ICT news

• Amazon Adds a New Fee For Sellers Who Ship Their Own Packages

  18-08-2023 23:20 via slashdot.org
  
  Amazon is adding a new charge for third-party sellers who ship their own products instead of paying for the company's fulfillment services. CNBC reports: Beginning Oct. 1, members of Amazon's Seller Fulfilled Prime program will pay the company a 2% fee on each product sold, according to a notice sent to merchants last week, which was viewed by CNBC. Previously, there was no such fee for sellers. "We're updating our requirements for Seller Fulfilled Prime to ensure that it provides customers a gr
  
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• Google Releases First Quantum-Resilient FIDO2 Key Implementation

  18-08-2023 22:40 via it.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from BleepingComputer: Google has announced the first open-source quantum resilient FIDO2 security key implementation, which uses a unique ECC/Dilithium hybrid signature schema co-created with ETH Zurich. FIDO2 is the second major version of the Fast IDentity Online authentication standard, and FIDO2 keys are used for passwordless authentication and as a multi-factor authentication (MFA) element. Google explains that a quantum-resistant FIDO2 security key impl
  
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• The Future of Open Source is Still Very Much in Flux

  18-08-2023 21:40 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Free and open software have transformed the tech industry. But we still have a lot to work out to make them healthy, equitable enterprises. From a report: When Xerox donated a new laser printer to MIT in 1980, the company couldn't have known that the machine would ignite a revolution. While the early decades of software development generally ran on a culture of open access, this new printer ran on inaccessible proprietary software, much to the horror of Richard M. Stallman, then a 27-year-old pr
  
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• Apple, Other US Tech Firms Sign Letter Protesting India's PC Import Restrictions

  18-08-2023 21:04 via apple.slashdot.org
  
  Apple has joined a coalition of U.S. businesses in protest at India's sudden introduction of tech import restrictions last month, claiming the move will damage New Delhi's ambitions to become a global manufacturing hub and harm consumers. From a report: n a letter sent to U.S. officials this week, eight American trade groups asked the government to urge India to reconsider the policy, which will see the country impose a new license requirement for technology imports from November 1, covering eve
  
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• 'Gaming Chromebooks' With Nvidia GPUs Apparently Killed With Little Fanfare

  18-08-2023 19:46 via it.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: Google and some of its Chromebook partners decided to try making "gaming Chromebooks" a thing late last year. These machines included some gaming laptop features like configurable RGB keyboards and high refresh rate screens, but because they still used integrated GPUs, they were meant mostly for use with streaming services like Nvidia's GeForce Now and Microsoft's Xbox Cloud Gaming. But there were also apparently plans for some gaming Chromebooks with the pow
  
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• Amazon Offers Influencers $25 Per Video, Sparking Chorus of LOLs

  18-08-2023 18:40 via slashdot.org
  
  Amazon, looking to amp up its TikTok-like shopping feed, has called on influencers to make hundreds of videos apiece. But its offer of $25 a pop -- about a tenth of the going rate -- was widely mocked on social media. From a report: Amazon sent an email to select influencers, asking them to submit videos showing two or more products. The e-commerce giant said it would pay up to $12,500 per creator in exchange for a maximum of 500 videos that meet the company's criteria, according to screenshots
  
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• EPA's New Definition of PFAS Could Omit Thousands of 'Forever Chemicals'

  18-08-2023 18:00 via news.slashdot.org
  
  The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) office responsible for protecting the public from toxic substances has changed how it defines PFAS for a second time since 2021, a move critics say they fear will exclude thousands of "forever chemicals" from regulation and largely benefit industry. From a report: Instead of using a clear definition of what constitutes a PFAS, the agency's Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics plans to take a "case-by-case" approach that allows it to be more flexi
  
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• A Key Feature of NFTs Has Completely Broken

  18-08-2023 17:20 via slashdot.org
  
  One of the big promises of NFTs was that the artist who originally made them could get a cut every time their piece was resold. Unfortunately, that's not the case anymore. From a report: OpenSea, the biggest NFT marketplace still fully enforcing royalty fees, said today that it plans to stop the mandatory collection of resale fees for artists. Starting March 2024, those fees will essentially be tips -- an optional percentage of a sale price that sellers can choose to give the original artist. If
  
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• Worldcoin Ignored Initial Order To Stop Iris Scans in Kenya, Records Show

  18-08-2023 16:41 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  Months before Kenya finally banned iris scans by Sam Altman's crypto startup Worldcoin, the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) had ordered its parent company, Tools for Humanity, to stop collecting personal data. From a report: The ODPC had in May this year instructed the crypto startup to stop iris scans and the collection of facial recognition and other personal data in Kenya, a letter sent to Worldcoin and seen by TechCrunch shows. Tools for Humanity, the company building World
  
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• Payment Processor Checkout Drops Binance Over Money Laundering, Compliance Concerns

  18-08-2023 16:07 via slashdot.org
  
  Checkout.com, the London-based credit card processing company that ballooned its business model by servicing billions in crypto transactions for Binance clients, cut short its contract with the crypto giant this week, Forbes reported Friday. From the report: In a pair of letters sent to Binance on August 9 and 11, Checkout CEO Guillaume Pousaz terminated the company's relationship with its once-largest customer citing "reports of regulators actions and orders in relevant jurisdictions" and "inqu
  
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• Microsoft AI Suggests Food Bank As a 'Cannot Miss' Tourist Spot In Canada

  18-08-2023 15:00 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Late last week, MSN.com's Microsoft Travel section posted an AI-generated article about the "cannot miss" attractions of Ottawa that includes the Ottawa Food Bank, a real charitable organization that feeds struggling families. In its recommendation text, Microsoft's AI model wrote, "Consider going into it on an empty stomach." Titled, "Headed to Ottawa? Here's what you shouldn't miss!," (archive here) the article extols the virtues of the Ca
  
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• Juniper Releases Security Advisory for Multiple Vulnerabilities in Junos OS

  18-08-2023 14:00 via cisa.gov
  Juniper has released a security advisory to address vulnerabilities in Junos OS on SRX Series and EX Series. A remote cyber threat actor could exploit these vulnerabilities to cause a denial-of service condition.
  CISA encourages users and administrators to review Juniper’s Support Portal and apply the necessary updates.
  
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• Can Computing Clean Up Its Act?

  18-08-2023 13:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Long-time Slashdot reader SpzToid shares a report from The Economist: What you notice first is how silent it is," says Kimmo Koski, the boss of the Finnish IT Centre for Science. Dr Koski is describing LUMI -- Finnish for "snow" -- the most powerful supercomputer in Europe, which sits 250km south of the Arctic Circle in the town of Kajaani in Finland. LUMI, which was inaugurated last year, is used for everything from climate modeling to searching for new drugs. It has tens of thousands of indivi
  
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• SUSE To Flip Back Into Private Ownership

  18-08-2023 11:08 via linux.slashdot.org
  
  Two years after being listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, the Linux-for-enterprise company SUSE is switching back to private ownership. The Register reports: On Wednesday the developer announced that its majority shareholder, an entity called Marcel LUX III SARL, intends to take it private by delisting it from the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and merging it with an unlisted Luxembourg entity. Marcel is an entity controlled by EQT Private Equity, a Swedish investment firm, which acquired it from
  
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• Genetics Makes Some People More Likely To Participate In Genetic Studies

  18-08-2023 05:30 via science.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Stefania Benonisdottir and Augustine Kong at Oxford's Big Data Institute have just demonstrated that we can determine if genetic studies are biased using nothing but the genes of the participants. You may wonder how this was done -- quite reasonably, since we can't very well compare the genes of participants to those of non-participants. The analysis done by Kong and his student relies on the key idea that a genetic sequence that occurs more
  
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• OpenAI Acquires Global Illumination, the Makers of a Minecraft Clone

  18-08-2023 04:02 via slashdot.org
  
  OpenAI has acquired Global Illumination, a small "digital product company" that has a link to a game called Biomes. The web-based, open source sandbox MMORPG "has a striking resemblance to Minecraft," says The Verge's Jay Peters. From the report: In its announcement, OpenAI didn't disclose the terms of the acquisition but said that Global Illumination's "entire team" has joined the company to work on its "core products," including ChatGPT. Beyond that, OpenAI didn't specify what the Global Illum
  
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• 'New York Times' Considers Legal Action Against OpenAI As Copyright Tensions Swirl

  18-08-2023 03:25 via slashdot.org
  
  Lawyers for the New York Times are deciding whether to sue OpenAI to protect the intellectual property rights associated with its reporting. NPR reports: For weeks, the Times and the maker of ChatGPT have been locked in tense negotiations over reaching a licensing deal in which OpenAI would pay the Times for incorporating its stories in the tech company's AI tools, but the discussions have become so contentious that the paper is now considering legal action. A lawsuit from the Times against Open
  
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• Western Digital Sued Over Claims of Data-Trashing SanDisk, My Passport SSDs

  18-08-2023 02:45 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  Western Digital was sued on Tuesday on behalf of a California resident who claims the solid state drive he bought from the manufacturer was defective and that the storage slinger shipped kit that didn't live up to its marketing promises. The Register reports: The complaint [PDF], filed in federal court in San Jose, California, where the storage giant is based, alleges the Western Digital SanDisk 2TB Extreme Pro SSD purchased by plaintiff Nathan Krum in May for $180 failed because of an undisclos
  
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• Buyers of Bored Ape NFTs Sue After Digital Apes Turn Out To Be Bad Investment

  18-08-2023 02:02 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: The Sotheby's auction house has been named as a defendant in a lawsuit filed by investors who regret buying Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs that sold for highly inflated prices during the NFT craze in 2021. A Sotheby's auction duped investors by giving the Bored Ape NFTs "an air of legitimacy... to generate investors' interest and hype around the Bored Ape brand," the class-action lawsuit claims. The boost to Bored Ape NFT prices provided by the a
  
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• Close To Half of American Adults Favor TikTok Ban, Poll Shows

  18-08-2023 01:20 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  According to a new Reuters/Ipsos survey, nearly half of American adults support a ban on TikTok. From the report: TikTok, owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance and used by tens of millions of Americans, has faced calls from U.S. lawmakers for a nationwide ban over concerns about possible Chinese government influence. Some 47% of respondents to the two-day poll, which concluded on Tuesday, said they at least somewhat supported "banning the social media application, TikTok, from use in the United
  
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• World Chess Body Bans Transgender Women From Competing In Women's Events

  18-08-2023 00:40 via games.slashdot.org
  
  The International Chess Federation (FIDE) says it is temporarily banning transgender women from competing in its women's events. The BBC reports: The FIDE said individual cases would require "further analysis" and that a decision could take up to two years. "The transgender legislation is rapidly developing in many countries and many sport bodies are adopting their own policies," it said. "FIDE will be monitoring these developments and see how we can apply them to the world of chess. Two years i
  
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• YouTube Ads May Have Led To Online Tracking of Children, Research Says

  18-08-2023 00:00 via news.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from the New York Times: This year, BMO, a Canadian bank, was looking for Canadian adults to apply for a credit card. So the bank's advertising agency ran a YouTube campaign using an ad-targeting system from Google that employs artificial intelligence to pinpoint ideal customers.
  But Google, which owns YouTube, also showed the ad to a viewer in the United States on a Barbie-themed children's video on the "Kids Diana Show," a YouTube channel for preschoolers wh
  
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