ICT news

• 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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• How Microsoft's 'Little Workaround' Created a Major Threat to America's Defense Department

  19-07-2026 01:17 via yro.slashdot.org
  This week Slashdot reader joshuark found the story of exactly how in 2025 ProPublica reporter Renee Dudley confirmed Microsoft was running tech support for the U.S. Defense Department through China, America's biggest cybersecurity adversary — and how that investigation ultimately changed U.S. government policy.
  The reporter first found an ad offering $18 to $28 to hire Americans as "digital escorts" for China-based tech support, then just searched LinkedIn for people who apparently had ans
  
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• Next UK Prime Minister Drops Digital ID Scheme

  19-07-2026 00:17 via news.slashdot.org
  Reuters reports:
  Incoming British prime minister Andy Burnham will scrap the government's troubled plans for a digital ID scheme when he enters office on Monday, a spokesperson for the new Labour Party leader said. Resources devoted to the scheme, deemed a "fiasco" by a cross-party committee of lawmakers, will be redirected to Burnham's priorities, the spokesperson said...
  "All the time and resource that was going to be spent on a national ID scheme will go instead to where it's most needed, suc
  
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• Gen Z and Millennials are Buying CDs - Though Half Don't Have CD Players

  18-07-2026 21:50 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  "Approximately half of Gen Z and millennials who have purchased a CD do not own a CD player," according to midyear sales statistics from entertainment data company Luminate. It's driven in part by "collection building", according to their report [PDF]:The CD has been recontextualized from a functional audio format into an
  affordable collectible. This behavior underscores that for younger generations, the act of buying
  physical music is as much about aesthetic ownership and direct financial suppo
  
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• NextBSD Returns to Port Apple Source Onto FreeBSD

  18-07-2026 20:46 via bsd.slashdot.org
  "One of the most interesting BSD variants of the 2010s, NextBSD, has come back to life under new management," reports The Register:
  Aside from the homepage, there's a GitHub repository — but beware, this is separate from the old one, whose repo is still there although the most recent changes were seven years ago. The new project also has a project history giving credit where it's due. The main man behind the revival is Joe Maloney, known on GitHub as pkgdemon. In case his name rings a bell
  
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• CNBC's Jim Cramer Says He Needs 'Cold Hard' Proof AI Is Paying Off

  18-07-2026 19:34 via slashdot.org
  In a sign of our times, CNBC's Jim Cramer "said Wednesday that it's time for companies to prove artificial intelligence is paying off," reports CNBC:
  "I need cold hard return facts," the "Mad Money" host said. "Or, I, too, will grow more skeptical than I am now...." While Cramer said he remains optimistic about the long-term opportunity, he argued the market needs more evidence that those investments are translating into measurable financial returns for customers. Cramer said one of his biggest
  
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• Long After Pluto Fly-By, NASA's New Horizon's Probe Wakes Up Again, Starts Doing New Science

  18-07-2026 18:34 via science.slashdot.org
  Launched in 2006, NASA's New Horizons probe flew by the planet Pluto in 2015. But this week it "awakened from its longest sleep ever," reports CNN.It's now 5.9 billion miles (9.5 billion kilometers) from Earth...
  NASA's New Horizons spacecraft went into a planned hibernation mode on August 7, 2025, and woke up on June 23 using commands stored on its main computer. The mission's flight controllers at the Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, confirmed that New
  
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• Union Fights Microsoft Over Layoffs at Game Studios

  18-07-2026 17:34 via games.slashdot.org
  Thursday the union that helped organize thousands of workers across numerous Microsoft-owned video game studios filed unfair labor complaints against Microsoft over the layoffs of 1,600 employees. The gaming news site Aftermath says the complaints allege unlawful action:
  "Xbox management is required to bargain with the union over the decision of layoffs prior to implementing them during the status quo period, and we are pursuing every available avenue to protect our members," a Communications Wo
  
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• The 'Death of the Stick Shift' is Almost Here for Americans

  18-07-2026 16:34 via tech.slashdot.org
  Last year just 0.6% of new vehicles made for U.S. customers were stick shifts, reports the Washington Post, citing preliminary government data.
  "That's a precipitous drop from the 34.6 percent of vehicles with manual transmissions produced in 1980."
  [T]he stick shift's popularity hit multiple new lows in recent years, with no signs of a turnaround, thanks to new technologies and a rapidly changing marketplace. Buyers and automakers increasingly have turned to the sophisticated automatic drivetra
  
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• Google-Backed Satellites For Wildfire Detection Launch As Smoke Chokes US, Canada

  18-07-2026 13:00 via news.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: As smoke from hundreds of burning wildfires spread across Canada and the United States, the first three operational satellites in the Google-backed FireSat program successfully launched into orbit. The satellites will begin providing wildfire detection capable of spotting even small fires in the United States, Australia, and Europe before the end of the year. The launch of the microsatellites aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg S
  
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• Alien World Chemistry Found Inside Meteorite That Struck New Jersey Home

  18-07-2026 09:00 via science.slashdot.org
  Researchers say a meteorite that crashed through the roof of a Hillsborough, New Jersey, home in 2024 contains unusually pristine evidence of salty fluids and organic chemistry from near the surface of a primitive asteroid. "A forensic study of the fragments revealed that they contained preserved bits from near the surface of a primitive asteroid, where it experienced concentrated salty fluids -- a process not previously known from this type of protoplanet world," said lead author and meteor ast
  
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• Australia To Put Environmental Brakes On AI Data Centers

  18-07-2026 05:30 via slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from the New York Times: Australia will require large data centers powering artificial intelligence to generate as much power as they consume, and ensure that creative professionals retain control over work that may be used to train A.I. systems, as the government sets up guardrails over the rapidly growing industry. The announcements on Wednesday in a speech by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese came as Australia draws significant interest from A.I. companies be
  
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• Steve Wozniak's Foundation Partners With Realbotix To Build AI Teacherbot

  18-07-2026 01:00 via hardware.slashdot.org
  "Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak's Woz Ed foundation is partnering with Realbotix, best known for their RealDoll-branded artificial companions, to deploy AI-powered robotic tutors in classrooms," writes Slashdot reader Hentes. "The doll will serve as a sort of artificial teaching assistant, helping students who get stuck or generating lessons. Students will be assigned an ID code, allowing the robot to provide personalized mentoring." NYS Focus reports: "This deployment in a working school distri
  
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• Xi Vows to Make AI for All in Debut at China's Top Tech Summit

  18-07-2026 00:00 via slashdot.org
  Xi Jinping used his first appearance at China's World AI Conference to promote a vision of low-cost, broadly accessible AI and call for international cooperation rather than technological rivalry. "AI development should not be a solo performance by a single country, but a symphony of international cooperation," he said. Bloomberg reports: His presence at the gathering, attended by scores of tech and government leaders, conveys a potent signal of China's ambitions to dominate a technological sphe
  
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• Billing Software Error Sends Billion-Dollar AWS Estimates

  17-07-2026 23:00 via news.slashdot.org
  AWS says a billing software bug caused some customers to see wildly inflated estimated charges, including reports of accounts showing bills in the billions or even trillions of dollars. The Register reports: An open issue on the AWS Health Dashboard (archived copy at the time of writing) popped up at 1:33 am Pacific time on Friday informing users that Cost Explorer was "reflecting inaccurate estimated billing data." As of writing, the issue is still unresolved despite AWS trying several differen
  
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• Linus Torvalds To Critics of AI Coding On Linux: 'Fork It. Or Just Walk Away.'

  17-07-2026 22:00 via linux.slashdot.org
  Linus Torvalds says the Linux kernel will not ban AI-assisted coding tools, and if anti-AI absolutists have a problem with that, they can "fork it" or "walk away." An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Writing in a lengthy post on the Linux kernel mailing list this week, Torvalds said that "Linux is not one of those anti-AI projects, and if somebody has issues with that, they can do the open-source thing and fork it. Or just walk away." The statement came amid a lengthy thread a
  
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• China Just Erased America's AI Lead

  17-07-2026 21:00 via slashdot.org
  Longtime Slashdot reader schwit1 shares a report from Axios: Kimi K3, a massive new model by Beijing-based Moonshot AI, threatens the foundations of Americas AI boom. Its release Thursday dazzled developers, jolted Silicon Valley and reset the AI race overnight. Kimi immediately vaulted into the top tier of global AI, beating Anthropic's Fable 5 and OpenAI's GPT-5.6 Sol in front-end coding tests by AI evaluator Arena.In Arenas broader text ranking, Kimi finished ahead of Anthropics Opus 4.8 -- t
  
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• FBI Arrests Man Accused of Using Steam Games To Drain Victims' Crypto Wallets

  17-07-2026 20:00 via games.slashdot.org
  The FBI arrested a Florida man accused of uploading fake Steam games containing malware that stole passwords, data, and cryptocurrency wallet credentials from victims. Prosecutors say the scheme infected about 8,000 people, compromised roughly 80 crypto wallets, and stole at least $220,000 through games that appeared legitimate but secretly carried malware. TechCrunch reports: On Tuesday, the FBI arrested Zyaire Wilkins, a 21-year-old Florida resident and student. On Wednesday, prosecutors accus
  
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• Meta In Talks To Lease Computing Power To Anthropic In Potential $10 Billion Deal

  17-07-2026 19:33 via hardware.slashdot.org
  Anthropic is reportedly in very early talks to lease computing power from Meta in a potential deal worth around $10 billion. The discussions follow Anthropic's recent compute deal with SpaceX and come as Meta explores selling excess AI capacity as part of a broader push to turn its massive infrastructure spending into a cloud business. CNBC reports: Access to enough AI chips remains a challenge for firms like Anthropic, which places usage limits on its most advanced models like Fable. [...] Meta
  
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• Apple Sends Legal Letters To Dozens of OpenAI Employees

  17-07-2026 18:00 via apple.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from MacRumors: Apple has reportedly sent legal letters to dozens of former Apple employees now working at OpenAI, telling them to preserve potentially relevant documents and communications as it continues to pursue its trade secret lawsuit against the AI company. The Financial Times (paywalled) reports that Apple has targeted around 40 former employees with legal preservation letters, acting on its belief that the alleged misappropriation of confidential info
  
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• Kalshi Flags Trump's Teleprompter Operator For Alleged Insider Trading

  17-07-2026 17:00 via news.slashdot.org
  ABC News reports that White House teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez allegedly made more than $100,000 betting on Kalshi markets tied to what President Trump would say in speeches, using his access to prepared remarks and last-minute edits. ABC News reports: According to the sources, Kalshi alerted its regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), to the suspicious activity on its "Mentions" market, where users can bet on whether specific words, phrases or topics are uttered durin
  
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• Microsoft Restores Player's 25-Year-Old Account After Nuking It Due to Hacker

  17-07-2026 13:00 via games.slashdot.org
  Microsoft restored streamer Joshua Khane's 25-year-old Xbox and OneDrive account after it was compromised by a hacker and then suspended, putting years of personal data, baby photos, and thousands of dollars in games at risk. IGN reports: While he was "extremely happy" and thanked Microsoft for its help recovering his account and all the invaluable information therein, he levied some criticisms toward the brand for its initial response, claiming it had told him the suspension was "irreversible"
  
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• Astronomers Find an Atmosphere On a Nearby Earth-Like Planet

  17-07-2026 09:00 via science.slashdot.org
  Astronomers have directly detected helium in the atmosphere of LHS 1140 b, a rocky exoplanet 48 light-years away that sits in its star's habitable zone. The finding marks the first confirmed atmosphere around a rocky, Earth-like planet in the habitable zone, strengthening the case that some planets orbiting red dwarfs can retain atmospheres and potentially support liquid water. "We have actually detected directly the helium present in the atmosphere itself, and that's the first direct detection
  
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• Truth Social To Sell Wall Street Firms the 'Fastest' Access To Trump's Post

  17-07-2026 05:30 via tech.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from NBC News: Trump Media & Technology Group has unveiled a paid-for, licensed data feed that will give banks and trading firms "the fastest" access to posts from influential Truth Social accounts, such as President Donald Trump's, whose posts often move global markets. The product, called 'Truth API,' will deliver posts from the 10 most influential accounts to customers at a significantly faster pace than a regular push notification on the Truth Social p
  
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• HP Fined $14 Million For 'Cartelization' of Ink Cartridges, Toner, PCs

  17-07-2026 01:00 via hardware.slashdot.org
  India's Competition Commission has fined HP India and its partners about 1.4 billion rupees ($14.4 million), alleging the company colluded with resellers to rig government PC bids and fix prices for ink cartridges, toner, and other printing supplies. "It said that HP was aiming to outcompete other OEMs and discourage resellers from selling 'counterfeit' ink and toner," adds Ars Technica. From the report: In an order, the CCI said that HP India worked with five resellers to coordinate their bid p
  
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• TSMC To Invest Additional $100 Billion In Arizona

  17-07-2026 00:00 via news.slashdot.org
  TSMC said it will invest another $100 billion in Arizona after reporting a record 77.4% year-over-year jump in second-quarter profit. The expansion would bring its total U.S. investment to $265 billion and include new fabs for 2-nanometer production and advanced packaging to serve major U.S. customers. The Associated Press reports: As AI-related demand continues to jump and needs for computing power from data centers surge, TSMC has been expanding chip fabrication plants in the U.S., Japan and T
  
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• EU Forces Google To Share Search Data, Open Android To Rivals

  16-07-2026 23:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  The EU is imposing new rules requiring Google to share anonymized search data and open up Android to rival AI companies. "Thanks to these measures, we hope to see emerging alternatives to Google Search and Google's AI services, such as Gemini, and that users in the EU can enjoy greater choice of services," Henna Virkkunen, an executive vice president at the European Commission overseeing tech, said. The Associated Press reports: In issuing the two new rules, the commission said it found that AI
  
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• 1Password Lets Claude Use Credentials Without Exposing Passwords

  16-07-2026 22:00 via yro.slashdot.org
  BrianFagioli writes: 1Password has launched a Claude integration that allows the AI agent to sign in to websites using credentials stored in a 1Password vault. The password manager says Claude never sees the password or one-time code. Instead, users approve each request, and 1Password injects the credentials directly into the target website while locking down access to the rest of the vault. The design appears safer than simply handing passwords to an AI model, but it does not remove every risk.
  
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• Sony Deletes More Movies From Accounts of People Who 'Bought' Them

  16-07-2026 21:00 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Techdirt: In 2022, due to "evolving licensing agreements" with distributor StudioCanal, German and Austrian users had hundreds of movies disappear from their PS accounts, long after buying them through Sony. Then in 2023, it happened again in America, specifically when Sony ended its licensing agreement with Discovery after the Warner Bros. merger, which, of course, has since been bought by Paramount Skydance. That resulted in customers having hundreds an
  
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• Google Renames NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook

  16-07-2026 20:15 via tech.slashdot.org
  Google is renaming NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook, but will keep it a standalone app even as it ties more closely into Gemini and Google Search. "Google says it plans to bring notebooks to AI Mode, its chatbot-like experience in Search, too," reports The Verge. From the report: Along with the name change, Google is rolling out an update announced last month that allows Gemini Notebook to connect to a secure cloud computer to write and execute code. This feature is available to Google AI Ultra and
  
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