We The Free News

Hit the Linktree for socials and links to the Week's stories: https://linktr.ee/mrwethefree Music: Battle Of The Dragons Owner of the work : City of Musical Life Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8GwiLDR7Xk&t=82s

Hit the Linktree for socials and links to the Week's stories: https://linktr.ee/mrwethefree Music: Battle Of The Dragons Owner of the work : City of Musical Life Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8GwiLDR7Xk&t=82s

Links: https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/part-of-foxconn-has-been-hit-by-the-lockbit-ransomware https://www.engadget.com/supreme-court-declines-appeals-from-apple-and-epic-games-in-app-store-case-192755323.html https://www.techradar.com/computing/windows/watch-out-windows-11-users-microsoft-may-be-sharing-your-outlook-emails-without-you-knowing-heres-how-to-stop-it https://www.engadget.com/facebook-and-instagrams-algorithms-facilitated-child-sexual-harassment-state-lawsuit-claims-095314139.html https://www.techradar.com/pro/the-dangers-of-quadruple-blow-ransomware-attacks https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/uefi-firmware-from-top-manufacturers-has-some-serious-issues https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/keeper-now-lets-you-use-security-keys-exclusively-for-2fa https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/one-of-the-biggest-password-dumps-in-recent-history-has-been-revealed-but-theres-an-easy-way-to-find-out-if-youre-at-risk https://www.pcmag.com/news/feds-androxgh0st-botnet-is-targeting-aws-office-365-and-azure-credentials https://www.pcmag.com/news/zuckerbergs-meta-is-spending-billions-to-buy-350000-nvidia-h100-gpus https://www.pcmag.com/news/google-russian-hackers-using-encrypted-pdfs-as-a-ploy-to-spread-malware https://www.pcmag.com/news/apples-vision-pro-wont-have-a-netflix-apphttps://www.engadget.com/senators-want-to-know-why-the-secs-x-account-wasnt-secured-with-mfa-203614701.html https://www.engadget.com/apple-updates-us-app-store-guidelines-allowing-developers-to-link-to-third-party-payments-235836357.html https://www.engadget.com/google-ceo-says-more-layoffs-expected-throughout-the-year-in-internal-memo-044016588.html Music: Song name : Battle Of The Dragons Owner of the work : 17406877 Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8GwiLDR7Xk&t=82s

Death of Adblocking? AI, Microsoft, and Security Stories https://www.pcmag.com/news/rip-ublock-origin-google-proceeds-with-plan-to-shake-up-chrome-extensions https://www.pcmag.com/news/microsoft-to-let-european-users-uninstall-edge-bing-from-windows https://www.pcmag.com/news/surprise-apple-will-finally-bring-rcs-to-iphone-later-this-year https://www.pcmag.com/news/copilot-ai-coming-to-windows-10 https://www.pcmag.com/news/apple-is-still-struggling-to-build-its-own-modem-chip-for-iphones https://www.pcmag.com/news/discord-is-shutting-down-its-clyde-chatbot-experiment https://www.pcmag.com/news/why-qualcomm-wants-to-keep-more-of-your-ai-offline https://www.pcmag.com/news/qualcomm-touts-ai-capabilities-of-new-snapdragon-7-gen-3 https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/prison-phone-company-blamed-for-data-breach-affecting-thousands-of-users https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/mysql-servers-hit-by-ddos-malware-botnet https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/google-blocks-a-zero-day-flaw-used-to-target-government-emails https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/toyota-finance-business-confirms-ransomware-attack-data-breach

Had audio problems this week... if you want the recap, roll out to roughly the 90 minute mark. Here are the week's articles: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-67343550 https://www.cnet.com/home/energy-and-utilities/michigan-aims-for-100-clean-energy-by-2040/ https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/signals-new-texting-features-give-you-better-message-controls-privacy/ https://www.pcmag.com/news/apparent-spacex-glitch-locks-people-out-of-starlink-accounts https://www.pcmag.com/news/is-chatgpt-a-bore-elon-musk-and-sam-altman-troll-each-others-ais https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-briefly-blocked-employees-from-using-chatgpt-over-security-concerns-080403177.html https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-reportedly-plans-to-bring-its-ai-powered-copilot-to-windows-10-202010100.html https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/this-new-chatgpt-powered-infostealer-is-targeting-cloud-platforms https://www.techradar.com/pro/building-a-cybersecurity-strategy-on-a-constrained-budget https://www.techradar.com/pro/should-cybersecurity-overconfidence-be-on-your-threat-radar https://www.pcmag.com/news/amazon-is-dropping-android-for-vega-smart-device-operating-system https://www.pcmag.com/news/chat-app-omegle-calls-it-quits-after-14-years-slew-of-lawsuits

https://www.pcmag.com/news/what-to-expect-in-windows-12-leaks-rumors-and-more https://www.gizmochina.com/2023/03/07/windows-losing-market-share-us-historic-low-57/ https://www.techradar.com/computing/software/microsoft-just-rolled-out-the-last-big-windows-11-update-we-expect-before-windows-12-copilot-in-tow https://onmsft.com/news/a-new-report-suggests-copilot-may-replace-the-iconic-start-button-on-the-rumored-windows-12/ https://www.techradar.com/computing/windows/hate-copilot-in-windows-11-free-privacy-tools-can-now-get-rid-of-the-ai https://www.techradar.com/pro/the-new-windows-11-preview-build-will-make-its-ai-copilot-do-strange-things-to-your-desktop https://www.inferse.com/776431/windows-12-whats-new-release-date-everything-we-know-so-far-gizchina-com/ https://www.gizmochina.com/2023/03/02/microsoft-intel-windows-12-leaks/ https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/use-the-microsoft-edge-secure-network-to-protect-your-browsing-885472e2-7847-4d89-befb-c80d3dda6318

Connor Rants on Facebook, security, privacy, best practices, mental health issues, etc...

https://www.pcmag.com/news/openai-meta-and-google-score-appallingly-low-on-stanfords-new-ai-transparency https://www.networkworld.com/article/3708215/why-are-openai-microsoft-and-others-looking-to-make-their-own-chips.html https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/most-firms-think-ai-is-a-threat-to-security-but-they-still-use-it https://www.engadget.com/doj-says-north-korean-it-workers-were-sent-abroad-to-help-finance-weapons-programs-101824065.html https://www.pcmag.com/news/china-restricts-exports-of-key-battery-making-material https://www.computerworld.com/article/3708812/us-expands-chip-export-curbs-to-china-to-throttle-ai-supercomputer-development.html https://www.pcmag.com/news/fcc-prepares-to-take-another-swing-at-writing-net-neutrality-rules https://www.pcmag.com/news/google-will-soon-scan-sideloaded-android-apps-for-malicious-code https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/more-cybersecurity-firms-could-collapse-soon-experts-warn https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/ragnarlocker-dark-web-sites-seized-in-major-crackdown

Article Links... No blog this week https://www.pcmag.com/news/apple-airtag-stalking-has-led-to-murder-amended-class-action-lawsuit-says https://cybernews.com/news/attackers-zombify-dlink-tplink-wifi-routers/ https://thehackernews.com/2023/10/darkgate-malware-spreading-via.html https://thehackernews.com/2023/10/fbi-cisa-warn-of-rising-avoslocker.html https://thehackernews.com/2023/10/shellbot-uses-hex-ips-to-evade.html https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/malicious-nuget-packages-with-millions-of-downloads-are-targeting-users-everywhere https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/unpatched-ws_ftp-servers-are-being-targeted-to-spread-ransomware https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/adobe-acrobat-reader-has-a-serious-security-flaw-so-update-now https://www.pcmag.com/news/us-space-force-bans-use-of-generative-ai https://www.pcmag.com/news/google-joins-microsoft-in-shielding-users-from-ai-copyright-lawsuits https://apnews.com/article/artificial-intelligence-amazon-anthropic-investment-72d21e6c663d506dbf968f50628e7ded https://www.pcmag.com/news/ouch-irs-says-microsoft-owes-29-billion-in-back-taxes https://apnews.com/article/google-antitrust-microsoft-bing-search-engine-37a143e73a12855a12f974e08ec05db4 https://apnews.com/article/google-antitrust-trial-search-engine-apple-9b9c2e55ae3c261ad845448ee7a390e4 https://www.techradar.com/pro/worlds-biggest-pc-vendor-takes-first-step-that-could-establish-android-as-windows-biggest-rival-ever-and-eliminate-google-chromeos-at-the-same-time https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/13/tech/google-youtube-hamas-israel-disinformation/index.html

WE 55 Links: https://www.pcmag.com/news/nsa-here-are-the-dumbest-cybersecurity-mistakes-we-see-at-large-organizations https://www.pcmag.com/news/notorious-qakbot-botnet-threat-continues-despite-fbi-takedown https://www.pcmag.com/news/x-sues-x-over-name-elon-musk-twitter https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/05/neuralink-rival-precision-neuroscience-buys-factory-in-brain-implants.html https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/02/sam-bankman-fried-considered-paying-trump-5-billion-not-to-run-lewis.html https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/03/sam-bankman-fried-criminal-trial-starts-today-heres-whats-at-stake.html https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/03/sam-bankman-fried-trial-witness-list-scaramucci-ellison-more.html https://www.pcmag.com/news/google-assistant-is-getting-a-bard-generative-ai-upgrade https://app.futo.org/fdroid/repo/ https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/copilot-may-mean-never-having-to-learn-windows-ever-again/ https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/05/amazon-and-microsofts-cloud-dominance-referred-for-uk-competition-probe.html https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/04/apple-iphone-15-overheating-fix-released-in-ios-update.html https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/05/duckduckgo-ceo-testified-about-talks-with-apple-to-replace-google.html https://techfreedom.pro/2023/10/06/weekend-edition-55-security-elonworld-sbf-trial-and-more/

WE 54 Links https://www.pcmag.com/news/spacex-wins-pentagon-contract-to-supply-military-communications https://www.pcmag.com/news/be-careful-with-bard-google-search-showing-private-chatbot-snippets https://www.pcmag.com/news/bard-chatgpt-and-the-cia-us-agency-prepping-its-own-chatbot https://www.pcmag.com/news/dont-want-google-to-use-your-website-for-ai-training-you-can-now-opt-out https://www.engadget.com/meta-is-unleashing-more-than-25-ai-chatbot-personalities-onto-the-world-181428710.html https://www.engadget.com/chatgpt-is-allowed-to-browse-the-internet-once-again-211332316.html https://www.pcmag.com/news/fcc-prepares-to-take-another-swing-at-writing-net-neutrality-rules https://www.pcmag.com/news/ftc-sues-amazon-claiming-e-commerce-giant-maintains-a-monopoly https://www.engadget.com/x-reportedly-cuts-half-of-its-election-integrity-team-091135783.html https://www.cnet.com/home/internet/features/internet-for-the-people-the-movement-for-affordable-community-led-broadband/ https://docs.nycmesh.net/

WE 53 Links https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/fbi-and-cisa-issue-warning-about-dangerous-new-ransomware-strain https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/cybersecurity-advisories/aa23-263a https://www.pcmag.com/news/lastpass-requires-users-to-update-master-password-to-at-least-12-characters https://www.pcmag.com/news/elon-musks-neuralink-puts-out-call-for-humans-to-try-its-brain-implant https://www.bbc.com/news/business-66853057 https://www.computerworld.com/article/3706991/uk-regulator-outlines-ai-foundation-model-principles-warns-of-potential-harm.html https://www.pcmag.com/news/microsofts-copilot-ai-coming-to-windows-on-sept-26 https://www.engadget.com/microsofts-latest-windows-11-update-drops-on-september-26-163553126.html https://www.computerworld.com/article/3707074/google-adds-its-bard-chatbot-to-gmail-youtube-docs-and-other-apps.html https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-66866577 https://www.pcmag.com/news/openai-unveils-new-and-improved-ai-image-generator-dall-e-3 https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-66719572 https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/15/tech/tiktok-fine-europe-children/index.html https://www.computerworld.com/article/3706516/gloves-come-off-during-day-one-of-googles-antitrust-trial.html https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/signal-is-adding-quantum-level-encryption-to-help-keep-customers-safe Blog: https://techfreedom.pro/2023/09/22/weekend-edition-53-ai-all-the-things-more/

Weekend Edition 53 Links https://www.securityweek.com/airbus-launches-investigation-after-hacker-leaks-data/https://www.techradar.com/phones/android/google-play-protect-is-upping-its-game-by-scanning-apps-in-real-time https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/14/arm-ipo-what-is-risc-v-and-why-does-arm-call-the-rival-product-a-risk.html https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/13/musk-zuckerberg-among-tech-leaders-visiting-senate-to-speak-about-ai-.html https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/microsoft-releases-windows-11-update-to-block-password-stealing-attacks https://www.pcmag.com/news/china-no-were-not-banning-iphones-for-government-workers https://www.pcmag.com/news/starlink-is-popular-but-is-it-making-enough-money-to-stay-afloat https://www.pcmag.com/news/nso-group-spyware-found-on-russian-journalists-iphone-who-put-it-there https://www.pcmag.com/news/mullvad-vpn-warns-of-critical-firewall-flaw-in-apples-macos-sonoma https://techfreedom.pro/2023/09/15/weekend-edition-52-ai-hype-arm-ipo-security-etc/

Weekend Edition 51 Links WE 1 - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/05/us-immigration-homeland-security-social-media-fake-profiles WE 2 - https://www.pcmag.com/news/california-joins-the-ai-regulation-frenzy WE 3 - https://www.pcmag.com/news/microsoft-vows-to-shield-users-of-copilot-ai-from-copyright-lawsuits WE 4 - https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-66739858 WE 5 - https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/mirai-botnet-infects-android-tv-boxes-to-run-ddos-attacks WE 6 - https://www.pcmag.com/news/senate-confirms-new-fcc-commissioner-ending-2-plus-years-of-deadlock WE 7 - https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/china-bans-iphones-for-government-officials WE 8 - https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-66716502 Blog: https://techfreedom.pro/2023/09/08/weekend-edition-51-privacy-on-the-rocks/

WE 50 Links:https://www.pcmag.com/news/chinese-hackers-uploaded-trojanized-signal-app-to-google-play-store https://www.pcmag.com/news/microsoft-to-sell-teams-separately-in-eu https://www.pcmag.com/news/nvidia-faces-more-restrictions-on-ai-chip-sales-this-time-in-the-middle https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/29/nvidias-stock-closes-at-record-after-google-ai-partnership.html https://www.techradar.com/computing/openai-accused-of-string-of-data-protection-breaches-in-gdpr-complaint https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/30/how-to-stop-meta-from-using-personal-data-to-train-generative-ai-.html https://www.computerworld.com/article/3705551/openai-launches-enterprise-grade-chatgpt.html https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/30/tesla-ordered-by-nhtsa-to-provide-data-on-elon-mode-for-autopilot.html

WE 1: https://www.pcmag.com/news/new-malware-component-can-use-wi-fi-triangulation-to-determine-pcs-location WE 2: https://www.pcmag.com/news/ransomware-wipes-out-data-access-for-majority-of-cloud-providers-custom ers WE 3: https://www.pcmag.com/news/google-to-protect-sensitive-gmail-settings-with-a-multi-factor-challenge WE 4: https://www.pcmag.com/news/microsoft-released-a-windows-11-update-thats-causing-pcs-to-bsod WE 5: https://www.pcmag.com/news/apple-pledges-support-for-californias-right-to-repair-act WE 6: https://www.computerworld.com/article/3704618/openai-to-use-gpt-4-llm-for-content-moderation-warns-against-bias.html WE 7: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-66589797 WE 8: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-66549159

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/black-hat-2023-generative-ai-panel/ https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news-features/black-hat-usa-unwrapped-2023/ https://www.pcmag.com/news/defender-pretender-how-researchers-undermined-windows-malware-security https://www.pcmag.com/news/uncle-sam-needs-your-ai-help-and-darpa-will-hand-out-20m-to-make-it-happen https://yoodley.com/apple-app-sideloading-in-ios-17-in-spring-2024/ https://www.inferse.com/674084/ios-17-will-support-sideloading-but-apple-is-restricting-the-feature-from-being-used-in-its-main-market-wccftech/

Weekend Edition 47 – Microsoft Sucks, AI Is All Their Fault MS 365 Accounts Hacked... Again · Phishermen strike again · Not really MS’s fault, this time · Digital Hygiene https://www.techradar.com/pro/microsoft-365-users-targeted-by-major-phishing-campaign Zoom: “Trust us, Bro.” · Terms quietly changed in March · AI training? · Found by researcher late last month · Zoom on damage control · “Trust us, bros...” https://www.pcmag.com/news/zoom-revises-terms-after-changes-spark-fears-of-ai-learning-from-video ChatGPT Sucks as a Knowledgebase · AI not great at parsing good practices in programming · 517 questions · 52% wrong (~265), when limited to StackOverflow for information. · Don’t trust it for anything mission critical, and be prepared to check all of its work · Think of it as a stupid intern who knows barely enough to get itself into trouble. https://www.techradar.com/pro/chatgpt-is-a-bad-knowledge-base-confirms-new-study AI Steals Passwords? Knowledge Is Power · Know how Google, Alexa, and Siri are always listening? · Now there are AI’s which can listen to your keystrokes during video conferencing calls · Once fully trained, these can scrape your passwords from listening to you type · Very accurate · 93% via zoom audio · 95% via infected smart phone · Yikes · Audio filtering · type differently https://www.pcmag.com/news/ai-can-now-steal-your-passwords-by-listening-to-your-keystrokes GPTBot to Scrape Your Website: Here’s How to Block It. · Want your content stolen to train ChatGPT? · I don’t · Here’s how to deny it access to your site · Add this to your site’s robots.txt file User-agent: GPTBot Disallow: / If you only want to block parts of your site, you can do that too, by adding the following: User-agent: GPTBot Allow: /directory-1/ Disallow: /directory-2/ If you want to learn to set yourself free online, check this out: https://techfreedom.pro/internet-freedom/ https://www.pcmag.com/news/openais-gptbot-will-scrape-your-website-to-train-its-ai-unless-you-opt https://platform.openai.com/docs/gptbot OSS Moq Temporarily Included Extra Tracking Tools in Its Codebase... Oops... · What’s Moq? · FOSS .net mock library · Makes life easier for developers · Bad move, bro · Included proprietary tracker in one version · V 4.20.0.. Lmao · Removed by 4.20.2, after backlash https://www.techradar.com/pro/top-open-source-project-moq-slammed-for-secretly-collecting-user-data Hear About Trump’s Twitter Subpoena? · Secret warrant · Wtf · Twitter coughed it up, late · Fined for “contempt of court” · Unlawful · Unconstitutional · If they are doing this to him, what might they do to us everyday? · Need to fix this, asap. · Solutions to online abuses and to regain digital sovereignty are below https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66365643 https://techfreedom.pro https://Mark37.com https://althatech.com

Robo callers get smacked down by FCChttps://www.pcmag.com/news/pair-of-scammers-hit-with-fccs-biggest-robocalling-fine-300-million-dollars RDOF Having a Rough Go https://www.pcmag.com/news/fccs-rural-broadband-fund-faces-trouble-isps-want-more-money Microsoft Sucks, Ditch Microsoft https://www.pcmag.com/news/cybersecurity-firm-blasts-microsoft-for-slow-incomplete-bug-patches Elon Sues Hate Speech Watchdog https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-66376988 The Cables That Make the World Go Round https://www.cnet.com/home/internet/features/the-secret-life-of-the-500-cables-that-run-the-internet/ Incandescent Lightbulb Ban https://www.cnet.com/home/kitchen-and-household/incandescent-lightbulb-ban-heres-what-you-need-to-know/ Room Temperature Superconductor? Not Necessarily... https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/lk-99-superconductor-maybe-a-breakthrough-maybe-not-so-much/ https://shows.acast.com/the-weekend-edition https://techfreedom.pro/2023/08/04/weekend-edition-46/

Weekend Edition 45 – bullets WE 1 – Euro Commission Investigating Microsoft · Slack complained about the way MS bundles Teams · It took 3 years for the Commission to get around to it · Reminds me of the Browser Wars and the anti-trust case of the late 90’s · Likely end with fines and requirements for MS to stop bundling Teams with MS 365 and Office 365 https://www.pcmag.com/news/microsoft-may-regret-bundling-teams-with-365-subscriptions WE 2 – Senator Wyden Wants MS Sued by DOJ and FTC · Senator Wyden (D), of Oregon mad about Solar Winds and recent Outlook hack attacks · Calls Microsoft’s security stance “negligent” · Solar Winds was instigated by Russia · The latest Oulook email hack was sponsored by the CCP · He is framing this as a nat’l security issue, which it is, since the US government runs on Microsoft · Feels like a contradiction in terms, doesn’t it? “Runs on Microsoft” and “Government runs” · 3 options · MS admits they have had the wrong stance and changes their EULA without being coerced · Nothing happens · Investigation ensues, MS gets fined, grudgingly does the minimum of changes https://www.pcmag.com/news/us-senator-its-time-to-investigate-microsoft-for-negligent-cybersecurity WE 3 - Lindsey Graham and Elizabeth Warren Co-sponsor Bill to Create New Tech Regulator · Wonder twin powers, activate · Graham Cracker is RINO extraordinaire (may as well be a Democrat) · Pocahontas is always about expanding the government · This bill would create a Big Tech regulator which could do a number of things · Sue for anti-trust violations, and act like the CMA in the UK · Come down on Big Tech for privacy violations · Limit online misinformation dissemination · Lots of sarcasm · Warm & fuzzy · Anti-constitutional · Gov’t censorship, oh joy · I’m from the government, and I’m here to help (privacy) · Competition regulation https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/27/tech/big-tech-regulation-new-federal-agency/index.html WE 4 – AI News for the Week 4-1 – OpenAI Loses Head of Trust & Safety · Resigns to spend more time with his family · Job got more involved than he wanted to deal with · Is that the real reason? · OpenAI under scrutiny over ChatGPT https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/21/tech/open-ai-trust-safety-head-exit/index.html 4-2 – What is Google Genesis? · Ever heard of it? I hadn’t either.. · “secret” project · Generative AI to aggregate news stories into one story with a given style · Is this a good thing? · Remember The Drudge Report? · Hallucinations? · No sorting · Could quickly create a vicious cycle https://www.cnet.com/tech/googles-genesis-ai-tool-could-write-the-news-it-should-be-stopped/ WE 5 – What Is Overture? · Linux Foundation project to provide a better FOSS alternative to Big Tech maps apps · Microsoft, Meta, TomTom, and Amazon are at the core · Pooling data along with OpenStreetMaps · Licensing requires any data taken to result in more contributions to the project · If one partner steals from the project, they will be responsible for maintaining their own map data for their product https://gizmodo.com/google-maps-alternative-overture-maps-data-linux-1850675768 WE 6 – SBF Nonsense 6-1 – SBF Sounds More and More Like a Snake · Leaked selections of Caroline Ellison’s diary to NYT · DOJ bringing charges of tainting jury pool, discrediting a witness in a criminal proceeding · She and the rest of the group at the center of FTX already had their trials and pleaded guilty and are working with the feds to testify against him · This smells like him trying to get ahead of the curve, which is smart, but dirty · How did he get a hold of these files? · Did she give them to him? · Did wunderkind hack them out of her Workspace account? · Did he appropriate them as admin of the FTX Workspace? · Shady AF https://gizmodo.com/doj-accuses-sbj-of-leaking-caroline-ellison-diary-ftx-1850663571 6-2 – SBF Charges Dropping Like Flies · Original 8 charges for which he was extradited from the Bahamas are untouched · 5 new charges are being challenged as US overstepping the letter of the extradition · 2 of those have now been dropped · Bribery · Campaign finance regulations · I have my doubts that this well-connected and very greasy little snake will ever see the inside of a prison for long · He greased the wheels through money laundering and improper campaign contributions · DC swamp doesn’t like sunlight · Will hide and protect him as best they can · If the book is thrown at him, he could face up to 100 years in prison · Two justice systems in this country... https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/15/investing/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-charges/index.html WE 7 – RIP Kevin Mitnick? · Famous early hacker · Hit DEC system and copied OS illegally in 1979 · Jailed 1988 · Hacked into Pac Bell Voicemail system in 1992 · Ran for 2.5 years · Caught and served 5.5 years · Free Kevin · Reformed, became White Hat · Consulted many Fortune 500 companies, gov’t agencies on cyber security since 2003 · Passed this week, after 14 month pancreatic cancer bout https://gizmodo.com/kevin-mitnick-famous-hacker-dies-at-59-1850659160 WE 8 – CSAM Everywhere... Look at Mastodon, Everyone!! They’re SOO Bad · What is the Fediverse · What is Mastodon · Issues · Security · Lack of user friendliness · CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Materials), aka Child Porn materials · Remember George Carlin? That is a bloodless PC name, ain’t it? · Security is a moot thing, based on their concerns · User friendliness... Confusing layout with instances · There is CSAM everywhere (mainstream; decentralized platforms; everywhere) · Should not ever exist · 0 tolerance for creators and distributors when caught, swift justice https://gizmodo.com/mastodon-fediverse-child-abuse-material-stanford-resear-1850670857

Weekend Edition 44 WE 1 – Apple Troubles 1-1 – TSMC AZ Plant Pushes 5 NM fab production back · Apple partnered with them to produce their US-made M-series and A-series chips · US gets further from made in America i-devices · Why? · Education rant · Homelessness rant · Corruption rant https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/20/tsmc-delays-start-of-arizona-chip-factory-that-will-build-apple-chips.html 1-2 – UK Online Safety Bill Has Tech Companies On Edge · Bill would force encrypted messaging apps to install a back door for UK authorities · Why? · Who? · What do they threaten if it passes? · Smoke? Fire? · On principle, I agree with their stand · What is E2E encryption? · We’ll see who blinks, here. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-66256081 2 – More News on Microsoft-Activision Merger · Deadline extended 3 months · Restructured deal · UK CMA fast tracking process · Etymological rants · Government · entertainment · Balance rant https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/19/microsoft-activision-agree-to-extend-deal-deadline-to-oct-18.html 3 – Ripple Expects More Use By US Banks Soon · On-Demand Liquidity product · Cross-border transactions · SWIFT aging, slow, possibly corrupt · XRP instant, cheap, secure from tampering · Depending on demand, Ripple Labs may file as a security · If it grows into what they hope, the sky is the limit for the token valuation, from where I sit https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/17/ripple-hopes-judge-ruling-in-sec-case-will-lead-to-us-banks-using-xrp.html 4-1 - Nick Clegg, of Meta, calls “AI Quite Stupid” · Clegg is the VP of Global Affairs at the tech giant · Said things that I’ve been saying about these Large Language Models · Meta to open source Llama 2 · I know what I’ve said about open source projects... · Still don’t trust it if Meta will be prime beneficiary of development work · Meta partnered with MS Azure cloud for hosting · Yikes · Regulatory concerns https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-66238004 4-2 – Investing Bubble for AI? · CEO of StabilityAI (maker of Stable Diffusion) · Thinks that the investment craze has just begun · Foresees the largest bubble in history · Thinks that wise companies will do well · Sees companies which misuse the tech being punished on the stock market · I think it is too early to make all of these pronouncements · Matt’s AI reminders · It’s a tool · Keep it in perspective · Nothing mission-critical · Check its work · Privacy concerns · Microsoft/Meta & Llama 2: yikes https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/17/ai-will-be-the-biggest-bubble-of-all-time-stability-ai-ceo.html 4-3 – British Computer Society Open Letter About AI · 1300 experts and business people signed this one · Counterweight to doom & gloom · Still hype-y · Doesn’t see dire threat · Generally AI will benefit us if developed responsibly and regulated well · ChatGPT “Like an overly knowledgeable and very excitable 12 year old” · See privacy and intellectual property issues · Is care necessary? · Is this a hair-on-fire moment? · How much do you use these tools? · How much do you trust them? · What about the hype in either direction? https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-66218709 https://techfreedom.pro/2023/07/21/weekend-edition-44-ai-actually-stupid/

WE 1 – Chinese Gang Hacks Outlook · Exploit in User token authentication found · Taken advantage of by Chinese group which MSFT calls Storm-0558 · They accessed email accounts belonging to 25 different organizations · Some were in the federal gov’t, including the Secy of Commerce · US Gov’t (Mafia) notified MSFT about breach · MSFT patched the exploit · Normal lazy (according to license agmts from MS) reaction from MS · If you’re tired of this, try Linux · Better security · Better privacy · Proactive developers vs reactive vendor https://www.pcmag.com/news/chinese-hackers-breach-us-government-email-accounts https://techfreedom.pro/free-your-pc WE 2 – Proton Releases Windows Proton Drive Client · Proton is a name you should be familiar with if you value online privacy · Email & VPN + Drive · Windows app for Drive released · Solid option · Best thing, though, is to fully control your data · Althatech.com · Nextcloud · Your hardware https://www.techradar.com/computing/computing-security/google-drive-watch-outprivacy-first-proton-drive-lands-on-windows https://althatech.com https://proton.com WE 3 – Too Much AI in Windows All at Once? · Microsoft seems obsessed with this new data harvesting toy of theirs · Co-Pilot · Windows Store · AI section, curated by AI · Other implementations · AI review summaries coming soon (think like on Google Search or Brave Search over the last couple of months) – Star wars Ep 2 - 3PO in droid foundry reference · Trustworthy? · Safe? · Private? · I hope it backfires and destroys Windows (What About Bob reference) https://www.techradar.com/computing/windows/windows-11-gets-more-ai-but-is-microsoft-pushing-its-luck WE 4 – Class Action Against OpenAI from Sarah Silverman and other authors · Fair use? · Authors allege that it is illegal how these LLMs are trained on literally everything that has ever been uploaded to the internet, including books that most people probably won’t read · It will be interesting to see how this winds up, as it will set some major precedents in the UK (venue for the suit). · Should these models, which form the foundation on which so-called generative “AI” be permitted to utilize a person’s work without permission? · What do you guys & gals think? https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-66164228 WE 5 – FTC V Ripple Labs · I hold a little bit of XRP, just to be transparent · Mixed ruling · Consumer side of XRP sales (through exchanges and whatnot) ruled to not be a security · Industrial side ruled to be a security · XRP free to be traded everywhere again · If yours got stuck in an exchange like mine did, move it · Wallets · Cash out · Not financial advice · Will keep up on this as it develops further https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-judge-says-sec-lawsuit-vs-ripple-labs-can-proceed-trial-some-claims-2023-07-13/ WE 6 - Microsoft/ Activision Blizzard Merger News · Judge denied FTC’s motion to block deal · Other methods · UK CMA still not happy with deal · Needs further reworking to get another look from CMA · I don’t think that Microsoft needs its tentacles in any more places, frankly. That is my bias. I will exult in this deal not going through. https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-judge-rules-microsoft-deal-buy-activision-can-go-forward-2023-07-11/ WE 7 – Broadcom Wants to Buy VMWare · Huh? · Broadcom makes networking hardware · VMWare is one of the main system virtualization vendors · Why? · Virtualization software gets used as a force multiplier in server environments · What is it? · EU greenlit the merger, but required some things · 3rd parties get everything they need in order to make sure all hardware is compatible with the virtualization software · Still has to get past the UKCMA and the FTC, I doubt that this $61 billion deal will make it through unaltered, but we shall see. https://www.engadget.com/broadcom-gets-eu-approval-for-its-61-billion-merger-with-vmware-150140942.html

WE 1 – Judicial Smackdown On Behalf of Free Speech Rights · Judge Doughty of Missouri · Case brought by AGs from Louisiana and Missouri · Found that Feds have been leaning on Social Media giants to censor things · Ruled that they need to stop · WH and DOJ struggling to appeal decision · We’ll see how long this lasts and/or if it changes anything appreciably https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-66106067 WE 2 – Social Media Platform “they stole our homework” · Twitter right pissy about Threads · Accuses them of stealing trade secrets from them via hiring recently fired engineers from Twitter · Meta says, “sure, like we’d do that” · Our platform is better anyway · You copied our homework · AS IF · More PR for Threads as Twitter tanks https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66129215 WE 3 – France Goes Full INGSOC · Police reform bill · French police are nationalized · Think of it as if our only police organization was the FBI · Police can now spy on any citizen who is SUSPECTED of a crime worthy of at least 5 years in jail · All devices’ geolocation data is fair game, here, if you are a suspect · MPs trying to amend it to exclude, them, doctors, lawyers, judges, and journos,andto limit the time frame in view https://www.techradar.com/computing/cyber-security/france-grants-police-power-to-spy-on-citizens-through-phones WE 4 – US Navy Hacks MS Teams · Exploit in external messaging feature · Navy Team Red developed Python based tool · TeamsPhisher · Can insert malicious code into linked files for users who also have a SharePoint license · Can do it en mass · Avoid by closing off your external messaging feature when not needed · Practice good digital hygiene https://www.techradar.com/pro/the-us-navy-has-hacked-microsoft-teams-to-send-malware WE 5 – Safe in the Cloud? · Think again · Cloud is one the biggest, easiest targets for hackers · Remember, cloud = your data on someone else’s hardware · Encrypt your data · Use locally controlled multi-factor authentication (MFA) · These steps will greatly improve your data security · Tech Freedom can help with this, if you need · Best practice is to on-site most of your data · Not cheap, but then you control your data https://www.techradar.com/pro/cloud-remains-the-biggest-target-for-cyberattacks WE 6 – Has the Shine Worn Off From ChatGPT? · For the first time since going public, traffic went down in May · Not only ChatGPT, but Bing and character.ai also took a hit · Bard flatlined · Is it all worth it? · Does this mean anything? · I hope it means that the general public is losing interest · It’s a tool, and can provide a starting place for writing or research https://www.pcmag.com/news/are-we-sick-of-ai-chatbots-already-chatgpt-site-sees-traffic-dip WE 7 – Speaking of Privacy... · OpenAI Sued · Class action · Seeks temporary shutdown of commercial side · Seeks damages for copyright holders whose work has been infringed in some way · Seeks damages for individuals whose social media posts got data-scraped to train the LLM · Interesting · Will stay on top of this one as it develops https://www.pcmag.com/news/openai-sued-for-using-stolen-data-violating-your-privacy-with-chatgpt WE 8 – Is Your Job in Danger from Generative AI? · Hostinger survey · Healthcare seems most threatened · Personally doubt that would fly well, but what do I know? · Automotive · I could see this one being a “thing” as long as it has all the data necessary to understand an issue · What do you guys think? https://www.pcmag.com/news/ai-is-coming-for-our-jobs-but-which-ones WE 9 – Open AI Dedicating 20% of Cloud Resources to Stopping ‘super-intelligent AI’ · Bahhahaha · We don’t even have publicly available functional general AI right now · Generative AI is not really intelligent · Is this really a problem? · Why focus us on this potentiality? https://www.pcmag.com/news/openais-latest-goal-prevent-superintelligent-ai-from-killing-us-all Outpouring Fellowship Podcast https://rumble.com/c/c-2966394

Stephan is an independent game designer with a passion for helping others through trauma. He is a jack of many trades in the game design space, and has had a (hopefully) inspiring journey from standard geekdom (Windows, Intel, etc) into Linux. He made that journey before I met him (darn it), but has enjoyed the freedom and stability of working on Linux since his switch in 2019. We'll have a blog posted, which was written by him, soon over on https://techfreedom.pro/blog

WE 1 - It Was Only a Matter of Time... AI Child Abuse Images A Problem. · Stable Diffusion being used to generate banned images · Pixiv, a Japanese platform, is used to disseminate them ad draw people to subscription platforms like Patreon · Patreon fails to shut down accounts which sell access to the worst of these kinds of images · UK making noise about trying to shut it down · How many police are controlled by these sorts of things? · How many agencies are really just fronts for pedophilia to control politicians? · Porn shouldn’t exist · Kiddie porn doubly so · Those who create it and are caught should be severely punished (death) · Any company which enables its distribution should be litigated into oblivion · Is this a free speech issue? I don’t think so. It endangers human life, as it inevitably leads to trafficking · Heart issues need solving https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-65932372 WE 2 - AI Regulation Coming? Probably · Google is busy chatting with the EU · They are also working on putting tags on anything AI generated · They’re talking about working with the EU to put any new AI developments through the regulatory wringer before the public gets to see it · More regs = bigger government = less freedom for we the people · Regs may be necessary until the world meets Jesus for real and allows Him to change their hearts https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/28/google-has-had-productive-talks-with-eu-on-ai-act-cloud-boss-says.html WE 3 - Thinking About Having ChatGPT Write Something Important? · 2 NYC lawyers made the dumb move to submit AI-generated docs to the court · Didn’t make sure that everything there was legit · Lied about it · Got fined · Will go down as lazy idiots https://gizmodo.com/chatgpt-ai-lawyers-fined-5000-fake-cases-1850569981 WE 4 - Baidu AI Better Than ChatGPT? · CCP State media claims to have tested Ernie 3.5 against chatGPT · Ernie beat chatGPT allegedly · Can we trust Chinese State media? · Article slops itself dreaming of Ernie coming to the West · So we’d rather have the CCP spy on us than our own gov’t? https://www.techradar.com/computing/artificial-intelligence/chinas-baidu-ai-is-better-than-chatgpt-heres-why WE 5 - AI Certification From MS? · Free through Indeed · Professional certification · Pointless? · What do you guys think? https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-is-already-offering-a-generative-ai-certification-program-160023724.html WE 6 - More Stringent Export Rules Coming Soon · Well, apparently, the regs put in place by Depends’ handlers weren’t enough · The CCP is still catching up quickly in the AI arms race · These strike me as band aids on top of a gaping wound · Education is the real issue here · Woke mindvirus destroyed our edge · We must eradicate it, then rebuild. https://www.pcmag.com/news/us-mulls-even-tighter-restrictions-to-stop-ai-chips-from-reaching-china WE 7 - Musk Not So Free Speech-Friendly After All? · More state-related censorship · Musk not trustworthy · More random censorship · His other business efforts · Connection with Deep State https://gizmodo.com/10-times-elon-musk-censored-twitter-users-1850570720 Read the blog here: https://techfreedom.pro/2023/06/29/weekend-edition-41-ai-news-bonanza-elon-not-so-pro-free-speech/