Month: March 2022

Categories
Cyber Security

Amazon CEO pledges logistics, cybersecurity support for Ukraine | Reuters

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As part of its assistance for Ukraine, Amazon.com Inc is leveraging its logistical capabilities to bring supplies to those in need, as well as its cybersecurity skills to assist governments and businesses, according to Chief Executive Andy Jassy. According to Jassy, Amazon is standing behind the Ukrainian people and will continue to assist them. The latest corporation to mobilize in giving relief is Amazon, which said earlier this week that it would give up to $10 million to humanitarian operations. Following Russia’s invasion, which Moscow has described as a “special operation,” the statement was made. 

Source: https://www.reuters.com/technology/amazon-ceo-pledges-logistics-cybersecurity-support-ukraine-2022-03-03/ 

Categories
Drones

Where Are Russia’s Drones? | Defense One

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The total absence of tiny drones, which Russian forces have frequently used in recent campaigns and military training, is one of the puzzles of Russia’s slower-than-expected push into Ukraine. UAVs serve as aerial “eyes and ears” in their typical concept of operations. So, if Russia’s military is increasingly relying on unmanned aerial vehicles, why hasn’t their existence been recorded over Ukraine? One explanation might be that Ukrainian air defenses and electronic warfare networks appear to be operational at this time, potentially interfering with Russian efforts to employ drones. Another is that, despite the Russian military’s earlier success with smaller UAVs, the defense ministry has only lately approved the procurement of larger and more powerful drones. 

Source: https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2022/03/where-are-russias-drones/362612/ 

Categories
Gaming

The Nintendo Switch changed what I want from video games | The Verge

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The GameCube version of Metroid was considerably different from the Game Boy Advance version. However, when the Nintendo Switch was released five years ago, everything changed. The Switch is a gadget that is meant to fit into your life, even if you have an unusual profession. This was a significant issue in a world where games are more time-consuming than ever, with daily tasks and vast worlds that may last hundreds of hours. This is a lengthy way of stating that the Switch’s freedom has profoundly altered how video games are seen. All of this is to say that, as the distinctions between console and portable have blurred, we have lost something significant. The last five years have seen a tremendous advance in how accessible games can be across platforms, owing in part to the Switch. 

Source: https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/3/22958526/nintendo-switch-five-year-anniversary-console-gaming 

Categories
Information Warfare

Ukraine is winning the information war against Russia | CNBC

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Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, stares directly into the camera as if he were an amateur YouTuber. He stands alongside high-ranking Ukrainian officials who are also casually dressed, wearing a T-shirt and sweater and naming the official titles of those standing with him. As many unskilled Ukrainian soldiers, including citizens, oppose the Russian forces on the ground, this is only one example of how the country under siege has been fighting the information war against Russia. While Ukraine is an underdog on the ground, it has so far won the war for hearts and minds, notably in regions of Russia where demonstrations have erupted and inside many nations that have gone above and beyond in offering assistance. 

Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/01/ukraine-is-winning-the-information-war-against-russia.html 

Categories
Machine Learning

Injecting fairness into machine-learning models | MIT

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MIT researchers have found that machine-learning models that are popular for image recognition tasks actually encode bias when trained on unbalanced data. The solution they developed not only leads to models that make more balanced predictions, but also improves their performance on downstream tasks like facial recognition and animal species classification. 

Source: https://news.mit.edu/2022/unbias-machine-learning-0301