ICT news

• Netflix Fights Attempt To Make Streaming Firms Pay For ISP Network Upgrades

  03-03-2023 23:40 via news.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters spoke out against a European proposal to make streaming providers and other online firms pay for ISPs' network upgrades. "Some of our ISP partners have proposed taxing entertainment companies to subsidize their network infrastructure," Peters said in a speech Tuesday at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona (transcript). The "tax would have an adverse effect, reducing investment in content -- hurting the creative comm
  
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• Amazon Pauses Construction On 2nd Headquarters In Virginia

  03-03-2023 23:00 via slashdot.org
  
  Amazon is pausing construction of its second headquarters in Virginia following the biggest round of layoffs in the company's history and its shifting plans around remote work. The Associated Press reports: The Seattle-based company is delaying the beginning of construction of PenPlace, the second phase of its headquarters development in northern Virginia, Amazon's real estate chief John Schoettler said in a statement. He said the company has already hired more than 8,000 employees and will welc
  
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• CO2 Emissions May Be Starting To Plateau, Says Global Energy Watchdog

  03-03-2023 22:22 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Global carbon dioxide emissions are still rising but may at least be reaching a plateau, research from the International Energy Agency has shown. From a report: CO2 from energy -- by far the biggest source of emissions -- increased by less than 1% in 2022. This was despite the turmoil in energy the markets caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The rise is smaller than the 6% increase in emissions from energy recorded by the IEA in 2021, a leap that came on the back of the rebound from the Covi
  
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• JPMorgan Chase Requires Tech Workers Give 6 Months Notice Before Quitting

  03-03-2023 21:41 via slashdot.org
  
  A veteran JPMorgan Chase banker fumed over the financial giant's policy requiring certain staffers to give six months' notice before being allowed to leave for another job. From a report: The Wall Street worker, who claims to earn around $400,000 annually in total compensation after accumulating 15 years of experience, griped that the lengthy notice period likely means a lucrative job offer from another company will be rescinded.
  Taking to the social media platform Blind -- which allows career p
  
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• The UK Briefly Considered Killing All Pet Cats Early In the Pandemic

  03-03-2023 21:00 via news.slashdot.org
  
  schwit1 writes: In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when little was known about the virus, the U.K. government briefly considered asking the public to exterminate every cat amid fears that the pets could spread the disease. Lord Bethell, a former deputy Health Minister from 2020 to 2021, revealed the news Wednesday during an interview with Britain's Channel 4 News."Can you imagine what would have happened if we had wanted to do that?" he added. The U.K. has some 10.9 million cats, accord
  
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• Florida Bill Would Make Bloggers Who Write About Governor Register With State

  03-03-2023 20:20 via news.slashdot.org
  
  A proposed law in Florida would force bloggers who write about Gov. Ron DeSantis and other elected officials to register with a state office and file monthly reports or face fines of $25 per day. The bill was filed in the Florida Senate Tuesday by Senator Jason Brodeur, a Republican. From a report If enacted, the proposed law would likely be challenged in court on grounds that it violates First Amendment protections of freedom of speech and the press. Defending his bill, Brodeur said, "Paid blog
  
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• Crypto Companies Behind Tether Used Falsified Documents and Shell Companies To Get Bank Accounts

  03-03-2023 19:40 via slashdot.org
  
  In late 2018, the companies behind the most widely traded cryptocurrency were struggling to maintain their access to the global banking system. Some of their backers turned to shadowy intermediaries, falsified documents and shell companies to get back in, documents show. WSJ: One of those intermediaries, a major tether trader in China, was trying to "circumvent the banking system by providing fake sales invoices and contracts for each deposit and withdrawal," Stephen Moore, one of the owners of
  
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• Biden Administration Announces Plan To Stop Water Plant Hacks

  03-03-2023 19:01 via news.slashdot.org
  
  The Biden administration announced on Friday a new plan to improve the digital defenses of public water systems. From a report: The move comes one day after the announcement of a national cybersecurity strategy by the White House, which seeks to broadly improve industry accountability over the cybersecurity of American critical infrastructure, such as hospitals and dams. The water system plan, which recommends a series of novel rules placing more responsibility for securing water facilities at t
  
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• New Disease Caused by Plastics Discovered in Seabirds

  03-03-2023 18:29 via science.slashdot.org
  
  A new disease caused solely by plastics has been discovered in seabirds. The birds identified as having the disease, named plasticosis, have scarred digestive tracts from ingesting waste, scientists at the Natural History Museum in London say. From a report: It is the first recorded instance of specifically plastic-induced fibrosis in wild animals, researchers say. Plastic pollution is becoming so prevalent that the scarring was widespread across different ages of birds, according to the study,
  
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• Microsoft Unveils AI Model That Understands Image Content, Solves Visual Puzzles

  03-03-2023 17:40 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Researchers from Microsoft have introduced Kosmos-1, a multimodal model that can reportedly analyze images for content, solve visual puzzles, perform visual text recognition, pass visual IQ tests, and understand natural language instructions. From a report: The researchers believe multimodal AI -- which integrates different modes of input such as text, audio, images, and video -- is a key step to building artificial general intelligence (AGI) that can perform general tasks at the level of a huma
  
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• San Diego Police Want To Add Surveillance Tech: 500 Streetlight Cameras Plus License Plate Readers

  03-03-2023 17:09 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  San Diego Union-Tribune: Almost three years ago, the city of San Diego cut off access to its broad network of Smart Streetlights -- more than 3,000 devices perched atop light poles that could collect images and other data, some of which the Police Department used to solve criminal cases. The city removed that access, at least without a warrant, because of concerns from the public about surveillance and privacy issues. On Wednesday, the San Diego Police Department said it wants access to 500 of t
  
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• FTC Has Told Sony It Has To Disclose PlayStation's Third-Party Exclusivity Deals

  03-03-2023 16:28 via games.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has largely denied Sony's request to quash a Microsoft subpoena requesting that it divulge confidential documents. Microsoft served Sony with the subpoena in January as part of its defence-building process ahead of an FTC lawsuit regarding its proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The subpoena included 45 separate requests for Sony documents, including copies of every third-party licensing agreement Sony has, and "all
  
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• Reddit Tells Court: Film Studios Spewed 'Nonsense' in Demand for Users' Names

  03-03-2023 15:40 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  Reddit is fighting a film-industry attempt to identify users who discussed piracy, telling a federal court that the studios' request for users' real names should be rejected and that one of the studios' arguments is "nonsense." From a report: "Courts have long recognized that the First Amendment protects online anonymity and have established a stringent standard to use in precisely this scenario, where a litigant seeks to unmask users for the purpose of providing evidence in litigation that does
  
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• Work Phones Make Comeback as More Employers Ban WhatsApp, TikTok

  03-03-2023 15:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  There may be a new ringtone in your life -- the urgent chime of a company-issued cell phone. From a report: In a throwback to the Blackberry era, telecom-service providers are seeing strong growth from companies handing out phones to employees. The phenomenon, which started during the pandemic, picked up recently thanks to new compliance policies around the use of WhatsApp and TikTok. It's provided a "tailwind" for subscriber gains at AT&T, Chief Financial Officer Pascal Desroches said at a
  
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• iPhone Maker Plans $700 Million India Plant In Shift From China

  03-03-2023 14:00 via apple.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: Apple partner Foxconn Technology Group plans to invest about $700 million on a new plant in India to ramp up local production, people familiar with the matter said, underscoring an accelerating shift of manufacturing away from China as Washington-Beijing tensions grow. The Taiwanese company, also known for its flagship unit Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., plans to build the plant to make iPhone parts on a 300-acre site close to the airport in B
  
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• Three-Parent Baby Technique Could Create Babies At Risk of Severe Disease

  03-03-2023 11:00 via science.slashdot.org
  
  MIT Technology Review has revealed two cases in which babies conceived with the three-parent baby technique have shown what scientists call "reversion." "In both cases, the proportion of mitochondrial genes from the child's mother has increased over time, from less than 1% in both embyros to around 50% in one baby and 72% in another," they report. From the report: When the first baby born using a controversial procedure that meant he had three genetic parents was born back in 2016, it made headl
  
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• UK Now Seen As 'Toxic' For Satellite Launches, MPs Told

  03-03-2023 08:00 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Britain's failed attempt to send satellites into orbit was a "disaster" and MPs are being urged to redirect funding to hospitals, with the country now seen as "toxic" for future launches. The Guardian reports: Senior figures at the Welsh company Space Forge, which lost a satellite when Virgin Orbit's Start Me Up mission failed to reach orbit, said a "seismic change" was needed for the UK to be appealing for space missions. Lengthy delays by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), as well as the laun
  
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• More Than Half of Humans On Track To Be Overweight or Obese By 2035, Report Finds

  03-03-2023 04:30 via news.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: More than half of the world's population will be overweight or obese by 2035 unless governments take decisive action to curb the growing epidemic of excess weight, a report has warned. About 2.6 billion people globally -- 38% of the world population -- are already overweight or obese. But on current trends that is expected to rise to more than 4 billion people (51%) in 12 years' time, according to research by the World Obesity Federation.Wit
  
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• US Regulators Rejected Neuralink's Bid To Test Brain Chips In Humans, Citing Safety Risks

  03-03-2023 02:25 via science.slashdot.org
  
  According to Reuters, Elon Musk's medical device company, Neuralink, was denied permission last year to begin human trials of a revolutionary brain implant to treat intractable conditions such as paralysis and blindness. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) outlined dozens of issues the company must address before human testing can begin, according to seven current and former employees. From the report: The agency's major safety concerns involved the device's lithium battery; the potentia
  
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• Microsoft Gives Bing's AI Chatbot Personality Options

  03-03-2023 01:45 via slashdot.org
  
  According to web services chief Mikhail Parakhin, Microsoft is giving Bing preview testers a toggle to change the chatbot's responses. Engadget reports: A Creative option allows for more "original and imaginative" (read: fun) answers, while a Precise switch emphasizes shorter, to-the-point replies. There's also a Balanced setting that aims to strike a middle ground.The company reined in the Bing AI's responses after early users noticed strange behavior during long chats and 'entertainment' sessi
  
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• Tesla Plans Gigafactory In First Mexico Investment

  03-03-2023 01:02 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Tesla announced plans to open a gigafactory in Mexico as it pushes to expand its global output. Reuters reports: Mexico on Tuesday said Tesla had chosen the northern border state of Nuevo Leon for a new factory worth more than $5 billion, calling it the "the biggest electric vehicle plant in the world." Tesla will ramp up output at all of its gigafactories, Musk said at an Investor Day event Austin, Texas. The company laid out plans to cut assembly costs by half in future generations of cars and
  
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• AI Adviser 'Hired' By the Romanian Government To Read People's Minds

  03-03-2023 00:20 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Motherboard: A new AI assistant has been unveiled by the Romanian prime minister, which he hopes will inform the government about Romanians' wishes "in real time". Nicolae Ciuca claimed that Ion (Romanian for 'John') is his "new honorary adviser" and an "international first" on Wednesday at the start of a governmental meeting. He also said that Romanians would also be able to chat directly with Ion on the project's website. "Hi, you gave me life and my ro
  
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