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Rust for Embedded Software: A 2023 Update

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Rust for Embedded Software: A 2023 Update

Introduction:

In the fast-paced world of technology, three years can bring significant advancements. Back in 2020, I wrote a blog post about Rust for embedded software development, captivated by its memory safety features and promises for the future. Now, in 2023, I am even more thrilled about Rust’s potential in the embedded world. This update aims to provide you with a comprehensive primer to help you decide if Rust is the right choice for your embedded projects.

The Power of Memory Safety

At its core, Rust’s appeal lies in its exceptional memory safety features. By eliminating an entire class of bugs at compile time, Rust shortens the developer feedback loop, resulting in more reliable code. Memory safety bugs often lead to Undefined Behavior (UB), causing unexpected behavior and making debugging a nightmare, especially in resource-restricted embedded systems. Thanks to Rust’s robust guarantees, these issues are becoming a thing of the past, setting a solid foundation for the language.

A Toolbox for Embedded Developers

Aside from memory safety, Rust offers a powerful set of tools that make embedded development a breeze. Dependency management and cross-compilation are seamless, allowing you to pull in external libraries and run firmware on multiple platforms effortlessly. Moreover, the probe-rs project enhances the development experience, streamlining the process of developing, running, and debugging Rust for embedded devices. These tools make adding new features and troubleshooting existing ones a much smoother experience.

Typically, Rust: Rust advocates writing code not for machines but for future developers and colleagues. Readable, maintainable, and robust code is achieved by embedding meaning into the codebase. Rust’s expressive type system facilitates “Semantic Typing,” enabling the compiler to catch inconsistencies and ensure code makes sense. As a result, onboarding new developers, refactoring, and debugging become significantly less time-consuming and more efficient.

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South Africa’s Cybercrime Crisis: 5 Steps to Solving It

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South Africa's Cybercrime Crisis: 5 Steps to Solving It

Introduction

In an increasingly interconnected world, cyber-attacks have become a significant threat to countries’ strategic, economic, and social well-being. South Africa, in particular, is facing a pressing cybercrime crisis, as evidenced by its ranking as the sixth-highest country in cybercrime density. The repercussions of cyber-attacks are far-reaching, posing severe risks to innovation, economic growth, and personal security. To combat this growing menace, we must implement a comprehensive cybersecurity ecosystem. In this blog post, we will delve into five crucial steps to solving South Africa’s cybercrime crisis and ensuring a safer digital future for all.

  1. Recognizing Cybercrime as a Governance Issue

First and foremost, it is imperative to treat cybercrime as a governance issue. Just as good corporate governance practices hold boards of directors and top management accountable for organizational oversight, the government must take responsibility for ensuring the country’s resilience against cyber-attacks. This means acknowledging cyber threats at the highest levels of government, with the President and Cabinet leading the charge in formulating and implementing effective cybersecurity strategies.

  1. Cultivating Skilled Cyber Practitioners and Advisors

A critical pillar in the fight against cybercrime is the availability of skilled cybersecurity practitioners and advisors. South Africa, like many countries, faces a severe shortage of cybersecurity experts both in the public and private sectors. To address this scarcity, we need to invest in robust cybersecurity education and training programs. Universities and private colleges should offer specialized courses, but we must also consider alternative pathways, like vocational training and programs directed towards schools. By fostering a diverse and competent workforce, we can equip the nation to identify and prevent cyber-attacks effectively.

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AI in South Africa: Special Dilemmas and Usual Risks

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AI in South Africa

Introduction

When discussing artificial intelligence (AI), most people envision a futuristic world. However, AI is already a part of our lives, with applications ranging from voice-operated personal assistants to self-driving cars and advanced medical diagnoses. While AI offers numerous benefits, it also poses ethical and moral questions that demand careful consideration. This blog explores the universal ethical risks associated with AI, comparing its impact in wealthier countries with its unique challenges in South Africa and other global southern nations. Understanding these ethical dilemmas is crucial for policymakers and organizations to develop appropriate risk management strategies.

Universal Ethical Risk Themes

  1. Accountability: One major concern is the ambiguity regarding who should be held accountable for the outcomes produced by AI models and systems.
  2. Bias: Shortcomings in algorithms or biased data can lead to AI perpetuating societal biases and inequalities.
  3. Transparency: AI systems often operate as “black boxes,” making it challenging for developers and users to comprehend or validate their outputs.
  4. Autonomy: As AI advances, there is a potential risk of humans losing control over decision-making processes.
  5. Socio-economic Risks: AI’s widespread implementation may lead to job displacement and further exacerbate existing inequalities in society.
  6. Maleficence: There is a fear that AI could be exploited by criminals, terrorists, and repressive state entities for malicious purposes.
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The dark side of the AI boom: social and environmental impacts

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ai boom environmental social impacts

Introduction

The AI boom has been a dominant topic in mainstream conversations, with a primary focus on its potential impact on our future, including superintelligent AI and job displacement. However, amidst these discussions, we often neglect to address the wider ramifications of our increasing reliance on AI technologies. Just like any other form of consumption, the usage of AI brings forth “externalities” – indirect effects that ripple beyond the immediate realm. In this blog, we shed light on the lesser-explored territory of the environmental footprint and the social consequences of our voracious appetite for AI.

Environmental Impacts of AI

As AI adoption skyrockets, so do its environmental costs. In 2019, the digital technology sector was estimated to produce more carbon emissions than the aviation industry. Although AI’s current carbon contribution is less than 1% of the total, its projected growth suggests a ninefold increase by 2030.

AI tools, such as ChatGPT, are built on complex computational systems called large language models (LLMs), hosted in data centers worldwide. The development, training, and usage of these models costs substantial resources. For example, the carbon footprint of a model similar in complexity to OpenAI’s GPT-3 was equivalent to 60 flights from New York to London. More carbon-intensive grids powering larger models, like GPT-3, exacerbate emissions further.

Moreover, the water demands of data centers, used for cooling servers, raise additional environmental concerns. Data centers, which play a pivotal role in AI operations, require vast amounts of water for efficient cooling, resulting in significant water consumption.

In response to the lack of transparency regarding water footprints, recent studies estimated that training GPT-3 consumed between 210,000 and 700,000 liters of water, akin to producing hundreds of cars. This staggering water usage highlights the substantial environmental impact AI model training can have.

Even a single conversation with ChatGPT was found to “consume” the equivalent of a 500 milliliter bottle of water. Such seemingly insignificant interactions accumulate on a global scale, significantly contributing to AI’s overall water footprint.

The environmental consequences of AI are far-reaching and demand immediate attention and sustainable solutions to mitigate its ecological footprint. As AI technology continues to advance, understanding and addressing its environmental impacts must remain at the forefront of our discussions. Only through proactive measures can we strive for a future where AI innovation coexists harmoniously with environmental preservation.

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The Future of Glass: New Technologies and Applications

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Nature of Glass

Introduction

 

Glass, a mesmerizing and adaptable material, has played an integral role in shaping the very essence of our modern world. From the dazzling brilliance of ancient stained glass to the sleek transparency of contemporary architectural marvels, glass continues to amaze with its exceptional properties and diverse applications. This blog post embarks on a captivating journey to explore the multifaceted nature of glass, unravel the scientific intricacies behind its transparency, and delve into the revolutionary technologies that have paved the way for the development of dynamic glass materials.

A Historical Odyssey through Glassmaking

 

From Ancient Beginnings: Tracing the origins of glass through the ancient art of Mesopotamian glazes and the ingenuity of Roman glassblowing techniques. Delve into the mystical allure of early glass artifacts and their historical significance.

The Renaissance of Stained Glass: Unraveling the cultural and artistic significance of medieval stained glass masterpieces that adorned cathedrals and churches. Discover the skilled craftsmanship that breathed life into these colorful windows.

Industrial Revolution and Beyond: Examine the transformative impact of the Industrial Revolution on glassmaking, from mass production to advancements in glass technology that revolutionized architecture and everyday living.

Decoding Transparency – The Science of Glass

 

The Molecules that Matter: Journey into the molecular structure of glass to understand the foundation of its transparency. Explore the arrangement of atoms and molecules that make glass such a unique material.

Interplay with Light: Uncover the magical interplay between glass and light, as we explore how glass interacts with photons and the factors that influence its transparency levels under varying conditions.

Diverse Glass Types: Differentiate between the various types of glass, such as soda-lime glass, borosilicate glass, tempered glass, and more. Understand how each type serves specific purposes in different industries.

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End Of 3G? Electrical engineer explains

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The sun is setting on 3G networks

AT&T is scheduled to decommission its 3G cellular network, On February 22, 2022. T-Mobile is scheduled to be shut down on July 1, 2022, and Verizon is set to follow suit on December 31, 2022.

2G 3G 4G 5G

AT&T is scheduled to decommission its 3G cellular network, On February 22, 2022. T-Mobile is scheduled to be shut down on July 1, 2022, and Verizon is set to follow suit on December 31, 2022.

The vast majority of cell phones in the service run on 4G/LTE networks, and the world has begun the transition to 5G, but as many as 10 million phones in the US still rely on 3G service. In addition, the cellular network functionality of some older devices such as Kindles, iPads, and Chromebooks are connected to 3G networks. Similarly, some legacy internet-connected systems such as home security, in-car navigation and entertainment systems, and solar panel modems are for 3G. Consumers will need to upgrade or replace these systems.

So why are carriers turning off their 3G networks? As an electrical engineer studying wireless communications, I can explain. The answer starts with the difference between 3G and newer technologies like 4G/LTE and 5G.

Imagine a family trip. Your wife is on the phone arranging activities to do at the destination, your teenage daughter is streaming music and talking with her friends on her phone, and her younger brother is playing an online game with his friends. All these separate conversations and data streams are connected over the cellular network, seemingly simultaneously. You might take this for granted, but have you ever wondered how a cellular system can handle all of these activities at the same time, from the same vehicle?

 

when everyone in your car is using voice and cellular data at the same time
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Savaging: How to make a move against online harassers

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Savaging: How to make a move against online harassers - Amazon account management scaled 1

However the Internet offers a lot of fun and opportunity, particularly on informal organizations, there are likewise many negative patterns, one of which is savaging. Savages are clients whose sole point is to meddle with others, put individuals and organizations in a terrible light and cause however much harm as could be expected. Peruse on to discover what precisely savaging is, the manner by which you can perceive a savage, and how you can best arrangement with them.

How to make a move against online harassers

 

What is savaging?

Anybody taking an interest in internet based conversations or working an online media profile as a brand or organization has likely eventually experienced savaging whereby individual clients disturb visits with improper remarks, loudly assault individuals, and incite them. In short: they raise a ruckus in the remark areas. In innocuous cases, these purported Internet savages are essentially irritating; in the most pessimistic scenario, they may harm an organization’s standing, or even spread phony news.

The objectives of savaging

So, the point of savaging is to spread confusion. At the point when the wonder previously arose, it was fundamentally about the fun of disturbance. Quiet conversations should transform into warmed discussions through allegations whereby the substance of a discussion turned into a minor matter. In gaming networks, the expression “griefer” is normal: a client purposely attacks the course of the game without abusing any authority rules.

Today, savaging is about considerably more – particularly when people of note and organizations are the concentration. Here, the point is regularly to harm a standing or spread elective realities. Instances of effective savaging incorporate the 2016 US political decision, in which Trump won, probably upheld by Russian savages. One more model is conversations on Covid measures, spreading the talk that Bill Gates was controlling immunizations to give individuals micro processors. Stunningly, what sounds ridiculous to some can turn into an elective truth for other people, spread by savages. Savaging can be unimaginably amazing.

Disappointed client or savage: savaging attributes

So how might you perceive savaging? Not every person leaving a contrary remark or survey is fundamentally a savage. Frequently it’s basically a furious client releasing pressure. Organizations ought to react likewise.

FACT :

A review by friendly researchers and PC researchers at Stanford and Cornell University in the US found that individuals are by and large feeling more terrible on Mondays and in the evening, and that the savage rate on the Internet increases as needs be during these occasions. When posting, you might need to think about these occasions.

In light of this, it is normally simple to recognize a savage from a genuine pundit dependent on the accompanying measures:

  • Remarks don’t allude to the substance of a post or a conversation as a rule, however are only wild affronts, incitements, or individual assaults against different clients or an organization or brand.
  • Statements and substance are taken inappropriately, wound, and claims are made that can’t be validated with a (trustworthy) source.
  • A solitary inquiry is posed (over and again), which doesn’t really have a say in the real conversation.
  • Savage messages are frequently narcissistic and misrepresented. Plans start with “I…” and terms like “never”, “everybody” and exemplifications can be found. The misrepresented utilization of capital letters, interjection checks and question marks are additionally normal, just as swear words.
  • Savaging of organizations or legislators might include clients based abroad. Likewise, the accentuation, spelling, and language will be poor.

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New Android Cookie-Stealing Malware Found Hijacking Facebook Accounts

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New Android Cookie-Stealing Malware Found Hijacking Facebook Accounts - android cookie stealing malware
android cookie stealing malware

A new simple but dangerous strain of Android malware has been found in the wild that steals users’ authentication cookies from the web browsing and other apps, including Chrome and Facebook, installed on the compromised devices.

Dubbed “Cookiethief” by Kaspersky researchers, the Trojan works by acquiring superuser root rights on the target device, and subsequently, transfer stolen cookies to a remote command-and-control (C2) server operated by attackers.

“This abuse technique is possible not because of a vulnerability in the Facebook app or browser itself,” Kaspersky researchers said. “Malware could steal cookie files of any website from other apps in the same way and achieve similar results.”

Cookiethief: Hijacking Accounts Without Requiring Passwords

Cookies are small pieces of information that’s often used by websites to differentiate one user from another, offer continuity around the web, track browsing sessions across different websites, serve personalized content, and strings related to targeted advertisements.

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HOT ! Monitoring the Erlang VM With AppSignal’s Magic Dashboard

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HOT ! Monitoring the Erlang VM With AppSignal's Magic Dashboard - magic dashboards facebook

Nowadays, we are able to dive into one of the tough elements of using any monitoring – making experience out of all the information this is emitted. We suppose that is one of the difficult components. And being builders constructing for developers, we assume a lot like you do – we suppose. Pun intended.
These days, we screen appsignal with appsignal (on a separate setup), so we’re still dogfooding all of the time. We nonetheless run into demanding situations as you do, frequently earlier than you.

Magic Dashboards

We agree with one of the harder challenges is locating the proper information and making feel of it. Once we discover what works satisfactory for a sure setup, we don’t simply keep the solution to ourselves, we make it into an answer that’s to be had to all of our users.

We name this solution magic dashboards. Primarily based on the architecture that you are jogging, we add dashboards that make experience for that architecture.
If you are jogging a latest version of the appsignal integration, magic dashboards will show up when you add a new utility.


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You weren’t the one in particular who spilled more recordings in 2019

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You weren't the one in particular who spilled more recordings in 2019 - watchtv
watch tv

If you had a feeling you binged more streaming video last year, you likely did—and you had a lot of company.

Across the globe, time spent streaming video increased by more than half—an increase of 58%—during the last three months of 2019, compared to the same period in 2018, according to streaming tracking firm Conviva.

Bingeing and streaming time grew even more in the U.S. (61%) and in Europe (65%), finds Conviva’s “The State of Streaming” report. The Foster City, California research firm tracks more than 500 million unique viewers and 150 billion streams annually on more than 3 billion applications.

Net TV viewing choices increased during the fourth quarter of 2019 including the arrival of new streaming services such as Disney+ and Apple TV+ in November. And more options are on the way later this year including Comcast and NBC Universal’s Peacock and HBO Max from AT&T’s WarnerMedia.


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