Author Archives: Danzig

AJC On Campus: Free speech in Georgia, colleges warned of cybercrime – The Atlanta Journal Constitution

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Credit: Alyssa Pointer

Credit: Alyssa Pointer

Each summer, as required by state law, the University System of Georgia creates a free speech report.

The document, dated July 1 and provided to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution by the University System, said that Georgias public colleges prepared extensively for campus protests related to the war in Israel and Gaza to ensure both that legal expression was protected and that any violations of institutional or USG policy or state or federal law were addressed swiftly.

The report stated: Campus and system office planning succeeded, and USG campuses were able to avoid any major disruptions or damage to institution property while supporting everyones freedom of expression rights throughout the system.

Nine students from the University of Georgia were arrested for criminal trespass by UGA police during one protest in late April. Protests also took place at Kennesaw State University and at the private Emory University, among other sites.

The UGA protesters have said they were just expressing their First Amendment rights and were critical of the universitys response to the demonstrations.

Professor pay

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

An annual compensation survey from the American Association of University Professors outlines what it says are dire pay conditions for part-time college instructors.

The report, released in late June, found that pay for part-time faculty members hasnt changed much in recent years. They received an average of $3,903 for each three-credit course they taught in 2022-2023. During the 2020-2021 year, the average pay per course section was roughly $3,800 and it was roughly $3,900 the following year.

Pay for full-time faculty increased by an average of 3.8% for the 2022-2023 academic year.

The salaries of college presidents, meanwhile, have outpaced the growth in full-time faculty salaries for years. The median salary for those leaders ranged from $259,000 to more than $912,000, depending on the type of school during the last academic year.

The report includes data from more than 800 colleges nationwide, including 375,000 full-time and 92,000 part-time faculty.

Quarters vs. semesters

Should Georgias public college students enroll in classes by the semester or by the quarter?

Thats the question a Georgia House Study Committee will consider as it assesses the class calendars at the University System of Georgia and the Technical College System of Georgia. The committee was authorized by the state House in March and will be led by Rep. Shaw Blackmon, R-Bonaire.

The University System, which includes 26 schools, fully converted from a quarter calendar to a semester calendar in 1999. The states technical colleges have done so since 2011.

The quarter semester calendar is typically three 10-week terms while the semester calendar is two 15-week terms.

One reason for the switch was to align courses within the two systems to make it easier for students to transfer and to make administration work more efficient, according to the resolution authorizing the study committee.

But some observers question whether semesters are the better option for students or for workforce development because the schedule results in longer terms and less-frequent graduation cycles, according to the resolution.

The committees work is to be completed by Dec. 1.

No phishing

The University System of Georgia is warning employees to beware of cybercriminals bent on snagging direct deposit paychecks through phishing emails.

In late June, the vice chancellor for human resources sent an email to high-ranking officials at Georgias 26 public colleges and universities with the subject line Payroll Fraud Alert - Action Needed! In the email, Karin Elliott noted recent attacks targeting USG employees and announced new security measures to prevent cybercrime.

Going forward, if an employee tries to change their direct deposit information to route their paycheck to certain internet-based banks, the University Systems computer program will require that employee to first validate the change with their schools payroll office.

Employees should be careful when clicking on links contained in messages and should report suspicious emails they receive.

Any loss of pay due to an employees negligence must be reported and relief sought through the proper law enforcement authorities. If the loss is due to employee negligence, institutions cannot pay an employee a second time because of their financial loss, the letter said.

Emory University fined

Credit: TNS

Credit: TNS

The U.S. Department of Agriculture hit Emory University with a $42,000 civil penalty for alleged violations of the Animal Welfare Act.

The settlement agreement was dated April 30 but publicized in July by the Ohio-based organization Stop Animal Exploitation NOW! or SAEN. The watchdog group tracks the use of animals by university research labs.

The USDA outlined eight alleged violations at Emory dating back to 2019. The incidents included failure to provide sufficient water to animals and mishandling of animals, resulting in the death of several voles. The report also cited concerns related to the death of mice and the condition of several hamsters.

Two monkeys also were found dead in separate incidents after they were trapped inside gaps of an animal enclosure, the report noted.

In a statement, SAENs executive director described the fine as little more than a slap on the wrist.

In a statement to the AJC, Emory University denied the allegations and said it made the payment to avoid costs and uncertainties of litigation, and to resolve and close this matter.

The statement also said: The university fully understands our responsibility for the health and well-being of research animals and honors this by regularly reviewing our animal care program and facilities, implementing quality assurance measures and training personnel to provide the highest quality, humane care and welfare for all animals involved in Emory research.

The school said it has long held full accreditation status from AAALAC International, formerly known as the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International.

Emory University will continue to conduct research with animals as part of our commitment to improve the health of our city, nation and world, the schools statement said.

If you have any higher education tips or thoughts, email reporter Vanessa McCray at vanessa.mccray@ajc.com.

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AJC On Campus: Free speech in Georgia, colleges warned of cybercrime - The Atlanta Journal Constitution

Free speech or election interference? Legal case involving St. Johns County commissioner continues – FirstCoastNews.com WTLV-WJXX

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Commissioner Krista Joseph responded to the State Attorney's mention of a grand jury investigation in a statement Monday.

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. In St. Johns County, a local battle over what is free speech and what is election interference is brewing.

Last fall, St. Johns County commissioner Krista Keating Joseph waved a US flag during a county commission meeting and reminded voters they can vote out incumbents in the upcoming election.

Those words were met with various legal fights and mentions of criminal charges.

The latest chapter in this book involves a grand jury... or the idea of one.

Last November, Joseph held up the elections guide during a November county commission meeting. She told voters if they were not happy with the way the county was going said, "In less than nine months, we have an election."

The other county commissioners objected to her doing that during a meeting.

St. Johns County then hired an outside attorney who said Joseph may have violated election law by speaking about the election as a county commissioner during a county commission meeting.

Joseph is not running for re-election, but is supporting others who are running against incumbents.

In January, she filed a request for a federal judge to make a determination: can she speak about politics in St. Johns County? Joseph believes its her first amendment right. And she has also filed, in the same case, a request for an injunction so she can engage in political speech during the election season.

That case is not resolved yet.

As a response, State Attorney Brian Kramer of the 8th Judicial Circuit, based in Gainesville, who is involved in the federal case, filed a report to the court on July 1. In it, Kramer noted that because Joseph did not agree to stop talking politics, he would have to pursue asking a grand jury to consider if she should be prosecuted criminally.

Here is the question: Is Kramer saying he is taking Josephs case before a grand jury? Or would it be his plan, once the federal case is resolved?

First Coast News reached out to State Attorney Kramers office for clarification. We did not receive a response by the time this story aired.

Josephs attorney sent First Coast News a statement which in part reads: Commissioner Joseph thinks it is extremely unlikely the state attorney would institute criminal charges against her while we are waiting for the federal court to decide the First Amendment issue, especially on the eve of the primary election.

There is high probability that the winners of the county commission seats up for grabs will be decided in the primary election.

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Free speech or election interference? Legal case involving St. Johns County commissioner continues - FirstCoastNews.com WTLV-WJXX

Tennessee Woman Scores A Win In Free Speech Lawsuit Filed Over Her Fuck Em Both 2024 Yard Sign – Techdirt

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from the whole-lot-cheaper-to-just-respect-the-Constitution dept

Daniel Horwitz who has fought plenty of free speech battles for Tennesseans has secured an extremely quick victory for his client, Lakeland resident Julie Pereira.

According to the complaint [PDF], which was filed June 6 of this year, the city of Lakeland took offense to a sign Pereira had placed in her yard. It was bit of political speech that expressed her opinion about Donald Trump and Joe Biden all in one pithy phrase: Fuck Em Both 2024.

Someone in power didnt like the sign. The city decided it would start fining Pereira by leveraging its sign regulations which forbid a long list of things.

In particular, the City of Lakeland and its Code Enforcement Officer, Defendant Katrina Shields, believe that Ms. Pereiras Political Sign violates City of Lakeland sign regulations that prohibit statements of an obscene, indecent, or immoral character which would offend public morals or decency and statements, words or pictures of an obscene nature.

The city believed this sign fell under that laundry list of forbiddables, but it actually doesnt. Making things worse is the shifting set of restrictions the city applies to signs, based on little more than the citys perception of what each sign it seeks to regulate actually is.

[U]nder the City of Lakelands Municipal Code, signs are regulated differently depending on whether they are works of art with no commercial message, special event signs for community events, incidental signs, window signs, building marker signs, changeable copy signs, construction signs, directory signs, identification signs, menu board signs, model home signs, principal ground signs, real estate (but not single-family residential) signs, residential real estate signs, subdivision entry signs, temporary signs, wall signs (depending on whether they are nonresidential or residential), temporary residential yard signs, suspended signs, oras herepolitical signs.

Political signs are subject to the most restrictions, governing everything from how many can be placed in any area to how long they can remain in place. The city decided this was a political sign (rather than a work of art or a temporary residential yard sign) and started fining Pereira.

Pereira under the threat of further enforcement even neutered her sign in an attempt to placate the unconstitutional desires of city regulators.

She shouldnt have had to do this, as Horwitz points out in the lawsuit:

This coerced modification has satisfied the Defendants. It does not satisfy Ms. Pereira, though, any more than a jacket bearing the words F*ck the Draft would have satisfied Paul Cohen. Cf. Cohen v. California, 403 U.S. 15, 26 (1971).

The lawsuit swiftly followed the incursion on Pereiras free speech rights (which included nearly $700 in fines). And now a settlement [PDF] has just as swiftly followed this lawsuit. Apparently, all the city needed was a legitimate challenge of its sign statutes and a few minutes to think about it.

Not only will the city be refunding the fines charged to Pereira and covering her legal fees, it has also agreed the law (as applied to Pereira) is unconstitutional. Yeah, its a bit of a unicorn. A government has agreed to settle without attaching a clause denying any wrongdoing.

Under Cohen v. California, 403 U.S. 15 (1971), the Plaintiffs political sign is not obscene, and the Defendants may not lawfully regulate it based on the viewpoint it expresses.

For these reasons, the Court DECLARES UNCONSTITUTIONAL the Defendants enforcement action against the Plaintiff for displaying her unredacted political yard sign, a copy of which is set forth in the record at Doc. 1-1. The Defendants are thus PERMANENTLY ENJOINED from taking any further enforcement action against the Plaintiff for displaying her unredacted political yard sign.

Thats the language the city has agreed to. All it needs now is a judges signature. And with this win, others in the same city should feel free to let their freak fuck flags fly.

Filed Under: 1st amendment, daniel horwitz, first amendment, free speech, fuck em both, julie pereira, lakeland, tennessee

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Tennessee Woman Scores A Win In Free Speech Lawsuit Filed Over Her Fuck Em Both 2024 Yard Sign - Techdirt

Building bridges and tearing down silos for precision medicine – Universitetet i Oslo

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The Translational Science and Systems medicine (TranSYS) in Personalized Medicine European Training Network (ETN), an EU-funded project (2019-2024, coordinated by Prof Kristel Van Steen at the Catholic University of Louvain and University of Lige, Belgium) hosted its final conference to share the project outputs, and to explore innovative strategies and collaborative approaches in the translation of precision medicine. The meeting, Bridging Research to Patient Management and Care for a Healthier Tomorrow, gave a platform to early stage researchers (ESRs) from the network to showcase their work, demonstrating the relevance of the ETN work undertaken over the past 5 years1.

NCMMs Marieke Kuijjer was invited to deliver the first keynote talk of the Day 2 session: Building bridges and tearing down silos. In her talk, titled "Unlocking Cellular Complexity: Multiomics Integration for Personalized Regulatory Networks", she gave an introduction to network medicine, highlighting some of her group's recent tools SCORPION2, a single-cell gene regulatory network modelling algorithm, and CAVACHON3, a multi-omic data integration approach based on deep learning. Interestingly, by presenting a case study on glioblastoma (an aggressive form of brain cancer), Marieke triggered discussions from participants who were working on glioblastoma either from a patients perspective, or to design clinical trials. By sharing their insights, the importance of the computational biology research undertaken by the Kuijjer group can have on the disease diagnostic and treatment, was emphasised.

Throughout the meeting, excellent talks by the ESRs from the TranSYS network, covering a wide range of topics in bridging computational approaches with precision medicine, such as by integrating data in head scans with genetic information, with deep learning, to uncover new cancer subtypes and drivers of obesity, were presented. Marieke was able to discuss with the ESRs their pertinent queries regarding their projects, and the use of the tools designed by her group at NCMM. It enabled her to appreciate the reach of her teams work, and how it influences the work of others. She said: "It was my highlight of the conference as it is always so motivating to discuss science with talented and smart ESRs".

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Building bridges and tearing down silos for precision medicine - Universitetet i Oslo

Singularity Operations Center | Unified Security Operations for Rapid Triage – SentinelOne

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SentinelOne recently launched Singularity Operations Center, the new unified console, to centralize workflows and accelerate detection, triage, and investigation for an efficient and seamless analyst experience. This pivotal update includes integrated navigation to improve workflows and new and enhanced capabilities such as unified alerts management. Providing a deeper look into the Operations Center, this blog post focuses on how unified alert management enables faster and more comprehensive investigations for todays security teams.

Traditionally, security analysts must deploy multiple security tools to protect their organizations. Each individual tool manages alerts differently in addition to disconnected workflows among the tools themselves. With this approach, analysts are unable to correlate alerts across disparate solutions. This fragmented approach complicates the triage process, leading to an increased mean time to respond (MTTR) and potential oversight during an investigation.

To combat these challenges, SentinelOne developed the unified console to provide broader visibility and management across the security ecosystem. The Operations Center empowers teams to consolidate and centralize all security alerts into a single cohesive queue, including those from SentinelOne native solutions and industry-leading partners. This approach eliminates the need to pivot among disconnected consoles and work within disjointed workflows, providing seamless SOC workflows and facilitating rapid response to threats.

Engineered for speed and efficiency, LockBit is an advanced and pervasive ransomware strain. It leverages sophisticated encryption algorithms to rapidly lock down critical data within targeted networks. LockBit employs double extortion techniques, where attackers exfiltrate sensitive data before encryption and threaten to publish it on dedicated leak sites if their demands are unmet. It operates under a Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) model, enabling affiliates to deploy the malware in exchange for a portion of ransom proceeds. Its attack vectors often include exploitation of vulnerabilities, phishing, and lateral movement within compromised networks, making it a versatile and potent threat. Continuous updates and modular capabilities allow LockBit to bypass traditional security measures, emphasizing the need for advanced detection and response strategies in defending against this threat.

Lets explore how to investigate a LockBit infection in the Singularity Operations Center. After logging into the console, the Overview Dashboard provides a broad view of security alerts and related assets. There are multiple open alerts, ten of which are of high or critical severity. From the numerous open alerts, this example will focus on the critical alerts.

The drill-down creates a filter that allows analysts to quickly view new alerts with critical and high severity. To start the triage, these alerts will be assigned to an analyst. The Alert Status will be updated to In Progress.

Next, the alerts are grouped by File Hash and Asset Name to see the targeted assets and the extent of the infection. This is done by clicking on the + Add Column button at the top of the page, where filters are available. Analysts can group by the available columns on the page to organize the information.

Once the alerts are grouped, it is clear that the critical alerts are related to one hash, and the lower severity alerts are related to svchost.exe. Lets focus on the hash with critical alerts. The hash is detected on four different assets, indicating that the attacker or malware can laterally move through the network. The file name changes on subsequently infected devices.

Lets investigate the first occurrence of that hash on TheBorg machine in the Ransomware artifacts detected alert. The Alerts Details view provides more information about the threat. These details indicate that a Jeanluc user in the STARFLEET domain executed the process, which originated from explorer.exe, indicating that the user opened the file from the file system.

The Indicators tab provides more granular details, such as behavioral indicators. The severity icons specify that the most severe events are related to ransomware behavior, such as shadow copy deletion and file encryption. These behavioral indicators tell us a story of the malwares behavior.

To validate the files maliciousness and gain confidence in mitigating the threat as a true positive, analysts can search for the files hash in the threat intelligence sources such as the Singularity Threat Intelligence solution or VirusTotal integration. In this instance, it is clear that Singularity Threat Intelligence attributes it to LOCKBIT.V2. Clicking through shows more known details about the threat powered by Mandiant. We can see that Mandiant is already tracking it as LockBit Red associated with UNC2758.

Lets explore the Process Graph to visually inspect what happened. Here, the ResistanceIsFutile.exe process is running PowerShell and CMD commands. The PowerShell process in the Command Line attribute looks for all domain computers to prepare for lateral movement, adding a random delay between requests. Clicking through shows many of the actions indicated before as well as all the IP Connect events communicating with other assets.

The new Graph Explorer also illustrates the connections between alerts and assets. Lets filter for all Assets with high or critical severity alerts. In this example, all assets have two critical alerts: Ransomware artifacts and the renamed malware 9672B0.exe. This confirms the correlation between the original alert and other alerts on all the servers and endpoints in the graph.

This information confidently confirms that a ransomware infection is replicating in the network. Analysts can now mitigate all the alerts before proceeding with further investigation. All actions we performed are visible in the History tab of the alert details, lessening the need for extensive notes of the investigation process.

The next step is to hunt for indicators of compromise in Event Search and include them in the incident report. Drill down to Event Search from the Alert Details drawer and see all the events related to the alerts Storyline. View different tabs for more specific event categories, such as DNS, Network Actions, or Scheduled Tasks.

Analysts can also write hunting PowerQueries to get more details and group events together. The following example lists all commands executed by the LockBit processes for each endpoint. This information can be used to write more hunting queries, see if similar behavior has been detected in the past, or write new detections for this behavior.

dataSource.name='SentinelOne' event.type='Process Creation' src.process.parent.name in ('ResistanceIsFutile.exe', '9672B0.exe')| let cmdline = format("%s %s", tgt.process.name, tgt.process.cmdline)| group count(), cmdlines=array_agg_distinct(cmdline) by endpoint.name, src.process.name

The following PowerQuery can be used to see the list of ports on which the initially compromised host communicated.

endpoint.name = 'TheBorg-KY3H' event.type='IP Connect' event.network.direction = 'OUTGOING' | group count=count(), dst.ports=array_agg_distinct(dst.port.number) by dst.ip.address| sort - dst.ports

There are many other queries that can be leveraged to look for anomalies in the data. The most critical part of this process is carefully examining our events and distilling the malwares unique behavior. The Search Library provides hunting queries to help kickstart this process.

The Singularity Operations Center is Generally Available (GA) to all cloud-native customers. We invite you to explore the new console and experience how our innovative approach enhances and unifies security operations. Our Singularity Platform is designed to meet the evolving needs of modern SOCs, providing the flexibility and scalability required to handle the growing complexity of todays threat landscape.

Not a customer, but want to learn more? Meet our team for a demo to see how you can get started with the Singularity Platform, or visit our self-guided product tours.

Singularity Platform

Singularity enables unfettered visibility, industry-leading detection, and autonomous response. Discover the power of AI-powered, enterprise-wide cybersecurity.

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Singularity Operations Center | Unified Security Operations for Rapid Triage - SentinelOne

The Singularity Is Nearer: When We Merge with AI – Cool Hunting

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Oyster

$395.00

Oyster, a new Norwegian company, set out to improve the performance of coolers and the result is remarkable. They engineered new solutions to improve every aspect of a standard cooler and Tempo, the result, leapfrogs everything else weve seen. Its a game changer, and here are just some of the ways its accomplished it. First, they created a patented vacuum insulation called DTLA that improves the three critical components of maintaining temperatureinsulation, circulation and the thermal bridgethe connection between the top and bottom of the cooler. The results speak for themselvesimproving those by 2x, 380x and 1.4x respectively. The beautifully designed Tempo is made of aluminum, and is 100% recyclable. You do not need to add ice to keep your contents coldwhatever you place in the Tempo stays colder longer than any other cooler, whether its cooled or frozen. You can fit 36 beverage cans inside. Should you need to keep whatevers inside cooler for longer, you can add Oysters thin ice packs (sold separately), either cold or frozen, to both cool and keep things that way because of all of the thermal innovation. A bundle including ice packs and an aluminum handle is also available for $495.

Added: July 2024

This product is sold by Oyster

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The Singularity Is Nearer: When We Merge with AI - Cool Hunting

This Enormous Computer Chip Beat the Worlds Top Supercomputer at Molecular Modeling – Singularity Hub

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Computer chips are a hot commodity. Nvidia is now one of the most valuable companies in the world, and the Taiwanese manufacturer of Nvidias chips, TSMC, has been called a geopolitical force. It should come as no surprise, then, that a growing number of hardware startups and established companies are looking to take a jewel or two from the crown.

Of these, Cerebras is one of the weirdest. The company makes computer chips the size of tortillas bristling with just under a million processors, each linked to its own local memory. The processors are small but lightning quick as they dont shuttle information to and from shared memory located far away. And the connections between processorswhich in most supercomputers require linking separate chips across room-sized machinesare quick too.

This means the chips are stellar for specific tasks. Recent preprint studies in two of theseone simulating molecules and the other training and running large language modelsshow the wafer-scale advantage can be formidable. The chips outperformed Frontier, the worlds top supercomputer, in the former. They also showed a stripped down AI model could use a third of the usual energy without sacrificing performance.

The materials we make things with are crucial drivers of technology. They usher in new possibilities by breaking old limits in strength or heat resistance. Take fusion power. If researchers can make it work, the technology promises to be a new, clean source of energy. But liberating that energy requires materials to withstand extreme conditions.

Scientists use supercomputers to model how the metals lining fusion reactors might deal with the heat. These simulations zoom in on individual atoms and use the laws of physics to guide their motions and interactions at grand scales. Todays supercomputers can model materials containing billions or even trillions of atoms with high precision.

But while the scale and quality of these simulations has progressed a lot over the years, their speed has stalled. Due to the way supercomputers are designed, they can only model so many interactions per second, and making the machines bigger only compounds the problem. This means the total length of molecular simulations has a hard practical limit.

Cerebras partnered with Sandia, Lawrence Livermore, and Los Alamos National Laboratories to see if a wafer-scale chip could speed things up.

The team assigned a single simulated atom to each processor. So they could quickly exchange information about their position, motion, and energy, the processors modeling atoms that would be physically close in the real world were neighbors on the chip too. Depending on their properties at any given time, atoms could hop between processors as they moved about.

The team modeled 800,000 atoms in three materialscopper, tungsten, and tantalumthat might be useful in fusion reactors. The results were pretty stunning, with simulations of tantalum yielding a 179-fold speedup over the Frontier supercomputer. That means the chip could crunch a years worth of work on a supercomputer into a few days and significantly extend the length of simulation from microseconds to milliseconds. It was also vastly more efficient at the task.

I have been working in atomistic simulation of materials for more than 20 years. During that time, I have participated in massive improvements in both the size and accuracy of the simulations. However, despite all this, we have been unable to increase the actual simulation rate. The wall-clock time required to run simulations has barely budged in the last 15 years, Aidan Thompson of Sandia National Laboratories said in a statement. With the Cerebras Wafer-Scale Engine, we can all of a sudden drive at hypersonic speeds.

Although the chip increases modeling speed, it cant compete on scale. The number of simulated atoms is limited to the number of processors on the chip. Next steps include assigning multiple atoms to each processor and using new wafer-scale supercomputers that link 64 Cerebras systems together. The team estimates these machines could model as many as 40 million tantalum atoms at speeds similar to those in the study.

While simulating the physical world could be a core competency for wafer-scale chips, theyve always been focused on artificial intelligence. The latest AI models have grown exponentially, meaning the energy and cost of training and running them has exploded. Wafer-scale chips may be able to make AI more efficient.

In a separate study, researchers from Neural Magic and Cerebras worked to shrink the size of Metas 7-billion-parameter Llama language model. To do this, they made whats called a sparse AI model where many of the algorithms parameters are set to zero. In theory, this means they can be skipped, making the algorithm smaller, faster, and more efficient. But todays leading AI chipscalled graphics processing units (or GPUs)read algorithms in chunks, meaning they cant skip every zeroed out parameter.

Because memory is distributed across a wafer-scale chip, it can read every parameter and skip zeroes wherever they occur. Even so, extremely sparse models dont usually perform as well as dense models. But here, the team found a way to recover lost performance with a little extra training. Their model maintained performanceeven with 70 percent of the parameters zeroed out. Running on a Cerebras chip, it sipped a meager 30 percent of the energy and ran in a third of the time of the full-sized model.

While all this is impressive, Cerebras is still niche. Nvidias more conventional chips remain firmly in control of the market. At least for now, that appears unlikely to change. Companies have invested heavily in expertise and infrastructure built around Nvidia.

But wafer-scale may continue to prove itself in niche, but still crucial, applications in research. And it may be the approach becomes more common overall. The ability to make wafer-scale chips is only now being perfected. In a hint at whats to come for the field as a whole, the biggest chipmaker in the world, TSMC, recently said its building out its wafer-scale capabilities. This could make the chips more common and capable.

For their part, the team behind the molecular modeling work say wafer-scales influence could be more dramatic. Like GPUs before them, adding wafer-scale chips to the supercomputing mix could yield some formidable machines in the future.

Future work will focus on extending the strong-scaling efficiency demonstrated here to facility-level deployments, potentially leading to an even greater paradigm shift in the Top500 supercomputer list than that introduced by the GPU revolution, the team wrote in their paper.

Image Credit: Cerebras

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This Enormous Computer Chip Beat the Worlds Top Supercomputer at Molecular Modeling - Singularity Hub

Transhumanist author predicts artificial super-intelligence, immortality, and the Singularity by 2045 – TechSpot

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Dystopian Kurzweil: As Big Tech continues frantically pushing AI development and funding, many users have become concerned about the outcome and dangers of the latest AI advancements. However, one man is more than sold on AI's ability to bring humanity to its next evolutionary level.

Raymond Kurzweil is a well-known computer scientist, author, and artificial intelligence enthusiast. Over the years, he has promoted radical concepts such as transhumanism and technological singularity, where humanity and advanced technology merge to create an evolved hybrid species. Kurzweil's latest predictions on AI and the future of tech essentially double down on twenty-year-old predictions.

In a recent interview with the Guardian, Kurzweil introduced his latest book, "The Singularity Is Nearer," a sequel to his bestselling 2005 book, "The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology." Kurzweil predicted that AI would reach human-level intelligence by 2029, with the merging between computers and humans (the singularity) happening in 2045. Now that AI has become the most talked-about topic, he believes his predictions still hold.

Kurzweil believes that in five years, machine learning will possess the same abilities as the most skilled humans in almost every field. A few "top humans" capable of writing Oscar-level screenplays or conceptualizing deep new philosophical insights will still be able to beat AI, but everything will change when artificial general intelligence (AGI) finally surpasses humans at everything.

Bringing large language models (LLM) to the next level simply requires more computing power. Kurzweil noted that the computing paradigm we have today is "basically perfect," and it will just get better and better over time. The author doesn't believe that quantum computing will turn the world upside down. He says there are too many ways to continue improving modern chips, such as 3D and vertically stacked designs.

Kurzweil predicts that machine-learning engineers will eventually solve the issues caused by hallucinations, uncanny AI-generated images, and other AI anomalies with more advanced algorithms trained on more data. The singularity is still happening and will arrive once people start merging their brains with the cloud. Advancements in brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are already occurring. These BCIs, eventually comprised of nanobots "noninvasively" entering the brain through capillaries, will enable humans to possess a combination of natural and cybernetic intelligence.

Kurzweil's imaginative nature as a book author and enthusiastic transhumanist is plain to see. Science still hasn't discovered an effective way to deliver drugs directly into the brain because human physiology doesn't work the way the futurist thinks. However, he remains confident that nanobots will make humans "a millionfold" more intelligent within the next twenty years.

Kurzweil concedes that AI will radically change society and create a global automated economy. People will lose jobs but will also adapt to new employment roles and opportunities advanced tech brings. A universal basic income will also ease the pain. He expects the first tangible transformative plans will emerge in the 2030s. The inevitable Singularity will enable humans to live forever or extend our living prospects indefinitely. Technology could even resurrect the dead through AI avatars and virtual reality.

Kurzweil says people are misdirecting their worries regarding AI.

"It is not going to be us versus AI: AI is going inside ourselves," he said. "It will allow us to create new things that weren't feasible before. It'll be a pretty fantastic future."

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Transhumanist author predicts artificial super-intelligence, immortality, and the Singularity by 2045 - TechSpot

SentinelOne receives top accolades for Singularity Cloud Security – ChannelLife New Zealand

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SentinelOne has announced that its Singularity Cloud Security solution has been recognised as market-leading across CNAPP, CSPM, and CWPP by G2, the world's largest and most trusted software marketplace. The platform garnered over 240 awards in G2s 2024 Summer Grid Reports and is the only CNAPP product that achieved a 4.9 out of 5 rating.

G2 explains the credibility of its Grid, noting, "The Grid represents the democratic voice of real software users, rather than the subjective opinion of one analyst. Our G2 staff does not add any subjective input to the ratings, which are determined algorithmically based on data aggregated from publicly available online sources and social networks. Sellers cannot influence their ratings by spending time or money with us. Only the opinion of real users and data from public sources factor into the ratings."

SentinelOne was recognised as a leader in all three G2 Grids and received accolades for Best ROI, Best Support, Easiest Setup, and Easiest to Use. The comprehensive solution combines an agentless CNAPP for cloud risk prioritisation with agent-based workload protection and malware protection for cloud storage to provide visibility and mitigation capabilities in a single platform. This integration enables security teams to detect and respond to threats with machine-speed intelligence and ensures thorough coverage and deep insight into cloud environments.

Real user reviews substantiate the solution's efficacy. An Engineering Leader at SBI General Insurance shared, "One of the main reasons I use SentinelOne is the ability to provide us with deep visibility into our cloud environment. SentinelOne displays all your cloud environments components in one console and gives details on how they affect cloud security.

Another G2 reviewer, Prahsant Singh, stated, "With SentinelOne, we can feel confident that our entire cloud infrastructure is being scanned around the clock for any potential threats. The all-in-one CNAPP cloud security allows us to identify issues quickly and provide real-time alerts that integrate seamlessly with our existing alerting tools like JIRA, Slack, PagerDuty, and email."

G2 is a software marketplace used by more than 90 million people annually. SentinelOne is an autonomous AI-powered cybersecurity platform. Built on the first unified Data Lake, SentinelOne creates intelligent, data-driven systems that think for themselves, stay ahead of complexity and risk, and evolve on their own.

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Gene Drives Shown to Work in Wild Plants. They Could Wipe Out Weeds. – Singularity Hub

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Henry Grabar has had enough battling knotweed. All he wanted was to build a small garden in Brooklyna bit of peace amid the cacophony of city life. But a plant with beet-red leaves soon took over his nascent garden. The fastest growing plant hed ever seen, it could sprout up to 10 feet high and grow thick as a cornfield. Even with herbicide, it was nearly impossible to kill.

Invasive plant species and weeds dont just ruin backyard gardens. Weeds decrease crop yields at an average annual cost of $33 billion, and control measures can rack up $6 billion more. Herbicides are a defense, but they have their own baggage. Weeds rapidly build resistance against the chemicals, and the resulting produce can be a hard sell for many consumers.

Weeds often seem to have the upper hand. Can we take it away?

Two recent studies say yes. Using a technology called a synthetic gene drive, the teams spliced genetic snippets into a mustard plant popular in lab studies. Previously validated in fruit flies, mosquitoes, and mice, gene drives break the rules of inheritance, allowing selfish genes to rapidly spread across entire species.

But making gene drives work in plants has been a headache, in part due to the way they repair their DNA. The new studies found a clever workaround, leading to roughly 99 percent propagation of a synthetic genetic payload to subsequent generations, in contrast to natures 50 percent. Computer models suggest the gene drives could spread throughout an entire population of the plant in roughly 10 to 30 generations.

Overriding natural evolution, gene drives could add genes that make weeds more vulnerable to herbicides or reduce their pollination and numbers. Beneficial genes can also spread across cropsessentially fast-tracking the practice of cross-breeding for desirable traits.

Imagine a future where yield-robbing agricultural weeds or biodiversity threatening invasive plants could be kept on a genetic leash, wrote Paul Neve at the University of Copenhagen and Luke Barrett at CSIRO Agriculture and Food in Australia, who were not involved in the study.

Inheritance is a coin toss for most species. Half of an offsprings genetic material comes from each parent.

Gene drives torpedo this inheritance rule. Developed roughly a decade ago, the technology relies on CRISPRthe gene editing toolto spread a new gene throughout a population, beating the 50/50 odds. In insects and mammals, a gene can propagate at roughly 80 percent, shuttling an inherited trait down generations and irreversibly changing an entire species.

While this may seem somewhat nefarious, gene drives are designed for good. A main use under investigation is to control disease-carrying mosquitoes by genetically modifying males to be sterile. Upon release, they outcompete their natural counterparts, reducing wild mosquito numbers, and in turn, lowering the risk of multiple diseases. In indoor cages, gene drives have fully suppressed a population of the insects within a year. Small-scale field tests are underway.

Gene drives have caught the eyes of plant scientists too, but initial efforts in plants failed.

The technology relies on CRISPR, which cuts DNA to insert, delete, or swap out genetic letters. Sensing damage to their DNA, cells activate internal molecular repairmen to stitch genes back together and adopt gene drives and their genetic cargo.

Plants are different. Their cells also have a DNA repair mechanism, but its only partially similar to that of insects or mice. Sticking a classic gene drive into plants can cause genetic mutations at the target site and even trigger resistance against the gene drive in a kind of a cellular civil war.

As a workaround, both new studies used a system dubbed toxin-antidote. Compared to previous gene drives, it doesnt rely on canonical DNA repair.

The teams used a self-pollinating mustard plant for their studies. A darling in plant science research, its genome is well-known, and because the plant self-pollinates, its easier to contain the experiment. To build the gene drive, they developed a CRISPR-based method to destroy a gene thats critical for survival called the torpedo. Any pollen without the gene cant live on. A second construct, the antidote, carried a mimic of the same gene, but with modifications so that its resistant to destruction by CRISPR.

They examined two different genetic payloads. One study tinkered with a gene thats essential to both male and female reproductive cells in plants. The other targeted a gene that disrupts pollen production.

Heres the clever part: As the plant pollinates, offspring can inherit either the toxin, the antidote, or both. Only those with the antidote surviveplants that inherit the toxin rapidly die out. As a result, the system worked as a gene drive, with plants carrying the CRISPR-resistant gene taking over the population. The gene drives were highly efficient, passing down through generations roughly 99 percent of the time. And scientists didnt see any signs of evolutionary adaptationknown as resistanceagainst the new genetic makeup.

Computer modeling showed the gene drive could overtake a single plant species in 10 to 30 generations. Thats impressive, according Neve and Barrett. Artificial genetic changes dont often stick in wild plantsthe plants tend to die off. The new gene drives suggest they could potentially last longer in the field, battling invasive species or cultivating hardier and pest-resistant crops that pass down beneficial traits over generations.

Despite their promise, gene drives remain controversial because of their potential to alter entire species. Scientists are still debating the ecological impacts. Theres also the concern that gene drives may hop over to unintended targets. For now, studies have designed genetic brakes to keep gene drives in check. Most studies are done in carefully controlled lab settings, and for malaria, potential unexpected consequences are being rigorously discussed before releasing gene drive-carrying mosquitos into the wild.

Even if the science works, the road to regulatory and societal approval may face roadblocks. Selling farmers on the technology may be difficult. And CRISPRed plants as a food source could also be tainted by the negative perception of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

For now, the teams are looking towards a more acceptable everyday usekilling weeds. There are still a few kinks to work out. Gene drives only work when they can spread, so an ideal use is in plants that pollinate others, rather than those that self-pollinate, such as those in the studies. Still, the results are a proof of concept that the powerful technology can work in plantsthough it may be awhile yet before it helps Henry with his knotweed problem.

Image Credit:Anthony Wade / Unsplash

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Gene Drives Shown to Work in Wild Plants. They Could Wipe Out Weeds. - Singularity Hub

Exception to the Golden Rule: Supporting Trump requires suspension of religious beliefs – Fort Wayne Journal Gazette

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Full disclosure right from the start. I used to be one of you. For many years, in fact. An evangelical, that is.

People who know me now find that difficult to believe, but it is accurate. So, for the rest of you, this is my moment of truth, my acknowledgment that I cannot accept any longer that what used to be religious viewpoints shared in a Sunday morning church context now have morphed into the Christian nationalist point of view that decries all beliefs except its own as heretical whether religious, political or philosophical.

But I am getting ahead of myself.

My personal belief structure does not bother me nearly as much as the troubling beliefs held by Christian nationalists, a term nearly synonymous with evangelicalism since Christianity Today states that 45% of Christian nationalists claim to be white, male and evangelical.

One of the biggest areas of consternation to me is why evangelicals as a group have endorsed and supported Donald Trump not only as president but have continued to support him twice more as a presidential candidate. He appears to stand contrary to every single thing they claim to believe except on a cursory level.

According to the Washington Post, more than 80% of evangelicals voted for Trump in 2020. I know. I have heard the argument, I dont want him to be my pastor; I want him to be my president!

In terms evangelicals used to use, this would elevate their following of Trump to cult status, a term that had been reserved for people such as Jim Jones, Charles Manson and David Koresh.

So, I am going to go out on one big, awkward limb here and state an area of confusion to me as an exvangelical (a term coined by podcaster Blake Chastain).

The same group that went ballistic over President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinskys blue dress doesnt seem to mind that neither Stormy Daniels nor the Man Who Would Be President were wearing any clothes.

Despite a conviction in a New York federal courtroom, Trump continues to assert, I did not have sex with a porn star!

In the but wait, theres more category, perhaps we should consider a few more foibles of the evangelical exception to the rule politicking that continues to be granted to Trump without so much as a sideways glance.

Moral character. If the evangelical dependence on Scripture is accurate, it is safe to assume they believe that as a man thinks in his heart, so is he (Proverbs 23:7). Assuming that is the case, how is it he continually gets a pass on crude comments about women?

The documented list is a long one, from those aimed at former first lady Hillary Clintons inability to satisfy her husband and therefore the country, to talking about Kim Kardashians fat ass or the now-infamous line to Billy Bush about where to grab women.

Poking fun at those with disabilities. If anyone has ever been recognized as kind and tenderhearted to such people, one would guess it to be the Christian of whatever variety. Not so with Trump, who regularly at his campaign rallies performs his bad verbal imitation of a person with mental challenges.

Trump the Bible salesman. Soon after being hit with a multi-million-dollar verdict in one of his trials, Trump started selling Bibles, saying, All Americans need a Bible in their home, and I have many. Its my favorite book.

Of course, the ones he is hawking are printed in a publishing operation he owns, but who is following that money?

Many evangelicals have acknowledged that Trump does not hold to their belief system, but that is easily excused because he is seen to be a person who fights for the things they believe in or against the things to which they are opposed.

These famously have included his despising of immigrants, whom he promises to mass deport immediately upon taking office (failing to recognize that Christ himself was an immigrant as his family fled to Egypt to escape a hateful tyrant) or his lack of support for Christs teaching to love your neighbor as yourself as seen in his frequent rants against the LGBTQ+ community.

Evangelicals have long been known for their tendency to believe that only their particular religious flavor is sufficient to gain entrance to their preferred afterlife. That has now morphed into the political viewpoint that only those who accept Trump as their president and savior can enjoy the good life here and hereafter.

That seems a little contrary to that pesky little First Commandment (its one of the top 10) that says, Thou shalt have no other Gods before me to which they have added except Donald Trump. Donald Trump is OK.

I still dont get it. Perhaps it is really just about the power after all.

Michael Shaffer of Fort Wayne is director of Ball State Universitys Masters in Educational Leadership Program and an associate clinical professor.

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My Point of View: What does the Golden Rule mean to you in your life? – Albert Lea Tribune

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Published 8:45 pm Tuesday, July 9, 2024

My Point of View by Jennifer Vogt-Erickson

How do we expand representation in rural Minnesota?

Jennifer Vogt-Erickson

Brad Kramer referred to a World War II veteran in his last column to counter my criticism of Congressman Brad Finstad recognizing a huge, vertically integrated hog producer at the U.S. Capitol. It was a strange leap to suggest I am against everything Finstad does, including recognizing veterans.

By the same token, Kramer also insinuated that Im anti-veteran, which is disgusting. My dad is a Vietnam veteran and my nephew is an active duty Marine.

Furthermore, Kramer scolded me for criticizing one of the largest hog producers in the U.S. because its woman-owned. (Christensen Farms is owned by the widow of its founder.) He also implied that I support foreign-owned conglomerates instead, as if thats the only possible alternative to domestic concentration. Again, he was trying to divert attention from my point, which is that Rep. Finstad is in the pocket of huge farmers to the detriment of smaller producers.

Women are overrepresented among smaller producers. A politician who wants to help women operators should focus more on helping small farmers, not larding up the biggest farmers with the vast majority of government assistance and giving them more leverage to buy up the best land.

One of my relatives took over his dads farm and expanded it. In the last 12 years, he and his spouse have collected over $1 million in agricultural subsidies from the federal government. Earlier this year he and his family rented a yacht in the Caribbean along with another family. The weeklong package included a captain and an on-board chef. Nice, huh?

I support subsidies, I just think they should be targeted at smaller and medium-sized producers, and they should prioritize crops that arrive on our plates in recognizable form rather than ultra-processed machine-formed shapes. But not Finstad. He doesnt want to tell any farmer theyre too big to qualify for additional government assistance. The USDA aid he does want to restrict, though, is food aid for people in or near poverty.

We heavily subsidize inedible field corn compared to most other crops, creating an oversupply, and Finstad thinks our government should find more foreign markets to dump it in so farmers like him can grow more government-subsidized acres of it.

Government subsidies for commodities also inflate land values. Thus, subsidies enrich landowners, whether they are farming or renting it out. Even worse, Finstad favors repealing the federal estate tax (despite the exemption already being $27 million for couples) so that the tippy top of wealthy landowners can pass their estates to heirs tax-free.

Finstads favored policies lead to further concentration of land ownership. A fiefdom in every township is a far cry from a chicken in every pot.

Brad Kramer seems unaware that Ive repeatedly railed against unlimited campaign spending that has distorted our elections ever since the Supreme Courts Citizens United decision in 2010.

It is, however, fitting that Kramer would single out Alida Rockefeller Messinger, who donates generously to Democratic candidates rather than giving to Republican candidates who would help her reduce her tax liability on the fortune she accrued through the hard work of being born.

The Republican agenda is pro-greed, pro-exploitation, pro-patriarchy and pro-extraction. This doesnt sound appealing to a lot of voters, so Republicans call themselves pro-life which, like the Citizens United organization name, is a cover for something much different.

A great-granddaughter of Standard Oils founder donating large sums to systematically improve the lives of people who emerged silver spoonless from their mothers wombs is helpful to Democrats pro-social goals, but our laws should not allow people to give that much money to campaigns.

What is the Golden Rule to you? Is it, Do unto others as you would have them do unto you?

Or is it, Those who have the gold make the rules?

The first one is the operating philosophy of the Democratic Party. (Its also a teaching of Jesus.) The second one is the operating philosophy of Trumpism/MAGA.

Vote for the one that reflects the shape of the world you want to live in.

Absurdly, Kramer insinuated that Rachel Bohman is writing my columns about Finstad. I take that as a compliment, because shes a brilliant lawyer who cares about people in rural

Minnesota like I do, but I always write my own columns. I grew up on a farm, Ive followed farm politics since the Farm Crisis, and I earned a masters degree in rural sociology. Kramer also once called me an overeducated idiot on Facebook. Theres no such thing as too much education. Education is power.

We need representation for everyone in rural southern Minnesota, and thats why we would be wise to choose Rachel Bohman to represent us in Washington.

Jennifer Vogt-Erickson is a member of the Freeborn County DFL Party.

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My Point of View: What does the Golden Rule mean to you in your life? - Albert Lea Tribune

I Came Up with a Golden Rule of Three for Apartment Balcony Decorating, and It Transformed My Space for the Summer – Better Homes & Gardens

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Decorating a balcony has the potential to be one of the greatest joysor hardshipsthat come with apartment living. If sizable, youre naturally in store for a cozy outdoor space that gets you a view and lots of natural light. But if youre not so lucky, you could be forced to swallow the sight of bricks and the shadow of your neighbor's bedroom until your lease ends.

Dont fret though: No matter the size or shape of your balcony, my golden rule of three will transform it into the alfresco space of your dreams. Get ready for a summer of curling up with a good book while getting some sun and at-home coffee dates.

Choose your apartment balcony design based on your lifestyle. Do you live alone? Get comfortable with an armchair that turns reading the morning paper into the highlight of your day. Fill it with cushions and blankets, and make it inviting for yourself.

Do you live with a partner or a roommate? Opt instead for a sofa, two chairs paired with a coffee table or a sectional to make use of those awkward corners. Get a patio set if you want that chic, European cafe lookperfect for an early dinner with your best friend or teatime with your neighbor.

If lack of space is a concern on your balcony, try nesting furniture. These pieces are built to fit together in a way that optimizes the layout. They can also be stacked and stored away and are often lightweight and mobile.

As hybrid jobs become more popular, working from home can feel like a major (and sometimes suffocating) adjustment. Install a hanging table off your railings, and relocate your work area to your balcony for a temporary change of scenery.

A larger patio can typically accommodate a hammock, but if youre looking for a smaller alternative for your apartment balcony, get a swing for your little one or a stylish egg chair for yourself. Either can be safely hung onto sturdy hooks off of the ceiling; just make sure you have enough space to go back and forth a few feet.

Does the sun come in too powerfully to lounge on your balcony comfortably? An umbrella can shield you from those blinding rays. Just find a corner and place it over your seating.

If youre a little tight on floorspace, balcony curtains or awnings serve the same purpose without the bulkiness. You can also find waterproof balcony curtains, so you wont have to worry about them getting ruined by a sudden summer storm.

Alternatively, if youre looking forward to getting some sun, invest in a lounge chair with good padding for cozy sunbathing. Lather on some sunscreen and kick back on a trusty Chaise lounge chair.

Keep in mind what the weather is like throughout the seasons. You may want to invest in element-resistant furniture, such as a reliable resin-wicker chair or a hardwood base sofa for long-lasting and wear-proof options. If you prefer fuss-free items, modern plastic furniture serves as a low-maintenance alternative. Furniture covers also go a long way if you like to keep plenty of blankets and pillows on your balcony or your location gets a lot of extreme weather.

A balcony is usually the only place in an apartment where you can grow a substantial number of plants. Make use of that outdoor space and fill it up with a small vegetable gardenanything from a tomato plant to a small lemon tree can be your centerpiece. Plus, you get fresh produce to use in your garden-to-table dishes.

To be economical space-wise, consider keeping your floors clear for furniture by growing climber plants in lantern pots, peppering the walls with them, or snaking them around your railings.

Climber plants have a unique feature called aerial roots. These roots cling onto objects and wrap themselves around them by secreting a sticky substance, growing toward the direction of the light. Because these plants reach for the sun by themselves, theyre relatively self sufficient.

Jason Donnelly

Hanging potted plants can also make a standout addition to any balcony, especially with some gorgeous trailing plants in hanging containers. Just place them at a height you can reach so you can water them effectively.

You can also hang balcony planter boxes over your railings to give the effect of an overflowing garden. Compared to wall planters, these boxes can carry a heavier load and feature deep containers for a larger variety of plants.

I covered my balcony railing with planter boxes, pairing my red brick exterior with cream-colored furniture and terracotta pots, and I gush at them every time I pass my apartment building from the outside. Just be awaresome buildings dont allow these boxes because they could fall and injure someone. Check with your building super or HOA before buying them.

If maintaining a garden doesnt sound like your thing or your balcony just doesnt get enough sun, dont worry: Faux plants exist. The options are now hyper-realistic and hassle-free.

Just as important as your furniture sets, dont forget to add little touches to your balcony. Just like the inside of your home, small objects, little knick knacks, and other decorative items give your space personality. I have a kingfisher blue-engraved ashtray on my balcony coffee table (I dont smoke) and a framed photograph of a dandelion field (Im allergic), but indulging in making it a place of beautynot just comfortmake it feel elevated and like my own.

Unlike the inside of your home, theres no need for any overhead lighting (phew!). Use lamps and lanterns to fill your balcony with a warm glow so you can enjoy the space even after the sun sets.

Consider where the electric sockets are located in your balcony. Some balconies might not have any, and then youll have to consider getting battery powered lighting. Also, if your area is prone to a lot of rain, think about whether lights in the balcony can be a safety hazard.

Carson Downing

Giving your balcony walls a fresh coat of paint could be the very change that it was begging for. Consider the color of your building, furniture, and tiling while deciding on the shade.

Adding a rug is one of the easiest ways to elevate a space, but be sure to determine the square footage of your balcony before purchasing. Because of outdoor conditions, it may serve you to not keep the rug under any furniture so you can easily remove it to be cleaned.

You can also place candle holders on your coffee or bistro table to create a more romantic ambiance. As a plus, you can use them for lavender or peppermint oil candles to keep those pesky mosquitoes from getting into your apartment.

If the tiles that came with your apartment balcony arent to your liking, its worth changing it up. Find affordable options like wood interlocking tiles from IKEA or peel and stick tiles if you dont get a lot of rain.

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I Came Up with a Golden Rule of Three for Apartment Balcony Decorating, and It Transformed My Space for the Summer - Better Homes & Gardens

Letter | Replace Ten Commandments with Golden Rule – The Capital Times

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Dear Editor: With Louisiana now mandating the Ten Commandments be on display in public schools and Oklahoma taking that a step further by adding the Bible to its public school American history curriculum, we as a nation are on a new slippery slope. One, where our constitutional right as Americans to a separation of church and state is one step closer to disappearing, and one where our nation is a step closer to becoming a Christian nationalist theocracy.

The state legislators who passed those mandates do not care about other American religions, where the Bible and Ten Commandments are not cornerstones of the faith, nor do they care about all the people who would choose not to be party to forced religion.

But I do think we all know what those legislators' true reactions would be if the shoe was on the other foot and they were subjugated by a non-Christian religion.

So perhaps what we really should have as required teaching and on any public display is the Golden Rule. You know, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." And those very state legislative houses would be the perfect place to start.

Bill Walters

Fitchburg

Send your letter to the editor to tctvoice@madison.com. Include your full name, hometown and phone number. Your name and town will be published. The phone number is for verification purposes only. Please keep your letter to 250 words or less.

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Regulating artificial intelligence doesn’t have to be complicated, some experts say – STAT

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Artificial intelligence has the potential to revolutionize how drugs are discovered and change how hospitals deliver care to patients. But AI also comes with the risk of irreparable harm and perpetuating historic inequities.

Would-be health care AI regulators have been spinning in circles trying to figure out how to use AI safely. Industry bodies, investors, Congress, and federal agencies are unable to agree on which voluntary AI validation frameworks will help ensure that patients are safe. These questions have pitted lawmakers against the FDA and venture capitalists against the Coalition for Health AI (CHAI) and its Big Tech partners.

The National Academies on Tuesday zoomed out, discussing how to manage AI risk across all industries. At the event one in a series of workshops building on the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)s AI Risk Management Framework speakers largely rejected the notion that AI is a beast so different from other technologies that it needs totally new approaches.

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Regulating artificial intelligence doesn't have to be complicated, some experts say - STAT

Investors Pour $27.1 Billion Into A.I. Start-Ups, Defying a Downturn – The New York Times

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For two years, many unprofitable tech start-ups have cut costs, sold themselves or gone out of business. But the ones focused on artificial intelligence have been thriving.

Now the A.I. boom that started in late 2022 has become the strongest counterpoint to the broader start-up downturn.

Investors poured $27.1 billion into A.I. start-ups in the United States from April to June, accounting for nearly half of all U.S. start-up funding in that period, according to PitchBook, which tracks start-ups. In total, U.S. start-ups raised $56 billion, up 57 percent from a year earlier and the highest three-month haul in two years.

A.I. companies are attracting huge rounds of funding reminiscent of 2021, when low interest rates and pandemic growth pushed investors to take risks on tech investments.

In May, CoreWeave, a provider of cloud computing services for A.I. companies, raised $1.1 billion, followed by $7.5 billion in debt, valuing it at $19 billion. Scale AI, a provider of data for A.I. companies, raised $1 billion, valuing it at $13.8 billion. And xAI, founded by Elon Musk, raised $6 billion, valuing it at $24 billion.

Such financing rounds have boosted the industrys overall deal-making by dollar amount and number of deals, said Kyle Stanford, a research analyst at PitchBook.

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Investors Pour $27.1 Billion Into A.I. Start-Ups, Defying a Downturn - The New York Times

What happened to the artificial-intelligence revolution? – The Economist

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Move to San Francisco and it is hard not to be swept up by mania over artificial intelligence (AI). Advertisements tell you how the tech will revolutionise your workplace. In bars people speculate about when the world will get AGI, or when machines will become more advanced than humans. The five big tech firmsAlphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft, all of which have either headquarters or outposts nearbyare investing vast sums. This year they are budgeting an estimated $400bn for capital expenditures, mostly on AI-related hardware, and for research and development.

In the worlds tech capital it is taken as read that AI will transform the global economy. But for ai to fulfil its potential, firms everywhere need to buy the technology, shape it to their needs and become more productive as a result. Investors have added more than $2trn to the market value of the five big tech firms in the past yearin effect projecting an extra $300bn-400bn in annual revenues according to our rough estimates, about the same as another Apples worth of sales. For now, though, the tech titans are miles from such results. Even bullish analysts think Microsoft will make only about $10bn from generative-AI-related sales this year. Beyond Americas west coast, there is little sign AI is having much of an effect on anything.

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What happened to the artificial-intelligence revolution? - The Economist

Artificial intelligence to affect broad range of public services – MDJOnline.com

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Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe

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Artificial intelligence degree programs to be available at Oklahoma universities Oklahoma Voice – Oklahoma Voice

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OKLAHOMA CITY Students at some of Oklahomas public colleges and universities will soon be able to pursue undergraduate degrees in artificial intelligence.

The Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education approved artificial intelligence degree programs at Rose State College, Southwestern Oklahoma State University and the University of Oklahoma on June 4.

While some universities have offered courses in artificial intelligence, these are the first degree programs in the state.

Trisha Wald, dean of the Dobson College of Business and Technology at Southwestern Oklahoma State University, worked to start up the program at the university. Representatives at Rose State College and the University of Oklahoma were not available for comment.

While the degree program can begin in the fall for Southwestern Oklahoma State University, Wald said the late approval means some of the new AI classes may not be able to start until the spring.

Wald said she looked at similar programs in other states to create the proposed curriculum for this new program. While Wald said there are not as many programs as you would think, she was able to use their programs to determine what Southwestern Oklahoma State Universitys program needed.

Its a multidisciplinary program, so its not just computer science courses, Wald said. Weve got higher level math, psychology and philosophy courses, specifically on ethics. So its going to help us have more well-rounded individuals.

Wald said the approval process took months and the proposal had to demonstrate workforce demand to the Regents as part of the proposal process.

Over 19,000 jobs in Oklahoma currently require AI skills, officials said. This number is expected to increase by 21% in the next decade.

AI is rapidly emerging as a vital employment sector, said State Regents for Higher Education Chair Jack Sherry in a statement. New career opportunities in areas like machine learning, data science, robotics and AI ethics are driving demand for AI expertise, and Oklahomas state system colleges and universities are answering the call.

Gov. Kevin Stitt said the new degree programs will allow Oklahomas students to be at the forefront of the AI industry.

These degree programs are a great leap forward in our commitment to innovation in education and will position Oklahoma to be a leader in AI, said Gov. Kevin Stitt in a statement. AI is reshaping every aspect of our lives, especially academics. Im proud of the Board of Regents for ensuring Oklahomas higher ed students do more than just keep pace, theyll lead the AI revolution.

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Artificial intelligence degree programs to be available at Oklahoma universities Oklahoma Voice - Oklahoma Voice

Humanoid robots powered by AI turn heads at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference – Lufkin Daily News

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Humanoid robots powered by AI turn heads at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference - Lufkin Daily News