Free Republic

The FBI is warning consumers about “juice jacking,” where bad actors use public chargers to infect phones and devices with malware. The law enforcement agency says consumers should avoid using public chargers at malls and airports, and stick to their own USB cables and charging plugs.

When Sen. Chris Murphy watched the video “A.I. Dilemma,” he saw a familiar face. Tristan Harris, a tech ethicist well-known among lawmakers for ringing the alarm about the harmful effects of social networks, was now arguing that artificial intelligence represents a potentially catastrophic advance — riskier perhaps to human survival than the advent of nuclear weapons. The video’s message — which has been embraced by some tech luminaries like Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak — resonated with Murphy (D-Conn.), who quickly fired off a tweet. “Something is coming. We aren’t ready,” the senator warned. AI hype and fear have arrived in...

An inexpensive, environmentally friendly technique for lithium recycling could help ensure we have enough of the valuable metal to power the clean energy future — if it works as well in the real world as it does in the lab. The challenge: Transitioning to electric vehicles (EVs) is a key part of combating climate change, and because lithium-ion batteries can store a lot of energy for their size, they’re our best option (so far) for powering them. The lithium needed to create those batteries is a finite resource, though, and mining it is environmentally destructive. Demand for lithium extends beyond...

In thinking on the topics about which I write, I’m blessed to have close friends of spiritually infused intellect and insight who sometimes help inspire commentaries. We speak on the phone occasionally throughout any given week about various topics of possible Bible prophecy import. Thus, it was in conversation this week when such a friend presented a fascinating matter that spawned the title you see above. My friend of many years is clued in to many things going on within cutting-edge technologies. As a matter of fact, he works closely within some of these technological stratospherics as a consultant during...

Today, we announced Microsoft 365 Copilot—your copilot for work. Copilot combines the power of large language models (LLMs) with your data in the Microsoft Graph—your calendar, emails, chats, documents, meetings, and more—and the Microsoft 365 apps to turn your words into the most powerful productivity tool on the planet. And it does so within our existing commitments to data security and privacy in the enterprise. Right now, we spend too much time on the drudgery of work and too little time and energy on the work that ignites our creativity and sparks joy…. Copilot is integrated into Microsoft 365 in...

As many churches have now reopened their doors in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic only a minority of them still view in-person worship services as the church model of the future. A majority see a hybrid model utilizing various online technologies as the new normal according to a new study from Pushpay.In their 2023 State of Church Technology report, Pushpay, the leading payments and engagement solutions provider for faith-based and non-profit sectors, the company said when their researchers asked church leaders what the future of their church will look like in 12 months only 28% of respondents indicated in-person...

SIDNEY, MT — The quiet town of Sidney, Montana made headlines recently after a transdimensional portal appeared in the home of Bob and Cynthia Allen. Sources say the wife accidentally opened the time-tunneling tesseract while trying to find the power button on the remote. The cat was sucked into the otherworldly vortex before the couple realized what was happening. "I just pushed all the colored buttons, hoping one of them turned it off!" screamed Cynthia while clutching the kitchen table with her husband and watching her favorite bowl disappear into the otherworldly schism. "This is why I just let you...

China's Baidu Inc will use its ChatGPT-like app Ernie Bot to create a "revolutionary" version of its popular search engine, the company's CEO said on Wednesday (Feb 22). Baidu, which has invested heavily in artificial intelligence in recent years, is regarded as at the forefront of efforts to create a Chinese rival to the AI platform developed by OpenAI and backed by Microsoft Corp. Ahead of Ernie Bot’s launch in March, Baidu CEO Robin Li told reporters on a conference call to discuss fourth-quarter results that users would be more dependent on the Baidu search engine once it was embedded...

Sorry folks, other than meritocracy is not acceptable in a society where we routinely use -- and rely on -- things that are dangerous. If you'd like to go back to the 5th Century or so, then its fine. Which is where we're headed if we don't cut it out. Personally, I prefer not to get there by being poisoned due to a train derailment or freezing to death when its -5F outside. RTWT

One of the characteristics of the modern world that you can see in people all around us is an intense dissatisfaction. Not just with social systems or with politics or whatever else, but with themselves. At a deep level, there is a profound alienation which these people have from themselves, indeed from human-ness itself. While they love hedonism and perversion, they hate the actual human being himself. Culturally, this is readily seen in pretty much every culture war position that the Left takes. Pregnancy is a “disease” and a child is an unwanted “clump of cells” that gets in the...

Princeton neuroscientist Michael Graziano warns in a new essay published by The Wall Street Journal, artificial intelligence-powered chatbots are doomed to be dangerous sociopaths that could pose a real danger to human beings. With the rise of chatbots like ChatGPT, powerful systems that can imitate the human mind to an impressive degree, AI tools have become more accessible than ever before. But those algorithms will glibly fib about anything that suits their purpose. To make align them with our values, Graziano thinks, they're going to need consciousness. "Consciousness is part of the tool kit that evolution gave us to make...

Optical High Density Nanolaser Array Driver Researchers have developed a new all-optical method for driving multiple high-density nanolaser arrays using light traveling down a single optical fiber. The optical driver creates programmable patterns of light via interference. Credit: Myung-Ki Kim, Korea University New all-optical pumping chip-based nanolaser technology could aid in meeting the ever-growing need to move more data faster. A new all-optical approach for driving multiple highly dense nanolaser arrays has been developed by researchers in Korea. The method could enable chip-based optical communication links that process and move data much faster than current electronic-based devices. “The development of...

Spotify's (SPOT.N) CEO Daniel Ek renewed his attack on Apple (AAPL.O) on Wednesday in a series of tweets alleging the iPhone maker "gives itself every advantage while at the same time stifling innovation and hurting consumers". Ek tagged a number of sympathetic business leaders in his 21-tweet thread, including Musk, Microsoft president Brad Smith, and Proton founder Andy Yen. On Monday, the world's richest person Elon Musk criticized the fee Apple charges software developers - including his Twitter business - for in-app purchases, and posted a meme suggesting he was willing to "go to war" rather than pay it.

I am standing on the stoop of an empty brick row house in Pittsburgh, looking into my phone and rotating my head from side to side. The house is in an alleyway facing the back of a church. The mailbox is stuffed with rain-soaked junk mail. The rental company’s website finishes scanning my face and an algorithm decides that I do resemble the photo on the passport I uploaded earlier. I get a text with a temporary six-digit key code. There is no one waiting to greet me as I enter. Inside, there’s a living room painted crisp white, a...

For years, the Russian government has been attempting to create an 'Iron Man'-type of suit for battle. This had remained all talk, but in recent years, this world superpower has appeared to have started testing the use of exoskeletons on the battlefield with Ukraine. Even prior to recent Russian media announcements about their hope to build a superhuman exoskeleton for soldiers, giving them the ability to both carry more weapons and have more stamina, Russian powers had been rumored to have testing out a suit of armor that would make Star Wars fans nostalgic. Russian media stated that artillery forces...

Black Friday is nearly upon us, but the annual online price-drop frenzy seems to be losing its shine. Numerous reports highlight that discounting may not be all it seems, and buyers would be best to shop around. But behind the scenes, the industry is also seeing the demise of another popular craze Amazon was trying so hard to make a thing. With its voice-interface device, Alexa, the global ecommerce and tech behemoth in 2014 set in train a fashion for speech interfaces in the home, which had keen households around the world demanding their AI house guests to tell them...

If any of you didn't get a chance to see this.

For years, law enforcement has been using non-lethal weapons, including LRAD – Long-Range Acoustic Device – which blasts sound waves to cease behaviour by temporarily disorienting the intended victims. But while these devices serve practical and easily identifiable purposes for both military and law enforcement, there exists a more insidious use for this kind of technology. In February of 2022, alternative media reported on the use of LRAD during anti-vaccine mandate protests in Canberra. Australian Federal Police admitted using the device during a Canberra Convoy Freedom rally outside Parliament House.A number of videos and images hit social media showing people...

A research team based out of the University of Waterloo has developed a drone-powered device that can use WiFi networks to see through walls. The device, nicknamed Wi-Peep, can fly near a building and then use the inhabitants’ WiFi network to identify and locate all WiFi-enabled devices inside in a matter of seconds. The Wi-Peep exploits a loophole the researchers call polite WiFi. Even if a network is password protected, smart devices will automatically respond to contact attempts from any device within range. The Wi-Peep sends several messages to a device as it flies and then measures the response time...

Moreover similar alerts were issued in the regions of Cherkassy and Kirovograd, and in the city of Zaporozhye KIEV, October 20./TASS/.The city administration of Ukraine's capital Kiev declared an air raid warning in the early hours of Thursday. "Attention! Air raid alert issued for Kiev. We urge everyone to urgently proceed to civil protection shelters," the city administration said in its Telegram channel...