ICT news

• Even Microsoft Notepad Is Getting AI Text Editing Now

  07-11-2024 23:50 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Microsoft is introducing a feature to Notepad called Rewrite that will let you use AI to "rephrase sentences, adjust tone, and modify the length of your content." The Verge reports: If you're a Windows Insider with early access to the feature, you can try it by highlighting the text you want to adjust in Notepad, right-clicking it, and choosing Rewrite. Notepad will then display a dialogue box where you can decide how they want to change their text -- for example, if it needs to be longer or sho
  
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• Toronto Crypto Company CEO Kidnapped, Held For $1 Million Ransom Before Being Released

  07-11-2024 23:10 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from CBC News: The head of a company specializing in cryptocurrency was kidnapped and held for ransom in downtown Toronto during rush hour Wednesday. Police were called about a kidnapping in the area of University Avenue and Richmond Street W. just before 6 p.m., says a spokesperson with the Toronto Police Service. The suspects forced the victim into a vehicle and made a demand for money, the spokesperson said. The man was later located in Centennial Park in E
  
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• Interview with Programmer Steve Yegge On the Future of AI Coding

  07-11-2024 22:30 via developers.slashdot.org
  
  I had the opportunity to interview esteemed programmer Steve Yegge for the SourceForge Podcast to ask him all about AI-powered coding assistants and the future of programming. "We're moving from where you have to write the code to where the LLM will write the code and you're just having a conversation with it about the code," said Yegge. "That is much more accessible to people who are just getting into the industry."Steve has nearly 30 years of programming experience working at Geoworks, Amazon,
  
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• Apple Scraps Plans for 27-inch iMac

  07-11-2024 21:50 via apple.slashdot.org
  
  Apple has confirmed it has no plans to release a 27-inch iMac, ending speculation about a larger successor to its flagship desktop computer. The tech giant will instead focus on its 24-inch M3 iMac and Mac Studio offerings.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
  
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• Global Temperatures Likely To Exceed Key Limit For First Time

  07-11-2024 21:08 via news.slashdot.org
  
  With October's initial temperature data in, 2024 will rank as the first calendar year in modern record-keeping in which global average surface temperatures exceed the Paris Agreement's aspirational 1.5C guardrail. From a report:Holding long-term warming to the 1.5-degree target compared to the preindustrial era is crucial for lowering the risk of triggering climate change tipping points, beyond which potentially catastrophic impacts have a higher likelihood of occurring, studies show. Holding wa
  
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• US Agency Warns Employees About Phone Use Amid Ongoing China Hack

  07-11-2024 20:27 via news.slashdot.org
  
  A federal agency has issued a directive to employees to reduce the use of their phones for work matters due to China's recent hack of U.S. telecommunications infrastructure, WSJ reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. From the report: In an email to staff sent Thursday, the chief information officer at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warned that internal and external work-related meetings and conversations that involve nonpublic data should only be held on platform
  
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• Hacker Says They Banned 'Thousands' of Call of Duty Gamers By Abusing Anti-Cheat Flaw

  07-11-2024 19:49 via it.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: In October, video game giant Activision said it had fixed a bug in its anti-cheat system that affected "a small number of legitimate player accounts," who were getting banned because of the bug. In reality, according to the hacker who found the bug and was exploiting it, they were able to ban "thousands upon thousands" of Call of Duty players, who they essentially framed as cheaters. The hacker, who goes by Vizor, spoke to TechCrunch about the exploit, and to
  
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• 'Just Have AI Build an App For That'

  07-11-2024 19:10 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Software engineer David Gomes writes in a blog post: I sometimes need to search for a website that will "convert a PNG to SVG", or "remove page from PDF" or "resize svg". And these apps are... okay. I don't really trust most of them with my data, and also a lot of times they just don't work or have too many ads. So, I've been noticing a trend of people just using AI agents to create full blown apps for these simple use cases.
  I decided to try it myself for a "resize SVG" app since I recently had
  
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• What Tired Texans Wrote To the FCC

  07-11-2024 18:30 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  A pre-dawn statewide alert about an officer shooting in Hall County triggered over 4,500 complaints to the Federal Communications Commission. The 4:52 a.m. "Blue Alert" on October 4 awakened millions of Texans, many living hundreds of miles from the incident location, to notify them about suspect Seth Altman. Air traffic controllers, healthcare workers, and other professionals reported safety concerns from sleep disruption, according to records obtained by 404 Media. Multiple residents told the
  
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• Plastic Pollution is Changing Entire Earth System, Scientists Find

  07-11-2024 17:52 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Plastic pollution is changing the processes of the entire Earth system, exacerbating climate change, biodiversity loss, ocean acidification, and the use of freshwater and land, according to scientific analysis. From a report: Plastic must not be treated as a waste problem alone, the authors said, but as a product that poses harm to ecosystems and human health. The authors gave their warning in the days before final talks begin in South Korea to agree a legally binding global treaty to cut plasti
  
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• Malwarebytes Acquires AzireVPN

  07-11-2024 17:02 via slashdot.org
  
  Malwarebytes, in a blog post: We've acquired AzireVPN, a privacy-focused VPN provider based in Sweden. I wanted to share with you our intentions behind this exciting step, and what this means for our existing users and the family of solutions they rely on to keep them private and secure.
  Malwarebytes has long been an advocate for user privacy (think Malwarebytes Privacy VPN and our free web extension Malwarebytes Browser Guard). Now, we're leaning even more on our mission to reimagine consumer c
  
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• Sega Delisting Over 60 Classic Games From Virtual Stores

  07-11-2024 16:21 via games.slashdot.org
  
  Over 60 classic Sega games are being delisted from digital stores, including Crazy Taxi, Golden Axe and Jet Set Radio. From a report: Starting on 6th December at 11:59pm PST (so, 7.59am on 7th December, for those of us in the UK), the affected games will no longer be available to purchase. Of course, if you already have a game in your library, it will remain available to download and play as and when.
  In a FAQ, Sega noted select individual classic titles will remain playable for those among us w
  
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• Nvidia Sets 100-Hour Monthly Cap on Cloud Gaming Service

  07-11-2024 15:42 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Nvidia will impose a 100-hour monthly limit on its GeForce Now cloud gaming service for new subscribers starting January 2025, with existing members facing the same restriction from 2026, the company said on Thursday.
  The gaming giant aims to maintain current subscription prices by implementing the cap, which affects roughly 6% of users. Members can purchase additional 15-hour blocks for $2.99 on Performance tier or $5.99 for Ultimate tier once they exceed the limit.
  The service, which allows us
  
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• Taiwan Must Improve Its Chip Tech to Stay Ahead, TSMC's Hou Says

  07-11-2024 15:04 via slashdot.org
  
  Taiwan should pour more resources into advancing chip technology and expanding its supply chain expertise to maintain global leadership, an executive from its most valuable company said hours after Donald Trump was elected to be US president for the second time. From a report: "We should accelerate research and development to ensure our standing as an indispensable member of the global semiconductor supply chain," Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Senior Vice President Cliff Hou said in rem
  
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• The Other Election Night Winner: Perplexity

  07-11-2024 14:01 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  AI startup Perplexity demonstrated strong performance in real-time during Tuesday election coverage, while rivals failed by predicting wrong outcomes before polls closed, marking the first major test of AI systems in U.S. election reporting, TechCrunch reports.
  Perplexity launched an election hub featuring live maps powered by Associated Press and Democracy Works data, contrasting with major competitors like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini, which declined to provide election information. De
  
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• DataBreach.com Emerges As Alternative To HaveIBeenPwned

  07-11-2024 12:30 via it.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from PCMag: Have I Been Pwned has long been one of the most useful ways to learn if your personal information was exposed in a hack. But a new site offers its own powerful tool to help you check if your data has been leaked to cybercriminals. DataBreach.com is the work of a New Jersey company called Atlas Privacy, which helps consumers remove their personal information from data brokers and people search websites. On Wednesday, the company told us it had launc
  
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• Sysadmin Shock As Windows Server 2025 Installs Itself After Update Labeling Error

  07-11-2024 11:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  A security update mislabeling by Microsoft led to Windows Server 2022 systems unexpectedly upgrading to Windows Server 2025, impacting 7 percent of Heimdal customers and leaving administrators scrambling to manage unexpected licensing and configuration challenges. The Register reports: It took Heimdal a while to trace the problem. According to a post on Reddit: "Due to the limited initial footprint, identifying the root cause took some time. By 18:05 UTC, we traced the issue to the Windows Updat
  
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• Nearly Three Years Since Launch, Webb Is a Hit Among Astronomers

  07-11-2024 08:00 via science.slashdot.org
  
  The James Webb Space Telescope has made groundbreaking discoveries, detecting the most distant galaxy yet and capturing an image of the closest directly-imaged exoplanet. "Judging by astronomers' interest in using Webb, there are many more to come," writes Ars Technica's Stephen Clark. With immense demand for observation time, Webb is set to explore a vast array of cosmic targets -- from early galaxies to exoplanet atmospheres -- offering insights that extend far beyond Hubble's reach. From the
  
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• Australia Proposes Ban On Social Media For Those Under 16

  07-11-2024 04:30 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Thursday the government would legislate for a ban on social media for children under 16, a policy the government says is world-leading. "Social media is doing harm to our kids and I'm calling time on it," Albanese told a news conference. Legislation will be introduced into parliament this year, with the laws coming into effect 12 months after it is ratified by lawmakers, he added. There will be no
  
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• Intel Sued Over Raptor Lake Voltage Instability

  07-11-2024 01:50 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  Intel faces a class-action lawsuit alleging its 13th and 14th generation desktop processors from 2022 and 2023 are defective, causing system instability and frequent crashes. The suit claims that Intel knew of the issue but continued marketing the processors anyway. The Register reports: The plaintiff, Mark Vanvalkenburgh of Orchard Park, New York, purchased an Intel Core i7-13700K from Best Buy in January 2023, according to the complaint [PDF]. "After purchasing the product, Plaintiff learned t
  
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• Canada Bans TikTok Citing National Security Concerns

  07-11-2024 01:10 via news.slashdot.org
  
  The federal government of Canada has ordered TikTok to shut down its operations in the country, citing national security concerns. However, Canadians will still be able to access the app and use it to create content. "The decision to use a social media application or platform is a personal choice," said Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne."We came to the conclusion that these activities that were conducted in Canada by TikTok and their offices would be injurious to national security.
  
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• OpenAI Acquires Chat.com

  07-11-2024 00:30 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  OpenAI has acquired the chat.com domain name, likely for well over $10 million. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman posted a one-word tweet this morning, simply stating, "chat.com." Domain Name Wire reports: The chat.com domain name has changed hands for the third time in two years. HubSpot founder Dharmesh Shah kicked off the buying last year, plunking down over $15.5 million for the domain name. He turned around and sold the domain shortly thereafter for a profit.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
  
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