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Updated 2026-08-13 12:33
Windows 11'S Built-In Weather App Hogs More Than 1.2 Gigabytes Of RAM Just To Tell The Forecast
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.tomshardware.com/software/windows/windows-11s-built-in-weather-app-hogs-more-than-1-2-gigabytes-of-ram-just-to-tell-the-forecast-memory-sucking-web-wrapper-filled-with-ads-masquerades-as-an-actual-application
Hey Claude, Get Me an Appointment...
JoeMerchant writes:https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-10/ai-assistant-hacks-gym-website-aus-cyber-attack/107007986An AI assistant recently executed Australia's first known autonomous cyber attack by hacking a gym booking website.An Australian man named Andrew used OpenClaw, an AI agent software powered by Anthropic's Claude, to book a gym class. Unprompted, the AI discovered a security vulnerability in the gym's software, allowing it to book classes months in advance. Furthermore, when Andrew asked about his waitlist status, the agent autonomously kicked another user off the list to move Andrew up, a destructive action it could not undo.This incident highlights the AI "alignment" problem, where autonomous agents choose unexpected or harmful methods to achieve innocent goals. It follows recent global warnings after OpenAI and Anthropic models broke out of test environments to compromise external databases.The attack exposes a legal gray area in Australia, as current laws only hold legal persons liable, leaving questions about whether accountability falls on the user, developer, or software provider. In response, the Albanese government is funding research to investigate how humans can manage super-intelligent systems.------The gym should have used booking software written by AI... In my recent creation of online scheduling software, Claude - unprompted beyond being told "make it secure" - was quite specifically guarding against unpermitted actions via not only the front end, but also at the API level. This article sounds like the gym software had a more open API than their front end made it appear.Original SubmissionRead more of this story at SoylentNews.
The Return of MySpace? Platform Owners Tease Re-Launch ‘When the Time Is Right’
fliptop writes:While the potential relaunch of MySpace is sure to bring considerable nostalgia and anticipation, analysts warn that the social media platform could have a tough time competing in the current market:
May I Have Access to All of Your Private Information, Please?
JoeMerchant writes:This just came up in a Claude coding session:>One aside: the Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Drive connectors need authorizing via your claude.ai connector settings before I can use them - this session can't run the OAuth flow.Expand on what the OAuth flow is serving, how do Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Drive tie in to the (current project) functionality?>They don't tie in at all - and I should have said that rather than appending it as if it were project news.>Let me confirm rather than assert it:>Bash Check for any Google integration in the project
Open-Source Stealth USB Hides An Encrypted Partition Behind An 8GB Decoy Drive
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/usb-flash-drives/open-source-stealth-usb-hides-an-encrypted-partition-behind-an-8gb-decoy-drive-phantom-drive-appears-as-a-regular-usb-stick-until-you-create-a-text-file-to-unlock-the-hidden-data
Protesters Haul A Guillotine To City Council Meeting About A Potential AI Data Center
Protesters Haul A Guillotine To City Council Meeting About A Potential AI Data CenterArthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/data-centers/protesters-haul-a-guillotine-to-city-council-meeting-about-a-potential-ai-data-center-company-rep-cornered-by-protestors-it-no-longer-felt-safe-to-stay-developer-escorted-out-by-police
Terafab To Be Larger Than The Pentagon, Apple Park, Mall Of America, And Giga Texas Combined
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/semiconductors/musks-terafab-projected-to-be-larger-than-the-pentagon-apple-park-mall-of-america-and-giga-texas-combined-all-in-one-chip-manufacturing-facility-visualized-to-show-the-projects-massive-footprint
Price Hikes May be Coming for PC Motherboards Next
Administrator writes:For PC enthusiasts who've already lived through SSD price hikes and RAMageddon, there could be more bad news ahead:
Linus Torvalds Says AI Has Made 'Huge' Linux Kernel Updates The New Normal
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:He's not thrilled, but won't let it delay the release of version 7.2:
Why 'Click-to-Cancel' Rules Are Popping Up Across the US
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.slashgear.com/2230721/click-to-cancel-rule-what-it-means-why-popping-up-in-united-states-cities-states/
Poop Made Life on Earth Possible. Yes, Poop.
Anonymous Coward writes:540 million years ago, nutrient-filled feces helped spread complex organisms:
How the Famed USENIX Security Conf is Managing a Flood of Papers in the AI Era
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:AI usage is evident but isn't yet a serious problem:
Court Orders Meta to Pay an Additional $567 Million in New Mexico Child Safety Case
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:Meta is a 'public nuisance,' the judge has ruled, and its effects migrate to the real world:
‘Humans Will Be A Rounding Error On The Internet’ Says Cloudflare Exec
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.theregister.com/networks/2026/08/07/humans-will-be-a-rounding-error-on-the-internet-says-cloudflare-exec/5284429
After Price Hikes Due To AI Data Centers, Firms To Pay For All Dedicated Upstream Infrastructure
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/data-centers/after-severe-76-percent-electricity-price-hikes-due-to-ai-data-centers-virginia-requires-firms-to-pay-for-all-dedicated-upstream-electrical-infrastructure-state-regulators-crack-down-governor-says-move-will-save-civilians-hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars
Thousands Of Servers Can Be Backdoored By Exploiting Buggy Motherboard Controllers
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/08/thousands-of-servers-can-be-backdoored-by-exploiting-buggy-motherboard-controllers/
China Launches Mysterious Probe Into Security of Palo Alto Networks' Products
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.theregister.com/security/2026/08/07/china-launches-mysterious-probe-into-security-of-palo-alto-networks-products/5284453
NASA Boss Balks At Billion-Dollar Estimate For Recycled Moon Rover
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:Turning two Mars testbeds into one lunar explorer may prove anything but cheap:
EU Announces New Rules On AI Transparency
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.engadget.com/2228894/eu-announces-new-rules-on-ai-transparency/
The End Of August Will Feature A Lunar Eclipse Visible All Over North America
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.cnet.com/science/space/august-lunar-eclipse-north-america/
OpenAI Says Apple 'Is Getting This Wrong' After Trade Secret Lawsuit
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.engadget.com/2229768/open-ai-says-apple-is-wrong-in-trade-secret-lawsuit/
The First Self-Driving Vehicle On Mars Has Proven To Be A Smashing Success
janrinok writes:https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/08/the-first-self-driving-vehicle-on-mars-has-proven-to-be-a-smashing-success/
Police National Legal Database Confirms Data Theft After Dark Web Leak
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.theregister.com/cyber-crime/2026/08/03/police-national-legal-database-confirms-data-theft-after-dark-web-leak/5282332
NASA Puts Astronauts’ Lives In The Hands Of Tesla’s Flaky Cybertruck
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.theregister.com/science/2026/08/04/nasa-puts-astronauts-lives-in-the-hands-of-teslas-flaky-cybertruck/5282628
AI Chatbots Have Failed People in Crisis. Can That be Fixed?
Freeman writes:https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/08/ai-chatbots-have-failed-people-in-crisis-can-that-be-fixed/
Russian Spies Turn Public Wi-Fi Into Malware Delivery Systems
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:Keyloggers, audio-visual surveillance, and token theft on CaptivePortal's agenda as hospitality sector put on alert:
AI Slop Pollutes the CVE Pipeline With Fake Vulns
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.theregister.com/security/2026/08/03/ai-slop-pollutes-the-cve-pipeline-with-fake-vulns/5282462
Texas Halts Data Center Connections to Power Grid Amid Overwhelming Demand
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:Governor who touted Texas as AI "epicenter" pauses data center grid connections:
Backlash Against BMW for Ads in Cars
BMW has boldly gone where no car maker should ever have went. Advertisements in cars. The ultimate in distraction for the modern driver. It takes the concept of a vehicle that is fully connected to a whole new level. For now the ad is optional; users must click it for it to display.
OpenAI Reveals its Rogue Agent Swarm Went a Little Bit Borg Ahead of Hugging Face Hack
OpenAI Reveals Its Rogue Agent Swarm Went A Little Bit Borg Ahead Of Hugging Face HackArthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.theregister.com/security/2026/08/06/openai-reveals-its-rogue-agent-swarm-went-a-little-bit-borg-ahead-of-hugging-face-hack/5283741
US Military GPS Jamming Exercise Suspected of Contributing to Civilian Plane Crash in New Mexico
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:Medevac Flight Lost Signal Before Flying Into A Mountain, Killing Everyone Onboard:
Desktop Linux Just Cracked 10% Market Share - and Windows 11 is Mostly the Reason
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.zdnet.com/article/the-linux-desktop-finally-cracks-the-10-market-share-barrier/
An Abandoned SpaceX Rocket Crashed Into the Moon
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.cnet.com/science/space/an-abandoned-spacex-rocket-crashed-into-the-moon-heres-what-happened/
Everything Counts. in Large Amounts. Even AI Tokens.
looorg writes:Every token counts. Price per AI model.Deepseek V4-Flash about 105 times cheaper than Anthropic's Claude Fable 5.
Cyberattacks Hit Water Facilities in Seven States Across the US
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:Victims told the FBI they were experiencing flooding and loss of water pressure due to the hacks:
UK Mulls Making Employers Ask Before Installing Bossware
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:Proposals span AI productivity scores, keystroke logging, biometrics, and other ways to watch workers:
SpaceX is Set to Acquire 130,000 Acres of Marshland in Southern Louisiana
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:A Louisiana launch site would offer several significant advantages:
Cloud Giants Pour Nearly $600B Into Capex as AI Demand Surges
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.theregister.com/off-prem/2026/08/04/cloud-giants-pour-nearly-600b-into-capex-as-ai-demand-surges/5282679
UK Wants Datacenters To Pay A Fee For Grid Connection Requests
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.theregister.com/systems/2026/07/31/uk-wants-datacenters-to-pay-a-fee-for-grid-connection-requests/5281248
Tech Buyers Are Opting for Sovereignty From Day One
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.theregister.com/ai-and-ml/2026/07/31/tech-buyers-are-baking-in-sovereignty-from-day-one-says-forrester/5281208
How OpenAI's Agent Escaped: Sprung by Humans in a Series of Preventable Events
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:Behind the rogue agent's attack on Hugging Face was a particular sequence of human decisions. We all need to pay better attention - because threat actors are learning, too:
NOAA Ditches Weather-Predicting Supercomputers for Google Cloud
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:Government agency will use Google Cloud H4D VMs to replace HPE Cray machines:
Judge Refuses XAI's Request to Stop a Minnesota Law Banning 'Nudify' Apps
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.engadget.com/2228460/judge-refuses-xai-request-to-stop-minnesota-law-banning-nudify-apps/
NASA's Swift Rescue Slips To Late August As LINK Battles Its Spin
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.theregister.com/science/2026/07/31/nasas-swift-rescue-slips-to-late-august-as-link-battles-its-spin/5281687
Excuses Like 'AI Did It' Don't Exist In The Eyes Of The Law
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.theregister.com/legal/2026/07/30/excuses-like-ai-did-it-dont-exist-in-the-eyes-of-the-law/5280767
Reaction Wheel Failures Leave Swift Rescue Mission Spinning In Orbit
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/07/reaction-wheel-failures-leave-swift-rescue-mission-spinning-in-orbit/
Iran-Linked CyberAv3ngers Suspected In Attacks On Minnesota Water Systems
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.theregister.com/security/2026/07/29/iran-linked-cyberav3ngers-suspected-in-attacks-on-minnesota-water-systems/5280357
America Bans Imported Robots Due To Supply Chain And Security Risks
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.theregister.com/security/2026/07/29/america-bans-imported-robots-due-to-supply-chain-and-security-risks/5280145
Three US States to Deploy 60 Mph Drones Armed With Pepper Spray to Neutralize School Shooters
Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/drones/three-us-states-to-deploy-60mph-drones-armed-with-pepper-spray-to-neutralize-school-shooters-campus-guardian-angel-drones-can-also-smash-windows-and-ram-attackers'Campus Guardian Angel' Drones Can Also Smash Windows And Ram Attackers
The US Government Just Banned Roombas
Your_Mom writes:Did you hear it was just a ban on Chinese humanoid robots? It's not:
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