Technology

Open-source stealth USB hides an encrypted partition behind an 8GB decoy drive Phantom Drive appears as a regular USB stick until you create a text file to unlock the hidden data

How Claude marks AI-generated content: (1) watermarks embedded in text, and (2) signed provenance metadata attached to files.

YouTube announces monetization changes that make it harder for new creators to make money

cross-posted from: https://piefed.world/c/tech/p/1327151/youtube-announces-monetization-changes-that-make-it-harder-for-new-creators-to-make-mone

New creators applying for YouTube Partner Program (YPP) will need 8,000 qualified watch hours in the last 365 days, or 20 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days. The entry thresholds for our Fan Funding and shopping products remain unchanged.

Old requirements for comparison:

1,000 subscribers with 4,000 watch hours in the past year or 10 million Shorts views in the past 90 days.

Top economist warns that the AI math doesn’t make sense: 'Profits are currently being funded by investors rather than earned from customers'

Quebec apple grower using anti-hail cannon to protect crops from icy weather

NOTE: See the comment section for discussion on these devices. They might not actually do anything

cross-posted from: lemmy.ca/post/69184297

A “anti-hail cannon” could be a Canadian first, as a Quebec apple orchard says the device could protect its crops from icy weather.

The cannon has been deployed at Verger des Bois-Francs southeast of Montreal by Maxime Brie. Hail has long been an agriculture producer nightmare as it can bring significant crop damage.

Anti-hail cannons aren’t a new invention for farming, having originated in Europe but are now manufactured in various countries such as New Zealand and Germany.

The Spanish-made one used by Brie is one that he claims has never been used in Canada before. The device cost them $160,000.

They work by causing controlled explosions near the base that then blast shockwaves into the air, which turn hail into harmless water.

By being connected to a weather station run by SPAG, with meteorologists monitoring conditions at all times from a facility in Brazil, it allows the device to better respond to storms.

Microsoft's Weather App Eats More RAM Than Most Browsers – and Serves You Ads

Two Decades of Cheaper Memory Vanished in One Brutal Year

Humanising LLM Outputs is Dumb

After 24 years, Return to Castle Wolfenstein is finally distributed uncut in Germany — game was censored due to strict laws regarding Nazi symbolism

Publishing Schematics Before “Open Source” Was a Word: 55 Years of Akizuki Denshi, Japan’s Legendary Parts Store

India moves to rein in consumer 5G network slicing

Salem Brought a Guillotine To Oppose New Data Center. Company Reps Left, Feeling 'Unsafe'.

A Surveillance ‘Cat-and-Mouse’ Game With AI - The Atlantic

Amid RAM price hikes, Microsoft reportedly raises Windows license cost, forcing OEMs to hike prices even further on hardware

Sign of the Times: An Account of the First Tech Workers’ Strike

Mark Zuckerberg's 6,500 word love letter to AI seeks 'superintelligence for everyone'

cross-posted from: https://piefed.world/c/tech/p/1327081/mark-zuckerberg-s-6500-word-love-letter-to-ai-seeks-superintelligence-for-everyone

Essay.

The AI Slop Backlash Is Actually Having an Impact. Platforms are finally recognizing that people don’t want to consume AI slop.

LexisNexis shuts down services after suspicious activity on servers

lexis nexis is a creepiest data aggregator out there. i recall seeing interview with the founder where he’s been bragging about buying hacked stolen databases of the darkweb “until feds take them down”. all your data

and this company is used to validate your tax worthiness.

How ICE Is Weaponizing Social Media Against Its Critics (Reddit mention!)

Bernie Sanders Calls on Tech Giants to Pause Development of Out-of-Control AI

cross-posted from: https://piefed.world/c/tech/p/1326814/bernie-sanders-calls-on-tech-giants-to-pause-development-of-out-of-control-ai

Following recent and repeated public reporting about artificial intelligence (AI) technology breaking outside of human control and creating potentially dangerous viruses, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today urged America’s largest AI companies — Anthropic, Meta and OpenAI — to immediately pause their development of Artificial Intelligence.