ICT news

• Google Calendar Gets a Redesign and Dark Mode

  24-10-2024 23:40 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Google is introducing a dark mode to the web version of Google Calendar and rolling out a "refreshed user interface." From a report: The new UI will include buttons, dialog boxes, and sidebars that are "more modern and accessible" with improved typefaces. The update started rolling out this week and soon it will be available to everyone, whether they're using a personal Gmail login or any sort of paid Google Workspace account.
  [...] Google says the updated calendar UI will also feature "iconogra
  
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• Google Offers Its AI Watermarking Tech As Free Open Source Toolkit

  24-10-2024 23:00 via news.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Back in May, Google augmented its Gemini AI model with SynthID, a toolkit that embeds AI-generated content with watermarks it says are "imperceptible to humans" but can be easily and reliably detected via an algorithm. Today, Google took that SynthID system open source, offering the same basic watermarking toolkit for free to developers and businesses. The move gives the entire AI industry an easy, seemingly robust way to silently mark conte
  
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• White House Orders Pentagon and Intel Agencies To Increase Use of AI

  24-10-2024 22:21 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  The White House is directing the Pentagon and intelligence agencies to increase their adoption of AI, expanding the Biden administration's efforts to curb technological competition from China and other adversaries. From a report: The edict is part of a landmark national security memorandum published Thursday. It aims to make government agencies step up experiments and deployments of AI. The memo also bans agencies from using the technology in ways that "do not align with democratic values," acco
  
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• Cable Companies Ask 5th Circuit To Block FTC's Click-to-Cancel Rule

  24-10-2024 21:40 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Cable companies, advertising firms, and newspapers are asking courts to block a federal "click-to-cancel" rule that would force businesses to make it easier for consumers to cancel services. From a report: Lawsuits were filed yesterday, about a week after the Federal Trade Commission approved a rule that "requires sellers to provide consumers with simple cancellation mechanisms to immediately halt all recurring charges."
  Cable lobby group NCTA-The Internet & Television Association and the In
  
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• US Power Grid Added Battery Equivalent of 20 Nuclear Reactors In Past Four Years

  24-10-2024 20:43 via news.slashdot.org
  
  whitroth writes: People here and elsewhere have been yelling for more nuclear power, and that renewables can't meet demand. Surprise -- the corporations are betting on them, and massive numbers of batteries can be produced a lot faster than nuclear plants can be built. The Guardian adds: Faced with worsening climate-driven disasters and an electricity grid increasingly supplied by intermittent renewables, the US is rapidly installing huge batteries that are already starting to help prevent power
  
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• Code.org Taps No-Code Tableau To Make the Case For K-12 Programming Courses

  24-10-2024 20:00 via developers.slashdot.org
  
  theodp writes: "Computer science education is a necessity for all students," argues tech-backed nonprofit Code.org in its newly-published 2024 State of Computer Science Education (Understanding Our National Imperative) report. "Students of all identities and chosen career paths need quality computer science education to become informed citizens and confident creators of content and digital tools."
  In the 200-page report, Code.org pays special attention to participation in "foundational computer
  
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• Verisign and ICANN Renew Root Zone Maintainer Service Agreement

  24-10-2024 19:22 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  penciling_in writes: Pat Kane, Senior VP at Verisign, reports that on October 20th, ICANN and Verisign renewed the agreement under which Verisign will continue to act as Root Zone Maintainer for the Domain Name System (DNS) for another 8-year term. "The Root Zone sits atop the hierarchical architecture of the DNS and is essential to virtually all internet navigation, acting as the dynamic, cryptographically secure, global directory of all top-level domains that exist in the DNS. The Root Zone Ma
  
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• IPv6 May Already Be Irrelevant - But So is Moving Off IPv4, Argues APNIC's Chief Scientist

  24-10-2024 18:42 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  The chief scientist of the Asia Pacific Network Information Center has a theory about why the world hasn't moved to IPv6. From a report: In a lengthy post to the center's blog, Geoff Huston recounts that the main reason for the development of IPv6 was a fear the world would run out of IP addresses, hampering the growth of the internet. But IPv6 represented evolution -- not revolution. "The bottom line was that IPv6 did not offer any new functionality that was not already present in IPv4. It did
  
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• LinkedIn Fined More Than $300 Million in Ireland Over Personal Data Processing

  24-10-2024 18:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Ireland's data-protection watchdog fined LinkedIn 310 million euros ($334.3 million), saying the Microsoft-owned career platform's personal-data processing breached strict European Union data-privacy and security legislation. From a report: The Irish Data Protection Commission in 2018 launched a probe into LinkedIn's processing of users' personal data for behavioral analysis and targeted advertising after its French equivalent flagged a complaint it received from a non-profit organization. Irish
  
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• Kroger and Walmart Deny 'Surge Pricing' After Adopting Digital Price Tags

  24-10-2024 17:21 via slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: Members of Congress are raising the alarm about new technology at supermarkets: They say Kroger and other major grocery stores are implementing digital price tags that could allow for dynamic pricing, meaning the sticker price on items like eggs and milk could change regularly. They also claim data from facial recognition technology at Kroger could be considered in pricing decisions.
  Kroger denied the claims, saying it has no plans to implement dynamic pricin
  
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• Note-Taking App Notion Readies Email Product

  24-10-2024 16:41 via it.slashdot.org
  
  Notion, the maker of a popular eponymous note-taking app, appears to be getting ready to launch its own email product, called Notion Mail, TechCrunch reported Thursday, citing sources. From the report: Earlier this year, Notion acquired Skiff, a privacy-focused email service and app. At the time, Skiff said that it would provide a 12-month sunset window to users so that they have enough time to migrate to a different email service. For months, users on Reddit have shared hints of Notion working
  
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• Intel Weighed $20 Billion Nvidia Takeover in 2005

  24-10-2024 16:00 via slashdot.org
  
  Intel considered acquiring graphics chip maker Nvidia for up to $20 billion in 2005, a move that could have reshaped the AI industry, according to The New York Times. Then-CEO Paul Otellini pitched the acquisition to Intel's board, recognizing the potential of graphics processors for data center computing. The board rejected the proposal, citing Intel's poor track record with acquisitions and the deal's unprecedented size, the report added. Today, Nvidia dominates the AI chip market with a $3 tr
  
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• Journals With High Rates of Suspicious Papers Flagged By Science-Integrity Startup

  24-10-2024 15:00 via science.slashdot.org
  
  schwit1 shares a report from Nature: Which scientific publishers and journals are worst affected by fraudulent or dubious research papers -- and which have done least to clean up their portfolio? A technology start-up founded to help publishers spot potentially problematic papers says that it has some answers, and has shared its early findings with Nature. The science-integrity website Argos, which was launched in September by Scitility, a technology firm headquartered in Sparks, Nevada, gives p
  
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• Cisco Releases Security Bundle for Cisco ASA, FMC, and FTD Software

  24-10-2024 14:00 via cisa.gov
  Cisco released its October 2024 Semiannual Cisco ASA, FMC, and FTD Software Security Advisory Bundled Publication to address vulnerabilities in Cisco ASA, FMC, and FTD. A cyber threat actor could exploit some of these vulnerabilities to take control of an affected system.   
  CISA encourages users and administrators to review the following advisory and apply the necessary updates:  Cisco Event Response: October 2024 Cisco ASA, FMC, and FTD Software Security Advisory B
  
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• CISA, US, and International Partners Release Joint Guidance to Assist Software Manufacturers with Safe Software Deployment Processes

  24-10-2024 14:00 via cisa.gov
  Today, CISA—along with U.S. and international partners—released joint guidance, Safe Software Deployment: How Software Manufacturers Can Ensure Reliability for Customers. This guide aids software manufacturers in establishing secure software deployment processes to help ensure software is reliable and safe for customers. Additionally, it offers guidance on how to deploy in an efficient manner as part of the software development lifecycle (SDLC).
  A well-designed software deployme
  
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• Humanoid Robot Is the 'Fastest In the World' Thanks To Pair of Sneakers

  24-10-2024 12:00 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  AmiMoJo shares a report from Live Science: Scientists have demonstrated a new humanoid robot that can run at a top speed of just over 8 miles per hour (mph) -- or 3.6 meters per second (m/s) to be exact. This makes it the speediest machine of its kind built so far, albeit these speeds were only achieved with the help of added footwear. STAR1 is a bipedal robot built by the Chinese company Robot Era that's 5 feet 7 inches (171 centimeters) tall and weighs 143 pounds (65 kilograms).Powered by high
  
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• Boeing-Made Satellite Explodes In Space

  24-10-2024 09:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  "Boeing has had a series of issues over the past few years," writes Slashdot reader quonset. "From planes crashing, lost service records, to a recent strike which cost them $6 billion, now comes word a satellite they made has exploded in space." CBS News reports: The Intelsat 33e satellite, which was launched in 2016 and provides communications across Europe, Asia and Africa, experienced "an anomaly" on Saturday, Intelsat said in a news release. Attempts were made to work with Boeing and repair
  
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• Foreign Disinformation Is Hitting the US Election From All Directions

  24-10-2024 05:30 via politics.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Wired: As November 5 draws closer, the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center (MTAC) warned on Wednesday that malicious foreign influence operations launched by Russia, China, and Iran against the US presidential election are continuing to evolve and should not be ignored even though they have come to feel inevitable. In the group's fifth report, researchers emphasize the range of ongoing activities (source may be paywalled; alternative source) as well as the i
  
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• Norway To Increase Minimum Age Limit On Social Media To 15 To Protect Children

  24-10-2024 03:25 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Norway plans to enforce a strict minimum social media age of 15 to protect children from harmful content and the influence of algorithms. The Guardian reports: The Scandinavian country already has a minimum age limit of 13 in place. Despite this, more than half of nine-year-olds, 58% of 10-year-olds and 72% of 11-year-olds are on social media, according to research by the Norwegian media authority. The government has pledged to introduce more safeguards to prevent children from getting around th
  
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• Huawei Makes Divorce From Android Official With HarmonyOS NEXT Launch

  24-10-2024 02:45 via slashdot.org
  
  The Register's Laura Dobberstein reports: Huawei formally launched its home-brewed operating system, HarmonyOS NEXT, on Wednesday, marking its official separation from the Android ecosystem. Huawei declared it released and "officially started public beta testing" of the OS for some of its smartphones and tablets that run its own Kirin and Kunpeng chips.Unlike previous iterations of HarmonyOS, HarmonyOS NEXT no longer supports Android apps. Huawei maintains top Chinese outfits aren't deterred by
  
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• White Hat Hackers Earn $500,000 On First Day of Pwn2Own Ireland 2024

  24-10-2024 02:02 via it.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from SecurityWeek.com: White hat hackers taking part in the Pwn2Own Ireland 2024 contest organized by Trend Micro's Zero Day Initiative (ZDI) have earned half a million dollars on the first day of the event, for exploits targeting NAS devices, cameras, printers and smart speakers. The highest single reward, $100,000, was earned by Sina Kheirkhah of Summoning Team, who chained a total of nine vulnerabilities for an attack that went from a QNAP QHora-322 router
  
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• Linus Torvalds Comments On The Russian Linux Maintainers Being Delisted

  24-10-2024 01:20 via linux.slashdot.org
  
  Ancient Slashdot reader szo shares a report from Phoronix: Quietly merged into this week's Linux 6.12-rc4 kernel was a patch that removes a number of kernel maintainers from being noted in the official MAINTAINERS file that recognizes all of the driver and subsystem maintainers. [...] [Greg Kroah-Hartman who authored the patch] simply commented in there: "Remove some entries due to various compliance requirements. They can come back in the future if sufficient documentation is provided." [...] T
  
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• Adobe Made Its Painting App Completely Free To Take On Procreate

  24-10-2024 00:40 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Adobe's Fresco painting app is now free for everyone, in an attempt to lure illustrators to join its creative software suite. The Verge reports: Fresco is essentially Adobe's answer to apps like Procreate and Clip Studio Paint, which all provide a variety of tools for both digital art and simulating real-world materials like sketching pencils and watercolor paints. Adobe Fresco is designed for touch and stylus-supported devices, and is available on iPad, iPhone, and Windows PCs. The app already
  
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• Russia Says 'Unprecedented' Cyberattack Hits Foreign Ministry Amid BICS Summit

  24-10-2024 00:20 via it.slashdot.org
  
  The Russian Foreign Ministry says it had been targeted by a large-scale distributed denial-of-service attack (DDoS). "A massive cyberattack from abroad began this morning on the infrastructure of the official website, the Russian Foreign Ministry's portal," said spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. She noted that the ministry regularly encounters similar attacks, but today's attack was "unprecedented in scale." Reuters notes that the attack coincided with the major BRICS summit taking place in the count
  
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• Internet Users Ask FCC To Ban Data Caps

  24-10-2024 00:00 via politics.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: It's been just a week since US telecom regulators announced a formal inquiry into broadband data caps, and the docket is filling up with comments from users who say they shouldn't have to pay overage charges for using their Internet service. The docket has about 190 comments so far, nearly all from individual broadband customers.Federal Communications Commission dockets are usually populated with filings from telecom companies, advocacy grou
  
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