ICT news

• The Pixel 4 Hits End of Life After Three Years of Service

  04-10-2022 23:22 via tech.slashdot.org
  The Pixel 4 is officially hitting its end of life this month after three short years of service. We sometimes see these dead Google phones get one more wrap-up update before Google cuts the cord, but the Android October 2022 update is the end of the line here. From a report: The Pixel 4 was a big batch of Google experiments passed off as a consumer product, and we did not take kindly to it. It was the first (and only) Google phone to attempt to copy Apple's FaceID by using a grid of IR dots and
  
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• Wax Worm Saliva Rapidly Breaks Down Plastic Bags, Scientists Discover

  04-10-2022 22:45 via science.slashdot.org
  Enzymes that rapidly break down plastic bags have been discovered in the saliva of wax worms, which are moth larvae that infest beehives. From a report: The enzymes are the first reported to break down polyethylene within hours at room temperature and could lead to cost-effective ways of recycling the plastic. The discovery came after one scientist, an amateur beekeeper, cleaned out an infested hive and found the larvae started eating holes in a plastic refuse bag. The researchers said the study
  
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• White House Unveils AI 'Bill of Rights'

  04-10-2022 22:01 via news.slashdot.org
  The Biden administration unveiled a set of far-reaching goals Tuesday aimed at averting harms caused by the rise of artificial intelligence systems, including guidelines for how to protect people's personal data and limit surveillance. From a report: The Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights notably does not set out specific enforcement actions, but instead is intended as a White House call to action for the U.S. government to safeguard digital and civil rights in an AI-fueled world, officials said
  
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• The Ever-Expanding Job of Preserving the Internet's Backpages

  04-10-2022 21:20 via tech.slashdot.org
  A quarter of a century after it began collecting web pages, the Internet Archive is adapting to new challenges. From a report: Within the walls of a beautiful former church in San Francisco's Richmond district, racks of computer servers hum and blink with activity. They contain the internet. Well, a very large amount of it. The Internet Archive, a non-profit, has been collecting web pages since 1996 for its famed and beloved Wayback Machine. In 1997, the collection amounted to 2 terabytes of dat
  
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• Drinking Several Cups of Coffee a Day May Be Linked To Longer Lifespan in Study

  04-10-2022 20:40 via science.slashdot.org
  Drinking two to three cups of coffee a day could be linked to a longer lifespan, new research suggests. When compared with avoiding coffee, it was also associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, the study found. From a report: The findings applied to ground, instant and decaffeinated varieties of the drink, and researchers say they suggest coffee consumption should be considered part of a healthy lifestyle. According to the study, the greatest risk reduction was seen with two to thr
  
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• Amazon Freezes Corporate Hiring in Its Retail Business

  04-10-2022 20:00 via slashdot.org
  Amazon is freezing corporate hiring in its retail business for the rest of the year, according to an internal announcement obtained by The New York Times, making it the latest tech company to pull back amid the economic uncertainty. From a report: The email to recruiters announced that the company was halting hiring for all corporate roles, including technology positions, globally in its Amazon stores business, which covers the company's retail and operations, and accounts for the bulk of Amazon
  
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• Cyberpunk 2077 Sequel Project Orion Confirmed By CD Projekt Red

  04-10-2022 19:21 via games.slashdot.org
  CD Projekt Red just announced a Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, currently codenamed Project Orion. The developer tweeted its long-term development plan Tuesday, sharing that Project Orion will "take the Cyberpunk franchise further and continue harnessing the potential of this dark future universe." From a report: Adam Kicinski, CD Projket's president and CEO, said in a video published to YouTube that the next three games in the developer's pipeline are based in The Witcher franchise, meaning that Cyberpu
  
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• Impacket and Exfiltration Tool Used to Steal Sensitive Information from Defense Industrial Base Organization

  04-10-2022 18:58 via us-cert.cisa.gov
  Original release date: October 4, 2022
  CISA, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the National Security Agency (NSA) have released a joint Cybersecurity Advisory (CSA), Impacket and Exfiltration Tool Used to Steal Sensitive Information from Defense Industrial Base Organization, highlighting advanced persistent threat (APT) activity observed on a Defense Industrial Base (DIB) Sector organization’s enterprise network. ATP actors used the open-source toolkit, Impacket, to gain a foo
  
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• Musk Proposes To Proceed With Twitter Deal at $54.20 a Share - Bloomberg

  04-10-2022 18:22 via tech.slashdot.org
  Bloomberg News reports: Elon Musk is proposing to buy Twitter for the original offer price of $54.20 a share, Bloomberg News reports. Musk made the proposal in a letter to Twitter, according to the people who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
  
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• VLC-Developer VideoLAN Sends Legal Notice To Indian Ministries Over Ban

  04-10-2022 18:00 via yro.slashdot.org
  VideoLAN, the developer and operator of popular media player VLC, has filed a legal notice to India's IT and Telecom ministries, alleging that the Indian bodies failed to notify the software developer prior to blocking the website and did not afford it a chance for an explanation. From a report: Indian telecom operators have been blocking VideoLAN's website, where it lists links to downloading VLC, since February of this year, VideoLan president and lead developer Jean-Baptiste Kempf told TechCr
  
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• New York Hires McKinsey for Containerization Study

  04-10-2022 17:20 via news.slashdot.org
  The New York city has hired the controversial consulting firm McKinsey & Company to study its waste containerization needs and design a citywide pilot program, Streetsblog has learned. From the report: For the next 20 weeks, the global management consulting firm will assess streets across the city with an eye toward what could work in a large, diverse urban environment and identify models for a such as program from among the many different solutions around the world -- working with the Sanit
  
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• Nuclear Fusion Plant To Be Built On Site of Britain's Last Coal-Fired Power Plants

  04-10-2022 15:00 via hardware.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC: A power station has been chosen to be the site of the UK's, and potentially the world's, first prototype commercial nuclear fusion reactor. Fusion is a potential source of almost limitless clean energy but is currently only carried out in experiments. The government had shortlisted five sites but has picked the West Burton A plant in Nottinghamshire. The plant should be operational by the early 2040s, a UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) spokesma
  
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• Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded To 3 Scientists for Work in Quantum Technology

  04-10-2022 14:47 via science.slashdot.org
  The Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Alain Aspect, John F. Clauser and Anton Zeilinger on Tuesday for work that has "laid the foundation for a new era of quantum technology," the Nobel Committee for Physics said. The scientists have each conducted "groundbreaking experiments using entangled quantum states, where two particles behave like a single unit even when they are separated," the committee said in a briefing. From a report: Their results, it said, cleared the way for "new technology b
  
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• Apple Will Be Forced To Use New Charger After EU Votes for USB-C

  04-10-2022 13:19 via apple.slashdot.org
  Members of the European Parliament voted to force companies such as Apple to adapt products that don't already feature a standard USB-C charger to use one. This would include iPhones, in Apple's case. From a report: A total of 602 lawmakers voted for the plan on Tuesday, with 13 against, and eight abstaining. The deal, provisionally agreed in June between the commission and the European Union's 27 countries, still needs to get the final sign-off from the EU member states. The rules are likely to
  
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• Google Shuts Down Translate Service In China

  04-10-2022 12:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  Google Translate, one of Google's last remaining products in China, has been shut down "due to low usage." According to CNBC, "The dedicated mainland China website for Google Translate now redirects users to the Hong Kong version of the service. However, this is not accessible from mainland China." From the report: Google has had a fraught relationship with the Chinese market. The U.S. technology giant pulled its search engine from China in 2010 because of strict government censorship online. It
  
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• Universities Adapt To Google's New Storage Fees, Or Migrate Away Entirely

  04-10-2022 09:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  united_notions writes: Back in February, Slashdot reported that Google would be phasing out free unlimited storage within Google Apps for Education. Google had a related blog post dressing it up in the exciting language of "empowering institutions" and so forth. Well, now universities all over are waking up to the consequences.Universities in Korea are scrambling to reduce storage use, or migrating to competitors like Naver, while also collectively petitioning Google on the matter. California St
  
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• NYU Organic Chemistry Professor Terminated For Tough Grading

  04-10-2022 05:30 via news.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from the New York Times: In the field of organic chemistry, Maitland Jones Jr. has a storied reputation. He taught the subject for decades, first at Princeton and then at New York University, and wrote an influential textbook. He received awards for his teaching, as well as recognition as one of N.Y.U.'s coolest professors. But last spring, as the campus emerged from pandemic restrictions, 82 of his 350 students signed a petition against him. Students said the
  
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• Apple Loses Second Bid To Challenge Qualcomm Patents At US Supreme Court

  04-10-2022 04:02 via yro.slashdot.org
  The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday again declined to hear Apple's bid to revive an effort to cancel three Qualcomm smartphone patents despite the settlement of the underlying dispute between the two tech giants. Reuters reports: The justices left in place a lower court's decision against Apple after similarly turning away in June the company's appeal of a lower court ruling in a closely related case challenging two other Qualcomm patents. Qualcomm sued Apple in San Diego federal court in 2017, arg
  
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• How Twitter Serves As the Town Hall of Crypto

  04-10-2022 03:25 via tech.slashdot.org
  Twitter is (for now) indispensable to following blockchain technology. What might look to outsiders like idle badgering and joking, is in fact the process of people forming allegiances and making deals. Axios reports: "Crypto Twitter" or "CT," refers to all the people tweeting about various blockchain projects all day. They don't all necessarily follow or interact with each other, just as everyone in a town doesn't necessarily know everyone else, but a town still has its own character and so doe
  
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• Bruce Willis Denies Selling Rights To His Face

  04-10-2022 02:45 via yro.slashdot.org
  Last week, a number of outlets reported that Bruce Willis sold his face to a deepfake company called Deepcake, allowing a "digital twin" of himself to be created for use on screen. The only problem is that it's apparently not true. According to the BBC, the actor's agent said that he had "no partnership or agreement" with the company and a representative of Deepcake said only Willis had the rights to his face From the report: On 27 September, the Daily Mail reported that a deal had been struck b
  
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• Amazon Launches Dedicated Hub For Its Affordable Shopping Options

  04-10-2022 02:02 via slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Amazon is launching Amazon Access, a new hub for customers to explore the programs, discounts and features that the online retailer offers for affordable shopping, the company announced on Monday. Amazon also announced that its discounted Prime membership, which launched in 2017, will now be called Prime Access. The new Amazon Access hub gives customers access to information on options like payment with SNAP EBT and Amazon Layaway, which lets
  
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• FCC Threatens To Block Calls From Carriers For Letting Robocalls Run Rampant

  04-10-2022 01:20 via it.slashdot.org
  The Federal Communications Commission is threatening to block calls from voice service providers that have yet to take meaningful action against illegal robocalls. The Verge reports: On Monday, the FCC announced that it was beginning the process to remove providers from the agency's Robocall Mitigation Database for failing to fully implement STIR/SHAKEN anti-robocall protocols into their networks. If the companies fail to meet these requirements over the next two weeks, compliant providers will
  
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• Fandom Buys TV Guide, Metacritic, GameSpot and Other Brands For About $50 Million In Cash

  04-10-2022 00:40 via tech.slashdot.org
  Fandom is rolling up a suite of entertainment and gaming content properties -- including TV Guide and Metacritic -- in a deal with digital-marketing company Red Ventures worth about $50 million. Variety reports: San Francisco-based Fandom acquired GameSpot, Metacritic, TV Guide, GameFAQs, Giant Bomb, Cord Cutters News and Comic Vine under the deal. The sites collectively attract 46 million monthly active users, according to Fandom. Financial terms of the pact were not disclosed; a source familia
  
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• Linux 6.0 Arrives With Support For Newer Chips, Core Fixes, and Oddities

  04-10-2022 00:00 via linux.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: A stable version of Linux 6.0 is out, with 15,000 non-merge commits and a notable version number for the kernel. And while major Linux releases only happen when the prior number's dot numbers start looking too big -- there is literally no other reason" -- there are a lot of notable things rolled into this release besides a marking in time. Most notable among them could be a patch that prevents a nearly two-decade slowdown for AMD chips, base
  
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