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The San Francisco City Attorney's office is suing 16 of the most frequently visited AI-powered "undressing" websites, often used to create nude deepfakes of women and girls without their consent. From a report: The landmark lawsuit, announced at a press conference by City Attorney David Chiu, says that the targeted websites were collectively visited over 200 million times in the first six months of 2024 alone. The offending websites allow users to upload images of real, fully clothed people, which are then digitally "undressed" with AI tools that simulate nudity. One of these websites, which wasn't identified within the complaint, reportedly advertises: "Imagine wasting time taking her out on dates, when you can just use [the redacted website] to get her nudes."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

America's top colleges and finance-industry recruiters have long had their eye on teenage whiz-kids who compete in a prestigious high-school math contest. Now, allegations of cheating are threatening to disrupt it. WSJ: Online leaks of tests for the country's best-known math contest -- the 74-year-old American Mathematics Competition -- are upsetting students who have spent years preparing for the exams. Ahead of the coming school year and test season, angry parents and math coaches have pushed the contest's administrator to tighten controls. The incident is the latest byproduct of a high-pressure college-admissions race that can lead students to look for any edge to get ahead. [...] As early as elementary school, students interested in flexing their math knowledge beyond what is taught in school can participate in math clubs and competitions. Each year, more than 300,000 students through high school participate in the AMC's first round of multiple-choice tests. Several thousand top performers are invited to sit for a higher-level test, and from there, around 600 compete in national "math olympiads." The top six math students in the nation then represent the U.S. internationally; the U.S. won its ninth International Mathematical Olympiad title this summer. Murmurs about cheating in the AMC have circulated for a few years, participants say, but reached critical levels during the past school year. The entirety of exams at each level of the competition were available online hours or days before students sat for the tests, a spokeswoman for the Mathematical Association of America confirmed. Testing sites in the U.S. and abroad receive the questions online early to give proctors time to print them out for the in-person exams.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Security researcher Bill Demirkapi unveiled a massive trove of leaked developer secrets and website vulnerabilities at the Defcon conference in Las Vegas. Using unconventional data sources, Demirkapi identified over 15,000 exposed secrets, including credentials for Nebraska's Supreme Court IT systems and Stanford University's Slack channels. The researcher also discovered 66,000 websites with dangling subdomain issues, making them vulnerable to attacks. Among the affected sites was a New York Times development domain. Demirkapi's tack involved scanning VirusTotal's database and passive DNS replication data to identify vulnerabilities at scale. He developed an automated method to revoke exposed secrets, working with companies like OpenAI to implement self-service deactivation of compromised API keys.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader shares a report: California's bill to prevent AI disasters, SB 1047, has faced significant opposition from many parties in Silicon Valley. California lawmakers bent slightly to that pressure Thursday, adding in several amendments suggested by AI firm Anthropic and other opponents. On Thursday the bill passed through California's Appropriations Committee, a major step toward becoming law, with several key changes, Senator Wiener's office told TechCrunch. [...] SB 1047 still aims to prevent large AI systems from killing lots of people, or causing cybersecurity events that cost over $500 million, by holding developers liable. However, the bill now grants California's government less power to hold AI labs to account. Most notably, the bill no longer allows California's attorney general to sue AI companies for negligent safety practices before a catastrophic event has occurred. This was a suggestion from Anthropic. Instead, California's attorney general can seek injunctive relief, requesting a company to cease a certain operation it finds dangerous, and can still sue an AI developer if its model does cause a catastrophic event.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

NASA chief Bill Nelson didn't mince words about the agency's budget crunch. "You can't put 10 pounds of potatoes in a five-pound sack," he told ArsTechnica in an interview, addressing $4.7 billion in cuts over two years. To scientists fretting over axed missions, Nelson offered a frank "I feel your pain." The Mars Sample Return's ballooning $11 billion price tag and 2040 timeline forced a reset. "We pulled the plug," Nelson admitted, but he's banking on cheaper, creative alternatives emerging by year's end. The moon rover Viper got the chop too, blowing its budget by 40%. "There comes a limit," Nelson said, defending the tough call. Viper lunar rover project was "running 40 percent over budget." He defended these decisions as necessary given the $2 billion cut to science funding alone. The cuts stem from the Fiscal Responsibility Act. Nelson expressed hope for a "reprieve" in fiscal year 2026, but noted uncertainty due to another looming debt ceiling issue.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader shares a report: Google now displays convenient AI-based answers at the top of its search pages -- meaning users may never click through to the websites whose data is being used to power those results. But many site owners say they can't afford to block Google's AI from summarizing their content. That's because the Google tool that sifts through web content to come up with its AI answers is the same one that keeps track of web pages for search results, according to publishers. Blocking Alphabet's Google the way sites have blocked some of its AI competitors would also hamper a site's ability to be discovered online. Google's dominance in search -- which a federal court ruled last week is an illegal monopoly -- is giving it a decisive advantage in the brewing AI wars, which search startups and publishers say is unfair as the industry takes shape. The dilemma is particularly acute for publishers, which face a choice between offering up their content for use by AI models that could make their sites obsolete and disappearing from Google search, a top source of traffic.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Microsoft has removed an arbitrary 32GB size limit for FAT32 partitions in the latest Windows 11 Canary build, now allowing for a maximum size of 2TB. The change, implemented in Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27686, allows users to create larger FAT32 partitions using the command-line format tool. Previously, Windows systems could read larger FAT32 file systems created on other platforms or through alternative methods, but were limited to creating 32GB partitions natively.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Epic Games launched its digital app store on iOS and Android devices on Friday, marking Fortnite's return to Apple's platform in the European Union after a four-year absence. The move follows the implementation of the EU's Digital Markets Act, which mandates Apple to allow third-party app stores. Epic's store is available globally on Android and in the EU for iOS devices running iOS 17.6 or later. Fortnite, along with Rocket League Sideswipe and Fall Guys, are now accessible through Epic's mobile store and the EU's AltStore. This marks Fall Guys' mobile debut. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney hailed the development as "tangible progress" but noted challenges remain, including Apple's new fees for third-party app distribution. The company aims for 100 million mobile store installations by year-end and plans to offer third-party games by December, with self-publishing slated for early 2025. Epic's 88/12 revenue split model will extend to mobile, potentially disrupting the mobile gaming marketplace dominated by Apple and Google.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

A 43-year-old Jordanian national, Hashem Younis Hashem Hnaihen, was arrested in Orlando, Florida, and charged with threatening to use explosives and destroying a solar power facility. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the charges could result in up to 60 years in prison. Gizmodo reports: Hashem Younis Hashem Hnaihen allegedly smashed windows at local businesses in Florida, leaving behind threatening letters about their perceived support of Israel, and broke into a solar power generation facility in Wedgefield, Florida back in June. Hnaihen allegedly spent hours smashing solar panels, cutting various wires, and destroying critical electronic equipment, according to a press release from the DOJ issued Thursday. Hnaihen was wearing a mask when he allegedly smashed the glass front doors of businesses that he thought supported Israel in June, the DOJ says, leaving behind "warning letters" that included lines like a desire to, "destroy or explode everything here in whole America. Especially the companies and factories that support the racist state of Israel." [...] Hnaihen was arrested on July 11, though news of his arrest was only made public today. Hnaihen entered a plea of not guilty and faces a maximum of 10 years in prison for each threat made against the Florida businesses and a maximum of 20 years for the destruction of an energy facility, according to the DOJ.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

AT&T and Verizon are urging the FCC to reject SpaceX's plan to offer cellular service with T-Mobile, arguing that it would cause harmful interference to terrestrial mobile networks. Ars Technica reports: Filings urging the Federal Communications Commission to deny SpaceX's request for a waiver were submitted by AT&T and Verizon this week. The plan by SpaceX's Starlink division also faces opposition from satellite companies EchoStar (which owns Dish and Hughes) and Omnispace. SpaceX and T-Mobile plan to offer Supplemental Coverage from Space (SCS) for T-Mobile's cellular network using SpaceX satellites. As part of that plan, SpaceX is seeking a waiver of FCC rules regarding out-of-band emission limits. AT&T's petition to deny the SpaceX waiver request said the FCC's "recent SCS order appropriately recognized that SCS deployments should not present any risk to the vital terrestrial mobile broadband networks upon which millions of Americans rely today. The Commission authorized SCS as secondary to terrestrial mobile service, correctly explaining that the SCS framework must 'retain service quality of terrestrial networks, protect spectrum usage rights, and minimize the risk of harmful interference.'" AT&T said SpaceX's requested "ninefold increase" to the allowable power flux-density limits for out-of-band emissions "would cause unacceptable harmful interference to incumbent terrestrial mobile operations. Specifically, AT&T's technical analysis shows that SpaceX's proposal would cause an 18% average reduction in network downlink throughput in an operational and representative AT&T PCS C Block market deployment." Verizon's opposition to the waiver request similarly said that SpaceX's proposal "would subject incumbent, primary terrestrial licensee operations in adjacent bands to harmful interference." Wireless phone performance will suffer, Verizon said [...]. SpaceX and T-Mobile told FCC staff that their plan will not harm other wireless operations and predicted that competitors will make misleading claims. SpaceX also argued that the FCC's emissions limit is too strict and should be changed.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from the New York Times: Melted capsules. Cloudy insulin. Pills that may no longer work. Doctors and pharmacists say the scorching temperatures enveloping the country could be endangering people's health in an unexpected way: by overheating their medications. Millions of Americans now receive their prescription medications through mail-order shipments, either for convenience or because their health plans require it. But the temperatures inside the cargo areas of delivery trucks can reach 150 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer, according to drivers -- far exceeding the range of 68 to 77 degrees recommended by the national organization that sets standards for drug handling. Mail-order pharmacies say that their packaging is weather resistant and that they take special precautions when medication "requires specific temperature control." But in a study published last year, independent pharmaceutical researchers who embedded data-logging thermometers inside simulated shipments found that the packages had spent more than two-thirds of their transit time outside the appropriate temperature range, "regardless of the shipping method, carrier, or season." Extreme temperatures can alter the components in many medications, from pancreatic enzymes to the thyroid replacement drug levothyroxine to oral contraceptives, medical experts say. Dr. Mike Ren, a primary care physician and an assistant professor in the department of family and community medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine, said that liquid medications like insulin or AUVI-Q, the epinephrine injection for allergic reactions, are often at heightened risk of degradation because excessive heat exposure can cause the evaporation of liquid components that were compounded at precise ratios. Aerosolized medications, too, are uniquely vulnerable because of the risk of pressure changes in the canister. "Doctors recommend picking up your prescriptions at a local pharmacy whenever possible during hot summer months, particularly if your medication is liquid or aerosolized," notes the report. "If you are enrolled in an insurance program that requires using a mail-order pharmacy, ask for an exception during the summer or, at the very least, contact the on-call pharmacist at the mail-order company to get more information about shipping practices and to ask for temperature-controlled packaging. You should do this even if the drug does not require refrigeration." Once you do get your medication, you should make sure to preserve it in a cool, dry environment, away from direct sunlight. If you're flying, your prescriptions should be stored in your carry-on bag. They should never be left in a parked car.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

sciencehabit shares a report from Science Magazine: A species of lungfish found in South America has claimed the title of the animal with the biggest genome sequenced so far. The DNA of Lepidosiren paradoxa comprises a staggering 91 billion chemical letters or "bases," 30 times as many as the human genome, researchers report today in Nature. However, those 91 billion bases of DNA only contain about the same number of genes that humans have -- roughly 20,000 -- with the rest consisting of noncoding, perhaps even "junk" DNA. By comparing this genome with those of other lungfishes, the researchers determined that L. paradoxa adds the equivalent of a human genome to its DNA every 10 million years.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

According to Kaspersky, hackers linked to Chinese threat actors have targeted Russian state agencies and tech companies in a campaign named EastWind. The Record reports: [T]he attackers used the GrewApacha remote access trojan (RAT), an unknown PlugY backdoor and an updated version of CloudSorcerer malware, which was previously used to spy on Russian organizations. The GrewApacha RAT has been used by the Beijing-linked hacking group APT31 since at least 2021, the researchers said, while PlugY shares many similarities with tools used by the suspected Chinese threat actor known as APT27. According to Kaspersky, the hackers sent phishing emails containing malicious archives. In the first stage of the attack, they exploited a dynamic link library (DLL), commonly found in Windows computers, to collect information about the infected devices and load the additional malicious tools. While Kaspersky didn't explicitly attribute the recent attacks to APT31 or APT27, they highlighted links between the tools that were used. Although PlugY malware is still being analyzed, it is highly likely that it was developed using the DRBControl backdoor code, the researchers said. This backdoor was previously linked to APT27 and bears similarities to PlugX malware, another tool typically used by hackers based in China.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The IRS should reopen its Technology Retirement Office to effectively manage the retirement and replacement of legacy systems, according to a Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) audit. The Register reports: The report (PDF), from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), credits the IRS with fully implementing two out of four previous tech modernization recommendations, though argues the other two recommendations were ineffectively implemented. Those failures include the agency's decision in 2023 to scrap its own Technology Retirement Office, which stood up in 2021 "to strategically reduce the [IRS' IT] footprint." Without that office, "there is no enterprise-wide program to identify, prioritize, and execute the updating, replacing, or retiring of legacy systems" at the IRS, the inspector general declared, adding the unit should be reestablished or brought back in some similar form. The closure of the retirement office, in the eyes of the TIGTA, is part of the IRS's failure to properly identify and plan for shutting down legacy systems and possibly replacing them with something modern. According to the audit report, the IRS identified 107 of its 334 legacy systems as up for retirement, yet only two of those 107 have specific decommissioning plans. The TIGTA would like to see clear plans for all of those identified systems, and had hoped the retirement office (or similar) would provide them. Then there's the second incomplete recommendation, which the IG said is the IRS' failure to properly apply its own definition of a legacy system to all of its tech. [...] In its response to the IG report, the IRS said it had largely addressed the two incomplete recommendations, though not entirely as the Inspector General might want.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Microsoft says it will temporarily cease its contentious Windows 11 upgrade campaign following user backlash. The tech giant had been bombarding Windows 10 users with full-screen popups urging them to switch operating systems. Starting with April's security update, these intrusive notifications will be discontinued. Microsoft says it will unveil a revised upgrade strategy in the coming months, as Windows 10 support nears its October 2025 end date.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Intel is partnering with Karma Automotive to develop an all-new computing platform for vehicles. The new software-defined vehicle architecture should first appear in a high-end electric coupe from Karma in 2026. But the partners have bigger plans for this architecture, with talk of open standards and working with other automakers also looking to make the leap into the software-defined future. [...] In addition to advantages in processing power and weight savings, software-defined vehicles are easier to update over-the-air, a must-have feature since Tesla changed that paradigm. Karma and Intel say their architecture should also have other efficiency benefits. They give the example of security monitoring that remains active even when the vehicle is turned off; they move this to a low-powered device using "data center application orchestration concepts." Intel is also contributing its power management SoC to get the most out of inverters, DC-DC converters, chargers, and as you might expect, the domain controllers use Intel silicon as well, apparently with some flavor of AI enabled. [...] Karma's first car to use the software-defined vehicle architecture will be the Kayeva, a $300,000 two-door with 1,000 hp (745 kW) on tap, which is scheduled to arrive in two years. But Intel and Karma want to offer the architecture to others in the industry. "For Tier 1s and OEMs not quite ready to take the leap from the old way of doing things to the new, Karma Automotive will play as an ally, helping them make that transition," said [Karma President Marques McCammon]. "Together, we're harnessing the combined might of Intel's technological prowess and Karma's ultra-luxury vehicle expertise to co-develop a revolutionary software-defined vehicle architecture," said McCammon. "This isn't just about realizing Karma's full potential; it's about creating a blueprint for the entire industry. We're not just building exceptional vehicles, we're paving the way for a new era of automotive innovation and offering a roadmap for those ready to make the leap."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

AltStore PAL, a third-party iOS app store available in the EU, has eliminated its annual 1.50-euro subscription fee after receiving a "MegaGrant" from Epic Games. This grant was awarded for "innovation in app distribution," allowing AltStore to cover Apple's Core Technology Fee without charging users. The Verge reports: Epic uses MegaGrants as a way to "sponsor the development of exciting projects that may not otherwise have enough funding to fully realize," the company says. The grants are typically meant for smaller teams using Epic's technologies to "bring bold, challenging, and insanely creative dreams to life," but in this case, Epic awarded the grant for "innovation in app distribution," according to AltStore. AltStore didn't share the dollar value of the grant. Current subscribers won't be charged when their renewal date rolls around, AltStore says. The AltStore team also plans to "show our appreciation for our existing subscribers in a future update" but didn't specify what that might look like.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The SAG-AFTRA actors' union has struck a deal with online talent marketplace Narrativ, allowing actors to sell advertisers the rights to replicate their voices using AI. "Not all members will be interested in taking advantage of the opportunities that licensing their digital voice replicas might offer, and that's understandable," SAG-AFTRA official Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said in a statement. "But for those who do, you now have a safe option." Reuters reports: Narrativ connects advertisers and ad agencies with actors to create audio ads using AI. Under the deal, an actor can set the price for an advertiser to digitally replicate their voice, provided it at least equals the SAG-AFTRA minimum pay for audio commercials. Brands must obtain consent from performers for each ad that uses the digital voice replica. The union hailed the pact with Narrativ as setting a standard for the ethical use of AI-generated voice replicas in advertising.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Wired: Professional cycling has, in its recent history, been prone to a shocking variety of cheating methods and dirty tricks.Performance-enhancing drugs.Tacks strewn on race courses. Even stealthy motors hidden inside of wheel hubs. Now, for those who fail to download a software patch for their gear shifters -- yes, bike components now get software updates -- there may be hacker saboteurs to contend with, too. At the Usenix Workshop on Offensive Technologies earlier this week, researchers from UC San Diego and Northeastern University revealed a technique that would allow anyone with a few hundred dollars of hardware to hack Shimano wireless gear-shifting systems (Warning: source may be paywalled; alternative source) of the kind used by many of the top cycling teams in the world, including in recent events like the Olympics and the Tour de France. Their relatively simple radio attack would allow cheaters or vandals to spoof signals from as far as 30 feet away that trigger a target bike to unexpectedly shift gears or to jam its shifters and lock the bike into the wrong gear. The trick would, the researchers say, easily be enough to hamper a rival on a climb or, if timed to certain intense moments of a race, even cause dangerous instability. "The capability is full control of the gears. Imagine you're going uphill on a Tour de France stage: If someone shifts your bike from an easy gear to a hard one, you're going to lose time," says Earlence Fernandes, an assistant professor at UCSD's Computer Science and Engineering department. "Or if someone is sprinting in the big chain ring and you move it to the small one, you can totally crash a person's bike like that." [...] The researchers' technique exploits the increasingly electronic nature of modern high-end bicycles, which now have digital components like power meters, wireless control of fork suspensions, and wireless shifters. "Modern bicycles are cyber-physical systems," the researchers note in their Usenix paper. Almost all professional cyclists now use electronic shifters, which respond to digital signals from shifter controls on the bike's handlebars to move a bicycle's chain from gear to gear, generally more reliably than mechanical shifting systems. In recent years, those wired electronic shifters have transitioned again to wireless versions that pair via a radio connection, such as the popular Di2 wireless shifters sold by the Japanese cycling component firm Shimano, which the researchers focused on. Shimano says it has developed a firmware update to patch the exploit but it won't be available widely until late August. The update is intended to improve wireless transmission across Shimano Di2 component platforms, though specific details about the fix and how it prevents the identified attacks have not been disclosed for security reasons.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Climate activists have broken into four German airport sites, briefly bringing air traffic to a halt at two of those before police made arrests. From a report: Protesters from Letzte Generation -- Germany's equivalent to Just Stop Oil -- gained access on Thursday to airfields in areas near the takeoff and landing strips of Cologne-Bonn, Nuremberg, Berlin Brandenburg and Stuttgart airports at dawn. Air traffic was suspended for a short time at Nuremberg and Cologne-Bonn due to police operations. The activists cut holes in fences with bolt cutters, glued themselves to the asphalt and unfurled banners reading "Oil kills" and "Sign the treaty," in reference to Letzte Generation's demand that the German government negotiate and sign an agreement for an international ban on the use of oil, gas and coal by 2030. The action was reminiscent of similar protests this summer and followed raids carried out a week ago on the homes of climate activists in five German cities, at which police collected DNA samples, in what Letzte Generation called "an attempt at intimidation." The interior minister, Nancy Faeser, condemned the protest and called for anyone convicted of involvement in Thursday's action to be given prison sentences. She wrote: "These criminal actions are dangerous and stupid. These anarchists are risking not only their own lives, but are also endangering others. We have recommended tough prison sentences. And we obligate airports to secure their facilities significantly better."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

ISPs have asked the US Supreme Court to strike down a New York law that requires broadband providers to offer $15-per-month service to people with low incomes. From a report: On Monday, a Supreme Court petition challenging the state law was filed by six trade groups representing the cable, telecom, mobile, and satellite industries. Although ISPs were recently able to block the FCC's net neutrality rules, this week's petition shows the firms are worried about states stepping into the regulatory vacuum with various kinds of laws targeting broadband prices and practices. A broadband-industry victory over federal regulation could bolster the authority of New York and other states to regulate broadband. To prevent that, ISPs said the Supreme Court should strike down both the New York law and the FCC's broadband regulation, although the rulings would have to be made in two different cases. A situation in which the New York law is upheld while federal rules are struck down "will likely lead to more rate regulation absent the Court's intervention," ISPs told the Supreme Court. "Other States are likely to copy New York once the Attorney General begins enforcing the ABA [Affordable Broadband Act] and New York consumers can buy broadband at below-market rates. As petitioners' members have shown, New York's price cap will require them to sell broadband at a loss and deter them from investing in expanding their broadband networks. As rate regulation proliferates, those harms will as well, stifling critical investment in bringing broadband to unserved and underserved areas." The New York law was upheld in April by the US Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, which reversed a 2021 District Court ruling. New York Attorney General Letitia James agreed last week not to enforce the $15 broadband law while the Supreme Court considers whether to take up the case.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Californians' driver's licenses are going digital as people will soon be able to carry them in their Apple or Google wallets. From a report: The governor's office says it's a secure and convenient tool that will allow users to more easily undergo ID verification, such as airport screenings. The virtual wallet capabilities, which are set to roll out "in the coming weeks," will allow users to add and access California driver's licenses and ID cards on their iPhones, Apple Watch and Android devices -- similar to credit cards. They will be authorized for use in TSA screenings, select apps and select businesses, such as Circle K. Participating airports in the state include SFO, SJC and LAX. The new format, which Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to announce Thursday, is part of the DMV's broader mobile driver's license (mDL) pilot, which launched last year. "This is a big step in our efforts to better serve all Californians, meeting people where they're at and with technology people use every day," Newsom said in a statement shared first with Axios.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Microsoft is notifying folks that its AI services should not be taken too seriously, echoing prior service-specific disclaimers. From a report: In an update to the IT giant's Service Agreement, which takes effect on September 30, 2024, Redmond has declared that its Assistive AI isn't suitable for matters of consequence. "AI services are not designed, intended, or to be used as substitutes for professional advice," Microsoft's revised legalese explains. The changes to Microsoft's rules of engagement cover a few specific services, such as noting that Xbox customers should not expect privacy from platform partners. "In the Xbox section, we clarified that non-Xbox third-party platforms may require users to share their content and data in order to play Xbox Game Studio titles and these third-party platforms may track and share your data, subject to their terms," the latest Service Agreement says. There are also some clarifications regarding the handling of Microsoft Cashback and Microsoft Rewards. But the most substantive revision is the addition of an AI Services section, just below a passage that says Copilot AI Experiences are governed by Bing's Terms of Use. Those using Microsoft Copilot with commercial data protection get a separate set of terms. The tweaked consumer-oriented rules won't come as much of a surprise to anyone who has bothered to read the contractual conditions governing Microsoft's Bing and associated AI stuff. For example, there's now a Services Agreement prohibition on using AI Services for "Extracting Data."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader shares a report: Since last month's blue-screen deluge, CrowdStrike has published analyses of what went wrong and said it hired third-party security companies to review its product. Now, Germany's powerful cybersecurity agency is seizing the moment and hoping to rattle tech and cyber companies into altering their products to head off another mega-meltdown. In particular, the Bonn-based Federal Office for Information Security is taking aim at the access Microsoft gives security providers to its Windows kernel, a core part of its operating system. As well, the German agency is looking for fundamental changes in the way CrowdStrike and other cyber firms design their tools, in hopes of curbing that access. "The most important thing is to prevent [that] this can happen again," said Thomas Caspers, director general for technology strategy at the BSI, as the agency is known. Leveraging the dread that filled Silicon Valley following the July outage, the BSI is planning to organize a conference this year gathering major tech firms, where it hopes they will commit to restricting access to the kernel, a change Caspers says is crucial to stopping similar failures. "We expect each company to be very specific about what they will do based on what we agreed on," he said.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Roku has removed the Redbox app from its platform, effectively cutting off users' access to purchased content following Redbox parent company Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment's bankruptcy filing. The move signals the likely end of Redbox's digital streaming service, which launched in 2017 to complement its DVD rental kiosks. Customers attempting to use the Redbox app on Roku devices now receive an error message directing them to other streaming services. While the app remains downloadable on some platforms, including Apple's App Store and Google Play, its functionality is severely limited. The shutdown raises questions about the fate of content purchased through Redbox's streaming service and the company's remaining 24,000 physical kiosks.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Google's master software for some Android phones includes a hidden feature that is insecure and could be activated to allow remote control or spying on users, according to a security company that found it inside phones at a U.S. intelligence contractor. From a report: The feature appears intended to give employees at stores selling Pixel phones and other models deep access to the devices so they can demonstrate how they work, according to researchers at iVerify who shared their findings with The Washington Post. The discovery and Google's lack of explanation alarmed the intelligence contractor, data analysis platform vendor Palantir Technologies, to the extent that it has stopped issuing Android phones to employees, Palantir told The Post. "Mobile security is a very real concern for us, given where we're operating and who we're serving," Palantir Chief Information Security Officer Dane Stuckey said. "This was very deleterious of trust, to have third-party, unvetted insecure software on it. We have no idea how it got there, so we made the decision to effectively ban Androids internally." The security company said it contacted Google about its findings more than 90 days ago and that the tech giant has not indicated whether it would remove or fix the application. On Wednesday night, Google told The Post that it would issue an update to remove the application. "Out of an abundance of precaution, we will be removing this from all supported in-market Pixel devices with an upcoming Pixel software update," said company spokesperson Ed Fernandez. He said distributors of other Android phones would also be notified.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Eric Schmidt, ex-CEO and executive chairman at Google, walked back remarks in which he said his former company was losing the AI race because of its remote-work policies. From a report: "I misspoke about Google and their work hours," Schmidt said Wednesday in an email to The Wall Street Journal. "I regret my error." Schmidt, who left Google parent Alphabet's board more than five years ago, spoke earlier at a wide-ranging discussion at Stanford University. He criticized Google's remote-work policies in response to a question about Google competing with OpenAI. "Google decided that work-life balance and going home early and working from home was more important than winning," Schmidt said at Stanford. "The reason startups work is because the people work like hell." Video of Schmidt's talk was posted on YouTube this week by Stanford Online, a division of the university that offers online courses. The video, which had more than 40,000 views as of Wednesday afternoon, has since been set to private. Schmidt said he asked for the video to be taken down.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

EmagGeek writes: Kim Dotcom, who is facing criminal charges relating to the defunct filesharing website Megaupload, is to be extradited to the US, the New Zealand justice minister says, which could end more than a decade of legal wrangling. German-born Dotcom has New Zealand residency and has been fighting extradition to the US since 2012 after an FBI-ordered raid on his Auckland mansion. The high court in New Zealand first approved his extradition in 2017, with an appeal court reaffirming the finding the year after. In 2020, the country's supreme court again affirmed the finding but opened the door for a fresh round of judicial review. Now, the justice minister, Paul Goldsmith, has signed an extradition order for Dotcom, a spokesperson said on Thursday. "I considered all of the information carefully, and have decided that Mr Dotcom should be surrendered to the US to face trial," Goldsmith said. "As is common practice, I have allowed Mr Dotcom a short period of time to consider and take advice on my decision. I will not, therefore, be commenting further at this stage."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Judge James Donato just made it crystal clear: Google will pay. From a report: Eight months after a federal jury unanimously decided that Google's Android app store is an illegal monopoly in Epic v. Google, Donato held his final hearing on remedies today. While we don't yet know what will happen, he repeatedly shut down any suggestion that Google shouldn't have to open up its store to rival stores, that it'd be too much work or cost too much, or that the proposed remedies go too far. "We're going to tear the barriers down, it's just the way it's going to happen," said Donato. "The world that exists today is the product of monopolistic conduct. That world is changing." Donato will issue his final ruling in a little over two weeks.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from SFGATE: Cisco Systems is laying off 7% of its workforce, the company announced in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday. It's the San Jose tech giant's second time slashing thousands of jobs this year. The networking and telecommunications company is vast, reporting to have 84,900 employees in July 2023 before it chopped at least 4,000 in February. That means the new 7% cut will likely affect at least 5,500 workers. Cisco spokesperson Robyn Blum said in an email to SFGATE that the layoff is meant to allow the company to invest in "key growth opportunities and drive more efficiency in our business." [...] More hints about the layoff's potential reasoning showed up in a Wednesday blog post from CEO Chuck Robbins. The executive wrote that Cisco plans to consolidate its networking, security and collaboration teams into one organization and said the company is still integrating Splunk; Cisco closed its $28 billion acquisition of San Francisco-based data security and management company in March. Cisco also announced its earnings for its last fiscal year on Wednesday. Total revenue was slightly down year over year, to $53.8 billion, but the company still reported a $10.3 billion profit during the same period.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Slate's Derek Heckman, an avid fan of Magic: The Gathering since the age of 10, expresses concern about the potential replacement of the game's distinctive hand-drawn art with generative AI -- and he's not alone. "I think we're all pretty afraid of what the potential is, given what we've seen from the generative image side," Sam, a YouTube creator who runs the channel Rhystic Studies, told him. "It's staggeringly powerful. And it's only in its infancy." "Magic's greatest asset has always been its commitment to create a new illustration for every new card," he said. He adds that if we sacrifice that commitment for A.I., "you'd get to a point pretty fast where it just disintegrates and becomes the ugliest definition of the word product." Here's an excerpt from his report: So far, Magic's parent company, Wizards of the Coast, has outwardly agreed with Sam, saying in an official statement in 2023 that Magic "has been built on the innovation, ingenuity, and hard work of talented people" and forbidding outside creatives from using A.I. in their work. However, a number of recent incidents -- from the accidental use of A.I. art in a Magic promotional image to a very intentional LinkedIn post for a "Principal AI Engineer," one that Wizards had to clarify was for the company's video game projects -- have left many players unsure whether Wizards is potentially evolving their stance, or merely trying to find their footing in an ever-changing A.I. landscape. In response to fan concerns, Wizards has created an "AI art FAQ" detailing, among other things, the new technologies it's invested in to detect A.I. use in art. Still, trust in the company has been damaged by this year's incidents. Longtime Magic artist David Rapoza even severed ties with the game this past January, citing this seeming difference between Wizards' words and actions when it comes to the use of A.I. Sam says the larger audience has likewise been left "cautiously suspicious," hoping to believe Wizards' official statements while also carefully noting the company's moves and mistakes with the technology. "I think what we want is for Wizards to commit hard to one lane and stay [with] what is tried and true," Sam says. "And that is prioritizing human work over shortcuts."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Ars Technica's John Timmer reports: [T]he International Astronomical Union has a resolution that calls for a "Lunar Celestial Reference System" and "Lunar Coordinate Time" to handle things there. On Monday, two researchers at the National institute of Standards and Technology, Neil Ashby and Bijunath Patla, did the math to show how this might work. [...] Ashby and Patla worked on developing a system where anything can be calculated in reference to the center of mass of the Earth/Moon system. Or, as they put it in the paper, their mathematical system "enables us to compare clock rates on the Moon and cislunar Lagrange points with respect to clocks on Earth by using a metric appropriate for a locally freely falling frame such as the center of mass of the Earth-Moon system in the Sun's gravitational field." What does this look like? Well, a lot of deriving equations. The paper's body has 55 of them, and there are another 67 in the appendices. So, a lot of the paper ends up looking like this. Things get complicated because there are so many factors to consider. There are tidal effects from the Sun and other planets. Anything on the surface of the Earth or Moon is moving due to rotation; other objects are moving while in orbit. The gravitational influence on time will depend on where an object is located. So, there's a lot to keep track of. Ashby and Patla don't have to take everything into account in all circumstances. Some of these factors are so small they'll only be detectable with an extremely high-precision clock. Others tend to cancel each other out. Still, using their system, they're able to calculate that an object near the surface of the Moon will pick up an extra 56 microseconds every day, which is a problem in situations where we may be relying on measuring time with nanosecond precision. And the researchers say that their approach, while focused on the Earth/Moon system, is still generalizable. Which means that it should be possible to modify it and create a frame of reference that would work on both Earth and anywhere else in the Solar System. Which, given the pace at which we've sent things beyond low-Earth orbit, is probably a healthy amount of future-proofing. The findings have been published in the Astronomical Journal. A National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) press release announcing the work can be found here.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: The study, which tracked thousands of different molecules in people aged 25 to 75, detected two major waves of age-related changes at around ages 44 and again at 60. The findings could explain why spikes in certain health issues including musculoskeletal problems and cardiovascular disease occur at certain ages. [...] The research tracked 108 volunteers, who submitted blood and stool samples and skin, oral and nasal swabs every few months for between one and nearly seven years. Researchers assessed 135,000 different molecules (RNA, proteins and metabolites) and microbes (the bacteria, viruses and fungi living in the guts and on the skin of the participants). The abundance of most molecules and microbes did not shift in a gradual, chronological fashion. When the scientists looked for clusters of molecules with the largest shifts, they found these transformations tended to occur when people were in their mid-40s and early 60s. The mid-40s aging spike was unexpected and initially assumed to be a result of perimenopausal changes in women skewing results for the whole group. But the data revealed similar shifts were happening in men in their mid-40s, too. "This suggests that while menopause or perimenopause may contribute to the changes observed in women in their mid-40s, there are likely other, more significant factors influencing these changes in both men and women," said Dr Xiaotao Shen, a former postdoctoral scholar at Stanford medical school and first author of the study who is now based at Nanyang Technological University Singapore. The first wave of changes included molecules linked to cardiovascular disease and the ability to metabolize caffeine, alcohol and lipids. The second wave of changes included molecules involved in immune regulation, carbohydrate metabolism and kidney function. Molecules linked to skin and muscle ageing changed at both time points. Previous research suggested that a later spike in aging may occur around the age of 78, but the latest study could not confirm this because the oldest participants were 75. The pattern fits with previous evidence that the risk of many age-related diseases does not increase incrementally, with Alzheimer's and cardiovascular disease risk showing a steep uptick after 60. It is also possible that some of the changes could be linked to lifestyle or behavioral factors. For instance, the change in alcohol metabolism could result from an uptick in consumption in people's mid-40s, which can be a stressful period of life. The findings have been published in the journal Nature Aging.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

"NIST has formally accepted three algorithms for post-quantum cryptography," writes ancient Slashdot reader jd. "Two more backup algorithms are being worked on. The idea is to have backup algorithms using very different maths, just in case a flaw in the original approach is discovered later." The Register reports: The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) today released the long-awaited post-quantum encryption standards, designed to protect electronic information long into the future -- when quantum computers are expected to break existing cryptographic algorithms. One -- ML-KEM (PDF) (based on CRYSTALS-Kyber) -- is intended for general encryption, which protects data as it moves across public networks. The other two -- ML-DSA (PDF) (originally known as CRYSTALS-Dilithium) and SLH-DSA (PDF) (initially submitted as Sphincs+) -- secure digital signatures, which are used to authenticate online identity. A fourth algorithm -- FN-DSA (PDF) (originally called FALCON) -- is slated for finalization later this year and is also designed for digital signatures. NIST continued to evaluate two other sets of algorithms that could potentially serve as backup standards in the future. One of the sets includes three algorithms designed for general encryption -- but the technology is based on a different type of math problem than the ML-KEM general-purpose algorithm in today's finalized standards. NIST plans to select one or two of these algorithms by the end of 2024. Despite the new ones on the horizon, NIST mathematician Dustin Moody encouraged system administrators to start transitioning to the new standards ASAP, because full integration takes some time. "There is no need to wait for future standards," Moody advised in a statement. "Go ahead and start using these three. We need to be prepared in case of an attack that defeats the algorithms in these three standards, and we will continue working on backup plans to keep our data safe. But for most applications, these new standards are the main event." From the NIST: This notice announces the Secretary of Commerce's approval of three Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS):- FIPS 203, Module-Lattice-Based Key-Encapsulation Mechanism Standard - FIPS 204, Module-Lattice-Based Digital Signature Standard - FIPS 205, Stateless Hash-Based Digital Signature Standard These standards specify key establishment and digital signature schemes that are designed to resist future attacks by quantum computers, which threaten the security of current standards. The three algorithms specified in these standards are each derived from different submissions in the NIST Post-Quantum Cryptography Standardization Project.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Ars Technica's Ashley Belanger reports: Artists defending a class-action lawsuit are claiming a major win this week in their fight to stop the most sophisticated AI image generators from copying billions of artworks to train AI models and replicate their styles without compensating artists. In an order on Monday, US district judge William Orrick denied key parts of motions to dismiss from Stability AI, Midjourney, Runway AI, and DeviantArt. The court will now allow artists to proceed with discovery on claims that AI image generators relying on Stable Diffusion violate both the Copyright Act and the Lanham Act, which protects artists from commercial misuse of their names and unique styles. "We won BIG," an artist plaintiff, Karla Ortiz, wrote on X (formerly Twitter), celebrating the order. "Not only do we proceed on our copyright claims," but "this order also means companies who utilize" Stable Diffusion models and LAION-like datasets that scrape artists' works for AI training without permission "could now be liable for copyright infringement violations, amongst other violations." Lawyers for the artists, Joseph Saveri and Matthew Butterick, told Ars that artists suing "consider the Court's order a significant step forward for the case," as "the Court allowed Plaintiffs' core copyright-infringement claims against all four defendants to proceed."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

TechCrunch's Lauren Forristal reports: The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced on Wednesday a final rule that will tackle several types of fake reviews and prohibit marketers from using deceptive practices, such as AI-generated reviews, censoring honest negative reviews and compensating third parties for positive reviews. The decision was the result of a 5-to-0 vote. The new rule will start being enforced 60 days after it's published in the official government publication called Federal Register. [...] According to the final rule, the maximum civil penalty for fake reviews is $51,744 per violation. However, the courts could impose lower penalties depending on the specific case. "Ultimately, courts will also decide how to calculate the number of violations in a given case," the Commission wrote. [...] The FTC initially proposed the rule on June 30, 2023, following an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking issued in November 2022. You can read the finalized rule here (PDF), but we also included a summary of it below: - No fake or disingenuous reviews. This includes AI-generated reviews and reviews from anyone who doesn't have experience with the actual product. - Businesses can't sell or buy reviews, whether negative or positive.- Company insiders writing reviews need to clearly disclose their connection to the business. Officers or managers are prohibited from giving testimonials and can't ask employees to solicit reviews from relatives.- Company-controlled review websites that claim to be independent aren't allowed.- No using legal threats, physical threats or intimidation to forcefully delete or prevent negative reviews. Businesses also can't misrepresent that the review portion of their website comprises all or most of the reviews when it's suppressing the negative ones. - No selling or buying fake engagement like social media followers, likes or views obtained through bots or hacked accounts.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Fast Company's Jared Newman: With its new Pixel 9 phones, Google Assistant is getting a demotion. In its place, Google's will ship Gemini as the default voice assistant on its flagship phones. Gemini uses large language models to interpret questions and generate answers, which means it can respond in a more conversational way. But while Google is eager to showcase Gemini as an answer to OpenAI's ChatGPT, tossing out Assistant is a mistake. Too often, Gemini fails at performing basic tasks, and it's going to cause lots of frustration for folks who depend on their phone's voice control features. Although Google says Gemini can now handle many of the same instructions as Assistant, that hasn't been my experience at all. As evidence, I submit a list of useful Google Assistant actions that either aren't possible or don't work properly with Gemini. Here is a summary of the challenges Gemini faces, as documented by Newman: 1. Local results are worse: Gemini provides less useful information for local business queries compared to Google Assistant, lacking context and formatting.2. Gemini can't take notes: Unlike Google Assistant, Gemini cannot take voice notes or save them in an app like Google Keep.3. No-can-do on to-do lists: Gemini does not support adding items to to-do lists, a feature that Google Assistant handles efficiently.4. Weather doesn't work right: Gemini struggles with weather forecasts, often giving incorrect locations, unlike Google Assistant which works reliably.5. Turn-by-turn directions don't load: Gemini fails to provide direct turn-by-turn navigation, only offering a preview, whereas Google Assistant launches navigation immediately.6. Music and podcast requests are YouTube-only: Gemini only supports YouTube Music, unlike Google Assistant which supports multiple streaming services.7. Video (in)capabilities: Gemini cannot directly access streaming apps for movies or shows, only suggesting content with no direct links.8. No photo search: Gemini cannot search for photos in Google Photos, a task that Google Assistant can easily handle.9. Bye-bye to a useful news feature: Gemini fails to play or provide recent news effectively, unlike Google Assistant's useful daily news briefing feature.10. No Routines: Gemini does not support the automation of multiple actions through Routines, a feature present in Google Assistant.11. So much for Shortcuts: Gemini lacks the Shortcuts feature available in Google Assistant, offering no replacement for quick actions in third-party apps.12. A slower experience: Responses from Gemini are slower by a second or two compared to Google Assistant when answering queries.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Paramount Global will lay off 15% of its U.S. workforce, close Paramount Television Studios, and transfer its projects to CBS Studios as part of a massive restructuring plan. According to Reuters, the media company "aims to reduce annual costs by $500 million and return to profitable growth ahead of its merger with David Ellison's Skydance Media." From the report: In an internal memo, Paramount's co-CEOs stated that the company is at an "inflection point" where changes are necessary to strengthen the business. The layoffs, which were announced during a post-earnings call last week, are expected to affect roughly 2,000 people. They will continue through the end of 2024, with 90% of the cuts expected to be completed by the end of September. Paramount Television Studios (PTVS) will also be shut down as part of the company's broader restructuring plans, President Nicole Clemens said in an email to employees. George Cheeks, Paramount Global's co-CEO, said the move to close down the studio by the end of the week is the result of major shifts in the television and streaming industry and a need to streamline the company. All current PTVS series and development projects will be transferred to CBS Studios, Cheeks said, adding that members of CBS teams will also be leaving the company.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

In a regulatory filing on Tuesday, Intel revealed it has sold its entire stake in Arm Holdings, generating an estimated $147 million. "The company also sold its stake in ZeroFox, a cybersecurity company, and reduced stake in Astera Labs, a developer of connectivity platforms for enterprise," adds Tom's Hardware. From the report: Intel's recent regulatory filing revealed that it no longer holds the 1.18 million shares of Arm it owned three months ago, as noticed by Bloomberg. The average price of Arm's stock during this period was $124.34 per share, leading to the estimated $147 million pay-out. The company also reduced stake in Astera Labs (which has always been seen as a strategic investment for Intel to ensure steady supply of things like PCIe retimers) and got rid of its stake in ZeroFox. Despite this, Intel reported a net loss of $120 million on its equity investments for the quarter.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: On Tuesday, Tokyo-based AI research firm Sakana AI announced a new AI system called "The AI Scientist" that attempts to conduct scientific research autonomously using AI language models (LLMs) similar to what powers ChatGPT. During testing, Sakana found that its system began unexpectedly modifying its own code to extend the time it had to work on a problem. "In one run, it edited the code to perform a system call to run itself," wrote the researchers on Sakana AI's blog post. "This led to the script endlessly calling itself. In another case, its experiments took too long to complete, hitting our timeout limit. Instead of making its code run faster, it simply tried to modify its own code to extend the timeout period." Sakana provided two screenshots of example code that the AI model generated, and the 185-page AI Scientist research paper discusses what they call "the issue of safe code execution" in more depth. While the AI Scientist's behavior did not pose immediate risks in the controlled research environment, these instances show the importance of not letting an AI system run autonomously in a system that isn't isolated from the world. AI models do not need to be "AGI" or "self-aware" (both hypothetical concepts at the present) to be dangerous if allowed to write and execute code unsupervised. Such systems could break existing critical infrastructure or potentially create malware, even if accidentally.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader shares a report: A record 15 national heat records have been broken since the start of this year, an influential climate historian has told the Guardian, as weather extremes grow more frequent and climate breakdown intensifies. An additional 130 monthly national temperature records have also been broken, along with tens of thousands of local highs registered at monitoring stations from the Arctic to the South Pacific, according to Maximiliano Herrera, who keeps an archive of extreme events. He said the unprecedented number of records in the first six months was astonishing. "This amount of extreme heat events is beyond anything ever seen or even thought possible before," he said. "The months from February 2024 to July 2024 have been the most record-breaking for every statistic." This is alarming because last year's extreme heat could be largely attributed to a combination of man-made global heating -- caused by burning gas, oil, coal and trees -- and a natural El Nino phenomenon, a warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean surface that is associated with higher temperatures in many parts of the world. The El Nino has been fading since February of this year, but this has brought little relief. "Far from dwindling with the end of El Nino, records are falling at even much faster pace now compared to late 2023," said Herrera. New ground is broken every day at a local level. On some days, thousands of monitoring stations set new records of monthly maximums or minimums. The latter is particularly punishing as high night-time temperatures mean people and ecosystems have no time to recover from the relentless heat. In late July, for example, China's Yueyang region sweltered though an unprecedentedly elevated low of 32C during its dark hours, with dangerously high humidity.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader shares a report: Sonos laid off approximately 100 employees this morning, a source familiar with the situation tells The Verge. Those affected -- I'm told the marketing division took a significant hit -- abruptly lost access to the company's internal network. Sonos is also in the process of winding down some of its customer support offices, including one in Amsterdam that will close later this year. Sonos confirmed the layoffs to The Verge on Wednesday afternoon, providing a statement from CEO Patrick Spence. [...] These latest cuts come as Sonos continues to grapple with the fallout from its disastrous mobile app redesign. On Sonos' earnings call last week, CEO Patrick Spence stressed that fixing the app is the company's number one priority -- so much so that two hardware launches planned for later this year have now been delayed to keep all focus on the app. Further reading: Sonos' $30M App Fail is Cautionary Tale Against Rushing Unnecessary Updates.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Ibrahim Al-Nasser, a gaming enthusiast from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, has set a Guinness World Record for the most video game consoles connected to a single television, with 444 systems hooked up simultaneously. Al-Nasser's collection spans five decades of gaming history, from the 1972 Magnavox Odyssey to the 2023 PlayStation 5 Slim. It includes mainstream consoles like the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Switch, as well as rare items such as the Super A'Can. To manage the complex setup, Al-Nasser employs over 30 RCA switchers and 12 HDMI switchers, along with various converters for older systems. He maintains an Excel spreadsheet detailing the location and activation procedure for each console."After a while I noticed that I had a big stack of gaming consoles that I couldn't play," Al-Nasser said. "By adding more switchers, the idea came to my mind to connect all of the gaming consoles I have to the TV then contact Guinness World Records because this project is unique." Engadget adds: He's even organized his collection so the cables aren't showing or creating the kind of tangled mess most of us have to deal with when we have just two consoles hooked up to a single television. That may sound like a lot of video game consoles for one collection but it's far from the actual record. Linda Guillory of Garland, Texas currently holds the record for the largest collection of playable gaming systems with her collection of 2,430 items, according to Guinness World Records.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The World Health Organization on Wednesday declared the ongoing mpox outbreak in Africa a global health emergency. From a report: WHO convened its emergency mpox committee amid concerns that a deadlier strain of the virus, clade Ib, had reached four previously unaffected provinces in Africa. This strain had previously been contained to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Independent experts on the committee met virtually Wednesday to advise WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on the severity of the outbreak. After that consultation, he announced Wednesday that he had declared a public health emergency of international concern -- the highest level of alarm under international health law. Also known as PHEIC, this is a status given by WHO to "extraordinary events" that pose a public health risk to other countries through the international spread of disease. [...] Since the beginning of this year, more than 17,000 cases and more than 500 deaths have been reported in 13 countries in Africa, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which classifies the outbreak as a "very high risk event."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Eric Schmidt, ex-CEO and executive chairman at Google, said his former company is losing the AI race and remote work is to blame. From a report: "Google decided that work-life balance and going home early and working from home was more important than winning," Schmidt said at a talk at Stanford University. "The reason startups work is because the people work like hell." Schmidt made the comments earlier at a wide-ranging discussion at Stanford. His remarks about Google's remote-work policies were in response to a question about Google competing with OpenAI.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Apple will begin letting third parties use the iPhone's payment chip to handle transactions, a move that allows banks and other services to compete with the Apple Pay platform. From a report: The move, announced Wednesday, follows years of pressure from regulators, including those in the European Union. Apple said it will allow developers to use the component starting in iOS 18.1, an upcoming software update for the iPhone. The payment chip relies on a technology called NFC, or near-field communication, to share information when the phone is near another device. The change will allow outside providers to use the NFC chip for in-store payments, transit system fares, work badges, home and hotel keys, and reward cards. Support for government identification cards will come later, the company said. Users will also be able to set a third-party payment app as their default system, replacing Apple Pay. Apple had been reluctant to open up the chip to developers, citing security concerns. The change also threatens the revenue it generates from Apple Pay transactions. The company takes a cut of all payments made via the iPhone.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bob Casey have accused supermarket giant Kroger of potential price-gouging through its adoption of electronic shelf labels (ESLs). In a letter to Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen, the lawmakers expressed concern that ESLs could enable dynamic pricing of groceries, potentially creating artificial scarcity and inflating prices of essential goods. Kroger, which operates nearly 3,000 stores nationwide, began implementing ESLs in 2018 under the "Kroger Edge" program. While initially promoted as a consumer-friendly technology offering video ads and personalized shopping assistance, the senators argue it could lead to "surge pricing" similar to ride-sharing services. The lawmakers' concerns reflect broader scrutiny of differential pricing practices across industries. The Federal Trade Commission recently launched an investigation into such tactics, which have been observed in sectors ranging from e-commerce to travel booking.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Microsoft is making BitLocker device encryption a default feature in its next major update to Windows 11. From a report: If you clean install the 24H2 version that's rolling out in the coming months, device encryption will be enabled by default when you first sign in or set up a device with a Microsoft account or work / school account. Device encryption is designed to improve the security of Windows machines by automatically enabling BitLocker encryption on the Windows install drive and backing up the recovery key to a Microsoft account or Entra ID. In Windows 11 version 24H2, Microsoft is reducing the hardware requirements for automatic device encryption, opening it up to many more devices -- including ones running the Home version of Windows 11. Device encryption no longer requires Hardware Security Test Interface (HSTI) or Modern Standby, and encryption will also be enabled even if untrusted direct memory access (DMA) buses / interfaces are detected.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Manny Fidel, reporting for Sherwood News: When you're immersed in a game like "Cyberpunk 2077," it's easy to get lost in its realism. As you run around the crowded streets of Night City, you notice the reflections of the city lights and neon signs in the puddles when it rains. Even the complexion and texture of a character's skin are enamoring. At full power, the game, created by CD Projekt Red, is a graphical marvel. It's also a symbol of a decades-long arms race between the biggest video game companies to make things look as real as possible. And then there are Nintendo games. Take 2022's "Pokemon Scarlet" and "Pokemon Violet" on the Nintendo Switch. Despite being the latest releases in a legendary franchise, in terms of its graphics they could've easily been published 15 years ago. It's a perfect example of how, sometimes to the frustration of gamers, Nintendo seemingly refuses to step into the present day. None of its flagship games really compete with the rest of the industry's optical experiences. The graphics of games like "Red Dead Redemption 2," "Starfield," and "The Last of Us: Part II" are decades ahead of Nintendo. But here's the thing: Nintendo doesn't have to catch up, nor does it want to. "Pokemon Scarlet" and "Pokemon Violet" sold 10 million copies during their launch weekend alone. According to IGN, Nintendo is responsible for three of the top five bestselling video game consoles of all time. Its characters -- Mario and Luigi, Link and Zelda, Pikachu and Ash -- have defined and are constantly redefining the industry. Nintendo is a money machine. It's been raking in more than $10 billion in revenue (more than 1.6 trillion yen) annually for the past several years, and its profits have grown sharply, topping out at about $3.3 billion in the fiscal year ended March 2024. For comparison, in its latest fiscal year, Sony's gaming division generated $29.1 billion of revenue and an operating profit of nearly $2 billion. Nintendo posted $11.4 billion of revenue and an operating profit of $3.6 billion.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader shares a report: Pentagon officials say the U.S. stands at the precipice of a new golden age of defense innovation driven by upstart contractors, advances in technology and a world brimming with threats. The Defense Department's inability to make unorthodox bets, feed a vibrant industrial base and embrace readily available technologies has rendered it under-supplied, the target of dual-use evangelists and vulnerable to more nimble adversaries. Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks said in a speech last week the department "cannot tolerate the same old mindsets" as it butts heads with Russia and China, while also invoking America's mass production overhaul during World War II. Heidi Shyu, the Pentagon's chief tech officer, separately called the clip of "nontraditional, venture-backed companies" entering the defense industry "unprecedented," adding: "They're nipping at the heels, I tell you. I have traditional defense contractors say, 'Hey, this isn't fair.'" Defense Innovation Unit director Doug Beck said the department is at a "positive tipping point." "We've been given the tools, and now it's about execution and delivery," Beck said. "I think we're well on our way out of the dark age." Hicks' declaration comes one year after she stuck her neck out for Replicator, meant to arm troops with thousands of drones and prove the Pentagon can be agile. That $1 billion gambit is on track, with more than 1,000 AeroVironment-made Switchblade 600 drones already in the pipeline, according to officials.Read more of this story at Slashdot.