ICT news

• AI-Assisted Coding Start-Up Kite Is Saying Farewell and Open-Sourcing Its Code

  22-11-2022 23:40 via news.slashdot.org
  Kite, a start-up that has been developing artificial intelligence technology to help developers write code for nearly a decade, is saying farewell and open-sourcing its code. Silicon Republic reports: Based in San Francisco, Kite was founded in 2014 as an early pioneer in the emerging field of AI that assists software developers in writing code -- an 'autocomplete' for programming of sorts. But now, after eight years of pursuing its vision to be a leader in AI-assisted programming, founder Adam
  
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• China Announces New Social Credit Law

  22-11-2022 23:00 via yro.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader shares an excerpt from a MIT Technology Review article, written by Zeyi Yang: It's easier to talk about what China's social credit system isn't than what it is. Ever since 2014, when China announced a six-year plan to build a system to reward actions that build trust in society and penalize the opposite, it has been one of the most misunderstood things about China in Western discourse. Now, with new documents released in mid-November, there's an opportunity to correct the rec
  
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• FTX Lawyer Calls the Case 'Different Sort of Animal' in First Bankruptcy Hearing

  22-11-2022 22:21 via yro.slashdot.org
  Lawyers for collapsed crypto exchange FTX said on Tuesday, in the company's first bankruptcy hearing, that regulators from the Bahamas, where FTX was headquartered, have agreed to consolidate proceedings in Delaware. From a report: FTX's lawyers, who were brought in by new leadership to handle restructuring, filed an emergency motion last week to secure the move to the U.S. The hearing on Tuesday was the initial step in the resolution of the largest cryptocurrency bankruptcy on record.
  "What we
  
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• There Will Be 3.2 Billion Gamers in 2022, But Revenue Set To Fall for First Time in 15 years

  22-11-2022 21:41 via games.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader shares a report: If you're old enough to remember when gaming was considered more of a niche pastime, especially among those over the age of sixteen, it might bring a smile to your face to know that 3.2 billion people, almost half the world's population, will play games this year. They'll spend a combined total of $184.4 billion on their hobby, and while that is down slightly compared to last year, it's the result of the pandemic-induced gaming boom of 2020/21.
  Newzoo's lates
  
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• Netflix Reveals a Series That Is Designed To Be Watched in Any Order You Choose

  22-11-2022 21:01 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  Netflix's new anthology series "Kaleidoscope" will give viewers their own unique experience watching a team of skillful thieves attempt to pull off a robbery they've been planning for over 20 years. From a report: In a sneak peek clip, the cast and crew share the intricacies of the series and how it's making a new spin on the traditional anthology series. "Every episode had multiple connections to every other episode," said the show's creator, showrunner and executive producer Eric Garcia in the
  
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• EU Confirms Multiple Ongoing Investigations Into TikTok Data Practices

  22-11-2022 20:20 via yro.slashdot.org
  The president of the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, has confirmed there are multiple ongoing investigations into TikTok. From a report: The probes concern the transfer of EU citizens' data to China and targeted advertising aimed at minors. Investigators are seeking to ensure that TikTok meets General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requirements. "The data practices of TikTok, including with respect to international data transfers, are the object of several ong
  
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• Tokyo Residents Urged To Wear Turtlenecks To Save on Energy Bills

  22-11-2022 19:40 via news.slashdot.org
  The governor of Tokyo has urged people to wear a turtleneck this winter to stay warm and reduce energy consumption. Yuriko Koike said wearing turtleneck jumpers could help reduce energy bills. From a report: "Warming the neck has a thermal effect. I'm wearing a turtleneck myself and wearing a scarf also keeps you warm. This will save electricity," Yuriko Koike told reporters on Friday. "This is one of the tools to get through the harsh winter energy climate together." She said the French preside
  
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• 'Avatar 2' Is So Expensive It Must Become the 'Fourth or Fifth Highest-Grossing Film in History' Just To Break Even

  22-11-2022 19:00 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  How expensive is "Avatar: The Way of Water"? Early reports have claimed the production budget alone was in the $250 million range, but director James Cameron isn't willing to give a hard number just yet. The only answer Cameron would give about the sequel's budget when asked by GQ magazine was the following: "Very fucking [expensive]." From a report: Cameron apparently told Disney and 20th Century Studios executives that his sequel budget was so high it represented "the worst business case in mo
  
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• France Says No To Office 365 and Google Workspace in School

  22-11-2022 18:21 via news.slashdot.org
  The French minister of national education and youth has said that free versions of Microsoft Office 365 and Google Workplace should not be used in schools -- a position that reflects ongoing European concerns about cloud data sovereignty, competition, and privacy rules. From a report: In August, Philippe Latombe, a member of the French National Assembly, advised Pap Ndiaye, the minister of national education, that the free version of Microsoft Office 365, while appealing, amounts to a form of il
  
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• UK Confirms Antitrust Probe Into Android-iOS 'Mobile Duopoly'

  22-11-2022 17:40 via news.slashdot.org
  The UK's antitrust watchdog has moved to deepen its scrutiny of the Apple and Google mobile duopoly -- kicking off an in-depth investigation into elements of the pair's mobile ecosystem dominance by probing their approach toward rival mobile browsers and cloud gaming services which it's concerned could be restricting competition and harming consumers. From a report: The move follows a market study conducted by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) last year that led to a final report this
  
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• Christie's Cancels T Rex Skeleton Auction After Doubts Raised

  22-11-2022 17:00 via news.slashdot.org
  The British auction house Christie's has been forced to call off the $23.75m auction of a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton just days before it was due to go under the hammer after a well-known paleontologist raised concerns that parts of it looked similar to another dinosaur. From a report: Christie's said on Monday that the 1,400kg (3,100lb) skeleton -- nicknamed Shen -- had been withdrawn from the auction in Hong Kong on 30 November, when it was set to be the star lot. In a brief statement, a spokes
  
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• Ubisoft is Back To Releasing Games on Steam

  22-11-2022 16:21 via games.slashdot.org
  Ubisoft is bringing Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Anno 1800, and Roller Champions to Steam, arguably its first major releases on Valve's PC distribution platform since 2019. From a report: "We're constantly evaluating how to bring our games to different audiences wherever they are, while providing a consistent player ecosystem through Ubisoft Connect," reads part of a statement from Ubisoft spokesperson Jessica Roache to The Verge. Roache declined to say whether that means Ubisoft will now regularl
  
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• IBM Sues Micro Focus, Claims It Copied Big Blue Mainframe Software

  22-11-2022 15:40 via yro.slashdot.org
  IBM has filed a lawsuit against Micro Focus, alleging the enterprise software company copied and reverse-engineered its CICS mainframe service to develop a rival product, the Micro Focus Enterprise Server. From a report: Big Blue has brought the case in the US District Court in New York, citing violation of copyright law and claiming that Micro Focus was in "blatant breach" of its contractual obligations with IBM. In a strongly worded complaint, the company accused UK-based Micro Focus of "braze
  
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• Tax Filing Websites Have Been Sending Users' Financial Information To Facebook

  22-11-2022 15:00 via yro.slashdot.org
  Major tax filing services such as H&R Block, TaxAct, and TaxSlayer have been quietly transmitting sensitive financial information to Facebook when Americans file their taxes online, The Markup has learned. From the report: The data, sent through widely used code called the Meta Pixel, includes not only information like names and email addresses but often even more detailed information, including data on users' income, filing status, refund amounts, and dependents' college scholarship amounts
  
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• Nintendo Goes After Fan-Made Custom Steam 'Icons' With DMCA Takedowns

  22-11-2022 14:00 via games.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Nintendo has issued a number of Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) requests against SteamGridDB (SGDB), a site that hosts custom fan-made icons and images used to represent games on Steam's front-end interface. Since 2015, SGDB's collection has grown to include hundreds of thousands of images representing tens of thousands of titles. That includes custom imagery for many standard Steam games and emulated game ROMs, which can be added to
  
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• Head of Intel Foundry Services Resigns Just As Chip Biz Gets Going

  22-11-2022 11:00 via slashdot.org
  The head of Intel's revitalized contract chip manufacturing business plans to step down, The Register has learned, creating a setback for the x86 behemoth's big bet to take on Asian foundry giants TSMC and Samsung as part of its comeback plan. From the report: Randhir Thakur, senior vice president and president of Intel Foundry Services, "has decided to pursue other opportunities" but will continue to lead the business unit through the first quarter of 2023 to "ensure a smooth transition to a ne
  
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• US Grants $1.1 Billion To Keep Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant Open

  22-11-2022 08:00 via hardware.slashdot.org
  The Biden administration said on Monday it has approved conditional funding of up to $1.1 billion to prevent the closure of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant in California, as part of its effort to fight climate change. Reuters reports: The Pacific Gas & Electric plant, which was set to fully shut in 2025, applied for funding in the initial phase of the Department of Energy's (DOE) $6 billion Civil Nuclear Credit program meant to help keep struggling nuclear power reactors open. Diablo i
  
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• Tumblr To Add Support For ActivityPub, the Social Protocol Powering Mastodon and Other Apps

  22-11-2022 04:30 via tech.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Tumblr will add support for ActivityPub, the open, decentralized social networking protocol that's today powering social networking software like Twitter alternative Mastodon, the Instagram-like Pixelfed, video streaming service PeerTube, and others. The news was revealed in a response to a Twitter user's complaint about Mastodon's complexities. Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg -- whose company acquired Tumblr from Verizon in 2019 -- suggested th
  
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• Apple Device Analytics Contain Identifying iCloud User Data, Claim Security Researchers

  22-11-2022 03:02 via yro.slashdot.org
  A new analysis has claimed that Apple's device analytics contain information that can directly link information about how a device is used, its performance, features, and more, directly to a specific user, despite Apple's claims otherwise. MacRumors reports: On Twitter, security researchers Tommy Mysk and Talal Haj Bakry have found that Apple's device analytics data includes an ID called "dsId," which stands for Directory Services Identifier. The analysis found that the dsId identifier is unique
  
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• More Than 50% of Bitcoin Addresses Are Now In Loss

  22-11-2022 02:25 via slashdot.org
  Most addresses holding bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency, are now in the red, the first time that's happened since the start of the coronavirus-induced crash of March 2020. CoinDesk reports: Just over 51%, or 24.6 million addresses of the total 47.9 million, are below purchase price on their investments, according to data provided by blockchain analytics firm IntoTheBlock. About 45% are in the money, which means they are boasting unrealized gains, while the rest are roughly at break-even
  
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• Did Sam Bankman-Fried's Millions Buy the Media's Loyalty?

  22-11-2022 02:15 via news.slashdot.org
  As the FTX fallout continues to unfold, Reason reports:
  The mainstream coverage of SBF and FTX is more than a little blase... SBF was heavily involved in Democratic Party politics: In the 2022 election cycle, he was the second most prolific funder of Democratic candidates. But he wasn't just a funder of electoral efforts. He funded both progressive and mainstream media organizations...
  But SBF's own attitude toward his funding of these causes seems to be that it's all for show. When asked if eth
  
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• Z-Library Responds to US Crackdown, Asks Authors for Forgiveness

  22-11-2022 01:45 via yro.slashdot.org
  Earlier this month, the feds arrested two Russians accused of running Z-Library -- an e-book pirate site that claims to be "the world's largest library." Z-Library's remaining team members have since responded by saying they are determined to keep going, promising to take the complaints of authors seriously and asking for their forgiveness. TorrentFreak reports: After the indictment was unsealed, Z-Library's position became untenable. That led to the publishing of an official response. It confir
  
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• Amazon Alexa Is a 'Colossal Failure,' On Pace To Lose $10 Billion This Year

  22-11-2022 01:02 via tech.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Amazon is going through the biggest layoffs in the company's history right now, with a plan to eliminate some 10,000 jobs. One of the areas hit hardest is the Amazon Alexa voice assistant unit, which is apparently falling out of favor at the e-commerce giant. That's according to a report from Business Insider, which details "the swift downfall of the voice assistant and Amazon's larger hardware division." Alexa has been around for 10 years a
  
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• iCloud For Windows Users Report of Corrupted Videos, Photos From Strangers

  22-11-2022 00:20 via apple.slashdot.org
  There are ongoing issues apparently affecting the iCloud for Windows app, particularly in regards to photo and video storage. According to a number of online complaints from users, iCloud for Windows is corrupting certain videos. There are also reports of a more worrying problem: photos from strangers popping up in people's iCloud Photo library. 9to5Mac reports: MacRumors rounded up some of these complaints via complaints posted to their forums. According to an affected user, videos taken with t
  
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