ICT news

• Developer Creates Infinite Maze That Traps AI Training Bots

  23-01-2025 22:40 via slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from 404 Media: A pseudonymous coder has created and released an open source "tar pit" to indefinitely trap AI training web crawlers in an infinitely, randomly-generating series of pages to waste their time and computing power. The program, called Nepenthes after the genus of carnivorous pitcher plants which trap and consume their prey, can be deployed by webpage owners to protect their own content from being scraped or can be deployed "offensively" as a honey
  
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• Apple Launches Legal Challenge Against UK Demand To Access Encrypted User Data

  04-08-2026 18:00 via it.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Apple has launched a new legal challenge against a UK government demand to access its customers' highly encrypted data, a year after the Home Office agreed to abandon its previous request. The US tech company launched the legal complaint last month at the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT), an independent court that has the power to investigate claims that the UK intelligence services have acted unlawfully. The UK government had made a seco
  
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• Sandisk and SK Hynix Publish First Open High Bandwidth Flash Standard

  04-08-2026 17:00 via hardware.slashdot.org
  BrianFagioli writes: Sandisk and SK hynix have published the first open technical specification for High Bandwidth Flash (HBF) through the Open Compute Project. HBF is designed to create a new memory tier between High Bandwidth Memory and traditional SSD storage, giving AI inference systems more near compute capacity without relying entirely on expensive HBM. The specification supports capacities up to 512GB using 8-high and 16-high NAND stacks, with bandwidth tiers ranging from about 0.4TB per
  
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• Russia-Linked 'Midnight Blizzard' Group Hijacks Hotel Wi-Fi With CaptiveCrunch

  04-08-2026 13:00 via yro.slashdot.org
  A Russia-linked group tracked as Midnight Blizzard has compromised hotel and conference Wi-Fi portals worldwide, redirecting guests to phishing pages and fake software updates that steal credentials, session tokens, and other sensitive data. Microsoft says the campaign, dubbed CaptiveCrunch, "targets traveling employees generally rather than a particular sector," reports iTNews. From the report: Midnight Blizzard, tracked internally by Microsoft under its earlier codename NOBELIUM, is attributed
  
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• Spain Offers $1.14 Billion To Get Thirty Meter Telescope Moved To Canary Islands

  04-08-2026 09:00 via science.slashdot.org
  Longtime Slashdot reader schwit1 shares a report from Behind the Black: In a new bid to get the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) to move from Hawaii, which has blocked its construction for more than a decade, the Spanish government has put together a $1.14 billion package that would not only pay for construction on the Canary Islands, but would finance an additional half century of operations. Tech Times provides some additional details: The package is conditional on the TMT International Observator
  
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• OpenAI's Astra Solved Decades-Old Math Problems For $2,000

  04-08-2026 05:30 via science.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Forbes: The cost of producing new results on ten longstanding mathematical problems just fell to $2,000, according to OpenAI, which says its Astra model generated machine-checkable proofs for questions that had resisted human progress for decades. OpenAI published the work on August 1 and used it to give its next major model family a name: Astra. The results run across group theory, high-dimensional geometry, coding theory, quantum complexity, lattice cry
  
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• An AI-Supervised Remote Exam Went So Badly That 58,000 Students Must Retake It

  04-08-2026 01:05 via news.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Earlier this summer, nearly 160,000 applicants took the entrance exam for UNAM, Mexico's largest university. For the first time, they did it completely remotely, using a "lockdown" browser and AI-powered webcam proctoring software, over several weeks from late May through early June. It was a disaster. When exam results came in, they bore little resemblance to past results, especially at the top. Between 2021 and 2025, 3.5 percent of test ta
  
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• Schools Are Ditching Chromebooks For MacBooks By the Thousands

  04-08-2026 00:00 via apple.slashdot.org
  Apple says its lower-cost MacBook Neo is beginning to displace Windows laptops and Chromebooks in K-12 schools, with several districts purchasing thousands of units. According to the company's latest earnings call, nearly half of the large MacBook Neo purchases made by U.S. educational institutions last quarter reportedly replaced competing platforms. 9to5Mac reports: Apple's commentary highlighted some large district deployments moving to Neo Pinellas County Schools, one of the largest district
  
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• Microsoft Is Bringing Xbox 360 Games to PC

  03-08-2026 23:00 via games.slashdot.org
  Microsoft reportedly plans to let developers bring Xbox 360 games to PC and next-generation Xbox devices, with a gradual rollout expected between 2027 and 2028. A separate disc-to-digital program would also give players transferable digital licenses tied to their physical Xbox discs, preserving the ability to resell or trade them. The Verge reports: With 360 games, developers can opt into making them backward compatible, and they will have control over things like a game's price and if it's avai
  
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• Microsoft CEO Touts His Own DIY AI Project To Wall Street and His 20 Million Followers

  03-08-2026 22:00 via slashdot.org
  theodp writes: During Microsoft's 2026Q4 earnings call, CEO Microsoft Satya Nadella took time to tout a dashboard he personally created using AI from a Morgan Stanley analyst's PDF research report, which suggested a rosy payback for the so-called MAG7's ('Magnificent 7' companies) massive capital expenditures on AI (to which Nadella later added a "not financial advice" disclaimer). "It would be fun for you, Adam. I think one of your colleagues put out an ROIC [Return on Invested Capital] documen
  
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• Apple's iCloud File Sharing Left Ex-Employees With Access to Secret Documents

  03-08-2026 21:08 via apple.slashdot.org
  Apple's practice of mixing employees' work files with personal iCloud accounts reportedly left some former staff with continued access to confidential documents, messages, and even new updates after leaving the company. "The former employees said many Apple files they had been shared on over their careers at the company -- including planning documents for product launch events -- continued to sync to their personal devices through the iCloud storage service after they left Apple," reports The In
  
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• Samsung Bans Smart TV Apps That Share Users' Internet Connections

  03-08-2026 20:00 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Several popular Samsung smart TV apps contain code that share the owner's internet connection with strangers, potentially putting millions of Samsung smart TVs at risk of hijacking, according to new security research published on Monday. Some of these apps claim to have been installed on hundreds of millions of smart TVs in people's homes, per the app developers. At least one of the smart TV apps was a simple Pac-Man game that Samsung had endo
  
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• As Reddit Stock Falls, CEO Questions Value of Google's AI Overviews

  03-08-2026 19:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  Reddit CEO Steve Huffman criticized Google's AI Overviews for summarizing publishers' content without delivering the traffic benefits of traditional search, arguing that users increasingly value Reddit's human perspectives and firsthand experiences. Ars Technica reports: First, there was a letter to investors (PDF), wherein Huffman spun his narrative about Reddit's value proposition and general strategic direction amid the proliferation of AI tools. He wrote: "As the internet becomes flooded wit
  
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• South Korea Records Its Highest Ever Temperature

  03-08-2026 18:00 via news.slashdot.org
  South Korea recorded its highest temperature since modern observations began in 1904, with the city of Yangsan reaching 42.5C as temperatures exceeded 40C for a fifth consecutive day. Authorities warned residents to "immediately stop all outdoor activities." The Guardian reports: More than 20 localities in South Korea were under emergency heatwave alerts on Sunday -- a new warning category introduced this year to better address rising temperatures. An emergency alert is issued when areas experie
  
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• Company Offering Printed Books To Train AI Stops After 404 Media Coverage

  03-08-2026 17:00 via news.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from 404 Media: Following 404 Media's reporting that book database company ISBNdb claimed to source printed books to then sell to AI companies for AI training, the company deleted the part of its website offering the service and walked back claims that it would train AI models, and instead called it "a test of market interest."On July 30, nine days after 404 Media's reporting, ISBNdb added a note to its homepage and an update on its news page about the change.
  
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• 'AI's Decimation of Call Center Jobs Has Begun'

  03-08-2026 13:34 via it.slashdot.org
  "AI's decimation of call center jobs has begun," reports Bloomberg:
  Companies including the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Microsoft Corp., Uber Technologies Inc. and Hyatt Hotels Corp. are using automated chat and phone systems to handle work that previously required humans. In some cases, they've already wiped out sizable chunks of their customer service operations, together representing thousands of workers.The specter of automation has long loomed over the call center industry, which employ
  
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• Massive Debian 13 Linux Kernel Security Update Patches 68 Vulnerabilities

  03-08-2026 09:34 via linux.slashdot.org
  Slashdot reader prisoninmate shares this report from 9to5Linux:Coming ten days after the previous Linux kernel security update, which only fixed 12 vulnerabilities that may lead to a privilege escalation, denial of service, or information leaks, the new Debian 13 Linux kernel security update is a massive one, and it patches no less than 68 security vulnerabilities in the Linux 6.12 LTS kernel. ebian 13 "Trixie" kernel security update are CVE-2026-64530, a use-after-free in the traffic-control su
  
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• Hollywood Fights AI In Public While Quietly Building It Into Movies

  03-08-2026 07:05 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  Even as Hollywood performers protest and Hollywood studios sue "in their war on AI," reports the Los Angeles Times, "the entertainment industry is deepening its dependence on it."Among hundreds of job postings in late June, more than one in 10 was likely connected to AI. The top studios' public postings suggest they have been recruiting people to build AI tools. They are also recruiting teams to defend their intellectual property against unauthorized AI use. "There are plenty of studios that are
  
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• Rogue Police Officers Have Turned Flock's Nationwide Camera Network Into a Stalking Tool

  03-08-2026 04:05 via yro.slashdot.org
  A woman found her police officer ex-boyfriend cop had used Flock's camera system 600 times to look up the location of her and her daughter, reports the Washington Post (Alternate URL here). (She found out through Have I Been Flocked, described as "a website that aggregates police search logs made available through public records.")
  But it turns out dozens more police officers have also misused Flock...
  Authorities have charged or accused at least 50 law-enforcement officers of using license-plat
  
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• GOG Officially Expands Linux Support With Native Galaxy Client In Development

  03-08-2026 02:35 via linux.slashdot.org
  Long-time Slashdot reader pyroclast shared this report from Linux Journal:After years of requests from the Linux gaming community, GOG has officially confirmed that it is developing native Linux support for the GOG Galaxy launcher. The announcement marks one of the biggest shifts in the company's history and signals a stronger commitment to Linux as a first-class gaming platform. While GOG has offered DRM-free Linux game downloads since 2014, its Galaxy launcher has remained exclusive to Windows
  
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• IT Teams Report 11 Hour a Week on Cloud Connectivity Problems

  03-08-2026 01:35 via it.slashdot.org
  Researchers found enterprises are spending time troubleshooting cloud connectivity due to increased AI workloads, reports Computer Weekly. More than 400 IT and infrastructure decision-makers (US and UK) were surveyed for internet/cloud/AI exchange operator DE-CIX by market researchers Censuswide. But despite 96% of respondents claiming their enterprise networks are ready for cloud/AI loads, the average IT team still spends more than 11 hours each week resolving cloud connectivity problems
  Other
  
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• IT Teams are Spending 11 Hours a Week on Cloud Connectivity Problems

  03-08-2026 01:35 via it.slashdot.org
  Researchers found enterprises are spending time troubleshooting cloud connectivity due to increased AI workloads, reports Computer Weekly. More than 400 IT and infrastructure decision-makers (US and UK) were surveyed for internet/cloud/AI exchange operator DE-CIX by market researchers Censuswide. But despite 96% of respondents claiming their enterprise networks are ready for cloud/AI loads, the average IT team still spends more than 11 hours each week resolving cloud connectivity problems
  Other
  
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• New Spinning Drone Hides In Plain Sight

  03-08-2026 00:09 via tech.slashdot.org
  To design invisible drones, researchers have tried camouflage, transparent materials and light-bending optical systems. But engineers at Northwestern University used "motion blur," which an announcement from the school notes is the effect that makes fast-spinning fans seem to disappear.
  "The drone spins up to 25 times per second, which is too fast for the human eye to see clearly. While it isn't completely invisible, it morphs into a ghostly smudge that seamlessly blends into the background... "
  
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• Is There a Way to Promote Open Document Formats Instead of 'MS Office' Format?

  02-08-2026 23:09 via news.slashdot.org
  The Register looks at exactly why "It is practically impossible to move any non-trivial Word document out of MS Office to a non-MS suite and back again without it being more trouble than it's worth."OOXML, developed by Microsoft and first standardized by Ecma in 2006, became the ISO/IEC 29500 standard in 2008 after a grueling and adversarial process. Microsoft pursued standardization because it has always been a standards-led organization dedicated to maximizing the options for its customers. Or
  
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• Steam On Linux Use Back Above 4% In July

  02-08-2026 21:34 via linux.slashdot.org
  Valve just published the Steam Survey results for July 2026, reports Phoronix, "and they point to a small uptick in Linux gaming use."Back in March Steam on Linux hit a record high of 5.33%, dropped to 4.52% in April, landed at 3.99% in May, and then in June was at 3.69%. The just-published numbers for July put Steam on Linux use at 4.01%, as an improvement over the prior two months but still well off the percentage highs of March and April...
  The July data puts SteamOS Holo as powering around 2
  
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• Group of Teen Hikers Relied on Google Maps. It Was a Disaster.

  02-08-2026 19:34 via tech.slashdot.org
  "When a group of teenagers set out to hike British Columbia's famed Howe Sound Crest Trail in early July, Google Maps suggested the trek would take about five hours," reports SFGate.
  "Instead, the hike stretched deep into the night, leaving the group exhausted, dehydrated, injured and in need of a helicopter rescue..."
  Although the approximately 18-mile route with a 6,000-foot elevation gain can be completed by experienced trail runners in a day, search and rescue officials generally recommend h
  
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• Does Eating Less Protein Produce Healthier Aging and Metabolism?

  02-08-2026 18:34 via science.slashdot.org
  "A major scientific review is challenging the idea that more protein is always better," reports ABC News:
  The review, led by pathologist and biomedical researcher Dudley Lamming and published in the journal Cell Press Blue, examined more than 350 studies involving humans, mice, insects, yeast, and other organisms. The review found that eating less protein, or less of certain amino acids that make up protein, may turn on body processes linked to healthier aging, as well as metabolism, the process
  
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• In a First, 'Super-Earth' Planet Shows It Could Have an Atmosphere

  02-08-2026 17:34 via science.slashdot.org
  "Scientists say they have detected promising signs that a planet orbiting a star 49 light-years from Earth could have an atmosphere," reports CNN, "making it potentially suitable for life."
  Called LHS 1140b, the object is about five times the mass of our planet, or a "super-Earth." This planet orbits around its star in the "Goldilocks zone," also known as the habitable zone, meaning its surface temperature is not too hot or too cold for liquid water to exist... "It appears to be consistent with
  
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• Linux Desktop Market Share Surpasses 10% in North America

  02-08-2026 16:04 via linux.slashdot.org
  The blog Linuxiac reports:Linux has crossed a major milestone in North America, with the open-source operating system now accounting for 10.65% of desktop usage in the region, according to Statcounter's latest figures for July 2026. The result places Linux firmly in double-digit territory for the first time in Statcounter's North American desktop operating system statistics.
  For comparison, Statcounter recorded Linux at 5.52% in June 2026, so the share nearly doubled in one month... However, the
  
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• Are Return-to-Office Mandates Killing Workers' Trust in Workplaces?

  02-08-2026 13:34 via it.slashdot.org
  The Hill published the thoughts of Gleb Tsipursky, Ph.D., who serves as the CEO of the future-of-work consultancy Disaster Avoidance Experts:
  A recent EnhancV survey of 1,000 full-time U.S. workers subject to new or stricter return-to-office policies found that 72% suspect these mandates are really a voluntary attrition strategy — a strategy by their own employers to make them quit their jobs. A full 46% admit to the practice of coffee-badging. Thirty-six percent have applied for a new job
  
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