ICT news

• Meta's New Text-to-Video AI Generator is Like DALL-E for Video

  30-09-2022 23:22 via tech.slashdot.org
  AI text-to-image generators have been making headlines in recent months, but researchers are already moving on to the next frontier: AI text-to-video generators. From a report: A team of machine learning engineers from Facebook's parent company Meta has unveiled a new system called Make-A-Video. As the name suggests, this AI model allows users to type in a rough description of a scene, and it will generate a short video matching their text. The videos are clearly artificial, with blurred subject
  
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• Nick Holonyak Jr., Pioneer of LED Lighting, Is Dead at 93

  30-09-2022 22:40 via news.slashdot.org
  Nick Holonyak Jr., an electrical engineer who became known as the godfather of the LED lighting that illuminates flat-screen TVs and laptop computers, and who also developed lasers that enabled DVD and CD players, bar code scanners and medical diagnostic devices, died on Sept. 18 in Urbana, Ill. He was 93. From a report: His death, at a nursing home, was announced by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, his alma mater, where he taught from 1963 until he retired in 2013. The day after he
  
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• Deepfake Tech Allows Bruce Willis To Return To the Screen Without Ever Being on Set

  30-09-2022 22:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  Bruce Willis has become the first Hollywood star to sell his rights to allow a "digital twin" of himself to be created for use on screen. From a report: Using deepfake technology, the actor appeared in a phone advert without ever being on set, after his face was digitally transplanted onto another performer. Willis allowed US firm Deepcake, which makes "digital twins," to use his face. In a statement on its website, Willis said: "I liked the precision with which my character turned out. It's a m
  
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• Pandemic Sends Australia's Gambling Problem Online

  30-09-2022 21:22 via slashdot.org
  Already the world's biggest gambling nation in terms of loss per person, Australia has seen a shift in betting behavior since the pandemic-forced closure of public venues. From a report: Gamblers' losses on poker machines shrank for the first time during the pandemic, but at a rate far slower than an unprecedented increase in money lost on apps, data showed. That means more players are being exposed to an industry that is harder to regulate than traditional gambling. Australia's gambling industr
  
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• Rewritten OpenGL Drivers Make AMD's GPUs 'Up To 72%' Faster in Some Pro Apps

  30-09-2022 20:42 via it.slashdot.org
  Most development effort in graphics drivers these days, whether you're talking about Nvidia, Intel, or AMD, is focused on new APIs like DirectX 12 or Vulkan, increasingly advanced upscaling technologies, and specific improvements for new game releases. But this year, AMD has also been focusing on an old problem area for its graphics drivers: OpenGL performance. From a report: Over the summer, AMD released a rewritten OpenGL driver that it said would boost the performance of Minecraft by up to 79
  
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• What Is a 'Healthy' Food? The FDA. Wants To Change the Definition.

  30-09-2022 20:02 via news.slashdot.org
  The Food and Drug Administration unveiled a new proposal this week that would change the criteria for which packaged foods the agency considers "healthy," in an attempt to modernize its approach to nutrition and reduce the burden of diet-related diseases. From a report: Currently, about 5 percent of all packaged foods are labeled "healthy," according to the agency. The definition, which was set in 1994, allows for food manufacturers to add the word "healthy" to their products, as long as the pro
  
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• Musk Widely Expected To Unveil Humanoid Robot Optimus at Tesla's AI Day Later Today

  30-09-2022 19:20 via hardware.slashdot.org
  Elon Musk is widely expected to show off a new humanoid robot Friday at a Tesla artificial intelligence event. From a report: Mr. Musk first laid out the vision for the robot, called Optimus, little more than a year ago at Tesla's first-ever AI day. At the time, a dancer in a costume appeared onstage. This time, Mr. Musk has said he wants a prototype to be at the gathering that is scheduled to unfold from 5 p.m. local time in Palo Alto, Calif. Mr. Musk has painted a vision of Optimus as helping
  
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• Suspected Chinese Hackers Tampered With Widely Used Canadian Chat Program, Researchers Say

  30-09-2022 18:41 via it.slashdot.org
  Suspected Chinese hackers tampered with widely used software distributed by a small Canadian customer service company, another example of a "supply chain compromise" made infamous by the hack on U.S. networking company SolarWinds. From a report: U.S. cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike will say in an upcoming blog post seen by Reuters that it had discovered malicious software being distributed by Vancouver-based Comm100, which provides customer service products, such as chat bots and social media man
  
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• Crypto Is Quietly Thriving in Sub-Saharan Africa: Chainalysis Report

  30-09-2022 18:40 via tech.slashdot.org
  Small retail payments in Sub-Saharan Africa are powering exceptional crypto adoption and usage, with the region conducting the world's highest proportion (80%) of crypto retail payments of less than $1,000, according to a report by blockchain data firm Chainalysis. From a report: The report also highlights how peer-to-peer transactions are more common in Sub-Saharan Africa than anywhere else in the world. At about 6% of all crypto transaction volume, Africa's peer-to-peer transactions dwarf thos
  
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• Microsoft Releases Guidance on Zero-Day Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Exchange Server

  30-09-2022 18:25 via us-cert.cisa.gov
  Original release date: September 30, 2022
  Microsoft has released Customer Guidance for Reported Zero-day Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Exchange Server. According to the blog post, “Microsoft is aware of limited targeted attacks using the two vulnerabilities to get into users’ systems.” The two vulnerabilities are CVE-2022-41040 and CVE-2022-41082, affecting on-premises Microsoft Exchange Server 2013, 2016, and 2019. Note: Microsoft Exchange Online is not affected. An attack
  
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• Mozilla Releases Security Update for Thunderbird

  30-09-2022 18:06 via us-cert.cisa.gov
  Original release date: September 30, 2022
  Mozilla has released a security update to address a vulnerability in Thunderbird. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to take control of an affected system.CISA encourages users and administrators to review the Mozilla security advisory for Thunderbird 102.3.1 and make the necessary update. This product is provided subject to this Notification and this Privacy & Use policy.
  
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• Apple's Korea Offices Raided by Antitrust Regulators Over Allegations It Charges Developers 33% Commission

  30-09-2022 18:01 via apple.slashdot.org
  Apple's South Korean headquarters have been raided by antitrust regulators after a complaint was raised by developers that it is charging them over the standard 30% App Store commission rate. From a report: The dawn raid by the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) was reported by local media on Monday and covered on Friday by the Foss Patents blog, highlighting the ongoing investigation in the country into Apple's alleged abuse of market power. The complaint that sparked the raid was reportedly br
  
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• USB Kills Off SuperSpeed Branding as It Tries To Simplify Its Ubiquitous Connector

  30-09-2022 17:23 via tech.slashdot.org
  The SuperSpeed USB branding is no more thanks to a new set of guidelines currently being rolled out by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), the body that manages and maintains the USB standard. From a report: It's part of a rebranding initiative that the organization kicked off last year with the introduction of a new series of packaging, port, and cable logos. But with its latest set of branding and logo guidelines it's going even further, simplifying its legacy branding and signaling the end o
  
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• Google Delays the Death of Manifest V2 Extensions To 2024

  30-09-2022 16:40 via tech.slashdot.org
  AmiMoJo writes: Google announced an extension of the deadline to remove support for Manifest V2 extensions in the company's Chrome browser and the open source Chromium core. The change does not impact the core decision of removing support for Manifest V2 extensions in favor of Manifest V3. Dubbed, the adblocker killer initially, due to limitations imposed on content blocking and other types of browser extensions, Google made concessions that allows content blockers to run on Chrome after the fin
  
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• Microsoft Says Two New Exchange Zero-Day Bugs Under Active Attack, But No Immediate Fix

  30-09-2022 16:03 via it.slashdot.org
  Microsoft has confirmed two unpatched Exchange Server zero-day vulnerabilities are being exploited by cybercriminals in real-world attacks. From a report: Vietnamese cybersecurity company GTSC, which first discovered the flaws part of its response to a customer's cybersecurity incident, in August 2022, said the two zero-days have been used in attacks on their customers' environments dating back to early-August 2022. Microsoft's Security Response Center (MRSC) said in a blog post late on Thursday
  
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• Democrats Demand FTC Probe Amazon-iRobot Deal

  30-09-2022 15:00 via politics.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: The Federal Trade Commission is facing mounting pressure to block Amazon's proposed $1.65 billion purchase of iRobot, the company behind Roomba autonomous vacuums. In a letter (PDF) to FTC Chair Lina Khan on Thursday, a group of Democratic lawmakers argued that the proposed merger would unfairly bolster Amazon's dominance in the smart home market by acquiring one of the company's leading competitors. They also criticized Amazon's data privacy a
  
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• Wind, Solar Fulfill 10% of Global Electricity Demand For First Time

  30-09-2022 12:00 via hardware.slashdot.org
  In a global first, wind and solar energy combined to generate more than 10 percent of the world's electricity in 2021 -- though coal-fired power plant generation and emissions jumped to new highs in the same period, too. The Register reports: The 2022 Power Transition Trends report by Bloomberg New Energy Fund (BNEF) found that power generation emissions in general leapt up in 2021 as the global economy rebounded from the COVID-19 pandemic. Much of that new power generation came from renewable s
  
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• Pfizer Pays Almost $120 Million For App That Detects COVID From a Cough

  30-09-2022 09:00 via science.slashdot.org
  Pharma giant Pfizer has shelled out nearly $120 million to acquire a small Australian company claiming to have developed a smartphone app that can accurately diagnose COVID-19 by analyzing the sound of a cough. New Atlas reports: For around a decade small Australian digital healthcare company ResApp has been working on developing an algorithm that can diagnose respiratory illnesses by simply studying the sound of a patient's cough. Initially the system was trained to diagnose pneumonia, but by 2
  
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• Software Robots Are Gaining Ground In White-Collar Office World

  30-09-2022 05:30 via it.slashdot.org
  "First they came for factory jobs. Then they showed up in service industries. Now, machines are making inroads into the kind of white-collar office work once thought to be the exclusive preserve of humans," write Alexandre Tanzi and Reade Pickert via Bloomberg. An anonymous reader shares an excerpt from the report: It's not just corporate giants, capable of spending millions of dollars to develop their own technologies, that are getting in on the act. One feature of the new automation wave is th
  
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• FDA Approves ALS Drug Whose Study Was Partly Funded By Ice Bucket Challenge

  30-09-2022 04:02 via science.slashdot.org
  A new treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. CNN reports: The FDA announced approval of Relyvrio, developed by Amylyx Pharmaceuticals, on Thursday. The oral medication works as a standalone therapy or when added to other treatments, according to the company, and it has been shown to slow disease progression. Patients and some advocacy groups had urged the FDA to approve the drug, as there are limited treatments available for
  
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• Europe Braces For Mobile Network Blackouts

  30-09-2022 03:25 via tech.slashdot.org
  Once unthinkable, mobile phones could go dark around Europe this winter if power cuts or energy rationing knocks out parts of the mobile networks across the region. Reuters reports: Russia's decision to halt gas supplies via Europe's key supply route in the wake of the Ukraine conflict has increased the chances of power shortages. In France, the situation is made worse by several nuclear power plants shutting down for maintenance. Telecoms industry officials say they fear a severe winter will pu
  
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• Neil Gaiman, Cory Doctorow And Other Authors Publish Open Letter Protesting Publishers' Lawsuit Against Internet Archive Library

  30-09-2022 02:45 via news.slashdot.org
  A group of authors, including Neil Gaiman, Naomi Klein, and Cory Doctorow, "are lending their names to an open letter protesting publishers' lawsuit against the Internet Archive Library, characterizing it as one of a number of efforts to curb libraries' lending of ebooks." From the report: A group of publishers sued the Internet Archive in 2020, claiming that its open library violates copyright by producing "mirror image copies of millions of unaltered in-copyright works for which it has no righ
  
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• MGM Paid Problem Gambler To Not Report Online Glitches

  30-09-2022 02:02 via news.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Associated Press: A New York City man is suing an Atlantic City casino, its parent company and its online betting partner, alleging he was repeatedly disconnected while gambling online, and was given payments to prevent him from reporting the malfunctions to New Jersey gambling regulators during a nine-month span in which he wagered over $29 million. Sam Antar says he is a compulsive gambler -- a fact he says was well-known to defendants in the case i
  
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• NSA Employee Leaked Classified Cyber Intel, Charged With Espionage

  30-09-2022 01:20 via yro.slashdot.org
  A former National Security Agency employee was arrested on Wednesday for spying on the U.S. government on behalf of a foreign government. Nextgov reports: Jareh Sebastian Dalke, 30, was arrested in Denver, Colorado after allegedly committing three separate violations of the Espionage Act. Law enforcement allege that the violations were committed between August and September of 2022, after he worked as a information systems security designer at the agency earlier that summer. Dalke allegedly used
  
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• Apple M1 Linux GPU DRM Driver Now Running GNOME, Various Apps

  30-09-2022 00:40 via tech.slashdot.org
  Developer Asahi Lina with the Asahi Linux project was successfully able to get GNOME running on the Apple M1, including "Firefox with YouTube video playback, the game Neverball, various KDE applications, and more," reports Phoronix. From the report: This is some great progress especially with the driver being written in Rust -- the first within the Direct Rendering Manager subsystem -- and lots of work there with the Rust infrastructure in early form. It won't be until at least Linux 6.2 before
  
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• UN Elects First Female Tech Agency Secretary-General

  30-09-2022 00:00 via yro.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC: Doreen Bogdan-Martin has become the first woman to be elected as secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The ITU is the main technology agency within the UN. Originally founded in 1865 to manage the first international telegraph networks, the ITU now has an important role in facilitating the use of radio, satellite and the internet. Ms Bogdan-Martin beat her Russian rival Rashid Ismailov by 139 votes to 25. The Ameri
  
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