ICT news

• Microsoft Warns That China Hackers Attacked US Infrastructure

  24-05-2023 22:45 via slashdot.org
  
  Microsoft has issued a warning that Chinese state-sponsored hackers, known as "Volt Typhoon," have compromised "critical" U.S. cyber infrastructure across various industries with a focus on gathering intelligence. CNBC reports: The Chinese hacking group, codenamed "Volt Typhoon," has operated since mid-2021, Microsoft said in an advisory. The organization is apparently working to disrupt "critical communications infrastructure between the United States and Asia," Microsoft said, to stymie effort
  
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• Walmart To Finally Start Accepting Apple Pay and Google Pay

  21-08-2026 18:00 via news.slashdot.org
  After years of refusing to adopt tap-to-pay technology in its stores, retail giant Walmart announced today that it is finally accepting payments via both Apple Pay and Google Pay. The rollout begins August 24 at select Walmart and Sam's Club locations and is expected to reach all stores by year-end. It will then expand to fuel stations by mid-2027. TechCrunch reports: The news is a surprise, as Walmart has long refused to adopt the ubiquitous payment technology to instead promote its own in-hous
  
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• Google Gives Publishers a 'Preferred Sources' Button to Fight AI-Driven Traffic Losses

  21-08-2026 17:00 via news.slashdot.org
  Google is giving publishers a new way to fight declining referral traffic from AI-powered search by letting them embed a "Preferred Sources" button that readers can use to favor their sites across Search, Discover, and Google News. "The idea is to make it easier for readers to find links from the sites they know and trust when they're searching for content or interacting with Google's AI to learn about a topic or read the latest news," reports TechCrunch. "As of May's launch, the company said th
  
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• Microsoft Gives Task Manager Another Task: Watching AI Workloads

  21-08-2026 13:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  Microsoft is expanding Windows Task Manager to show per-process NPU and GPU neural-engine usage, giving users more visibility into which apps are consuming hardware for AI workloads. The Register reports: The Processes tab can show NPU use alongside CPU and GPU activity, while the Performance tab displays overall utilization. [...] Microsoft was keen to point out the metrics that can be monitored. "As AI workloads become more common on Windows devices, visibility into NPU and GPU neural engine u
  
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• China Is About to Launch Its Most Ambitious Moon Mission Yet

  21-08-2026 09:00 via science.slashdot.org
  China's Chang'e 7 mission is set to launch for the moon's south pole, where it will attempt the first-ever landing directly at the pole and search the region's dark craters for water ice. "It's an amazing mission," says Norbert Schorghofer, a Hawaii-based senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute. "There has never been a landed mission to find water [on the moon]." If successful, China "will be the leader in lunar science," Schorghofer adds. Scientific American reports: Chang'e 7, Chin
  
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• Are You Sure You Want a Car With a Giant Touch Screen?

  21-08-2026 05:30 via tech.slashdot.org
  RAMageddon could soon push car prices higher as modern vehicles rely on ever more RAM and powerful centralized computers to run everything from infotainment to driver-assistance systems. Analysts cited by The Atlantic estimate the shortage could add a few percentage points to vehicle prices, which might not sound like much, but could potentially translate to around $2,000 on a $50,000 vehicle. The broader shift toward software-heavy vehicles could also make used cars even less affordable. An ano
  
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• China's YouTube Rival Bilibili Is Going Global

  21-08-2026 01:00 via news.slashdot.org
  Bilibili, often described as China's answer to YouTube, is relaunching its international app and preparing an English-language site as part of a broader push into the U.S., Europe, Japan, and other markets. The company is courting Western creators like MrBest, hiring community and moderation staff globally, and building tools for brand partnerships. Semafor reports: The revamped international app no longer requires identity verification -- meaning users can sign up without having to provide a pa
  
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• Watching TikTok Videos and Instagram Reels Deactivates the Brain's Cognitive Control Network

  21-08-2026 00:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from RathBiotaClan: Millions of people finish short video after short video every day; a new brain-scan study shows that the very act of finishing a clip they like temporarily quiets the brain regions that normally help them stay focused and weigh longer-term goals. When people watch a short video they enjoy enough to finish, two brain regions involved in cognitive control show significant deactivation. That is the central finding of a new study from Zhejiang
  
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• Ukrainian Publishers Call For Support After Russian Attacks Destroy 10 Million Books

  20-08-2026 23:00 via news.slashdot.org
  Russian attacks on Ukrainian publishing infrastructure in July and August destroyed roughly 10 million books, which equates to about 30% of Ukraine's annual book output. The Ukrainian Book Institute is warning of a potential "collapse of the entire book ecosystem" and is calling for international financial and industry support to help publishers, printers, and distributors recover. The Guardian reports: A major attack on August 1 hit warehouses belonging to the RNK-Ranok publishing group in Khar
  
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• Voters Aren't Waiting For November to Try Ousting Officials Over Data Centers

  20-08-2026 22:00 via politics.slashdot.org
  A growing backlash against AI data centers is spilling into local politics, with residents in more than a dozen communities pushing recall elections against officials who approved projects. "People are standing up and saying, 'Sorry, we don't want these data centers in our communities for a number of reasons,'" Senator Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent, said in an interview. "'If you can't have the guts to stand up to some large corporation, you should not continue serving in office.'" The
  
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• Does Using AI to Edit an Op-Ed on Students' Math Skills Undermine the Argument?

  20-08-2026 21:00 via news.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: A math professor at the University of California, Berkeley, criticizing a "severe" math deficiency among students in an op-ed for the San Francisco Standard, admitted to using artificial intelligence to help edit the piece. The Standard published a 2,000-word piece by Zvezdelina Stankova last week, in which the professor said some of her math students were "five to eight years" behind and lacked a "middle school" education on fractions and b
  
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• YouTube Offers Creators Millions of Dollars to Stay Off Netflix

  20-08-2026 20:00 via news.slashdot.org
  Bloomberg reports that YouTube is offering major creators millions of dollars to keep some content exclusive to its platform as Netflix increasingly signs YouTube-native talent to non-exclusive deals. YouTube has also warned that creators who simultaneously publish on Netflix could lose marketing support, event opportunities, and access to revenue from certain brand campaigns. Quartz reports: Bloomberg described two categories of payment: funding directed at specific programs, and a portion of t
  
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• Reverse-Lookup Service Exposed Millions of Photos of People's Faces

  20-08-2026 19:05 via yro.slashdot.org
  Security researcher Jeremiah Fowler found that people-search service ClarityCheck left more than 9 million image files accessible in an unsecured Amazon S3 bucket, despite advertising its reverse-image search as "private and secure." A separate misconfiguration also exposed email addresses, phone numbers, and other personal information. Wired reports: Overall, according to findings from independent security researcher Jeremiah Fowler, the exposed ClarityCheck database contained roughly 450 GB of
  
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• FCC Abolishes Gigabit Speed Goal, Suggesting It Is Unfair To Slower Technologies

  20-08-2026 18:00 via mobile.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: The Federal Communications Commission last week eliminated the gigabit speed goal established during the Biden administration and declared that current levels of broadband deployment in the US are acceptable. Though fiber networks have routinely offered such speeds for years, the FCC said the gigabit speed goal is not "technologically neutral," suggesting that it isn't fair to other, slower technologies.In 2024, the FCC raised its broadband
  
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• Japan to Require AI Firms to Disclose Training Data

  20-08-2026 17:00 via yro.slashdot.org
  Japan is preparing a nonbinding "comply or explain" code that would urge generative AI companies, including foreign firms operating in Japan, to disclose what models they use, what training data they rely on, and how that data was collected. The proposal would also let rights holders ask whether specific webpages were included in training datasets. The Japan Times reports: The draft code comprises three principles. The first principle requires businesses to disclose the generative AI models they
  
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• New Study Challenges Common Assumptions About Screen Time For Kids

  20-08-2026 13:00 via hardware.slashdot.org
  bryanandaimee shares a report from ScienceDaily: A Finnish study has found an unexpected association between screen use and cognitive performance. Children who accumulated more screen time as they grew up tended to show better cognitive processing during adolescence. One of the researchers cautions against viewing screen time as entirely harmful and says the goal should be to balance physical activity with screen use that encourages active thinking. [...] "The findings suggest that screen time c
  
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• Rescue Mission Is Called Off For NASA's Aging Swift Space Telescope

  20-08-2026 09:00 via science.slashdot.org
  NASA has called off a $30 million mission to rescue its aging Swift space telescope after Katalyst Space's Link spacecraft developed persistent control and positioning problems. The Associated Press reports: Katalyst said Link will not attempt to capture Swift and boost it to a higher orbit because of problems with controlling the spacecraft. NASA said this means the telescope will plunge through the atmosphere after more than 20 years of tracking some of the biggest explosions in the universe l
  
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• Whistleblower Arturo Bejar Leads Testimony In Landmark Trial Against Meta

  20-08-2026 05:30 via tech.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from NPR: Meta was infused with a culture in which employees obsessed over user numbers and consistently pushed safety to the side, according to Arturo Bejar, a former employee turned whistleblower, who testified today in the landmark child safety trial against the social media company. Only one man had the ability to change that, Bejar said: CEO Mark Zuckerberg. But he didn't. "At the end of the day, it was the company culture that Mark had created that made
  
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• PINE64 Halts Linux Device Production Amid DRAM and EMMC Shortages

  20-08-2026 01:00 via hardware.slashdot.org
  BrianFagioli writes: PINE64 has some very bad news for Linux hardware fans. PINE64 says it has no plans to produce additional Linux devices in the near future because of the ongoing DRAM and eMMC shortage. Future production will depend on component pricing after mid 2027, while existing PineNote and PineTab2 inventory could run out in roughly three months. The company says PineTime, PineVoice, and Pinecil production will continue as usual, but the outlook for its Linux hardware is much less cert
  
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• Stripe Buys AI Startup OpenRouter For $7.5 Billion

  20-08-2026 00:00 via news.slashdot.org
  Stripe is acquiring AI model marketplace OpenRouter as it pushes beyond payments into the infrastructure behind AI applications. According to The New York Times, the deal is reportedly valued at about $7.5 billion, with $1.5 billion allocated to OpenRouter's founders. Less than three months ago the company was valued at about $1.3 billion. CNBC reports: OpenRouter has become popular with developers seeking to use AI models, particularly those considered non-proprietary and available for free. Ma
  
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• Amazon's Drones Will Soon Deliver to Nearly 500 US Cities and Towns

  19-08-2026 23:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  Amazon says its Prime Air drone delivery service will expand sixfold to nearly 500 U.S. cities and towns by the end of 2026, including metro areas around Chicago, Syracuse, Cleveland, Atlanta, and Boise. According to Amazon Prime Air vice president David Carbon, the service has already delivered "hundreds of thousands of packages to customers" this year, typically within about an hour. The Verge reports: These will join 11 locations across the US where Amazon already offers drone deliveries, wit
  
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• Music Publisher Round Hill Files $1 Billion Copyright Infringement Suits Against Suno, Anthropic

  19-08-2026 22:00 via yro.slashdot.org
  Independent music publisher Round Hill is suing Suno and Anthropic for allegedly using hundreds of copyrighted songs without permission to train their AI systems. The company says potential damages could exceed $1 billion, arguing there is "nothing fair" about building multibillion-dollar AI businesses on copyrighted material while rights holders receive nothing. From The Hollywood Reporter: Round Hill is a prominent music publisher whose copyrights include the Goo Goo Dolls' "Iris," Bonnie Tyle
  
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• CISA: Medusa Ransomware Hit Over 500 Critical Infrastructure Orgs

  19-08-2026 21:00 via it.slashdot.org
  CISA says the Medusa ransomware operation has breached more than 500 U.S. critical infrastructure organizations since 2021, up from more than 300 reported last year. The group has targeted healthcare, government, defense, manufacturing, IT and financial organizations, evolving into a ransomware-as-a-service operation that recruits initial-access brokers and uses stolen data to pressure victims into paying. BleepingComputer reports: The three federal agencies recommended that network defenders se
  
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• Moderna, Merck Say mRNA Vaccine Prevents Melanoma From Returning

  19-08-2026 20:00 via science.slashdot.org
  Moderna and Merck say their personalized mRNA melanoma vaccine significantly reduced both cancer recurrence and spread in a late-stage trial. The treatment could reach patients as soon as next year if regulators approve it. Reuters reports: Moderna developed the vaccine with Merck and tested it together with immunotherapy drug Keytruda, a widely used treatment for melanoma. [...] This is the first positive late-stage trial result for an mRNA cancer vaccine, which trains a patient's immune system
  
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• X's Algorithm Feeds Off Ragebait and Impacts Democrats More, Study Finds

  19-08-2026 19:00 via politics.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from 404 Media: X's algorithm learns what you hate and shows you more of it, according to a new study just published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The paper, titled Value misalignment of X's feed algorithm is a reflection of value tensions in engagement, found that the site's algorithm prioritized engagement above all else when it generated a user's For You Page. It also showed that X serves more ragebait to people who say they
  
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• Army Unit Offers 4-Day Pass to Play GTA VI As Reenlistment Incentive

  19-08-2026 18:12 via tech.slashdot.org
  A U.S. Army battalion at Fort Stewart is offering soldiers a four-day pass timed to the release of Grand Theft Auto VI if they reenlist for at least two years. The program is limited to one unit for now, but it fits the Army's broader effort to appeal to gamers as a recruiting and retention pool. CBS News reports: Twenty soldiers at Fort Stewart in Georgia in the Army's 9th Brigade Engineering Battalion, part of the 3rd Infantry Division, have already chosen this incentive as part of their reenl
  
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• Chinese Robotics Giant Unitree Soars In Stock Market Debut

  19-08-2026 17:00 via hardware.slashdot.org
  Chinese robotics giant Unitree surged more than 600% in its Shanghai stock market debut, marking the first mainland Chinese listing by a humanoid robot maker and a major milestone for Beijing's robotics ambitions. The BBC reports: Unitree, officially known as Yushu Technology Co Ltd, was founded in 2016 and now plays a key role in Beijing's ambitions to develop advanced technology. It has become a robotics industry leader, selling devices from sensors and automated arms to four-legged and human-
  
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• Babies Born Under Sugar Rationing Grew Into Adults With Lower Cancer Risk

  19-08-2026 13:00 via science.slashdot.org
  A study of more than 64,000 people born around the end of Britain's postwar sugar rationing found that those exposed to less sugar during their first 1,000 days had lower rates of five cancers decades later, including roughly 69% lower liver cancer risk and 36% lower breast cancer risk. They also "showed signs of slower biological aging" and "continued to consume less sugar and had healthier diets overall," according to the authors of a new study published in The Conversation. From the report: A
  
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• Physicists Entangle Quantum Memories Across a Record-Breaking 420 Kilometers

  19-08-2026 09:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  alternative_right shares a report from Phys.org: Optical fibers are already the backbone of global communication systems. Recently, however, physicists have started to explore how their functionality could be boosted further by conveying information via entangled quantum particles -- potentially enabling instantaneous exchanges of information across vast distances. Such a system could eventually be the basis of a future 'quantum internet,' offering a level of security and computing power beyond
  
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• Top Album Releases Linked To Rise In Fatal Crashes

  19-08-2026 05:30 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: The release of a new album by Taylor Swift might be a cause for celebration among her fans, but such events have also been linked to a more sombre phenomenon: an increase in fatal car crashes. The team behind a new study say it sheds light on the impact of distracted driving. Writing in the journal Jama Network Open, [Vishal Patel, first author of the study based at Harvard Medical School] and colleagues report how they focused on the releas
  
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