fidzu : nerd

The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers has published over 800 technical standards over the years (as a professional association for the media and entertainment industry). But this week SMPTE "announced that its complete Standards catalog, the technical backbone behind everything from SDI and timecode to IP-based broadcast workflows, is now freely available to anyone in the global media technology community," reports the filmmaking news site CineD, arguing it's "one of the more meaningful structural shifts we have seen from a standards body in years" that could "reshape how smaller developers and educators engage with professional media technology." The move covers all published Standards, Recommended Practices, Engineering Guidelines and Registered Disclosure Documents, plus every future release, ending a long-standing model in which individual documents often sold for well over $100 each. For more than a century, SMPTE Standards have quietly governed how images and sound move through the production chain. If you have ever recorded timecode in the HH:MM:SS:FF format, routed a signal over 3G-SDI, or built a facility around the ST 2110 suite for media over IP, you have relied on SMPTE specifications, whether you knew it or not... Until now, accessing the actual text of those documents usually meant paying per file, a barrier that this announcement removes entirely... The latest releases are available through the Recently Published Documents page on the SMPTE website, with the complete archive reachable through the SMPTE Standards Library... There is also a practical, behind-the-scenes story here. The open-access move is part of a broader modernization of how SMPTE develops and publishes Standards. Recent initiatives include adopting GitHub-based workflows for version control, issue tracking and automation, transitioning to structured HTML-based authoring, and implementing an integrated publishing pipeline that streamlines document creation, review, validation and release... The most consequential beneficiaries are arguably not the large members already inside the system, but the developers, integrators, educators and manufacturers who previously worked around the paywall... The practical upshot is that developers and emerging markets can build from accurate primary specifications rather than secondhand sources, which matters enormously when a single misread tolerance or metadata field can break compatibility down the line. This also fits a wider pattern of the industry moving toward openness. We have previously covered moments like GoPro's decision to make its CineForm codec open source and release the SDK, a codec that SMPTE itself standardized in 2015 as an open standard for acquisition and post production. Lowering the cost of knowledge tends to widen the pool of people who can contribute to it, and a freely readable standards library is a significant step in that direction for an organization that has historically sat behind a per-document fee. "This was a decision we did not make lightly," says SMPTE President Rich Welsh. But "For 110 years, SMPTE has evolved alongside the media technology industry, helping to drive change and innovation - and we're not stopping now." "Our industry is confronting transformative shifts, from IP-based workflows to AI authenticity and content provenance, and we find ourselves at another inflection point. We listened to our Members, Partners and the global Standards community, and the answer was clear: Interoperability is essential to the future of media. Now is the time to open the gates and ensure the next generation of media technology is built on a stronger, more accessible foundation." Thanks to innocent_white_lamb (Slashdot reader #151,825) for sharing the news.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

20 Jun 2026 4:34pm GMT

Comments

20 Jun 2026 3:42pm GMT

Ars Technica's senior security editor reports: Microsoft says it has detected new self-propagating malware that spreads through USB drives in search of cryptocurrency credentials, which it then sends to attacker-controlled servers. The company named the worm Crypto Clipper because it monitors the contents of device clipboards for patterns consistent with wallet addresses or seed phrases. When found, the malware also takes five screenshots over a 10-second period... "The execution of this clipper is notable because it does not depend on a traditional installer or exposed IP-based C2 infrastructure," Microsoft said Thursday. "Instead, it deploys a portable Tor client, routes traffic through a local SOCKS5 proxy, and blends data theft with remote code execution, turning a financially motivated stealer into a lightweight backdoor." Microsoft said it observed Crypto Clipper spreading through .lnk file on a USB drive. These files store executable code. When an infected USB drive is plugged into a device, the code checks whether it is already installed on the machine. If it isn't, the malware downloads it through the Tor proxy. To better conceal evidence of the worm, the malware scans the infected USB drive and names the .lnk files with similar names... The stealer also replaces addresses it finds with ones belonging to attacker-controlled wallets. This allows the malware to divert payments to the attacker's pockets. Microsoft believes the purpose of the screenshots is to provide context that may be useful. "This malware family shows how lightweight, script-based stealers can deliver outsized impact when paired with anonymized communications and runtime tasking," Microsoft said. "The combination of Tor-routed C2, clipboard targeting, screenshot capture, and remote code execution gives attackers both immediate monetization paths and continued control over compromised devices." Thanks to Slashdot reader joshuark for sharing the news.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

20 Jun 2026 3:34pm GMT

Comments

20 Jun 2026 3:10pm GMT

Comments

20 Jun 2026 2:52pm GMT

The Free Software Foundation's GNU Savannah hosts thousands of free software projects - both GNU and non-GNU projects, including Drupal. But in early May, security researchers from Hacktron.AI reported vulnerabilities and demonstrated an exploit, according to a new statement Friday from the FSF: We have been working with these researchers since their initial report, and have also addressed additional security issues they submitted. All reported issues have been patched thanks to the hard work of GNU and FSF volunteers, as well as FSF staff. After thorough review, we have found no reason to believe that sensitive project data or credentials were accessed, nor that there has been any compromise of Savannah's software supply chain. Nevertheless, we take the security of the GNU system, the tools which make it possible, and the projects we host very seriously. This body of software has become essential to millions (if not billions) of users around the world. We are therefore taking additional precautionary steps. Though the initial security issue was reported to us in early May, the vulnerabilities were discovered in software that was published approximately two years prior. We will be communicating directly with Savannah-hosted projects about steps they can take to review and strengthen the security of their projects. We have also communicated with the other Savane instances we're aware of to assist their review of their own environments, and take any steps needed to help protect their users... This statement is intended as an initial notice. We expect to publish a report on the incident within 30 days. Hacktron.AI bills itself as "Your AI teammate for security." Its web page notes that its investors include Meta, DeepMind, and Perplexity.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

20 Jun 2026 2:34pm GMT

Kent Overstreet says Bcachefs is no longer experimental, while broader production use still calls for careful judgment.

20 Jun 2026 12:01pm GMT

Tests of age-verification technology show the risks of life-altering errors.

20 Jun 2026 11:15am GMT

KDE Plasma 6.8 development begins with color-coded monitor badges, UI refinements, and several usability improvements.

20 Jun 2026 8:09am GMT

Systemd 261 adds a new cloud IMDS subsystem, TPM updates, boot improvements, networking changes, and several compatibility notes.

19 Jun 2026 6:40pm GMT

A French launch startup is scrapping the name of its rocket, apparently due to a trademark issue.

19 Jun 2026 1:36pm GMT

Researchers say these coral strongholds may help repopulate more degraded reefs.

19 Jun 2026 11:15am GMT