Trains in China have been transformed in recent years as the country has embraced high-speed rail and expanded its network to more than 40,000 km of tracks. The country has more high-speed rail than the rest of the world combined, but the breakthroughs don’t stop there. A study published in the launch issue of the journal High-Speed Railway shows how satellite-based train state perception – for example, using China’s BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) could revolutionize railway signaling.

How does train signaling work?

To understand the benefits of using satellite navigation methods to keep track of trains, it’s useful to consider how railway signaling works today. The governing principle of railway signaling is that no two trains should occupy the same portion of the track. And there are two approaches to managing train movements – fixed block and moving block signaling.

In both cases, the block length (the portion of track reserved for each train) is defined by the stopping distance of the fastest service using that line. And keep in mind that trains in China can take kilometers to come to a standstill when traveling at high speeds.

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Fixed block signaling systems only allow trains to proceed when the next block has become vacant, whereas moving block approaches make sure, dynamically, that there’s sufficient space ahead and behind to accommodate the braking of all units on the line.

Today, the amount of trackside equipment has grown to provide not just signaling data, but also includes systems to monitor train integrity – in other words, whether the front and the back are still attached. There’s other kit too, such as railway infrared hot box detectors that can determine whether wheel bearings are overheating and stop trains before mechanical failures occur.

A #Fuxing #bullettrain, with a designed speed of 350 km/h, departed on Tuesday morning from the Southwest Chinese city of #Guiyang, marking the operation of the Guiyang-Libo section of the Guiyang-Nanning High-speed #Railway. @VisitGuiyang https://t.co/XUSMHTOEiH

— Enterprising China (@sinoprise) August 9, 2023

Key to the implementation of today’s railway management systems is the placement of so-called balises (pronounced /ba-leases/ and named after the French word for ‘marker’), which stand proud a couple of inches above the sleeper below. If you’ve traveled on trains in China and elsewhere in the world, you’ll likely have seen the yellow- or orange-colored units in between the rails.

In their simplest state, balises are kind of like contactless payment points for trains. But rather than record transactions, these track-located transponders – which are powered by looms underneath the locomotive – provide information to the train on its whereabouts and details on the upcoming section of track.

Train transponders: Balises standing proud on a section of track in Europe.

For example, while the train keeps track of its location by counting wheel rotations, this calculation can be checked against the ground truth telegraphed by each balise. This is necessary as wheels slip and wear causes a reduction in diameter that would – if left unchecked – underestimate the distance traveled on long journeys.

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In addition, the beacons tell the train its permitted speed limit for that block of track, as well as information on the geometry and gradient of the upcoming section. Also, balises placed in sequence inform the train of its direction of travel.

However, there are cost implications of having to install and maintain infrastructure over thousands of kilometers of tracks. And to reduce the quantity and complexity of the track-side equipment that’s involved in supporting a modern railway, such as trains running in China and on high-speed networks in other countries, operators are considering approaches that are increasingly train-centric.

In their study, the researchers based at Beijing Jiaotong and Wuhan Universities – with expertise in computer and information technology, and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) approaches – consider the idea of so-called virtual balises.

Trains in China

Leveraging satellite positioning data gathered from BDS, which was constructed to provide independence from GPS, trains in China receive balise information based on their location. The advantage, as the Beijing and Wuhan teams point out, is that existing train control system frameworks could remain the same, as the information formats, etc, would be unchanged. But you could reduce the amount of physical trackside infrastructure that’s required.

Satellite positioning data could also be used for train integrity monitoring, to ensure that the front and back of the formation are where you’d expect them to be. And, based on field tests, the teams conclude that satellite systems could be key technologies in raising the capabilities of train-borne navigation.

Also, trains in China are by no means the only modes of transport to jump on this trend. Buses, trams, and trains elsewhere can be seen fitted with rooftop antennas that have active GPS/GNSS capabilities. But what’s striking about the development of intelligent high-speed rail in China is how it’s competing with short-haul flights, and – by all accounts – winning that competition.

And more trains and fewer flights is important to curb carbon dioxide emissions associated with transportation. On TechHQ we’ve written about the steps that aircraft manufacturers and operators will need to take to make aviation more sustainable. And those plans are based on continued growth in demand for flights, but China is showing that high-speed trains can reduce the environmental impact of aviation – at least when routes are competitive with short-haul flights.

High-speed trains in China can carry hundreds of passengers at a time, sometimes even more. The extra-long version of the Fuxing Hao Series Bullet Train can reportedly accommodate 1,283 passengers in 17 cars. And, if the concept of virtual balises takes off, satellite positioning could reduce the cost of operations and add to the appeal of high-speed rail.

The post What does BeiDou satellite study tell us about trains in China? appeared first on TechHQ.

• Backdoor plans unpopular with US tech firms.
• WhatsApp threatens to leave UK.
• UK governent receives backlash over the Online Safety Bill and Investigatory Powers Act.
• Recently it was revealed that Russian and Chinese hackers accessed the Foreign Office’s internal systems.

Encrypted messaging might be at risk under new UK regulation. A BBC journalist heard from a leader of a big US tech firm that there was a definite tipping point at which the firm would leave the UK. While there’s often big ego talk and empty threat, this felt different.

That tipping point could well be the Online Safety Bill, due to pass this fall, or Autumn, as the Brits like to say. Aimed at protecting children, the bill would see strict rules about policing social media content with high financial penalties and prison time for individual tech execs if the firms fail to comply. Like arguments that invoke Hitler too early, playing the child protection card is a red flag to any data privacy advocate.

Crucially, the rules would include the stipulation that encrypted messages be read and handed over to law enforcement by the platforms they’re sent on if there’s deemed to be a national security or child protection risk.

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As it currently stands, apps like WhatsApp, Proton and Signal, which all offer encryption, can’t see content of sent messages themselves. According to NSPCC, though, encrypted messaging apps are the “front line” of where child abuse images are shared.

They’re also an essential security tool for activists, journalists and politicians (more on that later). It’s hard not to wonder how far the parameters would be drawn around what’s escalated and brought to law enforcement; do we truly believe that police access to private messages is a good idea?

Both WhatsApp and Signal have threatened to leave the UK market over the government’s demands.

Encrypted messaging is, like, WhatsApp’s whole thing.

After tech firms opposed the powers that could be used to scan encrypted messages for child abuse images, amendments were passed by the UK’s second chamber, the House of Lords. Changes to the Online Safety Bill say that a “skilled person” must write a report for communications regulator Ofcom before it uses the new powers to make a company scan its users’ messages.

As end-to-end encrypted messages can only be read by the sender or recipient, critics suggest this means companies would need to scan messages before they are encrypted – so called client-side scanning.

Ministers, police and children’s charities say the powers are necessary to tackle “record levels” of child abuse such as imagery and grooming on online platforms, and to prevent encrypted platforms allowing child abusers to “operate with impunity.”

In 2022, Google made headlines when it closed and refused to reinstate a father’s Google account after content was incorrectly flagged as child abuse. Photos he had taken to send his son’s doctor were explicit but not demonstrative of child abuse; Google handed over his entire account, including photos, messaging and emails, to the authorities.

Campaigners have dubbed the changes to encrypted messaging a “spy clause,” saying that as a minimum a judge should have to authorize the scanning of user messages. Among them is the Open Rights Group which campaignes for digital rights.

“Given that this ‘skilled person’ could be a political appointee, and they would be overseeing decisions about free speech and privacy rights, this would not be effective oversight,” the group wrote.

Proposed amendments to the Investigatory Powers Act, which included tech firms getting Home Office approval for new security features before worldwide release, incensed Apple so much that it threatened to remove Facetime and iMessage from the UK if they go through.

The tech giant has also been staunchly against the clause in the Online Safety Bill that would allow encrypted messages to be read. Its submission to the current consultation is nine pages long, opposing:

• having to tell the Home Office (ministry in charge of law & order) of any changes to product security features before they are released.
• the requirement for non-UK-based companies to comply with changes that would affect its product globally – such as providing a backdoor to end-to-end encryption.
• having to take action immediately if a notice to disable or block a feature is received from the Home Office, rather than waiting until after the demand has been reviewed or appealed against.

Apple says:

• It would not make changes to security features specifically for one country that would weaken a product for all users.
• Some changes would require issuing a software update so could not be made secretly.
• The proposals “constitute a serious and direct threat to data security and information privacy” that would affect people outside the UK.

Encrypted messaging is just part of the problem

The UK Parliament is also passing through the Digital Markets Bill which firms told the BBC gives an unprecedented amount of power to a single body. The bill proposes that the UK’s competition watchdog selects large companies like Amazon and Microsoft, gives them rules to comply with and sets punishments for noncompliance.

Big Tech isn’t exactly in the good books due to past behaviors and many feel accountability and regulation is overdue.

We shouldn’t confuse “pro-innovation” with “pro-Big Tech” warns Professor Neil Lawrence, a Cambridge University academic who has previously acted as an advisor to the CMA. “Pro-innovation regulation is about ensuring that there’s space for smaller companies and start-ups to participate in emerging digital markets”, he said.

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Other experts are concerned that those writing the rules do not understand the rapidly-evolving technology they are trying to harness.

“There are some people in government who’ve got very deep [tech] knowledge, but just not enough of them,” said economist Dame Diane Coyle.

“And so [all] this legislation has been going through Parliament in a manner that seems to technical experts, like some of my colleagues, not particularly well-informed, and putting at risk some of the services that people in this country value very highly.”

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said that it had “worked hand-in-hand with industry and experts from around the world to develop changes to the tech sector”, including during the development of the Online Safety Bill and the Digital Markets Bill.

The UK shouldn’t be in a position where it’s held to ransom by US tech giants, but the services of apps like WhatsApp are widely used by millions, and there’s no UK-based alternative. The thing is, there are alternatives for US tech firms, AKA other countries, so leaving the UK wouldn’t do huge amounts of damage.

When the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) blocked Microsoft’s acquisition of the video game giant Activision Blizzard, the company was furious.

“There’s a clear message here – the European Union is a more attractive place to start a business than the United Kingdom,” raged chief executive Brad Smith – CMA has reopened negotiations with Microsoft.

That’s not to say that the EU isn’t also getting stricter – in fact that’s kind of what hurts about tech firms moving there. Ultimately, the EU is a bigger market, so more valuable. Of course, until recently the UK was part of that market. But a bed has been made, so the UK government and its people must lie in it.

“There is growing irritation here about the UK and EU trying to rein in Big Tech… that’s seen as less about ethical behaviour and more about jealousy and tying down foreign competition,” says tech veteran Michael Malone.

The UK government: pro-tech, poor security

Source: BBC News.

The UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak calls himself a pro-tech PM. He’s trying desperately to entice the lucrative AI sector into the country. Some firms, including Palantir, OpenAI and Anthropic, have agreed to open UK headquarters.

Naturally, one would assume that a government so concerned with the security of encrypted messaging and controlling the way that technology is used would be tech savvy itself.

Speaking of encrypted messaging, who remembers when ex-government minister, Matt Hancock gave a journalist access to his WhatsApp messages? As part of her writing his memoir, Isabel Oakeshott was privy to 100,000 of Hancock’s private messages – which, in the name of public interest, she shared.

A Tweet about the leaked WhatsApp messages.

Had he not left parliament in favor of fame and fortune (appearing on the UK version of I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here) perhaps he’d be an ideal candidate to speak up for those against what Politico calls “screenshot scrutiny.”

Nick Hancock. Definitely a cowboy. Source: Metro News.

It’s recently been revealed that in 2021 a major security breach was kept secret from the public. i News revealed that Russian and Chinese hackers accessed the Foreign Office’s internal systems in the last few weeks. Hackers from both countries compromised internet-connected servers belonging to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), although the breach did not give them access to classified information.

Experts warned this may have put diplomats based in hostile environments at risk or potentially damaged relationships with important strategic allies by revealing private communications with other nations.

Both Russia and China were able to access the system at the same time in separate attacks. “At one point we believe both were on there,” a GCHQ insider told i. “It was very embarrassing and caused great stir in government because they didn’t know whether they should admit it or not.”

Essentially, the government system was an open door and both countries found a way in. It was likely the result of a phishing email.

A cyber security specialist, who worked at the FCDO at the time, also confirmed the hacks took place, adding, in a masterful use of understatement, that it was “certainly sub-optimal”.

A third source, a former intelligence officer at the Foreign Office, said incidents like this in “some form or another” were a “daily occurrence.”

“The issue with government departments is that they are culturally apathetic about security and particularly cyber security,” they told i. “The general feeling is that the intelligence [agencies] have got that [covered], so we don’t need to worry.”

So why is one of the highest security bodies in the UK so apathetic about breaches? The technology in use by staff is predominantly Windows PC – the proven least secure operating system out there.

Maybe just equipping all staff Macs would help – they’re typically less targeted than Windows (running POSIX-compliant BSD operating system variants). Running Linux on government desktop hardware would be an equally valuable security step, and one that would be cheaper to procureme than Apple desktops.

Either way, perhaps it would be best if the government focussed on its own security issues before threatening the UK’s access to tech manufactured by US-based firms.

The post UK gov flounders in encryption and security mire appeared first on TechHQ.

• Indian Ministry bypasses the need for Microsoft security essentials.
• Develops Maya OS based on Ubuntu for Defence Ministry desktops.

The recent news in the UK that the Foreign Office, the government ministry responsible for overseas policy and espionage, has been soundly hacked, it is no surprise that governments worldwide seek alternatives to the cybersecurity nightmare that is the Windows operating system (OS).

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The Indian Defence Ministry has decided to replace Microsoft’s flagship OS on all of its computers with access to the internet with immediate effect. It’s selected Maya OS, a Linux distribution based on Canonical’s Ubuntu, as the replacement, development on which has taken six months to reach production status. The Indian Army, Navy, and Air Force are in various stages of approving the use of Maya OS for their systems, making the Indian defense network inherently less prone to successful attacks.

A phishing email is reported as the source of the UK cybersecurity breach, with a single user installing a Windows executable that left an attack vector open for exploitation by hackers. Russian and Chinese state-sponsored attackers have so far been named as those that have taken advantage of access to the British Ministry’s systems.

Microsoft security essentials

Windows’s ubiquity means it is the go-to target for most malware and hacking attempts. It’s a situation exacerbated by the legacy debt that the Windows desktop operating systems carry: backward compatibility over generations of software means the code is byzantine and, therefore, difficult to protect. Conceived in an era before the internet became a bad actor’s playground, it has been the target of countless hacks, despite continuous patch releases by Microsoft that attempt to shore up an inherently insecure base.

In contrast, Linux was developed as a networked operating system that arrives in 2023 with a structure and underpinning mechanisms that prevent easy unauthorized use by users and malicious outsiders.

Maya has been developed specifically to ease user onboarding: “Maya has the interface and all functionality like Windows and users will not feel much difference as they transition to it,” an Indian official has said.

Unlike servers and other network appliances, desktop PCs have the added component of being controlled by fallible biological components – human users – that are prone to click rogue links, believe what they read onscreen, and engage in practices like password sharing and using simple-to-guess credentials to access critical systems. Even with built-in endpoint security systems – like Microsoft Security Essentials – there is usually a simple bypass available in the form of the end-user.

The Indian government hopes that by using Maya, it will remove its networked PCs from the “low-hanging fruit” category of targets: Maya and Linux in general, are not immune from attack (no system is), but even security through relative obscurity will go a long way to ensure that systems remain safer.

Maya OS based on Ubuntu

By basing its operating systems on Ubuntu (itself a derivative of Linux stalwart OS Debian), the Indian government had a jump-start on creating a ‘new’ operating system. What it had to do – and it’s no small task – was to apply extra security hardening measures and a desktop environment similar to Windows.

This not the first time the Indian government has attempted to move away from security car-crash operating systems. Bharat OS (BharOS) is a project reported on these pages that runs as a replacement for the Android mobile operating system.

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Elsewhere, there have been multiple public sector moves to migrate away from a pure Microsoft desktop topology on security and license cost grounds. In Germany, the Munich local government switched a significant portion of its systems to Linux desktops for internal use from 2006. Microsoft responded by moving its headquarters to the city, and the administration continues to vacillate between open- and closed-source desktops to this day.

Speaking in 2019, the ex-leader of the Munich government said, “[…] the result was clear that Microsoft is cheaper in some price comparisons, but remains a risk factor when it comes to data security and is a provider similar to a monopoly when it comes to independence.” [translation from here.]

The total cost of ownership of any operating system is a complex equation involving license fees, support costs, cybersecurity costs, and staff training.

The post India’s armed services ditch Windows appeared first on TechHQ.

• Smartphone use for under-18s is to be restricted in China.
• The restrictions have already had an impact on tech firms’ stock prices.
• Smartphone use policies have been shown to increase productivity.

Smartphone use for China’s under-18’s might come under government restriction, according to draft guidelines publicized last week.

Last week, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) asked smart device providers to introduce ‘minor programs’ preventing users younger than 18 from accessing the internet on mobile devices between 10pm and 6am.

This is included in draft guidelines, alongside more stringent restrictions of young peoples’ smartphone use, which are open to public feedback until September 2^nd. Another type of feedback is already registering: Chinese technology shares experienced a sharp decline in response to the news.

Following the recommendation from the CAC, concerns have mounted about its potential impact on tech giants, their responsibilities, and the market’s outlook.

Predictions currently see technology giants like Alibaba and Bilibili bearing the brunt of rule enforcement – historically, they were very involved in the implementation of gaming restrictions.

Perhaps that’s why shares of both companies have taken a hit. As soon as the news of smartphone usage restrictions broke, the Chinese stock market went into turmoil and on Wednesday last week (August 2^nd) shares of Alibaba closed over 3% lower in Hong Kong.

Bilibili saw a staggering 7% decline, and shockwaves continued into Thursday’s trading session, when Alibaba traded 2% lower and Bilibili was down by 0.5%.

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Tencent also took a hit on Wednesday and closed around 3% lower, but it saw a minor recovery with a 0.1% gain in Hong Kong.

Stockholders at Alibaba and Bilibili reacted poorly to the news of the smartphone restrictions…

As the industry awaits further developments and public feedback, many are looking back to what happened when the Chinese government placed restrictions on gaming for young people.

When China increased regulations on its gaming industry, the United States surpassed it, to become the world’s largest gaming market by revenue. Never mind young peoples’ physical and mental health, there’s revenue to be had!

Smartphone use restrictions already apply at work

Of course, on a smaller scale we’ve all had our smartphone use restricted in one way or another. Maybe working the grocery counter or waiting tables as a teen, definitely during class at school – cellphones are an acknowledged impediment in many situations.

It’s just that when the Chinese government puts the onus on smart device providers to limit usage, a smartphone becomes critical not only to the life of every young person, but also to the country’s global standing.

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Most American states and companies have cellphone usage policies – although there are always those campaigning against them.

Source: https://clario.co/cell-phone-policy-at-work/

Restricted smartphone use tends to be more common in certain industries. For example, trucking companies, airlines, and factories often institute cellphone bans for – blatantly obvious, we know – safety reasons.

Step away from the smartphone…

Fast food and retail also have some of the strictest cellphone restrictions.

Most companies allow their employees to bring their smartphones to work and, although personal use is limited while on the clock, employees typically have access to their phones in case of emergencies.

It’s worth noting here that China’s proposed limitations for young people mimic this type of usage restriction, so are more lenient than some American companies are – and in the name of more than company time!

The only thing endangered by Chinese smart device restrictions is the stock market.

Restrictions on smartphone use can lead to improved sleep.

In fact, some of the largest employers in the US known for banning cellphone usage completely at work have come under backlash after workplace accidents that might have been avoided.

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When an Amazon warehouse collapsed during a tornado, the company’s cellphone policy came under scrutiny: if employees had their phones, they’d have received extreme weather alerts and casualties could have been avoided.

Similarly, FedEx made headlines for its no-phone policy after an incident at one of its facilities in Indianapolis. The event left the families of FedEx workers worried because they couldn’t check in on the safety of their loved ones.

Cellphone policies can improve productivity (in offices) and safety (for truckers!). Outside work, the often negative impact of smartphone use and addiction is well documented. Particularly for young people, perhaps smartphone usage restrictions imposed by the government, (rather than harassed parents), is a necessary annoyance.

You’re feeling very sleeeeeeepy…

The post You can take my phone, but you will never take my freedom! appeared first on TechHQ.

Now that AI is well and truly embedded into the collective consciousness, it’s time that we, as technologists, parse some of the real and imagined ‘dangers’ lurking in the technology.

For the purposes of argument, let’s first assume that AI, in the common parlance, is equated with machine learning (ML), and in the public perception, at least, LLMs (large language models).

To understand AI, we must have at least a cursory grasp of how the technology works. Many commentators feel fit to pass judgment on the implications of AI without actually understanding the basics of what goes on under the hood. In that, there’s nothing wrong per se: plenty of professional car enthusiasts out there, for instance, wouldn’t know their crankshaft from their big end. But a grasp of the processes involved in producing a recognizable AI, specifically, an LLM, helps explain how and why certain dangers exist.

Machine learning models of any type need a body of data from which to learn. A large quantity of data is generally considered better than a small one, and clean data is usually preferred. Clean data exhibits as few anomalies as possible in its structure (so all international ZIP codes should be made to follow the same format, for example) and in its content, too. Bodies of information fed to an AI that state too often that the world is flat will influence the model’s perceptions of what shape the world is. This example neatly brings us to our first deadly danger:

AI is biased

It’s accepted wisdom that any body of data will contain outliers – snippets of information that are well off the beaten track compared to their peers. Among a list of popular religions, for example, there will be one or two latter-day wits that claim to follow the ways of the Jedi Knights. A smart AI algorithm can cope with outliers and not adjust its comprehension to an inappropriate degree. However, if the body of information given for learning is inherently biased, in the main, then the “taught machine” exhibits the same attitude.

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A Github Copilot thought experiment

Large parts of the internet, for example, are dominated by young, Western men interested in computing. Sampling data from there would lead any learning algorithm to believe there are few women, few old people, and few people with so little disposable income they couldn’t afford the latest technology. In the context of the learning corpus, that may be true. In a wider context, not so.

Therefore, any learned picture of the world drawn from the internet reflects the inherent bias of the personalities present on the internet.

Inaccuracy

Machine learning algorithms will harvest data that presents a biased picture, and extrapolated conclusions requested by end-users querying Bing’s AI, for example, will reflect that. It may present conclusions of the ‘fact’ that young American males of color have strong criminal tendencies. That’s not because of any truth in that finding; it’s because a political system has incarcerated that demographic to an extraordinary degree.

Large language models are created by a complicated, statistically variable word-guessing game. OpenAI’s ChatGPT, for example, has learned to communicate by compiling sentences from lists of words, one after another, based on what the next word is fairly likely to be.

This process can lead to AI “dreams,” beloved by the mainstream press. Once anomalies creep into the real-time guesswork of what word comes next, errors that form surreal imagery compound, creating streams of consciousness that amuse and confound in equal measure.

Copyright or license infringement

Creative works or everyday internet postings are released under some degree of stricture, deliberately by the author or from those given by a proxy. The contents of Twitter (or X), for example, are owned by the company running that platform. Pictures taken from a high school reunion on Facebook (Meta) are owned by Mark Zuckerberg. And computer code written under a deliberately chosen license (the GPL, for example) has similarly to be reused or represented in a particular way.

When MLs are presented with raw data, however, it’s not clear whether or not any licensing strictures are observed. Does OpenAI grab copyright material to learn its language? Does Bing Image Creator take copyright imagery to learn how to paint? And if the greedy silicon digestive systems then spout, in part or whole, material that was released restrictively, where does the end-user stand in the eyes of the law?

Like the legal complications of liability in the event of a crashed autonomous vehicle, the new paradigm is unexplored territory, morally and legally. Authors, artists, and programmers may protest their work is put to uses it was never designed for, but the internet age’s adage of ‘be careful what you post’ is especially relevant now.

Even if creators somehow flag their output as ‘not to be used by learning models’, will the large operators of those models respect their choices? Like the “do not follow” entries in a website’s robots.txt file; it’s debatable whether any individual’s wishes are respected.

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Mediocrity

From the early days of computing, data’s veracity was always doubtable. GIGO (garbage in, garbage out) remains a cornerstone of data analysis. In 2023, media companies began to use LLMs as content producers for various purposes: item descriptions in large online stores, reports on financial markets, and articles that contain perfect keyword densities to produce optimized SERP (search engine results page) placement.

And because the LLMs continue to snapshot the internet as new learning corpora, there is a significant danger of a spiral of self-propagation. Artificial intelligences will begin creating new generations of learned ‘facts’ that were themselves produced by AIs.

Ask a large language model to explain, for example, mental health law in Canada. The results will be coherent and comprise readable paragraphs and use bullet-point summaries of key information. The choice of bullet points comes not from the importance of any bullet-ed statement but from the fact that years of SEO practise have stipulated that bullet point lists are a good way to create web content that will rank well on Google.

When that information is copied & pasted into new articles and then absorbed in time by LLM spiders crawling the web, the decision to use bullet points becomes reinforced. The information in each snappy highlighted sentence gains extra emphasis – after all, to all intents and purposes, the author felt fit to highlight their statement in this way. It’s easy to see the dilution of importance by repetition, as evolving LLM models merely repeat and refine emphasis that was never particularly justified.

“DEMOTIVATIONAL POSTER: Government Contracting – It’s easy to stay afloat when you’re swimming in a sea of mediocrity.” by Claire CJS is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Over the years, average humans will produce average content consumed and averaged out by LLMs, producing even less remarkable content for the next generation of OpenAI-like companies to consume. Mediocrity becomes the norm.

Brilliant art, amazing writing, and earth-changing computer code can be produced by talented people, only to be subsumed in a morass of “meh” and regarded only as an outlier and disregarded by algorithms trained to ignore or at least tone down extraordinary content. There’s no consideration of value, merely distance from the average as a measure of worth.

Perhaps in that, there is a gleam of hope. If machine learning’s output is merely passing fair, genuine creativity will surely stand out. Until some very clever people quantify the muse and write algorithms that easily out-create the human creators.

The post 4 terrifying dangers lurking in AI appeared first on TechHQ.

WeChat payment is the blueprint of Elon Musk’s aspirations for X. Now, foreigners can use the cashless payment method.

Thanks to updates recently announced by leading mobile payment solutions WeChat Pay and Alipay, short-term visitors to China now have access to cashless payments.

Previously, access to the payment platforms required a local bank account, which effectively locked most foreign visitors out of using them. Mobile payment has been the dominant payment method in China since the late 2010s, owing largely to its ease of use.

Despite previous warnings from China’s central bank against rejecting cash payments due to fears the practice could make people “lose confidence in cash”, the ubiquity of apps like WeChat Pay and Alipay have seen many businesses stop accepting cash altogether, especially in major cities like Shanghai and Beijing. 

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This has long been an issue for short-term visitors, who struggle to spend paper money.

A Tweet welcoming tourists to explore cashless China.

Although domestically-issued credit cards under Visa and Mastercard were already supported by China’s mobile payment networks, foreign-issued credit cards were not. 

Mastercard announced on June 21 that cardholders are now able to link credit and debit cards to Alipay’s digital wallet, enabling international travelers to “pay like a local” in China, without a local bank account. 

Shortly afterwards, Tencent – operator of popular chat app WeChat and its associated payment network – announced that it is “deepening its collaboration” with international card organizations including Visa and Mastercard in an effort to improve overseas users’ digital payment experience.

What is WeChat?

Founded initially as the payments arm of e-commerce giant Alibaba, Alipay is a payment app and digital wallet which boasted 1.3 billion users in 2022. Users save their debit and credit card details to the app, which then lets them make payments with their mobile phone. 

Alipay owned around 80 percent of China’s mobile payments solutions market for five fiscal quarters in a row, starting in the third quarter of 2013.

WeChat Pay is a virtual wallet found within WeChat, a hugely popular social media, instant messaging, and now digital payment app. The app has been making international headlines following Elon Musk’s recent rebranding of Twitter. 

Musk wants what WeChat has. Source: Getty Images.

Musk previously stated that he hopes to turn the new brand, X, into a WeChat-inspired “everything app”. In a leaked meeting transcript from June last year, he tells Twitter employees that “[y]ou basically live on WeChat in China because it’s so useful and so helpful to your daily life. And I think if we can achieve that, or even get close to that with Twitter, it would be an immense success.”

Released in 2013, two years after its parent app’s initial release in 2011, WeChat Pay quickly became a major competitor for Alipay. It saw huge success in its first year by leaning into the social elements of the WeChat app: early adoption was driven largely by its digitized version of the Chinese Hong Bao custom, the tradition of gifting cash-filled red envelopes on special occasions. 

WeChat Pay’s digital version let users send up to USD$29 to their in-app friends, and approximately 16 million red envelopes were exchanged during Chinese New Year’s Eve in 2014. This rose to an impressive 1 billion in 2015. 

Unfortunately, overseas users will not have access to this function without a local bank account; short-term WeChat Pay users will be unable to conduct any money transfers via the app.

Overseas tourists are estimated to have spent USD$131 billion in mainland China in 2019, the same year that Visa and Mastercard commenced their partnerships with Tencel and Ant Group, owner of Alipay and affiliate of Alibaba Group. 

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These initiatives did allow some overseas customers to use their credit cards in China, but at the time the ability to process international credit cards was limited to a select number of businesses. 

The revival of these partnerships coincides with the resumption of travel and tourism to China following the country’s pandemic lockdowns.

Spending limits for overseas visitors on WeChat Pay are currently set at 6,000 yuan (approx. USD$835) per day, 50,000 yuan per month, and 60,000 yuan per year. Fees are waived for payments under 200 yuan, but any amount above this carries a 3% fee.

The post Overseas visitors can now go cashless in China appeared first on TechHQ.

Operating systems have a huge bearing on our relationship with technology and appeal to personal preferences – for example, try getting Linux, Mac, and MS Windows users to swap machines! And one of the most significant operating systems in our daily lives is a platform type that many of us never consider – the terminal operating system, which is critical to transporting goods efficiently around the world.

Experience goes a long way when it comes to implementing a terminal operating system that’s going to achieve its full potential. And, as customers soon discover, one size doesn’t fit all. The selection process begins with the nature of the shipping terminal as break bulk – goods such as steel, lumber, and agricultural products, which are not shipped in containers – processes deviate from general cargo operations.

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David Trueman, MD of TBA Group, points out that container processing involves standard dimensions – so much so that operations can run efficiently with little knowledge of what’s inside. Container terminals also benefit from a standardized format of electronic data interchange (EDI) and suit optical character recognition – with agreement on the type and position of container numbers.

However, break bulk cargo comes in various shapes and sizes. Plus, it’s vital to know the nature of the goods to manage unloading, warehousing, and transport. And cargo identification markings are more varied, both in design and location.

“It’s really important to understand where the data sources are going to be,” Trueman responds, when asked about the single most important thing to consider in the design of a bulk handling terminal operating system. “Where are you going to get your real-time information? The location of weighbridges in the operational workflow is vital.”

What is a terminal operating system?

One way of picturing terminal operating systems is to think of them as an enterprise resource planning solution (ERP) for port operators. The systems are essential for optimizing labor allocation and equipment usage and managing the way that port areas are utilized. And Thetius, a maritime technology analyst firm, estimates that the terminal operating system market is currently worth over half a billion dollars.

Day 20 of the #30DayMapChallenge – My Favourite. I think it is the prettiest visualisation I have and indeed, will ever make!
Made with #Python using #matplotlib and #Numpy. #DataScience #DataVisualization #Map #shipping #Geography #dataviz #data #DataScientist pic.twitter.com/8iZiCfib62

— Python Maps (@PythonMaps) November 20, 2022

Features offered by vendors include fleet management, autogate systems, and video analytics. Terminal operating systems can build off industrial IoT frameworks to gather even more data on real-time operations – which expands the possibilities for machine learning and AI. And modules can service billing and other related activities to streamline business operations.

Also, given that vessel plans involve multiple parties, including the next port of call, collaboration is key. And terminal operating systems can help to manage that complex process, carry out better planning, and compile all of the necessary information into the right format, noting EDI requirements.

List of TOS vendors

• Contpark
• CyberLogitec (OPUS Terminal)
• DP World (CARGOES)
• Envision
• GullsEye
• Hogia
• Inform
• iPortman
• IT Partner
• Kaleris (Navis)
• MarineBerth
• Orbita TMEIC
• TBA Group
• TGI
• Tideworks (Mainsail)

Clearly, the world is becoming more automated. And port terminals are no exception from discharging and loading machinery handling vessels at the berth area to yard operations and gate management.

It’s commonplace – for example, in giant terminals such as the Port of Long Beach in the US (the country’s first fully automated port) or the Port of Rotterdam (Europe’s largest seaport) – to see self-driving container trucks (terminal tractors) shuttling back and forth. And reports suggest that smart ports brimming with IoT sensors could accommodate autonomous ships by 2030.

China too has been busy automating its port facilities, including Qingdao – a major seaport in the east of the country and one of the top 10 in the world based on traffic. Qingdao harbor has four zones, which handle cargo and container goods, including oil and petrol tankers, as well as vessels carrying iron ore.

Logical upgrade to supply chain planning

The scale of traffic, diversity of goods, and multiple modes of transport, including road and rail freight, highlight the demands that terminal operating systems have to meet. And getting to grips with this complexity helps to explain why ports are becoming a magnet for the latest technology.

On TechHQ we’ve written about how quantum computers are being used to plan the loading of trucks to reduce the distance traveled by RTG cranes and dramatically reduce maintenance and operating costs.

Private 5G networks are also helping to boost the efficiency of shipping terminals where mobile coverage may otherwise be patchy and feature dead spots. And there are gains beyond connectivity, as operators benefit from being fully in control of communications.

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Having a terminal operating system to measure and record port activity gives management a dashboard view on whether operations are achieving their key performance indicators (KPIs). And, particularly if KPIs are not being met, analysts can dive in – aided by data insights – and identify where the bottlenecks are.

Systems also provide a suite of reporting tools – for example, showing terminal inventory, gate movements, vessel movements, crane productivity, truck turnaround time, and much more.

The scale of modern freight shipping is mind-blowing. If you put all of the containers from a large category vessel onto a freight train – that freight train would be over 70 miles long.

And, typically, all of that cargo will be unloaded and replaced with waiting goods in less than 48 hours, which is a tribute to numerous advances, including developments in terminal operating systems.

The post Supply chain planning – the importance of terminal operating systems appeared first on TechHQ.

• More companies require staff in office some of the time. 
• Meta staff are due back in the office from September.
• With digital nomads on the rise, real estate is suffering. 

Post-pandemic, many bosses share the feeling that remote work was a short-term fix. Working from home was a necessary deviation the norm but employees should be back at their desks ASAP.

Bart Valdez, CEO at Ingenovis Health, a Colorado-based staffing firm with 1,600 corporate employees, said the environment he grew up in required a suit and tie, and to be “at the office at 8AM – no excuses.”

However, he’s listened to his employees and had a change of heart: the younger generations have different lifestyles and pressures, and working from home better meets their needs.

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It helps that remote work hasn’t harmed productivity at Ingenovis, where recruiting has improved because the company gets more applicants as a direct result of its approach. One-third of the company’s employees are back in the office, another third are totally remote, and the last group follow a hybrid pattern, a mix of at-home and in-office work.

This represents a trend that has developed post-pandemic. As more corporations call workers back into the office, few employers have required on-site work five days a week from staff. Despite arguing the importance of preserving company culture, most businesses, including the likes of Meta, have called for a partial return.

From September, Meta staff will be required to return to the office three days a week.

Some firms have backtracked in favor of a more flexible system, and others have abandoned back-to-work plans after resistance from employees and other pandemic-based changes. All of this is to say that the overall amount of work done from home has remained steady this year.

According to monthly surveys of thousands of workers by WFH Research, the proportion of work carried out remotely has stayed at about 28%. Another survey by Leger showed that 27% of full-time workers said their employers had become more lenient about remote work over the last year.

Early in the pandemic, Valdez found that managers could make intense use of technology to keep energy up. He didn’t want to lose the culture at the $700-million staffing company, spread across seven units, which he described as “really dynamic, so energetic.”

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In order to maintain this, Valdez said there was “a significant amount of forced communication,” that saw some employees working from home on Zoom fairly constantly.

Zooming back to the office

Ahh, Zoom. The backbone of lockdown socialization. In 2020, the company’s shares skyrocketed sixfold as it emerged as the go-to video conferencing service for online meetings. Zoom remains a leader in the post-pandemic remote work trend – but is gradually calling its own staff back into the office.

For the first time since the pandemic began, all employees within a 50-mile radius of a company office are now required to go into the office at least two days a week on a hybrid schedule. As of January 2022, only 2% of Zoom’s employees worked on-site.

According to a Business Insider report, Zoom’s stock stagnated this year as workers across the country returned to the office and the reliance on video communications dropped. This comes after a plummet in the company’s stock towards the end of 2021, since which time it’s lost at least $100 billion in market value.

A spokesperson said “we believe that a structured hybrid approach – meaning employees that live near an office need to be on-site two days a week to interact with their teams – is most effective for Zoom.

“As a company, we are in a better position to use our own technologies, continue to innovate, and support our global customers.”

One commenter on the report asked if the back-to-work order from Zoom meant “get back to the office so we can tell other companies that it’s best to work remotely and use zoom [sic]?”

Another argued that “this is all because companies are getting pressured to bring tax revenue back into cities. Has nothing to do with productivity. If you pave roads, you have to physically go to work. If you write code, you don’t.”

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Remote work enabling a new way of life

Another trend that has emerged post-pandemic is the concept of the digital nomad. Although they existed before 2020, a generation adapted to online work and itching to explore the world as it emerged from lockdown was ready to embrace a new lifestyle.

Before COVID, the number of people who could be called digital nomads was minimal enough that the impact of the lifestyle couldn’t be definitively tracked. The phenomenon was niche and saw travellers working illegally on tourist visas.

Remote work means scenic locations. Source: Twitter.

Now, the most recent estimate puts the number of digital nomads from the US alone at 16.9 million – that’s an increase of 131% from pre-pandemic 2019.

A recent survey commissioned by SafetyWing of 550 respondents – 250 office workers, 250 remote workers and 50 digital nomads – showed that almost three-quarters of digital nomads chose to go remote as a direct result of the pandemic.

It also found 90% and 86.8% of respondents expressed interest in becoming a remote worker and a digital nomad respectively. The cost of living helps explain this rise, with 78.3% of Americans considering or committing to working remotely citing this issue as a reason.

Theoretically, supporting digital nomad employees widens the pool of talent. Further, they are often highly motivated and productive (Wouldn’t we all be?).

There are issues with compliance that arise, meaning a company that allows remote work from across the world will have to develop policies and procedures that ensure compliance with local and international regulations.

Source: Creative Commons

Several categories of digital nomad have emerged. However, the impact of their travel is reshaping the communities from which they work. Chiang Mai in northern Thailand is often dubbed the digital nomad capital of the world.

Areas of the city are lined with coffee shops, co-working spaces, Airbnbs and short-term lets, all affordable to those on western wages – but out of reach for locals.

There’s some irony at play there. Workers don’t want to return to their offices in the US, for example, due to commute time and cost (they can’t afford to live closer to the office). It makes financial sense to move somewhere cheaper (and, let’s face it, often sunnier and prettier).

Lisbon is in the middle of a housing crisis: with the average salary in Portugal under US$20,000 (£16,226), a one-bedroom apartment in digital nomad hotspots in the capital account for at least 63% of a local wage – one of the highest ratios in Europe.

Of course, back at home, commercial real estate isn’t doing well either: empty office buildings are a money pit for landlords and companies that invested millions in office space in city centers. And the damage extends far beyond the big businesses with downtown office blocks – the community of smaller businesses that exist to serve on-site workers, from coffee shops to restaurants, to gyms and bars and book stores – will all feel the pinch of empty commerical buildings.

If workers don’t return to the office, it could have significant impact on businesses in big cities. With business down, tax revenue declines. Conspiracists say that’s why there’s such a push for staff to work a hybrid pattern, if not come into the office full time.

One response to the New York Post’s report on Zoom’s return to the office. *Contentious opinions and atrocious spelling both the poster’s own.*

Either way, with even Zoom saying goodbye to remote work, the option of taking calls in your PJs after a lazy breakfast-in-bed might soon be a distant memory. The labor market is consumed by the debate, and workers’ rights feel like they’re being debated anew.

The post The end of the Zoom boom? appeared first on TechHQ.

• China plans to legislate children’s screen time limits.
• But it intends to give the job to technology providers, rather than parents.
• The outcome of limiting children’s screen time remains to be seen.

China is about to make screen time limits for young people an actual law.

Reuters reports that China’s cyberspace regulator announced Wednesday, August 2nd, that children under the age of 18 should be limited to a maximum of two hours a day on their smartphones.

Smart device providers have been asked by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) to introduce ‘minor programs’ that would prevent users under 18 from accessing the internet on mobile devices from 10pm to 6am.

The CAC said there would also be more specific timers to be set by providers: 16-18-year-olds would be allowed two hours a day, children between eight and 16 would get one hour and children under eight would get just eight minutes.

Parents can opt out of the screen time limits, the CAC said, although again it would be the responsibility of providers to enable this.

Investors were unimpressed by the news, and shares in Chinese tech companies have been sent tumbling; shares mostly fell in afternoon trading in Hong Kong after the CAC published its draft guidelines.

The draft is open to public feedback until September 2^nd.

Do young people need screen time limits? Source: REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo.

Xia Hailong, a lawyer at Shanghai Shenlun law firm, said the rules would be a headache for internet companies.

It would take “a lot of effort and additional costs to properly implement these new regulatory requirements,” he said.

“The risk of non-compliance will also be very high. So I believe that many internet companies may consider directly prohibiting minors from using their services.”

This isn’t the first time that the government has stepped in to alter young peoples’ use of technology. In recent years, Chinese authorities have grown concerned about rates of myopia and internet addiction among young people.

In 2021, the government imposed a curfew for video game players under 18, a massive blow to gaming giants like Tencent. Limits of three hours a week were imposed on what the government called “spiritual opium.” There was a similar crash in share-prices in Chinese gaming stocks.

Video-sharing platforms like Bilibili, Kuaishou and ByteDance have since 2019 offered “teenage modes” that restrict the users’ access to content, and the duration of use.

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Bytedance’s Chinese answer to TikTok, Douyin, bars teenagers from using it for more than 40 minutes.

Screen time limits a parental responsibility?

What’s remarkable about China’s proposed action is that it will be directed by smart device and internet providers. In the UK and America, similar restrictions can be implemented on social media apps and games, but parents have to opt in.

Off means off with screen time limits – but who has control?

For example, TikTok (also owned by ByteDance) has parental controls that it calls “family pairing.” Parents can link their child’s account to their own and control direct messages, set screen time limits, and turn on/off restricted content directly from their own device.

A setting called “digital wellbeing” can also be turned on to set screen time limits on app use. It allows for more restrictions on children’s accounts, blocking videos flagged as inappropriate (although not everything inappropriate is flagged, so it’s not failsafe).

The issue with regulating screen use is that, deep down, we all know that the less screen time, the better. Even though technology has become an indispensable part of modern life, its negative aspects can’t be understated.

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However, business-wise, it doesn’t pay to acknowledge those drawbacks. The lack of distinct regulation from government bodies makes it very easy for tech companies to find loopholes; parents could adjust their child’s settings – but everybody understands that they probably won’t.

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It’s certainly far less of a headache for a parent to enforce the law than it is their own rules – if it’s “the law,” parents get to pass on the responsibility for the unpopular action to an unseen external authority. What remains to be seen is the impact of limited phone use on China’s young people, and whether legislative change is a trend that will be followed globally.

The post Who should set children’s screen time limits? appeared first on TechHQ.

• Elon Musk X Twitter rebrand clearly didn’t have much breadth of planning
• That’s despite his long-term obsession with the idea of the X app.
• X Japan are a band that have sold over 30 million records during their career.

Elon Musk’s X app might finally be realized. His latest changes at Twitter, which he acquired on April 14 for $44 billion, add up to a complete rebrand. With a new logo and name, Musk is attempting to make ‘X’ a thing – this is the second time he’s tried to rename a well-known tech company.

For the man who has everything – a hugely popular but money-losing social media platform…

In fact, Musk’s defenestration from PayPal was because he thought that “can you X me for that” had a better ring to it than the app’s original slogan.

The bird logo synonymous with Twitter has been scrapped in favor of a Unicode X, and each location with a dedicated Twitter page has been updated to an ‘X’ followed by the name of the country of the location.

Japanese Twitter users are noting that the decision to replace the iconic Twitter brand name with the letter "X" could turn Twitter Japan into "X Japan." It's a name that has been used for decades by one of Japan's most famous rock bands. pic.twitter.com/BOgvvLdZkd

— Jeffrey J. Hall (@mrjeffu) July 24, 2023

The transition isn’t going to be smooth in Japan, where the brand name has already been trademarked by J-rock band, X Japan.

This is not Elon Musk’s X

The four-piece, founded by members Toshi and Yoshiki in 1982, have recorded together on and off for decades, maintaining a streak as one of the highest-selling bands in the country. Five years after their last live show, and eight since the last single the band released, a new track has dropped.

Titled ‘Angel,’ the track is composer Yoshiko’s way of showing fans he’s still working on X Japan. “I’ve been fighting internally inside my heart to create the best art through X Japan’s filter,” he said.

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“I wanted to add an aggressive side to this beautiful melody,” he continued. “Lyrically, I wanted to write something about how people in this world are suffering. People are hurting, including myself. I wanted to emphasise that you will also be loved. I’m saying, ‘Try to love, don’t give up. Don’t die.’ That’s also a message to myself.”

Given the timing of the band’s return, the message might be assumed to be “back off our band name – it’s trademarked!”

Yoshiko insists that he respects Musk and wants fans to seek a positive solution, not fight over the issue.

Bilingual Tweet reassuring fans that X Japan will keep their name.

It’s unclear whether the trademark is registered outside of Japan, and it might be possible for the platform to call itself ‘X’ within the country.

X.com and Elon Musk’s obsession with losing money

The history of Elon Musk and X is complex and not especially salutory. In 1999, Musk started the business X.com for electronic payments, checking accounts, stock trades and mutual funds – which sounds a lot like what he’s trying to transform Twitter into. X was losing money though, and merged with another money-losing company, Confinity.

Confinity had developed PayPal and, when he became CEO of the merged companies, Musk pushed to change the branding to X, despite it surveying negatively with customers. David Sacks, who was at the company from the Confinity side, was definitively against the rebrand.

What’s interesting about all this, besides Musk’s apparent inability to learn from past mistakes, is that Sacks is once again involved in the rebrand. After making the right call on PayPal, why hasn’t he stepped in again?

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It could be the success of China’s WeChat, the super app that essentially pulls Twitter, Instagram, Slack, Venmo and banking apps into one. Musk’s ambition for X was always something like that, and now, maybe, the climate is right.

Twitter as we knew it is almost certainly gone forever and whatever takes its place is unlikely to live up to the heyday of the app. It definitely won’t be X Japan, which works as a rock band – but not as a social media platform.

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The post X and Musk and rock ‘n’ roll appeared first on TechHQ.