ICT news

• Apple Gives Some Older iPhones OS Updates, Going Back To iPhone 5S

  24-01-2023 23:40 via mobile.slashdot.org
  
  Apple has provided iOS 12.5.7, macOS 11.7.3, and other updates for older devices that can't be updated to the latest releases. AppleInsider reports: The new updates are for users still using older devices and operating systems and address similar bugs and security patches available in the recent iOS 16.3 and macOS Ventura releases. The security patch notes list at least 14 different systems affected by security issues that have been patched. The new update versions are: iOS 12.5.7, iOS 15.7.3, i
  
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• Demand For AI Skills On the Rise As Fiverr Searches Spike For Freelancers

  24-01-2023 23:00 via slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from VentureBeat: With all the hype and excitement surrounding generative AI technologies, there has been a corresponding growth in the interest that businesses have in using artificial intelligence (AI). While there is lots of interest in figuring out how to use AI to help a business, finding the right people to help an organization use AI effectively isn't necessarily an easy task. It's an area that has led to a surge of interest on freelance marketplace Fiv
  
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• US To Test Nuclear-powered Spacecraft by 2027

  24-01-2023 22:21 via news.slashdot.org
  
  The United States plans to test a spacecraft engine powered by nuclear fission by 2027 as part of a long-term NASA effort to demonstrate more efficient methods of propelling astronauts to Mars in the future, the space agency's chief said Tuesday. From a report: NASA will partner with the U.S. military's research and development agency, DARPA, to develop a nuclear thermal propulsion engine and launch it to space "as soon as 2027," NASA administrator Bill Nelson said during a conference in Nationa
  
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• SEC Scrutiny Blocks Some Crypto Firms From Going Public

  24-01-2023 21:40 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Crypto companies seeking to go public over the past year have faced increased scrutiny from the Securities and Exchange Commission, as financial distress and failures spread across the volatile industry. WSJ: Crypto-focused companies including Bullish Global, Circle and eToro have failed to secure the SEC approvals that are required of companies going public. The firms were seeking stock-exchange listings through mergers with special-purpose acquisition companies, an alternative path to going pu
  
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• Appliance Makers Sad That 50% of Customers Won't Connect Smart Appliances

  24-01-2023 21:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Appliance makers like Whirlpool and LG just can't understand. They added Wi-Fi antennae to their latest dishwashers, ovens, and refrigerators and built apps for them -- and yet only 50 percent or fewer of their owners have connected them. What gives? From a report: The issue, according to manufacturers quoted in a Wall Street Journal report (subscription usually required), is that customers just don't know all the things a manufacturer can do if users connect the device that spins their clothes
  
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• GPU Cooler Tested With Ketchup, Potatoes, and Cheese as Thermal Paste

  24-01-2023 20:20 via it.slashdot.org
  
  Tom's Hardware: Finding the best TIM can be a tricky endeavor, but some people are more adventurous than others. Case in point: An enthusiast recently broadened his GPU thermal paste search to include several interesting substances ranging from regular thermal paste to thermal pads, cheese, ketchup, toothpaste, diaper rash ointment, and even potatoes. The user originally set out to test different types of thermal pads but decided to expand into other substances, making for an interesting and ent
  
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• Scientists Set Doomsday Clock Closer To Midnight Than Ever Before

  24-01-2023 19:30 via science.slashdot.org
  
  The hands of the Doomsday Clock are closer to midnight than ever before, with humanity facing a time of "unprecedented danger" that has increased the likelihood of a human-caused apocalypse, a group of scientists announced Tuesday. From a report: The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists -- a nonprofit organization made up of scientists, former political leaders and security and technology experts -- moved the hands of the symbolic clock 10 seconds forward, to 90 seconds to midnight. The adjustment, mad
  
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• US Sues Google Over Ad Market in Escalation of Antitrust Fight

  24-01-2023 18:42 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  The US Justice Department and eight states sued Alphabet's Google, calling for the break up of the search giant's ad-technology business over alleged illegal monopolization of the digital advertising market. From a report: "Google abuses its monopoly power to disadvantage website publishers and advertisers who dare to use competing ad tech products in a search for higher quality, or lower cost, matches," the Justice Department said in the complaint, which was filed in federal court in Virginia.
  
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• Apple Releases Security Updates for Multiple Products 

  24-01-2023 18:28 via us-cert.cisa.gov
  Original release date: January 24, 2023
  Apple has released security updates to address vulnerabilities in multiple products. An attacker could exploit some of these vulnerabilities to take control of an affected device.CISA encourages users and administrators to review the Apple security updates page for the following products and apply the necessary updates as soon as possible:Safari 16.3iOS 12.5.7macOS Monterey 12.6.3macOS Big Sur 11.7.3watchOS 9.3iOS 15.7.3 and iPadOS 15.7.3iOS 16.3 and
  
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• There's Bipartisan Agreement on One Thing: Ticketmaster Sucks

  24-01-2023 18:20 via news.slashdot.org
  
  The partisan divisions we've become used to on Capitol Hill are if anything even more stark in the new 118th Congress. But so far, there is one thing Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate seem to agree on: Ticketmaster is a problem. From a report: "In terms of their monopoly power, I'm concerned about it," Senator Josh Hawley told The New Republic in December. "I think we should look into it." Finally, the Senate is going to. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Mike Lee, the chairman and rank
  
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• NYC Jails Want To Ban Physical Mail, then Privatize Scanning of Digital Versions

  24-01-2023 17:41 via news.slashdot.org
  
  The New York City Department of Correction wants to stop incarcerated people from receiving physical mail inside city jails. From a report: The department, known as DOC, said the proposed changes are part of an effort to increase safety in the jail system by cracking down on illegal contraband following the deaths of 19 people last year at Rikers Island, the city's jail complex. Several of the people died from apparent drug overdoses, including at least one from fentanyl.
  The main source of cont
  
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• GoTo Says Hackers Stole Customers' Backups and Encryption Key

  24-01-2023 17:00 via it.slashdot.org
  
  GoTo (formerly LogMeIn) is warning customers that threat actors who breached its development environment in November 2022 stole encrypted backups containing customer information and an encryption key for a portion of that data. From a report: GoTo provides a platform for cloud-based remote working, collaboration, and communication, as well as remote IT management and technical support solutions. In November 2022, the company disclosed a security breach on its development environment and a cloud
  
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• Marvel Boss Doesn't Think Audiences Will Ever Get Tired of Superhero Movies

  24-01-2023 16:20 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  
  Will moviegoers ever get superhero fatigue? Marvel boss Kevin Feige doesn't buy it, saying on a new podcast interview that there are 80 years of "groundbreaking" stories told in the Marvel comics that they can adapt into "different genres." From a report: "I've been at Marvel Studios for over 22 years, and most of us here at Marvel Studios have been around a decade or longer together," Feige said on "The Movie Business Podcast," hosted by Jason E. Squire, an author and professor at the USC Schoo
  
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• ChatGPT 'Not Particularly Innovative' and 'Nothing Revolutionary', Says Meta's Chief AI Scientist

  24-01-2023 15:40 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Much ink has been spilled of late about the tremendous promise of OpenAI's ChatGPT program for generating natural-language utterances in response to human prompts. The program strikes many people as so fresh and intriguing that ChatGPT must be unique in the universe. Scholars of AI beg to differ. From a report: "In terms of underlying techniques, ChatGPT is not particularly innovative," said Yann LeCun, Meta's chief AI scientist, in a small gathering of press and executives on Zoom last week. "I
  
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• CISA Releases Protecting Our Future: Partnering to Safeguard K–12 organizations from Cybersecurity Threats

  24-01-2023 15:17 via us-cert.cisa.gov
  Original release date: January 24, 2023
  Today, CISA released Protecting Our Future: Partnering to Safeguard K–12 organizations from Cybersecurity Threats. The report provides recommendations and resources to help K-12 schools and school districts address systemic cybersecurity risk. It also provides insight into the current threat landscape specific to the K-12 community and offers simple steps school leaders can take to strengthen their cybersecurity efforts.The report’s findings st
  
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• Amazon Deepens Healthcare Push With $5 Monthly Subscription

  24-01-2023 15:00 via science.slashdot.org
  
  Amazon said on Tuesday it is offering a $5 monthly subscription plan for U.S. Prime members that will cover a range of generic drugs and their doorstep delivery, furthering the ecommerce giant's push into healthcare. From a report: The program, named RxPass, includes more than 50 medications addressing over 80 chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, anxiety, diabetes and male pattern baldness, Vin Gupta, Amazon Pharmacy's chief medical officer, told Reuters. However, customers enrolled i
  
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• Google's Fuchsia OS Was One of the Hardest Hit By Last Week's Layoffs

  24-01-2023 14:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from ArsTechnica: Google is still reeling from the biggest layoff in company history last Friday. Earlier cost cuts over the past six months have resulted in several projects being shut down or deprioritized at Google, and it's hard to fire 12,000 people without some additional projects taking a hit. The New York Times has a report about which divisions are being hit the hardest, and a big one is Google's future OS development group, Fuchsia. While the overall
  
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• China Launches 100-MPH Hydrogen/Supercapacitor Train

  24-01-2023 11:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  The world's largest rail vehicle manufacturer has rolled out a zero-emissions train running on hydrogen fuel cells with a supercapacitor buffer. The four-car train is capable of 100 mph (160 km/h), making it the fastest hydrogen train to date. New Atlas reports: Jointly developed by state-owned industrial monolith CRRC and Chengdu Rail Transit, this is China's first hydrogen-powered passenger train, offering a range of 373 miles (600 km), and emitting nothing but water. It's capable of self-driv
  
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• Exotic Green Comet Not Seen Since Stone Age Returns To Skies Above Earth

  24-01-2023 08:00 via science.slashdot.org
  
  An exotic green comet that has not passed Earth since the time of the Neanderthals has reappeared in the sky ready for its closest approach to the planet next week. The Guardian reports: Discovered last March by astronomers at the Zwicky Transient Facility at the Palomar Observatory in California, comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) was calculated to orbit the sun every 50,000 years, meaning it last tore past our home planet in the stone age. The comet, which comes from the Oort cloud at the edge of the solar
  
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• Japan PM Says Country On the Brink Over Falling Birth Rate

  24-01-2023 04:30 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC: Japan's prime minister says his country is on the brink of not being able to function as a society because of its falling birth rate. Fumio Kishida said it was a case of "now or never." Japan -- population 125 million -- is estimated to have had fewer than 800,000 births last year. In the 1970s, that figure was more than two million. Japan now has the world's second-highest proportion of people aged 65 and over -- about 28% -- after the tiny stat
  
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• GameCube and Wii Games Are Now Easier To Play On Xbox Consoles

  24-01-2023 02:25 via games.slashdot.org
  
  The new standalone Dolphin emulator will let you play almost any GameCube or Wii game on your Xbox console. Windows Central reports: Dolphin Emulator for UWP first rolled out in beta on December 6, 2022. It has since received a couple of updates, bringing it to version 1.02. The standalone Dolphin emulator is capable of upscaling games to up to 1440p. You can also play titles at their original resolution if you prefer. With mods, you can use HD texture packs to make games look more modern and ha
  
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• Anti-Plagiarism Service Turnitin Is Building a Tool To Detect ChatGPT-Written Essays

  24-01-2023 01:45 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Turnitin, best known for its anti-plagiarism software used by tens of thousands of universities and schools around the world, is building a tool to detect text generated by AI. The Register reports: Turnitin has been quietly building the software for years ever since the release of GPT-3, Annie Chechitelli, chief product officer, told The Register. The rush to give educators the capability to identify text written by humans and computers has become more intense with the launch of its more powerf
  
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• How Apple's 'Reality Pro' Headset Will Work

  24-01-2023 01:02 via apple.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from 9to5Mac: Apple's first AR/VR headset could be unveiled sometime this spring, and rumors continue to offer more information about what Apple has in the works. A wide-ranging new report from Bloomberg now offers a slew of details on Apple's "Reality Pro" headset, including that the "eye- and hand-tracking capabilities will be a major selling point" for the product. Using external cameras, the headset will be able to analyze the user's hands, while internal
  
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• GitHub Sponsors Will Stop Supporting PayPal

  24-01-2023 00:50 via news.slashdot.org
  
  "Starting on February 23, 2023, GitHub Sponsors will no longer support PayPal as a payments processor," the company announced today in a blog post. "As such, it will no longer be possible to sponsor individuals or organizations using PayPal." No details were given about what led to the decision.If you are sponsoring anyone on the site using PayPal, GitHub says you'll need to "update your GitHub payment method to pay by credit or debit card."Read more of this story at Slashdot.
  
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• PayPal Investigated Over Potential Market Dominance in Germany

  24-01-2023 00:20 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  Germany's cartel office regulator said on Monday it had initiated proceedings against payment company PayPal Europe over the possibility that it hindered competition. Reuters reports: The subject of the proceedings was PayPal's rules for extra charges and the presentation of PayPal in the terms of use for Germany, the watchdog said. The regulator is investigating in particular rules that say merchants may not offer their goods and services at a lower price to customers who choose a cheaper payme
  
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