NEW RESOURCES

InPublishing: Mousse Magazine launches digital archive. “Contemporary art magazine Mousse has digitised its complete archive of print issues in partnership with publisher services company, Exact Editions, expanding the reading experience with a new paperless dimension. Individuals and institutions can now subscribe for fully-searchable access to over eighty issues from Mousse archives, dating all the way back to 2006, with new ones being published quarterly.”

Stanford Bioengineering: Phil’s Laberia: A Game Changer in Bioengineering Education. “This free, educational video game provides an immersive experience into a digital version of the world-class Uytensgu Teaching Lab (UTL) at Stanford’s Shriram Center for Bioengineering and Chemical Engineering, allowing students to step into the UTL environment virtually. The game is designed to teach skills based on BIOE 44: Fundamentals for Engineering Biology Lab, where Stanford undergraduates learn essential techniques in genetic, molecular, biochemical, and cellular engineering.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

The Verge: X is shutting down Circles. “X is planning to shut down Circles, a feature that lets you share posts with a limited group of people instead of all of your followers. The company said in a ‘PSA’ on Thursday that Circles will be disabled by October 31st.”

XDA Developers: Google Bard gets smarter with Extensions support. “To take the competition head-on and challenge rival platforms like ChatGPT, Google has announced a couple of new features for Bard. The Mountain View tech giant has announced Bard Extensions and the ability to double-check responses in Bard to give users more customized responses.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

Ars Technica: AI-generated books force Amazon to cap e-book publications to 3 per day. “On Monday, Amazon introduced a new policy that limits Kindle authors from self-publishing more than three books per day on its platform, reports The Guardian. The rule comes as Amazon works to curb abuses of its publication system from an influx of AI-generated books.”

Bloomberg: Google Tweaks Ad Auctions to Hit Revenue Targets, Executive Says. “Alphabet Inc.’s Google has tweaked its advertising auctions to ensure it meets revenue targets, sometimes increasing ad prices by as much as 5%, an executive for the company testified Monday at a federal antitrust trial.”

Variety: Stephen Fry ‘Shocked’ to Discover AI Stole His Voice From ‘Harry Potter’ Audiobooks and Replicated It Without Consent, Says His Agents ‘Went Ballistic’. “Stephen Fry recently revealed at the CogX Festival (via Forbes) that his voice from the ‘Harry Potter’ audiobooks was taken by AI software and replicated without his consent, much to the horror of both himself and his agents.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Bleeping Computer: Apple emergency updates fix 3 new zero-days exploited in attacks. “Apple released emergency security updates to patch three new zero-day vulnerabilities exploited in attacks targeting iPhone and Mac users, for a total of 16 zero-days fixed this year. Two bugs were found in the WebKit browser engine (CVE-2023-41993) and the Security framework (CVE-2023-41991), enabling attackers to bypass signature validation using malicious apps or gain arbitrary code execution via maliciously crafted webpages.”

Australian Associated Press: FTX founder Bankman-Fried to stay in jail until trial. “A US appeals court has upheld a judge’s decision to jail former cryptocurrency billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried ahead of his trial on fraud charges stemming from the November 2022 collapse of his now-bankrupt FTX exchange. In a written decision on Thursday, a three-judge panel of the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said it agreed with US District Judge Lewis Kaplan’s finding that Bankman-Fried had likely attempted to tamper with two witnesses.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Chico State Today: The Growing Pains of AI: Professor to study how tools like ChatGPT affect children . “What is the impact of AI on kids? Tools like CHATGPT and virtual learning assistants have provided plenty of fodder for people to debate—in schools, around the dinner table, and at parent groups. Chico State professor Abbas Attarwala wants to help answer this question. The Center of California Studies at Sacramento State awarded Attarwala a $30,000 grant this summer to provide much-needed background on the current research landscape of AI and its impact on children.”

The Diplomat: Beijing Is Getting Better at Disinformation on Global Social Media. “Several in-depth investigations published over the past two months by academic researchers, think tanks, news outlets, and cybersecurity companies have shed light on the evolution of disinformation campaigns originating in China. Some offer new insights on campaigns that peaked last spring, while others analyze more recent messaging, tactics, and accounts that have emerged since October 2020. A close reading of these investigations points to several emergent features of China-linked disinformation campaigns – meaning the purposeful dissemination of misleading content, including via inauthentic activity on global social media platforms.”

New York Times: Trump Attacked Me. Then Musk Did. It Wasn’t an Accident.. “This isn’t a story I relish revisiting. But I’ve learned that what happened to me wasn’t an accident. It wasn’t just personal vindictiveness or ‘cancel culture.’ It was a strategy — one that affects not just targeted individuals like me, but all of us, as it is rapidly changing what we see online.” Good morning, Internet…

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