More from the article ...

... "Commander U.S. Cyber Command and the Directors of the Combat Support Agencies will prioritize the use of DoW [Department of War] intelligence and cyber capabilities to ensure foreign actors do not meddle in our democratic systems," Hegseth said in a Sept. 22 memo, which was made public Monday.

The Pentagon chief directed the Defense Intelligence Enterprise to execute collection and production on foreign threats to U.S. elections in accordance with the "law, regulation, Executive direction and DoW policies and directives."

Hegseth instructed Gen. Joshua Rudd, head of U.S. Cyber Command, to use existing capabilities and authorities in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security to counter "potential cyber threats from foreign actors targeting our elections."

"Our Nation's ability to conduct free and fair elections is a steadfast principal of our Democracy," Hegseth said in the one-page memo. "Assuring and protecting this ability is a no-fail mission and the DoW will do its part in supporting this whole of government effort."

The meddling of foreign actors and nations has been a concern for U.S. administrations.

Similarly, in 2022, the National Security Agency (NSA) and U.S. Cyber Command under former President Biden highlighted a similar push to safeguard the 2022 midterms from foreign interference and influence. ...

More from the article ...

... Testing 21 cars from 19 different brands revealed patterns of traffic to advertisers and trackers, as well as data shared with Big Tech firms like Microsoft and Adobe. And using a car's companion app can multiply the problem, their testing found.

In 2023, the Mozilla Foundation published a widely covered report looking at the privacy policies of more than two dozen automakers. They were appalled, writing that "cars are the worst product category we have ever reviewed for privacy." But that analysis was conducted by sitting down and reading all the various privacy policies of each brand; today's study involved measuring traffic from actual cars under a number of scenarios, including idling and being driven.

The researchers even parked 11 cars -- just the electric ones -- in a Faraday tent to see if the loss of a cellular signal would push that traffic to the car's Wi-Fi connection instead.

Attempts to actually see what was in the data packets using modified certificates failed in every case. But "the network traces still yielded valuable information, including the domains contacted via DNS traffic, Server Name Indication (SNI) in TLS handshakes, the volume and timing of transmissions, and differences in behavior across experimental scenarios," they found.

All of the cars contacted a first-party domain (i.e., the OEM) -- after all, all the cars tested were connected cars and that means connecting to something. And a few left it there -- the Buick Envista and Mercedes-Benz EQS didn't appear to reach out to anywhere else, for example.

Others were far more promiscuous, with Tesla topping the chart: The Model 3 contacted 34 advertising, tracking, and analytic domains, as well as 37 domains from apps integrated into the infotainment system.

Alphabet's domains were the most frequently contacted -- again not enormously surprising given the penetration of its Android Automotive OS into the sector. "But many of the [second-level domains] we observed were not necessary for core services (e.g., doubleclick.net and googlesyndication.com, which are used for advertising purposes)," the authors wrote. Media streaming -- Spotify, Sirius XM, and so on -- is well represented, as are mapping companies like HERE, TomTom, and Mapbox. ...

I remain to be convinced that AI will not eventually turn against the humanity that created it.

More from the article ...

... On Tuesday, OpenAI also issued an update on incidents, that occurred in June but were not made public until last week, in which its models accessed Australian government websites and systems without authorisation.

Those incidents and similar breaches by models developed by major AI firms have in recent weeks intensified the debate around the risks posed by the technology.

Top AI leaders including OpenAI's Sam Altman and Anthropic boss Dario Amodei have urged the industry to slow the pace of development due to concerns about risks associated with the technology.

OpenAI's decision, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, is a rare instance of a major AI developer pulling a new release over safety concerns.

The model fell short in terms of "staying within scope and authorisation, and how it communicates back to the user about the type of work it's done," Jain said.

"We want to make sure our model development is safe no matter whether that's in the company, or when we ship it to users. But when we ship it to users, we have an extremely high bar in terms of safety and alignment," she added.

The flagship GPT-6 Astra agentic model was released in September and specialises in complex reasoning and executing tasks autonomously. OpenAI said it was the result of "years of research and big bets". ...

@#5 ... Again proving YOU DON'T LIVE HERE ...

That current trolling alias seems more inclined to attempt disruption, rather than contribution.

But, that's just my view ...

@#12

I have to say, that is a good question you ask.

@#11

:)

@#9 ... I read that even suggesting to wipe out the entire population of a country is a war crime. ...

Well, there's this ...

@#27 ... He likes Gaga as a musical artist, just not Swift, with which I could agree. ...

I've watched them both in concert.

Lady Gaga seems to draw me into her songs. There is more there than just the performance.

Ms Swift, well, my most positive opinion would be, looks good, but lacks depth.

On the other hand, regarding Ms Swift ...

@#4 ... Gonna be tough to manufacture votes when your core constituents aren't voting. ...

Yeah.

We are entering the time period when the polls switch from "RV" (registered voters) to "LV" (likely voters).

But even with that. I do take your point.

What folk tell pollsters may not be the same as what they put on their ballots, if they even vote.

And that is the big dilemma that the pollsters have to rise above.

@#8

Not sure to which comment that applies.

??

@#72

My view is currently that it is up to the good people of Pennsylvania to decide how to deal with Sen Fetterman.

It is their choice.

I may view it as unfortunate that the choice I might prefer will not occur until the 2028 election.

But that is what the good people of Pennsylvania have to work with.

2028.

@#6 ... Trump has made mention of getting rid of the [International Court] recently. So, the possibility of being tried at the Hauge for war crimes has entered his mind. ...

So, you've noticed that possible aspect also?

@#2 ... As I may have mentioned before, DJT is a classic example of a Dark Triad Personality: ...

Or maybe ...

@#6 ... I don't think Trump knows what the word "projection" means. ...

Agreed.

More from the article ...

... For months, scientists have cautioned that the natural climate pattern could grow into a record-breaking beast, releasing extraordinary amounts of heat from the ocean and fueling droughts, floods, heat waves and severe storms. Now, a traditional strength measurement of El Niño, called the Oceanic Niño Index, indicates that the pattern has reached an intensity unseen in recorded history.

On September 21, the daily sea surface temperature in the region where El Niño develops -- the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean -- reached 3.08 degrees Celsius warmer than the 1991 to 2020 average. That's more extreme than any other El Niño ever recorded.

"It has been a remarkable event," says Nathaniel Johnson, a climate scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in Princeton, N.J. What's more, the El Niño will probably grow even stronger, Johnson says. "We're probably going to reach our peak within the next few months." ...

@#10 ... Conservatives Call It 'ToneDeaf' Ahead of 2026 Midterms ...

Would the Conservatives have called it "tone deaf" if there were not mid-term elections pending? Or, might they have expressed their ~like~ of the clip?

My guess would be the latter.

Meanwhile, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino posted and AI-enabled ~let them eat cake~ moment ...

@#8

2026 Credit Card Debt Statistics
https://www.lendingtree.com/credit-cards/study/credit-card-debt-statistics/

@#4 ... It might surprise a lot of disgruntled voters, but the U.S. economy is doing pretty well.

After all, oil prices have repeatedly breached $100 a barrel, driving gas prices above $4 a gallon. The U.S. government's borrowing costs are rising, pushing mortgage rates above 7%. Consumers are gloomy, and polling on President Donald Trump's handling of the economy is abysmal.

And yet, the economy is powering forward, driven by an AI investment boom, and everyday people who are still spending despite the strain of higher prices. ...

imo, the operative point of that quote is... everyday people who are still spending despite the strain of higher prices

OK, so, how are those everyday people spending?

Buy now, pay later plans?

Or, maybe, credit cards?

Either way, consumers do not appear to be able to pay for their purchases up front. But need to finance those purchases out to the future.

@#9

I thought that might be the case, but I did not know.

thx.

@#3 ... Well here's another lawsuit they will lose. ...

Maybe, maybe not.

When (if?) it eventually gets to SCOTUS, how might the Roberts SCOTUS rule?

Will it just bow to Pres Trump? Again?

@#63 ... Collins and Murkowski aren't moderates? ...

My guess is that Sen Collins will win the election in Maine.

But a moderate?

Hardly.

@#3 ... You libs say no one is committing election fraud, when in fact there are fraud cases popping up around the country! ...

OK, not sure if you are playing The Onion card or not.

But, allow me to say...

I've not seen elected "libs" saying that there in no election fraud, just that election fraud is not as major of an issue as Pres Trump asserts it to be.