Overshooting 1.5C Risks 'Irreversible' Climate Impact: Study

Any breach of what climate scientists agree is the safer limit on global warming would result in "irreversible consequences" for the planet, said a major academic study published on Wednesday. From a eport: Even temporarily exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius before bringing temperatures back down -- a scenario known as an "overshoot" -- could cause sea level rises and other disastrous repercussions that might last millenia. This "does away with the notion that overshoot delivers a similar climate outcome" to a future where more was done earlier to curb global warming, said Carl-Friedrich Schleussner, who led the study co-authored by 30 scientists.

The findings, three years in the making, are urgent, as the goal of capping global temperature rises at 1.5C above pre-industrial levels is slipping out of reach.
Emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases must nearly halve by 2030 if the world is to reach 1.5C -- the more ambitious target enshrined in the 2015 Paris climate accord.

https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/10/10/1814246/overshooting-15c-risks-irreversible-climate-impact-study?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/10/10/1814246/overshooting-15c-risks-irreversible-climate-impact-study?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


Jupiter's Great Red Spot Is Shapeshifting in Ways 'Never Identified Before'

An anonymous reader writes: A massive storm has been raging on Jupiter for centuries, and, for the most part, has appeared very serious. A new series of detailed images, however, revealed that the famous red cyclone can get a little squiggly, bulging into different shapes and sizes over a short period of time.

Astronomers used the Hubble space telescope to look at Jupiter's Great Red Spot (GRS) from December 2023 to March 2024, and they observed the massive storm changing dimensions over the 90-day period. The reason behind this unexpected shapeshifting is unknown, but it revealed that the famous red storm is not as stable as it seemed. The results of the Hubble observations are detailed in a study published Wednesday in The Planetary Science Journal.

Using Hubble's observations, the team of astronomers behind the new study measured the Great Red Spot's size, shape, brightness, color, and vorticity over one full oscillation cycle. The combined images act like a time-lapse of the storm's changing behavior, revealing its famous red eye varying in size, while its core gets brighter when the Great Red Spot is at its largest during the 90-day cycle.

https://science.slashdot.org/story/24/10/10/1725240/jupiters-great-red-spot-is-shapeshifting-in-ways-never-identified-before?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://science.slashdot.org/story/24/10/10/1725240/jupiters-great-red-spot-is-shapeshifting-in-ways-never-identified-before?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


Intel Unveils Arrow Lake Desktop Processors, Promising Power Efficiency Gains

Intel has announced its new Arrow Lake desktop processors, marking a significant shift in the company's approach to chip design and power efficiency. The Core Ultra 200S series, set to launch on October 24, 2024, introduces a disaggregated architecture manufactured using TSMC's advanced nodes.

The flagship Core Ultra 9 285K boasts 24 cores (8 performance, 16 efficiency) and can boost up to 5.7 GHz, priced at $589. Intel claims the new chips offer comparable performance to their predecessors while consuming significantly less power, with reductions of up to 136 watts in some gaming scenarios.

Arrow Lake utilizes a tiled design, combining compute, GPU, SoC, and I/O components manufactured by TSMC and packaged using Intel's Foveros technology. The compute tile is built on TSMC's N3B process, while the GPU tile uses TSMC's N5P, and the I/O and SoC tiles are on TSMC's N6. Intel's Roger Chandler stated, "Arrow Lake picks up the mantle of Raptor Lake's top-end gaming performance and delivers parity performance at about half the power."

Intel acknowledges that gaming performance may lag slightly behind the previous generation, with a 5% deficit in some benchmarks compared to the Core i9-14900K. The company is positioning Arrow Lake as a balanced solution, emphasizing power efficiency and content creation capabilities. The new processors require a new LGA 1851 socket and Z890 chipset, necessitating motherboard upgrades. Memory support extends to DDR5-6400, with XMP profiles potentially reaching DDR5-8000.

https://slashdot.org/story/24/10/10/1614217/intel-unveils-arrow-lake-desktop-processors-promising-power-efficiency-gains?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://slashdot.org/story/24/10/10/1614217/intel-unveils-arrow-lake-desktop-processors-promising-power-efficiency-gains?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


Rises In Life Expectancy Have Slowed Dramatically, Analysis Finds

The rapid increases in life expectancy seen in the 20th century have slowed significantly, according to a new analysis published in the journal Nature. The Guardian reports: According to the study, children born recently in regions with the oldest people are far from likely to become centenarians. At best, the researchers predict 15% of females and 5% of males in the oldest-living areas will reach 100 this century. "If you're planning for retirement, it's probably not a good idea to assume you're going to make it to 100," said Jay Olshansky, professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "You'd probably have to work for at least 10 years longer than you'd think. And you want to enjoy the last phase of your life, you don't necessarily want to spend it working to save for time you're not going to experience."

Advances in public health and medicine sparked a longevity revolution in the 20th century. In the previous 2,000 years, life expectancy crept up, on average, one year every century or two. In the 20th century, average life expectancy rocketed, with people gaining an extra three years every decade. For the latest study, Olshansky delved into national statistics from the US and nine regions with the highest life expectancies, focusing on 1990 to 2019, before the Covid pandemic struck. The data from Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Australia, France, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, and Spain showed that rises in life expectancy had slowed dramatically. In the US, life expectancy fell [T]he researchers describe how on average, life expectancy in the longest-living regions rose only 6.5 years between 1990 and 2019. They predict that girls born recently in the regions have only a 5.3% chance of reaching 100 years old, while boys have a 1.8% chance.

"In the modern era we have, through public health and medicine, manufactured decades of life that otherwise would not exist," Olshansky said. "These gains must slow down. The longevity game we're playing today is different to the longevity game we played a century ago when we were saving infants and children and women of child-bearing age and the gains in life expectancy were large. Now the gains are small because we're saving people in their 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s." Olshansky said it would take radical new treatments that slow ageing, the greatest risk factor for many diseases, to achieve another longevity revolution. Research in the field is afoot with a dozen or so drugs shown to increase the lifespan of mice.

https://science.slashdot.org/story/24/10/10/0214250/rises-in-life-expectancy-have-slowed-dramatically-analysis-finds?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://science.slashdot.org/story/24/10/10/0214250/rises-in-life-expectancy-have-slowed-dramatically-analysis-finds?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


Google Identifies Low Noise 'Phase Transition' In Its Quantum Processor

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Back in 2019, Google made waves by claiming it had achieved what has been called "quantum supremacy" -- the ability of a quantum computer to perform operations that would take a wildly impractical amount of time to simulate on standard computing hardware. That claim proved to be controversial, in that the operations were little more than a benchmark that involved getting the quantum computer to behave like a quantum computer; separately, improved ideas about how to perform the simulation on a supercomputer cut the time required down significantly.

But Google is back with a new exploration of the benchmark, described in a paper published in Nature on Wednesday. It uses the benchmark to identify what it calls a phase transition in the performance of its quantum processor and uses it to identify conditions where the processor can operate with low noise. Taking advantage of that, they again show that, even giving classical hardware every potential advantage, it would take a supercomputer a dozen years to simulate things.

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/10/09/2331249/google-identifies-low-noise-phase-transition-in-its-quantum-processor?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/10/09/2331249/google-identifies-low-noise-phase-transition-in-its-quantum-processor?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


DIY Photographer Builds Full-Frame Camera, Open-Sources the Project

Boston-based engineer and photographer Wenting Zhang built his own full-frame camera and open-sourced the project on GitLab for anyone else to build upon. The camera, named Sitina S1, features a 10MP CCD sensor, custom electronics, and a 3D-printed body. Digital Photography Review reports: Zhang says he started the project in 2017, and it's not finished yet. "Engineers are usually bad at estimating how long things will take. I am probably particularly bad at that. I expected this project to be challenging, so it would take a bit longer, like probably one year. Turned out my estimation was off," he says. He makes clear to point out that this is a hobby project, purely for fun, and that his camera isn't going to achieve the level of image quality found in commercially available products from established companies. Despite that, his project provides a fascinating look into what's involved in building a camera from the ground up.

Although CMOS has become the dominant sensor technology in consumer cameras, owing to factors like speed, lower power consumption and cost, Zhang's camera is built around a 10MP Kodak KAI-11000CM CCD sensor with a global electronic shutter, which he selected for a rather pragmatic reason: it was easy to source. "Most manufacturers (like Sony) aren't going to just sell a sensor to a random hobbyist, so I have to buy whatever is available on eBay. This 10MP CCD turned out to be available," he explains. The choice of sensor has a useful benefit. As he explains in one of his videos, designing and building a mechanical shutter is complicated and beyond his area of expertise, so his DIY design is based on using an electronic shutter. For similar reasons, he chose to use an LCD screen as a viewfinder rather than a prism-based optical design, resulting in a mirrorless camera.

Zhang wanted his design to be compatible with existing lenses. His mirrorless design, with a short flange distance, provided a great deal of flexibility to adapt different lenses to the camera, and he's currently using E-mount with active electrical contacts. And that's just the start. Zhang also needed to integrate a CCD signal processor with an ADC (analog to digital converter), a CPU, battery, an LCD screen and buttons. He also designed and built his own circuit board with a power-only USB port, flash sync terminal, power button and SD card slot, and create the software and user interface to tie it all together. Finally, everything fits inside a 3D-printed enclosure that, to my eye, looks rather attractive.

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/10/09/2322227/diy-photographer-builds-full-frame-camera-open-sources-the-project?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/10/09/2322227/diy-photographer-builds-full-frame-camera-open-sources-the-project?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


Kim Dotcom Fends Off Arrest Before Conspiracy Theories and Reality Collide

TorrentFreak's Andy Maxwell reports: In August, New Zealand's Justice Minister authorized Kim Dotcom's immediate arrest and extradition. Dotcom's response to his followers on X was simple: "I'm not leaving." Another post mid-September -- "we are very close to disaster" -- led to Dotcom disappearing for three weeks. On his return, Dotcom said X had suspended his account, based on an extremely serious allegation. After accusing Elon Musk of failing to help, yesterday Dotcom warned that a Trump loss would see Musk indicted and "fighting for his life." Dotcom has a plan to avoid extradition; chaos like this provides the fuel.

The details of Dotcom's "plan" to stay in New Zealand are yet to be revealed. Given Dotcom's history, exhausting the judiciary with every possible avenue of appeal is pretty much guaranteed, no matter how unlikely the prospects of success. At the same time, it's likely that Dotcom will use social media to preach to the existing choir. He will also try to appeal to those who loathe him, and those who merely hate him, by focusing on a common grievance. "People keep suggesting that I should leave this corrupt US colony like a fugitive on the run. Hell no," he told 1.7 million X followers recently. "Corrupt US colony" and the interchangeable "obedient" variant are clearly derogatory, catering to theories of joint complicity and sniveling weakness. This rhetoric has been visible on Dotcom's social media accounts for some time, but the main theme is Dotcom's belligerent, out-of-the-blue support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine. [...]

Some people believe that Dotcom genuinely supports Russia and, with his quotes regularly appearing on state-run news channels, arguing otherwise is a pretty tough ask. A different assessment starts with the things Dotcom values most -- his family, his wealth, and his freedom -- and applies that to a reputation of doing whatever it takes to protect and maintain those three, non-negotiable aspects of his life. Right now, his best chance is to tilt the chess board via a change at the White House, and then carefully exploit a change in policy. Dotcom's colleagues took a plea deal from the U.S. and New Zealand that Dotcom insists he would never accept; certainly not if Biden was in power. A Donald Trump win, on the other hand, would introduce an administration Dotcom could be seen to negotiate with, on previously unthinkable terms, without losing face. Previous reluctance to admit any wrongdoing could suddenly seem trivial after the prevention of World War 3.

[Since 2022, Dotcom supported narratives more closely aligned with those of the Kremlin, in particular the claim that United States policy is the root cause of the current conflict. The amplification of anti-Ukraine rumors in the United States, strategically links alleged U.S. policy failures to billions of dollars in military aid, all at taxpayers' expense. This toxic mix, Dotcom insists, heralds the collapse of the dollar, the dismantling of the "US Empire," and ultimately a global human catastrophe; World War 3, no holds barred.]

https://yro.slashdot.org/story/24/10/09/2311226/kim-dotcom-fends-off-arrest-before-conspiracy-theories-and-reality-collide?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://yro.slashdot.org/story/24/10/09/2311226/kim-dotcom-fends-off-arrest-before-conspiracy-theories-and-reality-collide?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


Open-Source AI Definition Finally Gets Its First Release Candidate

An anonymous reader quotes a report from ZDNet: Getting open-source and artificial intelligence (AI) on the same page isn't easy. Just ask the Open Source Initiative (OSI). The OSI, the open-source definition steward organization, has been working on creating an open-source artificial intelligence definition for two years now. The group has been making progress, though. Its Open Source AI Definition has now released its first release candidate, RC1. The latest definition aims to clarify the often contentious discussions surrounding open-source AI. It specifies four fundamental freedoms that an AI system must grant to be considered open source: the ability to use the system for any purpose without permission, to study how it works, to modify it for any purpose, and to share it with or without modifications. So far, so good.

However, the OSI has opted for a compromise regarding training data. Recognizing it's not easy to share full datasets, the current definition requires "sufficiently detailed information about the data used to train the system" rather than the full dataset itself. This approach aims to balance transparency with practical and legal considerations. That last phrase is proving difficult for some people to swallow. From their perspective, if all the data isn't open, then AI large language models (LLM) based on such data can't be open-source. The OSI summarized these arguments as follows: "Some people believe that full, unfettered access to all training data (with no distinction of its kind) is paramount, arguing that anything less would compromise full reproducibility of AI systems, transparency, and security. This approach would relegate Open-Source AI to a niche of AI trainable only on open data." The OSI acknowledges that the definition of open-source AI isn't final and may need significant rewrites, but the focus is now on fixing bugs and improving documentation. The final version of the Open Source AI Definition is scheduled for release at the All Things Open conference on October 28, 2024.

https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/10/09/2048207/open-source-ai-definition-finally-gets-its-first-release-candidate?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/10/09/2048207/open-source-ai-definition-finally-gets-its-first-release-candidate?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


OpenBSD 7.6 Released

Phoronix's Michael Larabel reports: OpenBSD 7.6 is out this evening as another major step forward for this BSD operating system with enhanced hardware support, security improvements, updating various user-space software, and enabling other kernel enhancements. There are a ton of changes to find with the just-released OpenBSD 7.6.

Some of the new OpenBSD 7.6 features include:

- OpenBSD 7.6 provides initial support for Qualcomm Snapdragon X1 Elite (X1E80100) SoCs. The 7.6 release also has initial Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge boot support in ACPI mode with OpenBSD 7.6.
- ARM64 has additional CPU security mitigations with Spectre-V4 now in place on ARM64 and adding Spectre-BHB for Cortex-A57 cores.
- OpenBSD 7.6 on RISC-V now supports the Milk-V Pioneer board.
- OpenBSD 7.6 on AMD64 has finally implemented support for AVX-512.
- Various SMP kernel improvements.
 You can view the full list of features and download the OpenBSD 7.6 release via OpenBSD.org.

https://bsd.slashdot.org/story/24/10/09/2038229/openbsd-76-released?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://bsd.slashdot.org/story/24/10/09/2038229/openbsd-76-released?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


Bankrupt Fisker Unable To Port EV Data, Risking Multi-Million Dollar Fleet Deal

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Fisker's Chapter 11 bankruptcy has hit a major snag, as the company buying the startup's remaining fleet of electric SUVs says it might not complete the purchase because of a surprising technical issue. The buyer, a New York-area leasing company called American Lease, says in a new filing that Fisker now believes there is no way to transfer the information connected to each SUV to a new server not owned by the bankrupt EV startup. Since American Lease needs that information to operate the vehicles after Fisker is dissolved, the leasing company has filed an emergency objection to the startup's liquidation plan. Fisker was expected to have that plan confirmed in bankruptcy court as early as this Wednesday.

American Lease has already handed over "tens of millions of dollars" after the purchase agreement of the 3,000-plus Ocean SUVs was approved in July. These funds have been crucial because Fisker was using them to pay for the bankruptcy process. Fisker needed that money to keep itself alive long enough to settle its debts and also prepare to liquidate what it says is around $1 billion in assets that were, until recently, under control of an Austrian subsidiary that was going through its own insolvency process. [...] American Lease says in its filing that Fisker first brought up the possibility that it wouldn't be able to transfer the information to a new server on Friday, October 4, at 8 p.m. ET. And it says that this week, Fisker informed American Lease that it won't be possible at all.

"[American Lease] cannot overstate the significance of this unwelcome news, conveyed to it only after it has paid [Fisker] tens of millions of dollars under the Purchase Agreement," the leasing company's lawyers write in the filing. "It is unclear at the present time what, if anything, Debtor representatives have known about the impossibility or impracticability of implementing Porting of the Purchased Vehicles, and when they learned or otherwise knew of that critical information." American Lease is asking to delay Wednesday's hearing and be allowed to perform "expedited and targeted discovery" of Fisker and its representatives to find out more about when Fisker learned of this problem.

https://slashdot.org/story/24/10/09/2024250/bankrupt-fisker-unable-to-port-ev-data-risking-multi-million-dollar-fleet-deal?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://slashdot.org/story/24/10/09/2024250/bankrupt-fisker-unable-to-port-ev-data-risking-multi-million-dollar-fleet-deal?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


Wimbledon Abolishes Line Judges in Favor of Automated Technology After 147 Years

The greatest tennis players in the world will be left to rage against a machine after any tight line calls at Wimbledon next year as the All England Club will break with tradition by removing line judges from all courts during the championships for the first time in its 147-year history. From a report: From 2025 onwards live electronic line calling (ELC) will be used on all courts in both the main draw at the All England Club and the qualifying tournament off-site in Roehampton. The new technology was successfully tested during this year's championships. Wimbledon's chief executive, Sally Bolton, said: "The decision to introduce Live Electronic Line Calling at the championships was made following a significant period of consideration and consultation."

Bolton added: "Having reviewed the results of the testing this year, we consider the technology to be sufficiently robust and the time is right to take this important step in seeking maximum accuracy in our officiating. For the players, it will offer them the same conditions they have played under at a number of other events on tour."

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/10/09/1616223/wimbledon-abolishes-line-judges-in-favor-of-automated-technology-after-147-years?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/10/09/1616223/wimbledon-abolishes-line-judges-in-favor-of-automated-technology-after-147-years?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


DOJ Indicates It's Considering Google Breakup Following Monopoly Ruling

In a new 32-page filing (PDF), the Department of Justice indicated that it was considering a possible breakup of Google as an antitrust remedy for its search and advertising monopoly. The remedies necessary to "prevent and restrain monopoly maintenance could include contract requirements and prohibitions; non-discrimination product requirements; data and interoperability requirements; and structural requirements," the department said in the filing. CNBC reports: The DOJ also said it was "considering behavioral and structural remedies that would prevent Google from using products such as Chrome, Play, and Android to advantage Google search and Google search-related products and features -- including emerging search access points and features, such as artificial intelligence -- over rivals or new entrants."

Additionally, the DOJ suggested limiting or prohibiting default agreements and "other revenue-sharing arrangements related to search and search-related products." That would include Google's search position agreements with Apple's iPhone and Samsung devices -- deals that cost the company billions of dollars a year in payouts. The agency suggested one way to do this is requiring a "choice screen," which could allow users to pick from other search engines. Such remedies would end "Google's control of distribution today" and ensure "Google cannot control the distribution of tomorrow."

https://yro.slashdot.org/story/24/10/09/0339229/doj-indicates-its-considering-google-breakup-following-monopoly-ruling?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://yro.slashdot.org/story/24/10/09/0339229/doj-indicates-its-considering-google-breakup-following-monopoly-ruling?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


Foxconn Building Nvidia Superchip Facility In Mexico

Foxconn has chosen Mexico for the site of the world's largest manufacturing facility for Nvidia's GB200 superchips. These chips are a "key component of the U.S. firm's next-generation Blackwell family computing platform," notes Reuters. From the report: "We're building the largest GB200 production facility on the planet," said Benjamin Ting, Foxconn senior vice president for the cloud enterprise solutions business group. Nvidia said in August that it had started shipping Blackwell samples to its partners and customers after tweaking its design, and expected several billion dollars in revenue from these chips in the fourth quarter. Ting said the partnership between his company and Nvidia was very important and everyone was asking for Nvidia's Blackwell platform. "The demand is awfully huge," Ting said at the company's annual tech day in Taipei, standing next to Nvidia's vice president for AI and robotics, Deepu Talla.

Speaking to reporters later, Foxconn Chairman Young Liu said the plant was being built in Mexico, and that the capacity there would be "very, very enormous". He did not elaborate. Foxconn already has a large manufacturing presence in Mexico and has invested more than $500 million to date in the state of Chihuahua. Liu said the company's supply chain was ready for the AI revolution, adding its manufacturing capabilities include the "advanced liquid cooling and heat dissipation technologies necessary to complement the GB200 server's infrastructure."

https://slashdot.org/story/24/10/08/2219214/foxconn-building-nvidia-superchip-facility-in-mexico?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://slashdot.org/story/24/10/08/2219214/foxconn-building-nvidia-superchip-facility-in-mexico?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


Apple Potentially Facing Worst Leak Since iPhone 4 Was Left In a Bar

"Alleged photos and videos of an unannounced 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M4 chip continue to surface on social media, in what could be the worst product leak for Apple since an employee accidentally left an iPhone 4 prototype at a bar in California in 2010," writes MacRumors' Joe Rossignol. From the report: The latest video of what could be a next-generation MacBook Pro was shared on YouTube Shorts today by Russian channel Romancev768, just one day after another Russian channel shared a similar video. The clip shows a box for a 14-inch MacBook Pro that is apparently configured with an M4 chip with a 10-core CPU and a 10-core GPU, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, three Thunderbolt 4 ports, and a Space Black finish. According to the "About This Mac" software menu shown in the video, the MacBook Pro in the video is allegedly an unreleased November 2024 model. [...]

Apple is well known for having a culture of secrecy, so this magnitude of leak is rarely seen for its products. As previously mentioned, this could be the most significant leak for Apple since Gizmodo obtained and shared photos of an iPhone 4 prototype that a then-employee of the company accidentally left behind at a bar in California. In that case, Apple got law enforcement involved, but how it acts this time around remains to be seen.

https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/24/10/08/225214/apple-potentially-facing-worst-leak-since-iphone-4-was-left-in-a-bar?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/24/10/08/225214/apple-potentially-facing-worst-leak-since-iphone-4-was-left-in-a-bar?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


Brazil Unblocks X

X has been restored in Brazil after being shut down nationwide for over a month. According to court documents released today, X ultimately complied with all of Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes' demands. "They included blocking certain accounts from the platform, paying outstanding fines and naming a legal representative in the country," reports NPR. "Failure to do the latter had triggered the suspension." From the report: Elon Musk's X was blocked blocked on Aug. 30 in the highly online country of 213 million people -- and one of X's biggest markets, with estimates of its user base ranging from 20 to 40 million. De Moraes ordered the shutdown after a monthslong dispute with Musk over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation. Musk had disparaged de Moraes, calling him an authoritarian and a censor, even though his rulings, including X's suspension, were repeatedly upheld by his peers.

Brazilian law requires foreign companies to have a local legal representative to receive notifications of court decisions and swiftly take any requisite action -- particularly, in X's case, the takedown of accounts. Conceicao was first named X's legal representative in April and resigned four months later. The company named her to the same job on Sep. 20, according to the public filing with the Sao Paulo commercial registry. In an apparent effort to shield Conceicao from potential violations by X -- and risking arrest -- a clause has been written into Conceicao's new representation agreement that she must follow Brazilian law and court decisions, and that any legal responsibility she assumes on X's behalf requires prior instruction from the company in writing, according to the company's filing.

There is nothing illegal or suspect about using a company like BR4Business for legal representation, but it shows that X is doing the bare minimum to operate in the country, said Fabio de Sa e Silva, a lawyer and associate professor of International and Brazilian Studies at the University of Oklahoma. "It doesn't demonstrate an intention to truly engage with the country. Take Meta, for example, and Google. They have an office, a government relations department, precisely to interact with public authorities and discuss Brazil's regulatory policies concerning their businesses," Silva added. [...] "The concern now is what comes next and how X, once back in operation, will manage to meet the demands of the market and local authorities without creating new tensions," he said.

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/10/08/2232251/brazil-unblocks-x?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/10/08/2232251/brazil-unblocks-x?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


Roblox Accused of Lying To Investors About User Numbers

Investment firm Hindenburg Research claims Roblox is "consistently overstating the amount of people on its platform by 25 percent to 42 percent or more." The Verge reports: Roblox, which went public in 2021, reported having 79.5 million daily active users in its most recent earnings report. However, Hindenburg claims Roblox "intentionally conflates" actual people with daily users, as that number could also include alt accounts and bots. The research alleges that Roblox can separate alt accounts from single users, even though the company's disclosure says daily active users "are not a measure of unique individuals accessing Roblox."

Hindenburg is an activist short-selling firm that infamously publishes research when it says it's identified something shady about a business, allowing it to make a profit as its share value declines. One example is from 2020, when Hindenburg accused the EV startup Nikola of fraud. Subsequently, an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) resulted in a four-year prison sentence for its founder, Trevor Milton. [...] The firm also claims Roblox isn't doing enough to protect children on the platform, alleging its "in-game research revealed an X-rated pedophile hellscape, exposing children to grooming, pornography, violent content and extremely abusive speech." Roblox shares dipped following the release of the report. Desiree Fish, Roblox's chief communications officer, said in a statement: "We totally reject the claims made in the report. The financial claims made by Hindenburg Research are simply misleading. The authors are, admittedly short sellers and have an agenda irrespective of the substance of Roblox's business model and results. Over the past four quarters our bookings, the amount of cash receipts, have grown over 22% from $780.7 million in Q2 2023 to $955.2 million in Q2 2024. Over the same time, cash provided by operating activities have totaled $646.3 million, free cash flow was $440.3 million, and we have guided to even higher numbers for fiscal 2024. An examination of our GAAP balance sheet and our GAAP cash flow statement makes that clear. The focus on cash bookings and cash flow are themes that we have focused on consistently with investors dating back to our days as a private company. The author made no attempt to highlight any of that because the positive facts simply don't support their agenda."

https://games.slashdot.org/story/24/10/08/2024254/roblox-accused-of-lying-to-investors-about-user-numbers?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://games.slashdot.org/story/24/10/08/2024254/roblox-accused-of-lying-to-investors-about-user-numbers?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


Microsoft Veteran Ditches Team Tabs, Blaming Storage Trauma of Yesteryear

Veteran Microsoft engineer Larry Osterman is the latest to throw his hat into the "tabs versus spaces" ring. From a report: The debate has vexed engineers for decades -- is it best to indent code with tabs or spaces? Osterman, a four-decade veteran of Microsoft, was Team Tabs when storage was tight, but has since become Team Spaces with the advent of terabytes of relatively inexpensive storage. "Here's the thing," he said. "When you've got 512 kilobytes, and you're writing a program in Pascal with lots of indentation, if you're taking eight bytes for every one of those indentations, for eight spaces, you could save seven bytes in your program by using a tab character."

It all added up, even when floppy disks were part of the equation.

However, according to Osterman, things have changed. Storage is less of an issue, so why not use spaces? A cynic might wonder if that sort of attitude has led to the bloatware of today, where software requires ever-increasing amounts of storage in return for precious little extra functionality and a never-ending stream of patches. Any decent compiler should strip out any extraneous characters, assuming the code is indeed being compiled beforehand and not interpreted at run-time. For his part, Osterman is now a member of team spaces. "I like spaces simply because it always works and it's always consistent," he said.

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/10/08/1829212/microsoft-veteran-ditches-team-tabs-blaming-storage-trauma-of-yesteryear?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/10/08/1829212/microsoft-veteran-ditches-team-tabs-blaming-storage-trauma-of-yesteryear?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


Virginia Congressional Candidate Creates AI Chatbot as Debate Stand-in For Incumbent

A long-shot congressional challenger in Virginia is so determined to debate the Democratic incumbent one more time that he created an AI chatbot to stand in for the candidate in case he's a no-show. From a report: Less than a month from election day, the race for Virginia's 8th congressional district is all but decided. The sitting congressman in this deeply Democratic district, Don Beyer, won handily in 2022 with nearly three-quarters of the vote.
Bentley Hensel, a software engineer for good government group CivicActions, who is running as an independent, said he was frustrated by what he said was Beyer's refusal to appear for additional debates since September. So he hatched a unique plan that will test the bounds of both propriety and technology: a debate with Beyer's artificial intelligence likeness. And the candidate has created the AI chatbot himself -- without Beyer's permission.

Call it the modern-day equivalent of the empty chair on stage. DonBot, as the AI is playfully known, is being trained on Beyer's official websites, press releases, and data from the Federal Election Commission. The text-based AI is based on an API from OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. The bot is not intended to mislead anyone and is trained to provide accurate answers, said Hensel, who has raised roughly $17,000 in outside contributions and personal loans to his campaign, compared to Beyer's $1.5 million fund.

https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/10/08/1420217/virginia-congressional-candidate-creates-ai-chatbot-as-debate-stand-in-for-incumbent?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/10/08/1420217/virginia-congressional-candidate-creates-ai-chatbot-as-debate-stand-in-for-incumbent?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


Where Have All the Chief Metaverse Officers Gone?

Wired: Last spring, At an event in New York City, Robert Triefus, then Gucci's CEO of Vault -- the brand's virtual marketplace -- argued the recent deflation in hype around the metaverse was just a brief hiccup. "I see it more as a correction," he told the crowd. "We're now at a much more sensible place, where you've got individuals [and] companies ... who are very serious about what they're doing." When asked how buying real estate in The Sandbox aligned with Gucci's broader goals as a brand, he responded with quasi-mystical language: "The metaverse is an opportunity to embrace the digital self."

The following month, Triefus left Gucci "abruptly," according to Vogue Business. He was off "to pursue other opportunities," the brand said at the time. A month later, Vogue Business revealed that Triefus was to be the new Stone Island CEO. Immediately there was speculation on whether Stone Island would enter the metaverse. So far it has not. Triefus' public zeal for all things virtual and his short-lived tenure as the head of Gucci's metaverse strategy are both part of a broader trend that briefly convulsed the private sector starting in late 2021: the hastily recruited "chief metaverse officer."

Following a wave of excitement around the metaverse as a golden new opportunity for commerce, a legion of brands rushed to launch their own virtual storefronts. Three quarters of CEOs surveyed by Russell Reynolds in 2022 said they were hiring dedicated talent to lead in the space, or expanding current roles to cover it. While the actual titles varied, their main role seemed to involve helping their respective brands devise new strategies with then-buzzy technologies such as NFTs and crypto. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has quietly shifted focus from virtual reality to augmented reality, signaling a retreat from the company's ambitious metaverse plans. At Meta's recent developer conference, Zuckerberg mentioned "metaverse" only three times in his hour-long keynote, instead highlighting AR innovations like smart glasses.

The move follows a broader cooling of corporate enthusiasm for the metaverse. Luxury brands that once rushed to establish virtual presences have scaled back efforts, with some chief metaverse officers pivoting to AI-focused roles. "Many brands were quick to experiment -- there was a sense of a land grab," said Matthew Ball, tech investor and author. "They didn't want to be last, and they were excited to try and be first." Wired notes that the shift reflects disappointing user engagement with existing metaverse platforms and growing interest in more accessible AR technologies.

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/10/08/103200/where-have-all-the-chief-metaverse-officers-gone?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/10/08/103200/where-have-all-the-chief-metaverse-officers-gone?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


Spacecraft Launches Toward Asteroid Knocked Off Course By NASA

The Hera spacecraft, launched by the European Space Agency on Monday, is on a mission to study the aftermath of NASA's 2022 test that successfully knocked the Dimorphos asteroid off course by intentionally crashing a probe into it. It's scheduled to arrive in December 2026. The BBC reports: The Hera craft launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 10:52 local time (15:52BST) on Monday. [...] The Hera mission, which is run by the European Space Agency, is a follow-on from Nasa's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) project. Dimorphos is a small moon 160m-wide that orbits an asteroid close to Earth called Didymos in something called a binary asteroid system. In 2022 Nasa said it successfully changed Dimorphos's course by crashing a probe into it. It altered the rock's path by a few meters, according to Nasa's scientists. The asteroid was not on course to hit Earth, but it was a test to see whether space agencies could do it when there is genuine risk. When it arrives in two years, the Hera craft will look at the size and depth of the impact crater created on Dimorphos. Two cube-shaped probes will also study the make-up of the asteroid and its mass.

https://science.slashdot.org/story/24/10/08/007250/spacecraft-launches-toward-asteroid-knocked-off-course-by-nasa?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://science.slashdot.org/story/24/10/08/007250/spacecraft-launches-toward-asteroid-knocked-off-course-by-nasa?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


Cognizant Discriminated Against Non-Indian Workers, US Jury Says

IT services and consulting company Cognizant engaged in a pattern of discriminatory conduct toward non-Indian workers and should pay punitive damages to compensate employees who suffered harm, a US jury found. From a report: The verdict came after the IT firm failed to persuade a Los Angeles federal judge last month to toss a 2017 job bias class-action lawsuit when a previous trial ended with a deadlocked jury. A Cognizant spokesperson said the company is disappointed with the verdict and plans to appeal. "We provide equal employment opportunities for all employees and have built a diverse and inclusive workplace that promotes a culture of belonging in which all employees feel valued, are engaged and have the opportunity to develop and succeed," Jeff DeMarrais said in an emailed statement.

Bloomberg News reported in July that the Teaneck, New Jersey-based company was among a handful of outsourcing firms exploiting loopholes in the H1-B visa lottery system. The company defended its practices, saying it's fully compliant with US laws on the visa process. Cognizant also said that in recent years it has increased its US hiring and reduced its dependence on the H1-B program.

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/10/08/0624236/cognizant-discriminated-against-non-indian-workers-us-jury-says?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/10/08/0624236/cognizant-discriminated-against-non-indian-workers-us-jury-says?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


Artist Appeals Copyright Denial For Prize-Winning AI-Generated Work

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Jason Allen-a synthetic media artist whose Midjourney-generated work "Theatre D'opera Spatial" went viral and incited backlash after winning a state fair art competition-is not giving up his fight with the US Copyright Office. Last fall, the Copyright Office refused to register Allen's work, claiming that almost the entire work was AI-generated and insisting that copyright registration requires more human authorship than simply plugging a prompt into Midjourney. Allen is now appealing (PDF) that decision, asking for judicial review and alleging that "the negative media attention surrounding the Work may have influenced the Copyright Office Examiner's perception and judgment." He claims that the Examiner was biased and considered "improper factors" such as the public backlash when concluding that he had "no control over how the artificial intelligence tool analyzed, interpreted, or responded to these prompts."

As Allen sees it, a rule establishing a review process requiring an Examiner to determine which parts of the work are human-authored seems "entirely arbitrary" since some Copyright Examiners "may not even be able to distinguish an artwork that used AI tools to assist in the creation from one which does not use any computerized tools." Further, Allen claims that the denial of copyright for his work has inspired confusion about who owns rights to not just Midjourney-generated art but all AI art, and as AI technology rapidly improves, it will only become harder for the Copyright Office to make those authorship judgment calls. That becomes an even bigger problem if the Copyright Office gets it wrong too often, Allen warned, running the risk of turning every artist registering works into a "suspect" and potentially bogging courts down with copyright disputes. Ultimately, Allen is hoping that a jury reviewing his appeal will reverse the denial, arguing that there is more human authorship in his AI-generated work than the Copyright Office considered when twice rejecting his registration.

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/10/07/231241/artist-appeals-copyright-denial-for-prize-winning-ai-generated-work?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/10/07/231241/artist-appeals-copyright-denial-for-prize-winning-ai-generated-work?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


Germans Decry Influence of English As 'Idiot's Apostrophe' Gets Official Approval

A recent relaxation of rules around apostrophes in German, permitting their use in possessive forms like "Eva's Blumenladen," has sparked criticism from traditionalists and concerns over the influence of English on the German language. The Guardian reports: Establishments that feature their owners' names, with signs like "Rosi's Bar" or "Kati's Kiosk" are a common sight around German towns and cities, but strictly speaking they are wrong: unlike English, German does not traditionally use apostrophes to indicate the genitive case or possession. The correct spelling, therefore, would be "Rosis Bar," "Katis Kiosk," or, as in the title of a recent viral hit, Barbaras Rhabarberbar. However, guidelines issued by the body regulating the use of Standard High German orthography have clarified that the use of the punctuation mark colloquially known as the Deppenapostroph ("idiot's apostrophe") has become so widespread that it is permissible -- as long as it separates the genitive 's' within a proper name.

The new edition of the Council for German Orthography's style guide, which prescribes grammar use at schools and public bodies in Germany, Austria and German-speaking Switzerland, lists "Eva's Blumenladen" (Eva's Flower Shop) and "Peter's Taverne" (Peter's Tavern) as usable alternatives, though "Eva's Brille" ("Eva's glasses") remains incorrect. The Deppenapostroph is not to be confused with the English greengrocer's apostrophe, when an apostrophe before an 's' is mistakenly used to form the plural of a noun ("a kilo of potato's"). The new set of rules came into effect in July, and the council said a loosening of the rules in 1996 meant that "Rosi's Bar" had strictly speaking not been incorrect for almost three decades. Yet over the past few days, German newspapers and social media networks have seen a pedants' revolt against the loosening of grammar rules.

https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/10/07/2250259/germans-decry-influence-of-english-as-idiots-apostrophe-gets-official-approval?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/10/07/2250259/germans-decry-influence-of-english-as-idiots-apostrophe-gets-official-approval?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


Fintech OpenBB Aims To Be More Than an 'Open Source Bloomberg Terminal'

TechCrunch's Paul Sawers reports: Fledgling fintech startup OpenBB is revealing the next step in its plans to take on the heavyweights of the investment research world. The company is launching a new, free version of a product that will open its arsenal of data and financial tooling to more users. OpenBB is the handiwork of software engineer Didier Lopes, who launched the Python-based platform back in 2021 as a way for amateur investors and enthusiasts to do investment research using different datasets for free, via a command line interface (CLI). The company went on to raise $8.5 million in seed funding from OSS Capital and angel investors such as Ram Shriram, an early backer of Google. While the community-based, open source project has amassed some 50,000 users, OpenBB has also been building an enterprise incarnation called Terminal Pro. This paid version gives teams access to an interface, pre-built database integrations, an Excel add-in, and various security and support bolt-ons that would appeal to larger businesses. [...]

The all-new OpenBB Terminal -- not to be confused with the previous CLI-based OpenBB Terminal that the startup sunsetted in March -- is a full-fledged web app, though it strips out many of the premium features of Terminal Pro. It's fully customizable, can run on any operating system or platform, and provides access to an AI-enabled OpenBB copilot. Like the previous OpenBB Terminal, the all-new web app is also free to use. OpenBB Terminal is perhaps something of a middle ground between the CLI centricity of the open source project and the bells-and-whistles feature set of the enterprise product.

The OpenBB Terminal serves as a single end point for accessing financial information from some 100 data sources, spanning equity, options, forex, the macro economy, and more. Users can also throw all their new data into the mix -- the community has previously contributed financial datasets such as historical currency exchange rates and crypto pricing data. There are also a slew of extensions and toolkits to bring more functionality to OpenBB -- such as an AI stock analysis agent. Users are free to incorporate their own AI systems and large language models (LLMs), which might be particularly important for security and compliance use cases. But with the OpenBB Copilot, categorized as a "compound AI system," users can run natural-language queries about their data out of the box. While OpenBB has been likened to an "open-source Bloomberg," TechCrunch notes that it's not a direct competitor due to Bloomberg's massive data resources and built-in chat functionality. OpenBB, however, offers flexibility with its open-source platform and customization options.

OpenBB filed for a trademark, but Bloomberg has requested an extension to potentially oppose it, despite the company asserting there's no link between OpenBB and Bloomberg's abbreviation "BBG". Lopes says the name originates from BlackBerry stock, where the founders had lost money during the meme stock craze.

https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/10/07/2327256/fintech-openbb-aims-to-be-more-than-an-open-source-bloomberg-terminal?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

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The Future of Halo Is Being Built With Unreal Engine 5

Along with 343 Industries now becoming Halo Studios, future Halo games will be developed using Unreal Engine 5. The Verge's Tom Warren reports: Halo moving to Unreal Engine 5 is being positioned as the first step of a transformation for Halo Studios to change its technology, structure, processes, and even culture. "We're not just going to try improve the efficiency of development, but change the recipe of how we make Halo games," says Pierre Hintze, studio head at Halo Studios. The team building Halo will move from the studio's Slipspace Engine to Unreal, after the proprietary engine it built for Halo Infinite became difficult to use and strained development. Halo Studios has had to dedicate a lot of staff to developing the Slipspace Engine, and parts of it are almost 25 years old.

"One of the primary things we're interested in is growing and expanding our world so players have more to interact with and more to experience," says Chris Matthews, art director at Halo Studios. "Nanite and Lumen [Unreal's rendering and lighting technologies] offer us an opportunity to do that in a way that the industry hasn't seen before. As artists, it's incredibly exciting to do that work." Halo Studios isn't committing to any release dates or new Halo game announcements just yet, but the team has been building some examples of Halo running in Unreal. Dubbed Project Foundry, the work is "neither a game nor a tech demo," but more of a research, development, and training tool. It's also the foundation for how the studio is changing up the way it builds Halo games.

Project Foundry has been built as if it was a shipping game so that a bunch of it can appear in Halo games in the future. "It's fair to say that our intent is that the majority of what we showcased in Foundry is expected to be in projects which we are building, or future projects," says Hintze. Project Foundry includes more detailed landscapes for Halo biomes, as well as foliage levels we haven't seen in Halo games in the past. Master Chief's armor has even been remodeled in this footage [...]. Halo Studios is now working on multiple Halo games, while the Slipstream Engine will continue to power Halo Infinite. "We had a disproportionate focus on trying to create the conditions to be successful in servicing Halo Infinite," says Hintze. "[But switching to Unreal] allows us to put all the focus on making multiple new experiences at the highest quality possible."

https://games.slashdot.org/story/24/10/07/2027233/the-future-of-halo-is-being-built-with-unreal-engine-5?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://games.slashdot.org/story/24/10/07/2027233/the-future-of-halo-is-being-built-with-unreal-engine-5?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


Google Ordered To Make Sweeping Changes, Open Android App Store To Rivals

A U.S. federal judge has mandated significant changes to Google's Android app store operations. Judge James Donato's ruling in Epic v. Google requires Google to allow rival app stores within its Play Store and grant them access to its app catalog for three years, beginning November 2024.

The order prohibits Google from requiring its payment system for Play Store apps and permits developers to inform users about alternative payment methods. Google is also barred from offering incentives for app launch exclusivity or sharing app revenue with potential app store competitors. The ruling restricts Google from providing financial perks to device makers and carriers for Play Store exclusivity.

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/10/07/1913236/google-ordered-to-make-sweeping-changes-open-android-app-store-to-rivals?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/10/07/1913236/google-ordered-to-make-sweeping-changes-open-android-app-store-to-rivals?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


Apple Fixes Bugs in macOS Sequoia That Broke Some Cybersecurity Tools

Apple has rolled out an update to macOS 15 Sequoia that addresses compatibility issues with third-party security software that emerged in the initial release. The update, macOS 15.0.1, aims to resolve problems affecting products from CrowdStrike and Microsoft. The compatibility problems had disrupted the functionality of several cybersecurity tools when macOS 15 first launched in September.

https://apple.slashdot.org/story/24/10/07/1847229/apple-fixes-bugs-in-macos-sequoia-that-broke-some-cybersecurity-tools?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://apple.slashdot.org/story/24/10/07/1847229/apple-fixes-bugs-in-macos-sequoia-that-broke-some-cybersecurity-tools?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


Google Testing a Version of Chrome for Android With Extensions Support

Google is developing a version of Chrome for Android that supports browser extensions, a feature long absent from mobile versions, AndroidAuthority reports. The report adds: Specifically, the company is experimenting with "desktop" builds of Chrome for Android. These "desktop" builds are currently intended for Chromebooks as they transition to use more parts of Android, but there's hope the work will benefit mobile devices, too.

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/10/07/1725219/google-testing-a-version-of-chrome-for-android-with-extensions-support?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/10/07/1725219/google-testing-a-version-of-chrome-for-android-with-extensions-support?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


America Risks Running Out of Tickers for Single-Stock ETFs

U.S. exchanges' four-character limit for ETF tickers is creating fierce competition in the $10 trillion industry, particularly for single-stock funds. With 456,976 possible combinations, options narrow drastically when built around existing company tickers. MicroStrategy-inspired ETFs, for instance, leave issuers with just 52 choices using 'MST'. Memorable tickers are crucial for differentiation and can improve stock liquidity.

https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/10/07/1614245/america-risks-running-out-of-tickers-for-single-stock-etfs?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/10/07/1614245/america-risks-running-out-of-tickers-for-single-stock-etfs?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


800,000 Tons of Rock Excavated for Massive Underground Neutrino Detector

800,000 tons of rock have been excavated from a South Dakota research facility — part of a multi-year process "to help answer some of physics' biggest questions," writes America's Energy Department.

"The caverns they excavated will hold a massive particle detector and accompanying equipment."

Along with partners from more than 35 countries, the Department of Energy's Office of Science is supporting the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment at the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF-DUNE)... To study how neutrinos change type as they travel, LBNF-DUNE will be sending a stream of neutrinos from DOE's Fermilab National Accelerator Laboratory in Illinois [nearly 600 miles away] to South Dakota. At the beginning and end of the particles' journey, detectors will measure the types of neutrinos and antineutrinos. By comparing the rates of how both particles change type, scientists may find a difference that accounts for that ancient misalignment.

There's also hope they'll detect neutrinos from supernovae explosions — and maybe even decaying protons

LBNF-DUNE will use massive, seven-story tall detectors. Each detector will have 17,000 tons of liquid argon. That vast quantity of liquid maximizes the likelihood that scientists will detect as many neutrinos as possible. The far detector — the one in South Dakota — will be located about a mile underground. That distance places it in the right location compared to Fermilab and blocks the detector from other cosmic particles.

"Just carrying out the excavation took three years," the announcement notes. ("The team had to dissemble the equipment, move it deep underground, and then reassemble it.) The 800,000 tons of rock were moved to the surface and then stored in a former mine.

"Now that the excavation is complete, the LBNF-DUNE team is moving on to the next steps. Currently, they are installing the far detector in the Sanford Underground Research Facility. They anticipate finishing construction and starting to operate the detector in 2028. The team will then move on to installing the near detector at Fermilab.

"The launch of LBNF/DUNE will be the beginning of a new era in understanding neutrinos and knowing more about our universe as a whole."

https://science.slashdot.org/story/24/10/07/0359250/800000-tons-of-rock-excavated-for-massive-underground-neutrino-detector?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://science.slashdot.org/story/24/10/07/0359250/800000-tons-of-rock-excavated-for-massive-underground-neutrino-detector?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


The Treasurer of Python NZ Pleads Guilty To Stealing From the Society

Long-time Slashdot reader Bismillah writes: Python New Zealand has gone through some rough times lately, with its then-treasurer stealing money from the society.. Things were looking really serious for a while, with Python NZ looking at being liquidated due to the theft of funds.

However, there is a silver lining to the story, as the free and open source movement rallied behind Python NZ and got them out of a serious pickle.

"Our friends at Linux Australia and at the Python Software Foundation went well above and beyond to support us, and save us," says Tom Eastman president of Python New Zealand, in an article from interest.co.nz.

He also says he hopes the treasure is ordered by the court to pay restitution. (In the article the treasurer confirms that he's pleaded guilty to the theft, which took place between February 2019 and October 2023 — leaving Python NZ owing conference supplies around $55,000.) "We had $26 in the bank accounts," Eastman tells the site.
The group now has new transparency and accountability measures...

https://developers.slashdot.org/story/24/10/07/027228/the-treasurer-of-python-nz-pleads-guilty-to-stealing-from-the-society?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://developers.slashdot.org/story/24/10/07/027228/the-treasurer-of-python-nz-pleads-guilty-to-stealing-from-the-society?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


US Police Seldom Disclose Use of AI-Powered Facial Recognition, Investigation Finds

An anonymous reader shared this report from the Washington Post:

Hundreds of Americans have been arrested after being connected to a crime by facial recognition software, a Washington Post investigation has found, but many never know it because police seldom disclose their use of the controversial technology...

In fact, the records show that officers often obscured their reliance on the software in public-facing reports, saying that they identified suspects "through investigative means" or that a human source such as a witness or police officer made the initial identification... The Coral Springs Police Department in South Florida instructs officers not to reveal the use of facial recognition in written reports, according to operations deputy chief Ryan Gallagher. He said investigative techniques are exempt from Florida's public disclosure laws... The department would disclose the source of the investigative lead if it were asked in a criminal proceeding, Gallagher added....

Prosecutors are required to inform defendants about any information that would help prove their innocence, reduce their sentence or hurt the credibility of a witness testifying against them. When prosecutors fail to disclose such information — known as a "Brady violation" after the 1963 Supreme Court ruling that mandates it — the court can declare a mistrial, overturn a conviction or even sanction the prosecutor. No federal laws regulate facial recognition and courts do not agree whether AI identifications are subject to Brady rules. Some states and cities have begun mandating greater transparency around the technology, but even in these locations, the technology is either not being used that often or it's not being disclosed, according to interviews and public records requests...

Over the past four years, the Miami Police Department ran 2,500 facial recognition searches in investigations that led to at least 186 arrests and more than 50 convictions. Among the arrestees, just 1 in 16 were told about the technology's use — less than 7 percent — according to a review by The Post of public reports and interviews with some arrestees and their lawyers. The police department said that in some of those cases the technology was used for purposes other than identification, such as finding a suspect's social media feeds, but did not indicate in how many of the cases that happened. Carlos J. Martinez, the county's chief public defender, said he had no idea how many of his Miami clients were identified with facial recognition until The Post presented him with a list. "One of the basic tenets of our justice system is due process, is knowing what evidence there is against you and being able to challenge the evidence that's against you," Martinez said. "When that's kept from you, that is an all-powerful government that can trample all over us."

After reviewing The Post's findings, Miami police and local prosecutors announced plans to revise their policies to require clearer disclosure in every case involving facial recognition.
The article points out that Miami's Assistant Police Chief actually told a congressional panel on law enforcement AI use that his department is "the first to be completely transparent about" the use of facial recognition. (When confronted with the Washington Post's findings, he "acknowledged that officers may not have always informed local prosecutors [and] said the department would give prosecutors all information on the use of facial recognition, in past and future cases".

He told the Post that the department would "begin training officers to always disclose the use of facial recognition in incident reports." But he also said they would "leave it up to prosecutors to decide what to disclose to defendants."

https://yro.slashdot.org/story/24/10/06/2326215/us-police-seldom-disclose-use-of-ai-powered-facial-recognition-investigation-finds?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://yro.slashdot.org/story/24/10/06/2326215/us-police-seldom-disclose-use-of-ai-powered-facial-recognition-investigation-finds?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


Can Amazon Spread Its Cashierless 'Just Walk Out' Technology to Other Stores?

Amazon launched "cashierless checkout" stores In 2018, reports CNBC — but by 2020 it was licensing the "Just Walk Out" technology to other stores in airports, hospitals, and stadiums.

In April, Amazon announced it was removing cashierless checkout from its U.S. Fresh stores and Whole Foods locations... In place of Just Walk Out, which typically requires ceiling-mounted cameras, shelf sensors and gated entry points, Amazon Fresh stores and Whole Foods supermarkets will feature Dash Carts. The carts track and tally up items as shoppers place them in bags, enabling people to skip the checkout line. Amazon continues to use Just Walk Out in its grab-and-go marts and UK Fresh stores...

While it's no longer featuring Just Walk Out as prominently in its own stores, Amazon says it has inked deals with a growing list of customers. More than 200 third-party stores have paid Amazon to install the cashierless system. The company expects to double the number of third-party Just Walk Out stores this year, Jon Jenkins, who previously served as vice president of Amazon's Just Walk Out technology, said in a recent interview... Amazon's "primary focus" is selling the technology to third-party businesses and deploying it in small to medium-sized store formats, where the system "tends to generate a little better [return on investment]," Jenkins said...

At one Just Walk Out store, inside Seattle's Lumen Field, home to the NFL's Seahawks, the company said it boosted sales by 112% last season, with 85% more transactions during the course of a game.
Two interesting points from the article:

"Earlier this year, Amazon also began selling its connected grocery carts to third parties."

"With Just Walk Out, Amazon faces the challenge of convincing retailers that they can
trust one of their biggest competitors with handling valuable shopper data..."

https://slashdot.org/story/24/10/06/2154253/can-amazon-spread-its-cashierless-just-walk-out-technology-to-other-stores?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://slashdot.org/story/24/10/06/2154253/can-amazon-spread-its-cashierless-just-walk-out-technology-to-other-stores?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


Pine64's Linux-Powered E-Ink Tablet is Making a Return

"Pine64 has confirmed that its open-source e-ink tablet is returning," reports the blog OMG Ubuntu:

The [10.1-inch e-ink display] PineNote was announced in 2021, building on the success of its non-SBC devices like the PinePhone (and later Pro model), the PineTab, and PineBook devices. Like most of Pine64's devices, software support is largely tackled by the community. But only a small batch of developer units were ever sold, primarily by enthusiasts within the open-source community who had the knowledge and desire to work on getting a modern Linux OS to run on the hardware, and adapt to the e-ink display.

That process has taken a while, as Pine64's community bloggers explain:

"The PineNote was stuck in a chicken-and-egg situation because of the very high cost of manufacturing the device (ePaper screens are sadly still expensive), and so the risk of manufacturing units that then didn't have a working Linux OS and would not sell was huge."

However, the proverbial egg has finally hatched. The PineNote now has a reliable Debian-based OS, developed by Maximilian Weigand. This is described as "not only a bare-bones capable OS but a genuinely daily-usable system that 'just works'" according to the Pine64 blog. ["This is excellent as it also moves the target audience from developers to every day users. You should be able to power on the device and drop into a working Gnome experience."] It is said to use the GNOME desktop plus a handful of extensions designed to ensure the UI adapts to working well with an e-ink display. Software pre-installed includes Xournal++ for note taking, Firefox for web browsing, and Foliate for reading ebooks, among others. [And it even runs Doom...]

Existing PineNote owners can download the the new OS image, flash it to their device, and help test it... Touch and stylus input are major selling points of the PineNote, positioning it as a libre alternative to leading e-ink note-taking devices like the Remarkable 2, Onyx BOOX, and Amazon Scribe.

"I do not (yet) have a launch date target," according to the blog post, "as behind-the-scenes the Pine Store team are still working on all things production."

But the update also links to some blog posts about their free and open source smartwatch PineTime...

https://linux.slashdot.org/story/24/10/06/1944233/pine64s-linux-powered-e-ink-tablet-is-making-a-return?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://linux.slashdot.org/story/24/10/06/1944233/pine64s-linux-powered-e-ink-tablet-is-making-a-return?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


UK Post Office Executive Suspended Over Allegations of Destroying Software Scandal Evidence

The British Post Office scandal "was first exposed by Computer Weekly in 2009, revealing the stories of seven subpostmasters and the problems they suffered due to Horizon accounting software," remembers Computer Weekly, "which led to the most widespread miscarriage of justice in British history."

But now the Post Office "is investigating allegations that a senior executive instructed staff to destroy or conceal documents that could be of interest to the Post Office scandal public inquiry," Computer Weekly writes. A company employee acknowleged a report in an internal whistleblower program "regarding destroying or concealing material... allegations that a senior Post Office member of staff had instructed their team to destroy or conceal material of possible interest to the inquiry, and that the same individual had engaged in inappropriate behaviour."

The shocking revelation echoes evidence from appeals against wrongful convictions in 2021. During the Court of Appeal trials it was revealed that a senior Post Office executive instructed employees to shred documents that undermined an insistence that its Horizon computer system was robust, amid claims that errors in the system caused unexplained accounting shortfalls.

https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/10/06/1757221/uk-post-office-executive-suspended-over-allegations-of-destroying-software-scandal-evidence?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/10/06/1757221/uk-post-office-executive-suspended-over-allegations-of-destroying-software-scandal-evidence?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


iOS and Android Security Scare: Two Apps Found Supporting 'Pig Butchering' Scheme

"Pig Butchering Alert: Fraudulent Trading App targeted iOS and Android users."

That's the title of a new report released this week by cybersecurity company Group-IB revealing the official Apple App Store and Google Play store offered apps that were actually one part of a larger fraud campaign. "To complete the scam, the victim is asked to fund their account... After a few seemingly successful trades, the victim is persuaded to invest more and more money. The account balance appears to grow rapidly. However, when the victim attempts to withdraw funds, they are unable to do so."

 Forbes reports:
Group-IB determined that the frauds would begin with a period of social engineering reconnaissance and entrapment, during which the trust of the potential victim was gained through either a dating app, social media app or even a cold call. The attackers spent weeks on each target. Only when this "fattening up" process had reached a certain point would the fraudsters make their next move: recommending they download the trading app from the official App Store concerned.

When it comes to the iOS app, which is the one that the report focussed on, Group-IB researchers said that the app remained on the App Store for several weeks before being removed, at which point the fraudsters switched to phishing websites to distribute both iOS and Android apps. The use of official app stores, albeit only fleetingly as Apple and Google removed the fake apps in due course, bestowed a sense of authenticity to the operation as people put trust in both the Apple and Google ecosystems to protect them from potentially dangerous apps.

"The use of web-based applications further conceals the malicious activity," according to the researchers, "and makes detection more difficult."

[A]fter the download is complete, the application cannot be launched immediately. The victim is then instructed by the cybercriminals to manually trust the Enterprise developer profile. Once this step is completed, the fraudulent application becomes operational... Once a user registers with the fraudulent application, they are tricked into completing several steps. First, they are asked to upload identification documents, such as an ID card or passport. Next, the user is asked to provide personal information, followed by job-related details...

The first discovered application, distributed through the Apple App Store, functions as a downloader, merely retrieving and displaying a web-app URL. In contrast, the second application, downloaded from phishing websites, already contains the web-app within its assets. We believe this approach was deliberate, since the first app was available in the official store, and the cybercriminals likely sought to minimise the risk of detection. As previously noted, the app posed as a tool for mathematical formulas, and including personal trading accounts within an iOS app would have raised immediate suspicion.
The app (which only runs on mobile phones) first launches a fake activity with formulas and graphics, according to the researchers. "We assume that this condition must bypass Apple's checks before being published to the store. As we can see, this simple trick allows cybercriminals to upload their fraudulent application to the Apple Store." They argue their research "reinforces the need for continued review of app store submissions to prevent such scams from reaching unsuspecting victims". But it also highlights "the importance of vigilance and end-user education, even when dealing with seemingly trustworthy apps..."

"Our investigation began with an analysis of Android applications at the request of our client. The client reported that a user had been tricked into installing the application as part of a stock investment scam. During our research, we uncovered a list of similar fraudulent applications, one of which was available on the Google Play Store. These apps were designed to display stock-related news and articles, giving them a false sense of legitimacy."

https://yro.slashdot.org/story/24/10/06/0122217/ios-and-android-security-scare-two-apps-found-supporting-pig-butchering-scheme?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://yro.slashdot.org/story/24/10/06/0122217/ios-and-android-security-scare-two-apps-found-supporting-pig-butchering-scheme?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


License Plate Readers Are Creating a US-Wide Database of More Than Just Cars

Wired reports on "AI-powered cameras mounted on cars and trucks, initially designed to capture license plates, but which are now photographing political lawn signs outside private homes, individuals wearing T-shirts with text, and vehicles displaying pro-abortion bumper stickers — all while recordi00ng the precise locations of these observations..."

The detailed photographs all surfaced in search results produced by the systems of DRN Data, a license-plate-recognition (LPR) company owned by Motorola Solutions. The LPR system can be used by private investigators, repossession agents, and insurance companies; a related Motorola business, called Vigilant, gives cops access to the same LPR data. However, files shared with WIRED by artist Julia Weist, who is documenting restricted datasets as part of her work, show how those with access to the LPR system can search for common phrases or names, such as those of politicians, and be served with photographs where the search term is present, even if it is not displayed on license plates... Beyond highlighting the far-reaching nature of LPR technology, which has collected billions of images of license plates, the research also shows how people's personal political views and their homes can be recorded into vast databases that can be queried.

"It really reveals the extent to which surveillance is happening on a mass scale in the quiet streets of America," says Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst at the American Civil Liberties Union. "That surveillance is not limited just to license plates, but also to a lot of other potentially very revealing information about people."

DRN, in a statement issued to WIRED, said it complies with "all applicable laws and regulations...." Over more than a decade, DRN has amassed more than 15 billion "vehicle sightings" across the United States, and it claims in its marketing materials that it amasses more than 250 million sightings per month. Images in DRN's commercial database are shared with police using its Vigilant system, but images captured by law enforcement are not shared back into the wider database. The system is partly fueled by DRN "affiliates" who install cameras in their vehicles, such as repossession trucks, and capture license plates as they drive around. Each vehicle can have up to four cameras attached to it, capturing images in all angles. These affiliates earn monthly bonuses and can also receive free cameras and search credits...

"License plate recognition (LPR) technology supports public safety and community services, from helping to find abducted children and stolen vehicles to automating toll collection and lowering insurance premiums by mitigating insurance fraud," Jeremiah Wheeler, the president of DRN, says in a statement... Wheeler did not respond to WIRED's questions about whether there are limits on what can be searched in license plate databases, why images of homes with lawn signs but no vehicles in sight appeared in search results, or if filters are used to reduce such images.

Privacy experts shared their reactions with Wired

"Perhaps [people] want to express themselves in their communities, to their neighbors, but they don't necessarily want to be logged into a nationwide database that's accessible to police authorities." — Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst at the American Civil Liberties Union
"When government or private companies promote license plate readers, they make it sound like the technology is only looking for lawbreakers or people suspected of stealing a car or involved in an amber alert, but that's just not how the technology works. The technology collects everyone's data and stores that data often for immense periods of time." — Dave Maass, an EFF director of investigations
 "The way that the country is set up was to protect citizens from government overreach, but there's not a lot put in place to protect us from private actors who are engaged in business meant to make money." — Nicole McConlogue, associate law professor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law (who has researched license-plate-surveillance systems)

Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader schwit1 for sharing the article.

https://yro.slashdot.org/story/24/10/05/2353244/license-plate-readers-are-creating-a-us-wide-database-of-more-than-just-cars?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://yro.slashdot.org/story/24/10/05/2353244/license-plate-readers-are-creating-a-us-wide-database-of-more-than-just-cars?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


California Passes Law To Protect Consumer 'Brain Data'

On September 28, California amended the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 to recognize the importance of mental privacy. "The law marks the second such legal protection for data produced from invasive neurotechnology, following Colorado, which incorporated neural data into its state data privacy statute, the Colorado Privacy Act (CPA) in April," notes Law.com. GovTech reports: The new bill amends the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, which grants consumers rights over personal information that is collected by businesses. The term "personal information" already included biometric data (such as your face, voice, or fingerprints). Now it also explicitly includes neural data. The bill defines neural data as "information that is generated by measuring the activity of a consumer's central or peripheral nervous system, and that is not inferred from nonneural information." In other words, data collected from a person's brain or nerves.

The law prevents companies from selling or sharing a person's data and requires them to make efforts to deidentify the data. It also gives consumers the right to know what information is collected and the right to delete it. "This new law in California will make the lives of consumers safer while sending a clear signal to the fast-growing neurotechnology industry there are high expectations that companies will provide robust protections for mental privacy of consumers," Jared Genser, general counsel to the Neurorights Foundation, which cosponsored the bill, said in a statement. "That said, there is much more work ahead."

https://yro.slashdot.org/story/24/10/05/0519230/california-passes-law-to-protect-consumer-brain-data?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://yro.slashdot.org/story/24/10/05/0519230/california-passes-law-to-protect-consumer-brain-data?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


People Are Using Google Study Software To Make AI Podcasts

Audio Overview, a new AI podcasting tool by Google, can generate realistic podcasts with human-like voices using content uploaded by users through NotebookLM. MIT Technology Review reports: NotebookLM, which is powered by Google's Gemini 1.5 model, allows people to upload content such as links, videos, PDFs, and text. They can then ask the system questions about the content, and it offers short summaries. The tool generates a podcast called Deep Dive, which features a male and a female voice discussing whatever you uploaded. The voices are breathtakingly realistic -- the episodes are laced with little human-sounding phrases like "Man" and "Wow" and "Oh right" and "Hold on, let me get this right." The "hosts" even interrupt each other.

The AI system is designed to create "magic in exchange for a little bit of content," Raiza Martin, the product lead for NotebookLM, said on X. The voice model is meant to create emotive and engaging audio, which is conveyed in an "upbeat hyper-interested tone," Martin said. NotebookLM, which was originally marketed as a study tool, has taken a life of its own among users. The company is now working on adding more customization options, such as changing the length, format, voices, and languages, Martin said. Currently it's supposed to generate podcasts only in English, but some users on Reddit managed to get the tool to create audio in French and Hungarian. Here are some examples highlighted by MIT Technology Review: Allie K. Miller, a startup AI advisor, used the tool to create a study guide and summary podcast of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.

Machine-learning researcher Aaditya Ura fed NotebookLM with the code base of Meta's Llama-3 architecture. He then used another AI tool to find images that matched the transcript to create an educational video.

Alex Volkov, a human AI podcaster, used NotebookLM to create a Deep Dive episode summarizing of the announcements from OpenAI's global developer conference Dev Day.

In one viral clip, someone managed to send the two voices into an existential spiral when they "realized" they were, in fact, not humans but AI systems. The video is hilarious.

The tool is also good for some laughs. Exhibit A: Someone just fed it the words "poop" and "fart" as source material, and got over nine minutes of two AI voices analyzing what this might mean.

https://slashdot.org/story/24/10/05/0457222/people-are-using-google-study-software-to-make-ai-podcasts?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://slashdot.org/story/24/10/05/0457222/people-are-using-google-study-software-to-make-ai-podcasts?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


Waymo Chooses the Hyundai Ioniq 5 For New Robotaxi

Waymo has entered a "multi-year, strategic partnership" with Hyundai to integrate the company's autonomous driving system into the American-made Hyundai Ioniq 5. It's expected to join the Waymo One fleet after road tests starting in late 2025. Carscoops reports: Waymo and Geely joined forces in 2021 to introduce a mobility-focused Zeekr EV. The model was slated to be added to Waymo's fleet of autonomous vehicles and effectively replace their aging Jaguar I-Paces. While that was a solid plan a few years ago, the political climate has changed and China has emerged as America's boogeyman. Just last week, the Biden Administration proposed a new rule that could effectively ban all Chinese cars including models from Buick and Lincoln. [...]

Besides giving Waymo a 'safe' alternative to Zeekr, it sounds like the Ioniq 5 will eventually make up a bulk of the fleet. While that remains unconfirmed, the companies aim to produce the autonomous EVs in a "significant volume over multiple years." The firms also revealed the cars will be delivered with "autonomous-ready modifications like redundant hardware and power doors."

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/10/04/2210245/waymo-chooses-the-hyundai-ioniq-5-for-new-robotaxi?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/10/04/2210245/waymo-chooses-the-hyundai-ioniq-5-for-new-robotaxi?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


Samsung's 'One UI' Is Expanding To All of Its Consumer Devices

First announced in 2018, Samsung's "One UI" software is expanding to all the company's major tech products in 2025. 9to5Google reports: At its annual developer conference, Samsung announced that "One UI" is the new name for the company's software experiences across "major product lines." This specifically includes TVs and home appliances. Samsung says: "In addition, the company announced that it will integrate the software experience of its major product lines -- from mobile devices to TVs and home appliances -- under the name One UI next year. By providing a cohesive product experience and committing to software upgrades for up to seven years, Samsung will continue to bring innovation for its customers."

There's no word on how, if at all, this will affect software design or features, but the cohesive branding and the announcement mentioning that it will "integrate the software experience" implies we'll see similar designs across the company's portfolio, at least eventually. Samsung also announced that One UI 7, its next Android update, would be delayed to 2025 with a beta "before the end of the year" during the same keynote.

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/10/04/221231/samsungs-one-ui-is-expanding-to-all-of-its-consumer-devices?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/10/04/221231/samsungs-one-ui-is-expanding-to-all-of-its-consumer-devices?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


Google Is Testing Verified Checkmarks In Search

Google is testing a new verification feature in search, in a move aimed at helping users avoid fake or fraudulent websites. The Verge's Jess Weatherbed reports: My colleague Jay Peters spotted checkmarks next to official site links for Microsoft, Meta, Epic Games, Apple, Amazon, and HP, but these were no longer displayed once he logged into a different Google account -- meaning this experiment isn't being rolled out widely just yet. Hovering over a checkmark will display a message that explains "Google's signals suggest that this business is the business that it says it is," which is determined by things like website verification, Merchant Center data, and manual reviews according to Shaheen.

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/10/04/218251/google-is-testing-verified-checkmarks-in-search?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/10/04/218251/google-is-testing-verified-checkmarks-in-search?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


Latest Windows 11 Dev Build Is Out With Copilot Key Remapping

Microsoft has released Windows 11 Dev build 26120.1930, which contains the ability to remap the Copilot key. The changes are rolling out gradually to Dev Insiders with the "Get the latest features as soon as they are available" toggle on. Neowin reports: [H]ere are the updates that are also gradually rolling out, but this time for all Dev Insiders: "We are adding the ability to configure the Copilot key. You can choose to have the Copilot key launch an app that is MSIX packaged and signed, thus indicating the app meets security and privacy requirements to keep customers safe. The key will continue to launch Copilot on devices that have the Copilot app installed until a customer selects a different experience. This setting can be found via Settings - Personalization - Text input. If the keyboard connected to your PC does not have a Copilot key, adjusting this setting will not do anything. We are planning further refinements to this experience in a future flight." Other changes introduced in the build include a new simplified Chinese font, Windows Sandbox improvements, and several bug fixes. Full release notes are available here.

https://build.slashdot.org/story/24/10/04/2058232/latest-windows-11-dev-build-is-out-with-copilot-key-remapping?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://build.slashdot.org/story/24/10/04/2058232/latest-windows-11-dev-build-is-out-with-copilot-key-remapping?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


60TB Hard Drives Arriving in 2028, According To Industry Roadmap

An anonymous reader shares a report: The arrival of energy-assisted magnetic recording (EAMR) technologies like Seagate's HAMR will play a crucial role in accelerating HDD capacity growth in the coming years. According to the new IEEE International Roadmap for Devices and Systems Mass Data Storage, we will see 60 TB hard disk drives in 2028. If the prediction is accurate, we will see HDD storage capacity doubling in just four years, something that did not happen for a while. Also, IEEE believes that HDD unit sales will increase.

IEEE's latest HDD development roadmap spans 2022 to 2037 and covers 15 years of hard drive evolution. The arrival of HAMR in 2024 will play a pivotal role in the increase in HDD capacity (even though Western Digital has managed to stay competitive with Seagate's HAMR HDDs using a set of its technologies) over the next few years. IEEE engineers expect HDDs to leapfrog to 40TB in 2025 and 60TB in 2028, doubling capacity from 30TB in 2024. By 2037, there will be 100TB of storage space, according to IEEE.

To get to those extreme capacities, HDD makers will have to increase the areal density of their platters steadily. To get to 40TB per drive, they will have to get to 2 TB/inch^2 in 2025 and then to over 4 TB/inch^2 in 2028 to build 60TB HDDs. By 2037, areal density will grow to over 10 Tb/inch^2. Increasing areal density will necessitate the use of new media, magnetic films, and all-new write and read heads.

https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/24/10/04/1929235/60tb-hard-drives-arriving-in-2028-according-to-industry-roadmap?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/24/10/04/1929235/60tb-hard-drives-arriving-in-2028-according-to-industry-roadmap?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


We May Have Passed Peak Obesity

An anonymous reader shares a report: The year 1963 was surely one of the most significant of the 20th century. President John F Kennedy was assassinated, Martin Luther King delivered his "I have a dream" speech, and the Beatles recorded and released their debut album. But for all the huge political and cultural events, it was arguably an even more momentous year for public health: 1963 was the year cigarette sales peaked and began to fall in the US.

A generation from now, we may look back on 2020 in a similar way. Yes, there was the small matter of a global pandemic, but this may also have been the year obesity levels ceased their inexorable rise and began to descend. Around the world, obesity rates have been stubbornly climbing for decades, if anything accelerating in recent years. But now newly released data finds that the US adult obesity rate fell by around two percentage points between 2020 and 2023.

We have known for several years from clinical trials that Ozempic, Wegovy and the new generation of diabetes and weight loss drugs produce large and sustained reductions in body weight. Now with mass public usage taking off -- one in eight US adults have used the drugs, with 6 per cent current users -- the results may be showing up at the population level. While we can't be certain that the new generation of drugs are behind this reversal, it is highly likely. For one, the decline is steepest among college graduates, the group most likely to be using them.

Crucially, the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which reported the unprecedented decline in obesity levels, uses weight and height measurements taken by medical examiners, not self-reported values. This makes it far more reliable than other surveys. American waistlines really do seem to be shrinking. What makes this all the more remarkable is the contrast in mechanisms behind the respective declines in smoking and obesity.

https://science.slashdot.org/story/24/10/04/1834239/we-may-have-passed-peak-obesity?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed
 at Slashdot.

https://science.slashdot.org/story/24/10/04/1834239/we-may-have-passed-peak-obesity?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed


Collapse of National Security Elites' Cyber Firm Leaves Bitter Wake

Cybersecurity firm IronNet, founded by former NSA director Keith Alexander, has collapsed after failing to deliver on its promise to revolutionize cyber defense. The company, which went public in 2021 with a $3 billion valuation, shut down in September 2023 after running out of money.

IronNet's downfall has left investors and former employees bitter, with some accusing the company of misleading them about its financial health. "I'm honestly ashamed that I was ever an executive at that company," said Mark Berly, a former IronNet vice president. He said the company's top leaders cultivated a culture of deceit "just like Theranos." Critics point to questionable business practices, subpar products, and associations that potentially exposed the firm to Russian influence. The company's board included high-profile national security figures, which helped attract investments and contracts. However, IronNet struggled to secure major deals and meet revenue projections.

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 at Slashdot.

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