ICT news

• Google Is Gifting Gemini Advanced To US College Students

  17-04-2025 23:20 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Google is offering all U.S. college students a free year of its Gemini Advanced AI tools through its Google One AI Premium plan, as part of a push to expand Gemini's user base and compete with ChatGPT. It includes access to the company's Pro models, Veo 2 video generation, NotebookLM, Gemini Live and 2TB of Drive storage. Ars Technica reports: Google has a new landing page for the deal, allowing eligible students to sign up for their free Google One AI Premium plan. The offer is valid from now u
  
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• Federal Judge Declares Google's Digital Ad Network Is an Illegal Monopoly

  17-04-2025 22:40 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  Longtime Slashdot reader schwit1 shares a report from the Associated Press: Google has been branded an abusive monopolist by a federal judge for the second time in less than a year, this time for illegally exploiting some of its online marketing technology to boost the profits fueling an internet empire currently worth $1.8 trillion. The ruling issued Thursday by U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Virginia comes on the heels of a separate decision in August that concluded Google's namesake s
  
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• ChatGPT Models Are Surprisingly Good At Geoguessing

  17-04-2025 22:00 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: There's a somewhat concerning new trend going viral: People are using ChatGPT to figure out the location shown in pictures. This week, OpenAI released its newest AI models, o3 and o4-mini, both of which can uniquely "reason" through uploaded images. In practice, the models can crop, rotate, and zoom in on photos -- even blurry and distorted ones -- to thoroughly analyze them. These image-analyzing capabilities, paired with the models' ability
  
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• Synology Locks Key NAS Features Behind Proprietary Drive Requirement

  17-04-2025 21:20 via it.slashdot.org
  
  Synology's upcoming Plus Series NAS systems will restrict full functionality to users who install the company's self-branded hard drives, Tom's Hardware is reporting, marking a significant shift in the consumer NAS market. While third-party drives will still work for basic storage, critical features including drive health monitoring, volume-wide deduplication, lifespan analysis, and automatic firmware updates will be disabled, the publication said.
  The restriction doesn't apply to Synology's 202
  
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• Google, Apple, and Snap Aren't Happy About Meta's Poorly-redacted Slides

  17-04-2025 20:40 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  During Meta's antitrust trial this week, lawyers representing Apple, Google, and Snap each expressed irritation with Meta over the slides it presented on Monday that The Verge found to contain easy-to-remove redactions. From a report: Attorneys for both Apple and Snap called the errors "egregious," with Apple's representative indicating that it may not be able to trust Meta with its internal information in the future. Google's attorney also blamed Meta for jeopardizing the search giant's data wi
  
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• Ubuntu 25.04 'Plucky Puffin' Arrives With Linux 6.14, GNOME 48, and ARM64 Desktop ISO

  17-04-2025 18:50 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Canonical today released Ubuntu 25.04 "Plucky Puffin," bringing significant upgrades to the non-LTS distribution including Linux kernel 6.14, GNOME 48 with triple buffering, and expanded hardware support.
  For the first time, Ubuntu ships an official generic ARM64 desktop ISO targeting virtual machines and Snapdragon-based devices, with initial enablement for the Snapdragon X Elite platform. The release also adds full support for Intel Core Ultra Xe2 integrated graphics and "Battlemage" discrete
  
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• Bot Students Siphon Millions in Financial Aid from US Community Colleges

  17-04-2025 18:11 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Fraud rings using fake "bot" students have infiltrated America's community colleges, stealing over $11 million from California's system alone in 2024. The nationwide scheme, which began in 2021, targets open-admission institutions where scammers enroll fictitious students in online courses to collect financial aid disbursements.
  "We didn't used to have to decide if our students were human," said Eric Maag, who has taught at Southwestern College for 21 years. Faculty now spend hours vetting suspi
  
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• Meta Blocks Apple Intelligence in iOS Apps

  17-04-2025 17:39 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Meta has disabled Apple Intelligence features across its iOS applications, including Facebook, WhatsApp, and Threads, according to Brazilian tech blog Sorcererhat Tech. The block affects Writing Tools, which enable text creation and editing via Apple's AI, as well as Genmoji generation. Users cannot access these features via the standard text field interface in Meta apps. Instagram Stories have also lost previously available keyboard stickers and Memoji functionality.
  While Meta hasn't explained
  
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• How a Secretive Gambler Called 'The Joker' Took Down the Texas Lottery

  17-04-2025 16:40 via news.slashdot.org
  
  A global gambling syndicate led by secretive Tasmanian gambler Zeljko Ranogajec and London bookmaker Bernard Marantelli successfully executed an unprecedented operation to claim a $57.8 million Texas lottery jackpot in 2023.
  The group, operating through a limited partnership called Rook TX, purchased 99.3% of all possible number combinations, printing over 25 million tickets across four makeshift workshops in Texas. Using dozens of official lottery terminals and working nearly around the clock f
  
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• India's IT Services Giants Hit With Steepest Growth Slowdown in Years

  17-04-2025 16:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  India's three largest IT services companies are facing their steepest growth slowdown in years as corporations curtail large technology projects amid global economic uncertainty and geopolitical challenges. From a report: Infosys, the country's second-largest IT services provider, on Thursday forecast revenue growth of just 0-3% for the fiscal year through March 2026, far below analysts' expectations of 6.3%. The guidance follows a quarter where net income fell 12% to $823 million, though this e
  
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• China Bans 'Smart' and 'Autonomous' Driving Terms From Vehicle Ads

  17-04-2025 15:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  China is banning automakers from using the terms "smart driving" and "autonomous driving" when they advertise driving assistance features, and it will tighten scrutiny of such technology upgrades. From a report: The mandate on vehicle advertising was delivered by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in its meeting with nearly 60 representatives from automakers on Wednesday, according to a transcript seen by Reuters and confirmed by one of the attendees. The move follows a fatal ac
  
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• How Nintendo's Legal Team Destroyed Atari Games Through Courtroom Strategy

  17-04-2025 12:00 via games.slashdot.org
  
  Nintendo's lawyers systematically dismantled Atari Games in a landmark 1989 legal battle that reshaped the gaming industry, killing off the Tengen brand until its surprise resurrection recently.
  When Atari Games (operating as Tengen) attempted to circumvent Nintendo's control by reverse-engineering the NES security system, Nintendo's legal team discovered a fatal flaw in their rival's approach: Atari had fraudulently obtained Nintendo's proprietary code from the Copyright Office by falsely claim
  
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• LG TVs' Integrated Ads Get More Personal With Tech That Analyzes Viewer Emotions

  17-04-2025 09:00 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  
  LG is partnering with Zenapse to integrate AI-driven emotional intelligence into its smart TVs, enabling hyper-targeted ads based on viewers' psychological traits, emotions, and behaviors. Ars Technica reports: The upcoming advertising approach comes via a multi-year licensing deal with Zenapse, a company describing itself as a software-as-a-service marketing platform that can drive advertiser sales "with AI-powered emotional intelligence." LG will use Zenapse's technology to divide webOS users
  
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• Astronomers Detect a Possible Signature of Life on a Distant Planet

  17-04-2025 06:30 via science.slashdot.org
  
  Astronomers have detected what may be the strongest evidence yet of extraterrestrial life on K2-18b, a massive exoplanet orbiting a star 120 light-years from Earth. The research team, led by Cambridge astronomer Nikku Madhusudhan, published their findings today in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
  Using the James Webb Space Telescope, researchers found significant concentrations of dimethyl sulfide and dimethyl disulfide in K2-18b's atmosphere. On Earth, these sulfur compounds are exclusively p
  
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• 'We Are Not Programmed to Die,' Says Nobel Laureate Venki Ramakrishnan

  17-04-2025 05:30 via science.slashdot.org
  
  In a recent interview with Wired, Nobel laureate Venkatraman Ramakrishnan discusses his book Why We Die, in which he argues that death is not genetically programmed but rather a consequence of evolution favoring reproduction over longevity. Here are some of the most thought-provoking excerpts:WIRED: Professor Ramakrishnan, the crucial question in your book is why we die. But exactly what is death?
  Venki Ramakrishnan: By death, we mean the irreversible loss of the ability to function as a coheren
  
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• Microsoft Confirms Classic Outlook CPU Usage Spikes, Offers No Fix

  17-04-2025 04:30 via it.slashdot.org
  
  Microsoft has acknowledged that Classic Outlook can mysteriously transform into a system resource hog, causing CPU usage spikes between 30-50% and significantly increasing power consumption on both Windows 10 and 11 systems.
  Users first reported the issue in November 2024, but Microsoft only confirmed the problem this week, offering little resolution beyond stating that "the Outlook Team is investigating this issue." The company's sole workaround involves forcing a switch to the Semi-Annual Chan
  
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• Harvard's RoboBee Masters Landing, Paving Way For Agricultural Pollination

  17-04-2025 03:50 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  After more than a decade of development, Harvard's insect-sized flying robot, RoboBee, has successfully learned to land using dragonfly-inspired legs and improved flight controls. The researchers see RoboBee as a potential substitute for endangered bees, assisting in the pollination of plants. From a report: RoboBee is a micro flying robot that Harvard has been developing since 2013. As the name suggests, it is the size of a bee, capable of flying like a bee and hovering in mid-air. Its wings ar
  
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• Researchers Grow Record-sized Lab Meat

  17-04-2025 03:10 via science.slashdot.org
  
  Researchers at the University of Tokyo have created what they believe is the largest single piece of lab-grown meat to date: a chicken nugget-sized chunk measuring 7 centimeters long, 4 centimeters wide, and 2.25 centimeters thick, weighing 11 grams. The breakthrough, reported today in Trends in Biotechnology, uses an artificial circulatory system to overcome a fundamental limitation in cultured meat production.
  The team, led by biohybrid system engineer Shoji Takeuchi, grew cells around a netwo
  
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• Discord Begins Testing Facial Recognition Scans For Age Verification

  17-04-2025 02:30 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  Discord has begun testing age verification via facial scans or ID uploads for users in the UK and Australia seeking access to sensitive content. "The chat app's new process has been described as an 'experiment,' and comes in response to laws passed in those countries that place guardrails on youth access to online platforms," reports Gizmodo. From the report: Users may be asked to verify their age when encountering content that has been flagged by Discord's systems as being sensitive in nature,
  
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• Following Layoffs, Automattic Employees Discover Leak-Catching Watermarks

  17-04-2025 01:50 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from 404 Media: As part of the company's months-long obsession with catching employees leaking internal developments to the press, staff at Wordpress parent company Automattic recently noticed individually-unique watermarks on internal sites, according to employees who spoke to 404 Media. Automattic added the watermarks to an internal employee communications platform called P2. P2 is a WordPress product other workplaces can also use. There are hundreds of P2 s
  
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• First Global Pandemic Treaty Agreed - Without the US

  17-04-2025 01:10 via science.slashdot.org
  
  For the first time -- and despite fears that it might never happen -- nations have agreed a series of measures to prevent, prepare for and respond to pandemics. Nature: The terms of the first global pandemic accord were still being hashed out at the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, up until the early hours of 16 April. "This is a definitive moment in the history of global health," says Lawrence Gostin, a specialist in health law and policy at Georgetown Univer
  
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• The Last RadioShack In Maryland Is Closing Its Doors

  17-04-2025 00:30 via slashdot.org
  
  After over 40 years in operation, the last RadioShack store in Maryland is closing. Store manager Cindy Henning, who worked there for three decades, reflected on the joy of helping customers and the legacy left by late owner Michael King: Henning told WTOP she's going to miss it dearly. She's worked there for three decades. "We would have a lot of fun. That was half of our day was to have fun with people and show them how electronics work," Henning said. It was owned and operated by longtime loc
  
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