Month: June 2024
Julian Assange Reaches Plea Deal With US, Allowing Him To Go Free
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has agreed to a plea deal with the U.S. Justice Department over his alleged role in one of the largest U.S. government breaches of classified material. As a result, he will avoid imprisonment in the United States. CNN reports: Under the terms of the new agreement (PDF), Justice Department prosecutors will seek a 62-month sentence — which is equal to the amount of time Assange has served in a high-security prison in London while he fought extradition to the US. The plea deal would credit that time served, allowing Assange to immediately return to Australia, his native country. The plea deal must still be approved by a federal judge.
Assange had faced 18 counts from a 2019 indictment for his alleged role in the breach that carried a max of up to 175 years in prison, though he was unlikely to be sentenced to that time in full. Assange was being pursued by US authorities for publishing confidential military records supplied by former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in 2010 and 2011. US officials alleged that Assange goaded Manning into obtaining thousands of pages of unfiltered US diplomatic cables that potentially endangered confidential sources, Iraq war-related significant activity reports and information related to Guantanamo Bay detainees.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has agreed to a plea deal with the U.S. Justice Department over his alleged role in one of the largest U.S. government breaches of classified material. As a result, he will avoid imprisonment in the United States. CNN reports: Under the terms of the new agreement (PDF), Justice Department prosecutors will seek a 62-month sentence — which is equal to the amount of time Assange has served in a high-security prison in London while he fought extradition to the US. The plea deal would credit that time served, allowing Assange to immediately return to Australia, his native country. The plea deal must still be approved by a federal judge.
Assange had faced 18 counts from a 2019 indictment for his alleged role in the breach that carried a max of up to 175 years in prison, though he was unlikely to be sentenced to that time in full. Assange was being pursued by US authorities for publishing confidential military records supplied by former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in 2010 and 2011. US officials alleged that Assange goaded Manning into obtaining thousands of pages of unfiltered US diplomatic cables that potentially endangered confidential sources, Iraq war-related significant activity reports and information related to Guantanamo Bay detainees.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for June 25, #1102 – CNET
Here are some hints, and the answer, for Wordle No. 1102, for Tuesday, June 25.
Here are some hints, and the answer, for Wordle No. 1102, for Tuesday, June 25.
Gmail’s Gemini AI sidebar and email summaries are rolling out now
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Gmail is getting more AI features that could make it easier to stay on top of your email.
On the web, Google is beginning to roll out a new Gemini side panel that can do things like summarize email threads and draft new emails. The tool will offer “proactive prompts” but you can also ask “freeform questions,” Google writes in a blog post, and it’s “built to leverage Google’s most capable models,” such as Gemini 1.5 Pro. In the Gmail mobile apps, Google will also give you the ability to have Gemini summarize threads.
These improvements could be useful, but they’ll only be available to paid Gemini users: you’ll need to be a Google Workspace customer with a Gemini Business or Enterprise add-on, a Gemini Education or Education Premium add-on, or a Google One AI Premium subscriber. I’d also caution against fully relying on these tools for work; given that AI sometimes hallucinates things, make sure you’re double-checking an important email Gemini helps with before you send it.
Google is also rolling out Gemini features to the side panel in Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drive. Google promised last month at I/O that these features were on the way. And there are still some announced AI features to come for Gmail, including “Contextual Smart Reply.”
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Gmail is getting more AI features that could make it easier to stay on top of your email.
On the web, Google is beginning to roll out a new Gemini side panel that can do things like summarize email threads and draft new emails. The tool will offer “proactive prompts” but you can also ask “freeform questions,” Google writes in a blog post, and it’s “built to leverage Google’s most capable models,” such as Gemini 1.5 Pro. In the Gmail mobile apps, Google will also give you the ability to have Gemini summarize threads.
These improvements could be useful, but they’ll only be available to paid Gemini users: you’ll need to be a Google Workspace customer with a Gemini Business or Enterprise add-on, a Gemini Education or Education Premium add-on, or a Google One AI Premium subscriber. I’d also caution against fully relying on these tools for work; given that AI sometimes hallucinates things, make sure you’re double-checking an important email Gemini helps with before you send it.
Google is also rolling out Gemini features to the side panel in Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drive. Google promised last month at I/O that these features were on the way. And there are still some announced AI features to come for Gmail, including “Contextual Smart Reply.”
Google is reportedly building AI chatbots based on celebrities and influencers
Google is reportedly building new AI-powered chatbots based on celebrities and YouTube influencers. The idea isn’t groundbreaking — startups like Character.ai and companies like Meta have already launched products like this — but neither is Google’s AI strategy so far.
Google’s celebrity chatbots will be powered by the company’s Gemini family of large language models according to The Information, which broke the story on Monday. The company is trying to strike partnerships with influencers as well as celebrities, and is also working on a feature that will let people create their own chatbots simply by describing their personalities and appearance — something that Character.ai already lets you do. A fun fact: Noam Shazeer, one of the co-founders of Character.ai, is a former Google engineer and one of the creators of “transformers,” the fundamental tech that made today’s generative AI possible.
It isn’t yet clear which celebrities or influencers Google might partner with. Meta’s chatbots, for instance, are based on personalities like TikTok star Charli D’Amelio, YouTube phenomenon Mr. Beast, Snoop Dogg, Tom Brady and Paris Hilton among others, while Character.ai’s characters include politicians, philosophers, fictional characters, and even objects like a block of cheese that talks. Google’s project is reportedly being led by a longtime executive called Ryan Germick who works on Google Doodles, and a team of ten.
It also sounds like Google’s bots could be just an experiment — according to the report, the bots might only show up on Google Labs, the company’s website for experimental products, instead of being available more broadly.
It isn’t clear why Google’s doing this. Meta’s AI chatbots based on celebrities never really took off despite the company stuffing them in every product it makes. As The Information pointed out, the company’s chatbot based on Snoop Dogg has only 15,000 followers on Instagram compared with 87.5 million followers who follow the human rapper.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-is-reportedly-building-ai-chatbots-based-on-celebrities-and-influencers-235731655.html?src=rss
Google is reportedly building new AI-powered chatbots based on celebrities and YouTube influencers. The idea isn’t groundbreaking — startups like Character.ai and companies like Meta have already launched products like this — but neither is Google’s AI strategy so far.
Google’s celebrity chatbots will be powered by the company’s Gemini family of large language models according to The Information, which broke the story on Monday. The company is trying to strike partnerships with influencers as well as celebrities, and is also working on a feature that will let people create their own chatbots simply by describing their personalities and appearance — something that Character.ai already lets you do. A fun fact: Noam Shazeer, one of the co-founders of Character.ai, is a former Google engineer and one of the creators of “transformers,” the fundamental tech that made today’s generative AI possible.
It isn’t yet clear which celebrities or influencers Google might partner with. Meta’s chatbots, for instance, are based on personalities like TikTok star Charli D’Amelio, YouTube phenomenon Mr. Beast, Snoop Dogg, Tom Brady and Paris Hilton among others, while Character.ai’s characters include politicians, philosophers, fictional characters, and even objects like a block of cheese that talks. Google’s project is reportedly being led by a longtime executive called Ryan Germick who works on Google Doodles, and a team of ten.
It also sounds like Google’s bots could be just an experiment — according to the report, the bots might only show up on Google Labs, the company’s website for experimental products, instead of being available more broadly.
It isn’t clear why Google’s doing this. Meta’s AI chatbots based on celebrities never really took off despite the company stuffing them in every product it makes. As The Information pointed out, the company’s chatbot based on Snoop Dogg has only 15,000 followers on Instagram compared with 87.5 million followers who follow the human rapper.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-is-reportedly-building-ai-chatbots-based-on-celebrities-and-influencers-235731655.html?src=rss
European Commission Dings Apple Over Anti-Steering Provisions in App Store, and Opens New Investigations Into Core Technology Fee, Sideloading Protections, and the Eligibility Requirements to Offer an Alternative Marketplace
The European Commission:
Today, the European Commission has informed Apple of its
preliminary view that its App Store rules are in breach of the
Digital Markets Act (DMA), as they prevent app developers from
freely steering consumers to alternative channels for offers and
content.
I think what they’re saying here is that Apple’s current compliance offering, where developers can remain exclusively in the App Store in the EU under the existing terms, or choose the new terms that allow for linking out to the web, aren’t going to pass muster. The EC wants all apps to be able to freely — as in free of charge freely — link out to the web for purchases, regardless if they’re from the App Store, an alternative marketplace, or directly sideloaded.
The Commission will investigate whether these new contractual
requirements for third-party app developers and app stores breach
Article 6(4) of the DMA and notably the necessity and
proportionality requirements provided therein. This includes:
1. Apple’s Core Technology Fee, under which developers of
third-party app stores and third-party apps must pay a €0.50
fee per installed app. The Commission will investigate whether
Apple has demonstrated that the fee structure that it has
imposed, as part of the new business terms, and in particular
the Core Technology Fee, effectively complies with the DMA.
No word on how it doesn’t comply, just that they don’t like it.
2. Apple’s multi-step user journey to download and install
alternative app stores or apps on iPhones. The Commission will
investigate whether the steps that a user has to undertake to
successfully complete the download and installation of
alternative app stores or apps, as well as the various
information screens displayed by Apple to the user, comply with
the DMA.
This sounds like they’re going to insist that Apple make installing sideloaded apps and alternative stores a no-hassle experience. What critics see is Apple putting up obstacles to installing marketplaces or sideloaded apps just to be a dick about it and discouraging their use to keep users in the App Store. What I see are reasonable warnings for potentially dangerous software. We’ll see how that goes.
Perhaps where the EC will wind up is making app store choice like web browser choice. Force Apple to present each user with a screen listing all available app marketplaces in their country in random order, of which Apple’s own App Store is but one, just like Safari in the default browser choice screen.
3. The eligibility requirements for developers related to the
ability to offer alternative app stores or directly distribute
apps from the web on iPhones. The Commission will investigate
whether these requirements, such as the ‘membership of good
standing’ in the Apple Developer Program, that app developers
have to meet in order to be able to benefit from alternative
distribution provided for in the DMA comply with the DMA.
I’m not sure what this is about, given that Apple relented on allowing even Epic Games to open a store. Maybe the financial requirements?
In parallel, the Commission will continue undertaking preliminary
investigative steps outside of the scope of the present
investigation, in particular with respect to the checks and
reviews put in place by Apple to validate apps and alternative app
stores to be sideloaded.
This pretty clearly is about Apple using notarization as a review for anything other than egregious bugs or security vulnerabilities. I complain as much as anyone about the aspects of the DMA that are vague (or downright inscrutable), but this aspect seems clear-cut. It’s a bit baffling why Apple seemingly sees notarization as an opportunity for content/purpose review, like with last week’s brouhaha over the UTM SE PC emulator. Refusing to notarize an emulator that uses a JIT is something Apple ought to be able to defend under the DMA’s exceptions pertaining to device security; refusing to notarize an emulator that doesn’t use a JIT seems clearly forbidden by the DMA.
★
The European Commission:
Today, the European Commission has informed Apple of its
preliminary view that its App Store rules are in breach of the
Digital Markets Act (DMA), as they prevent app developers from
freely steering consumers to alternative channels for offers and
content.
I think what they’re saying here is that Apple’s current compliance offering, where developers can remain exclusively in the App Store in the EU under the existing terms, or choose the new terms that allow for linking out to the web, aren’t going to pass muster. The EC wants all apps to be able to freely — as in free of charge freely — link out to the web for purchases, regardless if they’re from the App Store, an alternative marketplace, or directly sideloaded.
The Commission will investigate whether these new contractual
requirements for third-party app developers and app stores breach
Article 6(4) of the DMA and notably the necessity and
proportionality requirements provided therein. This includes:
1. Apple’s Core Technology Fee, under which developers of
third-party app stores and third-party apps must pay a €0.50
fee per installed app. The Commission will investigate whether
Apple has demonstrated that the fee structure that it has
imposed, as part of the new business terms, and in particular
the Core Technology Fee, effectively complies with the DMA.
No word on how it doesn’t comply, just that they don’t like it.
2. Apple’s multi-step user journey to download and install
alternative app stores or apps on iPhones. The Commission will
investigate whether the steps that a user has to undertake to
successfully complete the download and installation of
alternative app stores or apps, as well as the various
information screens displayed by Apple to the user, comply with
the DMA.
This sounds like they’re going to insist that Apple make installing sideloaded apps and alternative stores a no-hassle experience. What critics see is Apple putting up obstacles to installing marketplaces or sideloaded apps just to be a dick about it and discouraging their use to keep users in the App Store. What I see are reasonable warnings for potentially dangerous software. We’ll see how that goes.
Perhaps where the EC will wind up is making app store choice like web browser choice. Force Apple to present each user with a screen listing all available app marketplaces in their country in random order, of which Apple’s own App Store is but one, just like Safari in the default browser choice screen.
3. The eligibility requirements for developers related to the
ability to offer alternative app stores or directly distribute
apps from the web on iPhones. The Commission will investigate
whether these requirements, such as the ‘membership of good
standing’ in the Apple Developer Program, that app developers
have to meet in order to be able to benefit from alternative
distribution provided for in the DMA comply with the DMA.
I’m not sure what this is about, given that Apple relented on allowing even Epic Games to open a store. Maybe the financial requirements?
In parallel, the Commission will continue undertaking preliminary
investigative steps outside of the scope of the present
investigation, in particular with respect to the checks and
reviews put in place by Apple to validate apps and alternative app
stores to be sideloaded.
This pretty clearly is about Apple using notarization as a review for anything other than egregious bugs or security vulnerabilities. I complain as much as anyone about the aspects of the DMA that are vague (or downright inscrutable), but this aspect seems clear-cut. It’s a bit baffling why Apple seemingly sees notarization as an opportunity for content/purpose review, like with last week’s brouhaha over the UTM SE PC emulator. Refusing to notarize an emulator that uses a JIT is something Apple ought to be able to defend under the DMA’s exceptions pertaining to device security; refusing to notarize an emulator that doesn’t use a JIT seems clearly forbidden by the DMA.
Julian Assange has reached a plea deal with the U.S., allowing him to go free
submitted by /u/porkchop_d_clown [link] [comments]
submitted by /u/porkchop_d_clown
[link] [comments]