ICT news

• 48 States Sue Phone Company That Allegedly Catered To Needs of Robocallers

  24-05-2023 23:20 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Nearly every US state yesterday sued a telecom company accused of routing billions of illegal robocalls to millions of US residents on the Do Not Call Registry. From a report: Avid Telecom, an Arizona-based company formed in 2000, "chose profit over running a business that conforms to state and federal law," according to a lawsuit led by Arizona AG Kris Mayes and joined by the attorneys general of 47 other states and the District of Columbia. The case involves every US state except Alaska and So
  
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• Microsoft Warns That China Hackers Attacked US Infrastructure

  24-05-2023 22:45 via slashdot.org
  
  Microsoft has issued a warning that Chinese state-sponsored hackers, known as "Volt Typhoon," have compromised "critical" U.S. cyber infrastructure across various industries with a focus on gathering intelligence. CNBC reports: The Chinese hacking group, codenamed "Volt Typhoon," has operated since mid-2021, Microsoft said in an advisory. The organization is apparently working to disrupt "critical communications infrastructure between the United States and Asia," Microsoft said, to stymie effort
  
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• AMD Has A One-Liner To Help Speed Up Linux System Resume Time

  24-05-2023 22:01 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Michael Larabel, reporting at Phoronix: AMD engineers have been working out many quirks and oddities in system suspend/resume handling to make it more reliable on their hardware particularly around Ryzen laptops. In addition to suspend/resume reliability improvements and suspend-to-idle (s2idle) enhancements, one of their engineers also discovered an easy one-liner as a small step to speeding up system resume time. AMD engineer Basavaraj Natikar realized a missing check in the USB XHCI driver ca
  
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• Meta's 'Efficiency' Layoffs Take a Toll on Employee Productivity

  24-05-2023 21:20 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Meta employees received news Wednesday of the final round of previously announced job cuts, which affected thousands of workers in the company's business departments. Now, remaining staff are hoping an uncomfortable limbo at the company can end. From a report: The layoffs complete the bulk of the restructuring Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg announced in March to eliminate 10,000 positions. Initial reductions affected the company's recruiting and human resources departments, and in late
  
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• PyPI Was Subpoenaed

  24-05-2023 20:37 via developers.slashdot.org
  
  The PyPI blog: In March and April 2023, the Python Software Foundation (PSF) received three (3) subpoenas for PyPI user data. All three subpoenas were issued by the United States Department of Justice. The PSF was not provided with context on the legal circumstances surrounding these subpoenas. In total, user data related to five (5) PyPI usernames were requested. The data request was:
  "Names (including subscriber names, user names, and screen names);"
  "Addresses (including mailing, residential
  
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• France Bans Short-haul Flights To Cut Carbon Emissions

  24-05-2023 20:01 via news.slashdot.org
  
  France has banned domestic short-haul flights where train alternatives exist, in a bid to cut carbon emissions. BBC: The law came into force two years after lawmakers had voted to end routes where the same journey could be made by train in under two-and-a-half hours. The ban all but rules out air travel between Paris and cities including Nantes, Lyon and Bordeaux, while connecting flights are unaffected. Critics have described the latest measures as "symbolic bans." Laurent Donceel, interim head
  
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• Amazon's Answer To ChatGPT Seen as Incomplete

  24-05-2023 19:20 via slashdot.org
  
  Amazon's cloud customers are clamoring to get their hands on the ChatGPT-style technology the company unveiled six weeks ago. But instead of being allowed to test it, many are being told to sit tight, prompting concerns the artificial intelligence tool isn't fully baked. From a report: Amazon's announcement that it had entered the generative AI race was uncharacteristically vague, according to longtime employees and customers. Amazon Web Services product launches typically include glowing testim
  
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• Apple Plans To Turn Locked iPhones Into Smart Displays With iOS 17

  24-05-2023 18:42 via apple.slashdot.org
  
  Apple is planning a new interface for iPhones that shows information such as calendar appointments, the weather and notifications in the style of a smart-home display, part of a flurry of new features coming in its iOS 17 software update. From a report: The view will appear when an iPhone is locked and positioned horizontally, operating similarly to dedicated displays offered by Alphabet's Google and Amazon.com, according to people familiar with the project. The idea is to make iPhones more usef
  
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• Microsoft's Surface Pro X Cameras Have Suddenly Stopped Working

  24-05-2023 18:01 via it.slashdot.org
  
  Microsoft's ARM-based Surface Pro X tablet is not having a good time, and neither are its owners. From a report: According to multiple reports, the tablet's cameras stopped working out of the blue, showing a cryptic error when trying to launch the Windows Camera app or other software: "Something went wrong. If you need it, here's the error code: 0xA00F4271 (0x80004005)."
  The first thing that comes to the user's mind when experiencing issues like this is reinstalling the corresponding driver. How
  
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• Driver's Licenses, Addresses, Photos: Inside How TikTok Shares User Data

  24-05-2023 17:20 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  Employees of the Chinese-owned video app TikTok have regularly posted user information on a messaging and collaboration tool called Lark, according to internal documents. The New York Times: In August 2021, TikTok received a complaint from a British user, who flagged that a man had been "exposing himself and playing with himself" on a livestream she hosted on the video app. She also described past abuse she had experienced. To address the complaint, TikTok employees shared the incident on an int
  
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• AMD's and Nvidia's Latest Sub-$400 GPUs Fail To Push the Bar on 1440p Gaming

  24-05-2023 16:40 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: I'm disappointed. I've been waiting for AMD and Nvidia to offer up more affordable options for this generation of GPUs that could really push 1440p into the mainstream, but what I've been reviewing over the past week hasn't lived up to my expectations. Nvidia and AMD are both releasing new GPUs this week that are aimed at the budget PC gaming market. After seven years of 1080p dominating the mainstream, I was hopeful this generation would deliver 1440p value
  
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• Microsoft's AI Reaches Indian Villages

  24-05-2023 16:00 via slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: Merely months have passed since Microsoft and OpenAI unveiled ChatGPT to the world, sparking a fervor among tech enthusiasts and industry titans. Now, the technology that underpins this generative AI is breaking barriers, reaching remote hamlets hundreds of miles away from the tech hubbubs of Seattle and San Francisco. Jugalbandi, a chatbot built in collaboration by Microsoft, the open-source initiative OpenNyAI, and AI4Bharat, backed by the Indian government
  
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• Surgeon General: There Isn't Enough Evidence That Social Media Is Safe For Kids

  24-05-2023 15:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from STAT News: Amid what he called the worst youth mental health crisis in recent memory, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an advisory Tuesday warning about social media's impact on developing young brains. "Through the last two and a half years I've been in office, I've been hearing concerns from kids and parents," Murthy told STAT. "Parents are asking 'Is social media safe for my kids?' Based on our review of the data, there isn't enough evidence th
  
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• CISA and Partners Release Cybersecurity Advisory Guidance detailing PRC state-sponsored actors evading detection by “Living off the Land”

  24-05-2023 14:00 via cisa.gov
  Today, CISA joined the National Security Agency (NSA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and international partners in releasing a joint cybersecurity advisory highlighting recently discovered activities conducted by a People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-sponsored cyber threat actor. 
  This advisory highlights how PRC cyber actors use techniques called “living off the land” to evade detection by using built-in networking administration tools to compromise networ
  
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• Brute-Force Test Attack Bypasses Android Biometric Defense

  24-05-2023 12:00 via it.slashdot.org
  
  schwit1 shares a report from TechXplore: Chinese researchers say they successfully bypassed fingerprint authentication safeguards on smartphones by staging a brute force attack. Researchers at Zhejiang University and Tencent Labs capitalized on vulnerabilities of modern smartphone fingerprint scanners to stage their break-in operation, which they named BrutePrint. Their findings are published on the arXiv preprint server.A flaw in the Match-After-Lock feature, which is supposed to bar authentica
  
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• Virgin Orbit Shuts Down After Bankruptcy Sales

  24-05-2023 09:00 via science.slashdot.org
  
  Virgin Orbit, a bankrupt rocket company spun off from Virgin Galactic, is shutting down after selling its facility leases and equipment to aerospace companies in an auction. CNBC reports: Spun out of Virgin Galactic in 2017 by founder Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Orbit reached rarefied air by flying multiple missions. But difficulty raising funds, and slow execution, brought the once multibillion-dollar company to bankruptcy and ultimately shut down. Monday's auction bids amount to about $36 mill
  
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• Bill Gates Says AI Could Kill Google Search and Amazon As We Know Them

  24-05-2023 05:30 via slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from CNBC: Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates believes the future top company in artificial intelligence will likely have created a personal digital agent that can perform certain tasks for people. The technology will be so profound, it could radically alter user behaviors. "Whoever wins the personal agent, that's the big thing, because you will never go to a search site again, you will never go to a productivity site, you'll never go to Amazon again," he said.Th
  
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• Brain Waves Can Tell Us How Much Pain Someone Is In

  24-05-2023 03:25 via science.slashdot.org
  
  A study published in Nature Neuroscience suggests that brain signals can be used to detect the severity of chronic pain, potentially leading to the development of personalized therapies for individuals suffering from severe pain conditions. MIT Technology Review reports: Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, implanted electrodes in the brains of four people with chronic pain. The patients then answered surveys about the severity of their pain multiple times a day over a p
  
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• Facebook Parent In Talks With Magic Leap Over Augmented Reality Deal

  24-05-2023 02:45 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Facebook's parent company Meta is reportedly in discussions with augmented reality start-up Magic Leap to establish a multiyear agreement for intellectual property licensing and contract manufacturing in North America. While the partnership is not expected to result in a joint headset, Magic Leap's technology could play a crucial role in Meta's ambitious metaverse project as it seeks to compete with Apple's upcoming mixed reality device. The Financial Times reports: Magic Leap produces custom co
  
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• Google Bard Adds Images For More Visual Responses

  24-05-2023 02:22 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Image support for Google Bard is now rolling out. 9to5Google reports: The latest update (2023.05.23) to Bard will return images (from Google Search) so you can visualize responses when relevant. For example, if you're asking for interesting places to visit, each listing will be accompanied by a picture (e.g., "what are some must-see sights in LA?").Images appear underneath each bullet point with the site name and favicon appearing in the top-right corner. Tapping opens the link, while hovering o
  
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• SkyFi Lets You Order Up Fresh Satellite Imagery In Real Time With a Click

  24-05-2023 02:02 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Commercial Earth-observation companies collect an unprecedented volume of images and data every single day, but purchasing even a single satellite image can be cumbersome and time-intensive. SkyFi, a two-year-old startup, is looking to change that with an app and API that makes ordering a satellite image as easy as a click of a few buttons on a smartphone or computer. SkyFi doesn't build or operate satellites; instead, it partners with over a
  
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• 'More Than 600,000 Students and Teachers Use Z-Library'

  24-05-2023 01:20 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  According to email addresses associated with Z-Library, more than 600,000 students and teachers are using the pirate eBook repository. TorrentFreak notes that this is "likely an underestimation," especially since the United States is excluded from the analysis. From the report: The team analyzed its user database to check how many user email-addresses are linked to universities, colleges and schools. This gives an impression of how many students and employees use the site but it's likely a low e
  
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• Adobe Photoshop's New 'Generative Fill' AI Tool Lets You Manipulate Photos With Text

  24-05-2023 00:40 via slashdot.org
  
  Adobe has introduced a new tool called "Generative Fill" in the Photoshop beta, which utilizes cloud-based image synthesis and AI-generated content to fill selected areas of an image based on a text description. Ars Technica reports: Powered by Adobe Firefly, Generative Fill works similarly to a technique called "inpainting" used in DALL-E and Stable Diffusion releases since last year. At the core of Generative Fill is Adobe Firefly, which is Adobe's custom image-synthesis model. As a deep learn
  
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• Binance Commingled Customer Funds and Company Revenue, Former Insiders Say

  24-05-2023 00:00 via news.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: The world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, commingled customer funds with company revenue in 2020 and 2021, in breach of U.S. financial rules that require customer money to be kept separate, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. One of the sources, a person with direct knowledge of Binance's group finances, said the sums ran into billions of dollars and commingling happened almost daily in accounts the exchange held at U
  
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