Much has been written about the demise of physical media. Long considered the measure of technological progress in audiovisual and computing fields, the 2000s saw this metric seemingly rendered obsolete by the rise of online audiovisual and software distribution services. This has brought us to a period in time where the very idea of buying a new music album, a movie or a piece of software in a physical, or even online, retail store has become largely impossible amidst the rise of digital-only media.

Even so, not all is well in this digital-only paradise, as the problems with having no physical copy of the item which you purportedly purchased are becoming increasingly more evident. From increases in monthly service costs, to items being removed or altered without your consent, as well as concerns over privacy and an inability to resell or lend an album or game to a buddy, there are many reasons why having the performance or software on a piece of off-line, physical media is once again increasing in appeal.

Even if the demise of physical data storage was mostly a trick to extract monthly payments from one’s customer base, what are the chances of this process truly reverting, and to what kind of physical media formats exactly?

The End Of Ownership

The concept of having audiovisual performances on physical media which you can play at will within the confines of your own abode is relatively new, first brought to the masses by inventions such as the phonograph, starting with wax cylinders, followed by shellac and vinyl records. This brought everything from concerts to stage performances to the home, where the proud owner of this piece of physical media could play it back on its corresponding playback device. This set the trend that would persist until the dominance of CDs.

Similarly, movies would at first be just something that you’d watch in the cinema, then you could catch it on broadcast TV along with an increasing number of series. Owning a copy of your favorite series or movie became possible with VHS, Laserdisc and so on. When home computer systems became prevalent, the software for them was found in magazines, on tapes, diskettes, CDs, etc., with in-store displays using their box art to entice potential buyers.

Yet at all of this has effectively come to an end. LG recently announced that they’ll stop making new Blu-ray players, following the recent decision by Best Buy and other stores to quit selling Blu-rays and DVDs. Optical drives are now firmly considered a legacy feature on laptops and desktop systems, with only a subset of game consoles still featuring this feature and thus doubling as a Blu-ray player with compromises.

Unlike our parents and their grandparents, it looks like today’s generations will not leave behind a legacy of (physical) media that their children and grandchildren can peruse, often not even for books, as these are equally becoming tied into online subscription services. In this Digital Media Age, it seems that the best we can hope for is to temporarily lease an ethereal digital copy by the grace of media corporate overlords.

Digital Media Is Terrible

There are many reasons to mourn the death of physical media, with some pertinent ones laid out for DVDs and Blu-rays in this AV Club article by Cindy White:

• Permanence: you purchase the copy and as long as you take good care of it, it’s yours to do with as you please.
• Better quality: owing to the video compression of digital streaming services, you’ll get a worse audiovisual experience.
• Portability: you can take the physical media with you, lend it to a friend, or even sell it.
• Better for artists: the system of residuals with DVD/BD sales was much more fair to artists.
• Extras: DVD and BD releases would come with extra content, like soundtracks, behind the scenes, interviews, and much more.

Some are beginning to feel uneasy in the face of this dawning realization that before long all our movies, series, books, games and software will be locked behind what are essentially leasing services on our (ad-sponsored) smart TVs, smart phones, smart books and smart computers/consoles in increasingly barren rooms.

Take for example this article by Amelia over at IGN on physical vs digital media and ownership and the lack thereof. An aspect raised in it is preservation in general, as a streaming platform could decide to put the proverbial torch to (part of) its library and that would be the end of that content, barring any Digital Restrictions Management (DRM)-busting copies. Even so, Amelia finds it hard to ignore the convenience of watching something on these streaming services.

The lack of visual quality is a view that Henry T. Casey over at CNN Underscored shares, with over at The National Faisal Salah and William Mullally advocating for starting that physical media collection. The permanence argument is prevalent here, while the latter article pointing out the hopeful signs of a revival of physical media by smaller (boutique) distributors, but this leaves much of mainstream content firmly digital-only, including recent games like Alan Wake 2 which only got a physical version after fans insisted.

Shallow Libraries

The convenience of flicking on the smart appliance and tuning out on-demand without having to go to a store is a tempting feature that physical media cannot really compete with, yet there’s an argument to be made that physical media sales complement streaming, not unlike how those same sales complemented broadcast TV and cinemas in the past. In fact, as a corollary one could state that digital streaming services have replaced broadcast TV, rather than physical media. This would make the latter collateral damage, whether intentional or not.

A strong advantage of physical media is also that it’s not limited to being sold by a single store, while digital (streaming) services have very shallow libraries that can make finding a specific piece of content or game a complete nightmare. So the conclusion that people seem to be increasingly coming to is that while digital media isn’t bad by itself, there is a lot of value in physical media that we’re now at risk of losing forever.

Yet if CDs and Blu-rays are dying a slow death today, and the next Microsoft and Sony game consoles may not have an optical drive option any more, is there any hope for a physical media revival?

It’s The Business Model

As alluded to already, digital media-as-a-service will not go away, as it has too many advantages. Especially in terms of low distribution costs, as the logistics of physical media can get rather convoluted. Where the real business case for physical media may be is in the added value. This is something which is observed with a platform like Bandcamp, which is an online music distribution platform via which artists can sell their music and merchandise, including CDs or vinyl records.

All of which points to that the physical formats of the future will likely remain CDs, Blu-rays and even vinyl records and cassette tapes as the most popular formats. Meanwhile for video games on PCs at least there are stores like Good Old Games, who recently launched their Preservation Program that seeks to keep older titles playable on modern systems. This in addition to allowing customers to download the installer for any game they purchase and put it on any kind of physical media which they desire, courtesy of their lack of DRM.

Yet the ticking timebomb under this revival of physical media may be that good players are becoming scarce. Cassette tapes and records increasingly are being played on the same cheap mechanisms, like the Tanashin clones, that are still being churned out by factories in China as Sony and others have abandoned the market. Now it seems that optical drives are facing the same race to the bottom, until one day the only physical media players and readers can be found used for exorbitant prices.

After all, what use is physical media if you have no way to play it?

Featured image: Front panel of a GPO Brooklyn with cassette player (Credit: VSchagow, Wikimedia)

hackaday.com/2025/01/09/physic…

Nobody likes reading the fine print, least of all when you’re just downloading some 3D model. While printing a copy for personal use this is rarely an issue, things can get a lot more complicated when you make and distribute a derived version of a particular model.

Case in the point the ever popular 3DBenchy model, which was intended to serve as a diagnostic aid by designer [Creative Tools]. Although folks have been spinning up their own versions of this benchmark print for years, such derivative works were technically forbidden by the original model’s license — a fact that the company is now starting to take seriously, with derivative models reportedly getting pulled from Printables.

The license for the 3DBenchy model is (and always has been) the Creative Commons BY-ND 4.0, which requires attribution and forbids distributing of derivative works. This means that legally any derived version of this popular model being distributed on Thingiverse, Printables, etc. is illegal, as already noted seven years ago by an observant user on Reddit. According to the message received by a Printables user, all derived 3DBenchy models will be removed from the site while the license is now (belatedly) being enforced.

Although it’s going to be a bit of an adjustment with this license enforcement, ultimately the idea of Creative Commons licenses was that they set clear rules for usage, which become meaningless if not observed.

Thanks to [JohnU] for the tip.

hackaday.com/2025/01/09/3dbenc…

Da oggi, il Flusso IoC del CERT-AGID supporta anche il formato per ClamAV, l’antivirus open source ampiamente utilizzato in contesti accademici, istituzionali e aziendali. Questa nuova funzionalità è stata realizzata per soddisfare una valida proposta espressa dalla comunità dei sistemisti degli Atenei del GARR, che aveva evidenziato l’opportunità di aggiungere al flusso già disponibile un ulteriore formato personalizzabile e di facile utilizzo per aumentare il livello di protezione dei propri sistemi.

Il nuovo formato consente di utilizzare direttamente gli indicatori di compromissione (IoC) diramati dal CERT-AGID per individuare file sospetti nei sistemi protetti da ClamAV. La gestione delle firme è trasparente e altamente flessibile, come dettagliato nella documentazione ufficiale.

Le pubbliche amministrazioni già accreditate al Flusso IoC possono utilizzare subito il nuovo formato per ClamAV, semplicemente aggiungendo il parametro type=clamav all’URL ricevuto:

&type=clamav

Il servizio restituirà una lista testuale conforme al formato .hsb per ClamAV, omettendo la dimensione del file. Per questo motivo, viene utilizzato il carattere jolly *. Inoltre, per garantire la compatibilità con le versioni precedenti di ClamAV, è stato fissato un livello funzionale minimo pari a 73.
Esempio di Flusso IoC formato ClamAV
L'articolo CERT-AGID: Flusso IoC ora compatibile con ClamAV, la protezione open source si evolve! proviene da il blog della sicurezza informatica.

There are many ways to build a radio receiver, but most have a few things in common, such as oscillators, tuned circuits, detectors, mixers, and amplifiers. Put those together in the right order and you’ve got a receiver ready to tune in whatever you want to listen to. But if you don’t really care about tuning and want to hear everything all at once, that greatly simplifies the job and leaves you with something like this homebrew all-band receiver.

Granted, dispensing with everything but a detector and an audio amplifier will seriously limit any receiver’s capabilities. But that wasn’t really a design concern for [Ido Roseman], who was in search of a simple and unobtrusive way to monitor air traffic control conversations while flying. True, there are commercially available radios that tune the aviation bands, and there are plenty of software-defined radio (SDR) options, but air travel authorities and fellow travelers alike may take a dim view of an antenna sticking out of a pocket.

So [Ido] did a little digging and found a dead-simple circuit that can receive signals from the medium-wave bands up into the VHF range without regard for modulation. The basic circuit is a Schottky diode detector between an antenna and a high-gain audio amplifier driving high-impedance headphones; [Ido] built a variation that also has an LM386 amplifier stage to allow the use of regular earbuds, which along with a simple 3D-printed case aids in the receiver’s stealth.

With only a short piece of wire as an antenna, reception is limited to nearby powerful transmitters, but that makes it suitable for getting at least the pilot side of ATC conversations. It works surprisingly well — [Ido] included a few clips that are perfectly understandable, even if the receiver also captured things like cell phones chirping and what sounds like random sferics. It seems like a fun circuit to play with, although with our luck we’d probably not try to take it on a plane.

hackaday.com/2025/01/09/all-ba…

Le azioni delle aziende nel settore della computazione quantistica, come Rigetti Computing, IonQ e D-Wave, hanno subito un duro colpo dopo le dichiarazioni di Jensen Huang, CEO di Nvidia, durante un evento di settore. Huang ha affermato che i computer quantistici pratici potrebbero essere lontani dai 15 ai 30 anni, una previsione che contrasta con l’ottimismo prevalente tra molte startup e investitori. La dichiarazione ha generato un’ondata di vendite che ha fatto crollare le azioni delle principali aziende del settore.

Rigetti Computing e D-Wave hanno avuto un calo significativo a seguito alle dichiarazioni di Huang. Questa reazione riflette la sensibilità del mercato a prospettive a lungo termine e all’incertezza legata ai progressi tecnologici. Le valutazioni delle aziende quantistiche, molte delle quali sono diventate pubbliche tramite fusioni con SPAC, erano già sotto pressione a causa delle difficoltà nel dimostrare applicazioni pratiche e redditività nel breve termine.

Huang, considerato un’autorità nel campo della tecnologia avanzata, ha messo in dubbio la possibilità che i computer quantistici possano raggiungere livelli di utilità diffusi nel futuro prossimo.

“Se avessi detto 15 anni per computer quantistici molto utili, probabilmente saresti stato un po’ presto”, ha detto durante l’analista di Nvidia. “Se avessi detto 30, probabilmente saresti stato un po’ tardi. Ma se avessi scelto 20, penso che un bel po’ di noi ci avrebbe creduto”. Ha sottolineato che, sebbene i progressi nel settore siano impressionanti, ci sono ancora ostacoli significativi da superare, inclusi problemi legati alla correzione degli errori e alla scalabilità.

La computazione quantistica ha il potenziale per rivoluzionare settori come la chimica, la finanza e l’intelligenza artificiale, grazie alla sua capacità di elaborare informazioni a una velocità immensamente superiore rispetto ai computer tradizionali. Tuttavia, la tecnologia è ancora nella sua infanzia e richiede enormi investimenti in ricerca e sviluppo. Nonostante le sfide, molte aziende del settore continuano a sostenere che i progressi siano sufficienti per giustificare l’entusiasmo degli investitori.

Gli analisti ritengono che le parole di Huang rappresentino una dose di realismo per un mercato che spesso sopravvaluta l’imminenza di rivoluzioni tecnologiche. Mentre alcune aziende stanno mostrando progressi promettenti, come lo sviluppo di algoritmi quantistici per problemi specifici, la strada verso un’adozione diffusa rimane lunga e incerta. Le dichiarazioni di Huang potrebbero spingere gli investitori a rivedere le loro aspettative e a concentrarsi su settori tecnologici con ritorni più immediati.

In questo contesto, Nvidia stessa sta investendo in tecnologie che supportano la computazione quantistica, come le simulazioni quantistiche sui supercomputer. Questo suggerisce che, nonostante le sue previsioni prudenti, Huang riconosca il potenziale a lungo termine della tecnologia.

Per ora, però, il mercato sembra aver preso atto che la promessa della computazione quantistica potrebbe richiedere decenni per realizzarsi pienamente.

L'articolo NVIDIA Distrugge i Sogni del Quantum Computing: Ancora 20 o 30 Anni di Attesa! proviene da il blog della sicurezza informatica.

Ha conseguito un primo risultato l'operazione "Identify Me" di INTERPOL, lanciata l'8 ottobre 2024 da INTERPOL e da sei nazioni aderenti alla organizzazione internazionale di polizia (Italia compresa) che mira a riaprire 46 cold cases (ora 45) per la identificazione di altrettante donne assassinate o morte in circostanze sospette, nel tentativo di identificarne i resti.

Ne avevamo parlato qui: savmrl.it/r/QAYD0 .

L'identificazione raggiunta riguarda Rita Roberts, una donna britannica, che è stata riconosciuta ben 31 anni dopo essere stata assassinata in Belgio. Un membro della famiglia ha individuato il suo tatuaggio grazie alla copertura mediatica data all'iniziativa.

L'occasione è utile per ricordare i quattro casi "italiani":
- Il corpo della donna trovato il 25 maggio 2008 nel fiume Po, nel comune di Carbonara di Po (Mantova) in località Boscone. Il suo corpo era avvolto in tre sacchi di nylon neri. Possibile origine est europea. (interpol.int/What-you-can-do/I…);

- Il corpo della donna trovato in una zona boschiva ad Asso, Como, il 23 gennaio 2004. Portava un orologio verde Swatch (modello 1994 vintage Swatch Gent Minareth GG126). (interpol.int/What-you-can-do/I…)

- Il corpo della donna trovato il 14 giugno 2001 dentro una scatola di cartone in Via dei Fregoso, a Genova. La donna potrebbe essere originaria del Sud America. Aveva tre piercing in ogni lobo dell'orecchio. Aveva ingerito capsule contenenti cocaina. La sua morte è stata causata dalla rottura di una delle capsule. (interpol.int/What-you-can-do/I…)

- Il corpo della donna trovato il 13 novembre 2007 in Via di Cavagliano, a Prato. Fu trovata impiccata a un albero in un parco. I seguenti oggetti sono stati rinvenuti in una borsa appesa vicino al corpo della donna: Mappa di Vancouver, Canada, su cui era stato cerchiato il Victoria Conference Centre, con le parole: "Conference 2427 Sept". La conferenza FOSS4G (Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial) si è tenuta lì dal 24 al 27 settembre 2007. Mappa dell'aeroporto di Copenaghen. Copia della rivista "Scientific American" con una richiesta di abbonamento relativa a un indirizzo postale a Payson, Arizona, Stati Uniti. Articolo sull'uso dei laser in dermatologia, con un indirizzo a Cambridge, Regno Unito, scritto sul retro. Pagine di una rivista con una fotografia della famiglia reale danese
Un'etichetta per bagaglio della Scandinavian Airlines (SAS). (interpol.int/What-you-can-do/I…)

#identifyme #interpol
@Notizie dall'Italia e dal mondo