Slashdot

Scientists using the H.E.S.S. observatory in Namibia have detected the highest energy gamma rays ever from a dead star called a pulsar. Phys.Org reports: The energy of these gamma rays clocked in at 20 tera-electronvolts, or about 10 trillion times the energy of visible light. This observation is hard to reconcile with the theory of the production of such pulsed gamma rays, as the international team reports in the journal Nature Astronomy. [...] The Vela pulsar, located in the Southern sky in the constellation Vela (sail of the ship), is the brightest pulsar in the radio band of the electromagnetic spectrum and the brightest persistent source of cosmic gamma rays in the giga-electronvolts (GeV) range. It rotates about eleven times per second. However, above a few GeV, its radiation ends abruptly, presumably because the electrons reach the end of the pulsar's magnetosphere and escape from it. But this is not the end of the story: using deep observations with H.E.S.S., a new radiation component at even higher energies has now been discovered, with energies of up to tens of tera-electronvolts (TeV). "That is about 200 times more energetic than all radiation ever detected before from this object," says co-author Christo Venter from the North-West University in South Africa. This very high-energy component appears at the same phase intervals as the one observed in the GeV range. However, to attain these energies, the electrons might have to travel even farther than the magnetosphere, yet the rotational emission pattern needs to remain intact. "This result challenges our previous knowledge of pulsars and requires a rethinking of how these natural accelerators work," says Arache Djannati-Atai from the Astroparticle & Cosmology (APC) laboratory in France, who led the research. "The traditional scheme according to which particles are accelerated along magnetic field lines within or slightly outside the magnetosphere cannot sufficiently explain our observations. Perhaps we are witnessing the acceleration of particles through the so-called magnetic reconnection process beyond the light cylinder, which still somehow preserves the rotational pattern? But even this scenario faces difficulties to explain how such extreme radiation is produced." Whatever the explanation, next to its other superlatives, the Vela pulsar now officially holds the record as the pulsar with the highest-energy gamma rays discovered to date. "This discovery opens a new observation window for detection of other pulsars in the tens of teraelectronvolt range with current and upcoming more sensitive gamma-ray telescopes, hence paving the way for a better understanding of the extreme acceleration processes in highly magnetized astrophysical objects," says Djannati-Atai.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

According to the European Space Agency (ESA), the ozone hole above Antarctica reached approximately 10 million square miles in area on Sept. 16, 2023 -- making it one of the largest seasonal holes ever observed. Space.com reports: One possible reason for the higher-than-normal growth is the Hunga Tonga volcanic eruption in January 2022, which introduced massive quantities of water vapor into the air. "The water vapor could have led to the heightened formation of polar stratospheric clouds, where chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) can react and accelerate ozone depletion," said Inness. Yet despite experiencing large seasonal growth this year, the ozone hole is still decreasing in size overall. "Based on the Montreal Protocol and the decrease of anthropogenic ozone-depleting substances, scientists currently predict that the global ozone layer will reach its normal state again by around 2050," said Claus Zehner, ESA's mission manager for Copernicus Sentinel-5P.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Conversation: Recently, several mammals have been reported to "glow" under ultraviolet (UV) light, including our beloved platypus. But no one knew how common it was among mammals until now. Our research, published in Royal Society Open Science today, found this glow -- known as fluorescence -- is extremely common. Almost every mammal we studied showed some form of fluorescence. [...] We started with the platypus to see if we could replicate the previously reported fluorescence. We photographed preserved and frozen platypus specimens under UV light and observed a fluorescent (although rather faint) glow. [...] We repeated this process for other mammals and found clear evidence of fluorescence in the white fur, spines and even skin and nails of koalas, Tasmanian devils, short-beaked echidnas, southern hairy-nosed wombats, quendas (bandicoots), greater bilbies and even cats. Both fresh-frozen and chemically treated museum specimens were fluorescent. This meant it wasn't preservation chemicals such as borax or arsenic causing the fluorescence. So, we concluded this was a real biological phenomenon. Using specimens from the Western Australian Museum's collection, we took the experiment to the next stage. We recorded every species of mammal that was fluorescent when we exposed the specimens to UV light. As a result, we found 125 fluorescent species of mammal, representing all known orders. Fluorescence is clearly common and widely distributed among mammals. In particular, we noticed that white and light-colored fur is fluorescent, with dark pigmentation preventing fluorescence. For example, a zebra's white stripes fluoresced while the dark stripes didn't. We then used our dataset to test if fluorescence might be more common in nocturnal species. To do this, we correlated the total area of fluorescence with ecological traits such as nocturnality, diet and locomotion. Nocturnal mammals were indeed more fluorescent, while aquatic species were less fluorescent than those that burrowed, lived in trees, or on land. Based on our results, we think fluorescence is very common in mammals. In fact, it is likely the default status of hair unless it is heavily pigmented. This doesn't mean fluorescence has a biological function -- it may just be an artifact of the structural properties of unpigmented hair. However, we suggest florescence may be important for brightening pale-colored parts of animals that are used as visual signals. This could improve their visibility, especially in poor light -- just like the fluorescent optical brighteners that are added to white paper and clothing.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Tom Perkins writes via The Guardian: Almost half of a federal government panel that helps develop US nutritional guidelines has significant ties to big agriculture, ultra-processed food companies, pharmaceutical companies and other corporate organizations with a significant stake in the process's outcome. The revelation is part of a new report from US Right to Know, a government transparency group that looked for ties to corporate interests among the 20-member panel of food and nutrition experts that makes recommendations for updating the US government's official dietary guidelines. It found nine members had ties to Nestle, Pfizer, Coca-Cola, the National Egg Board and other prominent food lobby groups, among others. The findings raise questions about whether the panel is looking out for Americans' health or corporate profits, and "erodes confidence in dietary guidelines," said Gary Ruskin of US Right to Know. "Millions of Americans' lives are affected by this report and it's crucial that the report tell the truth to American people and it's not degraded into another sales pitch for big food and big pharma," he said. [...] "The guidelines affect the entire US food system quite strongly," Ruskin said. US Right to Know scoured public records dating back five years for conflicts of interest among the 20 panel members. In addition to the nine it found with "high-risk conflicts of interest" and connections to the food and drug industry, it found four more members who have possible conflicts of interest. It applauded the agencies for appointing seven members who did not appear to have any conflicts. At least four panelists have connections to at least two companies each among Abbott, Novo Nordisk, the National Dairy Council, Eli Lilly and Weight Watchers International. One panel member has received about $240,000 in grant funding from Eli Lilly.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Simon Sharwood writes via The Register: The Chinese manufacturer that took over IBM's PC business announced on Thursday that it's teamed with an outfit named Esper that specializes in custom cuts of Android, plus device management offerings. Android is most commonly used in handheld devices. Lenovo's taking it in an entirely different direction by making the ThinkCentre M70a: a desktop all-in-one. The first fruit of the collaboration with Esper, the ThinkCentre M70a boasts a 21 -- inch touch screen and offers a choice of 12th-gen Intel core CPUs from the Core i3 to the almost workstation-grade Core i9, at prices from $889 to beyond $1250. What could you do with Android on a Corei9, plus the maximum 16GB DDR4 3200MHz and 512GB PCIe SSD Lenovo's machines allow? Almost anything -- but Lenovo thinks its Android effort will first be appreciated by customers in the retail, hospitality, and healthcare industries. Esper pitches its wares as ideal for point-of-sale systems, kiosks, and digital signage -- environments where users don't need to access diverse apps but do need a machine that reliably boots into custom environments. Lenovo's not just doing desktop PCs. The number one PC maker by market share has promised it will also ship Esper's wares on the small form factor ThinkCentre M70q -- a machine designed to be bolted to the back of monitors. The ThinkEdge SE30 -- a ruggedized and fanless edge client -- will also have an Android option. So will the ThinkCentre M90n-1 IoT [PDF] -- another rugged client for edge applications.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Jonathan Greig writes via The Record: Genetic testing giant 23andMe confirmed that a data scraping incident resulted in hackers gaining access to sensitive user information and selling it on the dark web. The information of nearly 7 million 23andMe users was offered for sale on a cybercriminal forum this week. The information included origin estimation, phenotype, health information, photos, identification data and more. 23andMe processes saliva samples submitted by customers to determine their ancestry. When asked about the post, the company initially denied that the information was legitimate, calling it a "misleading claim" in a statement to Recorded Future News. The company later said it was aware that certain 23andMe customer profile information was compiled through unauthorized access to individual accounts that were signed up for the DNA Relative feature -- which allows users to opt in for the company to show them potential matches for relatives. [...] When pressed on how compromising a handful of user accounts would give someone access to millions of users, the spokesperson said the company does not believe the threat actor had access to all of the accounts but rather gained unauthorized entry to a much smaller number of 23andMe accounts and scraped data from their DNA Relative matches. A researcher approached Recorded Future News after examining the leaked database and found that much of it looked real. [...] The researcher downloaded two files from the BreachForums post and found that one had information on 1 million 23andMe users of Ashkenazi heritage. The other file included data on more than 300,000 users of Chinese heritage. The data included profile and account ID numbers, names, gender, birth year, maternal and paternal genetic markers, ancestral heritage results, and data on whether or not each user has opted into 23andme's health data. The researcher added that he discovered another issue where someone could enter a 23andme profile ID, like the ones included in the leaked data set, into their URL and see someone's profile. The data available through this only includes profile photos, names, birth years and location but does not include test results.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Motherboard: A man who admitted attempting to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II with a crossbow after discussing his plan with an AI-powered chatbot has been sentenced to 9 years in prison for treason. It's the UK's first treason conviction in more than 40 years. Jaswant Singh Chail, who was 19 at the time of his arrest on Christmas Day, 2021, scaled the walls of Windsor Castle's grounds with a mask and a loaded high-power crossbow. He said his intent was, as a British Sikh, to assassinate the Queen in a Star Wars-inspired plan to avenge the 1919 Jallianwalla Bagh massacre, a colonial-era atrocity during British rule in India. Prosecutors said that Chail was encouraged to undertake this plot after discussing it at length with an AI-powered chatbot that egged him on and bolstered his resolve. [...] Chail is currently being held at Broadmoor high-security hospital and will remain there until he is psychologically well enough to serve his sentence.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Kylie Robison writes via Fortune: Beginning on Monday, Slack employees will be expected to set aside their regular work duties and to instead plug away at various modules on Salesforce's Trailhead online learning platform, Fortune has learned. The goal is for Slack's employees to reach Trailhead's Ranger level, a feat that requires roughly 40 hours on the learning platform, whose modules include topics like "Learn about the Fourth Industrial Revolution" and "Healthy Eating." A large percent of Slack's roughly 3,000 staff have neglected to hit the target, according to sources inside the company. And since Salesforce provides Trailhead to other businesses as a way to "upskill" employees, some speculate that the slackers at Slack make for bad optics. In a message to employees in mid-September, Slack CEO Lidiane Jones wrote that the one week shutdown, dubbed "Ranger Week," is intended to give everyone "dedicated time to make a lot of progress towards the goal." Jones wrote in her message that the product development engineering (PDE), customer experience (CE), Biz Ops, and communication departments are expected to participate in Ranger Week. "It's important that we all reach Ranger status this year, and I want to ensure that everyone has focus time to upskill on Trailhead," Jones wrote in the message to staff. "I know this will disrupt and slow V2MOM progress for many of us -- we are making this a priority now so we can quickly get back to work on our roadmaps," she said, referring to the company's annual forward-looking strategy planning document which stands for vision, values, methods, obstacles, and measures. [...] "We really are canceling all meetings next week to facilitate this heads-down time, even 1:1s," Slack's chief of staff to the CTO wrote to employees on Wednesday. "We don't know yet what will happen to people who haven't hit Ranger by Jan. 31. At a minimum, it will make Slack look bad compared to the other clouds. Please do use the time next week to make as much progress as you can!" [...] Still, the work stoppage is somewhat porous. Slack's CTO noted that "deploys, on-call rotations, and interviews" will still happen as normal, and while no executive has used the word "mandatory," it's considered strongly encouraged. According to Insider, some workers at Slack are "gaming" the platform to speed through the sessions.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The National Security Agency (NSA), in partnership with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), have highlighted the ten most common cybersecurity misconfigurations in large organizations. In their join cybersecurity advisory (CSA), they also detail the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) actors use to exploit these misconfigurations. From the report: Through NSA and CISA Red and Blue team assessments, as well as through the activities of NSA and CISA Hunt and Incident Response teams, the agencies identified the following 10 most common network misconfigurations: 1. Default configurations of software and applications2. Improper separation of user/administrator privilege3. Insufficient internal network monitoring4. Lack of network segmentation5. Poor patch management6. Bypass of system access controls7. Weak or misconfigured multifactor authentication (MFA) methods8. Insufficient access control lists (ACLs) on network shares and services9. Poor credential hygiene10. Unrestricted code execution NSA and CISA encourage network defenders to implement the recommendations found within the Mitigations section of this advisory -- including the following -- to reduce the risk of malicious actors exploiting the identified misconfigurations: Remove default credentials and harden configurations; Disable unused services and implement access controls; Update regularly and automate patching, prioritizing patching of known exploited vulnerabilities; and Reduce, restrict, audit, and monitor administrative accounts and privileges. NSA and CISA urge software manufacturers to take ownership of improving security outcomes of their customers by embracing secure-by-design and-default tactics, including: Embedding security controls into product architecture from the start of development and throughout the entire software development lifecycle (SDLC); Eliminating default passwords; Providing high-quality audit logs to customers at no extra charge; and Mandating MFA, ideally phishing-resistant, for privileged users and making MFA a default rather than opt-in feature. A PDF version of the report can be downloaded here (PDF).Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Getty Images CEO Craig Peters told the Verge that he has found a solution to one of AI's biggest copyright problems: creators suing because AI models were trained on their original works without consent or compensation. To prove it's possible for AI makers to respect artists' copyrights, Getty built an AI tool using only licensed data that's designed to reward creators more and more as the tool becomes more popular over time. "I think a world that doesn't reward investment in intellectual property is a pretty sad world," Peters told The Verge. The conversation happened at Vox Media's Code Conference 2023, with Peters explaining why Getty Images -- which manages "the world's largest privately held visual archive" -- has a unique perspective on this divisive issue. In February, Getty Images sued Stability AI over copyright concerns regarding the AI company's image generator, Stable Diffusion. Getty alleged that Stable Diffusion was trained on 12 million Getty images and even imitated Getty's watermark -- controversially seeming to add a layer of Getty's authenticity to fake AI images. Now, Getty has rolled out its own AI image generator that has been trained in ways that are unlike most of the popular image generators out there. Peters told The Verge that because of Getty's ongoing mission to capture the world's most iconic images, "Generative AI by Getty Images" was intentionally designed to avoid major copyright concerns swirling around AI images -- and compensate Getty creators fairly. Rather than crawling the web for data to feed its AI model, Getty's tool is trained exclusively on images that Getty owns the rights to, Peters said. The tool was created out of rising demand from Getty Images customers who want access to AI generators that don't carry copyright risks. [...] With that as the goal, Peters told Code Conference attendees that the tool is "entirely commercially safe" and "cannot produce third-party intellectual property" or deepfakes because the AI model would have no references from which to produce such risky content. Getty's AI tool "doesn't know what the Pope is," Peters told The Verge. "It doesn't know what [Balenciaga] is, and it can't produce a merging of the two." Peters also said that if there are any lawsuits over AI images generated by Getty, then Getty will cover any legal costs for customers. "We actually put our indemnification around that so that if there are any issues, which we're confident there won't be, we'll stand behind that," Peters said. When asked how Getty creators will be paid for AI training data, Peters said that there currently isn't a tool for Getty to assess which artist deserves credit every time an AI image is generated. "Instead, Getty will rely on a fixed model that Peters said determines 'what proportion of the training set does your content represent? And then, how has that content performed in our licensing world over time? It's kind of a proxy for quality and quantity. So, it's kind of a blend of the two,'" reports Ars. "Importantly, Peters suggested that Getty isn't married to using this rewards system and would adapt its methods for rewarding creators by continually monitoring how customers are using the AI tool."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Atari just announced preorders for a physical cartridge for the company's once-ubiquitous 2600 console. From a report: A gaming console that counts 1982 as its most successful year is releasing another new cartridge in the year 2023. The game-in-question is called Save Mary and was actually developed during the console's golden years, before being shelved when the 2600 went the way of the dodo. Save Mary was in development for two whole years, which is a lifetime in the generation of gaming that preceded the NES. The normal timeframe to produce a game back then was six to nine months, with some notorious titles taking just five or six weeks. Save Mary was originally developed by veteran Atari staffer Tod Frye, the guy behind the 2600 version of Pac-Man and the Swordquest series.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Lawmakers in the United States last year passed bipartisan legislation intended to maintain US competitiveness with countries such as China by boosting funding for science and innovation. But concerns are mounting that the US Congress will fail to deliver on its promises. From a report: The money allotted to a handful of major US science agencies that had been targeted for a budget boost is likely to fall short of the legislation's goals by more than US$7 billion in 2024, according to a report. And overall funding for those agencies will continue to hover at a 25-year low. "We're leaving scientific opportunities on the table," says Matt Hourihan, who led the analysis for the Federation of American Scientists, an advocacy group based in Washington DC. "If we drop this ball, others will be happy to pick it up." It was precisely this fear that drove members of Congress to come together to pass the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022. The legislation promised one of the largest increases in US science funding in a long time, totalling some $280 billion over five years. Much of the spending mandated by the bill was focused on semiconductor research and manufacturing -- areas in which other countries, particularly China, have dominated. Lawmakers also authorized investments in other science and innovation programmes, but these were not mandated, and need to be approved by Congress during an appropriations process each year. That process has become increasingly contentious as political polarization in the United States has risen over the past few decades. Disputes about overall spending levels and funding for various social programmes have led to repeated delays in crafting the annual budget, at times forcing the government to shut down. This year is a prime example: Republicans, who control the US House of Representatives, blocked legislation that would have allowed the government to increase the federal debt limit and pay its bills, until they were able to secure an agreement with the Democrats in May to limit spending. And last month, a handful of extreme right-wing Republicans sought to close the government down as they pushed for further spending cuts.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Amazon has launched its first two satellites for its Project Kuiper, the tech giant's initiative to build a massive constellation of satellites that can provide internet coverage to Earth. From a report: An Atlas V rocket, operated by United Launch Alliance, lofted the pair of satellites en route to orbit from Florida at 2:06 p.m. local time Friday. The mission is still ongoing, and it's unclear when the satellites will be deployed from the rocket. Project Kuiper's goal is to eventually put 3,326 satellites into low Earth orbit, where they will beam broadband internet service to the ground below, similar to Elon Musk's SpaceX Starlink. The two launched Friday, KuiperSat-1 and KuiperSat-2, are test satellites that will allow Amazon to demonstrate the ability to send and receive broadband signals. This mission has been long delayed. Amazon originally hoped to launch these satellites a year ago on a different, experimental rocket. However, the company wound up switching the launch vehicle for these satellites multiple times, eventually landing on ULA's workhorse Atlas V rocket, in order to get the satellites into space more quickly.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

PayPal has been hit with a class action lawsuit by consumers represented by law firm Hagens Berman alleging that the fintech giant's anti-steering rules stifle competition against lower-cost payment platforms such as Stripe and Shopify. From a report: Specifically, according to an investigation conducted by the firm's consumer rights attorneys, PayPal has subjected consumers to excess charges when purchasing from online merchants that accept PayPal or Venmo. The suit states that PayPal's merchant agreements, which all merchants must sign to accept payments via its platform, leads to consumers paying more to make purchases. The attorneys charge that "if PayPal's agreements were transparent, consumers would quickly see a price difference between PayPal and Venmo and its competitors." Specifically, per PayPal's anti-steering rules, if a retailer accepts PayPal or Venmo payments, they agree not to offer any discounts or inducements to persuade consumers to use other payment options that have a lower cost. These discounts are treated as a "surcharge" on PayPal transactions and prohibited by PayPal's anti-steering rules. Merchants also cannot tell customers that other payment methods are more cost-effective or preferred, according to the complaint, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Merchants are also not allowed to present other forms of payment earlier in the checkout process.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Microsoft has launched a new web version of its app store for Windows. From a report: It's designed as a replacement for the existing way to find Windows apps on the web, with links from the site opening in the Microsoft Store client on Windows 10 or Windows 11. The software giant has ditched its old React codebase from its previous web version of the Microsoft Store and replaced it with a modern web version that uses Shoelace, Lit, Vite, and a C# ASPNET backend. "The old site was a React codebase built on an obsoleted UI framework," explains Microsoft engineer Judah Gabriel in a post on X (formerly Twitter). "We created a fresh user experience with a thoughtfully designed interface, easier ways to discover new apps, modern web tech stack. I hope folks will find it useful."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Climate activists are calling out Shell for partnering with popular video gamers and online youth influencers to promote fossil fuels to a younger generation. From a report: The oil giant, which in July reported quarterly profits of more than $5bn, worked with Fortnite creators and paid popular gamers on multiple platforms to showcase its "ultimate road trips" promotion, part of a marketing campaign for a new gasoline it calls V-Power Nitro+. According to the group Media Matters for America, the company is targeting young players on Twitch, TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, encouraging them to fill up virtual vehicles at interactive Shell gas stations and post screenshots of the game with a #Shellroadtrips hashtag. Research by the non-profit group revealed Shell sponsored livestreams of gameplay on Twitch by at least six streamers with a combined 5.5m followers. It also identified three more content creators on other platforms who were paid to promote the campaign in their videos. Those influencers, Media Matters said, have a combined 1.5 million Instagram followers, 8.5 million on TikTok and 11.6 million on YouTube.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The Treasury Department released new guidance Friday outlining how car dealers can give customers instant access to the electric vehicle rebate starting in January 2024. It's the latest move by the Biden administration to bring down the cost of EVs in the hopes that more people will buy them. From a report: The new guidance lays out how dealers can effectively reduce the price of an EV by as much as $7,500 at the point of purchase rather than the customer having to wait until they file their taxes to claim the credit. The administration hopes that by applying the credit immediately, more people will be convinced to consider an EV for their next purchase, which will help toward achieving the goal of making EVs 50 percent of new car sales by 2030.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

South Korea's telecommunications regulator said on Friday that Alphabet's Google and Apple have abused their dominant app market position and warned of possible fines totalling up to $50.5 million. From a report: The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) said in a statement that the two tech giants forced app developers into specific payment methods and caused unfair delay in app review. The KCC is notifying the companies for corrective action, and will deliberate on the fines, the statement said. "What KCC has shared today is the pre-notice and we will carefully review and submit our response. Once the final written decision is shared with us we will carefully review to evaluate the next course of action," Google said in a statement to Reuters. Apple also issued a statement, saying: "We disagree with the conclusions made by the KCC in their Examiner's Report, and believe the changes we have implemented to the App Store comply with the Telecommunications Business Act. As we have always done, we will continue to engage with the KCC to share our views."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Google Japan's latest DIY project is for people who can't get keyboards off their heads. From a report: Google isn't making this product. Instead, the Gboard CAPS project is another of Google Japan's joke keyboard ideas, like the 5.25-foot-long, single-row Gboard Stick Version keyboard shown off last year, used to promote Google's Gboard app. However, Google Japan seemingly prototyped the keyboard in real life. Everything you need to make this typing topper, including the firmware and hardware, is open source and available on GitHub. How do you type with the hat? It has a 6-axis sensor that reads its position. Turn the hat to select a character and press its top to enter. It pairs via Bluetooth, runs on a 3.7V, 120mAh battery, and charges via USB-C.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is exploring making its own AI chips and has gone as far as evaluating a potential acquisition target, Reuters reported Friday, citing people familiar with the company's plans. From the report: The company has not yet decided to move ahead, according to recent internal discussions described to Reuters. However, since at least last year it discussed various options to solve the shortage of expensive AI chips that OpenAI relies on, according to people familiar with the matter. These options have included building its own AI chip, working more closely with other chipmakers including Nvidia and also diversifying its suppliers beyond Nvidia. CEO Sam Altman has made the acquisition of more AI chips a top priority for the company. He has publicly complained about the scarcity of graphics processing units, a market dominated by Nvidia, which controls more than 80% of the global market for the chips best suited to run AI applications. The effort to get more chips is tied to two major concerns Altman has identified: a shortage of the advanced processors that power OpenAI's software and the "eye-watering" costs associated with running the hardware necessary to power its efforts and products.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The Biden administration has urged the FCC to adopt strong rules to redress historic shortfalls that have left some communities lacking adequate broadband service. From a report: The position sets up a possible clash with large broadband providers that have warned the FCC, which is set to produce rules by next month, against unnecessary regulations. Clear rules are needed to close the digital divide that leaves millions without adequate broadband, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration said in a statement. The Commerce Department unit advises the president and develops internet policy. "Strong rules are needed to remedy unequal access to internet service, no matter what the cause may be," said Alan Davidson, the assistant secretary of commerce for communications and information, who is also the NTIA's top official. "Rules that combat digital discrimination will bring lasting relief to vulnerable communities that historically have been left behind online." The FCC is considering regulations to prevent and eliminate digital discrimination of access based on income level, race and other factors, according to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. Broadband advocates have told the agency they want deep changes that will steer spending into cities. Some urban neighborhoods have suffered from disinvestment dating back to redlining decades ago, when government-aided discriminatory lending patterns starved neighborhoods of housing resources. Many of those areas still aren't prosperous, and haven't seen network upgrades.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: MGM Resorts International said on Thursday a cyberattack last month that disrupted its operations would cause a $100 million hit to its third-quarter results, as it works to restore its systems. One of the world's largest gambling firms, MGM shut down its systems after detecting the attack to contain damage, it said. It expects to also incur less than $10 million as a related one-time cost in the quarter ended on Sept. 30. After the attack last month, customers posted social media images showing slot machines with error messages and queues at hotels in Las Vegas. A hacking group named AlphV claimed it was involved in the breach. Sources earlier told Reuters AlphV worked with another outfit named Scattered Spider to break into MGM systems and steal data to hold for extortion. MGM has declined to comment on whether it was asked for or paid any ransom. The private data of customers who used MGM services before March 2019, including contact information, gender, date of birth and driver's license numbers, was breached, the company said. "We also believe a more limited number of Social Security numbers and passport numbers were obtained," it said. "We have no evidence that the criminal actors have used this data to commit identity theft or account fraud." [...] The company expects the breach will have a negative impact of about $100 million to its adjusted property core profit for its Las Vegas Strip division, and expects total occupancy of 93% this October versus 94% in the same month a year ago. "Virtually all of the Company's guest-facing systems have been restored," it said, adding that it expects no impact on its full-year results from the breach. MGM said it is "well-positioned" to have a strong fourth quarter with record results in November, driven mainly by a Formula One racing event slated to take place in Las Vegas.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Andrew Cunningham writes via Ars Technica: If you or your employer uses Microsoft Teams for communication, good news: Microsoft is releasing a fully rewritten version today for Windows PCs and Macs that promises to run faster while using fewer system resources. A preview of this app was originally released for Windows in March, but the final release covers all types of Teams instances, re-adds support for features like breakout rooms and third-party app support, and supports macOS. The new Teams app is notable for improved performance and reduced disk space usage, especially when running on Windows PCs. Microsoft says that the reformulated version of Teams is "up to two times faster while using 50 percent less memory" on Windows systems. That sound you hear is old and underspecced work PCs in offices around the world breathing a sigh of relief. Microsoft credits its Edge WebView2 backend with helping improve performance and reduce disk usage on Windows. That's possible partly because WebView2 can use many of the same system files and the same runtime as the Edge browser built into Windows 10 and Windows 11. The older Teams app used the Electron framework, also used by communication apps like Slack and Discord. Though Electron and WebView2 are based on the Chromium browser engine, each Electron app includes its own self-contained version of the browser files, which all must be stored and updated separately.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Jonathan Josephs & Antoinette Radford reporting via the BBC: Nasa astronauts will be flying in style, with luxury fashion designer Prada helping design space suits for the 2025 moon mission. The Italian fashion house will work to design the suits alongside another private company, Axiom Space. In a press release, Axiom said Prada would bring expertise with materials and manufacturing to the project. One astronaut told the BBC he thought Prada was up to the challenge due to their design experience. That experience has been built not only on the catwalks of Milan but also through Prada's involvement in the America's Cup sailing competition. "Prada has considerable experience with various types of composite fabrics and may actually be able to make some real technical contributions to the outer layers of the new space suit," according to Professor Jeffrey Hoffman, who flew five Nasa missions and has carried out four spacewalks. But, he said people should not expect to see astronauts in "paisley spacesuits or any fancy patterns like that. Maintaining a good thermal environment is really the critical thing". "A spacesuit is really like a miniature spacecraft. It has to provide pressure, oxygen, keep you at a reasonable temperature," he added.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Financial Times: Belgium's intelligence service has been monitoring Alibaba's main logistics hub in Europe for espionage following suspicions Beijing has been exploiting its growing economic presence in the west. European governments have been increasing scrutiny of the alleged security and economic risks posed by Chinese companies, which has been part of a wider reassessment of the EU's traditional openness to trade with China. In specific reference to Alibaba's logistics arm at the cargo airport in Liege, Belgium's security services told the Financial Times they were working to detect "possible espionage and/or interference activities" carried out by Chinese entities "including Alibaba". Alibaba, which denies any wrongdoing, signed an agreement with Belgium in 2018 to open the hub in Liege, Europe's fifth-largest cargo airport, ploughing 100 million euros of investment into the ailing economy of the French-speaking Walloon region. But almost two years on from the site being opened, the Belgian State Security Service (VSSE) has continued monitoring Alibaba's operations following intelligence assessments, said people familiar with the matter. One area of scrutiny includes the introduction of software systems that collate sensitive economic information. The security service said the presence of Alibaba "constitutes a point of attention for the VSSE" because of legislation forcing Chinese companies to share their data with Chinese authorities and intelligence services. "China has the intent and capacity to use this data for non-commercial purposes," the agency said. Concerns about potential espionage at the site were first raised before the hub was built, including in the Belgian parliament. At the time China strongly denied the "unprovoked insinuations" over exaggerated "so-called security risks of Chinese companies." The VSSE's statement to the FT indicate its concerns over espionage still remain after the opening of the hub. [...] The main concern is that this platform, alongside a couple of other logistical platforms that the Chinese have been proposing to European countries, is giving them a lot of insights into supply chains and into eventual vulnerabilities," said Jonathan Holslag, a professor at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. According to a person familiar with Alibaba's relations to China's government, the logistics centers are expected to pass on information about local sentiment and report data about European trade and logistics to Beijing's authorities. "The site in Liege is the only European logistics center run by Alibaba's logistics spin-off Cainiao," reports the FT. The company is reportedly able to access data about merchants, products, transport details and flows. It may also be able to access information about final customers.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Slash_Account_Dot shares a report from 404 Media, written by Joseph Cox: In a bombshell report, an oversight body for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) found that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Enforcement (CBP), and the Secret Service all broke the law while using location data harvested from ordinary apps installed on smartphones. In one instance, a CBP official also inappropriately used the technology to track the location of coworkers with no investigative purpose. For years U.S. government agencies have been buying access to location data through commercial vendors, a practice which critics say skirts the Fourth Amendment requirement of a warrant. During that time, the agencies have typically refused to publicly explain the legal basis on which they based their purchase and use of the data. Now, the report shows that three of the main customers of commercial location data broke the law while doing so, and didn't have any supervisory review to ensure proper use of the technology. The report also recommends that ICE stop all use of such data until it obtains the necessary approvals, a request that ICE has refused. The report, titled "CBP, ICE, and Secret Service Did Not Adhere to Privacy Policies or Develop Sufficient Policies Before Procuring and Using Commercial Telemetry Data," is dated September 28, 2023, and comes from Joseph V. Cuffari, the Inspector General for DHS. The report was originally marked as "law enforcement sensitive," but the Inspector General has now released it publicly.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

At CES 2023, a startup called Displace introduced their "truly wireless" TV with swappable batteries and a vacuum suction system that can keep the display adhered to walls without traditional mounting. To address concerns about what would happen when those batteries become depleted or when the wall/surface the TV is mounted to cracks, Displace says it has designed a built-in landing gear safety system to protect the $3,000 wireless TV. The Verge reports: Here, friends, is where Displace's "self-lowering landing gear technology" comes in. And I'm just going to quote directly from the press release so you can get the full rundown on how it supposedly works: "Sensors within the Displace TV constantly measure the battery level and pressure in the vacuum suction system, analyze the wall's surface, and check leakage on the vacuum pumps. If the vacuum pumps are in danger of not maintaining a seal or the wall's integrity falters, the Displace TV automatically deploys four quick adhesives for stability and initiates a self-lowering landing gear system. The adhesives work as anchor points, as the Displace TV begins to lower itself gently on a zipline (from as high as 10 feet) and deploys a reusable foam at the bottom to protect the TV screen." When a problem is detected, the Displace attaches an adhesive frame onto the wall and begins lowering the display to the floor (with rope) from that frame. As all of this is happening, the TV generates a lot of sound and even flashing lights in an attempt to keep the area clear of children or animals. Once it's safely on the ground, you can pull the frame off the wall and reinsert it into the back of the TV. [...] The self-landing technology works at heights of up to 10 feet. When you're ready to put the TV back in its place, you just push the foam feet back into the TV, replace the adhesive tapes, and that's it. You can watch a demo of the safety system on YouTube.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

James Hunt reports via The Block: A group of FTX U.S.-based employees stumbled across a backdoor for its affiliated trading firm Alameda Research months before the crypto exchange collapsed in Nov. 2022, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The backdoor allowed Alameda to have a negative balance of up to $65 billion using customer funds, according to previous court filings revealing code buried in FTX's systems. Negative balances were not possible for other FTX users, who would be automatically liquidated if they fell into the red. The employees reportedly alerted their division boss to the discovery, who discussed it with former FTX CEO Sam Bankman Fried's lieutenant Nishad Singh, but the issue was never resolved. Instead, the leader of the team who raised the concern was sacked, the WSJ said. [...] The backdoor forms a key part of the prosecution's case in Bankman-Fried's trial. Bankman-Fried faces multiple fraud charges and could serve decades in prison. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Following preliminary objections over Google's data terms, set out back in January by Germany's antitrust watchdog, the tech giant has agreed to make changes that will give users a better choice over its use of their information, the country's Federal Cartel Office (FCO) said today. The commitments cover situations where Google would like to combine personal data from one Google service with personal data from other Google or non-Google sources or cross-use these data in Google services that are provided separately, per the authority. Per the FCO decision document (PDF): "The Commitments cover in principle all services operated by Google and directed to end users in Germany with more than one million monthly active users (MAU) in Germany [and Android Automotive whether it meets that threshold or not]." But, as we report below, Google's core platform services designated under the EU's DMA are not covered -- nor is Fitbit, which the document notes is already subject to "far-reaching obligations regarding the cross-service processing of health and wellness data" as a result of EU merger control. [...] Per the FCO decision document, the implementation date (in principle) for Google's commitments is September 30, 2024 - with an earlier date of March 6, 2024 for commitments covering Google Assistant and Contacts. But the FCO notes that it may provide Google with an extension upon "substantiated request". Once implemented, the commitments will have a five year duration from their start date. The document also notes that if, in the future, a Google service falls out of the DMA designation as a core platform service and meets the FCO usage threshold then these local commitments will be applied to it. The converse will also apply; meaning if the European Commission designates one of the Google services covered by this commitments to the DMA list of core platform services it would no longer fall under this arrangement. Gmail is an interesting example here as the EU recently accepted Google's arguments to exclude the web mail service from the DMA list of core platform services -- but the tech giant is facing future restrictions on how it can use Gmail users' data under the FCO commitments (even if these will only apply in Germany). Commenting in a statement, Andreas Mundt, president of the Bundeskartellamt, said: "Data are key for many business models used by large digital companies. The market power of large digital companies is based on the collection, processing and combination of data. Google's competitors do not have these data and are thus faced with serious competitive disadvantages. In the future users of Google services will have a much better choice as to what happens to their data, how Google can use them and whether their data may be used across services. This not only protects the users' right to determine the use of their data but also curbs Google's data-driven market power. Large digital companies offer a wide range of different digital services. Without the users' free and informed consent the data from Google's services and third-party services can no longer be cross-used in separate services offered by Google or even be combined. We have made sure that Google will provide a separate choice option in the future."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Hyundai and Kia said on Thursday that they will adopt Tesla's electric vehicle charging technology in the United States. Reuters reports: Joining their global peers, including Ford Motor, General Motors and Nissan in adopting Tesla's North American Charging Standard (NACS), Hyundai's and Kia's moves take the Elon Musk-led company's superchargers closer to becoming the industry standard at the expense of the rival Combined Charging System (CCS). Hyundai and Kia's new EVs will come with a NACS port, starting in the fourth quarter of 2024 in the United States, the companies said. However, in Canada, Hyundai EVs equipped with the NACS port would be available in the first half of 2025, while Kia's EVs with the technology by the end of 2024. The move gives Hyundai and Kia EVs with NACS ports access to more than 12,000 Tesla Superchargers across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, the companies said. The South Korean automakers also said that they would offer adapters to owners of existing and future Hyundai and Kia EVs with the current CCS giving them access to Tesla's Supercharging Network in the first quarter of 2025.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Paul Kunert writes via The Register: Talking on stage at the Canalys EMEA Forum 2023, Luca Rossi, senior vice resident at Lenovo and president of its Intelligent Devices Group, said the company has committed to a net zero emission policy by 2050, and analyzing the components used in its hardware is part of the equation. "On repairability, we have a plan that by 2025 more than 80 percent of the repair parts will be repaired again so that they they enter into the circular economy to reduce the impact to the environment." He added: "More than 80 percent of our devices will be able to be repaired at the customer, by the customer or by the channel and we are enabling this with a design for serviceability kind of approach." This means that "batteries, SSD, many things, will not any longer be sealed into the product but will be available for the customer to be to repaired on site and then save a lot of waste."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Within the past year, there have been approximately five times more school shooting hoaxes called in to police than actual school shootings reported in 2023. Where data from Everytown showed "at least 103 incidents of gunfire on school grounds" in 2023, The Washington Post recently uncovered what seems to be a coordinated campaign of active shooter hoaxes causing "swattings" -- where police respond with extreme force to fake crimes -- at more than 500 schools nationwide over the past year. In just one day in February, "more than 30 schools were targeted," The Post reported. The Post "examined police reports, emergency call recordings, body-camera footage, or call logs in connection with incidents in 24 states," which seemed to reveal a "distinct pattern" potentially linking swatting hoaxes nationwide. A man who "speaks with a heavy accent" -- and possibly uses a device or app to alter his voice in real time -- relies on a virtual private network (VPN) to mask his IP address, then places the hoax calls on non-emergency lines using free Internet-calling services. He frequently pretends to be a teacher hiding from the fake shooter on campus and sometimes falsely reports student shootings. To some law enforcement officials, the voice sounds too similar from call to call to be chalked up to coincidence. The Post stitched together audio that shows why many authorities believe these hoax calls might be coming from the same caller, whose motivations are currently unknown. It's possible the hoax calls are being orchestrated by one person with a hostile compulsion or by one or several perpetrators advertising swatting services available for hire online. [...] According to The Post, the FBI has been investigating this string of school shooting hoaxes, but it's unclear how far that investigation has gotten -- mostly because tracing the hoax calls has perplexed many law enforcement agencies nationwide. Tracing calls is difficult partly because many VPN providers outside the US don't always cooperate with law enforcement, and some of the most popular free Internet-calling services only require an email address to sign up. However, The Post reported that it has increasingly become clear to law enforcement that one particular Internet-calling service appears to be the most popular choice for hoax callers reporting school shootings: TextNow. One police captain in Lousiana, Shannon Mack -- who is described as specializing in "cases involving Internet-based phone services -- told The Post that "nine times out of 10," hoax calls she has investigated have come from a TextNow number.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Microsoft has released patches to fix zero-day vulnerabilities in two popular open source libraries that affect several Microsoft products, including Skype, Teams and its Edge browser. But Microsoft won't say if those zero-days were exploited to target its products, or if the company knows either way. From a report: The two vulnerabilities -- known as zero-days because developers had no advance notice to fix the bugs -- were discovered last month, and both bugs have been actively exploited to target individuals with spyware, according to researchers at Google and Citizen Lab. The bugs were discovered in two common open source libraries, webp and libvpx, which are widely integrated into browsers, apps and phones to process images and videos. The ubiquity of these libraries coupled with a warning from security researchers that the bugs were abused to plant spyware prompted a rush by tech companies, phone makers and app developers to update the vulnerable libraries in their products. In a brief statement Monday, Microsoft said it had rolled out fixes addressing the two vulnerabilities in the webp and libvpx libraries which it had integrated into its products, and acknowledged that exploits exist for both vulnerabilities. When reached for comment, a Microsoft spokesperson declined to say if its products had been exploited in the wild, or if the company has the ability to know. Security researchers at Citizen Lab said in early September that they had discovered evidence that NSO Group customers, using the company's Pegasus spyware, had exploited a vulnerability found in the software of an up-to-date and fully patched iPhone.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

A parallel acquisition system -- buying needed apps by monthly or yearly subscription to meet changing mission requirements -- could improve deterrence by complicating an enemy's war planning, Lockheed Martin's top executive suggested Wednesday. From a report: Jim Taiclet, Lockheed's CEO, said the idea behind this approach is similar to allowing a customer to buy a 5G phone in Seoul and have it operate with new applications as needed in Washington. Although "digital insertion" in this manner "hasn't caught on yet" inside the Pentagon, across the tech industry or the broad industrial base, Taiclet said it has the potential "to move that deterrence goal post every three to six months."Traditionally, the Defense Department and defense industry think in big contracts for platforms that take years to design, build and manufacture and service. Taiclet, however, sees large defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin as a bridge from the subscription-based tech sector to the big-contract Pentagon acquisition process. "We have to get our expertise together." He added this approach "is starting to get some traction" among large investors in the tech sector.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

samleecole writes: Tickets for rapper Travis Scott's upcoming tour sold out fast. Check StubHub right now, however, and you can find thousands of tickets to "sold out" shows in many cities for between $10 and $20, far below the face value for his cheapest tickets at $61.50 before fees when they first went on sale. In ticket reseller lingo, Scott's tour is a "bloodbath," the result of overzealous brokers and noobs "overbuying" tickets based on a miscalculation of the likely value of his tickets on the secondary market. Many brokers now stand to lose a lot of money on Scott's shows. At least part of this buying frenzy was fueled by a bet placed by PFS Buyers Club, a credit card maxing site I wrote about earlier this week that has recently pivoted from buying rare coins to buying concert tickets. PFS told its members to buy as many tickets to Scott's shows as possible, according to emails viewed by 404 Media. PFS itself stands to lose more than $1 million on Travis Scott alone when all is said and done, it told members. The entire situation, which has become a complicated mess, sheds light on a little-known segment of the ticket broker industry, where resellers partner with credit card "buyers clubs" to obtain tickets. The fiasco also highlights the risks associated with ticket reselling and shows how Ticketmaster profits from the secondary market, helping it sell out artists even before their ability to sell out venues is guaranteed, and passing that risk on to resellers.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The global average temperature for September broke records by such an absurd margin that climate experts are struggling to describe the phenomenon. From a report: "This month was -- in my professional opinion as a climate scientist -- absolutely gobsmackingly bananas," Zeke Hausfather, a researcher with Berkeley Earth, said on the social media platforms Bluesky and X. The numbers are stark. September 2023 beat the previous record for the month, set in 2020, by 0.5C (0.9F), according to data sets maintained by the Japan Meteorological Agency and the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service. The temperature anomaly for the month was roughly 1.7C above pre-industrial levels, which is above the symbolic 1.5C mark set as the stretch goal in the Paris Agreement. "We've never really seen a jump anything quite of this magnitude," Hausfather said. "Half a degree C is analogous to slightly less than half of all the warming we've seen from pre-industrial [temperatures]." Carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels are the main driver of rising temperatures. The global average temperature this year has also seen a boost from El Nino, a natural climate shift in the Pacific. Other factors may also be pushing temperatures up incrementally, such as a decline in cooling aerosol pollution from ships. Hausfather said next September may be unlikely to have all the same compounding factors, and consequently may be not as extreme. But either way, he described September 2023 as a "sneak peek" of what the back-to-school month may feel like in a decade as climate change pushes temperatures higher.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

theodp writes: With Microsoft President Satya Nadella testifying in the Google antitrust trial that the tech titans are engaged in a Generative AI Gold Rush, it's no surprise to learn that tech giant-backed and advised nonprofit Code.org has chosen "Creativity with AI" as the theme for this December's Hour of Code, the annual global event that aims to whet K-12 schoolchildren's appetite for rigorous computer science. "We're taking Hour of Code to new heights with 'Hour of Code: Creativity with AI'," explained Code.org. "Whether it's coding new apps and algorithms, generating unique art, or crafting choreography to get us dancing, AI is opening up fresh opportunities for digital expression that expand our understanding of creativity. What's new? Did you catch that reference to 'dancing'? That's right: Code.org's Dance Party [a 'CS lesson' developed in partnership with the 'childhood to career' Amazon Future Engineer program] will be better than ever this year! Coming soon, this Hour of Code activity will use generative AI to help students add awesome backgrounds and visuals to the dance parties they build with code."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An algorithm that takes just seconds to scan a paper for duplicated images racks up more suspicious images than a person. Nature: Scientific-image sleuth Sholto David blogs about image manipulation in research papers, a pastime that has exposed him to many accounts of scientific fraud. But other scientists "are still a little bit in the dark about the extent of the problem," David says. He decided he needed some data. The independent biologist in Pontypridd, UK, spent the best part of several months poring over hundreds of papers in one journal, looking for any with duplicated images. Then he ran the same papers through an artificial-intelligence (AI) tool. Working at two to three times David's speed, the software found almost all of the 63 suspect papers that he had identified -- and 41 that he'd missed. David described the exercise last month in a preprint, one of the first published comparisons of human versus machine for finding doctored images. The findings come as academic publishers reckon with the problem of image manipulation in scientific papers. In a 2016 study, renowned image-forensics specialist Elisabeth Bik, based in San Francisco, California, and her colleagues reported that almost 4% of papers she had visually scanned in 40 biomedical-science journals contained inappropriately duplicated images. Not all image manipulation is done with nefarious intent. Authors might tinker with images by accident, for aesthetic reasons or to make a figure more understandable. But journals and others would like to catch images with alterations that cross the line, whatever the authors' motivation. And now they are turning to AI for help. Some 200 universities, publishers and scientific societies already rely on Imagetwin, the tool that David used for his study. The software compares images in a paper with more than 25 million images from other publications -- the largest such database in the image-integrity world, according to Imagetwin's developers. Bik has been using Imagetwin regularly to supplement her own skills and calls it her "standard tool," although she emphasizes that the AI has weaknesses as well as strengths -- for instance, it can miss duplications in images with low contrast.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

A week after laying off almost 900 employees, Epic Games has said that it's increasing the price to use Unreal Engine -- just not for the game development community. From a report: The news came from Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney himself in a presentation at Unreal Fest 2023. In a video captured by Fortnite Creative developer Immature, Sweeney explains that developers using Unreal Engine in the film, TV, automotive, and other industries can expect to start paying a per-seat licensing fee. He claimed that the pricing model will not be "unusually expensive or unusually inexpensive," and that its pricing structure will be similar to subscription services like Maya or Photoshop. Sweeney said he wanted to announce these changes now in the name of "transparency." He also shed some light on the business decisions that led to the company making unexpectedly significant business shifts in the last week. Apparently Epic Games began running into "financial problems" about 10 weeks ago, meaning that the company was facing some sort of financial downturn from late July through September. Evidently, all of Epic Games' business had been "heavily funded by Fortnite" in the last six years, and different parts of the company became "disconnected" from their revenue streams. It adds some context to previous comments made by Sweeney about the impact of declined Fortnite revenue -- if the company's signature game had started to not turn a profit, other parts of Epic Games may not have easily been able to make up for declining revenue.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

samleecole writes: 4chan users are coordinating a posting campaign where they use Microsoft Bing's AI text-to-image generator to create racist images that they can then post across the internet. The news shows how users are able to manipulate free to access, easy to use AI tools to quickly flood the internet with racist garbage, even when those tools are allegedly strictly moderated. "We're making propaganda for fun. Join us, it's comfy," the 4chan thread instructs. "MAKE, EDIT, SHARE." A visual guide hosted on Imgur that's linked in that post instructs users to use AI image generators, edit them to add captions that make them seem like political campaigns, and post them to social media sites, specifically Telegram, Twitter, and Instagram. 404 Media has also seen these images shared on a TikTok account that has since been removed. People being racist is not a technological problem. But we should pay attention to the fact that technology is "to borrow a programming concept" 10x'ing racist posters, allowing them to create more sophisticated content more quickly in a way we have not seen online before. Perhaps more importantly, they are doing so with tools that are allegedly "safe" and moderated so strictly, to a point where they will not generate completely harmless images of Julius Caesar. This means we are currently getting the worst of both worlds from Bing, an AI tool that will refuse to generate a nipple but is supercharging 4chan racists.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Fossil fuel exploration should cease globally by 2030 and funding to rescue poor countries from the impacts of the climate crisis should reach $200bn to $400bn a year by the same date, according to proposals in a UN report before the next climate summit. The Guardian: Countries were still "way off track" to meet the goals of the 2015 Paris climate agreement, the report found, and much more action would be needed to make it possible to limit global heating to 1.5C above preindustrial levels. The UN's synthesis report on the global stocktake, published on Wednesday, will form the basis for discussions at the Cop28 conference in Dubai, which begins at the end of November. The global stocktake is a process mandated under the Paris agreement, intended to check every five years on countries' progress on meeting their emissions-cutting goals. Simon Stiell, the UN's climate chief, said the report offered a range of actions for governments to consider. "[These are] clear targets which provide a north star for the action that is required by countries," he said. Greenhouse gas emissions are still rising but there is broad agreement they must peak by 2025 at the latest if there is to be a chance of limiting temperature rises to 1.5C. "This is a major opportunity being presented for the course correction that is so urgently called for," Stiell said. "[The report] lays out elements that can be incorporated into a response." But while most countries agreed on the need to change direction, he said, there was "significant divergence" on how to achieve the changes needed.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Sony is bringing its own movie streaming service to PlayStation consoles beginning today. From a report: Previously known as Bravia Core, the service is being rebranded to Sony Pictures Core as it arrives on the PS5 and PS4. "Once you sign up for Sony Pictures Core, you will be able to buy or rent up to 2,000 movies straight from your console," Sony's Evan Stern wrote in a blog post. "At launch, this will include blockbuster hits such as Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Uncharted, The Equalizer, No Hard Feelings, Bullet Train, and Ghostbusters: Afterlife, among others." Now, you can rent or buy those movies in any number of places. If you're wondering why you'd want to use Sony's service, the answer is video fidelity. As noted on the Bravia Core website, it includes what the company calls Pure Stream, "which can stream HDR movies at up to 80Mbps -- similar to 4K UHD Blu-ray -- on a wide range of content." That is a significantly higher bitrate than anything Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Max, Vudu, or other streamers will give you. So, if you're a stickler for picture quality and have the right TV for it, you should notice greater detail when using Pure Stream. In addition to all that, Sony also claims it has the largest collection of IMAX Enhanced films of any streaming service.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Britain's anti-competition regulators have been tasked with investigating Microsoft and Amazon's dominance of the cloud computing market. From a report: Media watchdog Ofcom on Thursday referred its inquiry for further investigation to the Competition and Markets Authority, kickstarting the process. Ofcom said that it had identified features which make it more difficult for U.K. businesses to switch cloud providers, or use multiple cloud services, and that it is "particularly concerned" about the position of market leaders Amazon and Microsoft. "Some UK businesses have told us they're concerned about it being too difficult to switch or mix and match cloud provider, and it's not clear that competition is working well," Fergal Farragher, Ofcom's director responsible for the market study, said in a statement Thursday. "So, we're referring the market to the CMA for further scrutiny, to make sure business customers continue to benefit from cloud services." Ofcom is concerned that so-called "hyperscalers" like Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure are limiting competition in the cloud computing market. These are companies that allow businesses of all stripes to carry out critical computing tasks -- like storage and management of data, delivery of content, analytics and intelligence -- over the internet, rather than through servers stored on site, or "on premise."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Apple held talks with DuckDuckGo to replace Alphabet's Google as the default search engine for the private mode on Apple's Safari browser, but ultimately rejected the idea. From a report: The details of those talks -- and Apple's discussions about buying Microsoft's Bing search engine in 2018 and 2020 -- were revealed late Wednesday in transcripts unsealed by the judge overseeing the US government's antitrust trial against Google. US District Judge Amit Mehta ruled Wednesday that he would unseal the testimony of DuckDuckGo Chief Executive Officer Gabriel Weinberg and Apple executive John Giannandrea, both of whom testified in the Washington trial in closed sessions. Weinberg testified that DuckDuckGo had about 20 meetings and phone calls with Apple executives, including the head of Safari, in 2018 and 2019 about becoming the default search engine for private browsing mode. In private mode, Safari doesn't track websites that a user visits or keep a history of what a person has accessed. "We were talking about it, I thought they would launch it," Weinberg said, noting that Apple had integrated several of DuckDuckGo's other privacy technologies into Safari. "Multiple times we've gotten integrations all the way through the finish line. Really, almost everything we've pitched except for search." But Giannandrea, who joined Apple as the head of search in 2018, said that to his knowledge Apple hadn't considered switching to DuckDuckGo. In a February 2019 email to other Apple executives, Giannandrea said it was "probably a bad idea" to switch to DuckDuckGo for private browsing in Safari. "The motivating factor for setting DuckDuckGo as the default for private browsing was an assumption" that it would be more private, Giannandrea testified. Because DuckDuckGo relies on Bing for its search information, it also likely provides Microsoft some user information, he said, which led him to believe that DuckDuckGo's "marketing about privacy is somewhat incongruent with the details."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

"Every year the Grace Hopper Celebration, a conference and career fair aimed at non-males, brings women in the tech industry together," writes long-time Slashdot reader piojo. "This year, a large number of men showed up. The women were not pleased." Wired reports: AnitaB.org, the nonprofit that runs the conference, said there was "an increase in participation of self-identifying males" at this year's event. The nonprofit says it believes allyship from men is important and noted it cannot ban men from attending due to federal nondiscrimination protections in the US. Organizers expressed frustration. Past iterations of the conference have "always felt safe and loving and embracing," said Bo Young Lee, president of advisory at AnitaB.org, in a LinkedIn post. "And this year, I must admit, I didn't feel this way." Cullen White, AnitaB.org's chief impact officer, said in a video posted to X, formerly Twitter, that some registrants had lied about their gender identity when signing up, and men were now taking up space and time with recruiters that should go to women. "All of those are limited resources to which you have no right," White said. [...] During the conference, videos posted to TikTok showed a sea of men waiting in line to enter the conference or speak with recruiters in the expo hall. Men and women are seen running into the expo as a staffer yells for them to slow down. Avni Barman, the founder of female-talent focused media platform Gen She, says she immediately noticed "tons" more men and a more chaotic scene this time compared to previous years. According to Layoffs.fyi, tech companies around the world laid off more than 400,000 workers in 2022 and 2023. "As job cuts bite, all prospective tech workers have become more desperate for opportunities," reports Wired.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from MIT Technology Review: Thirteen US states are now implementing underground thermal energy networks to reduce buildings' carbon emissions as part of a nationwide push to adopt cleaner energy sources. Thermal energy networks use pipe loops that connect multiple buildings and provide heating and cooling through water-source heat pumps. Geothermal heat is commonly used in these networks, but it is also possible to bring in waste heat from other buildings through the sewer system. When installed, these networks can provide efficient, fossil fuel-free heating and cooling to commercial and residential buildings. Thanks to legislative backing and widespread support from utility companies and labor unions they're likely to become an increasingly significant part of the future energy mix in the US. "Heat is the largest source of waste energy and it's an untapped resource," says Zeyneb Magavi, co-executive director at clean energy nonprofit HEET (Home Energy Efficiency Team). "Once we have a thermal energy network, we can tap into that resource by moving it to where we need it." While the projects are still at the planning and regulatory stage in most of the 13 states, construction is already underway in some. [...] The advantages of thermal energy networks extend beyond reducing carbon emissions. Scaling them up from a few buildings to a community or utility level can also help make the grid more resilient and efficient. Magavi says every time a "loop" of thermal energy network is added to the grid, its ability to predict and manage power flow becomes more accurate. This interconnectedness helps the system become more resilient in high-stress situations.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Becky Ferreira writes via the New York Times: Last November, a satellite in low-Earth orbit unfurled into an expansive array that extends across nearly 700 square feet, about the size of a studio apartment. The satellite, BlueWalker 3, has since become one of the brightest objects in the sky, outshining some of the most radiant stars in the Milky Way, according to a study published on Monday in Nature -- and it is just the first of dozens of similar satellites that are in development by AST SpaceMobile, a company that aims to keep smartphones connected from orbit. "The issue is not necessarily that one satellite," said Siegfried Eggl, an astrophysicist at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and an author of the new study, "but that it is a predecessor or prototype of a constellation, so there's going to be a lot of those out there eventually." Initially launched in September 2022, BlueWalker 3 is the forerunner of AST SpaceMobile's BlueBird satellites, which aim to serve as a network of orbital cell towers with the goal "to democratize access to knowledge and information regardless of where people live and work," a spokesperson for AST SpaceMobile said. Last month, BlueWalker 3 successfully relayed its first 5G connection to a smartphone in a cellular coverage gap on Earth. AST SpaceMobile is one of many companies racing to capture the surging demand for global broadband connectivity. "At the moment, there are 18 constellations that we know are planned all over the world," Dr. Eggl said. "The total number of satellites is a stunning half a million that people are planning to put up there. This is 100 times more than we already have." AST SpaceMobile made BlueWalker 3's array so large in order to beam strong cellular coverage directly to phones on Earth. The satellite is made of many small antennas that can connect existing smartphones, which is an approach that distinguishes the company from Starlink and other planned constellations that currently rely on ground antennas or dishes. [...] AST SpaceMobile said that it was working with astronomers on techniques to reduce disruptions. It also contrasted the number in its constellation with the tens of thousands planned by other companies. The spokesperson said it could "provide substantial global coverage with around 90 satellites." Though BlueBird satellites would be far fewer in number, they are at least 64 times as big and bright as a Starlink satellite. The SpaceX orbiters are also brightest in the days after their deployment, but they become much fainter once they settle into their target orbits. Astronomers expect that the BlueBird satellites will remain bright in the sky throughout most of their lifetime. As a consequence, one of these satellites could interfere with data captured by astronomical observatories.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Tom's Hardware: Resin printer company Peopoly created quite a buzz with the unveiling of a prototype beltless FDM 3D printer, the Magneto X, at the East Coast RepRap Festival. The new printer is a desk top machine with a huge 400 x 300 x 300 mm build volume and print speeds up to 800mm/s. It borrows a design feature seen on CNC machines: magnetic linear motors. Normally, 3D printers move their components with rotating stepper motors attached to gears and pulleys. The linear motor can be thought of as a flat, unrolled motor with the "rotor" attached to the moving component -- the tool head -- and the stator forming a track along one axis. Dubbed the "MagXY" system, the tool head seems to levitate across the gantry without obvious means. It has a top print speed of 800 mm/s with a max acceleration of 22,000 mm/s, which would make it faster than modern Core XY printers from Bambu Lab. Peopoly is using and supporting both Klipper firmware and OrcaSlicer, which founder Mark Peng said greatly helped speed up their development time. [...] Peopoly is leaning hard into the Open Source community. Not only have they become backers of Klipper firmware, they are also using -- and supporting -- Open Source OcraSlicer. The Magneto X's nozzles are compatible with the popular E3D's V6 volcano which suggests the machine will be open to modification by users. Peopoly also states its machine can be used without joining a cloud-based system and promises customer data will not be collected.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Kiley Price writes via Inside Climate News: In a new initiative announced on Tuesday, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is working with the nonprofit Revive & Restore and other partners to create a "genetic library" of the country's endangered species -- before it's too late. Through a process called biobanking, FWS field staff are gathering biological samples such as blood, tissues and reproductive cells from animals to be cryogenically preserved at extremely low temperatures (at least -256 degrees Fahrenheit) and stored at a USDA facility in Colorado. The samples will also be genetically sequenced and this information will be uploaded to a publicly available database called GenBank, where researchers can study them and compare their genomes to other members of their species.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Long-time Slashdot reader RockDoctor writes: Regardless of their other potential benefits, modern cars, and modern electric cars in particular, involve complex networks of computer code, hardware, and servo systems cooperating (?) to deliver services to the user, like acceleration, steering and braking. Slashdot nerderati know better than most that such complex networks can never show unexpected, non-designed behavior, due to the infallibility of hardware, program coders and system designers... Yeah. Right. "I'll have some of what he's been smoking!" That's Musk-grade optimism. On Sunday evening, a middle-aged driver in a "brand new" vehicle found it would not decelerate below 30mph (50kmph). He retained steering control, and avoided crashing until police vehicles "boxed in" his vehicle and helped him exit into a police van (most have sliding side doors) from the moving vehicle. The police then "carried out a controlled halt" on the unmanned vehicle, stopping it from driving away with the van's brakes until a roadside assistance technician arrived 3 hours later and managed to shut it down. "[W]hen the [technician] got to me [...] later, he plugged in the car to do a diagnostic check and there was pages of faults," said the "kidnapped" driver from Glasgow. "He said he had never seen anything like it and decided he was not willing to turn the engine on to see what was wrong." By inference, the vehicle did not have a mechanical brake ("hand brake": English; "parking brake": American), which should have been able to keep the vehicle halted regardless of the motor's actions (even if a "clutch" did get burned out). From the only time I've been inside an electric car, I can't say if that is normal; it's certainly something I'll look for if I ever rent another. Had the failure happened at 10 a.m. in the morning, not 10 p.m. in the evening, the body count could have been ... substantial. A dumb question, stemming from my only use of an electric car: do they have a weight sensor under the driver's seat that locks-out the main motor unless there is (say) 30kg in the driver's seat? Most have some such sensors -- they trigger the "seatbelt not fastened" alarm or silence it for empty seats -- but whether they can override the drive system ... ?Read more of this story at Slashdot.