Post Category → Technology

Permanently disabling Windows Defender “real-time protection” in Windows 11

If you, like me, do not want your Windows 11 computer’s CPU resources spent on antivirus processes and wish to disable Windows Defender completely, you may have found various methods to disable its components via Group Policy (gpedit.msc) and the Windows Registry (regedit.exe). However, starting from version 23H2, Windows will “self-heal” and restore any such settings upon restart. This can be frustrating, and I disagree with Microsoft deciding what my computer does on my behalf.

Here is how to permanently disable the real-time antivirus protection in Windows 11:

Create a folder on your disk:
For example, C:\Scripts.

Create a new PowerShell script file:
Open Notepad or any text editor.
Save the file as turn-off-rt-protection.ps1 in the C:\Scripts folder.

Add the following line to the script:
Set-MpPreference -DisableRealtimeMonitoring $true

Configure the script to run at startup using Task Scheduler:
Open Task Scheduler (you can search for it in the Start menu).
Click on “Create Task” in the right-hand Actions pane.

General Tab:
Name: Enter a name for the task (e.g., “Disable Real-Time Protection”).
Security options: Check “Run with highest privileges”.

Triggers Tab:
Click “New…” to create a new trigger.
Begin the task: Select “At log on”.
Settings: Choose “Any user” or specify a user.
Check “Delay task for:” and set it to 1 minute.
Click “OK”.

Actions Tab:
Click “New…” to create a new action.
Action: Select “Start a program”.
Program/script: Enter powershell.exe.
Add arguments: Enter -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File "C:\Scripts\turn-off-rt-protection.ps1"… >>> Click to read the full post...

The creative panic as AI takes over

Artists and writers are in a panic — they have discovered that their works are being used to train generative AI. A surge of loud discussions arises in the media when it turns out that generative AI, such as ChatGPT and others, have been using materials from artists, photographers, writers, and journalists without their permission. Now, with generative AI competing with them and taking their bread, everyone is suddenly up in arms.

Allow me to offer my perspective on this. The uproar about somehow restricting the use of materials for AI training seems laughable and evokes nothing but a sardonic smirk from me. Just as no one could stop the spread of pirated software through Fidonet, BBS, and IRC chats 30 years ago, and later through internet forums, eDonkey, a now through Torrents, and the Darknet, no one will be able to control what materials AI developers use to train their models. It is foolish to think that someone will develop “bulletproof” algorithms to modify graphical and other materials to confuse AI during model training. AI developers will devise countermeasures to bypass these, without a doubt.

It’s equally naive to think that some legislation will genuinely hinder the use of certain materials in training sets. This will not happen. Instead, developers will take additional technical and algorithmic measures to keep using available materials indirectly, and also ensure that querying their AI models does not explicitly reveal traces of the materials used for training. This is a logical and inevitable engineering … >>> Click to read the full post...

My interview with MMN Magazine

I’m thrilled to share that MMN Magazine recently interviewed me about www.AudioTag.info, its underlying acoustic fingerprinting technology, my other audio technologies including watermarking solutions available at www.AudioWatermarking.com and some more.

A big thank you to my friends at MMN Magazine and to Peter Bokor personally for this wonderful opportunity. You can check out the full interview here: https://mmn-mag.hu/2024/06/03/audiotag-challanging-shazams-fingerprinting

… >>> Click to read the full post...

AWT technology secures new US Patent

I’m pleased to share some news from my small audio DSP software house at www.AudioWatermarking.com. I have just been granted US Patent 11,978,461 — a key addition to the growing collection of innovations, marking another significant personal and professional milestone in my journey at www.AudioWatermarking.com.

This is the third major patent in the line of patents protecting my core DSP technologies focused on audio watermarking and acoustic fingerprinting. Our suite of tools, including Audio Watermarking Tools (AWT) and Audio Fingerprinting Tools (AFT), is at the forefront of forensic audio watermarking, steganography, and acoustic fingerprinting software solutions. This patent is another small personal achievement in my humble engineering career. It is also a step forward for AWT technology and the trust and confidence it provides its users. It’s moments like these that reflect the cumulative effort of countless hours of work and the unwavering support from family and customers.

We look forward to continuing to innovate and provide our clients with state-of-the-art solutions that meet their evolving needs. Your support fuels our continued passion and commitment to enhancing the security and reliability of audio DSP technologies.

Please visit www.audiowatermarking.com to explore how AWT technologies might help meet your needs.
Permanent link to the patent at USPTO website.

… >>> Click to read the full post...

I’ve received a U.S. Patent 10,089,994

I’m proud to announce that I’ve been granted a U.S. Patent 10,089,994 for a novel acoustic fingerprinting approach that I’ve developed. The new technique has been implemented in AFT (Audio Fingerprinting Tools) software solution and is offered at AudioWatermarking.info.

For more details refer to: http://audiowatermarking.info/aft_main.php

Patent text at USPTO: click here.… >>> Click to read the full post...

TrustedAudio.com — secure, watermarked audio delivery platform

We’ve just launched TrustedAudio.com – secure, watermarked audio delivery platform.

TrustedAudio is a web-based service addressing anti-piracy needs of individual musicians, composers, labels, studios and various music and audio professionals (and especially those, who are less into “computer science” and more into their profession).

A short description: “TrustedAudio (TA) is a professional web-based tool that provides an easy and reliable way to share, deliver, and distribute audio files securely by means of watermarking and digital signing. Simply log in, upload your audio files, fill in the recipients’ info, and send the files! All recipients receive their own uniquely and inaudibly watermarked (“digitally signed”) copy of each distributed audio file. Unique watermarks are embedded into every audio file copy delivered to each individual recipient. Records of each watermark, together with the file and the recipient info associated with it, are securely stored in the TA database, enabling the file owner to identify and back-trace delivered copies at any time, instantly and reliably”.

More information: TrustedAudio.com… >>> Click to read the full post...

wavedraw – a simple tool that generates BMP waveform picture of a sound file

Ever needed to generate a waveform picture of an audio file? I was in need of such tool myself and, to my big surprise, didn’t find any! So I wrote it myself. The tool loads a standard RIFF wave sound file (.wav), generates waveform picture and stores it in BMP format. You can specify any desired picture size and background/foreground colors. Only one (left) audio channel of the input file is analyzed.

the tool is free. Use it on your own risk.

I place Windows, Linux and Mac binaries in one archive: wavedraw_all_os.zip… >>> Click to read the full post...