The European Commission has fined Apple €1.8 billion (£1.5 billion) for streaming violations.  So,1,800,000,000 EUR is equal to 1,952,277,657 USD @ 1.08 US dollars to 1 Euro. Anyway you figure it, this is a significant fine. The reason is that the EU said it’s because the streaming service didn’t inform users of payment options outside the Apple app store.

Margrethe Vestager has said in the music market Apple has abused its dominant position for over a decade — and she ordered the music giant to remove all restrictions. Apple replies that it will appeal the decision and that there is no evidence that any consumers were harmed. Ms Vestager also said that Apple restricted “developers from informing consumers about alternative, cheaper music services outside of the Apple ecosystem, which is illegal under EU antitrust rules.”

The DMA — promoting competition

The DMA of the European Union aims to promote competition in the technology sector and attempt to weaken the market dominance of companies such as Apple and Google.

Ahead of the impending introduction of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), Apple said in January that it would permit users in the European Union to download apps from stores other than its own.

The Swedish music streaming provider Spotify filed a protest with the European Commission, citing dissatisfaction with both the restriction and Apple’s 30% fee, prompting the EU to take a closer look.

Apple said, “The decision was reached despite the Commission’s failure to uncover any credible evidence of consumer harm and ignores the realities of a market that is thriving, competitive, and growing fast.’

Spotify is the largest music streaming app in the world

Apple claims that “Spotify has the largest music streaming app in the world and has met with the EC [European Commission] more than 65 times during this investigation.” Previously, Spotify claimed that the EU restrictions helped Apple’s rival music streaming service — Apple Music.

Apple’s protracted legal spat with Fortnite developer Epic Games led to the introduction of US fees in the first place. The largest developers pay 30% to utilize this method, whereas smaller developers charge 15% or less, and 85% of developers pay nothing at all.

Apple pointed out, “The primary advocate for this decision, and the biggest beneficiary, is Spotify, a company based in Stockholm, Sweden.

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According to lawyer Sara Goldstein of the law firm BakerHostetler, the Change Healthcare massive attack has caused approximately 120 of the company’s IT products and services to go offline since February 21. This cyber disruption substantially and extensively affects the whole healthcare business, including major companies. The cybercriminals claimed to be from BlackCat/Alphv.

From eligibility checks and prior authorization to pharmacy benefits and claims processing, Change Healthcare, a division of Optum, a UnitedHealth Group company, offers a broad range of vital IT tools to healthcare sector enterprises. The company conducts 15 billion healthcare transactions every year.

The devastating effects of cybercrime

“So the amount, the volume of information that’s transferred to them and that’s transferred out, as well the role that they have in healthcare is tremendous. The impact of this has been substantial,” said Goldstein. She went on to say, “Many healthcare providers cannot process claims, payments, or do patient billing. Without these services and being able to generate revenue, it’s really going to create a precarious financial situation for many healthcare systems and healthcare providers.”

350,000 doctors and 15,000 group medical practices are represented by the Medical Group Management Association, which pushed the US Department of Health and Human Services to “utilize all the tools at its disposal to mitigate these impacts, so medical groups do not have to take drastic actions to remain in operation.” The HHS was told by the MGMA that “guidance, financial resources, enforcement discretion, and more are needed to avoid escalating an already serious situation.”

The downside of large companies consolidation

Goldstein said that organizations with no contractual relationship with Change Healthcare are also affected. She continued, “One thing that is being flagged is about the downside of consolidation of these types of vendors in healthcare. So, that has been a challenge. This is pretty catastrophic.”

Cybercrime affects everyone.

Here is the Goldstein interview from Inforisktoday.com.

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The US government says it would be better for them if you ceased using C or C++ when programming tools. In a recent report, the White House Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD) has urged developers to utilize “memory-safe programming languages,” a classification that does not include widely used languages. The recommendation is a step toward “securing the building blocks of cyberspace” and is a component of US President Biden’s cybersecurity plan.

Memory-safety is the defense against flaws and vulnerabilities related to memory access. Examples of this include dangling pointers and buffer overflows. Java’s runtime fault detection checks make it a memory-safe language. Nonetheless, unconstrained pointer arithmetic with direct memory addresses and without bounds checking is supported by both C and C++.

In no particular order, the NSA suggests these memory-safe programming languages

• Go
• Rust
• C#
• Swift
• Java
• Ruby
• Python
• Delphi/Object Pascal
• Ada

According to a 2019 analysis by Microsoft security engineers, memory safety problems were the root cause of almost 70% of security vulnerabilities. In 2020, Google released a similar figure, although this time it was for Chromium browser issues.

The extensive report says, “Experts have identified a few programming languages that both lack traits associated with memory safety and also have high proliferation across critical systems, such as C and C++.”  And the report continues, “Choosing to use memory safe programming languages at the outset, as recommended by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) Open-Source Software Security Roadmap is one example of developing software in a secure-by-design manner.”

The 19-page report aims to ensure that small organizations and individuals are not the only ones responsible for cybersecurity. Instead, the onus is on bigger institutions, digital businesses, and ultimately the government. The report seeks to detail what is considered “unsafe” programming languages, namely the use of C and C++.  The Microsoft report says, “We’re not here to debate the pros and cons of programming languages, but it is interesting to see that the report does not suggest a specific language in their place. We are told that there are “dozens of memory-safe programming languages that can — and should — be used.”

Additionally, the paper recommends improving software security metrics. According to ONCD, better measurements let technology providers plan, predict, and address risks before they become an issue.

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The US dollar decreased slightly following confirmation of economists’ predictions on January’s inflation data. As the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index, the Federal Reserve‘s primary inflation measure, displayed a 0.3% increase, the dollar recorded a slight slip, symbolizing the perceived influence of inflation rates on currency strength.

Simultaneously, other notable shifts were seen in the Forex market. The euro slightly rose, the yen saw daily growth of about 0.6%, and the Australian dollar improved due to the Reserve Bank of Australia’s positive economic outlook. Conversely, the Swiss franc slightly weakened, and the Canadian dollar, correspondingly, slipped with a dip in crude oil prices.

The global foreign exchange market is persistently fluctuating due to various factors such as economic forecasts, geopolitical tensions, and central banks’ monetary policies. Amid this, other currencies are also experiencing significant changes. Of note, the yen has depreciated over 2% against the euro over the month, hitting nine-year lows against the Australian and New Zealand dollars.

The US dollar drop may be resulting from other economy’s near-zero interest rates

Economists believe the drop in the US dollar results from Japan’s central bank policies that aim to revive the stagnated economy by maintaining near-zero interest rates. The Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited (OCBC) currency strategist, Christopher Wong, suggested that unwinding yen shorts might drive bears to retreat, leading to a more bullish market sentiment.

Simultaneously, minor fluctuations were seen in the global currency market during February, with the euro and the sterling showing stability. In contrast, the Australian and New Zealand currencies experienced a downward trend, indicating a ceiling on interest rates in these southern hemisphere nations.

This report also highlighted losses for the New Zealand dollar following steady rates set by domestic central banks. The Australian dollar showed a slight increase, contrasting with a monthly drop of 0.8%, embodying investors’ cautious assessment of fiscal policies. British Pound Sterling noted a minor slump due to the Bank of England’s decision to keep interest rates steady, undermining investor confidence. The Euro gained 0.3%, hinting at the expected launch of the European Central Bank’s quantitative easing program, while the yen remained unchanged at 105.05 per US dollar.

Such shifts underline the unpredictability characterizing the global financial landscape as foreign exchange rates continue to fluctuate.

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Nvidia, the leading force in artificial intelligence (AI), witnesses continued revenue growth in its AI sector, contributing to a 400% increase in data center earnings. The high quality of their graphics processing units (GPUs) and cutting-edge deep learning applications have been instrumental in this advancement. The technology is bringing significant transformations, especially in automotive, healthcare, and other sectors.

The latest in their line of innovations, Nvidia Drive PX Pegasus, an AI computer developed for autonomous robotaxis, identifies with the company’s revolutionary approach. Furthermore, strategic partnerships with industry giants like Google, Alibaba, and Microsoft have accelerated Nvidia’s exponential growth in the AI space.

Beyond fundamental AI chips, Nvidia’s data center enterprise offers many products and services.

Its recent achievement of a $1 billion annual revenue within a quarter demonstrates the growing industry demand for AI technology. The company continues to deliver innovative solutions that cater to the intricate needs of its clients.

CEO Jensen Huang highlights the software’s potential to become a significant business segment for Nvidia. He envisions it as a potential drive for their AI division, allowing Nvidia to persist with innovation and dominate advanced technology. However, the future stability of Nvidia’s high-performing shares remains uncertain.

Nvidia’s software strategy adopts the integration of multiple open-source software components to construct a strong AI software platform. It overcomes potential security and stability threats through Nvidia AI Enterprise – a comprehensive software stack management system. This system provides consistent performance, enhanced security, and outstanding scalability, fostering a conducive environment for developers to work on AI applications without concerns about underlying infrastructure.

Nvidia’s ambitious growth strategy implies its substantial influence over AI

Huang foresees a global adoption of Nvidia AI Enterprise, stating that its expansion into software supports growth trajectory and significantly impacts AI technology. The company’s ambitious growth strategy implies its substantial influence over the landscape of AI technology, paving the way for enhanced AI implementation across various sectors.

Lastly, Nvidia’s commitment to outperforming competitors is made evident by an increase of 18% in its R&D investments the previous year. The adoption of a leading-edge software strategy across all major cloud providers indicates a pathway to growth. Despite occasional challenges, Nvidia possesses the necessary resources to sustain its growth trajectory in the long run.

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The rise of artificial intelligence is causing a surge in demand for sustainable electricity. Data centers around the globe are straining to keep up, causing tech companies to turn to renewable energy sources.

New AI technology requires high-performance computing power, raising the energy efficiency bar. In addition, responsible management of these resources is becoming a priority for reasons related to cost efficiency and environmental protection.

Leaders in the tech industry are examining ways to minimize potential environmental harm. Some initiatives involve using advanced tech to pinpoint areas rich in solar and wind energy.

These leaders are focused on developing hardware and equipment that conserve resources and promote energy efficiency. Their goal is to reduce carbon emissions and the overall environmental impact.

There are also strategies in place for managing waste and recycling, ensuring obsolete technology is disposed of responsibly. A global collaborative effort is underway to ensure that tech growth does not harm our planet.

It is impossible to predict how your request for homework assistance from AI may impact freshwater stocks or carbon emissions.

Cirrus Nexus CEO, Chris Noble, emphasizes the need for data centers to exploit renewable energy sources. The anticipated widespread adoption of AI-powered computation is believed to have strong implications for climate change.

Currently, data centers and transmission networks, including major tech companies like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon, are responsible for roughly 1.5% of global energy use. These companies have sworn to meet climate goals; however, the quick progression of AI applications poses challenges to these targets.

Load shifting, a solution promoted by Google and Cirrus Nexus, might be the answer. It matches data center operations with the availability of renewable energy. However, potential obstacles exist, such as data sovereignty policies hindering data flow across borders.

Despite these obstacles, Google and Cirrus Nexus have field-tested load shifting and found it promising in reducing emissions. In fact, Cirrus Nexus recorded lower expenses and reduced carbon intensity thanks to increased access to solar power in The Netherlands.

These advancements show that significant strides are being made in developing sustainable practices in our technological world.

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Google has announced its plans to discontinue the Google Pay app for US users as of June 4, 2024, refocusing its efforts on the Google Wallet service.

All users must switch to Google Wallet for their financial transactions from this date. This service offers the same financial services as Google Pay but promises to be more efficient and improved. Furthermore, Google Wallet will introduce new features not available in Google Pay.

Users are assured that they will not lose any data during the transition.

All saved cards and transaction histories will be transferred to Google Wallet automatically.

According to Joris van Mens, Google’s head of product management, Google Wallet has seen impressive growth and popularity in the US. The platform securely stores credit cards for tap-and-pay transactions, transit cards, and driver’s licenses.

As part of its redesign, Google has emphasized the user-friendly interface and robust security features of Google Wallet. They aim to make the platform a “digital safe house” for users to store sensitive data without fear of security threats.

Users of Google Pay are encouraged to transfer any funds they have in the app to their bank accounts before June 4th, 2024. After this date, peer-to-peer payments and in-app deals will no longer be offered.

To aid in the transition, Google has provided detailed guides to help users transition from Google Pay to Google Wallet. The company has also reaffirmed its commitment to user privacy and security throughout this process.

Google Wallet will offer several new and interesting features

After the transition, Google Wallet will offer several exciting and interesting features, including making and receiving payments and sending money to friends and family.

Google Search will accommodate the deal-finding aspect of the app, allowing users to find deals and offers with a few simple keywords, enhancing the user experience despite the app’s discontinuation.

However, this discontinuation will not affect Google Pay users in other countries like Singapore and India, where the app will continue to function as usual. For users in the U.S., Google Wallet will soon become their default Android payment app.

Despite not currently supporting money transfers or cash-back offers, Google Wallet will continue operating as a simple tap-and-pay service, storing payment and loyalty cards. Google has plans to introduce more features to Google Wallet in the future, in line with its philosophy of simplicity.

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A magician from New Orleans claims that a Democratic operative hired him to create the phony Biden robocall. According to text messages, call logs, and Venmo transactions, the creator shared with NBC News — a Democratic consultant working for a rival presidential campaign paid a magician in New Orleans to use artificial intelligence to impersonate President Joe Biden for a robocall that is currently the subject of a multistate law enforcement investigation.

Paul Carpenter claims he was hired in January by Steve Kramer, who assisted Democratic presidential contender Dean Phillips with ballot access. Carpenter’s task was to use artificial intelligence (AI) to create voice impersonation of Joe Biden asking Democrats in New Hampshire to abstain from voting in the state’s presidential primary.

“There was no malicious intent. I didn’t know how it was going to be distributed.”

“I created the audio used in the robocall. I did not distribute it,” Carpenter said in an interview in New Orleans, where he resides. “I was in a situation where someone offered me some money to do something, and I did it. There was no malicious intent. I didn’t know how it was going to be distributed.”

Carpenter’s claim to fame is that he holds the world record in fork-bending and straitjacket escapes. He told and showed NBC News how he made the fake Biden audio file. Carpenter says that he only came forward to apologize for his part in the incident and to alert people to the ease with which artificial intelligence may be used to deceive.

Carpenter told NBC News that it only took him 20 minutes to make the robocall and cost approximately $1 — Carpenter, himself, was paid $150 according to the Venmo payment transfer from Kramer and his father, Bruce Kramer.

The authorities have not identified Carpenter and Steve Kramer as inquiry targets.

Federal law enforcement officers and New Hampshire officials are paying close attention to the robocall because they may have broken federal telecom regulations and state laws prohibiting voter suppression. Authorities have promised to look into the matter and have named the Dallas-based company that was responsible for the automated phone calls made to voters prior to the state’s primary. They did this because they wanted to hold those responsible accountable for the first-ever instance of an AI-generated deepfake being used maliciously in an American political campaign.

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Leaked files reveal a variety of services available for purchase, including information obtained from targets across the globe. According to a significant data leak from a Chinese cybersecurity company, state security agents are paying tens of thousands of pounds to gather data on targets, including foreign governments. Meanwhile, hackers are gathering massive amounts of data on any individual or organization that could be of interest to their potential clients.

It’s believed that over 500 files have been leaked worldwide

Cybersecurity experts believe the cache of over 500 leaked files from the Chinese company I-Soon, which was uploaded on the Github developer website, to be authentic. NATO and the UK Foreign Office are a couple of the suggested targets.

More than a year ago, in an unprecedented joint address, the FBI and MI5 leaders warned about the issue of Chinese spying, asking for upgraded security measures. At that time, the two agencies said that they were voicing a new concern about the Chinese government and informing corporate executives that Bejing was intent on stealing their technology in order to obtain a competitive advantage.

The files, a collection from chat logs, business prospectuses, and data samples, show the scope of China’s intelligence-collecting activities and the challenges that the nation’s commercial hackers face in the competitive market. China is currently experiencing a downturn in its economy.

I-Soon and Chengdu 404 have been in dispute over one company using the other company’s tools to hack

I-Soon seems to have collaborated with Chengdu 404, another Chinese hacking group, and became involved in a business dispute with them later. The US Department of Justice has charged Chengdu 404’s hackers for using their tools to launch cyberattacks against US companies and pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong, among other targets.

The other targets mentioned in the I-Soon disclosures are the British research tank Chatham House, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries’ foreign affairs ministries, and public health bureaus. While some of this data appears to have been collected indiscriminately, other instances involve specific contracts with the Chinese Public Security Bureau to collect particular kinds of data.

“We are aware of this data coming to light and are naturally concerned,” a Chatham House spokeswoman stated. We have precautions in place to protect you, including technological ones that are regularly examined and updated.

“The alliance faces persistent cyberthreats and has prepared for this by investing in extensive cyber defenses,” a NATO official stated. NATO examines each allegation of a cyberthreat. However, the UK Foreign Office chose not to respond,

I-Soon provides a wide range of services. In one instance, Shandong City’s public security department paid about £44,000 to gain a year’s worth of access to the email accounts of ten targets. The I-Soon business also asserted that it could breach many operating systems, including Mac and Android, access personal data from Facebook, hijack accounts on X, and obtain data from corporate databases.

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The Federal Trade Commission has approved a regulation prohibiting impersonating a government agency or commercial entity, and it is pursuing action against the use of artificial intelligence in impersonation fraud schemes.

The rule, which the commission finalized on Thursday, gives the FTC more powerful instruments to fight impersonation schemes. With the new rule, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) can now bring direct federal court lawsuits against con artists to try and make them refund the money they took from a corporate or government impersonation scheme. Further, the FTC proposes extending the new rule that safeguards governments and corporations, adding a civil penalty for employing AI to impersonate people. According to a news release from the FTC, the extension was made in response to comments received during the public comment period for the government and business impersonation rule.

The new rules give the FTC more powerful instruments to fight impersonation schemes.

FTC Chair Lina M. Khan said, “Fraudsters are using AI tools to impersonate individuals with eerie precision and at a much wider scale. With voice cloning and other AI-driven scams on the rise, protecting Americans from impersonator fraud is more critical than ever.”

The commission is seeking public comment on whether it should be unlawful for AI platforms to produce material that could be used to damage consumers by impersonating companies or governmental agencies. The agency is now soliciting public comments on its proposed extension of the AI individual impersonation regulation.

Agencies in many countries seek to protect citizens against AI-generated threats.

The FTC is the latest agency trying to protect consumers from AI-generated scams. The Federal Communications Commission has banned using AI-generated voices in robocalls, giving each state’s Attorney General the power to take legal action against telemarketing scams.

According to the FTC, the final regulation regarding government and corporate impersonation will take effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.

FTC Chair Khan added, “As scammers find new ways to defraud consumers, including through AI-generated deepfakes, this proposal will help the agency deter fraud and secure redress for harmed consumers.”

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When a new tech product is being tested, there can be many valid reasons to return the product, which is the case with the Vision Pro.  Some people are returning the product, citing illness — the motion sickness type. Studies indicate that about 25% of the people who are testing the Apple Vision Pro have this illness. Some have reported headaches, nausea, exhaustion, and dizziness. If the tester is lucky enough to avoid dealing with any of these issues — that’s great. For those Vison Pro users who are not so lucky, tens of millions of over-the-counter motion sickness products are marketed in the United States each year — and for good cause.

Do you know someone who has experienced motion sickness?

Almost everyone has heard or seen someone with this condition — someone lying out on the sand next to a boat ramp, those who stumble off a ship cruise, or someone lying on the grass, face down, just off a Disneyland ride. What about the bags in the back of your seat on an airplane? — you get the gist. Because augmented reality, virtual reality, and mixed reality headsets are not as widely used as possible, extended reality motion sickness is a much lesser-known condition. But it is a very real issue and isn’t exclusive to Apple’s first headset.

Users of the HTC Vive, PSVR, and Meta Quest have all mentioned experiencing the motion feeling. There will always be skepticism when reports surface of consumers returning trendy new tech gadgets only a few weeks after buying them. That’s especially true when you’re Apple, launching a $3,500 item that has been in development for almost ten years.

Motion sickness was undoubtedly a concern for the corporation during the Apple Vision Pro’s research and development stage. Improving the display resolution and cutting down on latency helped to lessen the potential for people to feel motion. If there is a way to prevent motion sickness in all users — it certainly hasn’t been discovered yet. The millions of pills for motion sickness that are over-the-counter and the many prescription types all bear witness to the fact that tons of individuals suffer from this.

Below are the Apple Guidelines if you experience motion sickness while using Apple Vision Pro

The best way to avoid motion sickness is to avoid motion, which is unlikely to be your solution. Speaking from experience, there are other choices. Given the fact that many of us are prone to motion sickness in one way or the other, Apple, very wisely, released some guidelines. They already knew from testing that this problem would come up in a certain number of users of the Vision Pro — and that a sizable percentage would feel at least some symptoms.

Hop on the techcrunch.com article, and near the bottom of the page, Brian Heater gives ideas for overcoming motion sickness issues. Many of these suggestions have worked for me, as well — for several different headsets. But my best advice is this: remember the mention of those over-the-counter motion sickness products at the top of this article? I’m one of those — I use a product an hour before using the headset, before traveling in the backseat of a car, before fishing, before jet skis, before a carnival ride, before traveling on an airplane, before almost anything. I carry an over-the-counter and an Rx with me. But we can face this metaverse together with a bit of help.

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Called “very strange indeed.” Lawmakers in the US are getting calls from dead kids, causing additional dilemmas in the legality issue of deepfakes. Commencing on the sixth anniversary of the Parkland school tragedy, which claimed 17 lives, a number of deepfake, automated calls from the kids who were killed are all part of an effort to increase public awareness of gun safety and advocate for stricter gun laws. However, the topic of this piece isn’t gun control; instead, it’s a pivotal point in artificial intelligence and the use of deepfakes to disseminate messages and communicate with the dead — but will this usage turn out to be illegal?

Joaquin Oliver lost his life in the massacre at the Parkland school. The 17-year-old’s voice can now be heard once more, thanks to AI. Manny Oliver, the father of Joaquin, said, “This is a United States problem, and we have not been able to fix it,” Manny told me in an interview filmed at their house. “If we need to use creepy stuff to fix it, welcome to the creepy.”

The Olivers have a nonprofit website where you can pick among six AI-generated calls, enter your ZIP code, and place a call to one of your elected representatives — with a voice from the dust, so to speak. A journalist from The Wall Street Journal, Joanna Stern, sat down with Joaquin’s parents to ask some poignant and deep-searching questions about using this avenue of the deepfake and why they use their son’s legacy this way. Stern states that now that she has talked to the parents, she understands them and their motivation.

WSJ’s Stern experimented with an AI voice generator from ElevenLabs last year and even fooled her bank and her family. She typed what she wanted her audio deepfake to say. The parents of these deceased kids used this same service with excellent results.

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Can real ants be in my PC — the answer is yes. Every PC gamer will occasionally encounter a problem or two — even a bug or two — but how many people come across a literal bug?  Many people have likely dealt with ants somewhere — in the house or out in the yard, but the tiny creatures taking over our computers are a little daunting.

Yes, ant infestations in PCs have been reported by a few gamers, and that’s bad, but “fire ants” invading PCs sounds like a good gaming title but not an excellent real-life scenario. Apparently, these little critters (is an ant a critter?) are causing temperatures to rise and damaging thermal paste and pads.

Some have attributed these venomous and irritating fire ants to climate change. These invasive species’ worker ants are pretty little, and like other ants, they seem drawn to electromagnetic fields. Therefore, a heated, buzzing PC with all its crevices and powered components could be an alluring target for exploration or even colonization.

My CPU/GPU got infested by ants when I was gone for a month. I played games and ran benchmarks so they would come out cos of heat. Also left my pc running overnight but they still inside. Help
byu/lazylollipop inpcmasterrace

It goes without saying that you won’t want an ant colony to take up residence in your expensive graphics card if you paid a lot of money for the best one available for your budget.  The Reddit user Thejus_Parol said, “I had to use a hair dryer to blow them out of there,” said the post, and it’s not easy to get rid of these ants once they find a home they like either.” Parol used isopropyl alcohol and anti-bug spray on the table, but said, “another set of ants appeared in the exact same place, doing the exact same thing — eating my GPU alive.”

An extensive search on the internet indicates that ants have infiltrated PCs and Macs many times before. There have been earlier reports of similar suspicions with ants consuming paste or heat pads and there are numerous examples on the internet — and you don’t have to search very far.

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The creation and distribution of gaming websites that are pre-infected with malware is North Korea’s most recent money-making scheme, according to the National Intelligence Service (NIS) of South Korea. The NIS identified cybercrime organizations as buyers of the sites.

According to the report, the North Korean group behind the initiative is an IT company connected to the secretive Office 39, also called “Gyeongheung.” Office 39 is in the ruling Workers Party of Korea, and the US Department of Treasury believes it to be a revenue-generating machine of the country.

According to Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey, “Korea Daesong Bank and Korea Daesong General Trading Corporation are key components of Office 39’s financial network supporting North Korea’s illicit and dangerous activities. Treasury will continue to use its authorities to target and disrupt the financial networks of entities involved in North Korean proliferation and other illicit activities.” The NIS believes this organization has already made billions of dollars in profit. Each website can be rented for about $5,000 a month, and North Korea provides technical help for an additional $3,000 per month.

Websites examined had malicious code placing bets automatically

Additionally, NIS stated that a feature on the websites it had examined included malicious code that placed bets automatically. The threat actors have attempted to sell about 1,100 pieces of personal information relating to South Korean people. They use the code to steal the personal information of any gamblers who signed up for the site.

The persons who erected the sites pretended to be Chinese IT workers to get around UN restrictions that forbade North Korean labor from being hired. They pilfered pertinent professional qualifications, and some had fake Chinese identity cards. The group hijacked South Korean cybergambling gang accounts and used bank accounts created under Chinese names to transfer money to disguise their tracks.

A Seol Korean source found that some clients didn’t mind that the sites were under sanctions and said they had knowingly maintained business with the North Koreans. The main reason? Because the North Koreans use and maintain the same common language they have — and all business done in North Korea involves much lower costs. Based in the border town Dandong, Gyeonghueng is a hotspot for Chinese apparel that can be obtained for a lot less money, and the people will work for much lower wages.

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AI assistants manage emails, meetings, and other tasks. Still, some people are dubious about them because of their high cost and restricted application, and the Microsoft AI bot is no exception. The Copilot AI assistant is selling well so far, but the testers who have had it for more than six months say one thing: “It is useful but often doesn’t live up to its price.” The price? $30 per person per month.

With Copilot for Microsoft 365, an AI update that integrates with Word, Outlook, and Teams, it would give Microsoft one of its most significant successes in decades. Using natural language cues, it can create documents, generate text, and summarize emails using the same technology as OpenAI‘s ChatGPT. According to Microsoft, the early demand from people is unparalleled, and the businesses who have tested it have found it helpful – but Microsoft has not released any information on the number of sign-ups.

Most will remember the press on the billions Microsoft bet to make this happen for the company—the $13 billion investment in OpenAI, to be precise. As a result, Microsoft’s shares have soared with the belief that this AI technology will turbocharge its revenue. An analyst with RBC Capital, Rishi Jaluria, said, “Copilot has to be a success for the stock to work.” Copilot was mentioned more than 50 times in the recent earning call.

Microsoft’s Super Bowl commercial

Microsoft debuted its first Super Bowl commercial in four years last Sunday, promoting Copilot as a resource that may assist entrepreneurs in achieving their goals.

Microsoft has been betting that businesses would agree to sign large contracts because they want to use this particular AI. In November, when the AI software went national, businesses had to commit to at least 300 memberships for the assistant. According to a Microsoft software distributor, many people are unwilling to make such a significant investment for unproven products. Last month, Microsoft lowered its minimum requirements to allow smaller groups to use the AI software.

Some businesses are reluctant to use AI technology until some of the hype dies down. According to a Boston Consulting Group survey, almost two-thirds of corporate leaders think it will take at least two years for generative AI to surpass the hype, despite stating that AI is a key priority for their organization. Most in the survey want to restrict all usage to small-scale experiments.

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Although the technology has previously been employed during Pakistan’s notoriously oppressive election season, this instance garnered international notice. Imran Khan, Pakistan’s former prime minister, has been in jail for the entire electoral campaign and was disqualified from running. With the U.S. presidential campaign trail on its way for the 2024 elections, this deepfake in Pakistan was done by the person himself while campaigning from jail — even though he is prohibited from doing so. It has garnered much attention.

On Saturday, Mr. Khan’s A.I. voice declared victory as official tallies revealed candidates affiliated with his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or P.T.I., gaining the most seats in an unexpected outcome that sent the nation’s political structure into disarray.

This video looks like the one Khan released from jail on December 19, 2023 — with a few updates to the speech and declaring victory in the election. After the first part of the video spoken in Urdu — you can hear it spoken in English with English subtitles. You may find it interesting to listen to.

Says Khan, “I had full confidence that you would all come out to vote. You fulfilled my faith in you, and your massive turnout has stunned everybody.” The speech rejects the victory acceptance of  Nawaz Sharif — whom Khan calls a “rival,” and he urges everyone to defend his win.

The entire video is filled with historical images and footage of Mr. Khan, and remarkably includes a disclaimer regarding its artificial intelligence roots.

The New York Times points out that this type of AI usage is not unprecedented.

Prior to the 2022 election, the South Korean “People Power Party,” which was in opposition at the time, developed an artificial intelligence (AI) avatar of Yoon Suk Yeol, their presidential candidate, that conversed with voters digitally and used slang and jokes to appeal to a younger audience — and he won!

Politicians in the US, Canada, and New Zealand have employed artificial intelligence (A.I.) to produce dystopian imagery to support their positions or to highlight the potentially hazardous aspects of the technology, as demonstrated in a film featuring Jordan Peele and a deepfake Barack Obama.

To appeal to voters in that demographic, Manoj Tiwari, a candidate for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, produced an artificial intelligence (AI) deepfake of himself speaking Haryanvi for the 2020 state election in Delhi, India. It didn’t seem to be identified as A.I. as clearly as the Khan video was.

What about the fake robocall featuring President Joe Biden?

We just had the fake robocall featuring President Joe Biden — The caller states, “Voting this Tuesday only enables the Republicans in their quest to elect Donald Trump again,” in what appears to be an impersonation or digital manipulation of the president’s voice. To counteract the kind of misinformation that artificial intelligence and deepfakes can produce during elections, legislators from both major parties have drafted laws in at least 14 states.

As the U.S. elections get closer and the campaign trail becomes hotter and well-worn, more deepfakes will appear — just like the Imran Khan video. And the experts claim that these deepfakes may or may not be made by the candidate themselves.

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Nvidia launches became the fourth most valuable U.S. corporation on Monday — temporarily surpassing Amazon.com Inc. and opening a new chapter in market capitalization as the chipmaker was propelled to prominence by the excitement surrounding artificial intelligence. “It seems that Nvidia has gone up every day so far this year,” says Ben Reitzes of Melius Research. At its peak price of $734.96, Nvidia’s market value was $1.82 trillion, compared to the retail master, Amazon.com’s $1.81 trillion and only a few billion short of Alphabet, the company that owns Google.

Nvidia was more valuable than Amazon in 2002 — when each company was worth $6 billion. With shares up 47% year to date and ranking as the most significant gain among S&P 500 components, expectations were high going into the report. Investors will be watching Nvidia’s quarterly results on February 21, the last of the megacap companies to report this earnings season, especially following the company’s better-than-expected holiday quarter sales last month.

In January, Microsoft surpassed Apple to take the top spot as the most valuable business in the world, with Alphabet coming in third.

A year ago, Nvidia’s stellar predictions and impressive quarterly results proved that the chip manufacturer was leading the way in providing to tech companies developing so-called generative AI, such as chatbots and image creation. Nvidia’s stock has soared 223% over the last 12 months, making it the highest-performing stock among the so-called “Magnificent Seven” on the company’s strong AI demand forecast. With a 163% increase, Meta Platforms comes in second.

The so-called “Magnificent Seven” — Amazon, Apple, Alphabet, Nvidia, Meta, Microsoft, and Tesla — have dominated the S&P 500 this year as investors scooped up shares of megacap tech names.

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Xbox and PlayStation have had their rivalries for years — and they started playing in the sandbox together as infants. Even though these players have grown up — they’re still in competition for gamer’s time and money. Famous rivalries in video game history exist, such as Sonic vs. Mario, Crash vs. Cortex, Link vs. Ganon, and Switch owners vs. Joycon Drift.

The PS5 has succeeded better than the Xbox Series X by a wide margin, to the extent that there have been rumors that Microsoft may forego developing consoles completely in favor of the next generation.

But Phil Spencer, CEO of Xbox reassured all Xbox employees that the company will not stop producing consoles. Saying that Xbox has no plans to quit consoles — and then having a podcast format announcement on February 15th has a few fans a bit nervous? Might we see Xbox announce a new harde, or perhaps a Pro version of the Series X — or forget a remake or update — might there be something completely new? The Ad on X says to watch on “YouTube.com/Xbox or where you listen to your podcasts.” Also, “Hear from Phil Spencer, Sarah Bond, and Matt Booty as they share updates on the Xbox business.”

Many wonder why Xbox continues to make exclusives and not go multiplatform? For many fans, the hope this week is that Microsoft will reveal plans to go multi-platform with some of the biggest Xbox games — and Game Pass, of course.

This would be an interesting move because among of the Xbox Series X’s major selling points are games like Sea of Thieves, Starfield, and Hi-Fi Rush. It should come as a relief to fans of studios like Bethesda and Activision Blizzard who joined with Microsoft, as this would virtually guarantee that PlayStation titles like Fallout and Call of Duty will continue to have a presence.

We await Phil Spencer’s news on February 15 to find out the destiny of our beloved Xbox.

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The fake LastPass password manager found on Apple’s App Store has now been pulled. It is currently unknown whether Apple or the bogus software developer uninstalled the phony program — which disguised itself as the LastPass password manager on the Apple App Store. Apple has not responded to inquiries about the removal, though Apple is quite vigilant about these types of issues and relentlessly guards its app store.

Christofer Hoff, Chief Secure Technology Officer for LastPass, in a statement to TechCrunch, said, “Upon seeing the fake ‘LassPass’ app in the Apple App store, LastPass immediately began a coordinated and multi-faceted approach across our threat intelligence, legal and engineering teams to get the fraudulent app removed.” Hoff continues, “Our threat intelligence team posted a blog yesterday to raise awareness and help inform the public and our customers of the situation. We are in direct contact with representatives from Apple, and they have confirmed receipt of our complaints, and we are working through the process to have the fraudulent app removed.”

To mislead consumers, the fraudster app mimicked LastPass’s branding and user interface

In an effort to mislead consumers, the fraudster app mimicked LastPass’s branding and user interface and was distributed under the identity of a single developer, Parvati Patel. The phony program included several typos, which should always give one pause and hints that something may be a fake. In addition to being released by a separate developer who was not LogMeIn — the company that owns LastPass.

It’s not really good for Apple Inc., which has been fighting against so many regulations recently — like the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA)- that such an apparently fraudulent app made it through Apple’s generally rigorous App Review process.

Appfigures, an app analytics company, reported that the phone app was released on January 21st, giving it a few weeks to get users’ attention. Appfigures saw that the users themselves appeared to have realized that the app was phony because every one of the Apple App Store reviews warned others about the bogus nature of this app. The fake app even leveraged keywords to rank in search.

The fake app may have succeeded in tricking some users, even though it probably didn’t fake-out too many. The worst for the LastPass Company is that it was forced to alert its real users in a public forum about the fraudulent app in the store — even though it should have never been released in the first place. The app wasn’t taken down from the App Store until the day after LastPass’s blog post was published.

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Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo announced the U.S. AI Safety Institute Consortium (AISIC). Raimondo said in a statement to Reuters, “The U.S. government has a significant role to play in setting the standards and developing the tools we need to mitigate the risks and harness the immense potential of artificial intelligence.”

The consortium members

Reuters published the list of consortium members, which includes BP (BP.L),  Cisco Systems (CSCO.O), IBM (IBM.N), Hewlett Packard (HPE.N), Northop Grumman (NOC.N), Mastercard (MA.N), Qualcomm (QCOM.O), Visa (V.N), and major academic institutions and government agencies, that will be housed under the U.S. AI Safety Institute (USAISI).

This group prioritizes the actions and guidelines listed in President Biden’s executive order:  “including developing guidelines for red-teaming (meaning identify new risks), capability evaluations, risk management, safety and security, and watermarking synthetic content.”

The executive order from U.S. President Joe Biden

Additionally, the Oct 30, 2023 executive order from U.S. President Joe Biden said that he “is seeking to reduce the risks that AI poses to consumers, workers, minority groups, and national security” with a new executive order. As per the Defense Production Act, creators of AI systems that endanger the national security, economics, health, or safety of the United States must notify the government of the United States of the findings of their safety texts before their public release.

In addition, agencies are instructed to establish guidelines for such testing and handle associated risks connected to cybersecurity, radiological, chemical, and biological hazards by the order Biden has signed at the White House. “To realize the promise of AI and avoid the risk, we need to govern this technology,” Biden said. “In the wrong hands, AI can make it easier for hackers to exploit software vulnerabilities that make our society run.”

The Commerce Department said in December 2023 that it was already taking the first steps toward “writing the key standards and guidance for the safe deployment and testing of AI.” The consortium also represents the biggest group of test and evaluation teams  who can now create a foundation for a “new measurement science in AI safety.”

Currently, generative AI has sparked both enthusiasm and concerns with its ability to produce text, images, and videos in response to open-ended cues, that it can eventually replace human labor in some occupations, disrupt elections, and have disastrous consequences.

The Biden administration is working to implement safeguards, but despite multiple high-level conferences, Congress has not passed laws addressing AI.

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