ICT news

• US Eating Disorder Helpline Takes Down AI Chatbot Over Harmful Advice

  01-06-2023 18:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  The National Eating Disorder Association (Neda) has taken down an artificial intelligence chatbot, "Tessa," after reports that the chatbot was providing harmful advice. From a report: Neda has been under criticism over the last few months after it fired four employees in March who worked for its helpline and had formed a union. The helpline allowed people to call, text or message volunteers who offered support and resources to those concerned about an eating disorder. Members of the union, Helpl
  
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• Power Bank Feature Creep is Out of Control

  07-01-2026 21:45 via hardware.slashdot.org
  The humble power bank has transformed from a simple pocket-sized battery into a feature-laden gadget that now sometimes includes screensavers, Bluetooth connectivity and built-in Wi-Fi hotspots. The Verge's Thomas Ricker highlighted the $270 EcoFlow Rapid Pro X Power Bank 27k at CES 2026 as a prime offender -- a device he declared "too expensive, too big, too slow, and too heavy." Its giant display takes 30 seconds to wake from sleep, plays swirly graphics and blinking eyeballs, and requires a s
  
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• New Dietary Guidelines Abandon Longstanding Advice on Alcohol

  07-01-2026 21:01 via news.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader shares a report: Ever since the federal government began issuing the Dietary Guidelines in 1980, it has told Americans to limit themselves to one or two standard alcoholic drinks a day. Over time, the official advice morphed to no more than two drinks a day for men, and no more than one for women. No longer [non-paywalled source].
  The updated guidelines issued on Wednesday say instead that people should consume less alcohol "for better overall health" and "limit alcohol bever
  
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• Samsung's Rolling Ballie Robot Indefinitely Shelved After Delays

  07-01-2026 20:21 via hardware.slashdot.org
  Samsung Electronics has once again sidelined Ballie, a long-anticipated robot that was first announced six years ago but never released. Bloomberg News: The device -- designed to roll and roam throughout the home -- is completely absent from this week's CES, the biggest electronics trade show. And though Samsung said last year that Ballie was nearly ready for a retail release, the product is now unlikely to resurface soon.
  In an emailed statement, Samsung referred to Ballie as an "active innovat
  
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• The Inevitable Rise of the Art TV

  07-01-2026 19:39 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  Several years after Samsung introduced the Frame TV in 2017 -- a television designed to display fine art and resemble a framed painting when switched off -- competitors are finally catching up in meaningful numbers. Amazon announced the Ember Artline TV at CES 2026 this week, a $899 model that can display one of 2,000 works of art for free and includes an Alexa AI tool to recommend pieces suited to your room. Hisense unveiled its CanvasTV late last year, TCL has the NXTvision model, and LG has a
  
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• How Aviation Emissions Could Be Halved Without Cutting Journeys

  07-01-2026 19:01 via news.slashdot.org
  Climate-heating emissions from aviation could be slashed in half -- without reducing passenger journeys -- by getting rid of premium seats, ensuring flights are near full and using the most efficient aircraft, according to analysis. The Guardian: These efficiency measures could be far more effective in tackling the fast-growing carbon footprint of flying than pledges to use "sustainable" fuels or controversial carbon offsets, the researchers said. They believe their study, which analysed more th
  
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• Microsoft Cancels Plans To Rate Limit Exchange Online Bulk Emails

  07-01-2026 18:21 via it.slashdot.org
  Microsoft has canceled plans to impose a daily limit of 2,000 external recipients on Exchange Online bulk email senders. From a report: The change was announced in April 2024, when Microsoft said that it would add new External Recipient Rate (ERR) limits starting January 2025 to fight spam, with plans to begin enforcing the limit on cloud-hosted mailboxes of existing tenants between July and December 2025.
  As explained last year, this new Mailbox External Recipient Rate Limit was designed to pre
  
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• Logitech Caused Its Mice To Freak Out By Not Renewing a Certificate

  07-01-2026 17:41 via it.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader shares a report: If you're among the macOS users experiencing some weird issues with your Logitech mouse, then good news: Logitech has now released a fix. This comes after multiple Reddit users reported yesterday that Logi Options Plus -- the app required to manage and configure the controls on Logitech accessories -- had stopped working, preventing them from using customized scrolling features, button actions, and gestures.
  One Reddit user said that the scroll directions and
  
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• Dell Walks Back AI-First Messaging After Learning Consumers Don't Care

  07-01-2026 17:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  Dell's CES 2026 product briefing, PC Gamer writes, stood out from the relentless AI-focused presentations that have dominated tech events for years, as the company explicitly chose to downplay its AI messaging when announcing a refreshed XPS laptop lineup, new ultraslim and entry-level Alienware laptops, Area-51 desktop refreshes and several monitors.
  "One thing you'll notice is the message we delivered around our products was not AI-first," Dell head of product Kevin Terwilliger said during the
  
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• 'Everyone Hates OneDrive, Microsoft's Cloud App That Steals Then Deletes All Your Files'

  07-01-2026 16:20 via it.slashdot.org
  Microsoft's OneDrive cloud storage service has drawn renewed criticism for a particularly frustrating behavior pattern that can leave users without access to their local files after the service automatically activates during Windows updates.
  Author Jason Pargin recently outlined the problem: Windows updates can enable OneDrive backup without any plain-language warning or opt-out option, and the service then quietly begins uploading the contents of a user's computer to Microsoft's servers. The tr
  
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• Polymarket Refuses To Pay Bets That US Would 'Invade' Venezuela

  07-01-2026 15:40 via news.slashdot.org
  Polymarket is disputing that the mission to capture Nicolas Maduro constituted an invasion and said it will only settle a prediction contract if the US military takes control of Venezuelan territory. From a report: The decision by the prediction market has angered gamblers and added to the controversy surrounding a successful wager on the timing of Maduro's capture that netted more than $400,000 in winnings for a mystery trader.
  The dispute over the definition of "invade" highlights just one of
  
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• South Korea's President Identifies a New Enemy: Baldness

  07-01-2026 15:00 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung asked at a televised policy meeting last month whether the country's state-run healthcare plan could cover hair-loss treatment, framing it as a question about whether hair loss qualifies as a disease. The health minister told Lee that baldness is generally considered an aesthetic problem and therefore covered out-of-pocket, but the 61-year-old president -- who himself has a full head of hair -- pushed back, arguing that young people experiencing thinning hai
  
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• Founder of Spyware Maker PcTattletale Pleads Guilty To Hacking, Advertising Surveillance Software

  07-01-2026 14:00 via yro.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: The founder of a U.S.-based spyware company, whose surveillance products allowed customers to spy on the phones and computers of unsuspecting victims, pleaded guilty to federal charges linked to his long-running operation. pcTattletale founder Bryan Fleming entered a guilty plea in a San Diego federal court on Tuesday to charges of computer hacking, the sale and advertising of surveillance software for unlawful uses, and conspiracy.The plea fo
  
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• Congressman Introduces Legislation To Criminalize Insider Trading On Prediction Markets

  07-01-2026 11:00 via yro.slashdot.org
  Ritchie Torres has introduced a bill to ban government officials from using insider information to trade on political prediction markets like Polymarket. The bill was prompted by reports that traders on Polymarket made large profits betting on Nicolas Maduro's removal, raising suspicions that some wagers were placed using material non-public information. "While such insider trading in capital markets is already illegal and often prosecuted by the Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Co
  
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• An AI-Generated NWS Map Invented Fake Towns In Idaho

  07-01-2026 08:00 via yro.slashdot.org
  National Weather Service pulled an AI-generated forecast graphic after it hallucinated fake town names in Idaho. "The blunder -- not the first of its kind to be posted by the NWS in the past year -- comes as the agency experiments with a wide range of AI uses, from advanced forecasting to graphic design," reports the Washington Post. "Experts worry that without properly trained officials, mistakes could erode trust in the agency and the technology." From the report: At first glance, there was no
  
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• Creator of Claude Code Reveals His Workflow

  07-01-2026 04:30 via developers.slashdot.org
  Boris Cherny, the creator of Claude Code at Anthropic, revealed a deceptively simple workflow that uses parallel AI agents, verification loops, and shared memory to let one developer operate with the output of an entire engineering team. "I run 5 Claudes in parallel in my terminal," Cherny wrote. "I number my tabs 1-5, and use system notifications to know when a Claude needs input." He also runs "5-10 Claudes on claude.ai" in his browser, using a "teleport" command to hand off work between the w
  
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• Discord Files Confidentially For IPO

  07-01-2026 03:02 via news.slashdot.org
  According to Bloomberg, Discord has confidentially filed for a U.S. IPO. Reuters reports: The U.S. IPO market regained momentum in 2025 after nearly three years of sluggish activity, but hopes for a stronger rebound were tempered by tariff-driven volatility, a prolonged government shutdown and a late-year selloff in artificial intelligence stocks. Discord, which was founded in 2015, offers voice, video and text chatting capabilities aimed at gamers and streamers. According to a statement in Dece
  
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• NYC Wegmans Is Storing Biometric Data On Shoppers' Eyes, Voices and Faces

  07-01-2026 02:25 via yro.slashdot.org
  schwit1 shares a report from Gothamist: Wegmans in New York City has begun collecting biometric data from anyone who enters its supermarkets, according to new signage posted at the chain's Manhattan and Brooklyn locations earlier this month. Anyone entering the store could have data on their face, eyes and voices collected and stored by the Rochester-headquartered supermarket chain. The information is used to "protect the safety and security of our patrons and employees," according to the signag
  
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• Utah Allows AI To Renew Medical Prescriptions

  07-01-2026 01:45 via science.slashdot.org
  sinij shares a news release from the Utah Department of Commerce: The state of Utah, through the Utah Department of Commerce's Office of Artificial Intelligence Policy, today announced a first-of-its-kind partnership with Doctronic, the AI-native health platform, to give patients with chronic conditions a faster, automated way to renew medications. This agreement marks the first state-approved program in the country that allows an AI system to legally participate in medical decision-making for p
  
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• Nvidia Details New AI Chips and Autonomous Car Project With Mercedes

  07-01-2026 01:02 via tech.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from the New York Times: On Monday, [Jensen Huang, the chief executive of the chip-making giant Nvidia] said the company would begin shipping a new A.I. chip later this year, one that can do more computing with less power than previous generations of chips could. Known as the Vera Rubin, the chip has been in development for three years and is designed to fulfill A.I. requests more quickly and cheaply than its predecessors. Mr. Huang, who spoke during CES, an a
  
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• Google Will Now Only Release Android Source Code Twice a Year

  07-01-2026 00:20 via tech.slashdot.org
  Google will begin releasing Android Open Source Project (AOSP) source code only twice a year starting in 2026. "In the past, Google would release the source code for every quarterly Android release, of which there are four each year," notes Android Authority. From the report: Google told Android Authority that, effective 2026, Google will publish new source code to AOSP in Q2 and Q4. The reason is to ensure platform stability for the Android ecosystem and better align with Android's trunk-stable
  
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• Vietnam Bans Unskippable Ads

  06-01-2026 23:40 via yro.slashdot.org
  Vietnam will begin enforcing new online advertising rules in February 2026 that ban forced video ads longer than five seconds and must allow users to close ads with just one tap. "Furthermore, platforms must provide clear icons and instructions for users to report advertisements that violate the law, and allow them to opt out, turn off, or stop viewing inappropriate ads," reports a local news outlet (translated to English). "These reports must be received and processed promptly, and the results
  
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• Intel Is Making Its Own Handheld Gaming PC Chips At CES 2026

  06-01-2026 23:02 via hardware.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from IGN: Last year, Intel had the best iGPU on the market. This year, it's broken that record by over 70% with Panther Lake and it's a huge win for handhelds. "We've overdelivered" is how Intel CEO Lip Bu Tan categorized the Panther Lake launch during the company's CES 2026 Keynote address, and that really does seem to be the case. But the real highlight of the keynote speech wasn't the engineering behind Panther Lake, but rather the iGPU and the "handheld ec
  
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• Study Casts Doubt on Potential For Life on Jupiter's Moon Europa

  06-01-2026 22:22 via science.slashdot.org
  Jupiter's moon Europa is on the short list of places in our solar system seen as promising in the search for life beyond Earth, with a large subsurface ocean thought to be hidden under an outer shell of ice. But new research is raising questions about whether Europa in fact has what it takes for habitability. Reuters: The study assessed the potential on Europa's ocean bottom for tectonic and volcanic activity, which on Earth facilitate interactions between rock and seawater that generate essenti
  
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• Nvidia's New G-Sync Pulsar Monitors Target Motion Blur at the Human Retina Level

  06-01-2026 21:42 via tech.slashdot.org
  Nvidia's G-Sync Pulsar technology, first announced nearly two years ago as a solution to display motion blur caused by old images persisting on the viewer's retina, is finally arriving in consumer monitors this week. The first four Pulsar-equipped displays -- from Acer, AOC, Asus and MSI -- hit select retailers on Wednesday, all sharing the same core specs: 27-inch IPS panels running at 1440p resolution and up to 360 Hz refresh rates. Nvidia claims the technology delivers the "effective motion c
  
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• Lego Unveils Smart Bricks, Its 'Most Significant Evolution' in 50 years

  06-01-2026 21:01 via tech.slashdot.org
  The Lego Group today unveiled Smart Bricks, a tiny computer that fits entirely inside a classic 2x4 brick and which the company is calling the most significant evolution in its building system since the introduction of the minifigure in 1978. The Smart Brick contains a custom ASIC smaller than a single Lego stud and includes light and sound output, light sensors, inertial sensors for detecting movement and tilt, and a microphone that functions as a virtual button rather than a recording device.
  
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• Elite Colleges Are Back at the Top of the List For Company Recruiters

  06-01-2026 20:21 via news.slashdot.org
  The "talent is everywhere" approach that U.S. employers adopted during the white-hot pandemic job market is quietly giving way to something much older and more familiar: recruiting almost exclusively from a small set of elite and nearby universities. A 2025 survey of more than 150 companies by Veris Insights found that 26% were exclusively recruiting from a shortlist of schools, up from 17% in 2022.
  Diversity as a priority for school recruiting selection dropped to 31% of employers surveyed in 2
  
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• HarperCollins Will Use AI To Translate Harlequin Romance Novels

  06-01-2026 19:42 via news.slashdot.org
  Book publisher HarperCollins said it will start translating romance novels under its famous Harlequin label in France using AI, reducing or eliminating the pay for the team of human contract translators who previously did this work. 404Media: Publisher's Weekly broke the news in English after French outlets reported on the story in December. According to a joint statement from French Association of Literary Translators (ATFL) and En Chair et en Os (In Flesh and Bone) -- an anti-AI activist group
  
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• Many Schools Don't Think Students Can Read Full Novels Anymore

  06-01-2026 19:01 via news.slashdot.org
  A survey of 2,000 teachers, students and parents conducted by the New York Times found that many high schools have stopped assigning full novels to students, opting instead for excerpts that are often read on school-issued laptops rather than in print. The shift stems from multiple factors: a belief that students have shorter attention spans, pressure to prepare students for standardized tests, and the influence of Common Core standards adopted by many U.S. states more than a decade ago.
  Schools
  
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• UK Urged To Unplug From US Tech Giants as Digital Sovereignty Fears Grow

  06-01-2026 18:20 via tech.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader shares a report: The Open Rights Group is warning politicians that the UK is leaning far too heavily on US tech companies to run critical systems, and wants the Cybersecurity and Resilience Bill to force a rethink.
  The digital rights outfit says the bill, which is due to receive its second reading in the House of Commons today, represents a rare opportunity to force the government to confront what it sees as a strategic blind spot: the UK's reliance on companies such as Amazo
  
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