ICT news

• Zyxel Firewalls Borked By Buggy Update, On-Site Access Required For Fix

  29-01-2025 23:40 via it.slashdot.org
  
  Zyxel customers are facing reboot loops, high CPU usage, and login issues after an update on Friday went awry. The only fix requires physical access and a Console/RS232 cable, as no remote recovery options are available. The Register reports: "We've found an issue affecting a few devices that may cause reboot loops, ZySH daemon failures, or login access problems," Zyxel's advisory reads. "The system LED may also flash. Please note this is not related to a CVE or security issue." "The issue stems
  
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• Alphabet's Waymo To Test Its Autonomous Driving Technology In Over 10 New Cities

  29-01-2025 23:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Alphabet's self-driving unit Waymo announced on Wednesday it plans to expand testing of its autonomous driving technology in over 10 new cities in 2025. After testing the Waymo Driver in multiple cities, the company says the technology is adapting successfully to new environments, leading to the expansion. In addition to ongoing trips to Truckee, Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Upstate New York and Tokyo, the expansion includes testing in San Diego a
  
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• Intel 'Did Not Know How To Be a Foundry,' Tim Cook Told TSMC Chief

  29-01-2025 21:50 via apple.slashdot.org
  
  TSMC founder Morris Chang says Apple CEO Tim Cook rejected Intel as a chip manufacturer in 2011 because the company lacked foundry expertise, despite being Apple's main supplier for Mac processors at the time. During a pause in TSMC-Apple talks to evaluate Intel's proposal, Cook told Chang that "Intel just does not know how to be a foundry," leading Apple to eventually choose TSMC as its exclusive chip supplier, the TSMC founder revealed in an interview.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
  
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• Mice With Two Dads Have Been Created Using CRISPR

  29-01-2025 21:10 via science.slashdot.org
  
  Chinese scientists have created mice with genetic material from two males that survived to adulthood, marking a potential breakthrough in reproductive biology, according to research published in Cell Stem Cell. Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences used CRISPR gene editing to target 20 genes involved in embryonic development, producing seven live pups from 164 embryos. The surviving mice grew larger than normal, had enlarged organs, were infertile and had shorter lifespans.Read more of
  
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• After DeepSeek Shock, Alibaba Unveils Rival AI Model That Uses Less Computing Power

  29-01-2025 20:30 via slashdot.org
  
  Alibaba has unveiled a new version of its AI model, called Qwen2.5-Max, claiming benchmark scores that surpass both DeepSeek's recently released R1 model and industry standards like GPT-4o and Claude-3.5-Sonnet. The model achieves these results using a mixture-of-experts architecture that requires significantly less computational power than traditional approaches.
  The release comes amid growing concerns about China's AI capabilities, following DeepSeek's R1 model launch last week that sent Nvidi
  
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• Study of More Than 600 Animal and Plant Species Finds Genetic Diversity Has Declined Globally

  29-01-2025 19:50 via science.slashdot.org
  
  Genetic diversity in animals and plants has declined globally over the past three decades, an analysis of more than 600 species has found. From a report: The research, published in the journal Nature, found declines in two-thirds of the populations studied, but noted that urgent conservation efforts could halt or even reverse genetic diversity losses. Dozens of scientists internationally reviewed 882 studies that measured genetic diversity changes between 1985 and 2019 in 628 species of animals,
  
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• Comcast Is Rolling Out 'Ultra-Low Lag' Tech That Could Fix the Internet

  29-01-2025 19:10 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Comcast is deploying "Low Latency, Low Loss, Scalable Throughput" (L4S) technology across its Xfinity internet network in six U.S. cities, a system that reduces the time data packets take to travel between users and servers. Initial trials showed a 78% reduction in working latency under normal home conditions. The technology will first support FaceTime calls, Nvidia's GeForce Now cloud gaming, and Steam games, with planned expansion to Meta's mixed reality applications.Read more of this story at
  
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• Chinese and Iranian Hackers Are Using US AI Products To Bolster Cyberattacks

  29-01-2025 18:30 via it.slashdot.org
  
  Hackers linked to China, Iran and other foreign governments are using new AI technology to bolster their cyberattacks against U.S. and global targets, according to U.S. officials and new security research. WSJ: In the past year, dozens of hacking groups in more than 20 countries turned to Google's Gemini chatbot to assist with malicious code writing, hunts for publicly known cyber vulnerabilities and research into organizations to target for attack, among other tasks, Google's cyber-threat exper
  
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• Copyright Office Offers Assurances on AI Filmmaking Tools

  29-01-2025 17:45 via news.slashdot.org
  
  The U.S. Copyright Office declared Wednesday that the use of AI tools to assist in the creative process does not undermine the copyright of a work. Variety: The announcement clears the way for continued adoption of AI in post-production, where it has become increasingly common, such as in the enhancement of Hungarian-language dialogue in "The Brutalist."
  Studios, whose business model is founded on strong copyright protections, have expressed concern that AI tools could be inhibited by regulatory
  
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• New Zealand Relaxes Visa Rules To Lure Digital Nomads

  29-01-2025 17:09 via slashdot.org
  
  New Zealand has relaxed its visitor visa rules to attract so-called "digital nomads" in a bid to boost tourism and the economy. From a report: Visitor visas will now allow people to work remotely for a foreign employer while they are visiting New Zealand for up to 90 days. The visa can be extended up to nine months but visitors may need to pay tax during this time. Economic growth minister Nicola Willis said making it easier for digital nomads -- people who work remotely while travelling -- to w
  
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• Virgin Money Chatbot Scolds Customer Who Typed 'Virgin'

  29-01-2025 16:20 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Virgin Money's AI-powered chatbot has reprimanded a customer who used the word "virgin," underlining the pitfalls of rolling out external AI tools. From a report: In a post last week on social media site LinkedIn, David Birch, a fintech commentator and Virgin Money customer, shared a picture of his online conversation with the bank in which he asked: "I have two ISAs with Virgin Money, how do I merge them?" The bank's customer service tool responded: "Please don't use words like that. I won't be
  
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• Paper Mills Have Flooded Science With 400,000 Fake Studies, Experts Warn

  29-01-2025 15:40 via science.slashdot.org
  
  A group of scientific integrity experts is calling for urgent action to combat "paper mills" -- companies that sell fraudulent research papers and fake peer reviews. In a Nature comment piece published January 27, the experts warn that at least 400,000 papers published between 2000 and 2022 show signs of being produced by paper mills, while only 55,000 were retracted or corrected during that period.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
  
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• OpenAI Says It Has Evidence DeepSeek Used Its Model To Train Competitor

  29-01-2025 15:00 via slashdot.org
  
  OpenAI says it has evidence suggesting Chinese AI startup DeepSeek used its proprietary models to train a competing open-source system through "distillation," a technique where smaller models learn from larger ones' outputs.
  The San Francisco-based company, along with partner Microsoft, blocked suspected DeepSeek accounts from accessing its API last year after detecting potential terms of service violations. DeepSeek's R1 reasoning model has achieved comparable results to leading U.S. models des
  
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• CVS Might Let You Open Locked Shelves With Your Phone

  29-01-2025 11:00 via mobile.slashdot.org
  
  A new update to CVS's mobile app includes a feature that allows some customers to access items on locked shelves using their phone -- "without having to summon an overworked employee to open it first," reports The Verge. The feature is currently being trialed in a handful of stores, but will be expanded to many more locations later this year if it goes well. From the report: According to The Wall Street Journal, "app users need to be logged in, on the local store Wi-Fi, and with their device's B
  
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• Microplastics Found In the Brains of Mice Within Hours of Consumption

  29-01-2025 08:00 via science.slashdot.org
  
  A team of biologists have found that it takes microplastics consumed by mice just a few hours to reach their brains. "Wondering if the plastic in their brains was causing any impairment, the researchers tested several of the mice and found that many of them experienced memory loss, reductions in motor skills and lower endurance," reports Phys.Org. From the report: In this new effort, the research team sought to learn more about the medical impact of a mammal consuming different sizes of micropla
  
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• Technology For Lab-Grown Eggs Or Sperm On Brink of Viability, UK Watchdog Finds

  29-01-2025 04:30 via science.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Bolstered by Silicon Valley investment, scientists are making such rapid progress that lab-grown human eggs and sperm could be a reality within a decade, a meeting of the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority board heard last week (PDF). In-vitro gametes (IVGs), eggs or sperm that are created in the lab from genetically reprogrammed skin or stem cells, are viewed as the holy grail of fertility research. The technology promises to remo
  
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• 'Ghost' That Haunts South Carolina Rail Line May Be Caused By Tiny Earthquakes

  29-01-2025 02:30 via science.slashdot.org
  
  sciencehabit shares a report from Science: Legend has it that if you walk along Old Light Road in Summerville, South Carolina, you might see an eerie glow hovering over an abandoned rail line in the nearby woods. Old-timers will tell you it's a spectral lantern held by the apparition of a woman searching for her decapitated husband's head. Susan Hough has proposed a scientific explanation that is far more plausible, however. A seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, she believes the so-cal
  
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• Record $4.5 Billion EU Fine Punished Its Innovation, Google Tells EU Court

  29-01-2025 01:50 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  Google has appealed a record $4.5 billion EU antitrust fine to the European Court of Justice, arguing that the European Commission's decision punished its innovation and imposed unfair penalties for agreements requiring pre-installation of its apps on Android devices. Reuters reports: Google's appeal to the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union comes two years after a lower tribunal sided with the European Commission which said the company used its Android mobile operating syst
  
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• White House 'Looking Into' National Security Implications of DeepSeek's AI

  29-01-2025 01:45 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  During the first press briefing of Donald Trump's second administration, White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said that the National Security Council was "looking into" the potential security implications of China's DeepSeek AI startup. Axios reports: DeepSeek's low-cost but highly advanced models have shaken the consensus that the U.S. had a strong lead in the AI race with China. Responding to a question from Axios' Mike Allen, Leavitt said President Trump saw this as a "wake-up call"
  
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• OPM Sued Over Privacy Concerns With New Government-Wide Email System

  29-01-2025 01:25 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Hill: Two federal employees are suing the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to block the agency from creating a new email distribution system -- an action that comes as the information will reportedly be directed to a former staffer to Elon Musk now at the agency. The suit (PDF), launched by two anonymous federal employees, ties together two events that have alarmed members of the federal workforce and prompted privacy concerns. That includes an un
  
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• White House Says New Jersey Drones 'Authorized To Be Flown By FAA'

  29-01-2025 00:45 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  During the first press briefing of Donald Trump's second administration, White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said the mysterious drones spotted flying around New Jersey at the end of last year were "authorized to be flown by the FAA.""After research and study, the drones that were flying over New Jersey in large numbers were authorized to be flown by the FAA for research and various other reasons," she said, adding that "many of these drones were also hobbyists, recreational and priva
  
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• Boom Supersonic XB-1 Breaks Sound Barrier During Historic Test Flight

  29-01-2025 00:02 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  The XB-1, a civilian supersonic jet developed by Boom Supersonic, successfully broke the sound barrier during a test flight over the Mojave Desert. It reached an altitude of 35,290 feet before accelerating to Mach 1.22, the company said in a press release. CBS News reports: It marks the first time an independently developed jet has broken the sound barrier, Boom Supersonic said, and the plane is the "first supersonic jet made in America." The sound barrier was broken for the first time in 1947,
  
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