Month: August 2024
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov’s Arrest Upends Kremlin Military Communications
Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov was arrested Saturday night by French authorities on allegations that his social media platform was being used for child pornography, drug trafficking and organized crime. The move sparked debate over free speech worldwide from prominent anti-censorship figures including Elon Musk, Robert F. Kennedy. Jr. and Edward Snowden. However, “the immediate freakout came from Russia,” reports Politico. “That’s because Telegram is widely used by the Russian military for battlefield communications thanks to problems with rolling out its own secure comms system. It’s also the primary vehicle for pro-war military bloggers and media — as well as millions of ordinary Russians.” From the report: “They practically detained the head of communication of the Russian army,” Russian military blogger channel Povernutie na Z Voine said in a Telegram statement. The blog site Dva Mayora said that Russian specialists are working on an alternative to Telegram, but that the Russian army’s Main Communications Directorate has “not shown any real interest” in getting such a system to Russian troops. The site said Durov’s arrest may actually speed up the development of an independent comms system. Alarmed Russian policymakers are calling for Durov’s release.
“[Durov’s] arrest may have political grounds and be a tool for gaining access to the personal information of Telegram users,” the Deputy Speaker of the Russian Duma Vladislav Davankov said in a Telegram statement. “This cannot be allowed. If the French authorities refuse to release Pavel Durov from custody, I propose making every effort to move him to the UAE or the Russian Federation. With his consent, of course.” Their worry is that Durov may hand over encryption keys to the French authorities, allowing access to the platform and any communications that users thought was encrypted.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday that the arrest of Durov was “in no way a political decision.” The Russian embassy has demanded that it get access to Durov, but the Kremlin has so far not issued a statement on the arrest. “Before saying anything, we should wait for the situation to become clearer,” said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov. However, officials and law enforcement agencies were instructed to clear all their communication from Telegram, the pro-Kremlin channel Baza reported. “Everyone who is used to using the platform for sensitive conversations/conversations should delete those conversations right now and not do it again,” Kremlin propagandist Margarita Simonyan said in a Telegram post. “Durov has been shut down to get the keys. And he’s going to give them.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov was arrested Saturday night by French authorities on allegations that his social media platform was being used for child pornography, drug trafficking and organized crime. The move sparked debate over free speech worldwide from prominent anti-censorship figures including Elon Musk, Robert F. Kennedy. Jr. and Edward Snowden. However, “the immediate freakout came from Russia,” reports Politico. “That’s because Telegram is widely used by the Russian military for battlefield communications thanks to problems with rolling out its own secure comms system. It’s also the primary vehicle for pro-war military bloggers and media — as well as millions of ordinary Russians.” From the report: “They practically detained the head of communication of the Russian army,” Russian military blogger channel Povernutie na Z Voine said in a Telegram statement. The blog site Dva Mayora said that Russian specialists are working on an alternative to Telegram, but that the Russian army’s Main Communications Directorate has “not shown any real interest” in getting such a system to Russian troops. The site said Durov’s arrest may actually speed up the development of an independent comms system. Alarmed Russian policymakers are calling for Durov’s release.
“[Durov’s] arrest may have political grounds and be a tool for gaining access to the personal information of Telegram users,” the Deputy Speaker of the Russian Duma Vladislav Davankov said in a Telegram statement. “This cannot be allowed. If the French authorities refuse to release Pavel Durov from custody, I propose making every effort to move him to the UAE or the Russian Federation. With his consent, of course.” Their worry is that Durov may hand over encryption keys to the French authorities, allowing access to the platform and any communications that users thought was encrypted.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday that the arrest of Durov was “in no way a political decision.” The Russian embassy has demanded that it get access to Durov, but the Kremlin has so far not issued a statement on the arrest. “Before saying anything, we should wait for the situation to become clearer,” said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov. However, officials and law enforcement agencies were instructed to clear all their communication from Telegram, the pro-Kremlin channel Baza reported. “Everyone who is used to using the platform for sensitive conversations/conversations should delete those conversations right now and not do it again,” Kremlin propagandist Margarita Simonyan said in a Telegram post. “Durov has been shut down to get the keys. And he’s going to give them.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
‘Only Murders in the Building’: Season 4 Release Date and Where to Stream
Charles, Oliver and Mabel are back and heading to Hollywood for more sleuthing.
Charles, Oliver and Mabel are back and heading to Hollywood for more sleuthing.
Garmin’s terrific Forerunner 265 running watch is down to its lowest price to date
Garmin’s midrange running watch is $100 off in both the standard configuration and the smaller 42mm sizing. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
As part of its “Glowtime” event on September 9th, Apple is expected to reveal the Apple Watch Series 10 and possibly a new Apple Watch Ultra. However, while both watches are expected to feature new chips and better displays, neither of them will likely rival the Garmin Forerunner 265 when it comes to dedicated running features or battery life. Luckily, Garmin’s excellent running watch is currently on sale at Amazon, Best Buy, and REI for $349.99 ($100 off) — an all-time low.
Of all the running watches Garmin currently sells, the platform-agnostic Forerunner 265 probably strikes the best balance between price and performance. Both the 265 and smaller 265S offer multiband GPS for more precise tracking, onboard music storage, and a vibrant, always-on OLED display, which allows you to eke out an entire week of battery life on a single charge (or longer with the AOD disabled).
More importantly, both models provide every running metric you can think of, including stride length, cadence, and other form-related data. They also let you take advantage of Garmin’s more novel — albeit, welcome — features, including PacePro, Training Readiness, and Race Predictor. The latter is my favorite, as it provides you with an estimated time for a 5K, 10K, half marathon, or marathon using your long-term training data. That makes the Forerunner 265 just as suitable for beginners as it is for those training for their next marathon.
Read our Garmin Forerunner 265S review.
More deals, discounts, and ways to save
Apple’s AirPods Max are on sale at Amazon for $399 ($150 off), matching their lowest price to date. It’s always possible that Apple will announce an updated model with USB-C support during its upcoming iPhone 16 event, but if you can’t wait, the current pair still offer great sound, exceptional build quality, and enough ecosystem tricks that we consider them the best noise-canceling headphones you can get if you’re an iPhone owner. Read our review.
Barnes & Noble, of all places, is offering 25 percent off a number of Lego sets in the run-up to Labor Day — including kits based on Star Wars, Marvel, Harry Potter, and more. Right now, for instance, you can grab Lego’s Death Star Trench Run Diorama for $52.49 (about $18 off), Boba Fett’s Throne Room set for $74.99 ($25 off), and the Adventures with Mario Starter Course for $44.99 ($15 off), none of which Lego is currently selling for one reason or another.
Last week, we saw Amazon’s latest Kindle Kids return to $94.99 ($25 off) at Amazon. If you don’t want a protective case or any of the kid-friendly perks, however, you can now grab the standard Kindle with ads at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target starting at $84.99 ($15 off). That’s one of the best prices we’ve seen this year on the entry-level ebook reader, which offers an excellent 6.8-inch display with 300ppi resolution, USB-C charging, and enough battery life to keep you going for weeks at a time. Read our review
Garmin’s midrange running watch is $100 off in both the standard configuration and the smaller 42mm sizing. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
As part of its “Glowtime” event on September 9th, Apple is expected to reveal the Apple Watch Series 10 and possibly a new Apple Watch Ultra. However, while both watches are expected to feature new chips and better displays, neither of them will likely rival the Garmin Forerunner 265 when it comes to dedicated running features or battery life. Luckily, Garmin’s excellent running watch is currently on sale at Amazon, Best Buy, and REI for $349.99 ($100 off) — an all-time low.
Of all the running watches Garmin currently sells, the platform-agnostic Forerunner 265 probably strikes the best balance between price and performance. Both the 265 and smaller 265S offer multiband GPS for more precise tracking, onboard music storage, and a vibrant, always-on OLED display, which allows you to eke out an entire week of battery life on a single charge (or longer with the AOD disabled).
More importantly, both models provide every running metric you can think of, including stride length, cadence, and other form-related data. They also let you take advantage of Garmin’s more novel — albeit, welcome — features, including PacePro, Training Readiness, and Race Predictor. The latter is my favorite, as it provides you with an estimated time for a 5K, 10K, half marathon, or marathon using your long-term training data. That makes the Forerunner 265 just as suitable for beginners as it is for those training for their next marathon.
Read our Garmin Forerunner 265S review.
More deals, discounts, and ways to save
Apple’s AirPods Max are on sale at Amazon for $399 ($150 off), matching their lowest price to date. It’s always possible that Apple will announce an updated model with USB-C support during its upcoming iPhone 16 event, but if you can’t wait, the current pair still offer great sound, exceptional build quality, and enough ecosystem tricks that we consider them the best noise-canceling headphones you can get if you’re an iPhone owner. Read our review.
Barnes & Noble, of all places, is offering 25 percent off a number of Lego sets in the run-up to Labor Day — including kits based on Star Wars, Marvel, Harry Potter, and more. Right now, for instance, you can grab Lego’s Death Star Trench Run Diorama for $52.49 (about $18 off), Boba Fett’s Throne Room set for $74.99 ($25 off), and the Adventures with Mario Starter Course for $44.99 ($15 off), none of which Lego is currently selling for one reason or another.
Last week, we saw Amazon’s latest Kindle Kids return to $94.99 ($25 off) at Amazon. If you don’t want a protective case or any of the kid-friendly perks, however, you can now grab the standard Kindle with ads at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target starting at $84.99 ($15 off). That’s one of the best prices we’ve seen this year on the entry-level ebook reader, which offers an excellent 6.8-inch display with 300ppi resolution, USB-C charging, and enough battery life to keep you going for weeks at a time. Read our review
Hobbyists discover how to insert custom fonts into AI-generated images
Like adding custom art styles or characters, in-world typefaces come to Flux.
Enlarge / An AI-generated example of the Cyberpunk 2077 LoRA, rendered with Flux dev.
Last week, a hobbyist experimenting with the new Flux AI image synthesis model discovered that it’s unexpectedly good at rendering custom-trained reproductions of typefaces. While far more efficient methods of displaying computer fonts have existed for decades, the new technique is useful for AI image hobbyists because Flux is capable of rendering depictions of accurate text, and users can now directly insert words rendered in custom fonts into AI image generations.
We’ve had the technology to accurately produce smooth computer-rendered fonts in custom shapes since the 1980s (1970s in the research space), so creating an AI-replicated font isn’t big news by itself. But a new technique means you could see a particular font appear in AI-generated images, say, of a chalkboard menu at a photorealistic restaurant or a printed business card being held by a cyborg fox.
Shortly after the emergence of mainstream AI image synthesis models like Stable Diffusion in 2022, some people began wondering: How can I insert my own product, clothing item, character, or style into an AI-generated image? One answer that emerged came in the form of LoRA (low-rank adaptation), a technique discovered in 2021 that allows users to augment knowledge in an AI base model with modular add-ons that have been custom-trained.
The Moon Will Meet Up With Jupiter, Mars and Mercury: How to See It
Mercury will be hardest to spot, but it is possible to see all three planets next to the moon without a telescope.
Mercury will be hardest to spot, but it is possible to see all three planets next to the moon without a telescope.
Best Vacuum Sealers for 2024
We tested more than 10 models from Anova to Zwilling, but the best vacuum sealer in 2024 is one you’ve likely never heard of.
We tested more than 10 models from Anova to Zwilling, but the best vacuum sealer in 2024 is one you’ve likely never heard of.
Wolfram Thinks We Need Philosophers Working on Big Questions Around AI
Stephen Wolfram, renowned mathematician and computer scientist, is calling for philosophers to engage with critical questions surrounding AI as the technology’s advancement raises complex ethical and societal issues. Wolfram, creator of Mathematica and Wolfram Alpha, argues that the tech industry’s approach to AI development often lacks philosophical rigor. “Sometimes in the tech industry, when people talk about how we should set up this or that thing with AI, some may say, ‘Well, let’s just get AI to do the right thing.’ And that leads to, ‘Well, what is the right thing?'”
He sees parallels between current AI challenges and foundational questions in philosophy, citing discussions on AI guardrails and the potential for AI to significantly impact society as examples where philosophical inquiry is crucial. The scientist, who earned his doctorate at 20, suggests that philosophers may be better equipped than scientists to tackle the paradigm shifts AI presents. Wolfram’s call comes as AI’s growing influence raises ethical concerns across industries, urging an interdisciplinary approach to address these emerging challenges.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Stephen Wolfram, renowned mathematician and computer scientist, is calling for philosophers to engage with critical questions surrounding AI as the technology’s advancement raises complex ethical and societal issues. Wolfram, creator of Mathematica and Wolfram Alpha, argues that the tech industry’s approach to AI development often lacks philosophical rigor. “Sometimes in the tech industry, when people talk about how we should set up this or that thing with AI, some may say, ‘Well, let’s just get AI to do the right thing.’ And that leads to, ‘Well, what is the right thing?'”
He sees parallels between current AI challenges and foundational questions in philosophy, citing discussions on AI guardrails and the potential for AI to significantly impact society as examples where philosophical inquiry is crucial. The scientist, who earned his doctorate at 20, suggests that philosophers may be better equipped than scientists to tackle the paradigm shifts AI presents. Wolfram’s call comes as AI’s growing influence raises ethical concerns across industries, urging an interdisciplinary approach to address these emerging challenges.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.