ICT news

• Microsoft Releases October 2023 Security Updates

  10-10-2023 14:00 via cisa.gov
  Microsoft has released updates to address multiple vulnerabilities in Microsoft software. A cyber threat actor can exploit some of these vulnerabilities to take control of an affected system.
  CISA encourages users and administrators to review Microsoft’s October 2023 Security Update Guide and apply the necessary updates. 
  
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• Linux 7.0 Kernel Confirmed By Linus Torvalds, Expected In Mid-April 2026

  09-02-2026 23:45 via linux.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader writes: Linus Torvalds has confirmed the next major kernel series as Linux 7.0, reports Linux news website 9to5Linux.com: "So there you have it, the Linux 6.x era has ended with today's Linux 6.19 kernel release, and a new one will begin with Linux 7.0, which is expected in mid-April 2026. The merge window for Linux 7.0 will open tomorrow, February 9th, and the first Release Candidate (RC) milestone is expected on February 22nd, 2026."Read more of this story at Slashdot.
  
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• OpenAI Starts Running Ads in ChatGPT

  09-02-2026 22:00 via slashdot.org
  OpenAI has started testing ads inside ChatGPT for logged-in adult users on the Free and Go subscription tiers in the United States, the company said. The Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Education tiers remain ad-free. Ads are matched to users based on conversation topics, past chats, and prior ad interactions, and appear clearly labeled as "sponsored" and visually separated from ChatGPT's organic responses.
  OpenAI says the ads do not influence ChatGPT's answers, and advertisers receive only
  
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• Sixteen AI Agents Built a C Compiler From Scratch

  09-02-2026 21:00 via developers.slashdot.org
  Anthropic researcher Nicholas Carlini set 16 instances of Claude Opus 4.6 loose on a shared codebase over two weeks to build a C compiler from scratch, and the AI agents produced a 100,000-line Rust-based compiler capable of building a bootable Linux 6.9 kernel on x86, ARM and RISC-V architectures.
  The project ran through nearly 2,000 Claude Code sessions and cost about $20,000 in API fees. Each instance operated inside its own Docker container, independently claiming tasks via lock files and pu
  
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• Romance Publishing Has an AI Problem and Most Readers Don't Know It Yet

  09-02-2026 20:01 via news.slashdot.org
  The romance genre -- long the publishing industry's earliest adopter of technological shifts, from e-books to self-publishing to serial releases -- has become the front line for AI-generated fiction, and the results as you can imagine are messy. Coral Hart, a Cape Town-based novelist previously published by Harlequin and Mills & Boon, produced more than 200 AI-assisted romance novels last year and self-published them on Amazon, where they collectively sold around 50,000 copies. She found Ant
  
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• Autodesk Takes Google To Court Over AI Movie Software Named 'Flow'

  09-02-2026 19:01 via tech.slashdot.org
  Autodesk has sued Google in San Francisco federal court, alleging the search giant infringed its "Flow" trademark by launching competing AI-powered software for movie, TV and video game production in May 2025.
  Autodesk says it has used the Flow name since September 2022 and that Google assured it would not commercialize a product under the same name -- then filed a trademark application in Tonga, where filings are not publicly accessible, before seeking U.S. protection.Read more of this story at
  
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• Google Lines Up 100-Year Sterling Bond Sale

  09-02-2026 18:01 via tech.slashdot.org
  Alphabet has lined up banks to sell a rare 100-year bond, stepping up a borrowing spree by Big Tech companies racing to fund their vast investments in AI this year. From a report: The so-called century bond will form part of a debut sterling issuance this week by Google's parent company, according to people familiar with the matter. Alphabet was also selling $15bn of dollar bonds on Monday and lining up a Swiss franc bond sale, the people said.
  Century bonds -- long-term borrowing at its most ex
  
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• Discord Will Require a Face Scan or ID for Full Access Next Month

  09-02-2026 17:01 via yro.slashdot.org
  Discord said today it's rolling out age verification on its platform globally starting next month, when it will automatically set all users' accounts to a "teen-appropriate" experience unless they demonstrate that they're adults. From a report: Users who aren't verified as adults will not be able to access age-restricted servers and channels, won't be able to speak in Discord's livestream-like "stage" channels, and will see content filters for any content Discord detects as graphic or sensitive.
  
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• AI Gold Rush is Resurrecting China's Infamous 72-hour Work Week - in US

  09-02-2026 16:14 via slashdot.org
  The AI boom has revived a workplace philosophy that China's own regulators cracked down on years ago: the 72-hour work week, known as 996 for its 9am-to-9pm, six-days-a-week cadence. US startups flush with venture capital are now openly advertising it as a feature, not a bug. Rilla, a New York-based AI company that monitors sales reps in the field, warns applicants on its careers page to expect roughly 70-hour weeks. Browser-Use, a seven-person startup building tools for AI-to-browser interactio
  
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• Age Bias is Still the Default at Work But the Data is Turning

  09-02-2026 15:12 via tech.slashdot.org
  A mounting body of research is making it harder for companies to justify what most of them still do -- push experienced workers out the door just as they're hitting their professional peak. A 2025 study published in the journal Intelligence analyzed 16 cognitive, emotional and personality dimensions and found that while processing speed declines after early adulthood, other capabilities -- including the ability to avoid distractions and accumulated knowledge -- continue to improve, putting peak
  
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• New Raspberry Pi 4 Model Splits RAM Across Dual Chips

  09-02-2026 13:34 via hardware.slashdot.org
  The blog OMG Ubuntu reports that a new version of the Raspberry Pi 4 Model B has been (quietly) introduced. "The key difference? It now uses a dual-RAM configuration."
  The Raspberry Pi 4 Model B (PCB 13a) adopts a dual-RAM configuration to 'improve supply chain flexibility' and manufacturing efficiency, per a company product change notice document. Earlier versions of the Raspberry Pi 4 use a single RAM chip on the top of the board. The new revision adds a second LPDDR4 chip to the underside, wi
  
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• SpaceX Prioritizes Lunar 'Self-Growing City' Over Mars Project, Musk Says

  09-02-2026 09:34 via science.slashdot.org
  "Elon Musk said on Sunday that SpaceX has shifted its focus to building a 'self-growing city' on the moon," reports Reuters, "which could be achieved in less than 10 years."
  SpaceX still intends to start on Musk's long-held ambition of a city on Mars within five to seven years, he wrote on his X social media platform, "but the overriding priority is securing the future of civilization and the Moon is faster."
  Musk's comments echo a Wall Street Journal report on Friday, stating that SpaceX has to
  
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• National Football League Launches Challenge to Improve Facemasks and Reduce Concussions

  09-02-2026 06:34 via science.slashdot.org
  As Super Bowl Sunday comes to a close, America's National Football League "is challenging innovators to improve the facemask on football helmets to reduce concussions in the game," reports the Associated Press:
  The league announced on Friday at an innovation summit for the Super Bowl the next round in the HealthTECH Challenge series, a crowdsourced competition designed to accelerate the development of cutting-edge football helmets and new standards for player safety. The challenge invites invent
  
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• Carmakers Rush To Remove Chinese Code Under New US Rules

  09-02-2026 03:34 via tech.slashdot.org
  "How Chinese is your car?" asks the Wall Street Journal. "Automakers are racing to work it out."
  Modern cars are packed with internet-connected widgets, many of them containing Chinese technology. Now, the car industry is scrambling to root out that tech ahead of a looming deadline, a test case for America's ability to decouple from Chinese supply chains. New U.S. rules will soon ban Chinese software in vehicle systems that connect to the cloud, part of an effort to prevent cameras, microphones
  
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• Amazon Delivery Drone Crashes into Texas Apartment Building

  09-02-2026 00:34 via tech.slashdot.org
  "You can hear the hum of the drone," says a local newscaster, "but then the propellors come into contact with the building, chunks of the drone later seen falling down. The next video shows the drone on the ground, surrounded by smoke..."Amazon tells us there was minimal damage to the apartment building, adding they are working with the appropriate people to handle any repairs." But there were people standing outside, notes the woman who filmed the crash, and the falling drone "could've hit them
  
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• Do Super Bowl Ads For AI Signal a Bubble About to Burst?

  08-02-2026 23:06 via slashdot.org
  It's the first "AI" Super Bowl, argues the tech/business writer at Slate, with AI company advertisements taking center stage, even while consumers insist to surveyors that they're "mostly negative" about AI-generated ads.
  Last year AI companies spent over $1.7 billion on AI-related ads, notes the Washington Post, adding the blitz this year will be "inescapable" — even while surveys show Americans "doubt the technology is good for them or the world..."
  Slate wonders if that means history wi
  
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• Dave Farber Dies at Age 91

  08-02-2026 21:42 via tech.slashdot.org
  The mailing list for the North American Network Operators' Group discusses Internet infrastructure issues like routing, IP address allocation, and containing malicious activity. This morning there was another message:We are heartbroken to report that our colleague — our mentor, friend, and conscience — David J. Farber passed away suddenly at his home in Roppongi, Tokyo. He left us on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, at the too-young age of 91...
  Dave's career began with his education at Steve
  
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• After Six Years, Two Pentesters Arrested in Iowa Receive $600,000 Settlement

  08-02-2026 20:35 via it.slashdot.org
  "They were crouched down like turkeys peeking over the balcony," the county sheriff told Ars Technica. A half hour past midnight, they were skulking through a courthouse in Iowa's Dallas County on September 11 "carrying backpacks that remind me and several other deputies of maybe the pressure cooker bombs." More deputies arrived...Justin Wynn, 29 of Naples, Florida, and Gary De Mercurio, 43 of Seattle, slowly proceeded down the stairs with hands raised. They then presented the deputies with a le
  
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• Prankster Launches Super Bowl Party For AI Agents

  08-02-2026 19:34 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  Long-time Slashdot reader destinyland writes: The world's biggest football game comes to Silicon Valley today — so one bored programmer built a site where AI agents can gather for a Super Bowl party. They're trash talking, suggesting drinks, and predicting who will win. "Humans are welcome to observe," explains BotBowlParty.com — but just like at Moltbook, only AI agents can post or upvote. But humans are allowed to invite their own AI agents to join in the party...
  So BotBowl's offi
  
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• Why Is China Building So Many Coal Plants Despite Its Solar and Wind Boom?

  08-02-2026 18:34 via hardware.slashdot.org
  Long-time Slashdot reader schwit1 shared this article from the Associated Press:Even as China's expansion of solar and wind power raced ahead in 2025, the Asian giant opened many more coal power plants than it had in recent years — raising concern about whether the world's largest emitter will reduce carbon emissions enough to limit climate change.
  More than 50 large coal units — individual boiler and turbine sets with generating capacity of 1 gigawatt or more — were commission
  
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• Scientists Explored Island Cave, Found 1 Million-Year-Old Remnants a Lost World

  08-02-2026 17:34 via science.slashdot.org
  "A spectacular trove of fossils in a discovered in a cave on New Zealand's North Island has given scientists their first glimpse of ancient forest species that lived there more than a million years ago," reports Popular Mechanics:
  The fossils represent 12 ancient bird species and four frog species, including several previously unknown bird species. Taken together, the fossils paint a picture of an ancient world that looks drastically different than it does today. The discovery also fills in an i
  
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• Cyber-Espionage Group Breached Systems in 37 Nations, Security Researchers Say

  08-02-2026 16:34 via it.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader shared this report from Bloomberg:
  An Asian cyber-espionage group has spent the past year breaking into computer systems belonging to governments and critical infrastructure organizations in more than 37 countries, according to the cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks, Inc. The state-aligned attackers have infiltrated networks of 70 organizations, including five national law enforcement and border control agencies, according to a new research report from the company. They ha
  
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• Brookhaven Lab Shuts Down Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC)

  08-02-2026 13:34 via science.slashdot.org
  2001: "Brookhaven Labs has produced for the first time collisions of gold nuclei at a center of mass energy of 200GeV/nucleon."
  2002: "There may be a new type of matter according to researchers at Brookhaven National Laboratory."
  2010: The hottest man-made temperatures ever achived were a record 4 trillion degree plasma experiment at Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York... anointed the Guinness record holder."2023: "Scientists at Brookhaven National Laboratory have uncovered an entirely ne
  
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• Have We Been Thinking About Exercise Wrong for Half a Century?

  08-02-2026 09:34 via science.slashdot.org
  "After a half-century asking us to exercise more, doctors and physiologists say we have been thinking about it wrong," writes Washington Post columnist Michael J. Coren.
  "U.S. and World Health Organization guidelines no longer specify a minimum duration of moderate or vigorous aerobic activity."Movement-tracking studies show even tiny, regular bursts of effort — as short as 30 seconds — can capture many of the health benefits of the gym. Climbing two to three flights of stairs a few
  
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• Are Big Tech's Nuclear Construction Deals a Tipping Point for Small Modular Reactors?

  08-02-2026 05:35 via hardware.slashdot.org
  Fortune reports on "a watershed moment" in American's nuclear power industry:
  In January, Meta partnered with Gates' TerraPower and Sam Altman-backed Oklo to develop about 4 gigawatts of combined SMR projects — enough to power almost 3 million homes — for "clean, reliable energy" both for Meta's planned Prometheus AI mega campus in Ohio and beyond. Analysts see Meta as the start of more Big Tech nuclear construction deals — not just agreements with existing plants or restarts s
  
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• A New Era for Security? Anthropic's Claude Opus 4.6 Found 500 High-Severity Vulnerabilities

  08-02-2026 03:34 via it.slashdot.org
  Axios reports:Anthropic's latest AI model has found more than 500 previously unknown high-severity security flaws in open-source libraries with little to no prompting, the company shared first with Axios.
  Why it matters: The advancement signals an inflection point for how AI tools can help cyber defenders, even as AI is also making attacks more dangerous...
  Anthropic debuted Claude Opus 4.6, the latest version of its largest AI model, on Thursday. Before its debut, Anthropic's frontier red team
  
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• The World's First Sodium-Ion Battery in Commercial EVs - Great at Low Temperatures

  08-02-2026 02:17 via tech.slashdot.org
  Long-time Slashdot reader Geoffrey.landis shared this report from InsideEVs:
  Chinese battery giant CATL and automaker Changan Automobile are preparing to put the world's first passenger car powered by sodium-ion batteries on public roads by mid-2026. And if the launch is successful, it could usher in an era where electric vehicles present less of a fire risk and can better handle extreme temperatures.
  The CATL Naxtra sodium-ion battery will debut in the Changan Nevo A06 sedan, delivering an esti
  
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• Is the 'Death of Reading' Narrative Wrong?

  08-02-2026 00:12 via news.slashdot.org
  Has the rise of hyper-addictive digital technologies really shattered our attention spans and driven books out of our culture? Maybe not, argues social psychologist Adam Mastroianni (author of the Substack Experimental History):
  As a psychologist, I used to study claims like these for a living, so I know that the mind is primed to believe narratives of decline. We have a much lower standard of evidence for "bad thing go up" than we do for "bad thing go down." Unsurprisingly, then, stories about
  
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• Waymo Reveals Remote Workers In Philippines Sometimes Advise Its Driverless Cars

  07-02-2026 22:41 via tech.slashdot.org
  Waymo surprised U.S. lawmakers Wednesday during a hearing on autonomous vehicles and their safety and oversight. Newsweek reports:During questioning, Sen. Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, asked what happens when a Waymo vehicle encounters a driving situation it cannot independently resolve. "The Waymo phones a human friend for help," Markey explained, adding that the vehicle communicates with a "remote assistance operator." Markey criticized the lack of public information about these workers
  
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• Good News: We Saved the Bees. Bad News: We Saved the Wrong Ones.

  07-02-2026 21:34 via news.slashdot.org
  Despite urgent pleas to Americans to save the honeybees, "it was all based on a fallacy," writes Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank. "Honeybees were never in existential trouble. And well-meaning efforts to boost their numbers have accelerated the decline of native bees that actually are.""Suppose I were to say to you, 'I'm really worried about bird decline, so I've decided to take up keeping chickens.' You'd think I was a bit of an idiot," British bee scientist Dave Goulson said in a video
  
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