ReHacked vol. 323: After 25 Years, Linux Format Magazine is No More, Can I stop drone delivery companies flying over my property and more
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After 25 Years, Linux Format Magazine is No More - OMG! Ubuntu #computing #history #longread
In May 2000, the first issue of a brand new Linux magazine hit British newsstands, delivering a monthly mix of news, reviews, interviews, tutorials and learned insight on all things free and open-source — plus that all-important cover-mounted CD/DVD!
Now, 25 years later, the final ever issue has gone on sale.
Future, the UK-based publisher of Linux Format, hasn’t said why the magazine is closing, but one needn’t consult an Oracular Oriole to divine the reason: the economics of making print publishing work in an age of digital-first content is hard.
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Being fat is a trap #health #psychology
Getting out of the physical fat trap, strictly speaking, is simple:
- Develop basic sleep habits so that you get decent sleep.
- Exercise daily or almost daily. Walk 7500 steps a day. The value of exercise is that it promotes physical and mental health. Exercise makes you stronger, fitter, more mobile and happier. It improves your hormonal profile and your sense of control and ease with your own body.
- Reduce refined carbs, unhealthy fats and alcohol from your diet. Focus on getting enough vegetables, fruits, complex carbs and healthy fats.
- In some cases, you’ll also need medical advice, particularly if you have hormonal issues.
If you stick to the above, you’ll be out of the physical fat trap in a few months — if you are morbidly obese, it might take a couple of years. But it doesn’t really matter how long it will take. What matters is that you start the journey.
Infomaniak breaks rank and comes out in support of controversial Swiss encryption law | Tom's Guide #privacy
In a debate on Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS), and reported in Clubic, Infomaniak spokesperson Thomas Jacobsen addressed Andy Yen's comments on the law.
Jacobsen believed Yen showed a "lack of knowledge of Swiss political institutions" and called for finding the right balance, not looking for extremes.
Infomaniak argued that anonymity prevents justice, saying there must be a "happy medium" to prevent the digital landscape becoming a "Wild West."
Proton was cited as a company that advocates for anonymity, but this isn't technically the case. Proton, and Proton VPN, advocates for privacy – and there is a subtle but important difference between the two.
Confusing privacy and anonymity is common – a Tom's Guide VPN survey found that 29% of readers think VPNs make you anonymous – but they don't mean the same thing. Anonymity is when your identity isn't known and no trace of your activity is left behind, with the Tor Network being an example.
There should be no Computer Art - DAM MUSEUM #art #computers #history
Bulletin of the Computer Arts Society, October 1971, p. 18-19.
There is no need for the production of more works of art, particularly no need for “computer art”. Art (better: the aesthetic object) comes afterwards (but it does come). Aesthetic information as such is interesting only for the rich and the ruling. For the others (and they are in the majority) it comes “with”. Namely with other information. Thus, the interest in computers and art should be the investigation of aesthetic information as part of the investigation of communication. This investigation should be directed by the needs of the people.
We should not be interested in producing some more nice and beautifuI objects by computers. We shouId be interested in producing a film on, say, the distribution of wealth. Such a film is interesting because of its content; the interest in the content is enhanced by an aesthetically satisfying presentation. That is, the role of the computer in the production and presentation of semantic information which is accompanied by enough aesthetic information is meaningful; the role of the computer in the production of aesthetic information per se and for the making of profit is dangerous and senseless. (lt is interesting to notice in this context that HELMAR FRANK, after a successful beginning in information aesthetics, gave it up and concentrated more and more on problems of education and psychology.)
Rachel Thomas, PhD - Deep learning gets the glory, deep fact checking gets ignored #ai #science
The Transformer model in the Nature Communications paper made hundreds of “novel” predictions that are almost certainly erroneous. The paper had followed a standard methodology of evaluating performance on a held-out test set, and did quite well on that (although later investigation suggests there may have been data leakage). The results claimed for enzymes where no ground truth is known were full of errors.
For instance, the gene E. coli YjhQ was predicted to be a mycothiol synthase, but mycothiol is not synthesized by E. coli at all! The gene yciO, which evolved from the gene TsaC, had already been shown a decade earlier in vivo to not have the same function as TsaC, yet the Nature Communications paper concluded it did have the same function.
Of the 450 “novel” results given in the paper, 135 of these results were not novel at all; they were already listed in the online database UniProt. Another 148 showed unreasonably high levels of repetition, with the same very specific enzyme functions reappearing up to 12 times for genes of E. coli, which biologically implausible.
Brazil’s dWallet program will let citizens cash in on their data - Rest of World #privacy
“We will be asking half of the country that doesn’t know how to read to decide if their data can be bought for a certain fee,” Pedro Bastos, a researcher at Data Privacy Brazil, told Rest of World. “People in situations of vulnerability will say yes, and this might be used against them.”
Worldwide, data monetization has so far been led by the private sector. Companies such as Datarade, Amazon, IBM, and Microsoft have created data marketplaces where clients can purchase data sets for their large language models and other artificial intelligence products. In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have created their own government-backed infrastructure to commercialize data. Separately, China allows companies to treat data as assets while the United Nations has said countries can add the economic value of data to their GDP calculations.
Can I stop drone delivery companies flying over my property? #privacy
Analysis: The legal landscape surrounding the use of drones is currently far from clear and many practical questions remain unanswered.
Japanese Scientists Develop Artificial Blood #science #health
A critical component of healthcare, blood transfusions play a vital role in saving lives around the globe every day. Maintaining an adequate blood supply, though, is no easy task, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). The demand for O–negative blood — the universal donor type — often exceeds supply and donations have a limited shelf life. Looking to address the issue are a group of Japanese scientists led by Hiromi Sakai at Nara Medical University. They’ve developed a new type of artificial blood that can be used in patients of any blood type.
Younger generations less likely to have dementia, study suggests | Dementia | The Guardian #health
“Younger generations are less likely to develop dementia at the same age as their parents or grandparents, and that’s a hopeful sign,” said Dr Sabrina Lenzen, a co-author of the study from the University of Queensland’s Centre for the Business and Economics of Health.
But she added: “The overall burden of dementia will still grow as populations age, and significant inequalities remain – especially by gender, education and geography.”
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