ICT news

• Foreign Hackers Cripple Texas County's Email System, Raising Election Security Concerns

  24-09-2020 20:48 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  Last week, voters and election administrators who emailed Leanne Jackson, the clerk of rural Hamilton County in central Texas, received bureaucratic-looking replies. "Re: official precinct results," one subject line read. The text supplied passwords for an attached file. But Jackson didn't send the messages. From a report: Instead, they came from Sri Lankan and Congolese email addresses, and they cleverly hid malicious software inside a Microsoft Word attachment. By the time Jackson learned abou
  
  Read more

• Steam Closes Early Access Playtime Loophole

  24-04-2024 21:20 via games.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: "Early Access" was once a novel, quirky thing, giving a select set of Steam PC games a way to involve enthusiastic fans in pre-alpha-level play-testing and feedback. Now loads of games launch in various forms of Early Access, in a wide variety of readiness. It's been a boon for games like Baldur's Gate 3, which came a long way across years of Early Access. Early Access, and the "Advanced Access" provided for complete games by major publishers for "Deluxe Edit
  
  Read more

• Apple Releases OpenELM: Small, Open Source AI Models Designed To Run On-device

  24-04-2024 20:41 via apple.slashdot.org
  
  Just as Google, Samsung and Microsoft continue to push their efforts with generative AI on PCs and mobile devices, Apple is moving to join the party with OpenELM, a new family of open source large language models (LLMs) that can run entirely on a single device rather than having to connect to cloud servers. From a report: Released a few hours ago on AI code community Hugging Face, OpenELM consists of small models designed to perform efficiently at text generation tasks. There are eight OpenELM m
  
  Read more

• Framework Won't Be Just a Laptop Company Anymore

  24-04-2024 20:02 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  Today, Framework is the modular repairable laptop company. Tomorrow, it wants to be a consumer electronics company, period. From a report: That's one of the biggest reasons it just raised another $18 million in funding -- it wants to expand beyond the laptop into "additional product categories." Framework CEO Nirav Patel tells me that has always been the plan. The company originally had other viable ideas beyond laptops, too. "We chose to take on the notebook space first," he says, partly becaus
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• 'The Man Who Killed Google Search'

  24-04-2024 19:20 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Edward Zitron, citing emails released as part of the Department of Justice's antitrust case against Google, writes about Prabhakar Raghavan: And Raghavan -- a manager, hired by Sundar Pichai, a former McKinsey man and a manager by trade -- is an example of everything wrong with the tech industry. Despite his history as a true computer scientist with actual academic credentials, Raghavan chose to bulldoze actual workers and replace them with toadies that would make Google more profitable and less
  
  Read more

• Windows 11 Now Comes With Its Own Adware

  24-04-2024 18:41 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: It used to be that you could pay for a retail version of Windows 11 and expect it to be ad-free, but those days are apparently finito. The latest update to Windows 11 (KB5036980) comes out this week and includes ads for apps in the "recommended" section of the Start Menu, one of the most oft-used parts of the OS. "The Recommended section of the Start menu will show some Microsoft Store apps," according to the release notes. "These apps come from a small set o
  
  Read more

• Diamond Market Shows Serious Cracks From Man-Made Stones

  24-04-2024 18:05 via slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: Diamonds may be forever but they are also seriously on sale. Natural rough diamond prices have collapsed 26 per cent in the past couple of years. Tepid US and Chinese demand for diamond jewellery hasn't helped. But most ring fingers point at the increasing popularity of cheaper laboratory grown diamonds (LGD). This fracturing of the diamond market is set to last. After a brief pandemic-era boom in diamond jewellery, miners are battling to whittle down oversup
  
  Read more

• Biden Signs TikTok 'Divest or Ban' Bill Into Law

  24-04-2024 17:14 via news.slashdot.org
  
  President Joe Biden signed a foreign aid package that includes a bill that would ban TikTok if China-based parent company ByteDance fails to divest the app within a year. The Verge: The divest-or-ban bill is now law, starting the clock for ByteDance to make its move. The company has an initial nine months to sort out a deal, though the president could extend that another three months if he sees progress. While just recently the legislation seemed like it would stall out in the Senate after being
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Qualcomm Is Cheating On Their Snapdragon X Elite/Pro Benchmarks

  24-04-2024 16:40 via it.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: Qualcomm is cheating on the Snapdragon X Plus/Elite benchmarks given to OEMs and the press. SemiAccurate doesn't use these words lightly but there is no denying what multiple sources are telling us. [...] Then there were the actual 'briefings' for the X Pro SoC. To call them pathetic is giving them more than their due. The deck was 11 slides, three of which were empty/fluff, five 'benchmark' slides with woefully inadequate disclosure, and two infographic summ
  
  Read more

• NVIDIA To Acquire Run:ai

  24-04-2024 16:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Nvidia, in a blog post: To help customers make more efficient use of their AI computing resources, NVIDIA today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Run:ai, a Kubernetes-based workload management and orchestration software provider. Customer AI deployments are becoming increasingly complex, with workloads distributed across cloud, edge and on-premises data center infrastructure.
  Managing and orchestrating generative AI, recommender systems, search engines and other wor
  
  Read more

• Veteran PC Game 'Sopwith' Celebrates 40th Anniversary

  24-04-2024 15:00 via games.slashdot.org
  
  Longtime Slashdot reader sfraggle writes: Biplane shoot-'em up, Sopwith, is celebrating 40 years today since its first release back in 1984. The game is one of the oldest PC games still in active development today, originating as an MS-DOS game for the original IBM PC. The 40th anniversary site has a detailed history of how the game was written as a tech demo for the now-defunct Imaginet networking system. There is also a video interview with its original authors. "The game involves piloting a S
  
  Read more

• Cisco Releases Security Updates Addressing ArcaneDoor, Vulnerabilities in Cisco Firewall Platforms

  24-04-2024 14:00 via cisa.gov
  Today, Cisco released security updates to address ArcaneDoor—exploitation of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliances (ASA) devices and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) software. A cyber threat actor could exploit vulnerabilities (CVE-2024-20353, CVE-2024-20359, CVE-2024-20358) to take control of an affected system. 
  Cisco has reported active exploitation of CVE 2024-20353 and CVE-2024-20359 and CISA has added these vulnerabilities to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalo
  
  Read more

• Flame-Throwing Robot Dog Now Available Under $10,000

  24-04-2024 12:00 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  Okian Warrior writes: For $10,000, you can now get a flamethrower mounted on a robotic dog. Just load the webpage and scroll down. I saw this on the news today. *Definitely* we need to have a conversation about where AI is going. The robot, called the Thermonator, is constructed by Ohio flame throwing manufacturer Throwflame and features one of the company's ARC flamethrowers mounted on its back. The 26-pound robotic quadruped "can shoot fire in a 30-foot stream and comes with a built-in fuel ta
  
  Read more

• US Breaks Ground On Its First-Ever High-Speed Rail

  24-04-2024 09:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Construction has begun on a $12 billion high-speed rail project to connect Las Vegas and Los Angeles by the end of the decade. The project, backed by $3 billion in federal support, aims to reduce travel time to under two hours and significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions. Popular Science reports: Brightline expects its trains will depart every 40 minutes from a station outside of the Vegas strip and another one in the LA suburb of Rancho Cucamonga. When it's completed, the train will travel at
  
  Read more

• US Bans Noncompete Agreements For Nearly All Jobs

  24-04-2024 06:36 via news.slashdot.org
  
  The Federal Trade Commission narrowly voted Tuesday to ban nearly all noncompetes, employment agreements that typically prevent workers from joining competing businesses or launching ones of their own. From a report: The FTC received more than 26,000 public comments in the months leading up to the vote. Chair Lina Khan referenced on Tuesday some of the stories she had heard from workers. "We heard from employees who, because of noncompetes, were stuck in abusive workplaces," she said. "One perso
  
  Read more

• Generative AI Arrives In the Gene Editing World of CRISPR

  24-04-2024 05:30 via science.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from the New York Times: Generative A.I. technologies can write poetry and computer programs or create images of teddy bears and videos of cartoon characters that look like something from a Hollywood movie. Now, new A.I. technology is generating blueprints for microscopic biological mechanisms that can edit your DNA, pointing to a future when scientists can battle illness and diseases with even greater precision and speed than they can today. Described in a re
  
  Read more

• Try Something New To Stop the Days Whizzing Past, Researchers Suggest

  24-04-2024 03:25 via science.slashdot.org
  
  Nicola Davis reports via The Guardian: If every day appears to go in a blur, try seeking out new and interesting experiences, researchers have suggested, after finding memorable images appear to dilate time. Researchers have previously found louder experiences seem to last longer, while focusing on the clock also makes time dilate, or drag. Now researchers have discovered the more memorable an image, the more likely a person is to think they have been looking at it for longer than they actually
  
  Read more

• Oracle Is Moving Its World Headquarters To Nashville

  24-04-2024 02:45 via developers.slashdot.org
  
  Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison said Tuesday that the company is moving its world headquarters to Nashville, Tennessee, to be closer to a major health-care epicenter. CNBC reports: In a wide-ranging conversation with Bill Frist, a former U.S. Senate Majority Leader, Ellison said Oracle is moving a "huge campus" to Nashville, "which will ultimately be our world headquarters." He said Nashville is an established health center and a "fabulous place to live," one that Oracle employees are excited abou
  
  Read more

• Change Healthcare Finally Admits It Paid Ransomware Hackers

  24-04-2024 02:02 via it.slashdot.org
  
  Andy Greenberg reports via Wired: More than two months after the start of a ransomware debacle whose impact ranks among the worst in the history of cybersecurity, the medical firm Change Healthcare finally confirmed what cybercriminals, security researchers, and Bitcoin's blockchain had already made all too clear: that it did indeed pay a ransom to the hackers who targeted the company in February. And yet, it still faces the risk of losing vast amounts of customers' sensitive medical data. In a
  
  Read more

• What Comes After OLED? Meet QDEL

  24-04-2024 01:20 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Quantum dots are already moving in the premium display category, particularly through QD-OLED TVs and monitors. The next step could be QDEL, short for "quantum dot electroluminescent," also known as NanoLED, screens. Not to be confused with the QLED (quantum light emitting diode) tech already available in TVs, QDEL displays don't have a backlight. Instead, the quantum dots are the light source. The expected result is displays with wider colo
  
  Read more

• The Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses Have Multimodel AI Now

  24-04-2024 00:40 via meta.slashdot.org
  
  The Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses now feature support for multimodal AI -- without the need for a projector or $24 monthly fee. (We're looking at you, Humane AI.) With the new update, the Meta AI assistant will be able to analyze what you're seeing, and it'll give you smart, helpful answers or suggestions. The Verge reports: First off, there are some expectations that need managing here. The Meta glasses don't promise everything under the sun. The primary command is to say "Hey Meta, look and..." Y
  
  Read more

• HashiCorp Reportedly Being Acquired By IBM

  24-04-2024 00:00 via slashdot.org
  
  According to the Wall Street Journal, a deal for IBM to acquire HashiCorp could materialize in the next few days. Shares of HashiCorp jumped almost 20% on the news. CNBC reports: Developers use HashiCorp's software to set up and manage infrastructure in public clouds that companies such as Amazon
  and Microsoft operate. Organizations also pay HashiCorp for managing security credentials. Founded in 2012, HashiCorp went public on Nasdaq in 2021. The company generated a net loss of nearly $191 milli
  
  Read more

• Ex-Amazon Exec Claims She Was Asked To Ignore Copyright Law in Race To AI

  23-04-2024 23:22 via it.slashdot.org
  
  A lawsuit is alleging Amazon was so desperate to keep up with the competition in generative AI it was willing to breach its own copyright rules. From a report: The allegation emerges from a complaint accusing the tech and retail mega-corp of demoting, and then dismissing, a former high-flying AI scientist after it discovered she was pregnant. The lawsuit was filed last week in a Los Angeles state court by Dr Viviane Ghaderi, an AI researcher who says she worked successfully in Amazon's Alexa and
  
  Read more

• Linux Can Finally Run Your Car's Safety Systems and Driver-Assistance Features

  23-04-2024 22:40 via linux.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: There's a new Linux distro on the scene today, and it's a bit specialized. Its development was led by the automotive electronics supplier Elektrobit, and it's the first open source OS that complies with the automotive industry's functional safety requirements. [...] With Elektrobit's EB corbos Linux for Safety Applications (that sure is a long name), there's an open source Linux distro that finally fits the bill, having just been given the t
  
  Read more

• iPhone Sales Drop 19% in China

  23-04-2024 22:02 via mobile.slashdot.org
  
  Apple's iPhone sales dropped sharply in China in the first quarter of this year as the company saw strong competition from domestic brand Huawei, according to a new report from market research firm Counterpoint Research. CNBC: Apple saw sales of its iPhones fall 19.1% in the first three months of the year, Counterpoint's data showed, as Chinese telecommunications and consumer electronics giant Huawei saw a resurgence in its smartphone business. The Shenzhen, China-based firm saw sales of its sma
  
  Read more

• AI Is Poisoning Reddit To Promote Products and Game Google With 'Parasite SEO'

  23-04-2024 21:22 via it.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: For years, people who have found Google search frustrating have been adding "Reddit" to the end of their search queries. This practice is so common that Google even acknowledged the phenomenon in a post announcing that it will be scraping Reddit posts to train its AI. And so, naturally, there are now services that will poison Reddit threads with AI-generated posts designed to promote products.
  A service called ReplyGuy advertises itself as "the AI that plugs
  
  Read more

• How GM Tricked Millions of Drivers Into Being Spied On

  23-04-2024 20:45 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  General Motors (GM) has been selling data about the driving behavior of millions of people to insurance companies, leading to higher premiums for some drivers, according to a recent investigation. The affected drivers were not informed about the tracking, which was carried out through GM's OnStar connected services plan and the Smart Driver program. The New York Times reporter who broke the story discovered that her own driving data had been shared with data brokers working with the insurance in
  
  Read more

• Apple Cuts Vision Pro Shipments As Demand Falls 'Sharply Beyond Expectations'

  23-04-2024 20:01 via apple.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: Apple has dropped the number of Vision Pro units that it plans to ship in 2024, going from an expected 700 to 800k units to just 400k to 450k units, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Orders have been scaled back before the Vision Pro has launched in markets outside of the United States, which Kuo says is a sign that demand in the U.S. has "fallen sharply beyond expectations."
  As a result, Apple is expected to take a "conservative view" of headset deman
  
  Read more

• FTC To Vote On Noncompete Ban

  23-04-2024 19:20 via news.slashdot.org
  
  The Federal Trade Commission is set to vote Tuesday afternoon on a proposal to ban noncompete agreements, which prevent workers from taking positions at competitors for a period of time after they leave a job. From a report: The ban could be a win for workers -- particularly at the low end of the income scale. Critics of these agreements say they stifle innovation and wage growth by restricting workers' ability to take new jobs that pay higher wages or offer some other opportunity. They also mak
  
  Read more

• No One Buys Books Any More

  23-04-2024 18:40 via news.slashdot.org
  
  The U.S. publishing industry is driven by celebrity authors and repeat bestsellers, according to testimony from a blocked merger between Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster. Only 50 authors sell over 500,000 copies annually, with 96% of books selling under 1,000 copies. Publishing houses spend most of their advance money on celebrity books, which along with backlist titles like The Bible, account for the bulk of their revenue and fund less commercially successful books.Read more of thi
  
  Read more

Follow @newslocke_ict on Twitter!