Any guidance can help.

https://www.huntonprivacyblog.com/2021/07/12/nydfs-issues-ransomware-guidance-outlining-expected-security-controls/

NYDFS Issues Ransomware Guidance Outlining Expected Security Controls

On June 30, 2021, the New York State Department of Financial Services (“NYDFS,” the “Department”) issued guidance to all New York state regulated entities on ransomware (the “Guidance”), identifying controls it expects regulated companies to implement whenever possible.

To help prevent successful ransomware attacks, the Department outlines a playbook of known cybersecurity countermeasures and controls. Notably, the guidance states that, given the substantial risk from ransomware, “every NYDFS-regulated company should seek to implement the controls outlined in this Guidance to the extent possible.”

Ah, the French. They are different. What would Napoleon do?

https://www.makeuseof.com/french-competition-regulator-slaps-google-with-593m-fine/

French Competition Regulator Slaps Google With $593M Fine

The French antitrust regulator is set to fine Google €500 million ($593 million) after the tech giant failed to reach a deal with publishers using its platform. The argument centers around a 2020 decision levied on Google News to pay media outlets and publishers for snippets displayed on the service.

Google has apparently ignored the Autorité de la concurrence and now will have to pay the fine. Or, more likely, head straight back to court to contend the fine.

Misapplication of (undue reliance on) an algorithm, if not a true AI.

https://www.insideprivacy.com/gdpr/italian-supervisory-authority-fines-foodinho-over-its-use-of-performance-management-algorithms/

Italian Supervisory Authority Fines Foodinho Over its Use of Performance Management Algorithms

On July 5, 2021, the Italian Supervisory Authority (“Garante”) announced that it has fined Foodinho S.r.l. (“Foodinho”) 2.6 million EUR for its use of performance algorithms in connection with its employees. The authority held Foodinho in breach of the principles of transparency, security, privacy by default and by design, and held it responsible for not implementing suitable measures to safeguard its employees’ (i.e., riders’) rights and freedoms against discriminatory automated decision making. The Garante’s decision is the first of its kind in the realm of the algorithmic management of gig workers. According to the Garante, Foodinho’s management violated Article 22(3) of the GDPR.

We need to keep up with the Chinese, let’s spend lots of money!

https://www.justsecurity.org/77354/artificial-intelligence-in-the-intelligence-community-money-is-not-enough/

Congress wants to pour hundreds of billions (yes with a B) of dollars into the federal government to increase the nation’s competitiveness in emerging technology and, in particular, to accelerate the development of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies that are vital to protecting our national security. The bipartisan support shown for the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA ) – the bill that provides these funds – is a noteworthy and important step in ensuring the United States is resilient and competitive in the 21st century. And that kind of money is nothing to sneeze at. But can the federal government manage to spend it? [They will likely spend it without management. Bob]

… However, having spent the last 20 years in the U.S. government, 15 of them in the Intelligence Community (IC), I believe that without a visible, concerted effort to revisit current budget, acquisition, risk, and oversight frameworks – led by the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and IC leadership – the IC will not be able to effectively identify, develop, and incorporate in real-time the technological advances needed to keep its competitive edge, regardless of how much USICA money comes its way.

AI systems have the potential to transform how the IC makes sense of the world, rapidly and at scale. To discover secrets and provide policymakers with exquisite intelligence and insights at mission speed, the IC must be able to quickly and accurately sort through vast amounts of data to find patterns, uncover connections, understand relevance, and draw conclusions in real-time. Without the advantages that evolving AI will continue bring, the IC will quickly be outmatched by the nation’s formidable adversaries.

An interesting idea. We are far from this level of AI.

https://www.dbta.com/Editorial/News-Flashes/Machine-Learning-and-the-End-of-Search-147641.aspx

Machine Learning and the End of Search

Does the wider adoption of machine learning mean the end of search as we know it? Northern Light CEO David Seuss explained why he believes it does and how search must leverage smart taxonomies going forward during his presentation at Data Summit Connect 2021.

"We are approaching the era when users will no longer search for information in the traditional way. They will expect the machine to find what they need on its own and bring it to them. To do this, search must evolve to have an in-depth understanding of the search material and the ways of knowing in the user's domain so you can't just throw a generic search solution at a generic content set and have this work," Seuss said.

An AI resource.

https://www.hpcwire.com/off-the-wire/cern-sparks-podcasts-explore-artificial-intelligence/

CERN Sparks Podcasts Explore Artificial Intelligence

On Tuesday, CERN will launch a new podcast series on artificial intelligence. The series looks forward to the first edition of the Sparks! Serendipity Forum in September, when over 30 leading thinkers will converge on the laboratory for high-level multidisciplinary discussions designed to spark ethical innovation.

To whet your appetite for the forum, the podcasts bring a selection of the Sparks delegates together in pairs. Think of these conversations like collisions in the LHC. Rather than protons, however, we’re colliding a diverse cast of thought leaders featuring computer scientists, neuroscientists, philosophers, physicists and psychologists. And rather than energy being transformed into new particles, the weight of scholarship is transformed into new seams of creative energy — a foretaste of the intellectual dust-up planned for September.

They say it’s satire, I’m not so sure.

https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/trump-sues-eighty-one-million-voters-for-banning-him-from-white-house

Trump Sues Eighty-one Million Voters for Banning Him from White House

“This would mean that it’s up to millions of Americans to decide who gets to use the White House and who doesn’t,” the former President said.

Something those of us who teach MS software should consider?

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/10/former-microsoft-employee-makes-better-living-making-youtube-videos.html

YouTubers are making a living on videos about Microsoft software

When Microsoft updated its Teams communication app with a more sophisticated way to give PowerPoint presentations in January, the company published a 500-word blog post on the feature. People could read the blog post and try to figure out how to use it, or they could consult YouTube.

On the video service owned by arch-rival Google, a former Microsoft employee named Kevin Stratvert published a video on Presenter Mode to his more than 800,000 subscribers, garnering more than 180,000 views and hundreds of comments. Microsoft itself had not published a video on the topic.

Tools & Techniques.

https://www.makeuseof.com/find-word-cant-remember-onelook-reverse-dictionary/

How to Find the Word You Can't Remember With OneLook Reverse Dictionary

OneLook Reverse Dictionary is a free reference site to find a word by its definition. Most language producers face the problem of finding the right word at the right time, just when their brains can't recall it.

OneLook Reverse Dictionary helps users find the word by explaining what it means. The dictionary allows users to find synonyms and phrases related to the word they're looking for. You can also type the suggested definition that falls into the same category of the related word and the dictionary will provide you with the best-related words.

That’s probably why my AI tried to hide this article. But I’m smarter than it is! (No, you’re not.)

https://reason.com/volokh/2021/07/11/dont-be-afraid-of-the-robot-that-passes-the-turing-test-be-afraid-of-the-one-that-deliberately-fails-it/

"Don't Be Afraid of the Robot That Passes the Turing Test. Be Afraid of the One That Deliberately Fails It."

(Related) Orwellian Barbie?

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/11/future-ai-toys-may-be-smarter-than-parents-and-less-protective.html

Future AI toys could be smarter than parents, but a lot less protective

The thought of a child’s toy listening in on a family 24/7 is unsettling. While smart toys can be useful, educational tools for kids, they also pose privacy risks which toy makers and privacy experts are still learning how to balance.

Smart toys made with artificial intelligence, such as machine-learning capabilities, can collect different forms of data from kids. Whether an AI-enabled toy is personalizing lessons based on how fast your kid learns shapes, or a doll is learning your kid’s favorite ice cream flavor, toy experts expect more of these toys to be introduced in the years ahead, even though early missteps and high sales prices have limited consumer interest to date.

“As an AI toy starts to learn the child, this means the toy in the next 15 years will be smarter than the parent and gather all this data that could one day hurt the child,” said Will.i.am, singer-songwriter and chair of the World Economic Forum’s Smart Toy Awards’ judging committee, recently speaking at CNBC’s Evolve Global Summit.

Contrast with the “public data is okay to scrape” decisions.

https://www.pogowasright.org/spreading-personal-data-to-become-a-criminal-offence-in-the-netherlands/

Spreading personal data to become a criminal offence in the Netherlands

DutchNews.nl reports:

The Netherlands is to make ‘doxing’ – sharing personal details such as addresses and telephone numbers on the internet without permission – a criminal offence, justice minister Ferd Grapperhaus has told MPs in a briefing.

The minister has drawn up draft legislation which will impose a maximum sentence of a year in prison on people who provide or disseminate information that identifies a person with the aim of frightening and intimidating them.

Read more at DutchNews.nl.

Interesting parallels?

https://mattstoller.substack.com/p/biden-launches-sweeping-action-on

Biden Launches Sweeping Action on "Big Tech, Big Pharma, and Big Ag." Can It Be Real?

On Friday, Biden ordered every part of the Federal government - not just the antitrust enforcers - to focus on creating fair competition, using whatever statutory authority they have at their disposal to take on big business in concentrated markets. The executive order he signed touches everything from railroads and shipping to pharmaceuticals and agriculture.

… In 1938, Franklin Delano Roosevelt gave a speech to Congress on curbing monopolies. With the looming threat of of Nazi Germany’s growing power, Roosevelt warned Americans of the relationship between concentration and authoritarianism. “The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself,” he said. Roosevelt called for the entire government to take on the problem of monopoly, encouraging stronger action on everything from antitrust to bank regulation to the misuse of patents.

Tools & Techniques.

https://www.bespacific.com/how-to-download-youtube-subtitles-for-transcripts-of-your-favorite-tutorials/

How to Download YouTube Subtitles for Transcripts of Your Favorite Tutorials

Lifehacker: “When you’re taking a course on YouTube or watching a recipe video, there’ll be times when you’ll want to save the spoken content in text so that you can refer to it later…but typing everything yourself is too much of a headache. When you’re stuck in this situation, you can do two things: You can use YouTube’s transcription mode to manually copy and paste relevant parts of the YouTube video into your notes, or you can download the entire video transcript (i.e., its subtitles) in a single file to refer to it later…”

Tools & Techniques. Making my students appear more intelligent.

https://www.makeuseof.com/top-email-etiquette-tips-need-know/

The Top 14 Email Etiquette Tips You Need to Know

Whether you're a content writer, a marketer, a developer, or a working freelance, email is an integral part of our modern world.

In fact, it is the most standard form of communication among freelancers. Because of this, it is important to learn the best practices and etiquette for sending emails if you want to attract and retain clients.

Government collects the most obvious and least offensive security thinking. You had better not fall below this level!

https://www.cpomagazine.com/cyber-security/cisa-releases-ransomware-readiness-assessment-tool-for-assessing-organizations-cybersecurity-posture/

CISA Releases Ransomware Readiness Assessment Tool for Assessing Organizations’ Cybersecurity Posture

… CISA strongly recommends that all organizations undertake the CSET Ransomware Readiness Assessment. The toolset is available for free download on CISA’s GitHub repository.

A secure investment?

https://news.crunchbase.com/news/funding-pours-into-cybersecurity-as-first-half-numbers-eclipse-last-years-total/

Funding Pours Into Cybersecurity As Mid-Year 2021 Numbers Eclipse Last Year’s Total

… While global funding to startups has exploded this year, cybersecurity seems to be riding its own wave. Only halfway through the year, 2021 already has surpassed the record-breaking $7.8 billion raised by security companies last year.

According to Crunchbase data, $9 billion has flooded into the sector in 309 deals in the first six months of the year — more than double the $4.4 billion the industry realized in the first half of 2020. The second quarter alone saw $5.2 billion — compared to less than $2 billion for the same quarter last year.

Come to think of it, my AI says “Trust me!” a lot!

https://venturebeat.com/2021/07/10/how-cybersecurity-is-getting-ai-wrong/

How cybersecurity is getting AI wrong

The cybersecurity industry is rapidly embracing the notion of “zero trust”, where architectures, policies, and processes are guided by the principle that no one and nothing should be trusted.

However, in the same breath, the cybersecurity industry is incorporating a growing number of AI-driven security solutions that rely on some type of trusted “ground truth” as reference point.

How can these two seemingly diametrically opposing philosophies coexist?

This is not a hypothetical discussion. Organizations are introducing AI models into their security practices that impact almost every aspect of their business, and one of the most urgent questions remains whether regulators, compliance officers, security professionals, and employees will be able to trust these security models at all.

Because AI models are sophisticated, obscure, automated, and oftentimes evolving, it is difficult to establish trust in an AI-dominant environment. Yet without trust and accountability, some of these models might be considered risk-prohibitive and so could eventually be under-utilized, marginalized, or banned altogether.

Because law is always mysterious.

https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/38p5f/

Demystifying the Draft EU Artificial Intelligence Act

In April 2021, the European Commission proposed a Regulation on Artificial Intelligence, known as the AI Act. We present an overview of the Act and analyse its implications, drawing on scholarship ranging from the study of contemporary AI practices to the structure of EU product safety regimes over the last four decades. Aspects of the AI Act, such as different rules for different risk-levels of AI, make sense. But we also find that some provisions of the draft AI Act have surprising legal implications, whilst others may be largely ineffective at achieving their stated goals. Several overarching aspects, including the enforcement regime and the effect of maximum harmonisation on the space for AI policy more generally, engender significant concern. These issues should be addressed as a priority in the legislative process.

When AI start asking the tough questions…

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1037969X211029434

Access to algorithms post-Robodebt: Do Freedom of Information laws extend to automated systems?

This article analyses how current Freedom of Information (FOI) laws apply to automated decision-making systems. The authors argue that while current law may extend to automated systems, its application is unclear, both to practitioners and government. Instead, amendments to the FOI Act 1982 (Cth) could clarify how the law operates with respect to automated systems and better balance the underpinning objectives of the Act.

What should your self-driving car say to other self-driving cars?

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11227-021-03969-0

The internet-of-vehicle traffic condition system developed by artificial intelligence of things

An Internet-of-Vehicle (IoV) system primary transmits traffic information and various kinds of emergency notices through Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) or Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I); however, the transmission of multimedia enables drivers to control route conditions better, such as road obstacles and the range of a construction site. Additionally, car accidents usually require relevant video records of the scene for investigation; surrounding cars could transfer the accident scene videos to help the police restore the detailed situation. Meanwhile, the multimedia messages of IoV need to go through security verification and privacy protection for the system to deliver push notifications and multimedia messages to social groups instantly. The study aims to construct an IoV traffic condition system developed by Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT); the data transmitting method of this research is via the 6th Generation Network (6G Network), which has advantages of high transmission speed and Quality of Service (QoS) guarantee. Furthermore, the suggested system employs federated learning to ensure message security and privacy. The features of the researched system are: 1. Use Faster Region-based Convolutional Neural Networks (R-CNN) to recognize the objects in cameras and judge if there are road obstacles and any constructions; 2. Capture car accident videos through federated learning, and send the encrypted evidence to relevant legal units; 3. Use push notifications to send multimedia messages to social groups instantly, marking the locations and the road conditions to help drivers control the conditions with the surroundings. This study expects to delivering videos and Global Positioning System (GPS) data for road condition recognition, improving driving safety. The features of the approach developed in this article are different from those IoV alarms presented in past research that requires drivers to enter messages for notifying nearby cars. Instead, this research utilizes Faster R-CNN to recognize road conditions and transmit information to base stations, and the base stations will pass the information to other vehicles. The federated learning technique in this article can enhance the Faster R-CNN model’s accuracy in each car.

Obvious? I think not.

https://www.proquest.com/openview/7af25d86e4e2231c7b33e57504be6b6b/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y

Toward Ethical Applications of Artificial Intelligence: Understanding Current Uses of Facial Recognition Technology and Advancing Bias Mitigation Strategies

Facial recognition technology (FRT) is a biometric software-based tool that mathematically maps and analyzes an individual’s facial features for the purpose of making identifying conclusions from photographs and video. FRT is being implemented throughout society at a rapid rate as the tool offers significant economic benefits for identification processes and policing. In spite of FRT’s benefits its broadening implementation comes with significant risk to society, as the potential for misuse or identification errors and bias with FRT can lead to large-scale violation of individual’s civil and human rights. The key risks using FRT come from two sources: first, FRT uses curated facial datasets for training, it has been shown that labeling errors and lack of diverse facial demographics in the datasets leads to poorly trained and error-prone outcomes with regard to underrepresented groups. Second, there are only limited regulatory frameworks and ethical standards of use for FRT, leading to situations where FRT is either misused or extended beyond its practical utility, leading to violation of individual privacy and legal assemble rights and the perpetuation of cultural bias. The legal and ethical issues surrounding FRT have come under scrutiny in recent years following increased public awareness from mainstream media reports on the use of FRT in large-scale protest events and in law enforcement use cases. Currently, there are a few examples of state-level regulation and industry self-regulation through guiding ethical principles that restrict and monitor the use of FRT in both government and industry applications. These minimal and isolated forms of regulation leave tremendous gaps in the effective and ethical implementation of FRT, leaving ample room for unregulated and unethical use cases. This thesis primarily aims to advance promising bias mitigation strategies. The key recommendations made are: 1) education for users and increased engagement by stakeholders, 2) comprehensive guidelines that can lead to federal regulation, and 3) a push towards explainable AI. FRT regulation has become a controversial and increasingly challenging task; the time for urgency and regulation is now in order to put a halt to the negative consequences of the technology as it currently exists.

Coming soon to an ATM near you? (Full instructions provided in this article?)

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2021/07/spike-in-chain-gang-destructive-attacks-on-atms/

Spike in “Chain Gang” Destructive Attacks on ATMs

Last summer, financial institutions throughout Texas started reporting a sudden increase in attacks involving well-orchestrated teams that would show up at night, use stolen trucks and heavy chains to rip Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) out of their foundations, and make off with the cash boxes inside. Now it appears the crime — known variously as “ATM smash-and-grab” or “chain gang” attacks — is rapidly increasing in other states.

… From surveillance camera footage examined by fraud investigators, the perpetrators have followed the same playbook in each incident. The bad guys show up in the early morning hours with a truck or tractor that’s been stolen from a local construction site.

Then two or three masked men will pry the front covering from the ATM using crowbars, and attach heavy chains to the cash machine. The canisters of cash inside are exposed once the crooks pull the ATM’s safe door off using the stolen vehicle.

In nearly all cases, the perpetrators are done in less than five minutes.

Tracey Santor is the bond product manager for Travelers, which insures a large number of financial institutions against this type of crime. Santor said investigators questioning some of the suspects learned that the smash-and-grabs are used as a kind of initiation for would-be gang members.

“One of the things they found out during the arrest was the people wanting to be in the gang were told they had to bring them $250,000 within a week,” Santor said. “And they were given instructions on how to do it. I’ve also heard of cases where the perpetrators put construction cones around the ATM so it looks to anyone passing by that they’re legitimately doing construction at the site.”

Not very serious, but clearly a way to show leadership that hackers can get to them.

https://gizmodo.com/hackers-derail-irans-train-system-post-supreme-leaders-1847260870

Hackers Derail Iran's Train System, Post Supreme Leader's Phone Number as Help Line

Cyberattacks reportedly disrupted Iran’s railway system on Friday, causing “unprecedented chaos” at stations throughout the country, according to state media.

The hackers, whoever they are, also reportedly trolled the nation’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, posting his phone number as “the number to call for information” on multiple train station message boards, Reuters reports. According to some Iranian outlets, the number, 64411, was displayed on screens in train stations and redirected to Ayatolla Khamenei’s office when dialed.

The railway’s website, local ticket offices, and cargo services have all apparently been affected, the news outlet reports.

Makes me wonder what Biden and Putin agreed on…

https://news.softpedia.com/news/cybercriminals-attacked-the-republican-national-committee-533488.shtml

Cybercriminals Attacked the RNC

According to a statement from Republican National Committee, cybercriminals gained access to the IT infrastructure of one of the committee's contractors, Synnex. Although the infrastructure was breached, no data was lost as a result of the cyberattack, says NPR.

If the alleged source of the attack (REvil) is confirmed, it will be the second major cyber attack launched by a Russian network against the United States in the last period. More than 200 U.S. organizations were affected by a massive ransomware cyberattack conducted by the REVil Russian cybercriminal gang over the weekend.

Is this the future?

https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-york-city-opens-cyberattack-defense-center-11625778530?mod=djemalertNEWS

New York City Opens Cyberattack Defense Center

New York City has become the first major American metropolitan area to open a real-time operational center to protect against cybersecurity threats, regional officials said.

Set in a lower Manhattan skyscraper, the center is staffed by a coalition of government agencies and private businesses, with 282 partners overall sharing intelligence on potential cyber threats. Its members range from the New York Police Department to Amazon.com Inc. and International Business Machines Corp. to the Federal Reserve Bank and several New York healthcare systems.

Until last week, the two-year effort known as New York City Cyber Critical Services and Infrastructure was completely virtual.

Another buzzword field of work for AI.

https://www.itproportal.com/features/content-management-and-artificial-intelligence-the-future-of-contentops/

Content management and Artificial Intelligence – the future of ContentOps

Artificial intelligence (AI) is eating the world, one boring, routine task at a time.

From navigation apps using AI to crunch a bunch of data at a super-fast speed to determine the best and fastest route from A to B, or automatic spam filters and categorizations that make email more manageable, AI is truly ubiquitous.

It was only a matter of time before AI applications in the content management space arose. And when it comes to content ops, the combination of content management and artificial intelligence is a great tool for giving workers back the time they need to perform more complex tasks that still require a human brain.

Free is good!

https://www.makeuseof.com/free-self-study-apps-for-life-long-learners-to-find-new-skills-courses/

5 Free Self Study Apps for Life-Long Learners to Find New Skills and Courses

Use these fantastic self-study resources to learn anything you want without spending a penny.

I feel so much more private!

https://www.huntonprivacyblog.com/2021/07/08/colorado-legislature-passes-colorado-privacy-act/

Colorado Privacy Act Signed Into Law

On July 8, 2021, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed SB21-190, the Colorado Privacy Act (“the Act”), into law, making Colorado the third state to have a comprehensive data privacy law on the books, following California and Virginia.

… The Act will go into effect on July 1, 2023, with some specific provisions going into effect at later dates.

Surely confusion shall reign. Retaining and storing is not collecting? Not covered if you are not a ‘customer.’

https://www.bespacific.com/new-york-citys-new-biometrics-privacy-law-takes-effect/

New York City’s new biometrics privacy law takes effect

Mondaq – “Following the municipal ban on the use of facial recognition technology in Portland, Oregon, New York City’s more expansive “biometric identifier information” law, set to go into effect July 9, 2021, will ban the sale of biometric data but permit the use of biometric identifying technologies with posted notice to customers in “simple language” to be prescribed by forthcoming rules. Specifically, the law requires that a “commercial establishment” post “clear and conspicuous signs” at customer entrances notifying customers that technologies are in use that can identify (or assist in identifying) individuals by voice, eye (retina or iris), finger, hand, face, “or any other identifying characteristic.” Even if the commercial establishment does not actively collect biometric data, notice must still be posted if it “retains, converts, stores or shares biometric identifier information of customers.” A “customer” includes only a “purchaser or lessee, or a prospective purchaser or lessee, of goods or services;” a notice for collecting or using biometrics of employees is not required. Although the use of biometric identifying technologies is permitted with the required notice, it will be unlawful to sell, lease, trade, or share biometric identifier information in exchange for anything of value or to “otherwise profit from the transaction of biometric information.” Because the section of the law banning sale or exchange is not specifically in relation to “customers,” it may be argued that commercial establishments’ employees’ biometric identifier information is subject to the ban on sale or exchange..”

(Related)

https://www.cpomagazine.com/data-privacy/maine-becomes-first-state-to-pass-broad-government-ban-on-facial-recognition-technology/

Maine Becomes First State To Pass Broad Government Ban on Facial Recognition Technology

While it is not the first state-level regulation addressing facial recognition technology in the United States, Maine’s new law (LD 1585) is both the strongest and broadest in scope as of yet. The new bill bans the use of it across all levels of state government, with a lone exception carved out for law enforcement investigations of serious crimes.

No human in the loop?

https://www.dailysabah.com/business/defense/china-declassifies-underwater-drone-amid-taiwan-escalation

China declassifies underwater drone amid Taiwan escalation

China has declassified its new unmanned underwater drone designed specifically to target "enemy" submarines, a report said on Thursday.

The project to build such a drone dates back to the 90s and its specifics were revealed in an academic paper last week.

The drone was test-fired in the Taiwan Strait without human input a decade ago, reported daily South China Morning Post, adding the drone "could detect a mock craft, use artificial intelligence to identify its origin, and hit it with a torpedo."

… "It is unclear why China has now declassified details of the test, but the tension over the Taiwan Strait has recently escalated to its highest point in decades," the report noted.

Tensions between China and Western capitals in the Taiwan Strait have raised exponentially, mostly under former U.S. President Donald Trump's administration.

Simple, but useful.

https://www.kmworld.com/Articles/News/News/The-Difference-Between-Traditional-Programming-and-Machine-Learning-147862.aspx

The Difference Between Traditional Programming and Machine Learning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYJsGHVxY3k

In traditional programming a developer looks at what the factors are that affect the outcome that the program is attempting to predict, he explained. In the case of a business, it's what you would put on a spreadsheet and then the programmer implements in code the logic, the relationships among all of these different things, which can be as simple as if expenses go up, then revenue profits will come down or way more complex scenarios between releationships.

Whereas machine learning drops the logic, drops the relationships, and what we know about the relationship, he said.

Tools & Techniques

https://www.makeuseof.com/vivaldi-vs-opera-vs-brave-best-chrome-alternative/

Vivaldi vs. Opera vs. Brave: Which Is the Best Chrome Alternative?

(Related)

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/2-anonymous-web-browsers-completely-private-secure/

4 Free Anonymous Web Browsers That Are Completely Private

(Related)

https://www.makeuseof.com/beginners-guide-windows-narrator/

The Beginner's Guide to the Windows 10 Narrator

Windows Narrator is a built-in screen-reader and text-to-speak tool which helps people to complete common tasks. While it was designed for visually impaired people, anyone can use Narrator as it has a large number of configuration options.

(Related) How to truly appreciate "Weird Al" Yankovic.

https://www.makeuseof.com/best-android-lyrics-apps/

Find the Lyrics to Your Favorite Songs With These 7 Android Apps

A privacy resource.

https://www.bespacific.com/privacy-design-strategies-and-the-gdpr-a-systematic-literature-review/

Privacy Design Strategies and the GDPR: A Systematic Literature Review

Saltarella M., Desolda G., Lanzilotti R. (2021) Privacy Design Strategies and the GDPR: A Systematic Literature Review. In: Moallem A. (eds) HCI for Cybersecurity, Privacy and Trust. HCII 2021. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 12788. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-77392-2_16

“Article 25 of the GDPR states that data collection, processing and management measures should be implemented following tṇhe privacy by design and privacy by default paradigms. This paper presents a systematic literature review to identify useful guidelines to support the development of GDPR-compliant software. Selected papers are categorized under 8 different data-oriented and process-oriented strategies and their contributions are reported. Future activities will highlight the HCI community’s attitude towards these new technical and organizational approaches in order to bridge the identified gaps and shortcomings…”

For anti-social me.

https://www.bespacific.com/event-highlights-and-action-items-25-solutions-from-the-social-media-summit-mit/

Event Highlights and Action Items: 25 Solutions From The Social Media Summit @ MIT

“On April 22, 2021, the IDE hosted The Social Media Summit @ MIT (#SMSMIT), which attracted more than 20,000 virtual attendees to learn about the most-pressing topics of the day. The event brought together business, policy, and academic experts to discuss social media trends and to offer actionable solutions that—as moderator Sinan Aral pointed out—can help “steer us toward the promise of digital technologies and away from the perils.” This special report offers a six-point roadmap for platform reform –from rescuing truth, to restoring free speech; ensuring transparency to humanizing design. “We need all of these oars rowing in the same direction at once for substantive change to occur,” said Aral.”

• View and Download the Report Here

• Access event videos

For this anti-social guy

https://theweek.com/donald-trump/1002367/trump-social-media-lawsuits

Trump's social media lawsuits are strategic, performative, and doomed

One member of this class action is not like the others

Former President Donald Trump announced himself on Wednesday as the lead plaintiff in class action lawsuits against Facebook, Twitter, and Google, as well as their respective CEOs.

"We're demanding an end to the shadow-banning, a stop to the silencing and a stop to the blacklisting, banishing, and canceling that you know so well," he told reporters at his New Jersey golf course, arguing "there's no better evidence that big tech is out of control than [that] they banned the sitting president of the United States earlier this year." With these lawsuits, then, Trump will stand athwart big tech yelling, Stop! Please let me join you! I very much would like to be part of the extremely cool stuff you're doing here!

If that rallying cry seems nonsensical, well, so is the entire project, if taken at face value. Its real value for Trump is indirect. These don't seem to be lawsuits designed to succeed in court so much as tools of public relations and fundraising. They are strategic, performative, sometimes downright silly, and almost certainly legally doomed.

(Related)

https://thenextweb.com/news/making-facebook-follow-first-amendment-catastrophic?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheNextWeb+%28The+Next+Web+All+Stories%29

Why making Facebook follow the First Amendment would be catastrophic

Free Speech? I do not think that phrase means what you think it means

Is this like the government going underground?

https://www.cpomagazine.com/data-protection/german-data-protection-commissioner-tells-countrys-government-organizations-to-shut-down-their-facebook-pages-by-january-2022/

German Data Protection Commissioner Tells Country’s Government Organizations To Shut Down Their Facebook Pages by January 2022

Germany’s data protection commissioner (DPC) has been one of the toughest in the EU on Big Tech, and apparently no longer has faith in Facebook to properly secure government pages. German government organizations have been told that they should shut down their official Facebook Pages by January 2022 or face potential enforcement action under data privacy laws.

Eventually, we will all agree on the rules. Eventually.

https://www.cpomagazine.com/data-privacy/eu-tech-chief-shoots-down-one-of-apples-strongest-arguments-privacy-and-security-cannot-be-used-as-defenses-against-antitrust-charges/

EU Tech Chief Shoots Down One of Apple’s Strongest Arguments: “Privacy and Security” Cannot be Used as Defenses Against Antitrust Charges

As Apple fends off a variety of lawsuits and antitrust probes around the world, one of the chief arguments it has put forward for its “walled garden” practices is that they are essential for high levels of privacy and security. Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice President of the European Commission, is having none of it.

Vestager warned Apple that its antitrust issues cannot be dispelled simply by invoking privacy and security concerns. She has previously proposed rules that would require Apple to allow sideloading and third-party app stores on its devices, and has pointedly said that she believes privacy and security would not be compromised if this were the case.

Ye Olde stuff…

https://www.bespacific.com/oldest-book-of-english-literature-in-the-world-available-to-browse-online-for-the-first-time/

Oldest book of English literature in the world available to browse online for the first time

University of Exeter: “One of the oldest books of English literature in the world – created more than 1,000 years ago – is now available for anyone to browse online for the first time. The Exeter Book is one of the four most significant verse manuscripts to survive from the Anglo-Saxon period and contains the vast majority of all surviving Old English poetry. Its origins are a mystery. The new website and digital technology gives a fascinating glimpse into the production of the book, allowing people to explore doodles made a century ago of people and even an angel. Experts from the University of Exeter’s Digital Humanities Lab and Exeter Cathedral have collaborated to create the new website. Their work, supported by a generous grant from the University’s Provost’s Fund, means high resolution images have been captured of each one of the Exeter Book’s 130-odd pages for the first time. The digital Exeter Book will be an exceptional resource and tool for researchers, teachers and students of English literature, and provides a chance for anyone to in close-up one of the rarest and most remarkable relics of the medieval past. For Ann Barwood, Canon Librarian of Exeter Cathedral and Honorary Associate Research Fellow at the University of Exeter, the new digital resource is a solution to a centuries-old dilemma: “Of our many historical treasures, the Exeter Book has been the jewel in the crown of Exeter Cathedral for nearly a thousand years. It’s a vitally important piece of heritage for the whole of the English-speaking world…”

Writing in the digital era. I find rule number one inadequate!

https://www.makeuseof.com/how-to-write-professional-emails-rules/

How to Write Professional Emails? 8 Simple Rules to Live By