ICT news

• Ahead of SCOTUS Hearing, Study Finds TikTok Is Likely Vehicle For Chinese Propaganda

  06-01-2025 23:20 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  A forthcoming peer-reviewed study (PDF) from Rutgers University's Network Contagion Research Institute argues that TikTok surfaces fewer anti-CCP posts compared to Instagram and YouTube, despite higher user engagement with such content. It also found that heavy TikTok usage correlates with more favorable views of China's human rights record. The findings come a Supreme Court hearing later this week on whether the federal government can ban TikTok. Gizmodo reports: The new peer-reviewed paper, wh
  
  Read more

• Dell Will No Longer Make XPS Computers

  06-01-2025 22:40 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: After ditching the traditional Dell XPS laptop look in favor of the polarizing design of the XPS 13 Plus released in 2022, Dell is killing the XPS branding that has become a mainstay for people seeking a sleek, respectable, well-priced PC. This means that there won't be any more Dell XPS clamshell ultralight laptops, 2-in-1 laptops, or desktops. Dell is also killing its Latitude, Inspiron, and Precision branding, it announced today. Moving f
  
  Read more

• Why Computer Scientists Consult Oracles

  06-01-2025 21:42 via science.slashdot.org
  
  Computer scientists are using hypothetical devices called "oracles" to advance the field of computational complexity theory, exploring fundamental questions about problem-solving difficulty. These theoretical tools, which instantly provide correct yes-or-no answers to specific questions, help researchers understand relationships between different classes of computational problems.
  Oracles have proved particularly valuable in studying quantum computing, leading to breakthroughs like Peter Shor's
  
  Read more

• Hundreds of US Locations Had Their Hottest Year On Record

  06-01-2025 21:02 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Communities across the U.S. experienced unprecedented warmth in 2024, with numerous cities breaking temperature records set just a year earlier. Phoenix recorded an average temperature of 90.5F and endured 70 days with highs at or above 110F, surpassing its previous record of 55 days.
  Major metropolitan areas including Chicago, Nashville, Washington, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and Burlington, Vermont, all registered their warmest year. Even northern Maine cities like Caribou and Houlton saw recor
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Intel Says New Laptop Chips Will Extend Computer Battery Life

  06-01-2025 20:25 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  Intel, which has been fending off mounting competition in notebook processors, says a new range of chips will help enable the longest battery life available in laptops. From a report: New computers based on the latest version of its Core Ultra processors will go on sale starting this month, the company said Monday at CES, an annual consumer electronics show.
  Intel was for decades the world's largest chipmaker thanks to its dominance of the computer processor market. Production technology stumble
  
  Read more

• Microsoft's Bing Deploys Google-Mimicking Interface To Retain Search Users

  06-01-2025 19:48 via it.slashdot.org
  
  Microsoft's Bing search engine has deployed a controversial interface change that mimics Google's appearance when users search for "Google" or "Google.com" while logged out, blog WindowsLatest reports.
  The new design adjusts the page layout to conceal Bing's search bar and navigation, displaying instead a Google-like interface with a central search box that redirects queries to Bing's results.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
  
  Read more

• A New Electricity Supercycle is Under Way

  06-01-2025 19:10 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  Global investment in electrical grid infrastructure is surging amid rising demand for power and the shift to renewable energy, reaching nearly $400 billion in 2024 from just over $300 billion in 2020. The International Energy Agency forecasts spending will hit $600 billion annually by 2030, driven by decarbonization efforts, electrification of transport and heating, and growing power needs from data centers and developing economies.
  Major equipment manufacturers including Schneider Electric, Hit
  
  Read more

• Microsoft Would Really Like You To Stop Using Windows 10 This Year

  06-01-2025 18:25 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Microsoft is pushing users to upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11 ahead of the operating system's end of support in October 2025. The company's consumer chief marketing officer Yusuf Mehdi declared 2025 "the year of the Windows 11 PC refresh," positioning PC upgrades as more crucial than TV or phone purchases. The Verge adds: Mehdi believes that "Windows 11 is available at a time when the world needs it most" and that "the forefront of AI innovation will be realized on Windows."Read more of th
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• HDMI 2.2 Debuts, With an 'Ultra96' Cable For Tomorrow's Displays

  06-01-2025 17:53 via it.slashdot.org
  
  The HDMI Forum has announced HDMI 2.2, doubling data bandwidth to 96Gbps through new "Ultra96" cables while maintaining compatibility with existing connectors. The specification, scheduled for release to industry adopters in first-half 2025, promises higher resolutions and refresh rates, including 4K at 480Hz and 8K at 240Hz.
  A new Latency Indication Protocol aims to improve audio-video synchronization in multi-device setups. The Forum emphasized applications in AR/VR, medical imaging, and digit
  
  Read more

• Unemployed Office Workers Are Having a Harder Time Finding New Jobs

  06-01-2025 17:01 via news.slashdot.org
  
  More than 1.6 million Americans have been jobless for at least six months, up 50% since late 2022, despite the economy adding over two million jobs last year, Labor Department data shows.
  The average job search now takes six months, primarily affecting high-paying sectors like tech, law, and media. While the 4.2% unemployment rate remains below pre-pandemic averages, job postings have dropped to one per unemployed worker from two in early 2022.
  Software development, data science, and marketing r
  
  Read more

• Climate Crisis 'Wreaking Havoc' on Earth's Water Cycle, Report Finds

  06-01-2025 16:23 via news.slashdot.org
  
  The climate crisis is "wreaking havoc" on the planet's water cycle, with ferocious floods and crippling droughts affecting billions of people, a report has found. The Guardian: Water is people's most vital natural resource but global heating is changing the way water moves around the Earth. The analysis of water disasters in 2024, which was the hottest year on record, found they had killed at least 8,700 people, driven 40 million from their homes and caused economic damage of more than $550bn.
  R
  
  Read more

• OpenAI Now Knows How To Build AGI, Says Altman

  06-01-2025 15:40 via slashdot.org
  
  OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says the AI startup has figured out how to build artificial general intelligence (AGI) and is now targeting superintelligent systems that could transform scientific discovery.
  In a blog post, Altman predicted AI agents could begin integrating into workplaces by 2025. He outlined plans to develop AI systems surpassing human-level intelligence across all domains. "We are now confident we know how to build AGI as we have traditionally understood it," wrote Altman.
  The statemen
  
  Read more

• Disney To Merge Hulu + Live TV With Fubo

  06-01-2025 15:05 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  
  The Walt Disney Co. will merge its streaming multichannel video service Hulu with Live TV with its competitor Fubo in a surprise deal that will shake up the streaming TV business, the companies said Monday. From a report: The new company will continue to be traded publicly under the Fubo name, however Disney will control 70% and appoint a majority of the board. Fubo management, including co-founder and CEO David Gandler, will run the combined venture.
  The deal will do a couple of big things if a
  
  Read more

• Millions of Windows 10 PCs Face Security Disaster in 2025 When Microsoft Ends Support

  06-01-2025 13:34 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  "Millions of computers are heading towards a security crisis as Microsoft plans to end support for Windows 10 on October 14, 2025," writes BetaNews:
  32 million devices — roughly 65 percent of household computers in Germany — are still running the aging operating system. In the DACH region, including Austria and Switzerland, over 35 million systems rely on Windows 10, leaving millions of users exposed to potential cyberattacks once updates stop. By contrast, only about 33 percent of G
  
  Read more

• Jimmy Carter Remembered Fondly by Bill Gates, Environmentalists

  06-01-2025 09:34 via news.slashdot.org
  
  As America begins a six-day state funeral for former president Jimmy Carter, Microsoft co-founder/philanthropist Bill Gates shared "my fondest memory" this week. "He and Rosalynn were among my first and most inspiring role models in global health."They played a pretty profound role in the early days of the Gates Foundation. I'm especially grateful that they introduced us to Dr. Bill Foege, who once helped eradicate smallpox and was a key advisor for our global health work.
  Jimmy and Rosalynn wer
  
  Read more

• New York Times Recognizes Open-Source Maintainers With 2024 'Good Tech' Award

  06-01-2025 06:49 via news.slashdot.org
  
  This week New York Times technology columnist Kevin Roose published his annual "Good Tech" awards to "shine the spotlight on a few tech projects that I think contributed positively to humanity."
  And high on the list is "Andres Freund, and every open-source software maintainer saving us from doom."The most fun column I wrote this past year was about a Microsoft database engineer, Andres Freund, who got some odd errors while doing routine maintenance on an obscure open-source software package call
  
  Read more

• America Still Has Net Neutrality Laws - In States Like California and New York

  06-01-2025 04:49 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  A U.S. Appeals Court ruled this week that net neutrality couldn't be reinstated by America's Federal Communications Commission. But "Despite the dismantling of the FCC's efforts to regulate broadband internet service, state laws in California, New York and elsewhere remain intact," notes the Los Angeles Times:This week's decision by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, striking down the FCC's open internet rules, has little bearing on state laws enacted during the years-long tug-of-war over th
  
  Read more

• Man Trapped in Circling Waymo on Way to Airport

  06-01-2025 02:49 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  It "felt like a Disneyland ride," reports CBS News. A man took a Waymo takes to the airport — only to discover the car "wouldn't stop driving around a parking lot in circles." And because the car was in motion, he also couldn't get out.
  Still stuck in the car, Michael Johns — a tech-industry worker — then phoned Waymo for help. ("Has this been hacked? What's going on? I feel like I'm in the movies. Is somebody playing a joke on me?") But he also filmed the incident...
  "Why is t
  
  Read more

• How the OS/2 Flop Went On To Shape Modern Software

  06-01-2025 01:49 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  "It's fair to say that by 1995, OS/2 was dead software walking," remembers a new article from the Register (which begins with a 1995 Usenet post from Gordon Letwin, Microsoft's lead architect on the OS/2 project).But the real question is why this Microsoft-IBM collaboration on a DOS-replacing operating system ultimately lost out to Windows...?If OS/2 1.0 had been an 80386 OS, and had been able to multitask DOS apps, we think it would have been a big hit.... OS/2's initial 1980s versions were 16-
  
  Read more

Follow @newslocke_ict on Twitter!