ICT news

• When Supermarket Freezer Doors Have Screens With Ads

  28-10-2023 23:34 via slashdot.org
  
  Long-time Slashdot reader theodp writes: Over at Computers Are Bad, J.B. Crawford [a senior professional services engineer at GitLab] offers a pretty epic takedown of the startup "Cooler Screens", which has replaced the formerly transparent cooler doors at Walgreens and other stores with six-foot, heat-generating 4K resolution digital screen doors that block the view of the merchandise that's behind them to enable IoT "contextual advertising"."I find myself looking at a Walgreens cooler that jus
  
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• Powerful Malware Disguised as Crypto Miner Infects 1M+ Windows, Linux PCs

  28-10-2023 22:34 via it.slashdot.org
  
  PC Magazine reports:
  A powerful piece of malware has been disguising itself as a trivial cryptocurrency miner to help it evade detection for more than five years, according to antivirus provider Kaspersky. This so-called "StripedFly" malware has infected over 1 million Windows and Linux computers around the globe since 2016, Kaspersky says in a report released Thursday...
  StripedFly incorporated a version of EternalBlue, the notorious NSA-developed exploit that was later leaked and used in the W
  
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• Adult ADHD May Be Associated With an Increased Risk of Dementia, Study Finds

  28-10-2023 21:34 via science.slashdot.org
  
  A new study found that adult ADHD "may take a toll on the brain and is linked to a higher likelihood of developing dementia," reports the Washington Post:A study published in JAMA Network Open reported that being diagnosed with ADHD as an adult is associated with a 2.77-fold increased risk of dementia.
  The study only showed an association and doesn't tell us whether ADHD is a direct cause of cognitive decline. But the results suggest that "if you do have attention-deficit disorder, you're going
  
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• Apple Backs US Government's Push for a National Right-to-Repair Bill . (But What About Parts Pairing?)

  28-10-2023 20:34 via apple.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shared this report from Ars Technica:
  Following the passage of California's repair bill that Apple supported, requiring seven years of parts, specialty tools, and repair manual availability, Apple announced Tuesday that it would back a similar bill on a federal level. It would also make its parts, tools, and repair documentation available to both non-affiliated repair shops and individual customers, "at fair and reasonable prices."
  "We intend to honor California's new repair
  
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• Will The Future See Interconnected Social Media Platforms?

  28-10-2023 19:34 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  "For the last two decades, our social networking and social media platforms have been universes unto themselves," writes the Verge's editor-at-large:Each has its own social graph, charting who you follow and who follows you. Each has its own feed, its own algorithms, its own apps, and its own user interfaces (though they've all pretty much landed on the same aesthetics over time). Each also has its own publishing tools, its own character limits, its own image filters. Being online means constant
  
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• 81st World Science Fiction Convention Announces 2023 Hugo Awards

  28-10-2023 18:34 via news.slashdot.org
  
  The World Science Fiction Society "administers and presents the Hugo Awards, the oldest and most noteworthy award for science fiction," according to Wikipedia. Its members vote on each year's winners, and this year they received 1,847 nominating ballots.
  This year the 81st edition of their World Science Fiction Convention was held from October 18 to 22 in Chengdu, China. More details from Gizmodo:While fan-favorite cozy fantasy novel Legends & Lattes lost Best Novel to T. Kingfisher's excell
  
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• Oxide Launches the World's First 'Commercial' Cloud Computer

  28-10-2023 17:34 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  VentureBeat reports:
  Thursday San Francisco-based Oxide, a startup founded by computing experts from Joyent and Dell, launched what it calls the world's first "commercial cloud computer," a rack-scale system that enterprises can own to reap the benefits and flexibility of cloud computing on-premises, right within their data center. The company believes the new offering can finally put an end to the "cloud vs on-prem" dilemma enterprises face while setting up their infrastructure...It also announ
  
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• How Long Do EV Batteries Last? Longer Than You Might Think, Research Suggests

  28-10-2023 16:34 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  PC Magazine cites a study done in March by Recurrent, a Seattle-based company that analyzes used electric car batteries, which analyzed real-world telematics data from 15,000 EVs of various makes and models, taking daily readings of their actual charging activity, battery percentage, and estimated range. Their results?Electric vehicles typically come with a standard battery warranty, between eight and 12 years, plus a certain number of miles. Recurrent found that most drivers were not replacing
  
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• Google Can Turn ANC Earbuds Into a Heart Rate Monitor With No Extra Hardware

  28-10-2023 15:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Abner Li reports via 9to5Google: Google today detailed its research into audioplethysmography (APG) that adds heart rate sensing capabilities to active noise canceling (ANC) headphones and earbuds "with a simple software upgrade." Google says the "ear canal [is] an ideal location for health sensing" given that the deep ear artery "forms an intricate network of smaller vessels that extensively permeate the auditory canal."This audioplethysmography approach works by "sending a low intensity ultras
  
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• England To Diverge From EU Water Monitoring Standards

  28-10-2023 12:00 via news.slashdot.org
  
  The Guardian has revealed that the UK government will diverge from the European Union's standards for monitoring water quality in England. From the report: While in the EU, England was covered by the water framework directive (WFD), which meant a national chemical and ecological survey of rivers was conducted annually. After Brexit, the WFD was transposed into English law but the government removed the requirement to conduct annual tests. This is the latest example of the UK diverging from EU en
  
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• New Agreement Enables US Launches From Australian Spaceports

  28-10-2023 09:00 via science.slashdot.org
  
  Jeff Foust reports via SpaceNews: The governments of Australia and the United States have signed an agreement that could allow American rockets to launch from Australian spaceports, although it is unclear how much demand there is for them. The U.S. State Department announced Oct. 26 that the two countries signed a technology safeguards agreement (TSA) regarding space launches from Australia. The agreement provides the "legal and technical framework" for American launches from Australian faciliti
  
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• Breakthrough Kidney Stone Procedure Makes It Possible For Astronauts To Travel To Mars

  28-10-2023 05:30 via science.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from KOMO News: A groundbreaking medical procedure for those with kidney stones will soon be offered at the University of Washington after more than two decades of research. It will also give astronauts the go ahead they need from NASA to travel to Mars. It's a groundbreaking procedure to get rid of painful stones while you're awake, no anesthesia needed. "This has the potential to be game changing," said Dr. Kennedy Hall with UW Medicine. Still being run thro
  
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• Auto Execs Are Coming Clean: EVs Aren't Working

  28-10-2023 04:02 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Amiga Trombone shares a report from Insider: With signs of growing inventory and slowing sales, auto industry executives admitted this week that their ambitious electric vehicle plans are in jeopardy, at least in the near term. Several C-Suite leaders at some of the biggest carmakers voiced fresh unease about the electric car market's growth as concerns over the viability of these vehicles put their multi-billion-dollar electrification strategies at risk. Among those hand-wringing is GM's Mary B
  
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• Leica Camera Has Built-In Defense Against Misleading AI, Costs $9,125

  28-10-2023 03:25 via slashdot.org
  
  Scharon Harding reports via Ars Technica: On Thursday, Leica Camera released the first camera that can take pictures with automatically encrypted metadata and provide features such as an editing history. The company believes this system, called Content Credentials, will help photojournalists protect their work and prove authenticity in a world riddled with AI-manipulated content.Leica's M11-P can store each captured image with Content Credentials, which is based on the Coalition for Content Prov
  
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• It Took Seven Years But Over-40s Fired By HP Win $18 Million Settlement

  28-10-2023 02:45 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  Brandon Vigliarolo reports via The Register: After over seven years of legal battles, a group of former HP employees who claim the venerable firm discriminated against older staff when culling jobs has won a $18 million settlement. Hewlett Packard's offshoots, HP and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) have agreed to cough up just over a day's combined profits for the last quarter to settle a class-action case brought by employees who were over 40 and got laid off when the company split in 2015. Th
  
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• Android 14 Storage Bug Has Users Locked Out of Their Devices

  28-10-2023 02:02 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from OPP.Today: Android 14, the latest operating system from Google, is facing a major storage bug that is causing users to be locked out of their devices. This issue is particularly affecting users who utilize the "multiple profiles" feature. Reports suggest that the bug is comparable to being hit with "ransomware," as users are unable to access their device storage. Initially, it was believed that this bug was limited to the Pixel 6, but it has since been di
  
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• Boston Dynamics Robot Dog Talks Using OpenAI's ChatGPT

  28-10-2023 01:20 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  Boston Dynamics has infused one of their robotic dog robots with OpenAI's ChatGPT, allowing it to speak in a variety of voices and accents "including a debonair British gentleman, a sarcastic and irreverent American named Josh, and a teenage girl who is so, like, over it," reports the Daily Beast. From the report: The robot was a result of a hackathon in which the Boston Dynamics engineers combined a variety of AI technologies including ChatGPT, voice recognition software, voice creation softwar
  
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• Apple Watch Faces Potential Import Ban In the US

  28-10-2023 00:40 via apple.slashdot.org
  
  Apple is in violation of a patent that belongs to medical technology company Masimo, says the International Trade Commission (ITC). Android Authority reports: The commission upheld a previous ruling by a US judge who ruled in Masimo's favor. The patent in question is for light-based pulse oximetry technology or blood oxygen tracking on Apple Watches. While ITC's latest ruling confirms Apple's infringement and can potentially stop the company from bringing Apple Watches to the US, it will not com
  
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• People Are Speaking With ChatGPT For Hours, Bringing 2013's 'Her' Closer To Reality

  28-10-2023 00:02 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: In 2013, Spike Jonze's Her imagined a world where humans form deep emotional connections with AI, challenging perceptions of love and loneliness. Ten years later, thanks to ChatGPT's recently added voice features, people are playing out a small slice of Her in reality, having hours-long discussions with the AI assistant on the go. In 2016, we put Her on our list of top sci-fi films of all time, and it also made our top films of the 2010s lis
  
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