ICT news

• Humans Now Share the Web Equally With Bots, Report Warns

  04-05-2024 01:30 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Independent, published last month: Humans now share the web equally with bots, according to a major new report -- as some fear that the internet is dying. In recent months, the so-called "dead internet theory" has gained new popularity. It suggests that much of the content online is in fact automatically generated, and that the number of humans on the web is dwindling in comparison with bot accounts. Now a new report from cyber security company Imperv
  
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• The Delta Emulator Is Changing Its Logo After Adobe Threatened It

  18-05-2024 09:00 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  After Adobe threatened legal action, the Delta Emulator said it'll abandon its current logo for a different, yet-to-be-revealed mark. The issue centers around Delta's stylized letter "D", which the digital media giant says is too similar to its stylized letter "A". The Verge reports: On May 7th, Adobe's lawyers reached out to Delta with a firm but kindly written request to go find a different icon, an email that didn't contain an explicit threat or even use the word infringement -- it merely sug
  
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• Proteins In Blood Could Provide Early Cancer Warning 'By More Than Seven Years'

  18-05-2024 05:30 via science.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Proteins in the blood could warn people of cancer more than seven years before it is diagnosed, according to research [published in the journal Nature Communications]. Scientists at the University of Oxford studied blood samples from more than 44,000 people in the UK Biobank, including over 4,900 people who subsequently had a cancer diagnosis. They compared the proteins of people who did and did not go on to be diagnosed with cancer and iden
  
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• Utah Locals Are Getting Cheap 10 Gbps Fiber Thanks To Local Governments

  18-05-2024 03:25 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  Karl Bode writes via Techdirt: Tired of being underserved and overbilled by shitty regional broadband monopolies, back in 2002 a coalition of local Utah governments formed UTOPIA -- (the Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency). The inter-local agency collaborative venture then set about building an "open access" fiber network that allows any ISP to then come and compete on the shared network. Two decades later and the coalition just announced that 18 different ISPs now compete for Uta
  
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• WD Rolls Out New 2.5-Inch HDDs For the First Time In 7 Years

  18-05-2024 01:20 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  Western Digital has unveiled new 6TB external hard drives -- "the first new capacity point for this hard drive drive form factor in about seven years," reports Tom's Hardware. "There is a catch, though: the HDD is slow and will unlikely fit into any mobile PCs, so it looks like it will exclusively serve portable and specialized storage products." From the report: Western Digital's 6TB 2.5-inch HDD is currently used for the latest versions of the company's My Passport, Black P10, and G-Drive Armo
  
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• Palantir's First-Ever AI Warfare Conference

  18-05-2024 00:40 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian, written by Caroline Haskins: On May 7th and 8th in Washington, D.C., the city's biggest convention hall welcomed America's military-industrial complex, its top technology companies and its most outspoken justifiers of war crimes. Of course, that's not how they would describe it. It was the inaugural "AI Expo for National Competitiveness," hosted by the Special Competitive Studies Project -- better known as the "techno-economic" thinktank cre
  
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• OpenAI Strikes Reddit Deal To Train Its AI On Your Posts

  18-05-2024 00:00 via slashdot.org
  
  Emilia David reports via The Verge: OpenAI has signed a deal for access to real-time content from Reddit's data API, which means it can surface discussions from the site within ChatGPT and other new products. It's an agreement similar to the one Reddit signed with Google earlier this year that was reportedly worth $60 million. The deal will also "enable Reddit to bring new AI-powered features to Redditors and mods" and use OpenAI's large language models to build applications. OpenAI has also sig
  
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• France Bans TikTok In New Caledonia

  17-05-2024 23:20 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  In what's marked as an EU first, the French government has blocked TikTok in its territory of New Caledonia amid widespread pro-independence protests. Politico reports: A French draft law, passed Monday, would let citizens vote in local elections after 10 years' residency in New Caledonia, prompting opposition from independence activists worried it will dilute the representation of indigenous people. The violent demonstrations that have ensued in the South Pacific island of 270,000 have killed a
  
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• SEC: Financial Orgs Have 30 Days To Send Data Breach Notifications

  17-05-2024 22:40 via it.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from BleepingComputer: The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has adopted amendments to Regulation S-P that require certain financial institutions to disclose data breach incidents to impacted individuals within 30 days of discovery. Regulation S-P was introduced in 2000 and controls how some financial entities must treat nonpublic personal information belonging to consumers. These rules include developing and implementing data protection policies, confi
  
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• Canada Security Intelligence Chief Warns China Can Use TikTok To Spy on Users

  17-05-2024 22:01 via news.slashdot.org
  
  The head of Canada's Security Intelligence Service warned Canadians against using video app TikTok, saying data gleaned from its users "is available to the government of China," CBC News reported on Friday. From a report: "My answer as director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) is that there is a very clear strategy on the part of the government of China to be able to acquire personal information from anyone around the world," CSIS Director David Vigneault told CBC in an inter
  
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• Robert Dennard, Inventor of DRAM, Dies At 91

  17-05-2024 21:22 via news.slashdot.org
  
  necro81 writes: Robert Dennard was working at IBM in the 1960s when he invented a way to store one bit using a single transistor and capacitor. The technology became dynamic random access memory (DRAM), which when implemented using the emerging technology of silicon integrated circuits, helped catapult computing by leaps and bounds. The first commercial DRAM chips in the late 1960s held just 1024 bits; today's DDR5 modules hold hundreds of billions.
  Dr. Robert H. Dennard passed away last month a
  
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• Two Students Uncover Security Bug That Could Let Millions Do Their Laundry For Free

  17-05-2024 20:40 via it.slashdot.org
  
  Two university students discovered a security flaw in over a million internet-connected laundry machines operated by CSC ServiceWorks, allowing users to avoid payment and add unlimited funds to their accounts. The students, Alexander Sherbrooke and Iakov Taranenko from UC Santa Cruz, reported the vulnerability to the company, a major laundry service provider, in January but claim it remains unpatched. TechCrunch adds: Sherbrooke said he was sitting on the floor of his basement laundry room in th
  
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• User Outcry As Slack Scrapes Customer Data For AI Model Training

  17-05-2024 20:02 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  New submitter txyoji shares a report: Enterprise workplace collaboration platform Slack has sparked a privacy backlash with the revelation that it has been scraping customer data, including messages and files, to develop new AI and ML models. By default, and without requiring users to opt-in, Slack said its systems have been analyzing customer data and usage information (including messages, content and files) to build AI/ML models to improve the software.
  The company insists it has technical con
  
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• Apple Plans a Thinner iPhone in 2025

  17-05-2024 19:20 via apple.slashdot.org
  
  Apple is developing a significantly thinner version of the iPhone [non-paywalled source] that could be released as early as 2025, The Information reported Friday, citing three people with direct knowledge of the project. From the report: The slimmer iPhone could be released concurrently with the iPhone 17, expected in September 2025, according to the three people with direct knowledge and two others familiar with the project. It could be priced higher than the iPhone Pro Max, currently Apple's m
  
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• Apple Geofences Third-Party Browser Engine Work for EU Devices

  17-05-2024 18:40 via apple.slashdot.org
  
  Apple's grudging accommodation of European law -- allowing third-party browser engines on its mobile devices -- apparently comes with a restriction that makes it difficult to develop and support third-party browser engines for the region. From a report: The Register has learned from those involved in the browser trade that Apple has limited the development and testing of third-party browser engines to devices physically located in the EU. That requirement adds an additional barrier to anyone pla
  
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• VW and Renault End Talks To Develop Affordable EV

  17-05-2024 18:03 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Volkswagen has walked away from talks with Renault to jointly develop an affordable electric version of the Twingo car, Reuters reported Friday, citing sources familiar with the situation, in a setback for the EU carmakers' efforts to fend off Chinese rivals. From the report: The collapse of negotiations could mean the German carmaker may have to go it alone in developing its own affordable electric vehicle (EV). Renault will continue designing its electric Twingo, scheduled to hit the market in
  
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• OpenAI's Long-Term AI Risk Team Has Disbanded

  17-05-2024 17:25 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: In July last year, OpenAI announced the formation of a new research team that would prepare for the advent of supersmart artificial intelligence capable of outwitting and overpowering its creators. Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI's chief scientist and one of the company's cofounders, was named as the colead of this new team. OpenAI said the team would receive 20 percent of its computing power. Now OpenAI's "superalignment team" is no more, the company confirms. That c
  
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• Hopes For Sustainable Jet Fuel Not Realistic, Report Finds

  17-05-2024 16:40 via science.slashdot.org
  
  Hopes that replacement fuels for airplanes will slash carbon pollution are misguided and support for these alternatives could even worsen the climate crisis, a new report has warned. The Guardian: There is currently "no realistic or scalable alternative" to standard kerosene-based jet fuels, and touted "sustainable aviation fuels" are well off track to replace them in a timeframe needed to avert dangerous climate change, despite public subsidies, the report by the Institute for Policy Studies, a
  
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• Microsoft Plans Boldest Games Bet Since Activision Deal, Changing How 'Call of Duty' Is Sold

  17-05-2024 16:00 via slashdot.org
  
  Microsoft plans a major shakeup of its videogame sales strategy by releasing the coming installment of Call of Duty to its subscription service instead of the longtime, lucrative approach of only selling it a la carte. WSJ: The plans, which mark the biggest change to Microsoft's gaming division since it closed the $75 billion takeover of Activision Blizzard, are expected to be announced at the company's annual Xbox showcase next month, according to people familiar with the matter. Call of Duty i
  
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• Arizona Woman Accused of Helping North Koreans Get Remote IT Jobs At 300 Companies

  17-05-2024 15:00 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: An Arizona woman has been accused of helping generate millions of dollars for North Korea's ballistic missile program by helping citizens of that country land IT jobs at US-based Fortune 500 companies. Christina Marie Chapman, 49, of Litchfield Park, Arizona, raised $6.8 million in the scheme, federal prosecutors said in an indictment unsealed Thursday. Chapman allegedly funneled the money to North Korea's Munitions Industry Department, whic
  
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• Companies Are So Desperate For Data Centers They're Leasing Them Before They're Even Built

  17-05-2024 12:00 via slashdot.org
  
  Data center construction levels are at an all-time high. And more than ever, companies that need them have already called dibs. From a report: In the first quarter of 2024, what amounts to about half of the existing supply of data center megawattage in the US is under construction, according to real estate services firm CBRE. And 84% of that is already leased. Typically that rate had been about 50% the last few years -- already notably higher than other real estate classes. "I'm astonished and i
  
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• Germany's Sovereign Tech Fund Now Supporting FFmpeg

  17-05-2024 09:00 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Michael Larabel reports via Phoronix: Following Germany's Sovereign Tech Fund providing significant funding for GNOME, Rust Coreutils, PHP, a systemd bug bounty, and numerous other free software projects, the FFmpeg multimedia library is the latest beneficiary to this funding from the Germany government. The Sovereign Tech Fund notes that the FFmpeg project is receiving 157,580 euros for 2024 and 2025.An announcement on the FFmpeg.org project site notes: "The FFmpeg community is excited to annou
  
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• Archie, the Internet's First Search Engine, Is Rescued and Running

  17-05-2024 05:30 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: It's amazing, and a little sad, to think that something created in 1989 that changed how people used and viewed the then-nascent Internet had nearly vanished by 2024. Nearly, that is, because the dogged researchers and enthusiasts at The Serial Port channel on YouTube have found what is likely the last existing copy of Archie. Archie, first crafted by Alan Emtage while a student at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, allowed for the searc
  
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• NetBSD Bans AI-Generated Code

  17-05-2024 04:02 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Seven Spirals writes: NetBSD committers are now banned from using any AI-generated code from ChatGPT, CoPilot, or other AI tools. Time will tell how this plays out with both their users and core team. "If you commit code that was not written by yourself, double check that the license on that code permits import into the NetBSD source repository, and permits free distribution," reads NetBSD's updated commit guidelines. "Check with the author(s) of the code, make sure that they were the sole autho
  
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• In a Milestone, the US Exceeds 5 Million Solar Installations

  17-05-2024 03:25 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), the U.S. has officially surpassed 5 million solar installations. "The 5 million milestone comes just eight years after the U.S. achieved its first million in 2016 -- a stark contrast to the four decades it took to reach that initial milestone since the first grid-connected solar project in 1973," reports Electrek. From the report: Since the beginning of 2020, more than half of all U.S. solar installations have come online, and over 25%
  
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• Winamp Is 'Opening Up' Its Source Code

  17-05-2024 02:45 via news.slashdot.org
  
  In a press release today, the best music player of the 1990s announced that it'll open up its source code to developers worldwide. "Winamp will open up its code for the player used on Windows, enabling the entire community to participate in its development," said the company. "This is an invitation to global collaboration, where developers worldwide can contribute their expertise, ideas, and passion to help this iconic software evolve."Alexandre Saboundjian, CEO of Winamp, explains: "This is a d
  
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• Sony Lays Down the Gauntlet on AI

  17-05-2024 02:01 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Sony Music Group, one of the world's biggest record labels, warned AI companies and music streaming platforms not to use the company's content without explicit permission. From a report: Sony Music, whose artists include Lil Nas X and Celine Dion, sent letters to more than 700 companies in an effort to protect its intellectual property, which includes album cover art, metadata, musical compositions and lyrics, from being used for training AI models. "Unauthorized use" of Sony Music Group content
  
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• Reddit Reintroduces Its Awards System

  17-05-2024 01:20 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  After shutting down its awards system last July, Reddit announced that it is bringing it back, with much of the same and some new features. There'll be "a new design for awards, a new award button under eligible posts and a leaderboard showing top awards earned for a comment or a post," reports TechCrunch. From the report: The company sunset its awards program last year along with the ability for users to purchase coins. At the same time, Reddit introduced "Golden Upvotes," which were purchased
  
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• GTA 6 Release Date Narrowed To Fall 2025 Amid Questions about Delays

  17-05-2024 00:41 via games.slashdot.org
  
  Take-Two Interactive is doubling down Grand Theft Auto VI's release date, saying the long-awaited sequel will be out fall 2025 despite rumors of a possible delay into 2026. From a report: Take-Two announced GTA 6's updated release window in its latest earnings report, saying that its current outlook is based on the new date. "We do feel highly confident that we'll deliver [Grand Theft Auto VI] in fall of 2025," Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick told IGN in an interview when asked if he was concerned
  
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• Another Billionaire Pushes a Bid For TikTok, But To Decentralize It

  17-05-2024 00:02 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Techdirt, written by Mike Masnick: If you're a fan of chaos, well, the TikTok ban situation is providing plenty of chaos to follow. Ever since the US government made it clear it was seriously going to move forward with the obviously unconstitutional and counterproductive plan to force ByteDance to divest from TikTok or have the app effectively banned from the U.S., various rich people have been stepping up with promises to buy the app. There was former Tr
  
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