ICT news

• 3D-Printed Self-Balancing Robot Brings Control Theory To Life

  27-12-2022 23:40 via hardware.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Hackaday: Stabilizing an inverted pendulum is a classic problem in control theory, and if you've ever taken a control systems class you might remember seeing pages full of differential equations and bode diagrams just to describe its basic operation. Although this might make such a system seem terribly complicated, actually implementing all of that theory doesn't have to be difficult at all, as [Limenitis Reducta] demonstrates in his latest project. All y
  
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• Amazon Begins Testing Drone Deliveries in California, Texas

  27-12-2022 23:00 via slashdot.org
  Amazon is now trialing drone deliveries in new California and Texas locations. From a report: David Carbon, VP of Prime Air Amazon, announced the "careful first steps" in a Christmas Eve LinkedIn post. "First deliveries from our new sites in TX and CA," he wrote. Carbon posted a photo of an airborne drone carrying an Amazon box at the end of a nearly invisible tether. No further details were revealed.
  Nearly a decade in the making, Amazon's air drone delivery service is finally set to reach US c
  
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• Lawyer Fees Mount in Crypto Bankruptcies

  27-12-2022 22:25 via yro.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader shares a report: The investment bank B Riley is so determined to persuade the troubled bitcoin miner Core Scientific to avoid filing for bankruptcy that it has offered as much as $72mn in fresh financing to keep the company from seeking a court-supervised Chapter 11 restructuring. "Bankruptcy is not the answer and would be a disservice to the Company's investors," B Riley wrote in a letter from early December. "It will destroy value for the Company's shareholders, reduce pote
  
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• Southwest Canceled 5,400 Flights In Less Than 48 Hours

  27-12-2022 21:45 via tech.slashdot.org
  Southwest canceled more than 2,900 flights Monday -- at least 70% of its schedule for the day -- and more than 2,500 flights Tuesday as of 9:10 a.m. ET -- at least 60% of its schedule, according to flight tracker FlightAware. NPR reports: The number of canceled flights for Southwest Monday was more than 10 times higher than for Delta, which had the second-most cancellations by a U.S. airline with 265 flights called off. Other airlines have also ordered large-scale cancellations in the past week.
  
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• Microsoft Fined $64 Million By France Over Cookies Used in Bing Searches

  27-12-2022 21:01 via slashdot.org
  France's privacy watchdog fined Microsoft $64 million for not offering clear enough instruction for users to reject cookies used for online ads, as part of the move to enforce Europe's tightening data protection law. From a report: CNIL, France's digital privacy regulator, said Thursday that it carried out several investigations on the Microsoft search engine Bing in September 2020 and May 2021 and found that the site dropped advertising cookies in users' terminals without their explicit consent
  
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• Amazon Packages Burn in India, Final Stop in Broken Recycling System

  27-12-2022 20:00 via news.slashdot.org
  Plastic wrappers and parcels that start off in Americans' recycling bins end up at illegal dumpsites and industrial furnaces -- and inside the lungs of people in Muzaffarnagar. From a report: Muzaffarnagar, a city about 80 miles north of New Delhi, is famous in India for two things: colonial-era freedom fighters who helped drive out the British and the production of jaggery, a cane sugar product boiled into goo at some 1,500 small sugar mills in the area. Less likely to feature in tourism guides
  
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• Psychedelic Drugs May Launch a New Era in Psychiatric Treatment, Brain Scientists Say

  27-12-2022 19:00 via science.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader shares a report: One of the hottest tickets at this year's Society for Neuroscience meeting in San Diego was a session on psychedelic drugs. About 1,000 brain scientists squeezed into an auditorium at the San Diego Convention Center for the symposium, called Psychedelics and Neural Plasticity. They'd come to hear talks on how drugs like psilocybin and MDMA can alter individual brain cells, can help rewire the brain, and may offer a new way to treat disorders ranging from depr
  
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• Baidu Starts Offering Nighttime Driverless Taxis in China

  27-12-2022 18:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  Baidu, the Chinese internet giant that became known for its search engines, is making some big strides in autonomous driving. From a report: Starting this week, the public can ride its robotaxis in Wuhan between 7 am and 11 pm without safety drivers behind the wheel. Previously, its unmanned vehicles could only operate from 9 am to 5 pm in the city. The updated scheme is expected to cover one million customers in certain areas of Wuhan, a city of more than 10 million people.
  Like most autonomous
  
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• The Rise of China GPU Makers

  27-12-2022 17:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  The number of GPU startups in China is extraordinary as the country tries to gain AI prowess as well as semiconductor sovereignty, according to a new report from Jon Peddie Research. From a report: In addition, the number of GPU makers grew worldwide in recent years as demand for artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance computing (HPC), and graphics processing increased at a rather unprecedented rate. When it comes to discrete graphics for PCs, AMD and Nvidia maintain lead, whereas Intel i
  
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• Hackers Stole Data From Multiple Electric Utilities in Recent Ransomware Attack

  27-12-2022 16:00 via news.slashdot.org
  Hackers stole data belonging to multiple electric utilities in an October ransomware attack on a US government contractor that handles critical infrastructure projects across the country, according to a memo describing the hack obtained by CNN. From the report: Federal officials have closely monitored the incident for any potential broader impact on the US power sector while private investigators have combed the dark web for the stolen data, according to the memo sent this month to power company
  
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• Chip Inventories Swell as Consumers Buy Fewer Gadgets

  27-12-2022 15:15 via slashdot.org
  The world is now awash in chips. The oversupply marks a sharp turnaround from a global shortage during two years of supercharged demand. From a report: Consumer appetite for electronics has weakened against a backdrop of rising interest rates, a falling stock market and recession fears. Chip inventories are swelling, mirroring what is happening in the wider economy where retailers are stuck with goods on their shelves and producers of a range of products in high demand early in the pandemic now
  
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• Neuroscientists Have Created a Mood Decoder That Can Measure Depression

  27-12-2022 14:02 via science.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader shares a report: Deep brain stimulation is already used to treat severe cases of epilepsy and a few movement disorders such as Parkinson's. But depression is more complicated -- partly because we still don't fully understand what's going on in the brain when it occurs. "Depression is a complex illness," says Patricio Riva Posse, a neurologist at the Emory School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, who was not involved in the trial. "It's not like trying to correct one tremor --
  
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• For Sale on eBay: A Military Database of Fingerprints and Iris Scans

  27-12-2022 10:30 via yro.slashdot.org
  The shoebox-shaped device, designed to capture fingerprints and perform iris scans, was listed on eBay for $149.95. A German security researcher, Matthias Marx, successfully offered $68, and when it arrived at his home in Hamburg in August, the rugged, hand-held machine contained more than what was promised in the listing. The device's memory card held the names, nationalities, photographs, fingerprints and iris scans of 2,632 people. From a report: Most people in the database, which was reviewe
  
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• Cyber Attacks Set To Become 'Uninsurable,' Says Zurich Chief

  27-12-2022 07:00 via it.slashdot.org
  The chief executive of one of Europe's biggest insurance companies has warned that cyber attacks, rather than natural catastrophes, will become "uninsurable" as the disruption from hacks continues to grow. From a report: Insurance executives have been increasingly vocal in recent years about systemic risks, such as pandemics and climate change, that test the sector's ability to provide coverage. For the second year in a row, natural catastrophe-related claims are expected to top $100 billion. Bu
  
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• US Copyright Office Finds 'Deep Disagreement' on Anti-Piracy Measures

  27-12-2022 04:30 via yro.slashdot.org
  The U.S. Copyright Office has completed its public consultations on the use of technical measures to identify and protect copyrighted content online. From a report: For many years, U.S. lawmakers have considered options to update the DMCA so it can more effectively deal with today's online copyright issues. Many proposals have come and gone, without resulting in any significant updates. Calls to change current legislation persist, however. Following repeated nudges from Senators Thom Tillis and
  
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• Bitcoin Hashrate Drops Nearly 40% as Deadly US Storm Unplugs Miners

  27-12-2022 01:30 via tech.slashdot.org
  The Bitcoin network hashrate has dropped by more than 38.8% from its peak, as many U.S.-based miners have been forced to switch down their facilities due to deadly blizzards. From a report: Bitcoin hashrate, the level of computing power used for mining and processing transactions, came in at 155.28 exahashes per second on Saturday, down from 253.88 exahashes on Wednesday, according to data from IntoTheBlock. A winter storm has claimed at least 32 lives across the U.S., as of Monday morning in Ho
  
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