ICT news

• The New FineWoven iPhone Cases Are 'Very Bad'

  21-09-2023 22:00 via mobile.slashdot.org
  
  Several Slashdot readers have shared this report: Folks, what you've heard so far is true. Apple's new FineWoven iPhone cases and accessories are bad. Like, really bad. I've been puzzling over them for the past week, looking at them from different angles. Picking them up, setting them down, petting them. Seven days later, I still can't make sense of them and have no other choice but to say it out loud: FineWoven is very bad. FineWoven is a new fabric option you'll find on iPhone 15 cases, AirTag
  
  Read more

• DuckDuckGo CEO Says It Takes 'Too Many Steps' To Switch From Google

  21-09-2023 22:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: DuckDuckGo, a privacy-centric search engine founded about 15 years ago, has languished with a small market share as consumers face difficulties switching from Google when the behemoth is the default option on computer screens, the upstart's founder said in an antitrust trial. Founded in 2008, DuckDuckGo currently has about a 2.5% share of the market for search in the US, said CEO Gabriel Weinberg, and conducts about 100 million searches a day globally. In com
  
  Read more

• Windows 11 Gains Support for Managing Passkeys

  21-09-2023 21:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  At an event today focused on AI and security tools and new Surface devices, Microsoft announced that Windows 11 users will soon be able to take better advantage of passkeys, the digital credentials that can be used as an authentication method for websites and apps. From a report: Once the expanded passkeys support rolls out, Windows 11 users will be able to create a passkey using Windows Hello, Windows' biometric identity and access control feature. They'll then be able to use that passkey to ac
  
  Read more

• MGM Resorts Computers Back Up After 10 Days as Analysts Eye Effects of Casino Cyberattacks

  21-09-2023 20:00 via it.slashdot.org
  
  MGM Resorts brought to an end a 10-day computer shutdown prompted by efforts to shield from a cyberattack data including hotel reservations and credit card processing, the casino giant said Wednesday, as analysts and academics measured the effects of the event. From a report: "We are pleased that all of our hotels and casinos are operating normally," the Las Vegas-based company posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. It reported last week that the attack was detected Sept. 10. Rival
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Microsoft Launches Surface Laptop Studio 2 With Upgraded Chips and Ports

  21-09-2023 19:00 via slashdot.org
  
  Microsoft just showed off its new high-end convertible laptop, the Surface Laptop Studio 2, at its launch event in New York City. The Laptop Studio 2 keeps the overall aesthetic of its predecessor, including the pull-forward 14.4-inch display that makes it a much more touch-friendly device but adds some welcome power-user features. From a report: The Studio 2, which starts at $1,999, runs on Intel's 13th Generation chips -- specifically the i7 H class -- with an Nvidia RTX 4050 or RTX 4060 GPU i
  
  Read more

• Cisco Buys Splunk for $28 Billion in Massive AI-Powered Data Bet

  21-09-2023 18:00 via slashdot.org
  
  Cisco agreed to buy Splunk in a deal valued at about $28 billion, representing its biggest acquisition yet and a massive push into software and artificial intelligence-powered data analysis. From a report: Cisco will pay $157 a share in cash, the companies said in a statement Thursday, or a 31% premium to Splunk's previous closing price on Wednesday. Cisco has been expanding its software and services business in an attempt to rely less on its hallmark networking hardware. The Silicon Valley gian
  
  Read more

• Windows 11's Next Big Update Arrives on September 26th With Copilot, RAR Support

  21-09-2023 17:02 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Microsoft will release its next big Windows 11 update, 23H2, on September 26th. The update will include the new AI-powered Windows Copilot feature, a redesigned File Explorer, a new Ink Anywhere feature for pen users, big improvements to the Paint app, native RAR and 7-zip file support, a new volume mixer, and much more. From a report: Windows Copilot is the headline feature for the Windows 11 23H2 update, bringing the same Bing Chat feature straight to the Windows 11 desktop. It appears as a si
  
  Read more

• Rupert Murdoch To Step Down as Chair of Fox and News Corp After Seven-Decade Career

  21-09-2023 15:37 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Rupert Murdoch is stepping down as chair of Fox and News Corp, after building a media empire over seven decades that revolutionized news and entertainment and made him one of the world's most influential and controversial tycoons. WSJ: Murdoch, 92 years old, will exit his roles atop each company as of November, when they hold annual meetings, the companies said. He will be appointed chairman emeritus of each company. His eldest son, Lachlan Murdoch, who has served as co-chair of News Corp, will
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• New Revelations From the Snowden Archive Surface

  21-09-2023 15:00 via news.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Computer Weekly: A doctoral thesis by American investigative journalist and post-doctoral researcher Jacob Appelbaum has now revealed unpublished information from the Snowden archive. These revelations go back a decade, but remain of indisputable public interest:
  - The NSA listed Cavium, an American semiconductor company marketing Central Processing Units (CPUs) – the main processor in a computer which runs the operating system and applications -- a
  
  Read more

• ISC Releases Security Advisories for BIND 9

  21-09-2023 14:00 via cisa.gov
  The Internet Systems Consortium (ISC) has released security advisories to address vulnerabilities affecting ISC’s Berkeley Internet Name Domain (BIND) 9. A malicious cyber actor could exploit these vulnerabilities to cause denial-of-service conditions.
  CISA encourages users and administrators to review the following ISC advisories and apply necessary updates or workarounds:
  CVE-2023-4236: named may terminate unexpectedly under high DNS-over-TLS query load
  CVE-2023-3341: A stack exhaustion
  
  Read more

• Atlassian Releases September Security Bulletin

  21-09-2023 14:00 via cisa.gov
  Atlassian has released its security bulletin for September 2023 to address vulnerabilities in multiple products. A malicious cyber actor could exploit some of these vulnerabilities to take control of an affected system.
  CISA encourages users and administrators to review Atlassian’s September 2023 Security Bulletin and apply the necessary updates.
  
  Read more

• Waymo Begins Testing the Waters For a Robotaxi Service In Los Angeles

  21-09-2023 12:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Waymo announced a "tour across Los Angeles" that allows curious residents the opportunity to ride in fully autonomous vehicles as the Alphabet-owned company begins to lay the groundwork for the launch of a commercial robotaxi service. The Verge reports: Waymo says it will make six multi-week "tour stops" in LA neighborhoods where people can hail a self-driving car without anyone in the front seat. Interested Angelenos can snag early access tickets at several pop-up events throughout the city or
  
  Read more

• SpaceX Rocket Launches Starlink Satellites On Record-Breaking 17th Flight

  21-09-2023 09:00 via science.slashdot.org
  
  SpaceX just extended its Falcon 9 rocket-reuse record. Space.com reports: The Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Tuesday at 11:38 p.m. EDT (0338 GMT Sept. 20), carrying 22 of SpaceX's Starlink internet satellites toward low Earth orbit (LEO). The rocket's first stage came back to Earth 8.5 minutes after launch, landing on a SpaceX drone ship stationed at sea. It was the 17th liftoff and landing for this Falcon 9's first stage, according to a SpaceX mission
  
  Read more

• French Drillers May Have Stumbled Upon a Mammoth Hydrogen Deposit

  21-09-2023 05:30 via news.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: On the outskirts of the small town of Folschviller in eastern France stand three nondescript sheds. One of these temporary structures has recently become a hive of activity due to a continuous stream of visitors, including scientists, journalists, and the public. The shed sits above a borehole first drilled in 2006 and houses a gas measurement system called SysMoG, which was originally developed to determine the underground methane concentratio
  
  Read more

• Neuralink Is Recruiting Subjects For the First Human Trial of Its Brain-Computer Interface

  21-09-2023 04:02 via science.slashdot.org
  
  A few months after getting FDA approval for human trials, Neuralink is looking for its first test subjects. The Verge reports: The six-year initial trial, which the Elon Musk-owned company is calling "the PRIME Study," is intended to test Neuralink tech designed to help those with paralysis control devices. The company is looking for people (PDF) with quadriplegia due to vertical spinal cord injury or ALS who are over the age of 22 and have a "consistent and reliable caregiver" to be part of the
  
  Read more

• Parents In US Offered Refunds For Purchases Kids Made In Fortnite

  21-09-2023 03:25 via games.slashdot.org
  
  Parents in the U.S. whose children purchased items in the popular game Fortnite without their permission will be able to claim a refund from today. The BBC reports: The U.S. regulator accused the game of tricking players into making unintended purchases and breaching privacy. Fortnite developer Epic Games agreed to pay $245 million in refunds in 2022. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has now begun the process of contacting 37 million people to alert them to the compensation.The FTC said Epic G
  
  Read more

• Airbnb's Naba Banerjee Reduced Partying By 55% In Two Years

  21-09-2023 02:45 via slashdot.org
  
  Hayden Field writes via CNBC: Naba Banerjee is a proud party pooper. As the person in charge of Airbnb's worldwide ban on parties, she's spent more than three years figuring out how to battle party "collusion" by users, flag "repeat party houses" and, most of all, design an anti-party AI system with enough training data to halt high-risk reservations before the offender even gets to the checkout page. It's been a bit like a game of whack-a-mole: Whenever Banerjee's algorithms flag some concerns,
  
  Read more

• FCC Plays Whack-a-Mole With Telcos Accused of Profiting From Robocalls

  21-09-2023 02:02 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: A suspicious phone company is on the verge of having all its calls blocked by US-based telcos after being accused of ignoring orders to investigate and block robocalls. One Owl Telecom is a US-based gateway provider that routes phone calls from outside the U.S. to consumer phone companies such as Verizon. "Robocalls on One Owl's network apparently bombarded consumers without their consent with prerecorded messages about fictitious orders," t
  
  Read more

• Amazon Is Set To Supercharge Alexa With Generative AI

  21-09-2023 01:20 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  At its fall hardware event Wednesday, Amazon revealed an all-new Alexa voice assistant powered by its new Alexa large language model. The Verge reports: According to Dave Limp, Amazon's current SVP of devices and services, this new Alexa can understand conversational phrases and respond appropriately, interpret context more effectively, and complete multiple requests from one command. In an interview with The Verge ahead of the event, Limp explained that the new Alexa LLM "is a true generalizabl
  
  Read more

• Yelp Has a Wall of Shame For Businesses Caught Paying For Fake Reviews

  21-09-2023 00:40 via slashdot.org
  
  Yelp is releasing a new index that tracks every U.S. establishment it's ever caught engaging in "suspicious" activity to influence its reviews. Engadget reports: [T]he index is the first time the company has offered a single place where users can find a historical record of every business that's ever been subject to such a warning as well as a current list of businesses with active alerts on their pages. For Yelp, the index is both its latest move in a long-running war on fake reviews, as well a
  
  Read more

• Terraform Fork Gets Renamed OpenTofu, Joins Linux Foundation

  21-09-2023 00:00 via linux.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: When HashiCorp announced it was changing its Terraform license in August, it set off a firestorm in the open source community, and actually represented an existential threat to startups that were built on top of the popular open source project. The community went into action and within weeks they had written a manifesto, and soon after that launched an official fork called OpenTF. Today, that group went a step further when the Linux Foundation
  
  Read more

Follow @newslocke_ict on Twitter!