ICT news

• Roblox Is Bringing Generative AI To Its Gaming Universe

  17-02-2023 23:40 via games.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Wired: Roblox is testing a tool that could accelerate the process of building and altering in-game objects by getting artificial intelligence to write the code. The tool lets anyone playing Roblox create items such as buildings, terrain, and avatars; change the appearance and behavior of those things; and give them new interactive properties by typing what they want to achieve in natural language rather than complex code. "Say I need a gleaming metal swor
  
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• GoDaddy Says Hackers Stole Source Code, Installed Malware in Multi-Year Breach

  17-02-2023 23:00 via it.slashdot.org
  
  Web hosting giant GoDaddy says it suffered a breach where unknown attackers have stolen source code and installed malware on its servers after breaching its cPanel shared hosting environment in a multi-year attack. From a report: While GoDaddy discovered the security breach in early December 2022 following customer reports that their sites were being used to redirect to random domains, the attackers had access to the company's network for multiple years. "Based on our investigation, we believe t
  
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• Binance Considers Pulling Back From US Partners as Crypto Crackdown Escalates

  17-02-2023 22:20 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Crypto giant Binance is considering ending relationships with US business partners as regulators turn up the heat. From a report: The company, which operates the world's largest crypto exchange, is weighing the retreat after its relationships with a key banking partner and stablecoin issuer ran into trouble amid intense scrutiny from authorities, according to a person familiar with the issue. Binance has been probed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission,
  
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• 'Why I'm Resigning as an FTC Commissioner'

  17-02-2023 21:40 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Christine Wilson, a Republican-appointed commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission, writing for The Wall Street Journal: Much ink has been spilled about Lina Khan's attempts to remake federal antitrust law as chairman of the Federal Trade Commission. Less has been said about her disregard for the rule of law and due process and the way senior FTC officials enable her. I have failed repeatedly to persuade Ms. Khan and her enablers to do the right thing, and I refuse to give their endeavor any
  
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• Disney's Top Asian Video Streaming Service Suffered Outage Due To Apparent Domain Renewal Miss

  17-02-2023 21:01 via it.slashdot.org
  
  Disney+ Hotstar is suffered an outage for some users in India in the middle of a popular cricket match on Friday, drawing flak from customers at a time when the Disney crown jewel is already facing several setbacks in the South Asian market. From a report: It's unclear what prompted the glitch, which Hotstar acknowledged as "unforeseen technical issues" across its apps and web. Domain registrar records show that Hotstar renewed the domain name, Hotstar.com, on February 17. If Disney had briefly
  
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• A Recount Could Mean Japan Has 7,000 More Islands

  17-02-2023 20:20 via news.slashdot.org
  
  The number of islands in Japan is expected to more than double after 7,000 new islands it didn't know existed were discovered. Well, kind of. From a report: The nation currently comprises 6,852 islands, but that figure dates back to a 1987 study conducted by the Japan Coast Guard. During a December 2021 parliamentary session, a lawmaker argued the data was old and the true figure could be vastly different. "An accurate understanding of the number of islands is an important administrative matter
  
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• Researchers Unearth Windows Backdoor That's Unusually Stealthy

  17-02-2023 19:40 via it.slashdot.org
  
  Researchers have discovered a clever piece of malware that stealthily exfiltrates data and executes malicious code from Windows systems by abusing a feature in Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS). From a report: IIS is a general-purpose web server that runs on Windows devices. As a web server, it accepts requests from remote clients and returns the appropriate response. In July 2021, network intelligence company Netcraft said there were 51.6 million instances of IIS spread across 13.5
  
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• Judge Slaps Sanctions on Seattle for Deleting Thousands of Texts Between Top Officials

  17-02-2023 19:01 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  A federal judge has levied crippling sanctions against the city of Seattle for deleting thousands of text messages between high-ranking officials, including the former mayor and police chief, during the three-week Capitol Hill Organized Protest -- a ruling that will undermine the city's defense against a lawsuit filed by business owners and residents affected by the high-profile protests. From a report: In a pair of lengthy orders Jan. 13, U.S. District Judge Thomas Zilly sent the so-called Hunt
  
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• Mozilla Releases Security Updates for Thunderbird 102.8

  17-02-2023 19:00 via us-cert.cisa.gov
  Original release date: February 17, 2023
  Mozilla has released security updates to address vulnerabilities in Thunderbird 102.8. An attacker could exploit some of these vulnerabilities to take control of an affected system.CISA encourages users and administrators to review Mozilla’s security advisory for Thunderbird 102.8 for more information and apply the necessary updates. This product is provided subject to this Notification and this Privacy & Use policy.
  
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• Humans 'May Need More Sleep in Winter', Study Finds

  17-02-2023 18:21 via science.slashdot.org
  
  For those of us who struggle to leave our beds in the winter, taunts of "lazy" could well be misplaced. From a report: New research suggests that while humans do not hibernate, we may need more sleep during the colder months. Analysis of people undergoing sleep studies found that people get more REM (rapid eye movement) sleep in the winter. While total sleep time appeared to be about an hour longer in the winter than the summer, this result was not considered statistically significant.
  However,
  
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• UK Monopoly Regulator Investigating Google's Search Deal With Apple

  17-02-2023 17:40 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Google has been paying Apple a portion of search revenue generated by people using Google Chrome on iOS, The Register reported Friday, citing a source. This is one of the aspects of the relationship between the two tech goliaths that currently concerns the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the report added. From the report: Though everyone knows Google pays Apple, Samsung, and other manufacturers billions of dollars to make its web search engine the default on devices, it has not bee
  
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• Saudi Arabia Becomes Largest Outside Shareholder of Nintendo

  17-02-2023 17:00 via games.slashdot.org
  
  Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund became the largest outside shareholder of Nintendo on Friday, in the latest move by the Gulf state to lower its reliance on oil. From a report: The sovereign wealth fund now owns 8.3% of the Kyoto-based games company, according to a filing, building up a position that stood just above 6% at the start of the year. That puts PIF ahead of Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund and behind only Nintendo's own holding, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
  
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• Tencent Scraps Plans For VR Hardware as Metaverse Bet Falters

  17-02-2023 16:20 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Tencent is abandoning plans to venture into virtual reality hardware, as a sobering economic outlook prompts the Chinese tech giant to cut costs and headcount at its metaverse unit, Reuters reported Friday, citing three sources familiar with the matter. From the report: The world's largest video game publisher had ambitious plans to build both virtual reality software and hardware at an "extended reality" XR unit it launched in June last year, for which it hired nearly 300 people. It had come up
  
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• 'OG Mark' Returns at Meta as Facebook Parent Gives Thousands of Staff Subpar Reviews

  17-02-2023 15:40 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Facebook parent Meta gave thousands of employees subpar ratings in a recently concluded round of performance reviews, a signal that more job cuts may be on the way, WSJ reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. From the report: The company also cut a bonus metric, the people said, one of several steps senior executives are taking after Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg declared 2023 would be a "year of efficiency." Meta's leadership expects the ratings to lead more employees to leav
  
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• Microsoft-backed OpenAI To Let Users Customize ChatGPT

  17-02-2023 15:00 via slashdot.org
  
  OpenAI, the startup behind ChatGPT, says it is developing an upgrade to its viral chatbot that users can customize, as it works to address concerns about bias in artificial intelligence. From a report: The San Francisco-based startup, which Microsoft has funded and used to power its latest technology, said it has worked to mitigate political and other biases but also wanted to accommodate more diverse views. "This will mean allowing system outputs that other people (ourselves included) may stron
  
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• FCC Proposals Require Phone Companies To Help Domestic Violence Survivors

  17-02-2023 14:00 via mobile.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Engadget: Now that the Safe Connections Act (SCA) has become law, the Federal Communications Commission is taking steps to help domestic violence survivors leave their partners' phone plans. The agency has proposed rules that would require carriers separate the line for a survivor within two business days of a request. Another proposal would also have carriers hide contact with abuse hotlines from consumer-facing call and text logs.The FCC also hopes to u
  
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• USAF Might Be Shooting Down Hobbyist Balloons

  17-02-2023 11:00 via news.slashdot.org
  
  New submitter kalieaire writes: Steve Trimble of Aviation week reports that a Hobby Club's missing ballon might have been inadvertently targeted as a malicious UFO and subsequently shot down. When Scientific Balloon Solutions (SBS) company founder, Ron Meadows, reached out to Gov't resources at the FBI and DoD, they were brushed off. "I'm guessing probably they were pico balloons," said Tom Medlin, a retired FedEx engineer and co-host of the Amateur Radio Roundtable show. Merlin has three pico b
  
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• For the First Time, Genetically Modified Trees Have Been Planted in a US Forest

  17-02-2023 08:00 via science.slashdot.org
  
  Genetically modified seedlings from biotechnology company Living Carbon have been planted in a low-lying tract of southern Georgia's pine belt. According to a paper that has yet to be peer reviewed, these trees are engineered to grow 50 percent faster than non-modified ones over five months in the greenhouse. The New York Times reports: The poplars may be the first genetically modified trees planted in the United States outside of a research trial or a commercial fruit orchard. Just as the intro
  
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• Study Suggests Watching Nature Documentaries On TV Is Good For the Planet

  17-02-2023 04:30 via science.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Phys.Org: A new paper in Annals of Botany indicates that watching nature documentaries makes people more interested in plants, potentially provoking an involvement in botany and ecology. [T]he researchers investigated whether nature documentaries can promote plant awareness, which may ultimately increase audience engagement with plant conservation programs. They focused on "Green Planet," a 2022 BBC documentary narrated by Sir David Attenborough. The show
  
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• Judge Signals Jail Time if Bankman-Fried's Internet Access Is Not Curbed

  17-02-2023 03:02 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  Sarah Blesener writes via The New York Times: Since his arrest two months ago, Samuel Bankman-Fried, the disgraced cryptocurrency executive, has been physically confined to the Palo Alto home of his parents, under the force of a $250 million bail package. But he has roamed largely unfettered in the wilderness of the internet: conducting interviews, posting narratives, making calls on encrypted apps and using a virtual private network, a web tool that allows users to conceal data and visit websit
  
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• Apple Patent Describes a Way To Read Back iMessages In the Sender's Voice

  17-02-2023 02:25 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  A new Apple patent application describes a way to transform an iMessage to a voice note. In this way, the recipient can choose to have your message read to them not in Siri's voice, but in yours. 9to5Mac reports: In other words, when you send an iMessage, your phone would offer you the option to attach a voice file. This file would be automatically created and stored on your phone, based on your use of Siri. If you do this, the recipient would be asked whether they want to receive the voice file
  
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• DocuSign To Lay Off 10% of Its Workforce

  17-02-2023 01:45 via slashdot.org
  
  E-signature software company DocuSign on Thursday announced plans to cut around 10% of its workforce. CNBC reports: DocuSign had 7,461 employees in January 2022 before it announced an earlier round of layoffs last September that impacted 9% of its workforce. The company said the latest cuts will impact about 700 employees. DocuSign said it is cutting employees in order to support the company's growth, scale and profitability objectives. It will take an impairment charge of approximately $25 mill
  
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• Binance Moved $400 Million From US Partner To Firm Managed By CEO Zhao

  17-02-2023 01:02 via news.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Global cryptocurrency exchange Binance had secret access to a bank account belonging to its purportedly independent U.S. partner and transferred large sums of money from the account to a trading firm managed by Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, banking records and company messages show. Over the first three months of 2021, more than $400 million flowed from the Binance.US account at California-based Silvergate Bank to this trading firm, Merit Peak Ltd,
  
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• First Trailer For Tetris Movie Released

  17-02-2023 00:20 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  
  Apple has released the first trailer for its movie Tetris, which tells the extraordinary true story of the struggle between Western publishers, Nintendo, and the Soviet Union itself for the rights to Alexey Pajitnov's classic puzzle game. Polygon reports: Taron Egerton plays Henk Rogers, the gaming entrepreneur who was instrumental in discovering Tetris and securing the console gaming rights, thus enabling its release on Nintendo's then-revolutionary Game Boy handheld. To do so, he had to negoti
  
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