News of the Cyber World

[kyonides]

CERN

A couple of days ago CERN posted the following article on their official website. I'm only reproducing small portions of it for a very specific reason.

Accelerator Report: Protons or Easter eggs? Let’s hope for both

Beam commissioning is progressing well across the entire accelerator complex, with initial completion achieved in the first machines of the chain. Last week, the first physics experiments started in the East Area, behind the PS, and others will follow suit shortly.
However, despite the overall positive momentum of beam commissioning, challenges have arisen along the way, highlighting the complexities involved. Last week, some of the components of one of the Linac4 accelerating structures, specifically the Cell-Coupled-Drift-Tube-Linacs (CCDTLs) 3 and 4, presented some issues. Both CCDTLs rely on a single klystron*, a high-power microwave amplifier crucial for providing accelerating power to the structures, which, in turn, transfer the power to the protons, which are then accelerated.

The high-voltage and high-frequency amplifier chain, including the klystron, experienced frequent voltage breakdowns, resulting in a significant drop in accelerating voltage within the two CCDTLs. This disruption severely perturbed the beam, rendering it unusable for the PS Booster. Experts intervened multiple times, initially focusing on fine-tuning the parameters of the amplifier chain and later on cleaning and replacing various components suspected to be causing the breakdowns.

Here comes the most eye-catching part, if particle collisions don't matter to you at all.

Meanwhile, commissioning activities in the downstream machines have been suspended and the start of physics at the n_TOF facility, behind the PS, has been postponed (it was originally scheduled to start on 25 March). Commissioning of the North Area's secondary beams began on 22 March instead of 25 March. Thanks to this head start, the incident in Linac4 does not impact the overall schedule for the North Area, where physics is still scheduled to start on 10 April.

In Linac4, the old klystron has been removed, and the new one had been installed and tested by 26 March. Beam was sent to the PS Booster at 5 p.m. that day and, at 9 p.m., the LHC beam commissioning activities resumed. Since then, they have been progressing well.

On 27 March, beams entered into “test” collisions at the target energy of 6.8 TeV in the LHC. These were not yet stable beams, which meant that the experiments did not take data. Collisions for physics at 6.8 TeV are expected to take place on 8 April.

If you still don't get it, April 8th is the day there will be a solar eclipse crossing US.
Just a funny coincidence, don't you think?

Tesla Ads Coming Your Way?

Tesla Embraces Advertising amid Slowing EV Demand and Increased Competition

The Wall Street Journal reports that since taking the reins at Tesla, Elon Musk has been vocal about his distaste for traditional advertising. Musk famously declared in 2019, “I hate advertising,” relying instead on word-of-mouth endorsements from early adopters and his own rising public profile to raise brand awareness. However, the company’s recent actions indicate a significant change in strategy.
According to estimates from Vivvix, a division of ad-tracking company MediaRadar, Tesla spent approximately $6.4 million on U.S. digital advertising in 2023, a substantial increase from the estimated $175,000 spent in 2022. While this figure pales in comparison to the billions spent by other carmakers like General Motors, it marks a notable shift in Tesla’s approach.

The majority of Tesla’s ad spending has been directed towards YouTube, as reported by Sensor Tower, a firm that monitors digital ads. Additionally, the company has recently placed video ads on Facebook and Instagram, despite Musk’s past criticisms of Meta and its chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg. Tesla is also advertising on Musk’s own platform, X/Twitter.

The new ad campaign, which promotes the Model Y as “the #1 most American-made car,” features footage of a cowboy and Tesla’s Giga Texas factory in Austin. The ads also encourage viewers to make a purchase before April 1, when prices are set to increase by $1,000. Recent Tesla ads on YouTube have taken a more family-focused approach, highlighting the Model Y’s five-star safety rating and trip planner based on the locations of Tesla charging units.

Experts attribute this shift in strategy to slowing growth in consumer demand for electric vehicles and increased competition among EV makers. In January, Tesla warned of “notably” slower growth in 2024, and its stock price has dropped by nearly 30 percent so far this year. Furthermore, China’s BYD overtook Tesla as the largest global seller of EVs last quarter.

NYChatbot Disaster

New York City’s AI-Powered Chatbot Gives Businesses Disastrous and Potentially Illegal Advice

The Markup reports that in an effort to harness the power of artificial intelligence to improve government services, New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) announced the launch of an AI-powered chatbot in October 2023. The chatbot, powered by Microsoft’s Azure AI services, was intended to provide New Yorkers with reliable information on starting and operating a business in the city, drawing from over 2,000 NYC Business web pages. However, five months after its launch, an investigation by The Markup has revealed that the chatbot is providing advice that could lead businesses to break the law.

The chatbot has been found to offer inaccurate information on a wide range of topics, including housing policy, worker rights, and rules for entrepreneurs. When asked if landlords are required to accept tenants with Section 8 housing vouchers, the chatbot incorrectly stated that they do not need to accept these tenants. This advice goes against New York City law, which makes it illegal for landlords to discriminate based on the source of income, with only a minor exception for small buildings where the landlord or their family resides.

Rosalind Black, Citywide Housing Director at the legal assistance nonprofit Legal Services NYC, tested the chatbot herself and discovered additional false information. The bot wrongly stated that it was legal for landlords to lock out tenants and that there were no restrictions on the amount of rent that could be charged for residential tenants. Black emphasized that these inaccuracies are related to fundamental housing policies in the city and that the chatbot should be taken down if it cannot provide accurate and responsible information.

Facebook & Netflix: Yes, They're Related

Lawsuit: Facebook Gave Netflix Access to Private User Messages, Scuttled Video Service for Sweetheart Ads Deal

Gizmodo reports that Facebook’s short-lived streaming service, “Watch,” showed great potential when it launched in 2017, signing deals to produce original TV shows featuring movie stars like Bill Murray and attempting to license popular content such as the ’90s TV show Dawson’s Creek. However, court filings recently unsealed reveal that the service was allegedly kneecapped just two years later to protect Facebook’s advertising deals with Netflix.
The plaintiffs in the antitrust lawsuit against Meta argue that Netflix and Facebook enjoyed a special relationship for nearly a decade, facilitated by Netflix’s then-CEO Reed Hastings, who sat on Facebook’s board from 2011 to 2019. During this period, Netflix was allegedly granted privileged access to Facebook users’ private message inboxes and other analytics tools in exchange for hundred-million-dollar advertising deals, giving Facebook greater dominance in its crucial ad division.

When questioned about potential conflicts between Facebook Watch and Netflix at the 2017 Recode conference, Hastings downplayed the issue, stating, “We’re not bidding on the same shows.” However, he later emailed Mark Zuckerberg, writing, “Let me know if you think there was a better way to handle. In hindsight, I wish I added a materiality qualifier like ‘not generally bidding on the same content.'”

In May 2018, just two years after Watch’s launch, Zuckerberg personally emailed Fidji Simo, the head of Facebook Watch, informing her that their budget was being slashed by $750 million. This sudden pivot meant Facebook was dismantling the streaming business it had spent the previous two years growing. Simultaneously, Netflix increased its ad spend on Facebook to roughly $150 million a year and allegedly entered into agreements for increased data analytics.

Sam Bankman-Fried & FTX

Sam Bankman-Fried Claims FTX Suffered ‘Zero’ Losses Despite $11 Billion in Estimated Lost Funds

Disgraced former FTX CEO and Democrat super donor Sam Bankman-Fried’s legal team has claimed that customers have lost “zero” dollars despite an estimated $11 billion in customer and investors losses due to SBF’s fraud.

Judge Lewis Kaplan on Friday sentenced Bankman-Fried to 25 years in jail after he was convicted of five counts of conspiracy and two counts of wire fraud related to the collapse of the digital currency exchange FTX.

In Bankman-Fried’s sentencing memo, his lawyers claimed that the “most reasonable estimate of customer loss is zero” and that FTX was “solvent at the time of the bankruptcy petition,” and merely had a “liquidity shortfall.”
“The money was there — not lost,” the lawyers claimed.

Prosecutors claimed that the FTX customer loss amounted to $8 billion. When including investor and lenders’ losses for FTX and Alameda Research, FTX’s sister company and a hedge fund, the total eclipses $11 billion.
Current FTX CEO John Ray said in a scathing letter to Kaplan that Bankman-Fried made “demonstrably false” claims in his sentencing memo.
...
“…When I took over as CEO, there were only 105 bitcoins left on the FTX.com exchange, against customer entitlements of nearly 100,000 bitcoins,” Ray explained.

“Mr. Bankman-Fried’s victims will never be returned to the same economic position they would have been in today absent his colossal fraud,” Ray wrote.

Biden & Gas- or Diesel-Powered Vehicles

Biden Net Zero Pollution Edicts Target Heavy Duty Diesel Trucks, Buses

The Biden administration has begun a crackdown on emissions generated by heavy duty diesel trucks and buses with regulations announced Friday aimed at forcing those vehicles to work towards meeting zero pollution targets.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) claims the new rules represent the “strongest-ever greenhouse gas emissions” standards of their kind with everything from city buses and box trucks to garbage trucks and 18-wheelers targeted.

The truck rules do not explicitly mandate a shift toward electric vehicles (EVs). Instead, they set average pollution limits for truckmakers’ fleets that are expected to push them in the direction of electric and other lower-emitting technologies like hybrids.

FOX News reports the rules will kick in beginning in 2026 for model year 2027 vehicles and progressively become more stringent through model year 2032, forcing a larger number of trucks and buses to be zero-emissions in that time frame even as questions remain as to their efficiency.

The rules apply to manufacturers, and while it’s up to manufacturers to choose how to comply, the Biden administration aims to force makers to lean heavily on battery-powered vehicles as alternatives.