Elon's been busy with some non-Twitter related stuff. Yesterday it was giving us an update on Neuralink, the company he co-founded (i.e: funded) to do brain-computer interface neuroprosthetics. According to Arstechnica, the "most significant difference from years prior is the level of detail involved in the surgical robot" (to implant the device) and that they will conduct human testing in 6 months - but who really believes Elon's timelines for anything? Case in point, the first batch of Tesla Semi trucks were finally delivered to launch customer Pepsi today, three years later than Elon initially claimed. Still, better late than never and as someone that knows fuck all about trucks, it looks like a cool truck.
One of the most popular smartphone cryptocurrency wallets, Coinbase Wallet, can't update its app until it removes the ability to transfer NFTs because Apple wants a 30% cut of the "gas" (aka transaction fees) when you transfer an NFT. Coinbase reckon "this is clearly not possible. Apple's proprietary In-App Purchase system does not support crypto so we couldn't comply even if we tried" and that "this is akin to Apple trying to take a cut of fees for every email that gets sent over open Internet protocols". I loathe NFTs as much as the next person, but Apple is once again taking the piss here. Apple had practically nothing to do with this transaction except for the fact the person instigating it did it on an iOS device. Apple has clearly entered the boomer landlord phase of its life.
Mozilla and Microsoft will remove TrustCor Systems as a certificate authority from their browsers after it was revealed TrustCor is involved in operating large spyware SDK. This means any SSL certificate that was signed by TrustCor will no longer be valid in Firefox or Edge (dunno about Chrome). TrustCor was evasive and unconvincing in its answers to everyone's questions about their business setup, so Mozilla and Microsoft decided to revoke TrustCor's CA status. CAs are supposed to be trustworthy organisations considering the role they play in internet security, so having a business that makes spyware also be a root CA is obviously a Bad Idea. I don't thing TrustCor was a very big CA but still, concerning this went on for so long.
Australia has been freeloading off Japan's Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) to enhance the accuracy of GNSS (aka GPS) operations. Because we are in the same longitude as Japan it is essentially "free" to tap into when their satellites pass over us, but it didn't cover all of Australia. Well we won't have to rely on QZSS anymore as back in September Geoscience Australia announced that the Southern Positioning Augmentation Network (SouthPAN) is open for early access. It'll provide accuracy down to 10cm as well as navigation messages. By 2028 it will be a certified "Safety of Life Service". More info that's mostly over my head, is available on the Geoscience Australia website.
Here's five interesting discussions over on The Sizzle's paid subscriber forum for you to enjoy over the weekend. If you are not a paid subscriber but want to get involved, visit https://thesizzle.com.au/payme to get onboard.
CSIRO researchers have developed a system for rapidly generating text for electronic catalogues. It is unique in that it produces text which is based on specific information about the intended reader - such as educational level, language skills or professional experience. This ensures that the right information is presented to users in a timely and meaningful way, taking account of their needs and interests. (scienceimage)
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