ICT news

• Google Delays Third-Party Cookie Demise Yet Again

  25-04-2024 02:45 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Google is delaying the end of third-party cookies in Chrome -- again. This marks the third time Google pushed back its original deadline set in January 2020, when the company said it would phase out third-party cookies "within two years" to improve internet security. Digiday reports: The announcement was made on Tuesday ahead of quarterly reports from Google and the ever-watchful U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), keeping tabs on how this whole situation unfolds."We recognize that the
  
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• Euclid Telescope Spies Rogue Planets Floating Free In Milky Way

  24-05-2024 12:00 via science.slashdot.org
  
  Using the Euclid space telescope, astronomers have discovered dozens of rogue planets drifting without stars in the Orion nebula. The Guardian reports: The European Space Agency (Esa) launched the $1 billion observatory last summer on a six-year mission to create a 3D map of the cosmos. Armed with its images, scientists hope to understand more about the mysterious 95% of the universe that is unexplained. The first wave of scientific results come from only 24 hours of observations, which revealed
  
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• SpaceX Launches First Satellites For New US Spy Constellation

  24-05-2024 09:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  fjo3 quotes a report from Reuters: SpaceX on Wednesday launched an inaugural batch of operational spy satellites it built as part of a new U.S. intelligence network designed to significantly upgrade the country's space-based surveillance powers, the first deployment of several more planned this year. The spy network was revealed in a pair of Reuters reports earlier this year showing SpaceX is building hundreds of satellites for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office, an intelligence agency, for
  
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• Germany Has Too Many Solar Panels, and It's Pushed Energy Prices Negative

  24-05-2024 05:30 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Markets Insider: Sunny days in Germany mean gray clouds for solar profitability as the nation's dive into renewables has left it with too much energy. According to a note from SEB Research, in the past 10 days, solar producers have had to take an 87% price cut during production hours. In fact, when production peaks, prices have slid well below zero. On average, the price received was 9.1 euros per megawatt-hour, significantly under the 70.6 euros paid dur
  
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• Political Consultant Behind Fake Biden Robocalls Faces $6 Million Fine, Criminal Charges

  24-05-2024 04:02 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  Political consultant Steven Kramer faces a $6 million fine and over two dozen criminal charges for using AI-generated robocalls mimicking President Joe Biden's voice to mislead New Hampshire voters ahead of the presidential primary. The Associated Press reports: The Federal Communications Commission said the fine it proposed Thursday for Steven Kramer is its first involving generative AI technology. The company accused of transmitting the calls, Lingo Telecom, faces a $2 million fine, though in
  
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• IRS Extends Free File Tax Program Through 2029

  24-05-2024 03:25 via news.slashdot.org
  
  The IRS has extended the Free File program through 2029, "continuing its partnership with a coalition of private tax software companies that allow most Americans to file federal taxes for free," reports CNBC. From the report: This season, Free File processed 2.9 million returns through May 11, a 7.3% increase compared to the same period last year, according to the IRS. "Free File has been an important partner with the IRS for more than two decades and helped tens of millions of taxpayers," Ken C
  
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• Mark Zuckerberg Assembles Team of Tech Execs For AI Advisory Council

  24-05-2024 02:45 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Quartz: Mark Zuckerberg has assembled some of his fellow tech chiefs into an advisory council to guide Meta on its artificial intelligence and product developments. The Meta Advisory Group will periodically meet with Meta's management team, Bloomberg reported. Its members include: Stripe CEO and co-founder Patrick Collison, former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke, and former Microsoft executive and investor Charlie Songhurst."I've come to d
  
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• Leaked Contract Shows Samsung Forces Repair Shop To Snitch On Customers

  24-05-2024 02:02 via it.slashdot.org
  
  Speaking of Samsung, samleecole shares a report about the contract the South Korean firm requires repair shops to sign: In exchange for selling them repair parts, Samsung requires independent repair shops to give Samsung the name, contact information, phone identifier, and customer complaint details of everyone who gets their phone repaired at these shops, according to a contract obtained by 404 Media. Stunningly, it also requires these nominally independent shops to "immediately disassemble" an
  
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• YouTube Rolling Out Its Widely Hated New Web Redesign

  24-05-2024 01:20 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Ben Schoon reports via 9to5Google: After first appearing earlier this year, YouTube once again appears to be rolling out a new redesign for its website that everyone hates. In mid-April, Google started testing a redesign to YouTube's website, which moved the title of the video, its description, and the comments to the side of the screen. In their place, video recommendations were moved directly underneath the video being watched with much larger thumbnails and titles. The change was widely hated
  
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• Spotify Is Going To Break Every 'Car Thing' Gadget It Ever Sold

  24-05-2024 00:40 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  Spotify is about to render its Car Thing dashboard accessory inoperable on December 9th. Not only is the company refusing to open-source the device, it won't offer owners any subscription credit or automatic refund. "Rather, it's just canning the project and telling people to (responsibly) dispose of Car Thing," reports The Verge. From the report: "We're discontinuing Car Thing as part of our ongoing efforts to streamline our product offerings," Spotify wrote in an FAQ on its website. "We unders
  
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• Spotify Is Going To Break Ever 'Car Thing' Gadget It Ever Sold

  24-05-2024 00:40 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  Spotify is about to render its Car Thing dashboard accessory inoperable on December 9th. Not only is the company refusing to open-source the device, it won't offer owners any subscription credit or automatic refund. "Rather, it's just canning the project and telling people to (responsibly) dispose of Car Thing," reports The Verge. From the report: "We're discontinuing Car Thing as part of our ongoing efforts to streamline our product offerings," Spotify wrote in an FAQ on its website. "We unders
  
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• Ascension Cyberattack Continues To Disrupt Care At Hospitals

  24-05-2024 00:02 via science.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from NPR: Hospital staff are forced to write notes by hand and deliver orders for tests and prescriptions in person in the ongoing fallout from a recent ransomware attack at the national health system Ascension. Ascension is one of the largest health systems in the United States, with some 140 hospitals located across 19 states and D.C. A spokesperson said in a statement that "unusual activity" was first detected on multiple technology network systems Ascensio
  
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• SEC Approves 8 Ethereum ETFs Including BlackRock and Fidelity

  23-05-2024 23:27 via slashdot.org
  
  The SEC on Thursday approved multiple spot Ethereum ETFs, including those from BlackRock, Fidelity and Grayscale. The Block reports: While the [19b-4 forms] have been approved, the ETF issuers need to have their S-1 registration statements go effective before trading can begin. The SEC has started conversations with issuers about their S-1 forms but only recently. It's unclear how long this process will take but some analysts are speculating that it could take weeks. "I think that if they work e
  
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• Google: Stop Trying To Trick Employees With Fake Phishing Emails

  23-05-2024 22:44 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: Did your company recently send you a phishing email? Employers will sometimes simulate phishing messages to train workers on how to spot the hacking threat. But one Google security manager argues the IT industry needs to drop the practice, calling it counterproductive. "PSA for Cybersecurity folk: Our co-workers are tired of being 'tricked' by phishing exercises y'all, and it is making them hate us for no benefit," tweeted Matt Linton, a security incident man
  
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• Apple Exec Admits Court-Ordered App Store Changes Fail To Boost Competition

  23-05-2024 22:02 via apple.slashdot.org
  
  Apple executive Phil Schiller admitted in court on Wednesday that the company's court-mandated changes to its iPhone app store payment system have not significantly increased competition. The ongoing hearings in Oakland, California, are determining whether Apple is properly complying with an antitrust order to allow developers to display links to alternative payment options. Despite Apple's implementation of the changes in January, only a small number of apps have sought approval for external pa
  
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• A Root-Server at the Internet's Core Lost Touch With Its Peers. We Still Don't Know Why.

  23-05-2024 21:22 via it.slashdot.org
  
  A server maintained by Cogent Communications, one of the 13 root servers crucial to the Internet's domain name system, fell out of sync with its peers for over four days due to an unexplained glitch. This issue, which could have caused worldwide stability and security problems, was resolved on Wednesday.
  The root servers store cryptographic keys necessary for authenticating intermediate servers under the DNSSEC mechanism. Inconsistencies in these keys across the 13 servers could lead to an incre
  
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• Hacker Breaches Scam Call Center, Warns Victims They've Been Scammed

  23-05-2024 20:44 via it.slashdot.org
  
  A hacker claims to have breached a scam call center, stolen the source code for the company's tools, and emailed the company's scam victims, according to multiple screenshots and files provided by the hacker to 404 Media. From the report: The hack is the latest in a long series of vigilante actions in which hackers take matters into their own hands and breach or otherwise disrupt scam centers. A massively popular YouTube community, with creators mocking their targets, also exists around the prac
  
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• Google AI Search is Telling Users To Put Glue On Pizza Because It's Trained on Reddit Posts

  23-05-2024 20:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Google pays Reddit $60 million a year to train its AI on posts on Reddit, and it looks like Google's AI is now pulling directly from the dregs of the internet. Google's AI overview for "cheese not sticking to pizza" is brilliant information it got from an 11-year-old Reddit post.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
  
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• AI Software Engineers Make $100,000 More Than Their Colleagues

  23-05-2024 19:25 via developers.slashdot.org
  
  The AI boom and a growing talent shortage has resulted in companies paying AI software engineers a whole lot more than their non-AI counterparts. From a report: As of April 2024, AI software engineers in the U.S. were paid a median salary of nearly $300,000, while other software technicians made about $100,000 less, according to data compiled by salary data website Levels.fyi. The pay gap that was already about 30% in mid-2022 has grown to almost 50%.
  "It's clear that companies value AI skills a
  
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• Atari Buys Intellivision Brand, Ending 'Longest-Running Console War in History'

  23-05-2024 18:42 via games.slashdot.org
  
  An old-school video game rivalry has a new chapter: Atari, known for producing one of the first hit home game consoles, has announced the acquisition of long-time rival Intellivision's brand and rights to over 200 games from Intellivision Entertainment. The two companies were key players in the industry's first console war in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Atari plans to expand distribution of Intellivision games and explore new opportunities for the brand. Mike Mika, studio head at Digital Ecl
  
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• All-Screen M5 MacBook With Foldable Display To Launch in 2026, Analyst Says

  23-05-2024 18:05 via apple.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: Apple is working on all-screen foldable devices. Unlike its competitors, however, its focus seems less on foldable smartphones and tablets, and instead on an all-screen foldable laptop. Ming-Chi Kuo has previously reported that Apple was developing a 20.3-inch MacBook device for 2027, but today the analyst has shared several key new details about the futuristic MacBook model. One such detail is that Apple is now eyeing an earlier 2026 launch for the product.
  
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• iFixit is Breaking Up With Samsung

  23-05-2024 17:28 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  iFixit and Samsung are parting ways. Two years after they teamed up on one of the first direct-to-consumer phone repair programs, iFixit CEO and co-founder Kyle Wiens tells The Verge the two companies have failed to renegotiate a contract -- and says Samsung is to blame. From a report: "Samsung does not seem interested in enabling repair at scale," Wiens tells me, even though similar deals are going well with Google, Motorola, and HMD. He believes dropping Samsung shouldn't actually affect iFixi
  
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• US Sues To Break Up Ticketmaster Owner, Live Nation

  23-05-2024 16:46 via news.slashdot.org
  
  The Justice Department on Thursday said it was suing Live Nation Entertainment [non-paywalled link], the concert giant that owns Ticketmaster, asking a court to break up the company over claims it illegally maintained a monopoly in the live entertainment industry. From a report: In the lawsuit, which is joined by 29 states and the District of Columbia, the government accuses Live Nation of dominating the industry by locking venues into exclusive ticketing contracts, pressuring artists to use its
  
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• Taiwan Says Chip Machines Can Be Remotely Shut Off If China Invades

  23-05-2024 16:00 via slashdot.org
  
  Taiwan's new technology minister Wu Cheng-wen said smart machines connected to the internet, including chip tools, can be remotely shut off in the event of a conflict on the island. From a report: Wu, stepping in to oversee science and technology as part of a new administration, was responding to a lawmaker's question about a Bloomberg News report that chipmaking gear maker ASML Holding NV and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. have the ability to disable the world's most advanced chip machi
  
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• T-Mobile Is Raising Prices On Some of Its Older Plans

  23-05-2024 12:00 via news.slashdot.org
  
  In a memo sent to employees, T-Mobile said it will be raising prices on some of its older plans, starting with the next bill. CNET reports: The memo was sent out by Jon Freier, president of T-Mobile's consumer group. The note doesn't list which plans are affected, but Freier specifically says that those on the carrier's latest assortment of Go5G plans will not see their prices increase. The same goes for the "millions of customers" who are covered by T-Mobile's Price Lock guarantee, which he say
  
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• RISC-V Now Supports Rust In the Linux Kernel

  23-05-2024 09:00 via linux.slashdot.org
  
  Michael Larabel reports via Phoronix: The latest RISC-V port updates have been merged for the in-development Linux 6.10 kernel. Most notable with today's RISC-V merge to Linux 6.10 is now supporting the Rust programming language within the Linux kernel. RISC-V joins the likes of x86_64, LoongArch, and ARM64 already supporting the use of the in-kernel Rust language support. The use of Rust within the mainline Linux kernel is still rather limited with just a few basic drivers so far and a lot of i
  
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• Amazon Plans To Give Alexa an AI Overhaul, Monthly Subscription Price

  23-05-2024 04:02 via slashdot.org
  
  According to CNBC, Amazon plans to enhance its Alexa voice assistant with generative AI and introduce it to customers through a monthly subscription service. While the price point has yet to be determined, sources say it will not be included in the company's $139-per-year Prime offering. From the report: The team is now tasked with turning Alexa into a relevant device that holds up amid the new AI competition, and one that justifies the resources and headcount Amazon has dedicated to it. It has
  
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• US Lawmakers Advance Bill To Make It Easier To Curb Exports of AI Models

  23-05-2024 03:25 via news.slashdot.org
  
  The House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly to advance a bill that would make it easier for the Biden administration to restrict the export of AI systems, citing concerns China could exploit them to bolster its military capabilities. From a report: The bill, sponsored by House Republicans Michael McCaul and John Molenaar and Democrats Raja Krishnamoorthi and Susan Wild, also would give the Commerce Department express authority to bar Americans from working with foreigne
  
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• FCC Chair Proposes Disclosure Rules For AI-Generated Content In Political Ads

  23-05-2024 02:45 via politics.slashdot.org
  
  FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has proposed (PDF) disclosure rules for AI-generated content used in political ads. "If adopted, the proposal would look into whether the FCC should require political ads on radio and TV to disclose when there is AI-generated content," reports Quartz. From the report: The FCC is seeking comment on whether on-air and written disclosure should be required in broadcasters' political files when AI-generated content is used in political ads; proposing that the rules
  
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• Why Your Wi-Fi Router Doubles As an Apple AirTag

  23-05-2024 02:10 via mobile.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Krebs On Security: Apple and the satellite-based broadband service Starlink each recently took steps to address new research into the potential security and privacy implications of how their services geo-locate devices. Researchers from the University of Maryland say they relied on publicly available data from Apple to track the location of billions of devices globally -- including non-Apple devices like Starlink systems -- and found they could use this d
  
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