ICT news

• Argentina's Presidential Front Runner Vows To Slash Science Funding

  17-10-2023 03:25 via politics.slashdot.org
  
  Javier Milei, the current front runner for president of Argentina, pledged to eliminate government spending on research and shut down the country's main science agency, the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), which provides funding for about 12,000 researchers at 300 institutions across the country. The libertarian candidate has said that shutting down CONICET, with its $400 million budget, could help to end Argentina's fiscal crisis. Martin De Ambrosio and Fermin Koop
  
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• A Chinese Rocket Breaks Apart Dangerously Close To the Starlink Constellation

  16-06-2026 09:00 via science.slashdot.org
  A Chinese Zhuque-2E rocket's upper stage broke apart shortly after last week's June 9 launch, likely creating 100 to 150 pieces of debris in a busy region of low-Earth orbit crossed by the ISS and lower-altitude Starlink satellites. Most fragments should reenter within months because of atmospheric drag, but experts say the incident adds to a worsening trend as China leaves more large rocket bodies in orbit while expanding its launch rate. Ars Technica reports: The US Space Force confirmed the b
  
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• Cybersecurity Vets Protest 'Dangerous' US Government Ban On Anthropic's Most Powerful Models

  16-06-2026 05:30 via it.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: A group made up of dozens of cybersecurity experts, including several well-known veterans of the industry, published an open letter to the U.S. government asking it to lift the export control order on Anthropic's Fable and Mythos models. According to the open letter, "this action has taken the best models away from [cybersecurity] defenders" who now can't use the models to find vulnerabilities and make their software and products more secure.
  
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• The US Government Is Letting a Key Data Center Regulation Expire

  16-06-2026 01:00 via yro.slashdot.org
  The Federal Data Center Enhancement Act (FDCEA) is set to expire in September without an apparent replacement, potentially ending requirements for federal agencies to report on data-center efficiency, resilience, energy and water use, and contractor sustainability. Wired reports: Despite the public backlash, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the government agency that sets guidance for how agencies implement policies in line with the president's agenda, is not providing any plans for ho
  
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• FBI Issues Urgent Kali365 Security Warning For Teams, Outlook, OneDrive Users

  16-06-2026 00:00 via yro.slashdot.org
  alternative_right shares a report from The Hill: The FBI released an urgent security warning to the public about a fast-acting scam targeting Microsoft 365 users on Teams, Outlook and OneDrive. The agency warned that the hacking platform Kali365 seeks out OAuth device codes, allowing scammers to sneak past multi-factor authentication codes, and without the need for a password, to access Microsoft accounts. Scammers will send a phishing email impersonating a trusted document-sharing service with
  
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• Google Chrome's Next Update Will Mark the End of Popular Ad Blockers

  15-06-2026 23:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  Google is removing Chrome's last remaining workarounds for Manifest V2 extensions, effectively ending support for legacy ad blockers such as the original uBlock Origin. 9to5Google reports: CyberNews points out a Chromium commit that removes support for the "kExtensionManifestV2Disabled" flag, which is referred to as "dead code" seeing as Chrome no longer supports Manifest V2 extensions. This removal acts as the final stop for many Manifest V2-based ad blocker extensions that were still in use to
  
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• Users Cry Foul After AMD Stripped Memory Crypto From Its Consumer CPUs

  15-06-2026 22:02 via hardware.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: A decade ago, AMD added a protection to its high-end CPUs to protect them against cold boot attacks and other types of physical exploits that siphon sensitive data out of the connected memory chips. Short for Transparent Secure Memory Encryption, TSME encrypts the entire contents stored in memory, making the data useless to physical attackers. Over time, AMD added TSME to lower-end processors, including the consumer version of its Ryzen chip
  
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• Trump's 'Made In the USA' Phone Is Just a Reskinned HTC U24 Pro

  15-06-2026 21:00 via mobile.slashdot.org
  Longtime Slashdot reader necro81 writes: The heavily promoted, $499 T1 "Trump Phone" was originally said to be "Made in the USA" and ship in September 2025. Later, that was downgraded to "Assembled in the USA." Given the Trump Organization's lack of engineering or supply chain expertise, many assumed the "T1" would just be a private-label phone made by someone else. After a number of delays, the first phones are finally shipping.
  iFixit has performed a teardown and concluded that the T1 is a jus
  
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• Britain Unveils Sweeping Ban On Social Media For Under-16s

  15-06-2026 20:00 via news.slashdot.org
  Longtime Slashdot reader schwit1 shares a report from NBC News: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced a sweeping ban on social media use for those under 16, joining other countries around the world seeking to protect children online. "It's a big step for our country," Starmer said in a recorded video message released Monday. "Social media is making our children unhappy and unsafe, and as a parent, as much as a Prime Minister, I just can't let that go on anymore," he added.The ban wil
  
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• Fox Is Buying Roku For $22 Billion

  15-06-2026 19:00 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  Fox is buying Roku for $22 billion, combining Fox's sports, news, entertainment, Tubi, and Fox One offerings with a streaming platform that reaches about 100 million people. The companies say the merger would create the "third-largest player in US television by share of viewing," while Fox insists Roku will remain open to competing apps after the deal closes. CNN reports: Fox has dabbled in streaming over the past few years -- finally launching its Fox One competitor last August -- but has lacke
  
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• Google CEO Largely Avoids Discussing AI In Stanford Commencement Speech

  15-06-2026 18:00 via news.slashdot.org
  BrianFagioli writes: Google CEO Sundar Pichai delivered Stanford University's 2026 commencement address, but despite leading one of the companies at the center of the AI boom, he spent very little time discussing artificial intelligence. Instead, the speech focused on optimism, working on hard things, and following your interests. The omission is notable given how many graduates are entering a job market being reshaped by AI. While Pichai briefly referenced a "rewiring of technology," he largely
  
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• Swiss Voters Reject Proposal To Cap Population At 10 Million

  15-06-2026 17:00 via slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Voters in Switzerland have rejected an unprecedented far-right proposal to cap the country's population at 10 million in a divisive referendum dubbed "the Swiss Brexit." Some 54.79% of voters were against the proposal by the Swiss People's party (SVP) and 45.21% were in favor. Turnout was 58.86%. A different outcome would have obliged the Swiss government to limit the population, currently 9.1 million, to 10 million by 2050, enacting tough r
  
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• Are Many College Students Losing the Ability to Read?

  15-06-2026 13:34 via news.slashdot.org
  Futurism reports:in a new essay for The Chronicle Higher Education, university-level literature and writing instructor Tyler Jagt recalls how not a single one of his students could get through an assigned 20-page article, something that he had read "without complaint" as an undergraduate a decade ago.
  One student confessed that the reason they didn't finish was that they kept losing track of what the paper was about. And there's no doubt that they're not alone. Jagt cites the 2024 National Asses
  
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• IT Workers Are Now Struggling to Find Work, as 'Picky' Companies Demand AI Skills

  15-06-2026 09:04 via it.slashdot.org
  "Battered by years of mass layoffs, California tech workers were hoping the job market would rebound this year," reports the Los Angeles Times. "But things are getting worse."
  The class divide is widening in Silicon Valley as a tiny group of employees is landing unprecedented packages for AI skills, while many others struggle to find work. The have-nots are doing everything that used to guarantee great jobs — refreshing resumes, optimizing LinkedIn profiles and doing interviews — but
  
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• US-Iran Peace Agreement Prompts Stock Rally, Leaves Some Investors Skeptical and Questions on Speed of Resuming Oil Production

  15-06-2026 04:31 via news.slashdot.org
  "Asian stocks rallied Monday while oil prices tumbled," reports CNBC, "after the U.S. and Iran agreed to a peace deal aimed at ending nearly four months of conflict..."
  The strongest reaction was seen in energy markets. U.S. crude oil futures for July delivery were down 4.77% to $80.83 per barrel by 8:27 p.m. ET. Brent futures, the international benchmark, for August delivery traded about 4% lower to $83.77 per barrel. Asian equities surged. South Korea's Kospi jumped 5.1%, Japan's Nikkei 225 cl
  
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• Workers Spend As Much Time 'Botsitting' AI As Producing Useful Work, Survey Finds

  15-06-2026 03:19 via it.slashdot.org
  "As the use of artificial intelligence spreads across companies worldwide, it is relieving workers of tedious old chores but creating new ones," reports the Los Angeles Times.
  "Most people don't realize the amount of time that they're spending working on the tools to get the time savings that they're professing," said Paul Leonardi, Duca Family professor of technology management at UC Santa Barbara."Leonardi is one of the co-authors of the new study published by the Work AI Institute, whose cont
  
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• Microsoft Updates Six Windows Apps. 'Photos' Gets Watermarks for Copilot Images (Off by Default)

  15-06-2026 01:15 via tech.slashdot.org
  Microsoft dropped "massive" updates for six stock Windows apps, reports the "Microsoft enthusiast" site Neowin.
  Here's some of their more interesting highlights for Clock, Media Player, Calculator, Voice Recorder, Photos, and Paint:
  The Photos app (version 2026.11060.2004.0):AI watermarking — "AI-generated or edited images can now carry a visible Copilot watermark. You choose Never, Always, or Ask Every Time in Settings, with a confirmation when saving. The watermarking is off by default i
  
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• Microsoft Updates Six Windows' Apps. 'Photos' Gets Watermarks for Copilot Images (Off by Default)

  15-06-2026 01:15 via tech.slashdot.org
  Microsoft dropped "massive" updates for six stock Windows apps, reports the "Microsoft enthusiast" site Neowin.
  Here's some of their more interesting highlights for Clock, Media Player, Calculator, Voice Recorder, Photos, and Paint:
  The Photos app (version 2026.11060.2004.0):AI watermarking — "AI-generated or edited images can now carry a visible Copilot watermark. You choose Never, Always, or Ask Every Time in Settings, with a confirmation when saving. The watermarking is off by default i
  
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• UK Scientists See Little Evidence for Claims Smartphones Are Rewiring Kids' Brains

  14-06-2026 23:35 via mobile.slashdot.org
  UK's Members of Parliament (MP) were "looking for proof that smartphones and social media are rotting children's brains," writes The Register — but they got "a less satisfying answer from neuroscientists on Wednesday: nobody can really prove it."Appearing before the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee this week, three researchers spent much of the session explaining that concern and evidence are not quite the same thing. Asked what evidence exists on the impact of digital devices
  
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• As 'Disclosure Day' Premieres, Steven Spielberg Says He Believes Aliens Really Have Visited Earth

  14-06-2026 22:11 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  Steven Spielberg grants that his 1977 UFO film Close Encounters was "speculative," writes the Associated Press, but "Disclosure Day, he insists, is the real deal.""It's my first film that will be considered science fiction that I do not consider to be science fiction," Spielberg said in a recent interview. "It's much more reflective of the world as it is evolving and discoveries that are being made as we speak." Spielberg, at 79, is trying to revive and reconsider the alien wonder that's long li
  
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• Will Meta's $14 Billion Bet on AI Ever Pay Off?

  14-06-2026 20:43 via tech.slashdot.org
  "A year after spending over $14 billion to bring in Alexandr Wang and a group of his top Scale AI engineers to revamp its artificial intelligence efforts, Meta is at least back on the map in AI," reports CNBC, "though it's still far behind OpenAI, Anthropic and Google in the market."Wang's big accomplishment was the delivery of the Muse Spark AI model in April, marking Meta's first jump into proprietary foundation models and away from a strict adherence to open source, or open weight as it's mor
  
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• Vintage AMD R600 Graphics Driver Sees Code Cleanups Thanks To GitHub Copilot

  14-06-2026 18:34 via linux.slashdot.org
  Phoronix reports:
  The AMD R600 Gallium3D driver saw 59 commits [last] Sunday to Mesa 26.2. Making this code restructuring and code cleaning all the more notable is that the improvements to this old AMD Radeon graphics driver was done in part by GitHub Copilot.Gert Wollny has been among the few open-source developers left working on the AMD R600g driver that covers from the Radeon HD 2000 series through Radeon HD 6000 series graphics cards... [T]he old open-source GPU driver support is being assi
  
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• How America's Energy Department is Building a National Platform for Doing Science with AI

  14-06-2026 17:34 via yro.slashdot.org
  America's Energy Department "wants to build a single national platform for doing science with AI," reports Communications of the ACM:
  It is called the Genesis Mission, and the idea is to connect the country's 17 national laboratories, their supercomputers, scientific datasets, and a growing layer of AI models and agents into one system researchers can access. The DOE has taken to calling it 'a national operating system for science.' That means treating compute, data, and AI models the way the co
  
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• Blizzard Sues To Take Down Another Private World of Warcraft Server, Project Ascension

  14-06-2026 16:34 via games.slashdot.org
  "Blizzard Entertainment is continuing its crusade against private World of Warcraft servers," reports the gaming news site Aftermath:The company filed a new lawsuit on Friday in a California court against the makers of Project Ascension, alleging copyright infringement, Digital Millennium Copyright Act violations, and other claims. Blizzard Entertainment claims that Project Ascension is a "lucrative way to exploit and profit from the popularity of the WoW game experience," according to the compl
  
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• Bitcoin Has Lost Nearly Half Its Value in 11 Months

  14-06-2026 13:34 via slashdot.org
  The price of bitcoin dropped 13% down to $64,394 just in June — but there's more bad news, reports CNBC." "Bitcoin has lost nearly half its value since reaching a record high above $123,000 in July 2025."
  While previous bitcoin selloffs were often followed by large rebounds in price, the latest decline may prompt some investors to revisit why they own bitcoin in the first place, [says Daniel Sotiroff, associate director of ETF and Passive Strategies Research at Morningstar]. Here's what he
  
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• Four LTS Java Versions Get End-of-Support in a Three-Year Window (2029-2032)

  14-06-2026 09:34 via developers.slashdot.org
  Simon Ritter joined Sun Microsystems in 1996 and spent time working in both Java development and consultancy. He's now written an opinion piece for InfoWorld warning that "Between 2029 and 2032, every currently supported long-term support (LTS) version of Java will reach end-of-support within a single three-year window."
  That's Java 17 in 2029, Java 8 in 2030, Java 21 in 2031, and Java 11 in 2032...On paper, this looks like a manageable upgrade cycle. In practice, it creates a collision of timel
  
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• UK Police Officer Accused of Using AI to Fake Evidence

  14-06-2026 06:34 via news.slashdot.org
  The Sunday Times reports:
  A criminal investigation has begun after a police officer allegedly used AI to create evidential material in a "number of cases". Derbyshire Constabulary said an officer was being investigated over an allegation of suspected perverting the course of justice. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) confirmed it was engaging with defence lawyers and the courts over potentially affected cases...
  It is the first known allegation of AI misuse by police in a criminal case in the
  
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• How Author Dave Eggers Avoids Smartphones, Internet Access, and Flock Cameras

  14-06-2026 03:47 via news.slashdot.org
  A few weeks ago on a bike ride "inspiration struck" for Dave Eggers, reports SFGate...Without a pen and paper handy, he was stuck texting the idea to himself. The problem? Eggers doesn't own a smartphone. "It takes 20 minutes to write a sentence," Eggers said... It's a funny predicament for Eggers, given that he's arguably the city's biggest proponent of the written word... Now age 56, Eggers' latest book is called "Contrapposto"...On writing days, Eggers bikes to his sailboat docked near the Go
  
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• Amazon CEO's Talks with U.S. Officials Triggered Crackdown on Anthropic Models

  14-06-2026 00:34 via news.slashdot.org
  The Wall Street Journal reports:The Trump administration's decision to halt all foreign use of Anthropic's most capable AI models was prompted by conversations between Amazon Chief Executive Andy Jassy and U.S. officials including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, people familiar with the matter said.
  Researchers at Amazon had used a series of prompts to get Anthropic's Fable 5 model to provide them with information that could be used to aid cyberattacks and was supposed to be off limits, Jassy
  
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• Shutterstock 'Evolves' Into 'Human-Led, AI-Powered Creative Platform'

  13-06-2026 23:34 via slashdot.org
  Slashdot reader BrianFagioli writes:
  Shutterstock has unveiled what it calls a "human-led, AI-powered" creative platform that combines its massive library of [human] contributor-created content with AI image and video generation, AI editing, conversational search, prompt enhancement, and automated model selection tools. The company says the goal is to help creators move from idea to finished work faster [in a single application] while maintaining commercial licensing protections and contributor
  
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