ICT news

• Amazon Starts Flagging 'Frequently Returned' Products That You Maybe Shouldn't Buy

  28-03-2023 23:20 via slashdot.org
  
  Amazon is starting to warn consumers when products sold on its platform are regularly shipped back for returns. The Verge: As reported by The Information, Amazon is rolling out a warning label on "frequently returned" products that will encourage consumers to check the item details and reviews before making their purchase, helping customers avoid misleading or low-quality products and reducing unnecessary returns. Currently, Amazon's return policy allows customers to return new and unused items
  
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• Microsoft Unveils OpenAI-Based Chat Tools for Fighting Cyberattacks

  28-03-2023 22:40 via it.slashdot.org
  
  Microsoft, extending a frenzy of artificial intelligence software releases, is introducing new chat tools that can help cybersecurity teams ward off hacks and clean up after an attack. From a report: The latest of Microsoft's AI assistant tools -- the software giant likes to call them Copilots -- uses OpenAI's new GPT-4 language system and data specific to the security field, the company said Tuesday. The idea is to help security workers more quickly see connections between various parts of a ha
  
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• Russia Supplies Iran With Cyber Weapons as Military Cooperation Grows

  28-03-2023 22:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Russia is helping Iran gain advanced digital-surveillance capabilities as Tehran seeks deeper cooperation on cyberwarfare, WSJ reported Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter said, adding another layer to a burgeoning military alliance that the U.S. sees as a threat. From the report: The potential for cyberwarfare collaboration comes after Iran has, according to U.S. and Iranian officials, sold Russia drones for use in Ukraine, agreed to provide short-range missiles to Moscow and shippe
  
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• Google Partners With AI Startup Replit To Take on Microsoft's GitHub

  28-03-2023 21:20 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Alphabet's Google is striking a partnership to combine its artificial intelligence language models with software from startup Replit that helps computer programmers write code, a bid to compete with a similar product from Microsoft's GitHub and OpenAI. From a report: Replit's Ghostwriter, which has 20 million users, will rely on Google's language-generation AI to improve its ability to suggest blocks of code, complete programs and answer developer questions. Google Cloud Vice President June Yang
  
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• Generative AI Set To Affect 300 Million Jobs Across Major Economies, Goldman Sachs Says

  28-03-2023 20:40 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  The latest breakthroughs in artificial intelligence could lead to the automation of a quarter of the work done in the US and eurozone, according to research by Goldman Sachs. From a report: The investment bank said on Monday that "generative" AI systems such as ChatGPT, which can create content that is indistinguishable from human output, could spark a productivity boom that would eventually raise annual global gross domestic product by 7 percent over a 10-year period. But if the technology live
  
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• Microsoft Plans Major Platform Upgrades for 'Windows 12' That Will Modernize the OS With AI and Faster Updates

  28-03-2023 20:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Windows Central reports: According to my sources who are familiar with Microsoft's plans, the company is once again hard at work on a new project internally that's designed to modernize the Windows platform with many of the same innovations it was working on for Windows Core OS, but with a focus on native compatibility for legacy Win32 applications on devices where it makes sense. The project is codenamed CorePC and is designed to be a modular and customizable variant of Windows for Microsoft to
  
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• GitHub Slashes Its Entire Engineering Team in India

  28-03-2023 19:21 via developers.slashdot.org
  
  GitHub, the popular developer platform, has laid off virtually its entire engineering team in India as the Microsoft-owned firm cuts its expenses amid weakening global market conditions. From a report: The developer firm has eliminated over 100 jobs in the South Asian market, a person familiar with the matter said. GitHub informed the employees about the job cut on Tuesday.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
  
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• Belgian Intelligence Puts Huawei on Its Watchlist

  28-03-2023 18:40 via it.slashdot.org
  
  Belgium's intelligence service is scrutinizing the operations of technology giant Huawei as fears of Chinese espionage grow around the EU and NATO headquarters in Brussels, according to confidential documents seen by POLITICO and three people familiar with the matter. From the report: In recent months, Belgium's State Security Service (VSSE) has requested interviews with former employees of the company's lobbying operation in the heart of Brussels' European district. The intelligence gathering i
  
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• Apple Introduces Apple Pay Later

  28-03-2023 17:43 via apple.slashdot.org
  
  Apple: Apple today introduced Apple Pay Later in the U.S. Designed with users' financial health in mind, Apple Pay Later allows users to split purchases into four payments, spread over six weeks with no interest and no fees. Users can easily track, manage, and repay their Apple Pay Later loans in one convenient location in Apple Wallet. Users can apply for Apple Pay Later loans of $50 to $1,000, which can be used for online and in-app purchases made on iPhone and iPad with merchants that accept
  
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• Biden Invokes Defense Production Act For Printed Circuit Board Production

  28-03-2023 17:21 via news.slashdot.org
  
  New submitter Ironsights shares a report: U.S. President Joe Biden has invoked the Defense Production Act to spend $50 million on domestic and Canadian production of printed circuit boards, citing the technology's importance to national defense. Printed circuit boards are incorporated into missiles and radars, as well as electronics used for energy and healthcare. Without presidential action under the act, "United States industry cannot reasonably be expected to provide the capability for the ne
  
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• Amazon Opens Its Low-Bandwidth, Long-Range Sidewalk Network To Developers

  28-03-2023 16:59 via developers.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: Back in 2019, Amazon announced Sidewalk, its low-bandwidth, long-range wireless network that uses the 900 MHz spectrum to connect Internet of Things (IoT) devices. It does this by creating a mesh network between Amazon's own Echo and Ring devices and sharing a small part of their owner's bandwidth. Ideally, this means Sidewalk will be able to connect devices that sit beyond the reach of a Bluetooth or Wi-Fi signal. Until now, though, only a select number of d
  
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• Alibaba To Split Into 6 Companies, Pursue IPOs in Major Shakeup

  28-03-2023 16:00 via slashdot.org
  
  Chinese e-commerce group Alibaba Group Holding will reorganize into six business groups and pursue public listings for five of them, in the most significant governance overhaul since the company was established 24 years ago. From a report: The company announced the move on Tuesday, a day after founder Jack Ma's surprise return to China following a lengthy stint abroad. The six business groups will focus on sectors such as cloud computing, e-commerce and logistics. "This transformation will empow
  
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• Clearview AI Used Nearly 1 Million Times By US Police

  28-03-2023 15:00 via news.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC: Facial recognition firm Clearview has run nearly a million searches for US police, its founder has told the BBC CEO Hoan Ton-That also revealed Clearview now has 30 billion images scraped from platforms such as Facebook, taken without users' permissions. [...] The company is banned from selling its services to most US companies, after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) took Clearview AI to court in Illinois for breaking privacy law. But th
  
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• Black Holes May Be Swallowing Invisible Matter That Slows the Movement of Stars

  28-03-2023 09:00 via science.slashdot.org
  
  For the first time, scientists may have discovered indirect evidence that large amounts of invisible dark matter surround black holes. The discovery, if confirmed, could represent a major breakthrough in dark matter research. Space.com reports: Dark matter makes up around 85% of all matter in the universe, but it is almost completely invisible to astronomers. This is because, unlike the matter that comprises stars, planets and everything else around us, dark matter doesn't interact with light an
  
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• In a First, Renewables Beat Coal In the US Power Sector In 2022

  28-03-2023 05:30 via news.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Electrek: For the first time ever, renewable power generation -- that's wind, solar, hydro, biomass, and geothermal -- exceeded coal-fired generation in the US electric power sector in 2022, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Overall, the US electric power sector produced 4,090 million megawatt-hours (MWh) of power in 2022. Wind and solar's combined total generation increased from 12% in 2021 to 14% in 2022. Hydropower stayed the
  
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• Google's Claims of Super-Human AI Chip Layout Back Under the Microscope

  28-03-2023 03:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  A Google-led research paper published in Nature, claiming machine-learning software can design better chips faster than humans, has been called into question after a new study disputed its results. The Register reports: In June 2021, Google made headlines for developing a reinforcement-learning-based system capable of automatically generating optimized microchip floorplans. These plans determine the arrangement of blocks of electronic circuitry within the chip: where things such as the CPU and G
  
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• Zoom's New AI Features Help You Catch Up On Meetings You're Late To

  28-03-2023 01:50 via slashdot.org
  
  Zoom is partnering with OpenAI to bring AI-generated summaries, message drafts, and more to the video conferencing app through its Zoom IQ AI-powered assistant. The Verge reports: While Zoom IQ can already do things like create chapters and highlights for recorded meetings, Zoom's giving the assistant even more features, including a way to catch up on meetings that you may have been late to. That means you'll be able to ask the tool to summarize what you've missed as well as "ask further questio
  
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• Lebanon Reverses Decision To Delay Daylight Savings Time Change

  28-03-2023 01:10 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  Lebanon's government has reversed a decision to delay the shift to daylight savings time by a month, which had sparked both anger and confusion. The BBC reports: Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced that clocks would now go forward on Wednesday night. He had agreed to a delay last week so Muslims could break their fasts earlier during the holy month of Ramadan. But Christian authorities defied the order and changed their clocks as usual on Sunday, which was the last in March. Many bus
  
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• US Military Needs 7th Branch Just For Cyber, Leaders Say

  28-03-2023 00:30 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Record: A national association of current and former military digital security leaders is calling on Congress to establish a separate cyber service, arguing that the lack of one creates an "unnecessary risk" to U.S. national security. In a March 26 memorandum, the Military Cyber Professional Association urged lawmakers to establish a U.S. Cyber Force in this year's annual defense policy bill."For over a decade, each service has taken their own approac
  
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