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A new Google malvertising campaign is leveraging a cluster of domains mimicking a legitimate IP scanner software to deliver a previously unknown backdoor dubbed MadMxShell. "The threat actor registered multiple look-alike domains using a typosquatting technique and leveraged Google Ads to push these domains to the top of search engine results targeting specific search keywords, thereby Newsroomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/[email protected]

Stymied by sanctions, it had to go … but where?

Chinese surveillance camera manufacturer Zhejiang Dahua Technology, which has found itself on the USA’s entity list of banned orgs, has fully sold off its stateside subsidiary for $15 million to Taiwan's Central Motion Picture Corporation, according to the firm's annual report released on Monday.…

#HACKUJBRNO 2024, byly zveřejněny výsledky a výstupy hackathonu města Brna nad otevřenými městskými daty, který se konal 13. a 14. dubna 2024.

Opponents warn almost anyone could be asked to share info with Uncle Sam

On Thursday the US Senate is expected to reauthorize the contentious warrantless surveillance powers conferred by Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), and may even strengthen them with language that, according to US Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), "will force a huge range of companies and individuals to spy for the government."…

Yesterday, Boston Dynamics announced it was retiring its hydraulic Atlas robot. Atlas has long been the standard bearer of advanced humanoid robots. Over the years, the company was known as much for its research robots as it was for slick viral videos of them working out in military fatigues, forming dance mobs, and doing parkour. Fittingly, the company put together a send-off video of Atlas’s greatest hits and blunders.

But there were clues this wasn’t really the end, not least of which was the specific inclusion of the word “hydraulic” and the last line of the video, “‘Til we meet again, Atlas.” It wasn’t a long hiatus. Today, the company released hydraulic Atlas’s successor—electric Atlas.

The new Atlas is notable for several reasons. First, and most obviously, Boston Dynamics has finally done away with hydraulic actuators in favor of electric motors. To be clear, Atlas has long had an onboard battery pack—but now it’s fully electric. The advantages of going electric include less cost, noise, weight, and complexity. It also allows for a more polished design. From the company’s own Spot robot to a host of other humanoid robots, fully electric models are the norm these days. So, it’s about time Atlas made the switch.

Without a mess of hydraulic hoses to contend with, the new Atlas can now also contort itself in new ways. As you’ll note in the release video, the robot rises to its feet—a crucial skill for a walking robot—in a very, let’s say, special way. It folds its legs up along its torso and impossibly, for a human at least, pivots up through its waist (no hands). Once standing Atlas swivels its head 180 degrees, then does the same thing at each hip joint and the waist. It takes a few watches to really appreciate all the weirdness there.

The takeaway is that while Atlas looks like us, it’s capable of movements we aren’t and therefore has more flexibility in how it completes future tasks.

This theme of same-but-different is evident in its head too. Instead of opting for a human-like head that risks slipping into the uncanny valley, the team chose a featureless (for now) lighted circle. In an interview with IEEE Spectrum, Boston Dynamics CEO, Robert Playter, said the human-like designs they tried seemed “a little bit threatening or dystopian.”

“We’re trying to project something else: a friendly place to look to gain some understanding about the intent of the robot,” he said. “The design borrows from some friendly shapes that we’d seen in the past. For example, there’s the old Pixar lamp that everybody fell in love with decades ago, and that informed some of the design for us.”

While most of these upgrades are improvements, there is one area where it’s not totally clear how well the new form will fair: strength and power.

Hydraulics are known to provide both, and Atlas pushed its hydraulics to their limits carrying heavy objects, executing backflips, and doing 180-degree, in-air twists. According to the press release and Playter’s interviews, little has been lost in this category. In fact, they say, electric Atlas is stronger than hydraulic Atlas. Still, as with all things robotics, the ultimate proof of how capable it is will likely be in video form, which we’ll eagerly await.

Despite big design updates, the company’s messaging is perhaps more notable. Atlas used to be a research robot. Now, the company intends to sell them commercially.

This isn’t terribly surprising. There are now a number of companies competing in the humanoid robots space, including Agility, 1X, Tesla, Apptronik, and Figure—which just raised $675 million at a $2.6 billion valuation. Several are making rapid progress, with a heavy focus on AI, and have kicked off real-world pilots.

Where does Boston Dynamics fit in? With Atlas, the company has been the clear leader for years. So, it’s not starting from the ground floor. Also, thanks to its Spot and Stretch robots, the company already has experience commercializing and selling advanced robots, from identifying product-market fit to dealing with logistics and servicing. But AI was, until recently, less of a focus. Now, they’re folding reinforcement learning into Spot, have begun experimenting with generative AI too, and promise more is coming.

Hyundai acquired Boston Dynamics for $1.1 billion in 2021. This may prove advantageous, as they have access to a world-class manufacturing company along with its resources and expertise producing and selling machines at scale. It’s also an opportunity to pilot Atlas in real-world situations and perfect it for future customers. Plans are already in motion to put Atlas to work at Hyundai next year.

Still, it’s worth noting that, although humanoid robots are attracting attention, getting big time investment, and being tried out in commercial contexts, there’s likely a ways to go before they reach the kind of generality some companies are touting. Playter says Boston Dynamics is going for multi-purpose, but still niche, robots in the near term.

“It definitely needs to be a multi-use case robot. I believe that because I don’t think there’s very many examples where a single repetitive task is going to warrant these complex robots,” he said. “I also think, though, that the practical matter is that you’re going to have to focus on a class of use cases, and really making them useful for the end customer.”

Humanoid robots that tidy your house and do the dishes may not be imminent, but the field is hot, and AI is bringing a degree of generality not possible a year ago. Now that Boston Dynamics has thrown its name in the hat, things will only get more interesting from here. We’ll be keeping a close eye on YouTube to see what new tricks Atlas has up its sleeve.

Image Credit: Boston Dynamics

Rodiny s více dětmi se možná dočkají dalších daňových výhod. Přilepšit by si měly díky vyšší daňové slevě a daňovým prázdninám.

Je péče o zahradu, kterou převzali synové poškozeného, nutnou péčí o domácnost, kterou by měla pojišťovna platit? A kdyby o zahradu nepečovaly děti poškozeného a ta zpustla, ohrožovalo by to nějak důstojnost člověka zraněného při autohavárii?

Certifikační autorita Let's Encrypt připravuje několik technických změn, které ovlivní generování certifikátů a jejich řetězec důvěry. Odpojí se tím od autority IdenTrust a zrychlí TLS handshake.

Ve druhém článku o manipulacích s hodnotami a jednotkami si ukážeme kooperaci knihovny Pint s knihovnou SymPy. I samotná knihovna SymPy práci s jednotkami a veličinami do určité míry podporuje.

Společnost TensorWave, která plánuje v letošním roce dokončit systém osazený 20 000 AI akcelerátory, se rozhodla zvolit Instinct MI300X od AMD. Podle jejího šéfa nabízí tři zásadní výhody…

Grafen je sice stále úžasný, ale o pozornost světa se perou další 2D materiály. Novinkou z výhně objevů materiálových vědců je zlaten od týmu švédské Linköpings universitet, 2D materiál z jediné vrstvy atomů zlata. Mohl by se uplatnit jako velmi výkonný katalyzátor rozmanitých procesů nebo třeba při výrobě elektroniky.

Water tank overflowed during one system malfunction, says Mandiant

The Russian military's notorious Sandworm crew was likely behind cyberattacks on US and European water plants that, in at least one case, caused a tank to overflow.…

Společnost Volla Systeme stojící za telefony Volla spustila na Kickstarteru kampaň na podporu tabletu Volla Tablet s Volla OS nebo Ubuntu Touch.

Funkce Circle to Search začala u Galaxy S24 a u Pixelů 8 • Postupně se však dostává i na starší telefony od Samsungu • V Česku už umí překládat a přidáme i několik dalších tipů

Vyzkoušeli jsme, co troje hodinky zaznamenají při běhu • Srovnání Apple Watch, Garmin Forerunner 965 a Samsung Galaxy Watch6 • I stylové modely toho hodně dokážou

Společnost Boston Dynamics oznámila, že humanoidní hydraulický robot HD Atlas šel do důchodu (YouTube). Nastupuje nová vylepšená elektrická varianta (YouTube).

Firma Western Digital nabízí širokou paletu úložišť vhodných pro nejrůznější situace. Patří sem například i provádění geofyzikálního a seismického průzkumu v odlehlých oblastech nebo práce v místech s pomalým připojením k internetu. Pro firmy a uživatele, kteří čelí těmto výzvám, představila nové ...

While Apple didn’t rush to embrace sideloading, developers can get ready for it in the EU, as support for this is now live in the latest iOS 17.5 beta.

This is the first big improvement Apple has made to its originally stated plans to bring its business in line with Europe’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). Web Distribution lets authorized developers distribute their iOS apps to users in the European Union (EU) directly from a website owned by the developer.

Apple announced its initial approach to DMA compliance in March, spoke in Europe about its plans a little later, and received lots of feedback, which it is now acting on. Europe has also begun looking into its compliance with the DMA, suggesting Apple’s tweaks reflect the company’s ongoing dialog with EU regulators.

The basic idea is that developers can choose to offer their own apps to customers through their websites, though they must agree to various checks and must also handle customer support, tech support, taxation and more. In some cases, a fee may be payable. But users will want to know how the change will impact them.

What is the user experience?

Customers have become accustomed to the App Store, so it seems likely most people will want to keep using it. However, as developers peel away from the App Store, it’s possible some important apps will become solely available via independent portals, including developer websites. We must wait and see the extent to which this will complicate the user experience and dilute platform integrity. 

But, when it comes to web distribution, we can at least see how the system works by considering the customer journey Apple has described. That journey is far from being the miserable experience some of the company’s big-mouthed critics have said it is; it has been designed to inform and protect customers, as I see it.

According to Apple, when a customer chooses to download an iOS app from a developer’s website:

• The first time they choose to download an app from a new developer they must navigate a series of prompt screens in which the significance of the decision is explained.
• They then authenticate with Face ID to agree to give the developer permission to install apps on their device.
• They go through a three-step process to install the app itself.
• And those who want to download other apps from that developer’s website will go directly to the last three steps, as permission will already have been provided. 

Apple’s app notarization process actually benefits all parties in this. It does so by requiring the developer to provide clear information and screenshots to explain what the app does and how it works. That means customers should know what they are installing, while notarization means they can be reasonably secure the app has at least received some security vetting — albeit not to the same extent as the App Store.

Who can distribute apps on the web?

To distribute apps via their websites, developers must live in or be registered in the EU, or have a subsidiary incorporated there. They must also have been a member of the Apple Developer Program for two continuous years or more and have an app that had more than a million first annual installs on iOS in the EU in the preceding 12 months.

If they qualify, developers must agree to Apple’s new business terms. Among other things, this includes taking responsibility for customer support and refunds and agreeing to the Alternative Terms Addendum for Apps in the EU.

What about the small print?

With all that in place, developers must:

• Only offer apps from their developer account.
• Respond in timely fashion to questions from Apple concerning distributed apps, particularly around fraud, malware, or anything that could impact the safety and security of users or the platforms.
• Agree to submit their apps to Apple’s notarization process, which aims to protect the company’s platform and its customers.
• Publish transparent data collection policies and offer users control over how their data is collected and used.
• Follow applicable laws, such as GDPR, taxation, and government enquiries.

What support does Apple provide?

Once a qualified developer has set up for business this way, Apple will supply the following resources to enable web distribution of apps:

• Access to a series of APIs Apple has built to enable web distribution, integrate with system functionality, and back-up and restore apps.
• Developers can only sell their apps via App Store Connect registered sites.
• They must also agree to pay Apple a Core Technology Fee of €0.50 for each first annual install of an app once installations exceed one million in 12 months. (Most developers don’t move apps at that scale.)
• A free exemption to non-profits, educational institutions, or government entities based in the EU that have been approved for a fee waiver.

Once set up, developers can download signed binary assets that they can then host for sale and distribution through their own website.

What else has changed?

Changes to Apple’s original proposals include:

• Web distribution of iOS apps. 
• A loosening of the rules so larger corporate developers don’t need to handle quite as much bureaucracy.
• The ability of developers who want to build their own app marketplace to qualify without providing a stand-by letter of credit. 
• Allowing developers to switch back to Apple’s traditional App Store business model one time. This is designed to protect developers against unexpected business changes, such as in the event a developer’s app sees downloads increase faster than expected.

What else is new?

Apple has promised a range of additional changes to bring its App Store business into strong compliance with the DMA. Among other things, the company will make it possible to delete Safari in favor of other browsers and will provide solutions to make it easier to migrate to other smartphone platforms.

Please follow me on Mastodon, or join me in the AppleHolic’s bar & grill and Apple Discussions groups on MeWe.

Apple, Apple App Store, iOS

Možná si vzpomenete, že Firefox 121 před koncem roku ve Windows začal doporučovat instalaci AV1 Video Extension. Stačí zalistovat v tomto článku. Firefox 125 bezpoplatkový formát AV1 podporuje také v případě chráněného obsahu. DRM typicky používají (placené) streamovací služby. Netflix se ostatně ...