August 2022 - nexa - server-nexa.polito.it

Intel close to $5 billion deal for chip factory in Italy
by Luigi Scorca Aug. 8, 2022

Aug. 8, 2022

https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-italy-intel-close-5-bln-deal-c…

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Have the tech giants finally had their bubble burst? I’d hate to speculate | John Naughton
by Alberto Cammozzo Aug. 6, 2022

Aug. 6, 2022

<https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/aug/06/have-the-tech-giants-…> A speculative bubble, wrote Nobel laureate Robert Shiller in Irrational Exuberance, his landmark book on human foolishness, is “a situation in which news of price increases spurs investor enthusiasm, which spreads by psychological contagion from person to person, in the process amplifying stories that might justify the price increases and bringing in a larger and larger class of investors, who, despite doubts about the real value of an investment, are drawn to it partly through envy of others’ successes and partly through a gambler’s excitement”. Observers of the tech industry are wearily familiar with this kind of irrationality. Throughout 2020 and 2021, as Covid-19 wreaked economic havoc on countries throughout the western world, the tech industry remained strangely untouched by what was happening on the ground. While the rest of us cowered in lockdown, the pandemic made tech bosses and owners insanely richer. Their companies grew faster and became even more profitable while other industries languished. Apple had so much extra cash that it spent $90bn (£74bn) – nearly the gross domestic product of Kenya – buying its own shares. Amazon laid out $50bn in 2021 on warehouses, hiring tens of thousands of employees, ordering fleets of electric vehicles and building cloud computing centres. And so on. So while the pandemic had put many conventional companies on life support, it looked as though it had consolidated the dominance of Alphabet (neé Google), Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft and Apple, making them the new masters of our networked universe. And then something happened. On 19 November 2021 the Nasdaq stock market index (which is heavily influenced by tech companies) stood at an all-time high of 16,057, then suddenly went into rapid decline. As I write, it stands at 12,369. And so the question became: was this just what economists euphemistically call a “market correction” or an indicator that this particular speculative bubble had really burst? The answer, if the quarterly figures released last week by the tech giants are anything to go by, is that it looks as though the bubble has at least been punctured. The numbers, according to an analysis by Luke Gbedemah and Sebastian Hervas-Jones of Tortoise Media, suggest that a split is emerging between the companies that can “sustain an economic downturn and those that might be facing existential decline”. The figures indicate that, for the first time in the history of the industry, the combined real revenue growth rate of the companies was negative rather than positive and real revenues overall were less than the year before. Alphabet’s revenues, for example, were up by 13% but its profits fell by 14%. Apple’s revenues increased by a whisker but profits were down by more than 10%. Amazon’s revenues were up by 7% but profits fell by a whopping 60.6%. Meta – that is, Facebook – had a terrible quarter, with revenues slightly down but profits dropping by 36%. Just about the only bright spot was Microsoft: its revenues were up by nearly a fifth, but even then profits just inched up by 2%. In interpreting these numbers, the usual caveats apply: these are just one quarter’s results (though Meta has now had two dreadful ones); global supply chain problems and pulling out of Russia may have had a disproportionate impact on Apple; and Amazon’s results may reflect the impact of its huge investment in Rivian, the electric vehicle manufacturer, from which it has ordered 100,000 vehicles. But overall, one has the feeling that these giant money-printing machines are moving into territory that is unfamiliar to them – territory where, instead of having endless resources for expansion and experimentation, margins will be squeezed, costs and perks cut, workers fired and efficiencies found. Suddenly, Alphabet’s chief executive is calling for staff “to be more entrepreneurial, working with greater urgency, sharper focus and more hunger than we’ve shown on sunnier days”. Similar sanctimonious exhortations are doubtless being issued by his counterparts at the other giants. Two further thoughts stand out. The first is that the period of what one might call “tech exceptionalism” – the era when these companies and their cheerleaders were lauded for being different from normal, boring corporations – may be drawing to a close. From now on, they’re just corporations – like BT or Unilever. The second is the extent to which we have all underestimated Microsoft simply because it fumbled the smartphone opportunity. Instead, it focused on providing the basic computational infrastructure of the organisational world. The NHS, for example, has something like 750,000 PCs, all of them running Microsoft operating systems and software. Ditto for the UK government, large corporations, university administrations and small and medium-size enterprises in the western world. And it now has a successful cloud computing business. It’s not glamorous or exciting but it’s a rock-solid, enduring business. If you bought shares in it 30 years ago, you’d have the basis for a pretty good pension now. And it’ll still be around when Facebook is just a bad memory.

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Facial recognition smartwatches to be used to monitor foreign offenders in UK | Home Office | The Guardian
by Alberto Cammozzo Aug. 6, 2022

Aug. 6, 2022

<https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/aug/05/facial-recognition-smartwa…> Migrants who have been convicted of a criminal offence will be required to scan their faces up to five times a day using smartwatches installed with facial recognition technology under plans from the Home Office <https://www.theguardian.com/politics/home-office> and the Ministry of Justice. In May, the government awarded a contract <https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/notice/60bb8854-257a-4c11-b3e0-e…> to the British technology company Buddi Limited <https://www.buddi.co.uk/> to deliver “non-fitted devices” to monitor “specific cohorts” as part of the Home Office Satellite Tracking Service. The scheme is due to be introduced from the autumn across the UK, at an initial cost of £6m. A Home Office data protection impact assessment (DPIA) from August 2021, obtained by the charity Privacy International through a freedom of information request, assessed the impact of the smartwatch technology before contracting a supplier. In the documents, seen by the Guardian, the Home Office says the scheme will involve “daily monitoring of individuals subject to immigration control”, with the requirement to wear either a fitted ankle tag or a smartwatch, carried with them at all times. Those obliged to wear the devices will need to complete periodic monitoring checks throughout the day by taking a photograph of themselves on a smartwatch, with information including their names, date of birth, nationality and photographs stored for up to six years. Locations will be tracked “24/7, allowing trail monitoring data to be recorded”. Photographs taken using the smartwatches will be cross-checked against biometric facial images on Home Office systems and if the image verification fails, a check must be performed manually. The data will be shared with the Home Office, MoJ and the police, with Home Office officials adding: “The sharing of this data [to] police colleagues is not new.” The number of devices to be produced and the cost of each smartwatch was redacted in the contract and there is no mention of risk assessments to determine whether it is appropriate to monitor vulnerable or at-risk asylum seekers. The Home Office says the smartwatch scheme will be for foreign-national offenders who have been convicted of a criminal offence, rather than other groups, such as asylum seekers. However, it is expected that those obliged to wear the smartwatches will be subject to similar conditions to those fitted with GPS ankle tags, with references in the DPIA to curfews and inclusion and exclusion zones. In a National Audit Office report <https://www.nao.org.uk/report/electronic-monitoring-a-progress-update/> in June, the government said it “regards electronic monitoring as a cost-effective alternative to custody, which contributes to its goals to protect the public and reduce reoffending”. Campaigners say 24-hour surveillance of asylum seekers breaches human rights, and may have a detrimental impact on migrants’ health and wellbeing. Lucie Audibert, a lawyer and legal officer for Privacy International, said: “Facial recognition is known to be an imperfect and dangerous technology that tends to discriminate against people of colour and marginalised communities. These ‘innovations’ in policing and surveillance are often driven by private companies, who profit from governments’ race towards total surveillance and control of populations. “Through their opaque technologies and algorithms, they facilitate government discrimination and human rights abuses without any accountability. No other country in Europe has deployed this dehumanising and invasive technology against migrants.” Dr Monish Bhatia, a lecturer in criminology at Birkbeck, University of London, said: “Electronic monitoring is an intrusive technology of control. Some individuals develop symptoms of anxiety, depression, suicide ideation and overall deterioration of mental health. “The Home Office is still not clear how long individuals will remain on monitoring. They have not provided any evidence to show why electronic monitoring is necessary or demonstrated that tags make individuals comply with immigration rules better. What we need is humane, non-degrading, community-based solutions.” A Home Office spokesperson said a “portable biometrically accessed device” would soon be introduced to complement the existing fitted device, or ankle tag. “The public expects us to monitor convicted foreign-national offenders and to suggest this contract applies to asylum seekers who have arrived via illegal means is simply wrong. Since August 2021, the Home Office has successfully tagged over 2,500 foreign criminals, reassuring victims that their perpetrators cannot escape the law and will be removed from the UK at the earliest opportunity. “Since January 2019, the government has removed over 10,000 foreign criminals. Foreign criminals should be in no doubt of our determination to deport them and the government is doing everything possible to increase the number of foreign national offenders being deported.” Buddi Limited have been approached for a comment.

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"Amazon to acquire Roomba robot vacuum maker iRobot for $1.7 billion"
by J.C. DE MARTIN Aug. 6, 2022

Aug. 6, 2022

*Amazon to acquire Roomba robot vacuum maker iRobot for $1.7 billion** * /A huge move in the home robotics sector// / By Tom Warren @tomwarren Aug 5, 2022, 8:13am EDT 70 comments [...] continua qui: https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/5/23293349/amazon-acquires-irobot-roomba-ro…

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Use One Big Server - Speculative Branches
by Alberto Cammozzo Aug. 4, 2022

Aug. 4, 2022

To cloud or noto to cloud? Interessante analisi. <https://specbranch.com/posts/one-big-server/> [....]In comparison, buying servers takes about 8 months to break even compared to using cloud servers, and 30 months to break even compared to renting. Of course, buying servers has a lot of drawbacks, and so does renting, so going forward, we will think a little bit about the “cloud premium” and whether you should be willing to pay it (spoiler alert: the answer is “yes, but not as much as the cloud companies want you to pay”).[...]

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Re: [nexa] Journal of Law, Market & Innovation - Innovation letters (Marco Giraudo)
by alessandro marzocchi Aug. 3, 2022

Aug. 3, 2022

Code is law (la funzione legislativa abbandona sempre più le istituzioni tradizionali). - Il giorno mer 3 ago 2022 alle ore 09:56 Marco Giraudo ha scritto:you can find here the innovation letter from Prof. Thomas Hoppner "FROM CREATIVE DESTRUCTION TO DESTRUCTION OF THE CREATIVES: INNOVATION INWALLEDOFF ECOSYSTEMS" dealing with antitrust issues in the digital economy: https://www.ojs.unito.it/index.php/JLMI/article/view/6951

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Journal of Law, Market & Innovation - Innovation letters
by Marco Giraudo Aug. 3, 2022

Aug. 3, 2022

Dear All, please find below the link to a couple of publications that might be of interest to the mailing list, relating to the section "Innovation letters" within the newly released Journal of Law, Market & Innovation. The “Innovation letters” covers “anomalies” in the legal-technological domain. Here the presentation: https://www.ojs.unito.it/index.php/JLMI/article/view/6950 Also, you can find here the innovation letter from Prof. Thomas Hoppner "FROM CREATIVE DESTRUCTION TO DESTRUCTION OF THE CREATIVES: INNOVATION IN WALLEDOFF ECOSYSTEMS" dealing with antitrust issues in the digital economy: https://www.ojs.unito.it/index.php/JLMI/article/view/6951 Thanks and best wishes Marco Giraudo -- Marco Giraudo Università degli Studi di Torino Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza - Collegio Carlo Alberto <https://www.carloalberto.org/person/marco-giraudo/> Ph.D in Institutions Economics and Law

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Cybersicurezza, quando la miglior difesa è l'attacco
by don Luca Peyron Aug. 2, 2022

Aug. 2, 2022

Un pezzo che sembra di costume, ma che ci introduce nella società. Buona lettura dl https://www.repubblica.it/tecnologia/2022/08/02/news/hacker_per_contratto-3… _________________________ don Luca Peyron Direttore Ufficio per la Pastorale Universitaria Arcidiocesi di Torino www.universitari.to.it via XX settembre 83, Torino tel. 011 5156239

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