The president of Kyoto Animation, Hideaki Hatta, denied the arsonist Shinji Aoba’s claims that the studio stole his novel during an 11th trial hearing for the deadly 2019 arson attack. Hatta stated the company does not steal ideas. While Aoba admitted carrying out the attack, his defense argued he was mentally incompetent. The fire killed 36 people and injured 33 others. After pausing productions, Kyoto Animation resumed work in 2022 with the release of Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid season 2.

Memorials honoring the victims are planned to be unveiled on the 5th anniversary of the tragic incident in 2024.

Archive.today link to animehunch.com

This comment was generated by a bot. Send comments and complaints via private message.

Thailand police arrest 14-yr-old suspected gunman after 3 killed at luxury mall. According to the article, chaos erupted after gunfire was reported at the upscale Siam Paragon mall in Bangkok. Three people were killed and four others injured in the shooting. Police arrested a 14-year-old boy suspected of being the gunman. Hundreds of people, including children, were seen pouring out of the mall in torrential rain. Gun violence is not uncommon in Thailand, with the incident coming a year after a nursery shooting killed 36 people, including 22 children.

Siam Paragon is Thailand’s most famous mall, known for its high-end stores and popular food court.

Archive.today link to www.reuters.com

This comment was generated by a bot. Send comments and complaints via private message.

Temperatures in Spain shattered heat records for early October according to the country’s meteorological agency AEMET. Nearly 40% of weather stations recorded highs above 89.6 degrees Fahrenheit to start the month. Two cities, Badajoz and Montoro, broke continental Spain’s record for the warmest October temperature with readings of 38 and 38.2 degrees respectively, surpassing the previous mark of 37.5 degrees. Most of the Iberian Peninsula saw temperatures 7 to 14 degrees above normal. Even Madrid’s historic Retiro Park matched its October heat record of 30 degrees from 1930. The weather expert noted almost 100 individual records were broken just on October 1st alone. If the trends continue, future summers may not only be hotter but also longer, extending well into autumn which is usually milder.

The article notes that scientists widely attribute the rising global temperatures to human activity.

Archive.today link to www.reuters.com

This comment was generated by a bot. Send comments and complaints via private message.

Dutch regulator rejects Apple’s objections to fines is about a decision by the Dutch Competition Authority (ACM) regarding Apple. The ACM had previously ruled that Apple violated competition laws in the Dutch dating app market and fined them 50 million euros for failing to comply with orders to open its App Store payment options. Apple objected to the fines but the ACM rejected all of Apple’s objections in a July 2023 decision. While Apple has complied with most demands, it has not met a still undisclosed third condition. Apple disagrees with the original order and says it does not support user privacy or security. The company will appeal the decision in Dutch courts. The ACM said it would disclose the undisclosed part of the proceedings if Apple loses its court appeal.

In summary, the Dutch regulator upheld sizable fines against Apple for noncompliance related to payment options for dating apps in the Netherlands.

Archive.today link to www.reuters.com

This comment was generated by a bot. Send comments and complaints via private message.

Indonesia is launching Southeast Asia’s first high-speed railway connecting the capital Jakarta with Bandung. Largely funded by China under its Belt and Road Initiative, the 142 km railway will cut travel time from 3 hours to around 40 minutes on the Whoosh bullet trains reaching speeds up to 350 kph. The $7.3 billion project was constructed by a Chinese-Indonesian joint venture and faced delays due to land and environmental issues. Indonesian President Joko Widodo championed the project and will inaugurate commercial operations on Monday. During test runs, Chinese and Indonesian leaders rode the trains and were comfortable even at top speeds.

However, some experts question the financial viability of the high-speed rail for such a short route, as existing transportation is far cheaper.

Archive.today link to apnews.com

This comment was generated by a bot. Send comments and complaints via private message.

Cloudflare’s DDoS protections can be bypassed through a specific attack process uncovered by researchers. By setting up a free Cloudflare account and pointing the domain to a victim’s IP address, an attacker can disable protections and route traffic through Cloudflare’s infrastructure, bypassing the company’s security checks. This is possible due to flaws in Cloudflare’s use of a shared certificate for all customers and reliance on traffic originating from its IP ranges. A proof-of-concept demonstrated how easy it is to leverage these logic gaps. While the issues were reported to Cloudflare in March, they have not committed to fixing the problems.

If left unaddressed, these vulnerabilities could render Cloudflare’s protections less effective at stopping attacks on its clients.

Archive.today link to www.bleepingcomputer.com

This comment was generated by a bot. Send comments and complaints via private message.

Major advances in AI voice technology were announced this week, including ChatGPT gaining voice capabilities and Meta introducing AI characters with celebrity voices. This marks a shift where synthetic voices may become more common in social contexts. While companionship apps could benefit lonely users, mixing AI into social media feeds raises questions about feeling authentic versus hollow. OpenAI and Meta show interest in consumer-focused AI is growing, though challenges remain around regulating harmful uses and compensating creators. Advances in generative AI, virtual reality, and AI tools for content creators were also announced at industry events. However, executives largely avoided substantive discussions about mitigating AI risks at scale.

Overall, the week highlighted rapid progress and interest in blending AI into media and social platforms.

Archive.today link to www.platformer.news

This comment was generated by a bot. Send comments and complaints via private message.

Mainstream Western media frequently engages in relentless China-bashing by regurgitating trivial or fabricated stories without evidence. Positive stories about China are rare. Reporting typically adheres to three ideas - that China is a threat, must be linked to all global issues, and that curbing its rise is legitimate despite hundreds of millions gaining a better life. This betrays an imperial view that the West decides which nations participate in the global economy. The media war is powered by technology in a new propaganda era, with Western outlets assuming conflict is inevitable rather than promoting multilateralism.

Dismantling the dominance of Western media will be difficult but investing in alternative sources worldwide could provide more balanced views for local audiences.

Archive.today link to thediplomat.com

This comment was generated by a bot. Send comments and complaints via private message.

Panasonic plans to start selling all-solid-state batteries for drones and factory robots by 2029. The new batteries will initially target industrial applications but may eventually be used in electric vehicles. Panasonic’s chief technology officer Tatsuo Ogawa revealed the plans, noting some solid-state battery technologies could apply to automotive uses. Companies like Toyota are racing to develop solid-state batteries as a safer alternative to lithium-ion batteries in EVs. Solid-state batteries allow for faster charging times, potentially charging drone batteries within minutes. Panasonic will produce the batteries at its factory in Wakayama Prefecture.

The announcement shows progress towards next-generation batteries with improved safety and performance characteristics.

Archive.today link to asia.nikkei.com

This comment was generated by a bot. Send comments and complaints via private message.

Brazil’s Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling rejecting efforts to restrict indigenous land rights. The case involved the Xokleng people who were forcibly removed from their ancestral lands in southern Brazil in the late 19th century. While the Xokleng were granted rights to a 15,000 hectare reservation in 1996, they argued this land represented only a fraction of their original territory. The ruling sets a precedent against the “marco temporal” argument that indigenous groups must prove occupancy of disputed lands as of 1988. This decision will impact hundreds of similar land disputes and represents a boost for indigenous rights amid attacks on these rights during Jair Bolsonaro’s presidency. Anthropologists have documented the brutal tactics used to drive the Xokleng from their lands, including mercenaries collecting the ears of those killed.

The Supreme Court victory was met with celebrations and tears of joy from indigenous groups nationwide.

This comment was generated by a bot. Send comments and complaints via private message.

The article discusses how the rise of AI may impact computer science careers going forward. While coding jobs have long been seen as stable career paths, chatbots can now generate code in various languages. Developers are using AI tools like Copilot to accelerate routine coding tasks. Within a decade, coding bots may be able to do much more than basic tasks. However, programmers will still be needed to guide AI toward productive solutions. Teaching coding is also becoming more challenging, as students could use chatbots to cheat. Conceptual problem-solving skills will remain important for programmers to apply their expertise where AI falls short. The future may belong to those who can think entrepreneurially about how technology solves problems.

In the end, what students study may matter less than their ability to apply knowledge to technology challenges.

This comment was generated by a bot. Send comments and complaints via private message.

The DOJ has finally posted meeting notes from a Google vice president that the company tried to conceal during an antitrust trial. In the notes, Michael Roszak likened Google’s search advertising business model to illicit drug markets in its profitability. Roszak claimed the notes were exaggerated and not his true beliefs. The document suggests Google was able to ignore consumer demand due to its search monopoly. This concerned the DOJ that Google lacks incentives to protect user privacy and innovation. While Google said the notes don’t reflect its views, the judge found them relevant and embarrassing. He denied redactions and released Roszak’s related testimony. The parties agreed Google could object to exhibit posts, otherwise the DOJ could post them after each trial day.

The DOJ then posted Roszak’s notes, allowing the public to read the content at the center of debate.

This comment was generated by a bot. Send comments and complaints via private message.

French authorities raided Nvidia’s offices as part of an antitrust investigation into the cloud computing sector. The regulator is concerned that large cloud firms could use their dominance to hinder smaller players. While companies rely on Nvidia’s AI chips, its market share was estimated to be over 90% by analysts at Citi, highlighting its dominance in this area. The raid on Nvidia comes months after a report by the Competition Authority recommended monitoring established companies for potential hindrance of new entrants using emerging technologies like AI. As demand grew for Nvidia’s components, its valuation surpassed $1 trillion in June. The inquiry focuses on Nvidia but is part of a larger examination of anticompetitive practices in cloud computing.

Nvidia’s overwhelming market share in AI chips appears to have triggered scrutiny from French regulators.

In the 1950s, psychologist Harry Harlow conducted experiments showing that baby monkeys preferred to spend time with a soft cloth surrogate mother rather than a wire one, demonstrating the importance of physical affection. Today, many people spend more time with the “digital wire mother” of the internet rather than real social connections. While technology can supplement relationships, it cannot replace true human interaction and risks supplanting meaningful socialization. Over-reliance on online platforms reduces opportunities for building robust support networks. However, digital connections may provide temporary relief for those lacking community.

The essay calls for vigilance in ensuring technology supplements rather than replaces real-world relationships.

Engineers have developed a passive solar desalination system that mimics ocean circulation to produce freshwater from seawater. The design uses sunlight to heat saltwater and induce swirling eddies that evaporate water while rejecting salt. Testing showed a single stage could produce 5 liters of drinking water per hour. A scaled-up version is estimated to have a lifetime of several years without maintenance. As it requires no electricity, the system could produce water cheaper than tap water, potentially addressing water scarcity in coastal communities. An innovative aspect is how it circulates saltwater in a manner similar to ocean currents to effectively separate salt without clogging.

The passive design makes it well-suited for household water production in off-grid areas.

The article discusses how hate speech and misinformation spread on Facebook contributed to real-world violence against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar starting in 2012. Activists had warned Facebook for years about this issue but the company was slow to act. Anti-Rohingya rhetoric intensified on Facebook after incidents like the murder of a Buddhist woman, with posts calling Rohingya “subhuman” and “terrorists.” Influential Buddhist monk Ashin Wirathu used Facebook to spread his anti-Muslim messages. Despite continued warnings from NGOs about posts inciting violence, Facebook did not take strong enough action until years later. The piece examines Facebook’s role in the deterioration of the situation and eventual genocide against the Rohingya population in Myanmar.

It highlights how slow and inadequate responses by the platform allowed hate speech to proliferate and likely contributed to deadly attacks.

An iPhone to HDMI adapter was discovered that, when plugged in, runs a program prompting users to download an app. This EZ Cast app collects extensive personal data and sends it to China for ad targeting. It requires location access, photos, and installs tracking cookies. The adapter appears designed to mimic official Apple products. While its intentions are unclear, it demonstrates how such devices could enable privacy risks by introducing untrusted software into a user’s devices. Analysis of a similar EZCast dongle found it was vulnerable and not designed with security in mind. Reviews complain the app is useless or a scam. The adapter may have originated as unsold Amazon returns later acquired by electronics recyclers.

Its existence relates to concerns about privacy and navigation issues on online marketplaces.