ICT news

• Microsoft's VASA-1 Can Deepfake a Person With One Photo and One Audio Track

  19-04-2024 21:30 via slashdot.org
  
  Microsoft Research Asia earlier this week unveiled VASA-1, an AI model that can create a synchronized animated video of a person talking or singing from a single photo and an existing audio track. ArsTechnica: In the future, it could power virtual avatars that render locally and don't require video feeds -- or allow anyone with similar tools to take a photo of a person found online and make them appear to say whatever they want. "It paves the way for real-time engagements with lifelike avatars t
  
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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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• Some People Who Rented a Tesla from Hertz Were Still Charged for Gas

  20-05-2024 09:34 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  "Last week, we reported on a customer who was charged $277 for gasoline his rented Tesla couldn't have possibly used," writes the automotive blog The Drive.
  "And now, we've heard from other Hertz customers who say they've been charged even more."Hertz caught attention last week for how it handled a customer whom it had charged a "Skip the Pump" fee, which allows renters to pay a premium for Hertz to refill the tank for them. But of course, this customer's rented Tesla Model 3 didn't use gas &mda
  
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• What Happened After a Reporter Tracked Down The Identity Thief Who Stole $5,000

  20-05-2024 05:34 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  "$5,000 in cash had been withdrawn from my checking account — but not by me," writes journalist Linda Matchan in the Boston Globe. A police station manager reviewed footage from the bank — which was 200 miles away — and deduced that "someone had actually come into the bank and spoken to a teller, presented a driver's license, and then correctly answered some authentication questions to validate the account..."
  "You're pitting a teller against a national crime syndicate with mas
  
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• Ubuntu 24.10 to Default to Wayland for NVIDIA Users

  20-05-2024 03:34 via news.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shared this report from the blog OMG Ubuntu:
  Ubuntu first switched to using Wayland as its default display server in 2017 before reverting the following year. It tried again in 2021 and has stuck with it since. But while Wayland is what most of us now log into after installing Ubuntu, anyone doing so on a PC or laptop with an NVIDIA graphics card present instead logs into an Xorg/X11 session.
  This is because NVIDIA's proprietary graphics drivers (which many, especially gamers
  
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• Linux Foundation Announces Launch of 'High Performance Software Foundation'

  20-05-2024 01:59 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  This week the nonprofit Linux Foundation announced the launch of the High Performance Software Foundation, which "aims to build, promote, and advance a portable core software stack for high performance computing" (or HPC) by "increasing adoption, lowering barriers to contribution, and supporting development efforts."
  It promises initiatives focused on "continuously built, turnkey software stacks," as well as other initiatives including architecture support and performance regression testing. Its
  
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• FORTRAN and COBOL Re-enter TIOBE's Ranking of Programming Language Popularity

  20-05-2024 00:01 via developers.slashdot.org
  
  "The TIOBE Index sets out to reflect the relative popularity of computer languages," writes i-Programmer, "so it comes as something of a surprise to see two languages dating from the 1950's in this month's Top 20.Having broken into the the Top 20 in April 2021 Fortran has continued to rise and has now risen to it's highest ever position at #10... The headline for this month's report by Paul Jansen on the TIOBE index is:Fortran in the top 10, what is going on?Jansen's explanation points to the fa
  
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• Blue Origin Successfully Launches Six Passengers to the Edge of Space

  19-05-2024 22:39 via science.slashdot.org
  
  "Blue Origin's tourism rocket has launched passengers to the edge of space for the first time in nearly two years," reports CNN, "ending a hiatus prompted by a failed uncrewed test flight."
  The New Shepard rocket and capsule lifted off at 9:36 a.m. CT (10:36 a.m. ET) from Blue Origin's facilities on a private ranch in West Texas.
  NS-25, Blue Origin's seventh crewed flight to date, carried six customers aboard the capsule: venture capitalist Mason Angel; Sylvain Chiron, founder of the French craf
  
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• China Uses Giant Rail Gun to Shoot a Smart Bomb Nine Miles Into the Sky

  19-05-2024 20:46 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  "China's navy has apparently tested out a hypersonic rail gun," reports Futurism, describing it as "basically a device that uses a series of electromagnets to accelerate a projectile to incredible speeds."
  But "during a demonstration of its power, things didn't go quite as planned."
  As the South China Morning Post reports, the rail gun test lobbed a precision-guided projectile — or smart bomb — nine miles into the stratosphere. But because it apparently didn't go up as high as it was
  
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• AI 'Godfather' Geoffrey Hinton: If AI Takes Jobs We'll Need Universal Basic Income

  19-05-2024 19:34 via slashdot.org
  
  "The computer scientist regarded as the 'godfather of artificial intelligence' says the government will have to establish a universal basic income to deal with the impact of AI on inequality," reports the BBC:Professor Geoffrey Hinton told BBC Newsnight that a benefits reform giving fixed amounts of cash to every citizen would be needed because he was "very worried about AI taking lots of mundane jobs".
  "I was consulted by people in Downing Street and I advised them that universal basic income w
  
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• US Defense Department 'Concerned' About ULA's Slow Progress on Satellite Launches

  19-05-2024 18:34 via science.slashdot.org
  
  Earlier this week the Washington Post reported that America's Defense department "is growing concerned that the United Launch Alliance, one of its key partners in launching national security satellites to space, will not be able to meet its needs to counter China and build its arsenal in orbit with a new rocket that ULA has been developing for years."In a letter sent Friday to the heads of Boeing's and Lockheed Martin's space divisions, Air Force Assistant Secretary Frank Calvelli used unusually
  
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• Amazon Defends Its Use of Signal Messages in Court

  19-05-2024 17:34 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  America's Federal Trade Commission and 17 states filed an antitrust suit against Amazon in September. This week Amazon responded in court about its usage of Signal's "disappearing messages" feature.
  Long-time Slashdot reader theodp shares GeekWire's report:
  At a company known for putting its most important ideas and strategies into comprehensive six-page memos, quick messages between executives aren't the place for meaningful business discussions. That's one of the points made by Amazon in its r
  
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