ICE ‘Now Operates As a Domestic Surveillance Agency,’ Think Tank Says
The researchers spent two years looking into ICE to put together the extensive report, which is called “American Dragnet: Data-Driven Deportation in the 21st Century.” They obtained information by filing hundreds of freedom of information requests and scouring more than 100,000 contracts and procurement records. The agency is said to be using data from the Department of Motor Vehicles and utility companies, along with the likes of call records, child welfare records, phone location data, healthcare records and social media posts. ICE is now said to hold driver’s license data for 74 percent of adults and can track the movement of cars in cities that are home to 70 percent of the adult population in the US.
The study shows that ICE, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security, has already used facial recognition technology to search through driver’s license photos of a third of adults in the US. In 2020, the agency signed a deal with Clearview AI to use that company’s controversial technology. In addition, the report states that when 74 percent of adults hook up gas, electricity, phone or internet utilities in a new residence, ICE was able to automatically find out their updated address. The authors wrote that ICE is able to carry out these actions in secret and without warrants. Along with the data it acquired from other government departments, utilities, private companies and third-party data brokers, “the power of algorithmic tools for sorting, matching, searching and analysis has dramatically expanded the scope and regularity of ICE surveillance,” the report states. The agency spent around $2.8 billion on “new surveillance, data collection and data-sharing initiatives,” according to the report. Approximately $569 million was spent on data analsys, including $186.6 million in contracts with Plantir Technologies.
“ICE also spent more than $1.3 billion on geolocation tech during that timeframe and $389 million on telecom interception, which includes tech that helps the agency track someone’s phone calls, emails, social media activity and real-time internet use,” adds Engadget.
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Jeffrey Snover Claims Microsoft Demoted Him For Inventing PowerShell
This is not the first time Snover has revealed his demotion, but he hasn’t previously discussed his profound embarrassment — or that he kept it secret from everyone other than his wife. “I never mentioned it to anyone for over a decade until I got promoted to Distinguished Engineer,” tweeted Snover, who was given the honor in March 2009. Snover then contrasted Microsoft’s policy for company-related passion projects to Google’s famous 20 percent rule.
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Lawmakers Offer Bill To Regulate Volume of Commercials On Streaming Services
Eshoo added that since she and Whitehouse created the original CALM Act, streaming service providers have “recreated the problem of loud ads because the old law doesn’t apply to them.” “Today, we’re updating the legislation for the benefit of consumers who are tired of diving for the mute button at every commercial break,” Eshoo added.
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Microsoft Recommends People Uninstall Optional Windows 11 Update KB5012643
“Affected apps are using certain optional components in .NET Framework 3.5, such as Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) and Windows Workflow (WWF) components.” This update also broke Safe Mode. Microsoft says when users booted into ‘Safe Mode without networking’ users might see the screen flicker. Per MS, “Components that rely on explorer.exe, such as File Explorer, the Start menu, and the taskbar, can be affected and appear unstable.” Microsoft issued a Known Issue Rollback (KiR) for this already so it should be fixed. If you encounter it, you should be able to resolve it by enabling network support in Safe Mode.
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China Wants Its Youth To Stop Giving Livestreamers Money
If minors try to circumvent the rules and use adult accounts, the platforms may be responsible for providing refunds. […] Beijing’s qualm with livestreaming and its tech is that the practice can result in physical and mental health issues, as well as create “social problems.” […] There is also concern that teenagers will spend their evenings staying up late online and therefore not have sufficient rest time, hence the 10pm curfew.
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Pirate Site Blocking Is Making Its Way Into Free Trade Agreements
1. Each Party shall provide that its civil judicial authorities have the authority to grant an injunction against an ISP within its territory, ordering the ISP to take action to block access to a specific online location, in cases where:
(a) that online location is located outside the territory of that Party; and
(b) the services of the ISP are used by a third party to infringe copyright or related rights in the territory of that Party.
2. For greater certainty, nothing in this Article precludes a Party from providing that its judicial authorities may grant an injunction to take action to block access to online locations used to infringe intellectual property rights in circumstances other than those specified in paragraph 1.
This hasn’t gone unnoticed by the Alliance for Intellectual Property, which represents rightsholder organizations such as the MPA, BPI, and the Premier League. The group repeatedly urged the UK Government to include site-blocking powers in the agreement. In a recent submission to the UK Government, the Alliance once again stresses the importance of site blocking, while also hinting at broadening the current anti-piracy toolbox. “It has become a hugely valuable tool in the armory of rights holders looking to protect their IP. It is vital that the UK Government ensures the preservation of the no-fault injunctive relief regime,” the Alliance writes. “We would also encourage the opening of dialogue, wherever possible, to share experience around UK practices and to encourage faster, more efficient website blocking procedures, whether through civil, criminal, administrative or voluntary means.”
The site-blocking language is already included in the latest trade deal draft but the Alliance is also looking ahead at future agreements with other countries. In this context, the blocking paragraph will send a clear message. “We would therefore urge the UK Government to include reference to the site blocking legislation in the FTA with Australia as it will send an important message to future countries that we might chose [sic] to negotiate trade agreements with.” The Alliance for Intellectual Property doesn’t mention any other countries by name. However, it specifically references a report from the U.S. Copyright Office where site blocking was mentioned as a potential future anti-piracy option. In the same report, the Copyright Office also stressed that further research would be required on the effect and impact of a U.S. site-blocking scheme, but the idea wasn’t dismissed outright.
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Cryptocurrency Markets Drop $200B, Bitcoin Down 50% Since November
About a third of that drop happened this week, as “Bitcoin, ethereum and other major cryptocurrencies have fallen sharply,” Forbes reports, “wiping around $200 billion from the crypto market in just a matter of days (though some fear the bitcoin price could fall far further).” Bitcoin is now at its lowest prince since last July, “in the aftermath of the Federal Reserve’s biggest interest rate hike in years”.
Ethereum and other top ten luna, solana, cardano and avalanche are also struggling with market sentiment falling to lows not seen since January…. Smaller cryptocurrencies that have outpaced the likes of bitcoin and ethereum in recent months have fallen harder during this latest crash. “The future of individual coins or tokens remains dubious, the law remains in control of such solicitations and the approval of social media giants such as Elon Musk,” added Tammy Da Costa, an analyst at DailyFX.
CNBC notes the drop occurred “after a broader stock sell-off in the U.S. last week,” but points out that bitcoin “is now down 50% from its peak price of $67,802.30 in November 2021.”
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Scientists Try Injecting Tumor-Fighting Viruses Coated in Magnets Made By Soil Bacteria
The project — led by researchers at Sheffield University — builds on progress in two key medical fields. The first involves viruses that specifically attack tumours…. After infection with an oncolytic virus, a cancer cell will burst open and die. The US Food and Drug Administration has already approved the use of T-Vec, a modified herpes simplex virus that infects and kills tumour cells and is now being used to treat people with certain types of melanoma, a skin cancer.
Unfortunately, the viruses soon get attacked by the body’s immune system. So the scientists want to coat the viruses with magnetic particles, so that magnets (outside a patient’s body) can quickly guide those viruses where they’re needed.
And to accomplish this they’re using a soil bacteria which is known to make magnets to align with Earth’s own magnetic field. “The essence of this approach is straightforward,” one of the project’s leaders explains to the Guardian. “We are using bugs as drugs…. we have found bacteria do a better job of manufacturing them than we could.”
Having developed the technology, the Sheffield team is now working to ensure they can manufacture sufficient supplies so that clinical trials on humans can begin soon. To date, trials have focused on animal models. “These early tests have been very encouraging and we now need to take the next steps to bring this technique to a state where it can be administered to humans — hopefully in a few years’ time.”
Thanks to Slashdot reader Falconhell for sharing the article!
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McEnroe vs. McEnroe: Tennis Legend Plays Against AI-Powered Avatars of Himself
The 45-minute film will showcase how the match was created using a combination of artificial intelligence and machine learning, plus five virtual avatars of John McEnroe from pivotal points of his career. The team at [technology/production company] Unit 9 spent a day with John in order to bring the vision to life via full-body scanning, motion capture and Unreal Engine MetaHuman technology (a cloud-based app that creates photorealistic digital humans). The avatar game system will be projected on a hologram particle screen and will be a simulation of gameplay with a system of ball launchers and ball return robots.
When McEnroe sends the ball over the net, the avatar responds to the direction of the real ball. As the avatar swings, a new ball is fired from the ball cannon and then flies through a smokescreen at a precise point in space to make it appear from the avatar’s racket position…. Unit 9’s team analyzed hours of footage from John’s matches throughout his entire career and recorded hundreds of shots, strokes and movements. In total, they recorded 308 shots with over 259 loops and blends to really capture his footwork and well-known shot-making and volleying skills.
The best part about this is the team recorded numerous key phrases and statements so McEnroe could talk smack to his virtual self (and maybe even smash a couple of rackets).
As McEnroe himself pointed out to Forbes…. “I can’t lose.” But he also sounds like he enjoyed the experience:
The most interesting recreation of his playing style to him is the 1979 version of him because professional tennis was all so new to him at the time. “That was the year I may have enjoyed the most on the circuit,” he says, “I was just coming up, and on the way up and you are so excited and want to travel the world.”
From there, he thinks the 1992 version of himself will offer the other end of his career, after having three kids. He knows that 1984 was the best year on tour, but “I have more interest in the young and old opposed to (1984).”
McEnroe also wanted the sport of tennis to get extra exposure — and that it would be good “If we have a way where we project something different and have some fun with it and peoples can laugh with it…”
Or, as AdWeek quotes McEnroe as saying, “Who wouldn’t want an opportunity to literally be able to look back at where you started and celebrate how much you’ve grown and learned along the way?”
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