ReHacked #182: Kazakhstan’s president: We’re moving full speed ahead toward reform, Iran’s Internet Shutdown, New Webb Image Captures Clearest View of Neptune’s Rings in Decades and more

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Kazakhstan’s president: We’re moving full speed ahead toward reform – POLITICO #politics #world

In a state-of-the-nation address earlier this month, I announced I would seek a democratic mandate to implement a vision for a fairer, more open Kazakhstan. And as my country heads to the polls in the coming months, I believe we must resist the instinct to turn inward amid these turbulent global times.

There is simply no viable alternative to globalization, interdependence and the international rules-based order. And while efforts to reduce dependence and improve resilience are wholly understandable — and in many cases sensible — there’s a delicate line to tread, as this mustn’t lead to a broader reversal of all that has enabled global prosperity in past decades.

Iran’s Internet Shutdown Hides a Deadly Crackdown | WIRED #world

IN THE IRANIAN city of Shahrud, surrounded by hundreds of protesters, two women climb onto a platform and defiantly wave their hijabs above their heads in an act of public defiance. The scene, caught on video, is posted online by the 1500tasvir Instagram account. In recent days, the account has published dozens of videos from Iranian towns and cities as thousands of people protest the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody after being arrested by Iran’s “morality police.”

In another video shared by 1500tasvir, women burn their headscarves while chanting for freedom. Protesters are shown confronting police officers in another. And other videos claim to show people bleeding, injured, or dead, following brutal clashes with police officers as protests have spread to more than 80 cities across Iran. “They stood against the police, who are armed, and they [protesters] just shout at them,” says one person behind the 1500tasvir Instagram account, whom WIRED is not naming to protect their safety.

Google CEO Pichai fields questions on cost cuts at all-hands meeting #economy #bigcorp

He did address the bigger theme of cost cuts, and indicated Google’s culture can still be enjoyable even if some things, like certain swag items, are getting taken away.

“I remember when Google was small and scrappy,” he said. “Fun didn’t always — we shouldn’t always equate fun with money. I think you can walk into a hard-working startup and people may be having fun and it shouldn’t always equate to money.”

San Francisco police can now watch private surveillance cameras in real time - The Verge #privacy

Police in San Francisco got a boost to their surveillance powers this week after the city’s board of supervisors voted on Tuesday to grant the police department access to private surveillance cameras in real time.

The vote, which passed 7–4, approved a one-year pilot program that will allow police to monitor footage from private cameras across the city with the camera owners’ consent. The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) will not have continuous access to the cameras but will be able to tap into the network under certain conditions, such as during the investigation of crimes including misdemeanors and property crimes. The SFPD will also be able to access private camera footage during large-scale public events such as protests, even if there is no suspicion that a crime has taken place.

1994: Are YOU Ready for the INTERNET? | Tomorrow's World | Retro Tech | BBC Archive - YouTube #internet #computers #history

Mozilla claims Apple, Google and Microsoft force users to use default web browsers | TechRadar #software #internet

Mozilla, the non-profit proprietor of the Firefox browser, has accused Google, Microsoft, and Apple of "self preferencing" and nudging consumers towards using their own browsers.

Examples of consumer harm stemming from this self-preferencing behavior include limited or frustrated choice, lower quality, lower innovation, poor privacy, and unfair contracts, according to Mozilla.

The report lands at a time when "self preferencing" remains a hot topic in the tech regulation space; the UKs competition watchdog has published a final report(opens in new tab) highlighting "substantial concerns" about the market dominance of Google and Apple.

This X Does Not Exist #fun

Scientists Have Long Dreamed of a Memory Prosthesis. The First Human Trials Look Promising #health #futurism #science

The new study benefited from a valuable neuroscience resource: people with epilepsy who have electrodes implanted into memory-related regions of their brains. The implants, deep inside the brain, help neurosurgeons track down the source of peoples’ seizures. Among the 25 participants selected, some did not exhibit symptoms other than epilepsy, whereas others had mild to moderate brain injuries.

Here’s the test. The participants were shown an image on a screen, then after a delay, they were shown the same image with up to seven different alternatives. Their goal was to pick out the familiar image. Each participant rapidly cycled through 100-150 trials, during which their hippocampal activity was recorded to capture their short-term memory.

After at least 15 minutes, the participants were shown 3 images and asked to rank the familiarity of each. It’s a tricky task: one was a sample image from the trial, another an alternative that seemed familiar, and one never previously seen. This was intended to capture their long-term memory.

Press release: Use of Google Analytics for web analytics #privacy

The Danish Data Protection Agency has looked into the tool Google Analytics, its settings, and the terms under which the tool is provided. On the basis of this review, the Danish Data Protection Agency concludes that the tool cannot, without more, be used lawfully. Lawful use requires the implementation of supplementary measures in addition to the settings provided by Google.

Japan to reopen to independent travelers and lift daily arrival cap, Kishida says | The Japan Times #world

Japan will allow visa-free, independent tourism and abolish a daily arrival cap as of Oct. 11, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Thursday, marking a major policy shift after nearly 2½ years of strict COVID-19 restrictions.

The government will also launch a nationwide travel discount program, which had been shelved due to the spread of COVID-19 infections.

Kishida made the long-awaited announcement during his visit to New York for the U.N. General Assembly.

“I hope many people will utilize it,” Kishida said at a news conference. “I want to support the travel, entertainment and other industries that have been struggling during the coronavirus pandemic.”

If the Moon Were Only 1 Pixel - A tediously accurate map of the solar system #space #astronomy #fun

As unrest grows, Iran restricts access to Instagram, WhatsApp | Reuters #world

Iran curbed access on Wednesday to Meta Platforms' (META.O) Instagram and WhatsApp, two of the last remaining social networks in the country, amid protests over the death of a woman in police custody, residents and internet watchdog NetBlocks said.

Last week's death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by morality police in Tehran for "unsuitable attire", has unleashed anger over issues including freedom in the Islamic Republic and an economy reeling from sanctions.

Getty Images bans AI-generated content over fears of legal challenges - The Verge #ai #copyrights

Getty Images has banned the upload and sale of illustrations generated using AI art tools like DALL-E, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion. It’s the latest and largest user-generated content platform to introduce such a ban, following similar decisions by sites including Newgrounds, PurplePort, and FurAffinity.

New Webb Image Captures Clearest View of Neptune’s Rings in Decades | NASA #engineering #space

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope shows off its capabilities closer to home with its first image of Neptune. Not only has Webb captured the clearest view of this distant planet’s rings in more than 30 years, but its cameras reveal the ice giant in a whole new light.

Most striking in Webb’s new image is the crisp view of the planet’s rings – some of which have not been detected since NASA’s Voyager 2 became the first spacecraft to observe Neptune during its flyby in 1989. In addition to several bright, narrow rings, the Webb image clearly shows Neptune’s fainter dust bands.

“It has been three decades since we last saw these faint, dusty rings, and this is the first time we’ve seen them in the infrared,” notes Heidi Hammel, a Neptune system expert and interdisciplinary scientist for Webb. Webb’s extremely stable and precise image quality permits these very faint rings to be detected so close to Neptune.

Debloated fork of the extension "I don't care about cookies" (WIP) #software

Open Web Search – Promoting Europe's Independence in Web Search – Funded by the Horizon Europe Programme #internet #software

»Free, open and unbiased access to information – we have lost these core principles in web search and urgently need to restore them. This is why the project openwebsearch.eu will create an open European infrastructure for internet search, based on European values and jurisdiction.« Michael Granitzer

Germany's blanket data retention law is illegal, EU top court says | Reuters #privacy

Germany's general data retention law violates EU law, Europe's top court ruled on Tuesday, dealing a blow to member states banking on blanket data collection to fight crime and safeguard national security.

The law may only be applied in circumstances where there is a serious threat to national security defined under very strict terms, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) said.

The ruling comes after major attacks by Islamist militants in France, Belgium and Britain in recent years.

YouTube’s ‘dislike’ barely works, according to new study on recommendations | Engadget #internet

If you’ve ever felt like it’s difficult to “un-train” YouTube’s algorithm from suggesting a certain type of video once it slips into your recommendations, you’re not alone. In fact, it may be even more difficult than you think to get YouTube to accurately understand your preferences. One major issue, according to new research conducted by Mozilla, is that YouTube’s in-app controls such as the “dislike” button, are largely ineffective as a tool for controlling suggested content. According to the report, these buttons “prevent less than half of unwanted algorithmic recommendations.”

Aleksandr Sorokin Smashes 24-Hour World Record With 319.6 Kilometer Run – iRunFar #sports

319.614 kilometers. That’s 198.599 miles. In one day. Running.

That’s just what Lithuania’s Aleksandr Sorokin did in setting a new 24-hour world record of 319.614 kilometers/198.599 miles at the 2022 IAU 24-Hour European Championships in Verona, Italy, on September  17 and 18. That’s 7:15 per mile or 4:30 per kilometer for 24 straight hours.

Previously, on August 28 and 29, 2021, Sorokin broke Yiannis Kouros’s “unbreakable” 24-hour world record of 188.590 miles/303.506 kilometers by nearly six kilometers with a distance of 192.251 miles/309.399 kilometers. (Post-2021 24-hour world record interview.) Just over a year later this weekend, he broke his own record by more than 10 kilometers, running 198.599 miles (319.614 kilometers).

The hyperinflation gallery: examples of hyperinflationary banknotes from around the world #history #money

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