Firefox’s free VPN lifts data limit, offers 28 server locations

“You can now use1 Firefox’s free built-in VPN without a monthly data limit – but only until August 31, 2026. Mozilla is also temporarily expanding the list of VPN server locations available to proxy your browsing traffic via, up from the current set of 5 locations to a more generous 28 (including South Africa). On September 1, the Firefox VPN will drop back to a 50 GB monthly data limit and a reduced set of server locations for free accounts.”

Even 50 GB per month is a pretty good amount of data, unless you're streaming movies or using Steam Games. Still it is worth testing in case you are paying elsewhere for a VPN service.

See https://gadgeteer.co.za/firefoxs-free-vpn-lifts-data-limit-offers-28-server-locations/
#privacy #technology #vpn

Google Earth’s flight simulator is now available in your browser

“On Friday Google announced it was making a relatively unknown feature of Google Earth available to a wider audience. The desktop version of Google Earth has had a hidden flight simulator mode since 2007, but it’s now easily accessible through a web browser without having to download or install any apps.”

Yes it's not exactly new, but is a lot more obvious now. The site has a lot more too, such as data analysis tools, historical imagery, explore building and solar designs, a measurement tool, and a detect changes over period tool.

See https://gadgeteer.co.za/google-earths-flight-simulator-is-now-available-in-your-browser/
#flightsim #gaming #technology

How one GPL lawsuit accidentally created the homelab router that changed networking forever

“No company sets out to make a product that exceeds its purpose and becomes a legend. In some cases when it happens, the company might even regret it. I recall a few NVIDIA GPUs, like the 8800GT and 1080 Ti that were so good for the money that people didn't upgrade their cards for a decade. That's great for PR, but not so great for shareholders. Well, among network routers, the Linksys WRT54G was a cheap, unassuming Wi-Fi router that ended up becoming a cult classic for a very weird reason, that had little if anything to do with the actual hardware.”

I still have my WRT54G, and actually the reason I originally bought it, was because I could reflash it with Tomato. So, in actual fact, the sale of the hardware was made because I could open source firmware on it. That is surely a win for a hardware company.

It was interesting to read this linked article to get the backstory on how it actually came to be.

See https://gadgeteer.co.za/how-one-gpl-lawsuit-accidentally-created-the-homelab-router-that-changed-networking-forever/
#opensource #technology

Over 150 Mathematicians Warn Governments Not to “Believe the Hype” About AI

“There is currently a strong commercial incentive on the part of the technology industry to overstate the capabilities of their products,” the declaration reads, advising policymakers to “consult with experts, including mathematicians, in forming policy decisions rather than relying on press releases or popular reporting of mathematical results.”

When it comes to AI I believe mathematicians know more about the accuracy of AI than governments do. As the article also points out, there is a trend amongst AI companies, who need to make a profit, to overestimate the abilities of their AI.

AI is NOT ready to decide the fates of citizens, or government policy, or making war, or anything like that.

I have used AI quite a bit over the last few months, mostly to solve server issues, various configurations in YAML, and sometimes research for purchase decisions. It always sounds confident and plausible, until I catch it out guessing (hallucinating). Despite its profuse apologies it still continues to make the same mistake. Luckily I now see quite quickly when I think it is going astray, and when I ask it if it is guess, it says yes I caught it out. In a recent case, it instructed me to change a config label, and then took 2 hours plus trying to solve the problem. When I eventually drove it into a corner, it admitted it made a guess about that label. As soon as I restored the label, my application was working again.

The point is, it is just not ready for real responsibility at all. Those who want to just “believe” it, are going to make serious mistakes. To use AI effectively, you need to tweak its default prompts, you need to be highly cynical about AI, and you need to double-check what it suggests. Most importantly, you also need some general awareness about the topic you are working on. In other words, YOU need to be the contextual awareness for AI.

Governments must not yet think that AI is some magic bullet to solving all productivity or diplomatic problems. It does need some savvy to use AI, and for that you do still need skilled workers. What we do need, is more training about how to use AI effectively, and what guardrails to have in place when using it.

I've seen my own government swallowing the hype from Big Tech many years ago. Some great digital sovereignty projects were abandoned back in the late 2000s because Big Tech convinced government to decide on buying their products instead. It has cost my government billions since then, and worst is, today they own none of what they have paid for.

See https://gadgeteer.co.za/over-150-mathematicians-warn-governments-not-to-believe-the-hype-about-ai/
#ai #government #technology

Meta Quietly Added Facial Recognition to Its Smart Glasses

“According to a report from Wired, Meta has been quietly installing facial recognition in its Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley Meta smart glasses for the last few months. Internally called “NameTag”, the feature, if activated, will use AI to identify people captured by Ray-Ban Meta's camera, alert the wearer when it recognizes someone, and store faceprints on users' phones.”

Such technology could of course assist the sight impaired positively, but the bigger problem is two-fold.

Firstly, Meta is probably the Big Tech company I least trust out of all of them. I cancelled my WhatsApp account after they shifted their terms and conditions for the “Information We Share with Others” section which allowed sharing of metadata with (phone number, how you interact with others, mobile device information, IP address, location, etc) with third-party service providers. They have been repeatedly skirting over the edges of abuse of privacy and have been fined for it by the FTC, have appeared before the US Congress about it, and I've made numerous posts about their behaviour relating to user data.

Secondly they are in a country where it is quite legal for data brokers to buy private data and then resell it to anyone. Up to now that has mainly affected your own data that you choose to share, or not share, with Meta services. The not share refers to when they used the Facebook Pixel and other means to spy way deeper than just on actual Meta sites.

The big problem with AI glasses is that it can capture everyone everywhere without their knowledge, and the data is being processed by a company who cannot be trusted with private data, in a country that does not have any safeguards enforced over the privacy of personal data. What could possibly go wrong.

And if we don't yet get what this is about because of some form of patriotism for Western countries, think of the same technology being rolled out by ByteDance from China or VK in Russia. Would you trust it? Meta's track record has proven that it really cannot be trusted when it comes to handling metadata. It is not about the technology, but rather about what a company, and its governing country's record around privacy looks like.

What comes to mind is a saying often used, when something good just gets abuse, and ruins it for everyone else, and then the service/product gets banned: This is why we can't have nice things, because people break them.

Technology can be a force for great good, but it can also cause great harm.

See https://gadgeteer.co.za/meta-quietly-added-facial-recognition-to-its-smart-glasses/
#ai #meta #privacy #technology