomerate du jour. Etc. Etc.

This ain't your papa's movie biz. There barely IS a movie biz. It's a filmed entertainment division, and that's even a misnomer because 99.5 per cent of productions are made on video, just like George Luca$ said they would be. Now if strips of acetate with coated emulsion are dragged through camera apertures at all, it's a big ad point.

The transition became clearly evident when Credit Lyonnais, a French business bank, suddenly started appearing above the line on practically everything that got made. That was a generation ago by now, and it's becoming clear to even the most out of touch workers that it's not their parents' ball game.
"We must remember that we cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation." --Liz Cheney, Republican, 7/21/22
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ZoWie
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Re: Its Technical

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Yes, the demand is that human writers be mandatory to rewrite and/or polish AI scripts, not that the practice be banned. They just want to ensure that there is still an above-the-line job for writers.

That does not negate the fact that changes in the nature and governance of US and world business are at the base of most of what has gone wrong with the entertainment industry in the past 40 years. Employment was up, so that muted the opposition to the complete transformation of the business from a highly speculative art into a daily grind. The studios, in particular, evolved from heavily guarded, walled-off, personal fiefdoms into just more corporate divisions with new bosses every 8 years and financing that drifts off into the great transnational capitalist nowhere.

The best example is MGM, once the fullest realization of the fiefdom model of studios, and also for whatever reason by far the best lot to work at in the old long-gone industry that existed before the transnational conglomerate era. Since that started around the beginning of the Ray Gun presidency, the old lot has been bought and sold so many times that no one is quite sure who owns it. It's still called Sony Studios, but I doubt Sony is involved on any kind of daily basis. There's still a library of old movies, but good luck finding out who owns it this year. The original parent company is pretty much out of entertainment altogether and mostly a casino operator.

Then there's Fox, which became a wholly owned/operated tentacle of our fine friend Rupert Murdoch, and Warners which is owned by a new conglomerate every 10 years. Paramount is an Internet streaming giant with a studio lot kind of tacked onto the whole octopus as an afterthought. They buy half the ad space in Times Square to pitch dumb series to teenagers. United Artists barely exists except as a brand name for the conglomerate du jour. Universal is probably the closest to an old-time studio, but its real profit center is the theme parks that it builds on its property.

Etc. Etc.

This ain't your papa's movie biz. There barely IS a movie biz. It's a filmed entertainment division, and that's even a misnomer because 99.5 per cent of productions are made on video, just like George Luca$ said they would be. Now if strips of acetate with coated emulsion are dragged through camera apertures at all, it's a big ad point.

The transition became clearly evident when Credit Lyonnais, a French business bank, suddenly started appearing above the line on practically everything that got made. That was a generation ago by now, and it's becoming clear to even the most out of touch workers that it's not their parents' ball game.
"We must remember that we cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation." --Liz Cheney, Republican, 7/21/22
ap215
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Re: Its Technical

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YouTube reverses misinformation policy to allow U.S. election denialism

In a reversal of its election integrity policy, YouTube will leave up content that says fraud, errors or glitches occurred in the 2020 presidential election and other U.S. elections, the company confirmed to Axios Friday.

Why it matters: YouTube established the policy in December 2020, after enough states had certified the 2020 election results. Now, the company said in a statement, leaving the policy in place may have the effect of "curtailing political speech without meaningfully reducing the risk of violence or other real-world harm."

https://www.axios.com/2023/06/02/us-ele ... ube-policy
ap215
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Re: Its Technical

Post by ap215 »

Welp.

Music publishers are suing Twitter for $250 million over 'massive' copyright infringement

Twitter has yet another major lawsuit to contend with. A group of more than a dozen music publishers has filed a $250 million lawsuit against the company over allegations of “massive” copyright infringement on the platform.

The suit, filed by the National Music Publishers Association, alleges Twitter users have violated artists’ copyrights on thousands of occasions and that the company has done little to stop it. It notes that Twitter is among the only major social platforms that doesn’t have licensing agreements in place.

https://www.engadget.com/music-publishe ... 21118.html
ap215
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Re: Its Technical

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FCC chair to investigate exactly how much everyone hates data caps

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel wants the FCC to open a formal inquiry into how data caps harm Internet users and why broadband providers still impose the caps. The inquiry could eventually lead to the FCC regulating how Internet service providers such as Comcast impose limits on data usage.

Rosenworcel yesterday announced that she asked fellow commissioners to support a Notice of Inquiry on the topic. Among other things, the Notice would seek comment from the public "to better understand why the use of data caps continues to persist despite increased broadband needs of consumers and providers' demonstrated technical ability to offer unlimited data plans."

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/202 ... data-caps/
ap215
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Re: Its Technical

Post by ap215 »

It could've been anything other than the obvious.

Microsoft says early June disruptions to Outlook, cloud platform, were cyberattacks

BOSTON (AP) — In early June, sporadic but serious service disruptions plagued Microsoft’s flagship office suite — including the Outlook email and OneDrive file-sharing apps — and cloud computing platform. A shadowy hacktivist group claimed responsibility, saying it flooded the sites with junk traffic in distributed denial-of-service attacks.

Initially reticent to name the cause, Microsoft has now disclosed that DDoS attacks by the murky upstart were indeed to blame.

https://apnews.com/article/microsoft-ou ... 7d08cf03fe
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ZoWie
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Re: Its Technical

Post by ZoWie »

I've always thought that OneDrive was a disaster waiting to happen. Office, small "o" because they seem to want us to call it Microsoft 365 now, keeps trying to switch me onto it from local storage, and I keep switching it back by hand. It's become something of a battle of wits, because Mickey keeps putting in more little traps that switch you if you push any number of buttons which they keep moving around.

In fact, I would not be surprised if this kind of confusion wasn't helping slow it down along with the supposed ddos attacks, which could just as easily be foreign subversives as the more traditional hacker types.
"We must remember that we cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation." --Liz Cheney, Republican, 7/21/22
ap215
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Re: Its Technical

Post by ap215 »

You see this is why consolidation is very wrong to this day.

Gannett sues Google over its alleged ad tech monopoly

USA Today publisher Gannett is suing Google for allegedly illegally monopolizing the advertising technology market, adding to an already extensive list of lawsuits against the company for alleged anticompetitive behavior.

“With control over the largest ad exchange and ad server — both of which Google acquired rather than developed — Google has carried out a sophisticated, anticompetitive, and deceptive scheme for well over a decade,” Gannett argued in a complaint filed in the Southern District of New York on Tuesday. The publisher said that Google’s broad control of the ad tech market has hurt news publishers, claiming that online readership has grown while online ad spending has decreased for publishers.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/20/gannett ... opoly.html
ap215
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Re: Its Technical

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FTC sues Amazon for "tricking and trapping" Prime customers

The Federal Trade Commission is suing Amazon, accusing the company of enrolling customers in its Prime program without consent and making it difficult to cancel subscriptions.

Driving the news: The complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Washington charges that Amazon "has knowingly duped millions of consumers into unknowingly enrolling in Amazon Prime."

https://www.axios.com/2023/06/21/ftc-la ... azon-prime
ap215
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Re: Its Technical

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Twitter agrees to comply with tough EU disinformation laws

Twitter has agreed to comply with tough new EU laws on fake news, Russian propaganda and online crime after a team of officials from the European Commission entered its headquarters to stress test its capacity to operate legally in Europe.

The move came just weeks after Elon Musk, Twitter’s owner, quit the bloc’s voluntary code of practice on disinformation.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ ... ation-laws
ap215
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Re: Its Technical

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Two US lawyers fined for submitting fake court citations from ChatGPT

A US judge has fined two lawyers and a law firm $5,000 (£3,935) after fake citations generated by ChatGPT were submitted in a court filing.

A district judge in Manhattan ordered Steven Schwartz, Peter LoDuca and their law firm Levidow, Levidow & Oberman to pay the fine after fictitious legal research was used in an aviation injury claim.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ ... ns-chatgpt
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ZoWie
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Re: Its Technical

Post by ZoWie »

I've been experimenting with the AI additions to Photoshop. The one I'm really in a hurry to master is the sky replacement, since that would save me hours of time processing my yearly gosh-wow panoramas of NYC in October.

So far, I'm not overly impressed. One is supposed to change your shitty photos into something that looks like it was painted by an artist picked from a whole list of names. The results more resemble something that was printed on candle wax and placed too close to a fireplace.

Let's just say that it doesn't think the way artists do, and let it go at that.
"We must remember that we cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation." --Liz Cheney, Republican, 7/21/22
ap215
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Re: Its Technical

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YouTube to halt video playback for people using Ad Blockers: Report

In a move aimed at restricting people from using adblockers, YouTube is running "a small experiment globally that urges viewers with ad blockers enabled to allow ads on YouTube or try YouTube Premium," reported The Verge.

The statement came after some people began noticing a new prompt warning that video playback could be stopped if YouTube detected the repeated use of ad-blocking tools.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/technolo ... 13495.html
Motor City
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Re: Its Technical

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHaxfzNT1KA
Gravitational wave discovery leads to greater understanding of the fabric of our universe

Albert Einstein theorized that as heavy objects move through space and time, they create ripple effects in the fabric of our universe. Now an international team of scientists have detected new evidence of that. Researchers found new signs of gravitational waves that are affected by huge movements such as the collision of black holes. Science correspondent Miles O'Brien breaks it down.
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ap215
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Re: Its Technical

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Twitter Blocking Access to Users Who Aren’t Logged In as an ‘Emergency Measure,’ Elon Musk Says

On Friday, Twitter — without notice — suddenly blocked access to the website for anyone who isn’t signed in as a registered user.

Many people were confused about the change, wondering whether it was a glitch or a purposeful move on the part of Twitter, which is under the control of mega-billionaire Elon Musk. Previously, you could search Twitter and view tweets without needing a registered account. But now, visiting any Twitter page displays a log-in prompt instead.

https://variety.com/2023/digital/news/t ... 235659611/
ap215
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Re: Its Technical

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Twitter Sets Daily Limit On Number Of Posts You Can Read, Site Is Glitchy

Elon Musk has set a limit on the number of tweets users can read each day. Musk announced the new program Saturday as thousands of users reported problems attempting to access the site.

In a tweet Saturday afternoon, Musk said that verified accounts are limited to reading 6,000 posts a day. For unverified accounts, the number drops drastically to 600 posts a day. New unverified users can only access 300 posts a day.

https://deadline.com/2023/07/twitter-se ... 235428758/
ap215
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Re: Its Technical

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Judge limits Biden administration in working with social media companies

A judge on Tuesday prohibited several federal agencies and officials of the Biden administration from working with social media companies about “protected speech,” a decision called “a blow to censorship” by one of the Republican officials whose lawsuit prompted the ruling.

U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty of Louisiana granted the injunction in response to a 2022 lawsuit brought by attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri. Their lawsuit alleged that the federal government overstepped in its efforts to convince social media companies to address postings that could result in vaccine hesitancy during the COVID-19 pandemic or affect elections.

https://www.aol.com/news/injunction-blo ... 09306.html
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ZoWie
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Re: Its Technical

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"Vaccine hesitancy" sounds like one of those euphemisms that get invented to whitewash some pretty antisocial behavior. Presumably the capturing of the Canadian capital by disgruntled rabble rousers in large trucks in the dead of winter was "vaccine hesitancy."
"We must remember that we cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation." --Liz Cheney, Republican, 7/21/22
ap215
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Re: Its Technical

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I couldn't care less about Zuckerberg & Musk's online feud they’re both billionaire crybaby ignorant assholes this is going to turn into another social media platform toxic trolling data stealing breach experimental fail pass.

Zuckerberg’s Twitter clone Threads is live. Here’s what you need to know.

Mark Zuckerberg has taken the wraps off Threads, a clone of Twitter designed to lure people turned off by the social network’s changes under owner Elon Musk.

The billionaire social media smackdown is about to get real.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technolo ... ternative/
Last edited by ap215 on Thu Jul 06, 2023 12:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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ProfX
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Re: Its Technical

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Yeah, they're bragging about how many users it has, but that's largely because Zuck already has a captive audience from Instagram and Facebook. In fact, one click on Instagram, and boom you're now a Threads member too. Easy "captive audience".

The fact that the two billionaire techbros are challenging each other to a slap fight is beyond moronic.
"Don't believe every quote attributed to people on the Internet" -- Abraham Lincoln :D
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ZoWie
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Re: Its Technical

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Have they picked a venue in Vegas for the cage fight yet? Does the winner get to buy the loser's platform? Does anyone care any more?

My wife jumped at a chance to do a Zuckerberg platform instead of a Musk one, and was up half the night setting it up on her phone while I tried to sleep. You don't get to import all your followers from Instagram or Facebook with one click/tap, regardless of how many people on the Nooz said you do.

Personally, I'm leaning more toward wishing a severe and devastating plague upon both their houses.
"We must remember that we cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation." --Liz Cheney, Republican, 7/21/22
ap215
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Re: Its Technical

Post by ap215 »

Yep they're two spoiled billionaire ignorant crybabies

Twitter threatens legal action over Meta's "copycat" Threads, report says

Twitter is threatening legal action over Meta's new social media service Threads, with an attorney for Twitter describing as a "copycat" app allegedly developed by hiring former employees of the microblogging platform owned by Elon Musk and using the company's trade secrets, according to a letter posted by Semafor.

The letter's author, attorney Alex Spiro of law firm Quinn Emanuel, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Meta declined to comment on the letter, but communications director Andy Stone responded on Threads, writing, "No one on the Threads engineering team is a former Twitter employee — that's just not a thing."

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/twitter-th ... uckerberg/
ap215
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Re: Its Technical

Post by ap215 »

Europe gets it on Antitrust Laws this is something we need to restructure & fix here.

Meta loses as top EU court backs antitrust regulators over privacy breach checks

BRUSSELS, July 4 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms (META.O) on Tuesday lost its fight against a German data curb order that strikes at the heart of its business model as Europe's top court backed the German antitrust watchdog's power to also investigate privacy breaches.

The ruling from the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) potentially hand antitrust authorities more leeway in Big Tech probes.

https://www.reuters.com/technology/germ ... 023-07-04/
ap215
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Re: Its Technical

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Get Em Sarah

Sarah Silverman sues OpenAI and Meta claiming AI training infringed copyright

The US comedian and author Sarah Silverman is suing the ChatGPT developer OpenAI and Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta for copyright infringement over claims that their artificial intelligence models were trained on her work without permission.

Silverman has filed the suits along with two authors, Christopher Golden and Richard Kadrey, in which they claim the AI models developed by OpenAI and Meta used their work as part of their training data.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ ... fringement
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