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Apple announces changes to iOS, Safari, and the App Store in the European Union
Apple announced changes to iOS, Safari, and the App Store impacting developers’ apps in the EU to comply with the DMA.
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Institutions try to preserve the problem to which they are the solution
The Shirky principle is the adage that “institutions will try to preserve the problem to which they are the solution”. More broadly, it can also be characterized as the adage that “every entity tends to prolong the problem it is solving”.
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Patent troll Sable pays up, dedicates all its patents to the public
We’re pleased to announce that the litigation against Sable has finally concluded on terms that we believe send a strong message to patent trolls everywhere — if you bring meritless patent claims against Cloudflare, we will fight back and we will win.
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Apple Photos phones home on iOS 18 and macOS 15
This morning while perusing the settings of a bunch of apps on my iPhone, I discovered a new setting for Photos that was enabled by default: Enhanced Visual Search. (I manually disabled it before taking the screenshot below.)
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Anatomy of a credit card rewards program
Credit card rewards are mostly funded out of interchange, a fee paid by businesses to accept cards.
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I Am Tired of AI
Unless you have been living under a rock for the last few years, you probably have seen the same massive surge I’ve seen in the application of artificial intelligence (AI) to pretty much every problem out there, in software testing, in software development, and in life in general.
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Helping wikis move away from Fandom
Hi! You may have seen that Weird Gloop is now hosting the official League of Legends Wiki. We’ve spent the last couple months working with the Riot folks and the League wiki editors to move it off of Fandom, and turn it into something the players will (hopefully!) really dig. I also love that it got started because…
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Yes, social media is a cause of the epidemic of teenage mental illness
Two major problems with a review in Nature
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OpenAI and Elon Musk
We are dedicated to the OpenAI mission and have pursued it every step of the way.
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School smartphone ban results in better sleep and improved mood: study
Psychologists at the University of York, who tested the impact that smartphones have on children’s behaviour for a new two-part documentary series for Channel 4, found that a ban in school impacted positively on sleep and mood.
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Flightradar24's new GPS jamming map
Learn how to view areas of GPS jamming affecting aircraft around the world and how GPS jamming affects aviation.
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FCC votes to limit prison telecom charges
Federal Communications Commission unanimously votes to significantly reduce prison communication costs.
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A curious phenomenon called 'Etak'
The Map Happenings series on the hugely impactful events that forever changed our world. This week: the story of a little known company called ‘Etak’. I think you’ll find it a fas…
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Please don't mention AI again
The recent innovations in the AI space, most notably those such as GPT-4, obviously have far-reaching implications for society, ranging from the utopian eliminating of drudgery, to the dystopian damage to the livelihood of artists in a capitalist society, to existential threats to humanity itself.
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MIT abandons requirement of DEI statements for hiring and promotions
DEI statements are affirmations made when you’re applying for college admission, university jobs, or even science-society grants, recounting to the authorities your philosophy of “diver…
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Chat Control Must Be Stopped – Now
With its legislative proposal known as “Chat Control,” the EU Commission is trying to establish an unprecedented mass-surveillance apparatus of Orwellian proportions in the European Union. If EU citizens don’t stand up for privacy now, it may be too late.
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A forged Apple employee badge
Here’s a quick and cautionary tale. This eBay auction, spotted by Eric Vitiello, immediately caught my eye: Wow. Someone was selling Apple Employee #10’s employee badge?! What an incred…
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French court issues damages award for violation of GPL
On February 14, 2024, the Court of Appeal of Paris issued an order stating that Orange, a major French telecom provider, had infringed the copyight of Entr’Ouvert’s Lasso software and violate…
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Too much efficiency makes everything worse (2022)
This blog is intended to be a place to share ideas and results that are too weird, incomplete, or off-topic to turn into an academic paper, but that I think may be important. Let me know what you think! Contact links to the left.
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Suspicious data pattern in recent Venezuelan election
Here’s a little “fake stats in the wild” gem that I think you and your followers will find at the least somewhat amusing.
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ICC issues warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant, and Hamas officials
Today, on 21 November 2024, Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (‘Court’), in its composition for the Situation in the State of Palestine, unanimously issued two decisions rejecting challenges by the State of Israel (‘Israel’) brought under articles 18 and 19 of the Rome Statute (the ‘Statute’). It…
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YouTube now requires to label their realistic-looking videos made using AI
Generative AI is transforming the ways creators express themselves – from storyboarding ideas to experimenting with tools that enhance the creative process. But viewers …
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Being Raised by the Internet
I grew up relatively poor. I was fortunate enough to have a roof over my head, clean water, electricity, a computer, internet, and cable tv. But food was often harder to come by. This may seem like a contradiction, but when your mom has left to marry her uncle and your dad has schizophrenia, you aren’t really in…
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Chat Control: Incompatible with Fundamental Rights (2022)
The EU Commission's draft regulation on chat control is currently being negotiated in the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers. With the fight against sexual violence against children, the draft pursues an objective that is essential for the protection of children and their rights and can justify…
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This Message Does Not Exist
It can only be discarded
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The upstream cause of the youth mental health crisis is the loss of community
We've forgotten what community really means.