HackerNews Summary (2023-06-05 08AM)

Source: The Cool Blog

Summary
A programmer successfully installed Debian Lenny on an Xbox 360, utilizing an old Ubuntu liveCD and precompiled Linux kernel. The programmer used debootstrap to install Debian on a hard drive, which was easily swapped with the Xbox 360’s proprietary plug.

Fact

💾 The Xbox 360’s hard drive uses a proprietary connector for SATA hard drives

🐧 Debian had dropped support for big endian powerpc but an ancient kernel still made it possible for the programmer to install it

🖥️ Ubuntu liveCD was used to chroot into the filesystem on the hard drive

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Source: Pixar reportedly conducts rare layoffs, including ‘Lightyear’ director

Summary
Pixar laid off 75 employees, including director Angus MacLane and producer Galyn Susman, due to the commercial failure of “Lightyear,” a “Toy Story” spinoff, which reportedly cost the studio more than $100 million.

Facts

💼 75 people were laid off by Pixar, including director Angus MacLane and producer Galyn Susman.

🎥 MacLane had been at Pixar for more than two decades, serving as an animator on classics like “Toy Story 2,” “The Incredibles” and “Finding Nemo.”

💥 “Lightyear,” a “Toy Story” spinoff featuring Chris Evans’ voice as Buzz Lightyear, reportedly cost Pixar more than $100 million and was a commercial dud.

👩‍💻 During the making of “Toy Story 2,” a nearly destructive accident happened where servers were almost wiped out, but Pixar employee Galyn Susman’s backup saved the film.

💼 These layoffs are likely the biggest since the 2013 layoff of 60 employees during the troubled release of “The Good Dinosaur.”

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Source: AI generated content should be labelled, EU Commissioner Jourova says

Summary
European Commission Deputy Head Vera Jourova has called on companies using generative AI tools, like Microsoft’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard, to label their content if it has the potential to create disinformation. The use of AI tools has prompted concern that bad actors and governments could misuse such products to spread disinformation.

Fact
💻 Companies using generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and Bard need to label their content in efforts to combat the spread of fake news, according to European Commission Deputy Head Vera Jourova.

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Source: S.E.C. Accuses Binance of Mishandling Funds and Lying to Regulators

Summary
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a case against Binance, accusing the exchange of mishandling customer funds and misleading investors about its operations. Binance had been mixing billions of dollars in customer funds and sending them to a company controlled by Binance’s founder. The SEC also said Binance did not take adequate steps to restrict U.S. investors from accessing Binance’s unregulated exchange.

Facts

🤔 Binance mixed billions of dollars in customer funds and secretly sent them to a separate company controlled by its founder.

🚨 The SEC accused Binance of not taking adequate steps to restrict U.S. investors from accessing Binance’s unregulated exchange.

👎 The charges include misleading investors about the adequacy of its systems to detect and control manipulative trading.

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Source: Tell HN: Cloudflare is locking out Linux users

Summary
Cloudflare’s Turnstile captcha product appears to be locking out Linux users, refusing to recognize them as human even when using non-compromised devices on the network. This raises concerns about one corporation unilaterally deciding browser access and technical issues with distinguishing between headless and regular Chrome.

Facts

👤 Linux users are locked out of websites using Cloudflare’s Turnstile captcha product, while Mac users are not.

🖥️ The issue may be due to Cloudflare’s inability to distinguish between headless and regular Chrome as well as TLS ClientHello permutations.

👩‍💻 This unilateral decision of what browser should have access to websites raises concerns at a societal level, resembling RMS’ “Right To Read.”

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