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Category: computing – Page 241

Microsoft removes FAT32 partition size limit in Windows 11

Microsoft removed today an arbitrary 32GB size limit for FAT32 partitions in the latest Windows 11 Canary build, now allowing for a maximum size of 2TB.

“When formatting disks from the command line using the format command, we’ve increased the FAT32 size limit from 32GB to 2TB,” the Windows Insider team said today.

Previously, despite this artificial 32GB limit, Windows systems could still read larger FAT32 file systems if they were created on other operating systems or through alternative methods (e.g., from a Windows PowerShell prompt with administrative privileges or using third-party apps that ignored this artificial size limit).

Linux Kernel Vulnerabilities Expose Systems to Privilege Escalation: Flaws Detailed and Exploit Code Released

Security researchers disclosed PoC exploit codes for three vulnerabilities (CVE-2023–4206, CVE-2023–4207, and CVE-2023–4208) in the Linux kernel, impacting versions v3.18-rc1 to v6.5-rc4. These “use-after-free” vulnerabilities within the net/sched component could allow local privilege escalation, enabling attackers to gain unauthorized control over affected systems. The vulnerabilities have been given a CVSS score of 7.8, indicating their high severity.

SAS Defines Hybrid Reality For Quantum Computing

Quantum is huge. Because quantum computing allows us to step beyond the current limitations of digital systems, it paves the way for a new era of computing machines with previously unthinkable power. Without recounting another simplified explanation of how quantum gets its power at length, we can reference the double-slit experiment and perhaps the spinning coin explanation.

A coin sat on a desk is either heads or tails, rather like the 1s and 0s that express the on or off values in binary code. Quantum theorists would prefer we think of the coin above the desk, spinning in the air. In this state, the coin is both heads and tails at the same time. This is because, at the quantum level, both values exist until we make an observation of its state at any given point in time. We could further increase the number of positions possible (literally known as quantum superposition) by altering the angle of view we take on the coin, which is somewhat similar to how we work with qubits in quantum mechanics.

So then, Schrödinger’s cat is both alive and dead at the same time and the dummies guide to quantum entanglement is out there on the web if needed. What matters most now is how we will make practical use of quantum computing and where it will be applied for best advantage.

Law of “Infodynamics” Supports Theory That We Are Living in a Simulation

A University of Portsmouth physicist has explored whether a new law of physics could support the much-debated theory that we are simply characters in an advanced virtual world.

The simulated universe hypothesis proposes that what humans experience is actually an artificial reality, much like a computer simulation, in which they themselves are constructs.

The theory is popular among a number of well-known figures including Elon Musk, and within a branch of science known as information physics, which suggests physical reality is fundamentally made up of bits of information.

Hybrid RF-VLC system could reduce power consumption in wireless networks

Wireless internet supports the daily activities of countless people worldwide, ranging from their professional communications to internet browsing and the streaming of movies or TV series. This spiking demand for wireless internet access goes hand in hand with greater power consumption, which in turn contributes to carbon emissions worldwide.

Future wireless networks should be able to support the high computational demands of many modern applications and internet services, while limiting power consumption. Some researchers have thus been developing energy efficient techniques supporting between devices and the sharing of media or other information online.

One of these solutions is known as communication (VLC). This is a method to realize efficient wireless communication using visible light to transmit data, relying on (LEDs) or other artificial light sources.

Discrete and Continuous Processes in Computers and Brains

Theories of computation and theories of the brain have close historical interrelations, the best-known examples being Turing’s introspective use of the brain’s operation as a model for his idealized computing machine (Turing 1936), McCulloch’s and Pitts’ use of ideal switching elements to model the brain (McCulloch and Pitts 1943), and von Neumann’s comparison of the logic and physics of both brains and computers (von Neumann 1958).

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