Archive for the ‘Free Software’ Category

The best remake of 2019 just got even better as Resident Evil 2 ditches controversial DRM – TechRadar

If you didnt buy the Resident Evil 2 reboot on PC because of the DRM it was shackled with, then we have some good news: Capcom has stripped out the Denuvo anti-tamper tech from the game.

As reported by DSO Gaming, the decision was made by the Japanese team to ditch the Denuvo DRM, which is a controversial antipiracy system. Mainly because games are seemingly cracked pretty swiftly anyway, so really its the genuine gamers who and up suffering the inconvenience

An inconvenience which, at least according to anecdotal reports weve previously seen on Reddit, may include a slight frame rate slowdown, at least on lower-spec PCs although we have to treat such speculation with a great deal of caution.

That said, the DRM definitely uses some resources, its just a question of whether that workload might have any realistically noticeable performance impact or not as weve seen previously in other releases, there remain allegations levelled at the Denuvo software in terms of potentially slowing load times and frame rates.

At any rate, those who may have been holding off buying whats one of the best games of 2019 because of that DRM, need hold off no longer.

We rated Resident Evil 2 very highly in our review, praising the stunning graphics of the remake, and concluding that its a masterful modern survival horror experience. And now a masterful modern survival horror DRM-free experience, to boot.

You probably also saw that the Resident Evil 3 remake has just been officially announced, and will arrive on April 3, 2020 complete with a 1v4 multiplayer offering.

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The best remake of 2019 just got even better as Resident Evil 2 ditches controversial DRM - TechRadar

Researchers criticize AI software that predicts emotions – The London Free Press

SAN FRANCISCO A prominent group of researchers alarmed by the harmful social effects of artificial intelligence called Thursday for a ban on automated analysis of facial expressions in hiring and other major decisions.

The AI Now Institute at New York University said action against such software-driven affect recognition was its top priority because science doesnt justify the technologys use and there is still time to stop widespread adoption.

The group of professors and other researchers cited as a problematic example the company HireVue, which sells systems for remote video interviews for employers such as Hilton and Unilever. It offers AI to analyze facial movements, tone of voice and speech patterns, and doesnt disclose scores to the job candidates.

The nonprofit Electronic Privacy Information Center has filed a complaint about HireVue to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, and AI Now has criticized the company before.

HireVue said it had not seen the AI Now report and did not answer questions on the criticism or the complaint.

Many job candidates have benefited from HireVues technology to help remove the very significant human bias in the existing hiring process, said spokeswoman Kim Paone.

AI Now, in its fourth annual report on the effects of artificial intelligence tools, said job screening is one of many ways in which such software is used without accountability, and typically favoured privileged groups.

The report cited a recent academic analysis of studies on how people interpret moods from facial expressions. That paper found that the previous scholarship showed such perceptions are unreliable for multiple reasons.

How people communicate anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise varies substantially across cultures, situations, and even across people within a single situation, wrote a team at Northeastern University and Massachusetts General Hospital.

Companies including Microsoft Corp are marketing their ability to classify emotions using software, the study said. Microsoft did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday evening.

AI Now also criticized Amazon.com Inc, which offers analysis on expressions of emotion through its Rekognition software. Amazon told Reuters that its technology only makes a determination on the physical appearance of someones face and does not claim to show what a person is actually feeling.

In a conference call ahead of the reports release, AI Now founders Kate Crawford and Meredith Whittaker said that damaging uses of AI are multiplying despite broad consensus on ethical principles because there are no consequences for violating them.

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Researchers criticize AI software that predicts emotions - The London Free Press

Free software developed to facilitate teaching of ICT in Ghanaian schools – Myjoyonline.com

India has partnered the Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence to develop free software products to substitute expensive ones which impede teaching of ICT in schools across the country.

High cost involved in procuring software and use of pirated versions have over the years posed a challenge to school authorities in terms of the effectiveness of teaching and learning of ICT especially in the rural areas.

Director-General of Kofi Annan ICT Centre, Kwasi Adu-Gyan believes the initiative will help bridge the technology illiteracy gap among the youth.

India has successfully developed Eduboard which is a variant of their boards operating system. So we thought it wise to invite them so that we could develop the same system, Adu-Gyan said.

Kennedy Asiwie, one of the developers of the operating system, told JoyNews the innovation will accelerate science and technology education.

Some of our science laboratories in secondary schools dont have most of the basic apparatus needed to carry out activities. But this software has been embedded in the systems to help us get a practical view of it, he said.

The project upon completion will be piloted in Bolgatanga Senior High School (SHS), T.I. Ahmadiyya Primary and Junior High School(SHS), Zuarungu SHS in the Upper East Region.

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Free software developed to facilitate teaching of ICT in Ghanaian schools - Myjoyonline.com

Added features and improved user interface in free-to-use CAD software – Electropages

11-12-2019 | RS Components | Subs & Systems

RS Components has introduced the newest version of its free-for-use DesignSpark PCB electronics CAD software. New features within DesignSpark PCB version 9 comprise dangling connection detection in schematics, net selection in copper pour areas, and enhancements to Excellon NC drill files.

The software is a set of free-to-use rapid PCB prototyping tools providing schematics unlimited in number and size, layers, nodes, pads and connections, integration with the company and manufacturer parts libraries, a library editor to produce custom libraries, and integration with free-to-use DesignSpark mechanical and electrical CAD systems. PCB schematics and files created can also be imported into the more powerful DesignSpark PCB Pro by users where a more complex set of design rules and characteristics are demanded.

Among the new features, schematic design now offers a dangling connections report, displaying up any component pin where a net has been generated but not completed or assigned. Additionally, designers can now select nets located within a particular copper pour area, rather than needing to pick from all nets in the design, as previously.

Maurice Banting, head of Design Software and Tools, commented: DesignSpark PCB is our flagship entry point for electronic design engineers on tight budgets who are looking to explore a wider range of PCB design options. Combined with DesignSpark PCB Pro, and our comprehensive range of model libraries and footprints, customers have access to a set of resources that are geared towards helping them accelerate their design time-to-market. We are committed to improving our functionality and drawing on feedback from our user community, to ensure that cost barriers to innovation continue to fall for engineers around the world.

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Added features and improved user interface in free-to-use CAD software - Electropages

Report: Hackers Have Created Dedicated Software to Break into Ring Security Cameras – Security Sales & Integration

After a rise of Ring camera-hacking incidents, Motherboard discovered a tool circulating on hacker forums targeting the smart home camera.

This past week has seen several instances of hackers seemingly speaking to people through their Ring security cameras. On Monday, NBC2 in Cape Coral, Fla. reported that a couple heard a voice spewing racial comments about their son through their camera.

Just yesterday, KSHB4 posted a story about a woman that claims her Ring cameras were hacked when a voice talked to her and her children through their device. Also yesterday, Fox17 reported a woman in Memphis, Tenn. said a mysterious voice from her camera began taunting and harassing her 8-year-old daughter.

So whats going on? The victims in Florida and Tennessee reached out to Ring who responded with the following response:

Customer trust is important to us and we take the security of our devices seriously. While we are still investigating this issue and are taking appropriate steps to protect our devices based on our investigation, we are able to confirm this incident is in no way related to a breach or compromise of Rings security.

Due to the fact that customers often use the same username and password for their various accounts and subscriptions, bad actors often re-use credentials stolen or leaked from one service on other services. As a precaution, we highly and openly encourage all Ring users to enable two-factor authentication on their Ring account, add Shared Users (instead of sharing login credentials), use strong passwords, and regularly change their passwords.

Using recycled log-in credentials is a common mistake that is frequently made with IoT devices and can lead to these types of incidents. This is because there is a pretty good chance these credentials have been exposed in a data breach. Weve seen numerous Google Nest hacks due to this.

However, there seems to be something more sinister afoot. Why the sudden rise in Ring camera hackings? After combing through different hacker crime forums, Motherboard has learned that hackers have developed a tool specifically for breaking into Ring accounts with cameras.

According to Motherboard, one forum has a post for a Ring Video Doorbell Config. A config is a file used to drive special software to quickly churn through usernames or email addresses and passwords and trying to use them to log into accounts.

One hacker is offering a Ring.com checker for $6. Another hacker even commented on how popular the tool is, saying, I saw multiple people asking for this config.

These incidents highlight the importance, and arguably necessity, for creating unique log-in credentials and enabling two-factor authentication for every account. Are you and your customers practicing cybersecurity best practices?

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Report: Hackers Have Created Dedicated Software to Break into Ring Security Cameras - Security Sales & Integration