ICT news

• America's First Solar Panel-Covered Irrigation Canals Planned in California, Arizona

  23-07-2023 23:34 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  In 2015 the founders of "Solar AquaGrid" proposed water-saving solar panels to shade irrigation canals, but they "couldn't get anyone to commit," remembers the Associated Press.
  But "fast forward eight years," and you'll find them "preparing to break ground on the first solar-covered canal project in the United States."The idea is simple: install solar panels over canals in sunny, water-scarce regions where they reduce evaporation and make electricity. A study by the University of California, Me
  
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• Code.org Embraces Barbie 9 Years After Helping Take Her Down

  23-07-2023 21:55 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  
  Long-time Slashdot reader theodp writes:The number one movie in North America is Warner Bros. Discovery's Barbie, which Deadline reports has teamed up with Oppenheimer to fuel a mind-blowing $300M+ box office weekend.
  Now it seems everybody is trying to tap into Barbie buzz, including Microsoft's Xbox [which added Barbie and Ken's cars to Forza Horizon 5] and even Microsoft-backed education nonprofit Code.org. ("Are your students excited about Barbie The Movie? Have them try an HourOfCode [progr
  
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• Ubisoft Will Suspend and Then Delete Long-Inactive Accounts

  23-07-2023 20:55 via games.slashdot.org
  
  Leaving a Ubisoft account inactive for too long "apparently puts it at risk of permanent deletion," writes PC Gamer, calling the policy "a customer-unfriendly practice."A piracy and anti-DRM focused Twitter account, PC_enjoyer, recently shared a screenshot of a Ubisoft support email telling the user that their Ubisoft account had been suspended for "inactivity," and would be "permanently closed" after 30 days. The email provided a link to cancel the move. Now, that sounds like a phishing scam, r
  
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• Some Amazon Workers Asked to Relocate to Other Cities in Return-to-Office Effort

  23-07-2023 19:55 via it.slashdot.org
  
  Amazon has already cut 27,000 jobs in the past few months. Now the Associated Press reports that Amazon "is asking some corporate workers to relocate to other cities as part of its return-to-office policy, which mandates workers to be in the office three days a week."
  An Amazon spokesperson confirmed on Friday that relocations are happening but would not comment on reports by several news outlets that the tech giant was requiring some workers in smaller offices to move to main offices located in
  
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• Comic-Con 2023 Premiers Trailers, a Climate Graphic Novel, and a Musical 'Star Trek' Episode

  23-07-2023 18:34 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  
  For a taste of Comic-Con, one San Diego newspaper is sharing photos of the 30 buildings in San Diego that had their exteriors covered this week with promotional "building wraps" for "the latest TV shows, movies and even a National Geographic special."
  Some of the stranger announcements this year:Jamie Lee Curtis has co-authored a horror graphic novel with an environmentalist theme called Mother Nature.It was also announced that season 2 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds would include a musical ep
  
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• Russia Bans Thousands of Officials From Using iPhones Over Spying Fears

  23-07-2023 17:34 via apple.slashdot.org
  
  Gizmodo reports:Thousands of top Russian officials and state employees have reportedly been banned from using iPhones and other Apple products over concerns they could serve as surreptitious spying tools for Western intelligence agencies...
  Russia's trade minister, according to a Financial Times report, said the new ban will take effect Monday, July 17. The move affects a variety of Apple products from iPhones, iPads, and laptops, and builds off of similar restrictions already put in place by th
  
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• This Arkansas Town Could Become the Epicenter of a U.S. Lithium Boom

  23-07-2023 16:34 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  "If the U.S. is to ease its dependence for lithium on other countries such as China, it may need this quiet corner of southwest Arkansas to lead the way," reports the Wall Street Journal, visiting the "thick-wooded back roads" and "crisscrossing fields where oil drillers gave up long ago" in Magnolia, Arkansas. (Population: 11,105)Exxon Mobil, a new player in the hunt for U.S. lithium, is planning to build one of the world's largest lithium processing facilities not far from Magnolia, with a cap
  
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• Ask Slashdot: What Happens After Every Programmer is Using AI?

  23-07-2023 13:34 via developers.slashdot.org
  
  There's been several articles on how programmers can adapt to writing code with AI. But presumably AI companies will then gather more data from how real-world programmers use their tools.So long-time Slashdot reader ThePub2000 has a question. "Where's the generative leaps if the humans using it as an assistant don't make leaps forward in a public space?"
  Let's posit a couple of things:- First, your AI responses are good enough to use.
  - Second, because they're good enough to use you no longer ne
  
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• RHEL Response Discussed by SFC Conference's Panel - Including a New Enterprise Linux Standard

  23-07-2023 09:34 via linux.slashdot.org
  
  Last weekend in Portland, Oregon, the Software Freedom Conservancy hosted a new conference called the Free and Open Source Software Yearly.
  And long-time free software activist Bradley M. Kuhn (currently a policy fellow/hacker-in-residence for the Software Freedom Conservancy) hosted a lively panel discussion on "the recent change" to public source code releases for Red Hat Enterprise Linux which shed light on what may happen next. The panel also included:
  benny Vasquez, the Chair of the AlmaLin
  
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• Eating Less Meat 'Like Taking 8 Million Cars Off the Road'

  23-07-2023 06:34 via news.slashdot.org
  
  "Having big U.K. meat-eaters cut some of it out of their diet would be like taking 8 million cars off the road," reports the BBC:That's just one of the findings of new research that scientists say gives the most reliable calculation yet of how what we eat impacts our planet.
  The Oxford University study is the first to pinpoint the difference high- and low-meat diets have on greenhouse gas emissions, researchers say... [Oxford University] professor Peter Scarborough, who is part of the Livestock
  
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• Voice Actors Warn AI Could 'Steal Voices', Call for Laws Protecting a Person's Likeness

  23-07-2023 03:34 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  
  Something unexpected happened at this year's Comic-Con, reports Entertainment Weekly:As film and TV actors skipped San Diego Comic-Con in support of the SAG-AFTRA strike, a number of voice actors gathered to show their support — and raise awareness about the threat of artificial intelligence on their industry.
  The National Association of Voice Actors hosted a panel Saturday morning, where multiple actors and SAG officials spoke to a packed room about how rapidly changing AI technology can
  
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• Hundreds of Drones Crash Into River During Display

  23-07-2023 00:34 via idle.slashdot.org
  
  Long-time Slashdot reader maxcelcat writes: A fleet of some 500 drives were performing a display over Melbourne's Docklands in the lead up to the FIFA Women's World Cup. About 350 of them didn't come back and are now being fished out of the Yarra River, no doubt somewhat worse for wear.
  According to the operators, the drones experienced some kind of malfunction or loss of signal, which triggered a fail safe — an automated landing. So hundreds of drones landed safely... on the surface of a
  
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