Technology And Tech News

Chinese scientists have unveiled a new superconducting quantum computing prototype they say operates a million times faster than Google’s top quantum processors. The Chinese chip is also a quadrillion times more efficient than any conventionally built supercomputer, according to a statement issued by its creators.

Dubbed Zuchongzhi-3, the chip was developed by the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in cooperation with half a dozen of the nation’s scientific institutions. The USTC published the results of its research and the chip’s performance analysis in an article for the Physical Review Letters earlier this month.

According to the university’s statement, the testing showed that the new Chinese processor is a million times faster than Google’s Sycamore processor. The US tech giant presented its quantum computer back in October 2024, boasting that it could surpass the fastest conventional supercomputers in performing computationally complex calculations.

https://www.worldbackupday.com/en

Be prepared against data loss and data theft. March 31st is the day to back up and better protect your data.

What is a backup?

A backup is a copy of all your important files — for example, your family photos, home videos, documents and emails. Instead of storing it all in one place (like your computer or smartphone), you keep a copy of everything somewhere safe.

But why should I backup?

Losing your files is way more common than you’d think.

One small accident or failure could destroy all the important stuff you care about.

See also the 3-2-1 rule: https://www.backblaze.com/blog/the-3-2-1-backup-strategy/

What Is the 3-2-1 Backup Rule?

The 3-2-1 backup rule is a simple, effective strategy for keeping your data safe. It advises that you keep three copies of your data on two different media with one copy off-site. Let’s break that down:

Three copies of your data: Your three copies include your original or production data plus two more copies.

On two different media: You should store your data on two different forms of media. ...

One copy off-site: You should keep one copy of your data off-site in a remote location, ideally more than a few miles away from your other two copies.

Their suggested setup is 1 your primary computer, 2 one external hard drive backup, and then 3 some offsite "cloud". A lot of people don't like certain "cloud" policies so you may have to find the right one. You could also drop a hard drive somewhere away from home for storage.

It's important to back data up regularly, but this "world backup day" effort is to encourage people to at least do it annually to start and to hopefully encourage getting in to the habit of regular backups.

Thoughts on backups?

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LACSD) committed wholesale abuse of sensitive criminal justice databases in 2023, violating a specific rule against searching the data to run background checks for concealed carry firearm permits.The sheriff’s department’s 6,789 abuses made up a majority...

Eight years later, you still can’t beat a Pebble

this is exciting news

Hosted site: https://freedium.cfd/

Github: https://github.com/Freedium-cfd/web

Any other services like this? I'd like to find one for insta / facebook (because some businesses use those as their main professional websites and they're login-walled to logged out users)

I won't deny there may be some use cases, but a lot of uses seem like a search engine could get the info I'm looking for, for example:

Code generation: look for some kind of post on code needed

Definitions: look for some kind of site like dictionary.com that has definitions

So I guess my thought is to see what people are using LLMs for, and to compare with existing tools, and then maybe to copy what's being done for my own use cases.

But what are people using LLMs for currently (that you think can't be served by other tools)?

Personalized chatbots dating other chatbots on your behalf. AI concierges fielding questions about potential matches. Advanced algorithms predicting compatibility better than ever before.

Dating apps are on the cusp of a major transformation.

As much of the tech industry grapples with how to integrate artificial intelligence into its products, dating companies are weighing how the technology could usher in a significant shift in the way people connect and meet online.

At its investor day last week, executives from Match Group — the parent company of Match.com, Tinder, Hinge, OkCupid, Our Time and more — teased plans to use AI to improve user experiences and help make better connections.

Justin McLeod, CEO of Hinge, outlined how the company intends to fully embrace AI next year: more personalized matching, smarter algorithms that adapt to users and better understand them over time and AI coaching for struggling daters.

“While AI is not going to be a panacea when it comes to the very deeply and personal problem of love, I can tell you that it is going to transform the dating app experience, taking it from a do-it-yourself platform to an expertly guided journey that leads to far better outcomes and much better value to our daters,” he told investors.

Unconventional computing is computing by a wide range of new or unusual methods [including] ... optical computing, quantum computing, chemical computing, natural computing, biologically-inspired computing, wetware computing, DNA computing, molecular computing, amorphous computing, nanocomputing, reversible computing, ternary computing, fluidics, analogue computing, human and domino computation.

I'd still like a mechanical computer, I guess they have been testing some new designs out: https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/cpus/kirigami-mechanical-computer-has-high-density-memory-and-doesnt-need-electricity-researchers-demo-new-mechanical-computing-design

Domino and billiard ball computers sound like interesting "just for fun" designs:

https://infogalactic.com/info/Billiard_ball_computer

https://infogalactic.com/info/Domino_computer

GUI = Graphical User Interface, CLI = Command Line Interface (or TUI = Text User Interface)

It was occurring to me that it might be easier to manually use a mouse to click certain buttons to execute commands rather than type them up so I was wondering when people like to use GUIs versus CLIs?

(A lot of programmers seem to promote CLI over GUI for everything, because it can use less computer resources I think, but it may require more thinking or effort than just clicking a button than typing things up sometimes, I was thinking)

Advent of Code is an Advent calendar of small programming puzzles for a variety of skill levels that can be solved in any programming language you like. People use them as interview prep, company training, university coursework, practice problems, a speed contest, or to challenge each other.

You don't need a computer science background to participate - just a little programming knowledge and some problem solving skills will get you pretty far. Nor do you need a fancy computer; every problem has a solution that completes in at most 15 seconds on ten-year-old hardware.

...

My voice was cloned by the same expert that did James Nesbitt's - his was for an awareness-raising campaign by Starling Bank. Mine was easily generated using an interview I had done on the radio.

While we had fun typing in different phrases for my clone to say back, the serious issue was finding out how convincing it really was.

Colleagues in the You and Yours office struggled to tell the difference between the two voices.

But rather than seeing if an AI voice could dupe people into believing they were listening to the voice of a real person, I wanted to see how it fared against a piece of tech.

Could it get past my bank account's voice ID system?

Several banks use a system called voice ID or 'my voice is my password' for their phone banking.

The phrase allows the bank to automatically confirm an account holder's identity without the need to remember a security number.

So that was what I asked my cloned voice to say.

Armed with a recording of an AI version of me saying "my voice is my password" I called up my bank, Santander.

"Thanks for calling Santander," came the automated response. "I can see you're calling from your registered phone number. Let's quickly confirm your identity with your voice."

I pressed play.

"My voice is my password," said an AI version of me.

After a very brief pause, the bank replied: "Thank you for using your voice as your password."

Then it asked the reason for my call.

I was in. Or at least, this AI cloned version of my voice was in.

I then tried the same trick with my other bank, Halifax, and it resulted in another successful hack by the AI clone.

I should point out that those initial logins were done in the office, using BBC studio speakers to play my cloned voice down the phone.

So later, a my kitchen table at home on Merseyside, I did it again using a basic iPad speaker. And it worked, which suggested there was no need for top-quality sound.

Canada's Competition Bureau is suing Google for alleged anti-competitive conduct in its online advertising.

In a statement, the country's antitrust watchdog alleged Google had illegally linked two advertising tools to maintain market supremacy and used this dominant position to distort ad auctions by preferring its own tools.

The agency said it had filed an application with the Competition Tribunal, a court-like independent body, that would require Google to sell two of its ad technology tools.

In a statement Google said the complaint out of Canada "ignores the intense competition where ad buyers and sellers have plenty of choice and we look forward to making our case in court".

"Our advertising technology tools help websites and apps fund their content, and enable businesses of all sizes to effectively reach new customers," said Dan Taylor, vice-president of global advertising.

This case centers on online web advertisements - the ads shown to users while visiting other websites.

Digital ad inventory - the space website publishers make available for sale - is often bought and sold through automated auctions using digital platforms.

These platforms are known as ad tech tools, while the entire set of tools used through the purchasing process are known as the ad tech stack.

According to the Competition Bureau, an investigation found that Google had "abused its dominant position" as the biggest ad tech stack in Canada.

“Through a series of calculated decisions, taken over the course of multiple years, Google has excluded competitors and entrenched itself at the center of online advertising,” the Competition Bureau said in its notice announcing the suit of Thursday.

“Google’s near-total control of the ad-tech [software] is a function of premeditated design and conduct, rather than superior competitive performance or happenstance.”

The agency said it was asking the Competition Tribunal to force Google to sell two of its ad tech tools, and pay a fine of as much as 3% of the company’s global revenue "to promote compliance" with Canada's competition laws.

Google has 45 days to file its response with the tribunal.

Can a navigation app be held responsible if a user gets into an accident?

That is the question being asked in India after three men died when their car veered off an unfinished bridge and fell on to a riverbed in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

Police are still investigating the incident, which took place on Sunday, but they believe that Google Maps led the group to take that route.

A part of the bridge had reportedly collapsed earlier this year because of floods and while locals knew this and avoided the bridge, the three men were not aware of this and were from outside the area. There were no barricades or sign boards indicating that the bridge was unfinished.

Authorities have named four engineers from the state's road department and an unnamed official from Google Maps in a police complaint on charges of culpable homicide.

A spokesperson from Google told BBC Hindi that it was co-operating with the investigation.

The tragic accident has spotlighted India's poor road infrastructure and sparked a debate on whether navigation apps like Google Maps share responsibility for such incidents.

Some blame the app for not providing accurate information while others argue that it is a larger failure on the part of the government for not cordoning off the place.