AWS InCommunites invests $300,000 in Northern Virginia Sustainability Fund

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December 28, 2022

AWS (Amazon Web Services) InCommunites invested $300,000 in Northern Virginia Sustainability Fund to support sustainability and environmental projects in Northern Virginia, especially in Loudoun, Fairfax, Culpeper, Prince William, and Fauquier counties recently.

The main objective of the AWS InCommunites is to fund local projects with sustainable and environmental impact to protect Northern Virginia’s environment while giving residents economic opportunities. The fund is granted up to $10,000 per project and is open to individuals, local organizations, NGOs, and schools.

Projects must address topics like agriculture preservation, environmental justice, energy conservation, zero waste initiatives, sustainable technology, cultural preservation, environmental access, equity, and justice. The grant process is powered by ChangeX and needs a 30 days review process to evaluate the positive impact on the community. The project applications are open till February 13th, 2022.

Cornelia Robinson, global leader of AWS InCommunites, stated that they sincerely believe in using AWS resources to strengthen communities where employees can live and work. AWS is committed to making the cloud the cleanest and the most efficient way for customers to run their businesses who have a passion for sustainability and can make a positive impact on their local communities.

VLSI and Intel agree to end patent dispute in Delaware

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Sahil Pawar

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December 28, 2022

VLSI Intel agree end patent dispute Delaware

VLSI Technology LLC and Intel have agreed to put an end to a patent dispute in Delaware. According to a court filing, Intel previously claimed that VLSI had demanded more than $4 billion in damages.

VLSI is a patent holding company that has brought several infringement lawsuits against Intel. It has won over $3 billion in jury verdicts from two other cases.

According to the filing, VLSI would dismiss the Delaware case with prejudice, i.e., it cannot be brought again. It also said VLSI has agreed not to sue Intel’s customers or suppliers over the five patents in discussion in the case. It highlighted that neither party was paying the other to end it.

Intel acknowledged on Tuesday that VLSI had agreed to dismiss the Delaware case. However, it did not provide additional details.

Intel asked US District Judge Colm Connolly to dismiss the case in an unsealed filing earlier this month, arguing VLSI’s complicated structure was allowing its investors to reap any benefits from this suit while hiding their identities from the court and the public.

Made in Bengaluru: a Kannada Film to be Released in the Metaverse

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Disha Chopra

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December 28, 2022

Interality announced the release of Made in Bengaluru, a Kannada film released in the metaverse. Featuring Anant Nag, Saikumar, and Prakash Belawadi, the story follows three young entrepreneurs attempting to establish their very first startup.

Within the movie metaverse, viewers can connect with the actors, click pictures via a drone camera, and participate in a quiz based on the movie. The top performers would also receive award tickets to the movie premiere on December 29.

It will be an immersive viewing experience for people who can enjoy traditional film watching while exploring the endless possibilities of virtual reality.

The movie can be considered a part of Karnataka’s recent efforts to educate people about the metaverse, artificial intelligence, and related technologies. The state also launched the BLR metaport for Kempegowda International Airport T2 in the metaverse.

Furthermore, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahangara Palike (BBMP) also announced its plans to use artificial intelligence for arterial and sub-arterial road surveillance.

BBMP to survey the state of Bengaluru roads using AI

By

Preetipadma K

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December 28, 2022

BBMP to survey the state of Bengaluru roads using AI — Photo by Darshan Devaiah

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has announced plans to employ artificial intelligence (AI)-based surveys to assess the status of the city’s 1,434 km of arterial and sub-arterial roads.

As reported by The Hindu, the civic body has already carried out a test project on the AI-based survey of roads last year for 15 kilometers. Based on this, the BBMP requested proposals for an agency to conduct the survey.

According to BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Giri Nath, the BBMP will use AI to identify a number of issues, including the presence of appropriate signboards and kilometer indicators. Giri Nath stated that for this endeavor, footage of the roads would be taken using a vehicle equipped with an AI technology-based camera. The survey will be conducted at least four times every year.

The AI-based survey will also determine the state of potholes, missing metal beam crash barriers, broken curbs, and the functionality of lamps and solar blinkers. It is speculated that the survey will help the AI system in improving the quality of the roads.

According to authorities, the BBMP had already spent around 5 lakh surveying 15 kilometers as part of the pilot project. Giri Nath admits that investing 5 lakhs for 15 kilometers is quite expensive, therefore requested local agencies to volunteer so that the AI survey is implemented at a much lower cost.

HSBC files Trademarks for various digital currency and metaverse products

By

Manjiri Gaikwad

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December 27, 2022

One of the most extensive banking giants, HSBC, has filed a trademark application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for various digital currency products and services related to the metaverse and NFTs (non-fungible tokens).

The trademark application was filed on 15th December, where the HSBC bank described various products and services, including sending, receiving, and storing digital currencies. Mike Kondoudis, a USPTO-licensed trademark attorney, tweeted on Friday that HSBC’s trademark application indicates its plan for digital products and services, including exchanging and transferring virtual currencies. The application even included several NFT services like downloadable digital files, which NFTs authenticate.

#HSBC has filed trademark applications for its name and logo. The applications indicate plans for:

▶️ Digital media backed by NFTs
▶️ Virtual currency exchange + transfer
▶️ Virtual credit card processing
…and more!#NFTs #Metaverse #Cryptocurrency #Blockchain #Crypto pic.twitter.com/RK1yegoYIh
— Mike Kondoudis (@KondoudisLaw) December 23, 2022

The trademark application also consists of several metaverse-related products and services like facilitating secure payments transactions through electronic means in the metaverse, providing banking services in the metaverse, and offering processing of virtual credit cards, debit cards, prepaid cards, and virtual payment cards transactions in the metaverse.

Besides HSBC, many major corporations and financial institutions have filed trademark applications to cover various digital currencies and metaverse products and services. In October, companies like Visa, Western Union, and Paypal filed crypto-related trademark applications.

Tesla’s new wireless charging platform can charges three devices at once

By

Sahil Pawar

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December 27, 2022

Tesla has introduced its wireless charging platform, a Qi-based wireless charging solution that is apparently inspired by its future Cybertruck. It can charge wirelessly up to three devices at once, each receiving up to 15W of electricity.

The Tesla wireless charging platform has drawn inspiration from AirPower’s FreePower technology, which can charge an accessory or a phone wirelessly without the exact alignment of the devices to the charging pad.

Tesla’s wireless power source has an Alcantara surface that protects the phones from scratches. It also contains a detachable magnetic stand that lets users put the phone flat or at an angle and includes a 65W adaptor to power the wireless charging pad.

The pad’s elegant design enables devices such as a charging case for TWS earphones and two cellphones to be put next to each other. According to Tesla, the exact alignment of the devices is not necessary, and they may be positioned wherever on the charging surface.

The Tesla wireless charging platform is available for pre-order on Tesla’s web store for $300. The device will begin delivering in February 2023.

Fortuna: Amazon unveils a new library for developing uncertainty quantification of ML models

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Manjiri Gaikwad

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December 27, 2022

Last week, Amazon unveiled its new open-source library, Fortuna, for uncertainty quantification of machine learning models. Fortuna offers calibration methods like conformal prediction to train any neural network to obtain calibrated uncertainty estimates. The library also supports several bayesian inference methods for deep neural networks written in Flax.

Accurate estimation of predictive uncertainty is vital for applications that involve critical decisions. Uncertainty enables data scientists to evaluate the reliability of model predictions, defer to human decision-makers, or detect if a model can be deployed safely. Fortuna makes it easy for them to run benchmarks and build robust and reliable AI models with advanced uncertainty quantification techniques.

The existing libraries and tools for uncertainty quantification have a limited scope and do not provide a depth of techniques in a single place. This results in hindering the adoption of uncertainty into production systems. To solve this problem, Amazon developed Fortuna, which brings together prominent methods like conformal prediction, bayesian inference, and temperature scaling across the literature to users with a standardized interface.

Fortuna is readily available on Github, with examples, documentation, and references. Fortuna was developed by a group of applied scientists — Gianluca Detommaso, Alberto Gasparin, Michele Donini, Matthias Seeger, and Cedric Archambeau.

North Korean hackers stole NFTs through 500 phishing domains

By

Preetipadma K

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December 27, 2022

North Korean lazarus hackers stealing NFTs using nearly 500 phishing domains

The notorious Lazarus Group of North Korea, known for instigating cyberattacks, has once again drawn attention after launching two consecutive attacks on the NFT industry. Around 500 phishing domains have been developed by the group, who are utilizing them to deceive unwary victims who are also devoted NFT buyers.

On December 24, the blockchain security company SlowMist published a report outlining the tactics used by North Korean Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) groups to separate NFT investors from their NFTs, including fraudulent websites impersonating various NFT-related platforms and projects. These fraudulent websites, which imitate well-known NFT markets like OpenSea, X2Y2, and Rarible, include one that pretends to be a World Cup project and others that counterfeit other well-known NFT projects.

According to SlowMist, one of the tactics employed by fake websites was to provide “malicious Mints,” which include tricking consumers into thinking they are minting a valid NFT by linking their wallet to the website. But since the NFT is basically a scam, the victim’s wallet is now open to the hacker who has now gained access to it.

🚨SlowMist Security Alert🚨

North Korean APT group targeting NFT users with large-scale phishing campaign

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Our thread only covers a fraction of what we've discovered.

Let's dive in pic.twitter.com/DeHq1TTrrN
— SlowMist (@SlowMist_Team) December 24, 2022

The report also mentioned that a large number of phishing websites shared the same Internet Protocol (IP), with 372 NFT phishing websites sharing a single IP and another 320 NFT phishing websites using a different IP. SlowMist revealed that the phishing campaign had been underway for some months, with the first registered domain name coming roughly seven months ago.

An example phishing website Source: SlowMist

Other phishing tactics employed included capturing visitor data and storing it on external sites and tying photos to specific projects. Once the hacker had the visitor’s data, they would then use a wide range of attack scripts to target the victim, giving them access to their plug-in wallets, authorizations, and access records as well as sensitive information like their approve record and sigData. The hacker could then access the victim’s wallet using all this information, compromising all of their digital assets.

As the research only looked at a tiny percentage of the materials and just “some” of the phishing traits of the North Korean hackers were recovered, SlowMist emphasized that this is only the “tip of the iceberg.” Hopefully, more information regarding these attacks will surface in the coming weeks.

Wipro acquires Pune-based IoT startup Linecraft.Ai

By

Sahil Pawar

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December 27, 2022

According to a LinkedIn post, Wipro Infrastructure Engineering has signed an agreement to acquire a Pune-based Internet of Things (IoT) product startup in the manufacturing sector called Linecraft.Ai.

According to the CEO of Wipro Infrastructure Engineering, Pratik Kumar, this acquisition will further help the company expand its digital capabilities and offer excellent automation solutions with a bolt-on digital layer that provides deep analytics and insights to customers.

Linecraft.Ai utilizes the power of both machine learning and automation domain expertise to empower manufacturers to get more quality and productivity, improving operational efficiency in real-time.

The software is built by a team of machine learning experts with a patented algorithm. It has been proven with the successful implementation of complex automated manufacturing assembly lines in the industry globally.

Wipro PARI is now amongst the most prominent global automation companies with a strength of about 1200+ employees and three facilities worldwide. Its headquarters are in Pune, India.

ftNFT Opens a Real-World NFT Store in Dubai

By

Disha Chopra

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December 27, 2022

The non-fungible tokens marketplace ftNFT plans to bring crypto and NFT enthusiasts together with its real-world NFT store in Dubai, Mall of Emirates. The store is a part of ftNFT’s expanded virtual ventures to get more artists and influencers on board with the digital currency.

SoftConstruct ftNFT is a premium NFT marketplace backed by SoftConstruct and a part of the Fastex Web3 ecosystem that supports USDT, BTC, ETH, DOGE, XRP, and BNB. It stands out because of its unique ftNFT Drop feature, a first-of-its-kind dropping feature that allows users to win rewards.

Vigen Badalyan, SoftConstruct’s co-founder, said, “SoftConstruct unveils ftNFT physical stores located in Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates — the city’s most iconic retail and entertainment destinations, welcoming over 130 million visitors yearly.”

The NFT store will allow people to interact and experience modern-age services in a whole new way. The store will host collections created by AKNEYE, Chiko & Roko, Amrita Sethi, and other potential NFT artists.

SoftConstruct ftNFT also offers services like customizing NFTs that may be experienced digitally or through the five senses and a 3D scanner to make avatars for virtual reality enthusiasts. A significant portion of the store will be devoted to making customers learn about Web3, NFTs, products, and services supplied on-site, with a Fast Desk to answer their queries.