ICT news

• Does the New 'Mojo' Programming Language Offer a Faster Superset of Python?

  11-06-2023 22:50 via developers.slashdot.org
  
  InfoWorld explores how the new Mojo program language "resembles Python, how it's different, and what it has to offer."
  The newly unveiled Mojo language is being promoted as the best of multiple worlds: the ease of use and clear syntax of Python, with the speed and memory safety of Rust. Those are bold claims, and since Mojo is still in the very early stages of development, it will be some time before users can see for themselves how the language lives up to them. But Mojo's originator — a
  
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• Cause and Cure Discovered for a Common Type of High Blood Pressure

  11-06-2023 21:09 via science.slashdot.org
  
  Researchers at a London-based public research university had already discovered that for 5-10% of people with hypertension, the cause is a gene mutation in their adrenal glands. (The mutation results in excessive production of a hormone called aldosterone.)
  But that was only the beginning, according to a new announcement from the university shared by SciTechDaily:Clinicians at Queen Mary University of London and Barts Hospital have identified a gene variant that causes a common type of hypertens
  
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• NASA Researchers Think (Microbial) Life Could Survive on the Moon

  11-06-2023 20:09 via science.slashdot.org
  
  In less than two years, NASA plans to have astronauts walking on the moon again — the first time in over half a century."And one potential surprise could be detecting life on the moon," reports Space.com:
  New research suggests that future visitors to the lunar south pole region should be on the lookout for evidence of life in super-cold permanently shadowed craters — organisms that could have made the trek from Earth. Microbial life could potentially survive in the harsh conditions n
  
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• Will Productivity Gains from AI-Generated Code Be Offset by the Need to Maintain and Review It?

  11-06-2023 18:34 via developers.slashdot.org
  
  ZDNet asks the million-dollar question. "Despite the potential for vast productivity gains from generative AI tools such as ChatGPT or GitHub Copilot, will technology professionals' jobs actually grow more complicated? "People can now pump out code on demand in an abundance of languages, from Java to Python, along with helpful recommendations. Already, 95% of developers in a recent survey from Sourcegraph report they use Copilot, ChatGPT, and other gen AI tools this way.But auto-generating new c
  
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• Ohio Senate Moves to Criminalize Secretly Tracking People with Apple's AirTags and Similar Devices

  11-06-2023 17:34 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  The Associated Press reports:Tracking someone through apps and devices like the popular Apple AirTag without their consent could soon be deemed a criminal offense in Ohio, after the state's Republican-led Senate advanced the measure Wednesday with a unanimous bipartisan vote...
  [V]iolators could be charged with a new first-degree misdemeanor offense of the "illegal use of a device or application," resulting in up to 180 days in jail. If the individual holds a prior conviction of menacing by stal
  
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• Marc Andreessen Criticizes 'AI Doomers', Warns the Bigger Danger is China Gaining AI Dominance

  11-06-2023 16:34 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  This week venture capitalist Marc Andreessen published "his views on AI, the risks it poses and the regulation he believes it requires," reports CNBC.
  But they add that "In trying to counteract all the recent talk of 'AI doomerism,' he presents what could be seen as an overly idealistic perspective of the implications..." Though he starts off reminding readers that AI "doesn't want to kill you, because it's not alive... AI is a machine — it's not going to come alive any more than your toas
  
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• TikTok May Have Misled Congress on Handling of US User Data, Say Two Senators

  11-06-2023 13:34 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shared this report from the New York Times:Two senators sent a letter to TikTok's chief executive on Tuesday, accusing the company of making misleading claims to Congress around how it stores and handles American user data, and demanding answers to more than a dozen questions by the end of next week.
  The letter, from Senators Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, and Marsha Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee, focused on how sensitive data about American users may be st
  
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• 300 People Attend a Church Sermon Generated by ChatGPT

  11-06-2023 09:34 via slashdot.org
  
  The Associated Press reports:The artificial intelligence chatbot asked the believers in the fully packed St. Paul's church in the Bavarian town of Fuerth to rise from the pews and praise the Lord. The ChatGPT chatbot, personified by an avatar of a bearded Black man on a huge screen above the altar, then began preaching to the more than 300 people who had shown up on Friday morning for an experimental Lutheran church service almost entirely generated by AI.
  "Dear friends, it is an honor for me to
  
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• Debian 12 'Bookworm' Released

  11-06-2023 05:53 via linux.slashdot.org
  
  Slashdot reader e065c8515d206cb0e190 shared the big announcement from Debian.org: After 1 year, 9 months, and 28 days of development, the Debian project is proud to present its new stable version 12 (code name bookworm). bookworm will be supported for the next 5 years thanks to the combined work of the Debian Security team and the Debian Long Term Support team...This release contains over 11,089 new packages for a total count of 64,419 packages, while over 6,296 packages have been removed as obs
  
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• US Surgeon General Warns on Possible Social Media Harms for Teens

  11-06-2023 03:53 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  CNN summarizes the issue. "A recent advisory from U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy says there's not enough evidence to determine whether social media is safe enough for children and adolescents when it comes to their mental health." (Although a CNN news anchor points out that "Nearly all of the research points to negative impacts.")
  CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent interviewed U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy "to examine what led him to sound the alarm, and who should be responsible f
  
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• Is Self-Healing Code the Future of Software Development?

  11-06-2023 00:53 via developers.slashdot.org
  
  We already have automated processes that detect bugs, test solutions, and generate documentation, notes a new post on Stack Overflow's blog. But beyond that, several developers "have written in the past on the idea of self-healing code. Head over to Stack Overflow's CI/CD Collective and you'll find numerous examples of technologists putting this ideas into practice."
  Their blog post argues that self-healing code "is the future of software development."When code fails, it often gives an error mes
  
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