ICT news

• The Business World's Favorite Laptop Has Barely Changed in 30 Years

  07-08-2024 23:20 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Lenovo's widely used ThinkPad laptop hasn't changed much over the years. Corporate technology leaders say that's why they love it. From a report: "There's a lot to be said for familiarity and that consistent experience," said Ace Hardware Chief Information Officer Rick Williams, whose company uses about 4,000 ThinkPads. The ThinkPad brand of personal computers, originally created by International Business Machines, hit the market in 1992 before Lenovo acquired it, along with IBM's PC division, i
  
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• NASA Says Boeing Starliner Astronauts May Fly Home On SpaceX In 2025

  07-08-2024 22:42 via science.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from the New York Times: For weeks, NASA has downplayed problems experienced by Starliner, a Boeing spacecraft that took two astronauts to the International Space Station in June. But on Wednesday, NASA officials admitted that the problems with the spacecraft were more serious than first thought and that the astronauts may not travel home on the Boeing vehicle, after all. The agency is exploring a backup option for the astronauts, Suni Wiliams and Butch Wilmor
  
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• Hottest Ocean Temperatures in 400 years an 'Existential Threat' To the Great Barrier Reef, Report Finds

  07-08-2024 22:01 via science.slashdot.org
  
  Ocean temperatures in the Great Barrier Reef are now the hottest in at least 400 years and are an "existential threat" to the planet's unique natural wonder, according to new scientific research. From a report: Scientists analysed long-lived corals in and around the reef that keep a record of temperature hidden in their skeleton and matched them to modern observations. The research, published in the journal Nature, used climate models to find the extreme temperatures of recent decades could not
  
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• Your Windows Updates Can All Be Downgraded, Says Security Researcher

  07-08-2024 21:20 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Security researchers from SafeBreach have found what they say is a Windows downgrade attack
  that's invisible, persistent, irreversible and maybe even more dangerous than last year's BlackLotus UEFI bootkit. From a report: After seeing the damage that UEFI bootkit could do by bypassing secure boot processes in Windows, SafeBreach's Alon Leviev became curious whether there were any other fundamental Windows components that could be abused in a similar manner. He hit the jackpot in one of the most
  
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• After Breaking Free, World's Largest Iceberg Is Stuck Spinning in Circles

  07-08-2024 20:45 via science.slashdot.org
  
  For more than 30 years, the world's largest iceberg was stuck in the Antarctic. Five times the size of New York City's land area and more than 1,000 feet deep, the mammoth piece of ice finally became loose in 2020 and began a slow drift toward the Southern Ocean. Now, A23a, as it's known, is spinning in place. From a report: After leaving Antarctic waters, the iceberg got stuck in a vortex over a seamount, or an underwater mountain. Imagine a 1,400-square-mile piece of ice as deep as the Empire
  
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• Humane's Daily Returns Are Outpacing Sales

  07-08-2024 20:05 via it.slashdot.org
  
  Things aren't working out well for Humane, a heavily-funded startup that launched an eponymous AI device earlier this year. Despite significant funding from prominent Silicon Valley figures, the product has been grappling with negative reviews -- and now more pressing issues are emerging. An anonymous reader shares a report: Shortly after Humane released its $699 AI Pin in April, the returns started flowing in. Between May and August, more AI Pins were returned than purchased, according to inter
  
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• AI Is Coming for India's Famous Tech Hub

  07-08-2024 19:31 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  AI is upending India's technology outsourcing business. The industry is pivoting to adapt, but the changes could cost a large number of coveted jobs. From a report: The country's big outsourcing companies are already using AI and have plans to integrate it throughout their businesses. That might not save the low-end operations that run call centers or do other basic tasks within the so-called business process outsourcing sector.Â
  AI is threatening to disrupt most businesses around the worl
  
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• Parody Site ClownStrike Refused To Bow To CrowdStrike's Bogus DMCA Takedown

  07-08-2024 18:49 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Parody site creator David Senk has rebuffed CrowdStrike's attempt to shut down his "ClownStrike" website, which lampoons the cybersecurity firm's role in a recent global IT outage. Senk swiftly contested the Digital Millennium Copyright Act takedown notice, asserting fair use for parody. When hosting provider Cloudflare failed to acknowledge his counter-notice, Senk defiantly relocated the site to a Finnish server beyond U.S. jurisdiction. The IT consultant decried the takedown as "corporate cyb
  
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• Logitech Says the 'Forever Mouse' Was Just an Idea

  07-08-2024 18:05 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Logitech has quashed its earlier remarks about building a subscription-based mouse, following widespread backlash to comments made by CEO Hanneke Faber. The Swiss-American computer peripherals maker clarified that the "forever mouse" concept, mentioned by Faber in a recent podcast interview, was merely speculative internal discussion and not a planned product.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
  
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• Reddit CEO Teases AI Search Features and Paid Subreddits

  07-08-2024 17:36 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: Reddit just wrapped up its second earnings call as a public company and CEO Steve Huffman hinted at some significant changes that could be coming to the platform. During the call, the Reddit co-founder said the company would begin testing AI-powered search results later this year. "Later this year, we will begin testing new search result pages powered by AI to summarize and recommend content, helping users dive deeper into products, shows, games and discover
  
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• Disney's Password-Sharing Crackdown Starts 'in Earnest' Next Month

  07-08-2024 16:40 via it.slashdot.org
  
  Disney Plus will soon no longer let you share your password with people outside your household. From a report: During an earnings call on Wednesday, Disney CEO Bob Iger said the crackdown will kick off "in earnest" this September. The timeline for Disney's password-sharing crackdown has been a bit confusing so far. In February, Disney announced plans to roll out paid sharing and also began notifying users about the change. It then launched paid sharing in a "few countries" in June but provided n
  
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• How Intel Spurned OpenAI and Fell Behind the Times

  07-08-2024 16:00 via slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: For U.S. chip giant Intel, the darling of the computer age before it fell on harder times in the AI era, things might have been quite different. About seven years ago, the company had the chance to buy a stake in OpenAI, then a fledgling non-profit research organization working in a little-known field called generative AI, four people with direct knowledge of those discussions told Reuters.
  Over several months in 2017 and 2018, executives at the two companies
  
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• Royal Ransomware Actors Rebrand as “BlackSuit,” FBI and CISA Release Update to Advisory

  07-08-2024 14:00 via cisa.gov
  Today, CISA—in partnership with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)—released an update to joint Cybersecurity Advisory #StopRansomware: Royal Ransomware, #StopRansomware: BlackSuit (Royal) Ransomware. The updated advisory provides network defenders with recent and historically observed tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) and indicators of compromise (IOCs) associated with BlackSuit and legacy Royal activity. FBI investigations identified these TTPs and IOCs as recently a
  
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• Scientists Find Water Molecules in Lunar Rock Sample for the First Time

  07-08-2024 12:00 via science.slashdot.org
  
  Chinese scientists discovered water molecules in lunar samples brought back by the Chang'e 5 moon probe, marking the first time whole H2O molecules were found in lunar material. The findings have been published in Nature Astronomy. Smithsonian Magazine reports: The team used X-ray diffraction to analyze the grains of moon soil, in which they found a lunar mineral dubbed ULM-1 whose mass is made up of more than 40 percent water and also includes ammonia. "This is a new form of water stored on the
  
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• SpaceX's New Direct-To-Cell Starlink Satellites Are Way Brighter Than the Originals

  07-08-2024 09:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  According to a recent study, SpaceX's new Starlink direct-to-cell (DTC) satellites are nearly five times brighter than traditional Starlinks due to their lower orbit. While these satellites offer the promise of widespread connectivity, their increased brightness poses challenges for astronomical observations, prompting SpaceX to consider applying brightness mitigation techniques. Space.com reports: The higher luminosity of these DTCs compared to regular Starlinks is partly because they circle Ea
  
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• EPA Takes Emergency Action To Stop Use of Dangerous Pesticide

  07-08-2024 05:30 via news.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Washington Post: For the first time in 40 years, the Environmental Protection Agency has taken emergency action to stop the use of a pesticide (source may be paywalled; alternative source) linked to serious health risks for unborn babies. Tuesday's emergency order applies to dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate, also known as DCPA, a weedkiller used on crops such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and onions. When pregnant farmworkers and others are
  
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• Techdirt's Mike Masnick Joins the Bluesky Board To Support a 'More Open, Decentralized Internet'

  07-08-2024 04:10 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Mike Masnick, a semi-regular Slashdot contributor and founder of the tech blog Techdirt, is joining the board of Bluesky, where he "will be providing advice and guidance to the company to help it achieve its vision of a more open, more competitive, more decentralized online world." Masnick writes: In the nearly three decades that I've been writing Techdirt I've been writing about what is happening in the world of the internet, but also about how much better the internet can be. That won't change
  
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• NVMe 2.1 Specifications Published With New Capabilities

  07-08-2024 03:30 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  At the Flash Memory Summit 2024 this week, NVM Express published the NVMe 2.1 specifications, which hope to enhance storage unification across AI, cloud, client, and enterprise. Phoronix's Michael Larabel writes: New NVMe capabilities with the revised specifications include:- Enabling live migration of PCIe NVMe controllers between NVM subsystems.
  - New host-directed data placement for SSDs that simplifies ecosystem integration and is backwards compatible with previous NVMe specifications.
  - Sup
  
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• Cyberattack Knocks Mobile Guardian MDM Offline, Wipes Thousands of Student Devices

  07-08-2024 02:50 via it.slashdot.org
  
  Zack Whittaker reports via TechCrunch: A cyberattack on Mobile Guardian, a U.K.-based provider of educational device management software, has sparked outages at schools across the world and has left thousands of students unable to access their files. Mobile Guardian acknowledged the cyberattack in a statement on its website, saying it identified "unauthorized access to the iOS and ChromeOS devices enrolled to the Mobile Guardian platform." The company said the cyberattack "affected users globall
  
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• WordStar 7, the Last Ever DOS Version, Is Re-Released For Free

  07-08-2024 02:10 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Register: Before WordPerfect, the most popular work processor was WordStar. Now, the last ever DOS version has been bundled and set free by one of its biggest fans. WordStar 7.0d was the last-ever DOS release of the classic word processor, and it still has admirers today. A notable enthusiast is Canadian SF writer Robert J Sawyer, who wrote the book that became the TV series Flashforward.Thanks to his efforts you can now try out this pinnacle of pre-W
  
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• Google and Cloudflare Summoned To Explain Their Plans To Defeat Pirate IPTV

  07-08-2024 01:30 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  Italy's telecoms regulator AGCOM has summoned Google and Cloudflare to a September meeting to discuss strategies for combating online piracy, six months after launching its Piracy Shield blocking system. The move comes as IPTV piracy remains resilient despite new anti-piracy legislation passed in the country last year. The law introduced harsher penalties for providers and consumers of pirated content, including fines for watching pirate streams. It also granted more aggressive site-blocking pow
  
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• Apple Discontinues USB SuperDrive After 16 Years

  07-08-2024 00:50 via apple.slashdot.org
  
  Apple is discontinuing its USB CD and DVD player accessory, the Apple USB SuperDrive. "As noted by one of our readers, it's no longer possible to buy an Apple USB SuperDrive online via the official Apple Store in the US," reports 9to5Mac. "The product's webpage says that it's 'Sold Out,' and given that it's a product introduced in 2008, it seems very unlikely that Apple will ever produce new units again." From the report: Customers can still use their location to see if there's still a unit avai
  
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• Where Facebook's AI Slop Comes From

  07-08-2024 00:10 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Facebook's AI-generated content problem is being fueled by its own creator bonus program, according to an investigation by 404 Media. The program incentivizes users, particularly from developing countries, to flood the platform with AI-generated images for financial gain. The outlet found that influencers in India and Southeast Asia are teaching followers how to exploit Facebook's algorithms and content moderation systems to go viral with AI-generated images. Many use Microsoft's Bing Image Crea
  
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