Short Takes – 11-3-23

How Microsoft is making a mess of the news after replacing staff with AI. CNN.com article. Perhaps a bit self-serving, but interesting nonetheless. Pull quote: “But Microsoft’s decision to increasingly rely on the use of automation and artificial intelligence over human editors to curate its homepage appears to be behind the site’s recent amplification of false and bizarre stories, people familiar with how the site works told CNN.”

Dallas County says it prevented file encryption during ransomware attack. StateScoop.com article. Pull quote: ““Currently, our work with the cybersecurity firm is ongoing,” the update read. “While our goal is to be transparent and forthcoming with information relating to the incident, we do not want to make premature assumptions about the extent of impact or other details, which may evolve as the forensic investigation advances.”” Hopefully we are approaching a time where partial success stories like this are so common that they are no longer news.

The Dangerous Mystery of Hamas’ Missing ‘Suicide Drones’. Wired.com article. Pull quote: “The first possibility could pose an enormous challenge for Israel. As we’ve seen on both sides of the Ukraine-Russia war, drones have substantially changed the reality on the ground. While analysts say Russia has used Iranian-made kamikaze drones to attack Ukrainian critical infrastructure, Ukraine has responded with Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drones to hammer Russian convoys and defensive positions. Smaller quadcopters have given both sides unparalleled visibility behind enemy lines and have proved remarkably deadly in urban warfare. If Hamas is sitting on a reserve of these drones, to be used if Israeli forces cross into Gaza—where they will not have the protection of the Iron Dome—it could be highly effective at frustrating a possible ground assault.”

NASA’s Lucy Mission Set Its Sights on 1 Asteroid. It Found 2. NYTimes.com article (free). Pull quote: “The focus of this encounter wasn’t scientific discovery, according to Hal Levison, a planetary scientist at the Southwest Research Institute and the Lucy mission’s principal investigator. Instead, he said, it was an in-flight test of the Lucy’s asteroid tracking system. Minutes before its closest approach, which occurred at about 12:55 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday, Lucy “locked on” to Dinkinesh and automatically adjusted itself to keep the rock in its field of view.”

House speaker pitches funding plan with rolling shutdown threats. GovExec.com article. Pull quote: “Annual appropriations are split into 12 distinct bills, so Johnson could create a stopgap for each of those and set 12 different deadlines for when they expire. That would significantly complicate the funding process, forcing Congress to quickly tackle different measures to avoid shutting down parts of the government. It would also create significant headaches for agencies, which would face ongoing uncertainty and difficulties in coordinating with other parts of government.”