ICT news

• Inmates Are Using VR To Learn Real-World Skills

  26-04-2023 23:25 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Corrections systems are using simulators to provide incarcerated individuals with more lifelike instruction. But is it working? From a report: Atorrus Rainer, 41, is standing in the center of a stuffy room wearing a virtual-reality headset. Every so often, he extends his arm, using the VR controller to pick up garbage bags, a toothbrush, and toilet paper during a simulated trip to the supermarket. The self-checkout station overwhelms him: those didn't exist in 2001, when Rainer, then a teenager,
  
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• 'High Risk of Biological Hazard' In Sudan After Fighters Seize Biolab, WHO Says

  26-04-2023 22:45 via news.slashdot.org
  
  The World Health Organization (WHO) said there's a "high risk of biological hazard" in Khartoum, the capitol of Sudan, after a biolab containing deadly pathogens was seized by fighters. From a report: There's a war in Sudan right now as two rival generals struggle for power. After a week of fighting, one of the factions has seized the National Public Health Laboratory which contains samples of measles, cholera, polio, and other diseases. Now, lab workers are unable to return to the facility and
  
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• Brazil Court Suspends Telegram

  26-04-2023 22:34 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  Brazilian court has ordered the nationwide suspension of the Telegram messaging app due to its parent company's failure to provide data on neo-Nazis operating on the platform, imposing a daily fine of approximately $198,000 until compliance is met. The action was taken as part of an investigation into neo-Nazi activity on social networks.Agence France-Presse first reported the news.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
  
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• 'Indiana Jones 5' Will Feature a De-Aged Harrison Ford for the First 25 Minutes

  26-04-2023 22:01 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: A young Harrison Ford will grace cinema screens for 25 minutes this summer -- aided by some new Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) software. The news that LucasFilm's Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny would feature a de-aged Ford came at the end of last year, but an interview with director James Mangold in Total Film just revealed it will be for almost a fifth of the film's running time.
  The fifth Indiana Jones iteration starts with an opening scene from
  
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• SpaceX, Rogers Strike Deal for Satellite Phone Service in Canada

  26-04-2023 21:22 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  SpaceX and Rogers Communications struck a deal for satellite phone service in Canada -- a bid to bring emergency service to remote areas of the vast country that can't be reached through conventional wireless networks. From a report: The companies will use SpaceX's Starlink low-earth orbit satellites and begin with text service before adding voice and data coverage later, Rogers said in a statement. It didn't give a launch date for the new service. "In the future, these investments will deliver
  
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• Amazon Starts Layoffs in HR and Cloud Units

  26-04-2023 20:41 via slashdot.org
  
  Amazon on Wednesday began laying off some employees in its cloud computing and human resources divisions. From a report: Amazon Web Services CEO Adam Selipsky and human resources head Beth Galetti sent notes to staffers in the U.S., Canada and Costa Rica informing them of the job cuts. "It is a tough day across our organization," Selipsky wrote in the memo. The layoffs are part of the previously announced job cuts that are expected to affect 9,000 employees. Last week, Amazon laid off some emplo
  
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• Company Seeks First-Time Restart of Shuttered Nuclear Plant

  26-04-2023 20:00 via news.slashdot.org
  
  A company that tears down closed nuclear power plants wants to do in Michigan what has never been done in the U.S.: restore a dead one to life. From a report: Holtec Decommissioning International bought the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station last June for the stated purpose of dismantling it, weeks after previous owner Entergy shut it down. Fuel was removed from the reactor core. Federal regulators were notified of "permanent cessation of power operations." But with support from Democratic Gov
  
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• Netflix Loses 1 Million Spanish Users Over Password Policing

  26-04-2023 19:20 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  
  Netflix lost more than one million users in Spain in the first three months of 2023 according to market research group Kantar, a sign that the streaming giant's crackdown on password-sharing could backfire. From a report: In early February, Spain became one of Netflix's first markets to introduce a monthly fee for users who shared their log-in details with another household and technical measures to detect such sharing. The move was linked to a fall in users of more than a million, two thirds of
  
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• 5G Not Enough? Telecom Companies Look to 5.5G

  26-04-2023 18:40 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  5G technology has brought faster connections, better gadgets -- and a measure of disappointment from people with expectations of something closer to world-changing technology. But just wait, mobile companies are saying: The next upgrade will gin up enthusiasm for advances still to come. From a report: This next iteration of 5G, which the mobile companies are calling "5G Advanced" or "5.5G," is expected to be rolled out by around 2025. For consumers, the upgrades may bring faster connection speed
  
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• Commerce Dept. Outlines Plans To Fund Cutting-Edge Chip Research

  26-04-2023 18:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  The Biden administration outlined plans on Tuesday to propel research on the type of cutting-edge microchips needed to power computers, cars and other devices, saying it would establish a new national organization with locations in various parts of the United States. From a report: The Commerce Department, which is in charge of the administration's efforts to revitalize the American chip industry, said its new National Semiconductor Technology Center would bring together companies, universities
  
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• Bosch To Buy Chipmaker TSI, Invest $1.5 Billion in US Plant

  26-04-2023 17:45 via slashdot.org
  
  Robert Bosch is acquiring US chipmaker TSI Semiconductors and plans to invest more than $1.5 billion in its California foundry, expanding the German company's global bet on chips. From a report: The world's biggest auto-parts supplier plans to retool and modernize TSI's Roseville site with a target to start producing silicon carbide chips there from 2026, Bosch said Wednesday. The company expects 30% annual demand growth for this type of chip, commonly used in power management that's beneficial
  
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• Meta's Clegg Invokes Anti-China Rhetoric Against TikTok

  26-04-2023 16:40 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Meta's head of global affairs, Nick Clegg, called into question the values of TikTok by invoking the anti-China rhetoric that's become a trademark of lawmakers that want to expel his company's rival from the US. From a report: "TikTok, a hugely successful, highly dynamic and innovative Chinese company, is able to operate in the United States, but companies like Meta are not able to operate our social media services in China," Clegg said in an interview Tuesday with Bloomberg TV. "So there is thi
  
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• Linux Kernel 6.3 Released

  26-04-2023 15:00 via linux.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from ZDNet, written by Steven Vaughan-Nichols: The latest Linux kernel is out with a slew of new features -- and, for once, this release has been nice and easy. [...] Speaking of Rust, everyone's favorite memory-safe language, the new kernel comes with user-mode Linux support for Rust code. Miguel Ojeda, the Linux kernel developer, who's led the efforts to bring Rust to Linux, said the additions mean we're, "getting closer to a point where the first Rust modul
  
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• Microsoft's $69 Billion Activision Deal Blocked by UK Watchdog

  26-04-2023 13:13 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Microsoft's $69 billion takeover of Activision Blizzard, suffered a hammer blow after Britain's antitrust watchdog vetoed the gaming industry's biggest ever deal, saying it would harm competition on the cloud. From a report: The Competition and Markets Authority said its concerns couldn't be solved by remedies such as the sale of blockbuster title Call of Duty or so-called behavioral remedies involving promises to permit rivals to offer the game on their platforms, according to a statement Wedne
  
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• Microsoft Suggests Businesses Buy Fewer PCs

  26-04-2023 12:00 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  In early April with the start of previews for "Windows Frontline" -- a service that provides a single license for frontline employees to use up to three Cloud PCs, Microsoft floated the idea that businesses should buy fewer PCs. The Register reports: The "Frontline" name hints at its purpose: Microsoft thinks this license will benefit organizations that employ shift workers in roles like customer support or healthcare. Microsoft imagines shift workers will log on for eight hours, then the next w
  
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• AT&T Helps Complete the First 'Space-Based Voice Call' Using a Standard Smartphone

  26-04-2023 09:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Satellite manufacturer AST SpaceMobile partnered with AT&T to make the first two-way audio call using satellites with a standard smartphone. "The initial call was placed using AT&T's networks in Midland, Texas, to mobile carrier Ratuken in Japan on an unmodified Samsung Galaxy S22 smartphone using AST SpaceMobile's BlueWalker 3 satellite," reports Engadget. AST SpaceMobile claims to be building "the first and only space-based cellular broadband network." From the report: AT&T aims to
  
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• Meet the People Who Use 'Notion' To Plan Their Whole Lives

  26-04-2023 05:30 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from MIT Technology Review: Joshua Bergen is a very productive person. His secret is the workspace app Notion. Bergen, a product manager living in Vancouver, uses it to plan trips abroad in meticulous detail, with notes and timelines. He uses it to curate lists of the movies and TV shows he's watched, and records what he thought of them. It's also a handy way to keep tabs on his 3D-printing projects, map snowboarding runs, and quickly update his cute list of t
  
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• GM Is Killing Off the Chevy Bolt and Bolt EUV

  26-04-2023 04:02 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  General Motors will stop producing its two top-selling EVs, the Chevy Bolt and Bolt EUV, by the end of 2023. TechCrunch reports: [General Motors Chair and CEO Mary Barra] told investors during the company's earnings call that its Orion Michigan factory, which currently assembles the Bolt, will be retooled for electric truck production. The decision comes as GM launches a new slate of EVs such as the GMC Hummer and Cadillac Lyriq that are outfitted with the company's Ultium architecture that incl
  
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• Bulgaria Approves Draft Law That Turns Pirate Site Operators Into Criminals

  26-04-2023 03:25 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  A draft law that aims to criminalize and prosecute those who "create conditions for online piracy" has been approved by Bulgaria's Council of Ministers. The proposed amendments are Bulgaria's response to heavy criticism from the United States, most publicly via the USTR's Special 301 Reports. It's hoped that prison sentences of up to six years will send a deterrent message. TorrentFreak reports: Last week the Council of Ministers approved draft amendments to the Criminal Code that aim to protect
  
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• Google Play Has Created a No-Win Situation For the Creators of Icon Packs

  26-04-2023 02:45 via developers.slashdot.org
  
  Jules Wang from Android Police reports on the cases of two icon pack artists who had their products taken down from the Play Store for supposedly violating the platform's Repetitive Content policy. Despite both creators' products being reinstated, they revealed that Google's opaque application of its rules has caused frustration and hopelessness among developers. From the report: All this heartache stems from Google Play's Repetitive Content policy. While on its face a well-meaning effort to red
  
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• An AI Scraping Tool Is Overwhelming Websites With Traffic

  26-04-2023 02:02 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Motherboard: The creator of a tool that scrapes the internet for images in order to power artificial intelligence image generators like Stable Diffusion is telling website owners who want him to stop that they have to actively opt out, and that it's "sad" that they are fighting the inevitable rise of AI. "It is sad that several of you are not understanding the potential of AI and open AI and as a consequence have decided to fight it," Romain Beaumont, the
  
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• FSF Calls On the IRS To Provide Libre Tax-Filing Software

  26-04-2023 01:20 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  In a blog post today, the Free Software Foundation is calling on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to provide free/libre tax-filing software for Americans to file their taxes, citing upcoming legislation that allocates funds for the agency to explore a government-operated gratis tax return system. "Many feel they have no other option than to use nonfree software or a Service as a Software Substitute (SaaSS), giving up their freedom as well as their most private financial information to a third-
  
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• VC Firms Create $60 Billion-plus Climate Tech Alliance With Backing From the UN

  26-04-2023 00:40 via news.slashdot.org
  
  A group of venture capital firms including Tiger Global and Union Square Ventures on Tuesday set up an alliance aimed at making private tech investing more climate-friendly. From a report: Called the Venture Climate Alliance (VCA), the coalition of more than 20 climate tech and generalist funds seeks to get the VC industry to increase its commitments to climate tech, a branch of technology devoted to finding solutions to the climate crisis. The alliance lays out guidance that its VC members and
  
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• Google's Cloud Business Turns Profitable For the First Time

  26-04-2023 00:00 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Google's cloud business has turned profitable for the first time in the three years it's been reporting operating metrics. CNBC reports: The segment generated $191 million in operating income on $7.45 billion in revenue in the first quarter, according to Alphabet's earnings statement. In the year-ago quarter, the unit reported a $706 million loss on $5.82 billion in revenue. The cloud business includes the Google Cloud Platform, which rents out cloud infrastructure and services that companies ca
  
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