Technology

White House report says Trump can usher in a "new golden age" of science

Codeberg bans vibe coded projects

cross-posted from: https://piefed.world/c/tech/p/1279028/codeberg-bans-vibe-coded-projects

Relevant .

New Framework Desktop Option with AMD Ryzen AI Max+ Pro 495 and 192GB Memory (Gorgon Halo)

Australia to Put Environmental Brakes on A.I. Data Centers

EU slaps €890 million fine on Google

EU fines Google €890m for competition breaches over search and apps

cross-posted from: https://piefed.world/c/tech/p/1281357/eu-fines-google-eur890m-for-competition-breaches-over-search-and-apps

OpenAI cyber models broke out of training environment to hack Hugging Face

It would be interesting to read the post mortem (if they will release). In particular in which phase of the training it escaped the sandbox, in which way it used the information. Training is different from inference, I doubt there is a context there and where would the model store these information? In the weights?! That makes little sense to me

You Should Get to Own Your Media, Not Rent it Forever

Nintendo says users voluntarily paid higher prices, have no right to tariff refunds | Nintendo says Switch buyers got what they paid for, urges court to dismiss lawsuit.

How does TikTok show China to Polish users? - Content "fully consistent with messages approved by bodies directly subordinate to the Chinese Communist Party"

cross-posted from: lemmy.sdf.org/post/56505579

Here is the report in Polish (pdf) and the report in English (pdf).

How does TikTok show China to Polish users?

Experts from the Polish NASK Disinformation Analysis Centre examined nearly 10,000 pieces of material on six topics considered particularly sensitive by Beijing (Xinjiang, Tibet, Tiananmen Square massacre, Taiwan, human rights, re-education camps). They show that the way content is recommended may be conducive to building a favourable image of China.

Some key points:

• Many of the materials classified as „pro-China” based on the adopted criteria contained statements fully consistent with messages approved by the Publicity Department and other bodies directly subordinate to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

• There are at least several English-language accounts on the Tiktok app responsible for spreading pro-Chinese propaganda messages. A few characteristics indicate their direct links to the Chinese propaganda mechanism, including they exclusively discuss topics important to Chinese propaganda message, promote an extremely pro-Chinese message, attempt to discredit individuals criticizing the CCP’s actions, and publish large amounts of professionally prepared content despite posing as, for example, ordinary tourists in China.

• The Tiktok app does not designate state-owned channels as “state-controlled media as Facebook does. This means that it is impossible to determine which channels on the platform operate directly under government control.

• The examined material raises legitimate doubts about the impartiality of the TikTok app. It is impossible to definitively answer the question whether this is solely the result of the algorithm itself or the presence of a significant number of propaganda channels on the platform, whose activities are not moderated or labeled in any way.

• This raises doubts, especially considering the platform’s subordination to a Chinese entity (ByteDance) operating within the Chinese legal system. Therefore, the app has significant potential to become a tool for shaping audience attitudes and views in the event of large scale influence operations.

• Given the scale of Sino-Russian cooperation in information exchange, the TikTok app may pose a potential threat to the security of Polish users. Therefore, it is recommended not only to approach content appearing on the platform critically, but also to refrain from publishing sensitive data on the platform – this is particularly relevant for government entities and individuals associated with the state apparatus.

[…]

The analysis showed that the way content was presented on TikTok differed significantly depending on the topic. The highest percentage of pro-Chinese content was recorded for Xinjiang (58.7%) and Tibet (44.5%). This also applied to the issue of human rights in China (35%).

In turn, the results that referred to the Tiananmen Square massacre were dominated by content critical of the Chinese authorities (76.6%). “We treat such actions as a so-called “safety valve” – a strategy to create the impression of freedom of speech,” the analysts write.

In the case of Taiwan, neutral materials predominated (92%). The most unusual results were obtained for the topic of re-education camps – as much as 89% of the displayed materials were not related to the searched topic. "The conclusions of the study clearly show that TikTok uses different content selection strategies for different topics.

“However, we should not focus solely on the operation of one algorithm. This is a question about who shapes the image of the world that millions of users see every day, and how they do it,” says Antoni Mazek, an analyst at the NASK Disinformation Analysis Centre and co-author of the report.

[…]

In the flood of information, it is easier to give up further searches In the case of the topic concerning re-education camps, OAD analysts observed a large number of random videos. Unrelated content accounted for as much as 89%. In response to this specific query, several dozen materials appeared praising miraculous methods for weight loss (34% of content on the topic of health/weight loss), and even recordings of Chinese women doing the hula hoop.

"This is intended to discourage users from further searches – explains Dr Agnieszka Lipińska, head of OAD. “It simply causes frustration in the recipient. The search for information on an important topic collides with content that is less intellectually engaging,” she adds.

Western influencers reinforce manipulation The analysed content rarely took the form of official messages. It often took the form of travel advertisements or lifestyle content. There was also material featuring Western influencers who constructed their narratives according to a similar pattern: they presented themselves as people “discovering the truth” about China and criticised Western media coverage. It was their materials that were most often recommended to Polish users. Prolonged exposure to such content may affect the perception of China by the audience, according to the researchers.

[…]

Author Invited to Give Speech at OpenAI Headquarters, Uses Opportunity to Trash AI to Their Faces

Flock Safety acting just like Bricks and Minifigs. Support our Bens, Benn Jordan and Ben Schnieder

Drop OSS - an open-source, self-hosted alternative to platforms like Steam and Epic.

cross-posted from: lemmy.world/post/49721314

I just discovered this. Has anyone tried it?

Basically, you install it on your home server and use it to stash your DRM-free games, and then install the client on your PC, Steam Deck, whatever… log in to your server and just use it like your own, selfhosted Steam app. Any PC gamer already running Jellyfin, RomM, or other selfhosted entertainment-related server might be interested in trying it, if you do… please share your experience! I’ll try it myself when I have time and post back here. If you know of any other alternatives, please share!

• Self-hosted & open-source. Run Drop entirely on your own hardware. Your library, your data, your rules — all under the AGPLv3.

• Rich metadata editing. Customise names, descriptions, and icons with full Markdown and image support.

• Automatic imports. Pull cover art and game details straight from IGDB, GiantBomb, and PCGamingWiki.

• A built-in store. Let users browse, filter, and collect games through a fully featured store.

• Flexible authentication. Use simple accounts or hook into your existing SSO.

• Native desktop client. Download, install, and play your whole library through a cross-platform desktop client.

Available for Windows, Mac & Linux (their web page lists a deb, their github repo publishes packages for all major distros and also an Appimage)

Website:
droposs.org

Docs:
droposs.org/docs/admin/quickstart/

Nvidia finally reveals what controls devs actually have for DLSS 5, and don't worry folks, there are TWO main sliders to control the AI filter

cross-posted from: lemmy.world/post/49735285

What Happened When Flock Came to My Town

cross-posted from: lemmy.world/post/49772467

Snips from the article below, but the full thing is worth reading.

My small town in South Carolina will soon have more Flock cameras than police officers.

the city council of my small town of Irmo, South Carolina, voted to install 22 new Flock cameras. That’ll bring the total up to 33. With a population of only 12,000 or so, it means there’ll be one Flock camera for every 300 residents. That means there will be more Flock cameras in my town than police officers.

The vote for the cameras was a hot topic in local news and South Carolina social media. The city council expected a lot of people to show and asked folks to sign up early if they wanted to talk.

I wasn’t the only person who decided to speak. More than 10 other citizens went to the podium and spoke out against the cameras.

“I’m pretty enthralled by all the pushback you’re getting on the cameras you installed without asking a single member of the community if they wanted them installed,” said another resident, a man in a T-shirt and shorts. “If you give the government a tool, they will misuse it. Period. End of story. Get rid of them or we will get rid of them for you.”

For a bit, I thought it was possible that the town might not install these cameras. Then the police chief stood up and explained how he’d used Flock to capture pedophiles and I knew that was probably the end of it.

Police chief Bobby Dale has long been an advocate for the expansion of Flock in town. He told local outlet News19 that 33 cameras will allow him to see all the entrances and exits. “That would ultimately cover pretty much every nook and cranny, every entry point into the town,” he said. “That’s what we want. As the chief of police, I’ve got to make sure our town is safe. I’m learning that with these cameras, with these license plate readers, we’re solving crimes and solving them quicker.”

During the city council meeting, Dale explained that Flock cameras had been instrumental in a To Catch a Predator style sting operation Irmo PD conducted. “During an internet crimes against children operation hosted by a department, 15 adults traveled to our community believing they were coming to meet children for sexual activity," Dale said. “Fourteen of those 15 suspects were not from our jurisdiction.”

“So you lured them here. Into our town. Genius,” the T-shirt and shorts guy shouted from the back of the room. This was the guy who’d said the community would remove the Flock cameras if the city didn’t. The mayor had police escort him from the meeting. He left without a fight and Dale finished his speech praising Flock.

Mayor Bill Danielson opened his portion of the Flock discussion by talking about how he’d recently commiserated with other mayors at the conference about how mean people were on Facebook.

“I came back with a renewed vigor to be the mayor of this town,” he said. “And knowing that I’m not the only one being abused on Facebook, social media, by some people in this room. It’s going to take a whole lot more than that to sway any position I may or may not have on behalf of these citizens.”

“Every one of those mayors either wanted Flock, was trying to figure out how to budget for Flock, or had Flock and was figuring out how to increase their presence.”

My city council voted 4 to 1 to increase the presence of Flock in this small town of 12,000 people. Police chief Dale will soon have more cameras than officers. And, if they can get money from the state, they may also purchase a drone from Flock to use as part of the company’s “drones as first responder” program.

Fire departments are testing autonomous drones that fight wildfires before crews even arrive

LG’s changelog confirms its monitor app installs bloatware on Windows 11, exposing Microsoft’s long-standing problem

OpenAI says its AI models went rogue and hacked another tech company during test

I Reviewed Late-2000s Digital Cameras. Allow Me to Remind You Why We All Switched to iPhones.

finally, a "what to buy" article that says "don't buy"

OpenAI blamed a hacking event on its AI models going rogue. Here are some things to know

ChatGPT maker OpenAI says it is still investigating the “unprecedented cyber incident” that led its artificial intelligence systems to break out of a testing environment and hack into another AI company.

OpenAI said Tuesday two of its most capable AI models were responsible for the cyberattack targeting AI startup Hugging Face. The incident is stirring debates over the need for stronger AI guardrails and the extent to which AI agents are capable of acting on their own.

Hugging Face said last week that it had detected an intrusion into its data processing systems that it suspected was caused by an AI agent acting on its own. But the New York-based startup said it wasn’t until this week that it learned OpenAI was responsible, and it worked with the larger company to contain what Hugging Face CEO Clément Delangue called “an attack unlike anything we’ve seen before.”

San Francisco-based OpenAI said its AI used stolen credentials and discovered a previously unknown vulnerability to access Hugging Face’s servers. It was working with reduced guardrails because it was supposed to be in an isolated testing environment known as a sandbox.

But it went to “extreme lengths to achieve a rather narrow testing goal,” finding ways to connect to the internet without human direction and “gain access to secret information that it could use to cheat the evaluation,” the company said.

Some experts say OpenAI is wrongly blaming the technology

University of Amsterdam social scientist Hannes Cools said the framing of the cyberattack as an AI agent acting on its own is an unnecessary anthropomorphization that takes some of the heat off the company.

“It is a human decision to switch off specific safeguards,” said Cools. “It’s not an AI that goes rogue in that sense. It followed specific instructions based on the prompt that was given to that AI system.”