Free Republic

An ex-cybercriminal has warned of the dangers children face online after getting tangled up in scams himself at the age of 12. The man in his 20s, referred to only as 'Harry', has expressed regrets over previous offences, having tricked computer gamers out of thousands during his younger years. These harmful scams took off at a time when Harry was keen to make pocket money, with no option to get a job of his own. But with children now increasingly fixated on the virtual world, he says that protections are vital to ensure they are sheltered from dark practices. 'As...

Obama says he's been target of 'deepfakes,' predicts next election cycle will be rife with false infoFormer President Barack Obama suggested in a new interview the development of "digital fingerprints" to combat misinformation and distinguish between true and misleading news for consumers.Obama sat down with his former White House senior adviser David Axelrod for a conversation on the latter's podcast, "The Axe Files," on CNN Audio. During the interview, Axelrod noted he's seen "misinformation, disinformation, [and] deepfakes" targeting Obama."As I've told people, because I was the first digital president when I left office, I was probably the most recorded, filmed,...

I’ve only been in an ICU once as a patient. I developed sudden chest pain and went to the ER. The funny thing about chest pain is that it gets you right to the front of the line at the ER. I had been there on a previous visit with a deep cut on my hand and had to sit with my hand over a garbage can so I wouldn’t get blood all over the floor. As it later turned out, the chest pain was actually caused by an ulcer that was creating reflux. The ulcer was caused by my...

A man in Georgia who was denied access to his Facebook account, where many of his personal photos were stored online, took action against the company — and won, according to a report. Jason Crawford, of Columbus, said Facebook "terminated" his account for "no valid reason" and then refused to work with him on rectifying the situation, so he sued them, FOX 5 Atlanta reported. "I just think it's bad business practice. It's a crappy way to treat people. At least tell me what I did wrong," Crawford told the local station. Crawford repeatedly reached out to Facebook's parent company...

Anonymous: The entire banking system will be destroyed within 48 hours

Jack Teixeira’s defense team said that their client no longer had access to classified material and the government was exaggerating the threat he posed. Jack Teixeira, the US airman accused of leaking top-secret Pentagon documents in an online chat forum, was slapped with additional federal charges on Thursday [June 15, 2023]. The charges are in addition to the two counts filed by prosecutors against Teixeira after his arrest in April.

European Union regulators hit Google with fresh antitrust charges Wednesday, saying the only way to satisfy competition concerns about its lucrative digital ad business is by selling off parts of the tech giant’s main moneymaker. The unprecedented decision to push for such a breakup marks a significant escalation by Brussels in its crackdown on Silicon Valley digital giants, and follows a similar move by U.S. authorities seeking to bust Google’s alleged monopoly on the online ad ecosystem. The European Commission, the bloc’s executive branch and top antitrust enforcer, said its preliminary view after an investigation is that “only the mandatory...

Turns out this AI tool is smart enough to leave off that polarizing pineappleAl Vallorz, the creative co-owner of Tony & Alba’s Pizza & Pasta, is always looking for an edge, something fun to keep diners interested and coming back for more. For years, the San Jose chef-restaurateur has designed a pizza of the month — like October’s popular bratwurst and gouda; figs and blue cheese in August; and turkey, brie and cranberry sauce for November. To maintain high spirits during the pandemic, he shared puns with customers. Oh, and he makes a James Bond-style pasta dish, a “shaken, not...

a hand holding a film-like brain implant Credit: Precision Neuroscience A startup founded by a former Neuralink exec is developing a safer, easier-to-place brain implant — and it just tested the device in people for the first time. Brain implants: Almost everything you think and do comes down to tiny pulses of electricity zipping between the 120 billion neurons in your brain. Brain implants give us a way to see this activity with far more precision than any device outside of the skull, like an EEG or MRI. By pairing this brain implant data with advanced computer algorithms, researchers have...

Amidst the expansion of the world wide web, cloud computing, large dataset, software, mobile applications, social media, gaming… companies big and small are relying on highly-specialized IT experts.Indeed, for businesses wanting to keep up, finding top tech talent is a priority—and can be an uphill struggle. Many are after high-demand technical skills, from software development to data-oriented knowhow, according to our 2023 Tech Hiring Survey.We asked our panel of recruiters which positions they predict will be the most difficult to fill in 2023. Here’s their top 10:Full-stack developersBack-end developersDevOpsArchitectsApplication engineersFront-end developersData scientists or Machine Learning specialistsCybersecurity engineerTesterMobile developerWhy are these...

Low housing inventory will squeeze prices higher, according to Zillow's chief economist. Skylar Olsen now expects home prices to jump 5% in 2023. Falling supply “is a big, huge, massive part of the picture,” she said. Reduced supply is going to help the housing market overturn much of Wall Street's gloomy forecasts and rack up another year of solid gains, according to Zillow's chief economist. Skylar Olsen said Monday that she's expecting home prices to have climbed 5% year-on-year by the end of 2023, due to dwindling inventory levels. Declining inventory "is a big, huge, massive part of the picture,"...

If you ever wanted to add something to Wikipedia, but didn't know how. Maybe you even just wanted to fix a typo. Here's a brief introduction to editing on the site: - Start small and simple, and edit what you know best. That will build your essential editing skills and your confidence. Make small edits on subjects you know very well -- such as your hometown, or something you have an interest in. You might find a small error on one of those pages, or you might be able to add a little extra information. Many Wikipedia pages can be...

Deep fakes are often very humorous but can be scary when you realize that you cannot trust what you see with your own eyes on any video these days. https://youtu.be/THOXG-5rSk8

A 16-year-old girl in France died last month attempting the viral “scarf game” — a variation of TikTok’s deadly “blackout challenge” that has claimed several lives over the last year. Christy Sibali Dominique Gloire Gassaille, who grew up in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was reportedly at home when she tried the deadly stunt. She died May 27, Jam Press reports. The dangerous pursuit involves fastening cloth around the neck to asphyxiate oneself until passing out for alleged internet clout. Unfortunately, as with the “blackout challenge,” this exploit can restrict the oxygen flow to the brain, causing seizures, serious...

Artificial intelligence (AI) is now part of everyday life in the modern world, even if we don't always know when and where. While AI platforms like ChatGPT, Siri and Alexa are among the most well-known, major Australian retailers like Woolworths and Bunnings are also using AI, in the form of software called Auror. Auror chief executive Phil Thomson says the software is used to catch shoplifters. "There are different tools that a retailer can choose to use," he says. "So, with an image, once that's uploaded into the platform, that can then be referenced across crimes reported today, to see...

If you didn’t think AI would ever be able to make you hungry, think again. Jet’s Pizza just unveiled their new Ranch Veggie Pizza, which was reportedly developed by artificial intelligence. According to a Jet’s press release, an AI chatbot helped come up with the unique pizza combination. It's topped with ranch sauce, premium mozzarella, feta, mushrooms, onions, green peppers, black olives and tomatoes. Now people can try the AI-developed pizza through July 10. “We’re in the era of AI and Jet’s is continually exploring ways to utilize this technology. As many know, we use AI for ordering and now...

Earlier this week, Russia’s CNews reported on what it terms an “anti-sanction PC”. This new PC, called the Mobile Inform Group (MIG) Akinak PC, allegedly uses a mix of Russian hardware and software designs so that it can dodge sanctions, and supply companies seeking to serve organizations that are “sensitive to import substitution.” However, a closer read of the report seems to suggest the new Akinak PC will be pretty slow, even for its mixed office-and-video-conferencing target audience. Moreover, MIG’s description of its supply chain doesn’t inspire much confidence in its ability to mass produce this anti-sanction PC.

Jack Dorsey, the billionaire tech investor, followed Gerald Celente’s forecast that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be the next president of the United States. Dorsey tweeted out a video of Kennedy being interviewed by Fox News, saying that he can defeat President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Dorsey tweeted Sunday, “He can and will.”

I’d really hate to be Mark Zuckerberg right now. In October 2021 he pivoted to the metaverse, only to pivot to AI in November 2022… and in the brief amount of time he turned his back on the Metaverse, Apple completely stole whatever lead he had in the space by announcing a product so revolutionary, it’s probably going to crush his entire hardware ambitions. Right at the end of their WWDC keynote, Apple announced the Vision Pro, an entirely new revolutionary product category helmed by a Mixed Reality headset that champions what they call “spatial computing” – an upgrade from...

Using a form of artificial intelligence, researchers have discovered four new Nazca geoglyphs in Peru, according to a new study recently published in the Journal of Archaeological Science. The Nazca lines are UNESCO-protected geoglyphs dating from between 100 BCE and 300 CE that depict humans, camelids, birds, orcas, felines, and snakes. There are a range of theories surrounding their purpose, including that the Nazca geoglyphs depict deities, are a form of irrigation, or are a calendar with astrological alignments, though it remains unclear. Related Articles A hand holds a stone, penis-shaped object. Penis-Shaped Stone Used for Sharpening Weapons Found in...