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Without defending any party or attacking the other, I find this article interesting because it somehow presents a new situation whose implications we should carefully consider: First, can Microsoft’s logic be extended from the use of cloud storage and AI to the use of operating systems? What about communications services or even hardware? Can this (…)

Zyklus-Apps sind eine praktische Hilfe, um den eigenen Zyklus zu beobachten und besser verstehen zu lernen, und können sogar bei der Familienplanung unterstützen. Die dabei geteilten Daten sind sehr sensibel, aber auch gleichzeitig sehr begehrt, denn sie geben einen Hinweis darauf, dass sich Konsumgewohnheiten ändern könnten, wenn sich eine Schwangerschaft andeutet. Deswegen besteht das Risiko, (…)

I like this article because it offers a thought-provoking perspective. It discusses how digital payment and identity systems are closely linked and can help countries become more independent, inclusive, and resilient—in other words, more sovereign. By linking digital trust to infrastructure ownership and policy-making, the article encourages reflection on whether societies truly control their digital (…)

This is a nice reminder of the state of the foundation upon which our public key infrastructure stands. Depending on the angle you’re looking at, it is either stable or shaky. The incident in question was a certificate authority that emitted a rogue certificate for “test purposes.” What ensued and how Cloudflare responded shows how (…)

Semiconductors power nearly all modern devices, so controlling their production is strategically crucial. By revoking TSMC’s authorization to export advanced US chipmaking tools to China, the US hinders China’s ability to produce state-of-the-art chips (though TSMC only makes less advanced chips there). While this may curb China’s capacities in the short run, in the long-term, (…)

While it was to be expected that Anthropic will also use the users’ chats for training, I think the way they’re approaching this is not too bad. Perhaps the pop-up is not clear enough, but at least past chats will not get in the LLM training grinder. One of the big question will be of (…)

As the speed that articles can be generated has increased with the rise of LLMs, Wikipedia just increased the speed it can delete them. If an article has obvious signs of having been created by an LLM, it can be deleted quickly with only two approvals. I think this is a good way of making (…)

From a cryptographer’s point of view, the big breakthrough in quantum computing would be if it can successfully factorize numbers in the 1000-digit range. As it turns out, this is actually quite difficult. The record from 2012 of factorizing the number 21 is still unbeaten! And all reports of factorizing bigger numbers used very, very (…)

Contrary to what the author posits, I don’t think there is anything to fix about social media: it gives people the adrenaline rush they want, and comforts VC money by showing exponential growth. What can be changed is the way we prioritize seeking spaces to hang out with people we like. Mastodon is one such (…)

This article highlights the alarming reliance of critical infrastructure on outdated technology, exposing significant vulnerabilities in essential systems. The need for uninterrupted operation and compatibility requirements presents major challenges to the modernization of these legacy systems, and the costs to upgrade are steep. Yet the potential for catastrophic failure due to obsolete equipment underscores the (…)

This atlas of algorithmic systems curated by AlgorithmWatch CH is a nonexhaustive yet revealing list of algorithms currently deployed in Switzerland, whether to ‘predict, recommend, affect or take decisions about human beings’ or to ‘generate content used by or on human beings.’ The atlas is really eye-opening for me – so many systems that we (…)