ICT news

• Instagram Tests Hiding Like Counts Globally

  14-11-2019 17:10 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  Instagram is making Like counts private for some users everywhere. From a report: Instagram tells TechCrunch the hidden Likes test is expanding to a subset of users globally. Users will have to decide for themselves if something is worth Liking rather than judging by the herd. The change could make users more comfortable sharing what's important to them without the fear of people seeing them receive an embarrassingly small number of likes. Instagram began hiding Likes in April in Canada and then
  
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• Google's Moonshot Factory Falls Back Down to Earth

  21-05-2024 19:24 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Alphabet's moonshot factory, X, is scaling back its ambitious projects amid concerns over Google's core search business facing competition from AI chatbots like ChatGPT. The lab, once a symbol of Google's commitment to innovation, is now spinning off projects as startups rather than integrating them into Alphabet. The shift reflects a broader trend among tech giants, who are cutting costs and focusing on their core businesses in response to the rapidly evolving AI landscape.Read more of this sto
  
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• Microsoft Edge Will Dub Streamed Video With AI-Translated Audio

  21-05-2024 18:41 via slashdot.org
  
  Microsoft is planning to either add subtitles or even dub video produced by major video sites, using AI to translate the audio into foreign languages within Microsoft Edge in real time. From a report: At its Microsoft Build developer conference, Microsoft named several sites that would benefit from the new real-time translation capabilities within Edge, including Reuters, CNBC News, Bloomberg, and Coursera, plus Microsoft's own LinkedIn. Interestingly, Microsoft also named Google's YouTube as a
  
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• Microsoft Launches Free AI Assistant For All Educators in US in Deal With Khan Academy

  21-05-2024 18:02 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Microsoft is partnering with tutoring organization Khan Academy to provide a generative AI assistant to all teachers in the U.S. for free. From a report: Khanmigo for Teachers, which helps teachers prepare lessons for class, is free to all educators in the U.S. as of Tuesday. The program can help create lessons, analyze student performance, plan assignments, and provide teachers with opportunities to enhance their own learning.
  "Unlike most things in technology and education in the past where th
  
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• Match Group, Meta, Coinbase And More Form Anti-Scam Coalition

  21-05-2024 17:33 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: Scams are all over the internet, and AI is making matters worse (no, Taylor Swift didn't giveaway Le Creuset pans, and Tom Hanks didn't promote a dental plan). Now, companies such as Match Group, Meta and Coinbase are launching Tech Against Scams, a new coalition focused on collaboration to prevent online fraud and financial schemes. They will "collaborate on ways to take action against the tools used by scammers, educate and protect consumers and disrupt rap
  
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• EPA Says It Will Step Up Enforcement To Address 'Critical' Vulnerabilities Within Water Sector

  21-05-2024 16:45 via news.slashdot.org
  
  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday urged water utilities to take action to improve their digital defenses, following a spate of recent cyberattacks. From a report: The agency's "enforcement alert" said that recent inspections of water systems found that more than 70 percent fail to meet basic cybersecurity standards, including some with "critical" vulnerabilities, such as relying on default passwords that haven't been updated and single logins that "can easily be compromised." Th
  
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• Scarlett Johansson Warned OpenAI To Not Use Her Voice

  21-05-2024 16:00 via slashdot.org
  
  Actress Scarlett Johansson's legal team has sent two letters to OpenAI, demanding the company disclose how it developed an AI personal assistant voice that the actress claims sounds uncannily similar to her own. The controversy was prompted after OpenAI held a live demonstration of the voice, dubbed "Sky," which many observers compared to Johansson's voice in the 2013 film "Her."
  OpenAI CEO Sam Altman had approached Johansson months prior and as recently as two days before the event, proposing t
  
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• Google Cuts Mystery Check To US In Bid To Sidestep Jury Trial

  21-05-2024 15:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Alphabet's Google has preemptively paid damages to the U.S. government, an unusual move aimed at avoiding a jury trial in the Justice Department's antitrust lawsuit over its digital advertising business. Google disclosed (PDF) the payment, but not the amount, in a court filing last week that said the case should be heard and decided by a judge directly. Without a monetary damages claim, Google argued, the government has no right to a jury trial.
  
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• Rockwell Automation Encourages Customers to Assess and Secure Public-Internet-Exposed Assets

  21-05-2024 14:00 via cisa.gov
  Rockwell Automation has released guidance encouraging users to remove connectivity on all Industrial Control Systems (ICS) devices connected to the public-facing internet to reduce exposure to unauthorized or malicious cyber activity. Users and administrators are encouraged review the following Rockwell Automation notice for more information:
   SD1672: Rockwell Automation Reiterates Customer Guidance to Disconnect Devices from the Internet to Protect from Cyber Threats
   
  
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• Warm Water Melts 'Doomsday Glacier' Half a Mile Each Year, Finds Study

  21-05-2024 12:00 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Recent research led by the University of California, Irvine has discovered warm, high-pressure seawater causing significant melting under the Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica. "There are places where the water is almost at the pressure of the overlying ice, so just a little more pressure is needed to push up the ice," said lead author Eric Rignot, UC Irvine professor of Earth system science. "The water is then squeezed enough to jack up a column of more than half a mile of ice." Interesting Engine
  
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• Neuralink To Test Brain Implant On Second Patient

  21-05-2024 09:00 via science.slashdot.org
  
  The FDA has approved Neuralink to implant its brain chip in a second patient. According to the Wall Street Journal, the company also outlined fixes to an electrode problem that caused its chip to detach from the first patient's brain. They were unharmed and could still control a computer mouse using their thoughts. Axios reports: Neuralink, which is owned by Elon Musk, said it is seeking applications for another patient with quadriplegia to test if the device can allow a person to do tasks like
  
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• Scientists Develop New Technique To Thaw Frozen Brain Tissue Without Harm

  21-05-2024 05:30 via science.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Medical Xpress: A team of medical researchers at the National Children's Medical Center, Children's Hospital, Fudan University, in China, has developed a technique to freeze and thaw brain tissue without causing damage. In their study, published in the journal Cell Reports Methods, the group tested bathing brain organoid tissue in candidate chemicals before freezing them using liquid nitrogen. [...] The work involved dipping or soaking brain organoids (br
  
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• Vitalik Buterin Addresses Threats To Ethereum's Decentralization In New Blog Post

  21-05-2024 02:10 via slashdot.org
  
  In a new blog post, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has shared his thoughts on three issues core to Ethereum's decentralization: MEV, liquid staking, and the hardware requirements of nodes. The Block reports: In his post, published on May 17, Buterin first addresses the issue of MEV, or the financial gain that sophisticated node operators can capture by reordering the transactions within a block. Buterin characterizes the two approaches to MEV as "minimization" (reducing MEV through smart pr
  
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• Apple Slashes iPhone Prices In China Amid Fierce Huawei Competition

  21-05-2024 01:30 via apple.slashdot.org
  
  Apple is offering discounts of up to $318 on select iPhone models in China, hoping to "defend its position in the high-end smartphone market, where it faces increasing competition from local rivals such as Huawei," reports Reuters. From the report: The increased competitive pressure on Apple comes after Huawei last month introduced its new series of high-end smartphones, the Pura 70, following the launch of the Mate 60 last August. Apple's previous discounting effort in February appears to have
  
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• HP Resurrects '90s OmniBook Branding, Kills Spectre and Dragonfly

  21-05-2024 00:50 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  HP announced today that it will resurrect the "Omni" branding it first coined for its business-oriented laptops introduced in 1993. The vintage branding will now be used for the company's new consumer-facing laptops, with HP retiring the Spectre and Dragonfly brands in the process. Furthermore, computers under consumer PC series names like Pavilion will also no longer be released. "Instead, every consumer computer from HP will be called either an OmniBook for laptops, an OmniDesk for desktops, o
  
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• Return-To-Office Mandate Is Backfiring On a Key Federal Agency

  21-05-2024 00:10 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Hill: In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the dynamics of the workplace have undergone a seismic shift. While some heralded the return to the office as a sign of normalcy, evidence suggests that for many, this transition has been far from smooth sailing. Nowhere is this struggle more evident than in the case of the U.S. federal government employees, particularly those within the Department of Justice. At the beginning of the year, the Justice Depart
  
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• Microsoft Paint Is Getting an AI-Powered Image Generator

  20-05-2024 23:30 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Microsoft Paint is getting a new image generator tool called Cocreator that can generate images based on text prompts and doodles. Engadget reports: During a demo at its Surface event, the company showed off how Cocreator combines your own drawings with text prompts to create an image. There's also a "creativity slider" that allows you to control how much you want AI to take over compared with your original art. As Microsoft pointed out, the combination of text prompts and your own brush strokes
  
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• JPMorgan, Mastercard Embrace Biometric Payment Options

  20-05-2024 22:50 via news.slashdot.org
  
  With JPMorgan and Mastercard piloting biometric payment options, a future where consumers can pay with their face is rapidly approaching. "Our focus on biometrics as a secure way to verify identity, replacing the password with the person, is at the heart of our efforts in this area," said Dennis Gamiello, executive vice president of identity products and innovation at Mastercard. Based on the positive feedback received thus far, Gamiello says the biometric checkout technology will roll out to mo
  
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• 'Prism' Translation Layer Does For Arm PCs What Rosetta Did For Macs

  20-05-2024 22:12 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Microsoft is going all-in on Arm-powered Windows PCs today with the introduction of a Snapdragon X Elite-powered Surface Pro convertible and Surface Laptop, and there are inevitable comparisons to draw with another big company that recently shifted from Intel's processors to Arm-based designs: Apple. A huge part of the Apple Silicon transition's success was Rosetta 2, a translation layer that makes it relatively seamless to run most Intel Ma
  
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• Microsoft Launches Arm-Powered Surface Laptop

  20-05-2024 21:21 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  Microsoft today launched its new Surface Laptop, featuring Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite or Plus chips, aiming to compete with Apple's powerful and efficient MacBook laptops. The Surface Laptop, available for preorder starting at $999.99, boasts up to 22 hours of battery life, a haptic touchpad, and support for three external 4K monitors. Microsoft claims the device is 80% faster than its predecessor and comes with AI features powered by its Copilot technology.Read more of this story at Slashdot
  
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• Google Thinks the Public Sector Can Do Better Than Microsoft's 'Security Failures'

  20-05-2024 20:40 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: Google is pouncing on Microsoft's weathered enterprise security reputation by pitching its services to government institutions. Pointing to a recent report from the US Cyber Safety Review Board (CSRB) that found that Microsoft's security woes are the result of the company "deprioritizing" enterprise security, Google says it can help. The company's pitch isn't quite as direct as Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella saying he made Google dance, but it's spicy all the sa
  
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• With Recall, Microsoft is Using AI To Fix Windows' Eternally Broken Search

  20-05-2024 20:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Microsoft today unveiled Recall, a new AI-powered feature for Windows 11 PCs, at its Build 2024 conference. Recall aims to improve local searches by making them as efficient as web searches, allowing users to quickly retrieve anything they've seen on their PC. Using voice commands and contextual clues, Recall can find specific emails, documents, chat threads, and even PowerPoint slides.
  The feature uses semantic associations to make connections, as demonstrated by Microsoft Product Manager Carol
  
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• Another Online Pharmacy Bypasses the FDA To Offer Cut-Rate Weight Loss Drugs

  20-05-2024 19:28 via science.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: Hims & Hers Health, one of the online pharmacies that got its start prescribing dick pills, is now offering knockoff versions of GLP-1 weight loss drugs. Hims & Hers says it will offer drugs that mimic Ozempic and Wegovy, the active ingredient of which is semaglutide. The copycat versions are made by compounding pharmacies. The formulations aren't the same as the FDA-approved versions of the drug and haven't been directly evaluated by the FDA, either.
  
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• Microplastics Found in Every Human Testicle in Study

  20-05-2024 18:40 via science.slashdot.org
  
  Microplastics have been found in human testicles, with researchers saying the discovery might be linked to declining sperm counts in men. From a report: The scientists tested 23 human testes, as well as 47 testes from pet dogs. They found microplastic pollution in every sample. The human testicles had been preserved and so their sperm count could not be measured. However, the sperm count in the dogs' testes could be assessed and was lower in samples with higher contamination with PVC. The study
  
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• Self-Proclaimed Bitcoin Inventor Lied 'Repeatedly' To Support Claim, Says UK Judge

  20-05-2024 18:02 via slashdot.org
  
  An Australian computer scientist who claimed he invented bitcoin lied "extensively and repeatedly" and forged documents "on a grand scale" to support his false claim, a judge at London's High Court ruled on Monday. From a report: [...] Judge James Mellor ruled in March that the evidence Craig Wright was not Satoshi was "overwhelming", after a trial in a case brought by the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) to stop Wright suing bitcoin developers. Mellor gave reasons for his conclusions on Monda
  
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• OpenAI Says Sky Voice in ChatGPT Will Be Paused After Concerns It Sounds Too Much Like Scarlett Johansson

  20-05-2024 17:26 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  OpenAI is pausing the use of the popular Sky voice in ChatGPT over concerns it sounds too much like the "Her" actress Scarlett Johansson. From a report: The company says the voices in ChatGPT were from paid voice actors. A final five were selected from an initial pool of 400 and it's purely a coincidence the unnamed actress behind the Sky voice has a similar tone to Johansson. Voice is about to become more prominent for OpenAI as it begins to roll out a new GPT-4o model into ChatGPT. With it wil
  
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• 38% of Webpages That Existed in 2013 Are No Longer Accessible a Decade Later

  20-05-2024 16:40 via it.slashdot.org
  
  A new Pew Research Center analysis shows just how fleeting online content actually is: 1. A quarter of all webpages that existed at one point between 2013 and 2023 are no longer accessible, as of October 2023. In most cases, this is because an individual page was deleted or removed on an otherwise functional website.
  2. For older content, this trend is even starker. Some 38% of webpages that existed in 2013 are not available today, compared with 8% of pages that existed in 2023.
  This "digital de
  
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• Vulnerability Summary for the Week of May 13, 2024

  20-05-2024 14:00 via cisa.gov
  High VulnerabilitiesPrimary
  Vendor -- Product
  Description
  Published
  CVSS Score
  Source & Patch Info
  8theme--XStore Core
   
  Improper Privilege Management vulnerability in 8theme XStore Core allows Privilege Escalation.This issue affects XStore Core: from n/a through 5.3.8.
  2024-05-17
  9.8
  CVE-2024-33552
  [email protected]
  8theme--XStore Core
   
  Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type vulnerability in 8theme XStore Core.This issue affects XStore Core: from n/a through 5.3.8.
  2
  
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• Julian Assange Wins High Court Victory in Case Against Extradition To US

  20-05-2024 13:59 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Julian Assange has won a victory in his ongoing battle against extradition from the UK after judges at the high court in London granted him leave to appeal. From a report: Two judges deferred a decision in March on whether Assange, who is trying to avoid being prosecuted in the US on espionage charges relating to the publication of thousands of classified and diplomatic documents, could take his case to another appeal hearing. Assange had been granted permission to appeal only if the Biden admin
  
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• Police Found Ways to Use Facial Recognition Tech After Their Cities Banned It

  20-05-2024 13:34 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shared this report from the Washington Post:
  As cities and states push to restrict the use of facial recognition technologies, some police departments have quietly found a way to keep using the controversial tools: asking for help from other law enforcement agencies that still have access. Officers in Austin and San Francisco — two of the largest cities where police are banned from using the technology — have repeatedly asked police in neighboring towns to run pho
  
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