ICT news

• Will Sodium Batteries Become an Alternative To Lithium?

  05-11-2023 23:13 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  Smartphones and electric cars are both powered by lithium-ion batteries, notes the Economist. These "Li-ion" batteries "form the guts of a growing number of grid-storage systems that smooth the flow of electricity from wind and solar power stations. Without them, the electrification needed to avoid the worst effects of global warming would be unimaginable." But unfortunately, building them requires scarce metals."A clutch of companies, though, think they have an alternative: making batteries wit
  
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• Elon Musk Debuts 'Grok' AI Bot to Challenge ChatGPT

  05-11-2023 22:13 via slashdot.org
  
  "xAI, Elon Musk's new AI venture, launched its first AI chatbot technology named Grok," reports CNBC.
  Two months into its "early beta" training phrase, it's "only available to a select group of users before a wider release" — though users can sign up for a waitlist. Elon Musk posted that the chatbot "will be provided as part of X Premium+, so I recommend signing up for that. Just $16/month via web."
  More details from CNBC:
  Grok, the company said, is modeled on "The Hitchhiker's Guide to th
  
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• Bill Gates Urges 'Impatient Optimism' on Climate Change Innovations

  05-11-2023 21:04 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Bill Gates, noted billionaire philanthropist, discussed the need for "impatient optimism" about both climate change and global development last month during an interview at an international affairs think tank:
  Q: If you go back a decade, are you more or less optimistic about where we are on climate change now, or then?Bill Gates: I'm certainly more optimistic because in 2015, when the Paris Agreement was signed, there were so many areas of emission where there wasn't any activity...Q: if you go
  
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• Amazon and Meta Promise UK Regulators to Stop Unfairly Undercutting Rivals

  05-11-2023 19:34 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Friday the U.K.'s competition regulator made an announcement. Amazon and Meta agreed they wouldn't use data collected their marketplaces for an unfair advantage against competitors.
  The Register explains:
  In Amazon's case, the e-commerce giant used vendors' sales figures to decide which items it should sell, and how much to price products to get an edge over everyone else. The internet behemoth also promoted its own products with its Buy Box feature and it further cut into retailers' margins by
  
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• Spacecraft Metals Left In the Wake of Humanity's Path To the Stars

  05-11-2023 18:34 via science.slashdot.org
  
  Scientists recently noticed that the chemical fingerprint of meteor particles was starting to change.
  And last month Purdue University announced that "The Space Age is leaving fingerprints on one of the most remote parts of the planet — the stratosphere — which has potential implications for climate, the ozone layer and the continued habitability of Earth."Using tools hitched to the nose cone of their research planes and sampling more than 11 miles above the planet's surface, researc
  
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• America is Seeing a 'Dramatic Rise' in Home Schooling

  05-11-2023 17:34 via news.slashdot.org
  
  "Home schooling has become — by a wide margin — America's fastest-growing form of education," according to a new analysis by the Washington Post. (Alternate URL here):The analysis — based on data The Post collected for thousands of school districts across the country — reveals that a dramatic rise in home schooling at the onset of the pandemic has largely sustained itself through the 2022-23 academic year, defying predictions that most families would return to schools tha
  
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• Microsoft Disputes Severity of Four Zero-Day Vulnerabilities Found in Exchange by Trend Micro

  05-11-2023 16:34 via it.slashdot.org
  
  "Microsoft Exchange is impacted by four zero-day vulnerabilities that attackers can exploit remotely to execute arbitrary code or disclose sensitive information on affected installations," reports Bleeping Computer, citing disclosures Thursday from Trend Micro's Zero Day Initiative, who reported them to Microsoft on September 7th and 8th, 2023.
  In an email to the site, a Microsoft spokesperson said customers who applied the August Security Updates are already protected from the first vulnerabili
  
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• When Linux Spooked Microsoft: Remembering 1998's Leaked 'Halloween Documents'

  05-11-2023 12:34 via linux.slashdot.org
  
  It happened a quarter of a century ago. The New York Times wrote that "An internal memorandum reflecting the views of some of Microsoft's top executives and software development managers reveals deep concern about the threat of free software and proposes a number of strategies for competing against free programs that have recently been gaining in popularity."The memo warns that the quality of free software can meet or exceed that of commercial programs and describes it as a potentially serious t
  
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• 'Stupid' Daylight Saving Time Ritual Continues. But Why?

  05-11-2023 08:34 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  Many Americans want to abolish Daylight Saving Time, reports NBC News:
  Since 2018, nearly all states have passed or entertained legislation that would drop the twice-a-year time shift. And 19 states have passed laws or resolutions in support of year-round daylight saving time, according to data from the National Conference of State Legislatures. But there's a caveat: Nothing can change until Congress addresses a 1960s-era law blocking such action."This ritual of changing time twice a year is stu
  
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• Aussies Angry Over Being Asked to Use QR Codes at Restaurants

  05-11-2023 04:34 via slashdot.org
  
  Long-time Slashdot reader smooth wombat writes:: A recent social media post by an Aussie received a deluge of replies and comments. His comment? "I'm so f***ing tired of 'tech' being used to solve an 'issue' but only making everything worse and more inconvenient for everybody," they wrote.
  His comment was in response to going to a restaurant and having only a QR code to order from — literally a menu at the table with only the QR code on it. The app required to order from it "proceeded to c
  
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• A SpaceX 'Falcon 9' Booster Rocket Has Launched 18 Times Successfully, a New Record

  05-11-2023 02:34 via science.slashdot.org
  
  Ars Technica reports:In three-and-a-half years of service, one of SpaceX's reusable Falcon 9 boosters stands apart from the rest of the company's rocket inventory. This booster, designated with the serial number B1058, has now flown 18 times.
  For its maiden launch on May 30, 2020, the rocket propelled NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken into the history books on SpaceX's first mission to send people into orbit. This ended a nine-year gap in America's capability to launch astronauts into
  
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• Microsoft Reverses Decision, Lets Employees Keep Free 'Xbox Game Pass Ultimate'

  05-11-2023 00:34 via games.slashdot.org
  
  Microsoft has changed its mind, the Verge reported Friday, and now will continue giving a free Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to most of its 238,000 employees, according to an announcement from Xbox chief Phil Spencer.
  Earlier reports had suggested that Microsoft was removing the free Xbox Game Pass Ultimate benefit — and some employees weren't happy about it.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
  
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