ICT news

• Space Scientists Reveal Brightest Gamma Explosion Ever

  01-04-2023 23:34 via science.slashdot.org
  
  It was 10 times brighter than any previously detected, reports the BBC, noting it illuminated much of the galaxy.RockDoctor (Slashdot reader #15,477) writes: A recent paper on ArXiv describes a Gamma Ray Burst (GRB) whose light arrived late last year as one of the strongest ever observed. GRB 221009A was detected on October 9 last year (yes, that number is a date), so 5 and a bit months from event to papers published is remarkably quick, and I anticipate that there will be a lot more papers on i
  
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• Scammers are Tricking Instagram Into Banning Influencers

  01-04-2023 22:34 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  ProPublica looks at "a booming underground community of Instagram scammers and hackers who shut down profiles on the social network and then demand payment to reactivate them."While they also target TikTok and other platforms, takedown-for-hire scammers like OBN are proliferating on Instagram, exploiting the app's slow and often ineffective customer support services and its easily manipulated account reporting systems. These Instascammers often target people whose accounts are vulnerable because
  
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• California's Rain Slows Construction for Its High-Speed Bullet Train

  01-04-2023 21:34 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  The Fresno Bee newspaper reports that flooding in parts of California "have also ground work to a halt at several key construction sites for California's high-speed rail project."
  But while standing water at some locations has prevented work crews from reaching their job sites, the Central Valley director for the Cailfornia High-Speed Rail Authority said it's the prospects for a lengthy summer run of water in local irrigation canals that present a greater potential disruption to construction lat
  
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• With Easy AI-Generated Deepfakes, Is Every Day April Fool's Day Now?

  01-04-2023 20:34 via slashdot.org
  
  "Every day is April Fool's Day now, requiring a low but constant effort," argues Motherboard's senior editor, in a post shared by Slashdot reader samleecole.
  "As AI-generated shitposting becomes easier, it's inevitable that one of these will catch you with your guard down, or appeal to some basic emotion you are too eager to believe..."Even if you're trained in recognizing fake imagery and can immediately spot the difference between copy written by a language model and a human (content that's in
  
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• SpaceX's Starship Gets Its First Commercial Contract to Moon's Surface

  01-04-2023 19:34 via science.slashdot.org
  
  "SpaceX has its first commercial cargo contract to the lunar surface," says Jaret Matthews, the founder of the tiny startup Astrolab which makes a moon rover the size of a Jeep Wrangler. The New York Times reports:On Friday, Astrolab announced that it had signed an agreement with SpaceX for its Flexible Logistics and Exploration Rover, or FLEX, to be a payload on an uncrewed Starship cargo mission that is to take off as early as mid-2026...." SpaceX, which did not respond to requests for comment
  
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• These Angry Dutch Farmers Really Hate Microsoft Over Data Centers

  01-04-2023 18:34 via slashdot.org
  
  Wired pays a visit to a half-finished Microsoft data center that rises out of the flat North Holland farmland — where the security guard tells a local councillor he's not allowed to visit the site, and "Within minutes, the argument has escalated, and the guard has his hand around Ruiter's throat."The security guard lets go of Ruiter within a few seconds, and the councillor escapes with a red mark across his neck. Back in his car, Ruiter insists he's fine. But his hands shake when he tries
  
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• These Angry Dutch Farmers Really Hate Microsoft

  01-04-2023 18:34 via slashdot.org
  
  Wired pays a visit to a half-finished Microsoft data center that rises out of the flat North Holland farmland — where the security guard tells a local councillor he's not allowed to visit the site, and "Within minutes, the argument has escalated, and the guard has his hand around Ruiter's throat."The security guard lets go of Ruiter within a few seconds, and the councillor escapes with a red mark across his neck. Back in his car, Ruiter insists he's fine. But his hands shake when he tries
  
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• It Turns Out Moderate Drinking Isn't Good For Your Health, New Study Finds

  01-04-2023 17:34 via slashdot.org
  
  "Drinking moderate amounts of alcohol every day does not — as once thought — protect against death from heart disease," writes the Washington Post, "nor does it contribute to a longer life, according to a sweeping new analysis of alcohol research."The review, which examined existing research on the health and drinking habits of nearly 5 million people, is one of the largest studies to debunk the widely held belief that moderate drinking of wine or other alcoholic beverages is good fo
  
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• Chinese Officials Release 'Updated Analysis' of 1,300 Samples From Wuhan Market

  01-04-2023 16:34 via science.slashdot.org
  
  "Chinese officials have released an updated analysis of more than 1,300 samples taken from the Wuhan wet market at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic," reports the Telegraph:In a preprint published on Wednesday, researchers from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said there was "convincing evidence" that Sars-Cov-2 was spreading widely at Wuhan's Huanan seafood market in January 2020.
  Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the WHO, tells them "This data could and should ha
  
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• German Police Raid DDoS-Friendly Host 'FlyHosting'

  01-04-2023 15:00 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from KrebsOnSecurity: Authorities in Germany this week seized Internet servers that powered FlyHosting, a dark web offering that catered to cybercriminals operating DDoS-for-hire services, KrebsOnSecurity has learned. FlyHosting first advertised on cybercrime forums in November 2022, saying it was a Germany-based hosting firm that was open for business to anyone looking for a reliable place to host malware, botnet controllers, or DDoS-for-hire infrastructure.
  
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• Heat Pump Sales Outpaced Gas Furnace Sales In the US In 2022

  01-04-2023 12:00 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  In the US, heat pump purchases exceeded those of gas furnaces in 2022 -- part of a bigger trend that saw global heat pump sales grow by 11%. Electrek reports: According to analysis released today by the International Energy Agency (IEA), heat pump sales in Europe saw a record year, with sales growing by nearly 40%. And specifically, sales of air-to-water models in Europe that are compatible with typical radiators and underfloor heating systems jumped by almost 50%. In China, the world's largest
  
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• Scientists Erupt At NASA Gutting Funding For Crucial Venus Mission

  01-04-2023 09:00 via science.slashdot.org
  
  The scientific community is reeling after NASA gutted funding for a key Venus mission that was "poised to answer some of the biggest questions about the planet and its volcanic activity," reports The Verge. From the report: This month saw the announcement of one of the most exciting findings about Venus in decades: the first direct evidence of an active volcano there. [...] This finding is "mind-blowing," Venus scientist Darby Dyar told The Verge, opening up possibilities to learn about Venus' g
  
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• Magnon-Based Computation Could Signal Computing Paradigm Shift

  01-04-2023 05:30 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Phys.Org: Like electronics or photonics, magnonics is an engineering subfield that aims to advance information technologies when it comes to speed, device architecture, and energy consumption. A magnon corresponds to the specific amount of energy required to change the magnetization of a material via a collective excitation called a spin wave. Because they interact with magnetic fields, magnons can be used to encode and transport data without electron flo
  
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• US Approves California Plan Requiring Half of Heavy Duty Trucks Be EV By 2035

  01-04-2023 04:02 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Friday said it was approving California's plans to require a rising number of zero-emission heavy-duty trucks as the state pushes to cut pollution. Reuters reports: California Governor Gavin Newsom said as a result of the plan, "half of all heavy duty trucks sold in CA will be electric by 2035." "Time to stop playing small ball," he added. Under an executive order Newsom signed in 2020, California plans to mandate by 2045 that all operations of m
  
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• YouTuber Tricks ChatGPT Into Generating Windows 95 Keys

  01-04-2023 03:25 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  A YouTuber has published a video where he tricks ChatGPT into generating usable Windows 95 activation keys. Tom's Hardware reports: After asking Open AI's chatbot directly for Windows 95 keys, he received an expected reasoned refusal. YouTuber Enderman then asked the same thing but from a different angle. The result was a success which was somewhat limited by ChatGPT's ability to process natural language requests into formulas. [...] Some of the tested results were checked by attempting to activ
  
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• YouTube Tricks ChatGPT Into Generating Windows 95 Keys

  01-04-2023 03:25 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  A YouTuber has published a video where he tricks ChatGPT into generating usable Windows 95 activation keys. Tom's Hardware reports: After asking Open AI's chatbot directly for Windows 95 keys, he received an expected reasoned refusal. YouTuber Enderman then asked the same thing but from a different angle. The result was a success which was somewhat limited by ChatGPT's ability to process natural language requests into formulas. [...] Some of the tested results were checked by attempting to activ
  
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• Glitch In System Upgrade Identified As Cause of Delays At Singapore Immigration

  01-04-2023 02:45 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Technical glitch during a scheduled upgrade affected all automated immigration clearance systems and led to rare delays at Singapore's Changi Airport, which recently was again named the world's best airport. ZDNet reports: Long lines were spotted Thursday morning at the country's airport where travelers usually would not need more than mere minutes to clear immigration. In a series of posts on Facebook and Twitter, Singapore's Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said it was experiencin
  
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• China's Chip Industry Will Be 'Reborn' Under US Sanctions, Says Huawei

  01-04-2023 02:02 via slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from CNBC: China's chip industry will be "reborn" as a result of U.S. sanctions, a top boss at Huawei said Friday, as the Chinese telecommunications giant confirmed a breakthrough in semiconductor design technology. Eric Xu, rotating chairman at Huawei, issued fighting words against Washington's tech export restrictions on China. "I believe China's semiconductor industry will not sit idly by, but take efforts around ... self-strengthening and self reliance," a
  
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• GM Plans To Phase Out Apple CarPlay In EVs, With Google's Help

  01-04-2023 01:20 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  General Motors plans to phase out widely-used Apple CarPlay and Android Auto technologies that allow drivers to bypass a vehicle's infotainment systems, shifting instead to built-in infotainment systems developed with Google for future electric vehicles. Reuters reports: GM's decision to stop offering those systems in future electric vehicles, starting with the 2024 Chevrolet Blazer, could help the automaker capture more data on how consumers drive and charge EVs. GM is designing the on-board na
  
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• Google Drive Has a Hidden File Limit

  01-04-2023 00:40 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Google Drive is enforcing a new file limit for the total number of files you can store on an account. 9to5Google reports: Some Google Drive users have recently noticed a message on their accounts which says that the account has reached its "creation limit" and won't accept any new files until existing ones are deleted. The issue was first highlighted by Ars Technica, and appears to be enforced for both free accounts as well as those subscribed to Google Workspace and Google One.The issue was fla
  
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• Canada Is Working To Implement a Right To Repair

  01-04-2023 00:00 via news.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Like in other parts of the world, Canada is working out what the right to repair means for its people. The federal government said in its 2023 budget released Tuesday that it will bring the right to repair to Canada. At the same time, it's considering a universal charging port mandate like the European Union (EU) is implementing with USB-C. The Canadian federal government's 2023 budget introduces the right to repair under the chapter "Making
  
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