ICT news

• Waymo Hits a Dog In San Francisco, Reigniting Safety Debate

  03-12-2025 03:02 via tech.slashdot.org
  A Waymo robotaxi struck a small unleashed dog in San Francisco -- just weeks after another Waymo killed a beloved neighborhood cat. The dog's condition is unknown. The Los Angeles Times reports: The incident occurred near the intersection of Scott and Eddy streets and drew a small crowd, according to social media posts. A person claiming to be one of the passengers posted about the accident on Reddit. "Our Waymo just ran over a dog," the passenger wrote. "Kids saw the whole thing." The passenger
  
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• Google Must Limit Its 'Default Search' Contracts to One Year, Judge Rules

  07-12-2025 00:21 via yro.slashdot.org
  Bloomberg reports that Google "must renegotiate any contract to make its search engine or artificial intelligence app the default for smartphones and other devices every year, a federal judge ruled."
  Judge Amit Mehta in Washington sided with the US Justice Department on the one year limitation in his final ruling on what changes the search giant must make in the wake of a landmark ruling that the company illegally monopolized online search. The yearly renegotiation will give rivals — parti
  
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• Woman Hailed As a Hero For Smashing Man's Meta Smart Glasses On Subway

  06-12-2025 22:59 via yro.slashdot.org
  "Woman Hailed as Hero for Smashing Man's Meta Smart Glasses on Subway," reads the headline at Futurism:
  As Daily Dot reports, a New York subway rider has accused a woman of breaking his Meta smart glasses. "She just broke my Meta glasses," said the TikTok user, who goes by eth8n, in a video that has since garnered millions of views.
  "You're going to be famous on the internet!" he shouted at her through the window after getting off the train. The accused woman, however, peered back at him complet
  
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• A 1950s Material Just Set a Modern Record For Lightning-fast Chips

  06-12-2025 21:49 via hardware.slashdot.org
  "Researchers engineered a strained germanium layer on silicon that allows charge to move faster than in any silicon-compatible material to date," reports Science Daily. "This record mobility could lead to chips that run cooler, faster, and with dramatically lower energy consumption.
  "The discovery also enhances the prospects for silicon-based quantum devices..."
  Scientists from the University of Warwick and the National Research Council of Canada have reported the highest "hole mobility" ever me
  
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• Chernobyl's Protective Shield Can No Longer Confine Radiation, UN Nuclear Watchdog Says

  06-12-2025 20:34 via hardware.slashdot.org
  "A structure designed to prevent radioactive leakage at the defunct Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine is no longer operational," reports Politico, "after Russian drones targeted it earlier this year, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog has found."[T]he large steel structure "lost its primary safety functions, including the confinement capability" when its outer cladding was set ablaze after being struck by Russian drones, according to a new report by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Beyond that,
  
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• Aptera's Solar-Powered EVs Take Another Step Toward Production

  06-12-2025 19:34 via tech.slashdot.org
  To build three-wheeled, solar electric vehicles, Aptera has now launched its "validation" vehicle assembly line, reports the San Diego Business Journal."The validation line will set a technical foundation for the company's eventual low-volume assembly line, ensuring that manufacturing processes are optimized and refined, particularly for the company's composite body structure."To date, Aptera has produced three validation vehicles, two of which are in use driving around the San Diego region, wit
  
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• Why These Parents Want Schools to Stop Issuing iPads to Their Children

  06-12-2025 18:34 via mobile.slashdot.org
  What happened when a school in Los Angeles gave a sixth grader an iPad for use throughout the school day? "He used the iPad during school to watch YouTube and participate in Fortnite video game battles," reports NBC News.
  His mother has now launched a coalition of parents called Schools Beyond Screens "organizing in WhatsApp groups, petition drives and actions at school board meetings and demanding meetings with district administrators, pressuring them to pull back on the school-mandated screen
  
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• Why These Parents Want Schools to Stop Issuing iPads to the Their Children

  06-12-2025 18:34 via mobile.slashdot.org
  What happened when a school in Los Angeles gave a sixth grader an iPad for use throughout the school day? "He used the iPad during school to watch YouTube and participate in Fortnite video game battles," reports NBC News.
  His mother has now launched a coalition of parents called Schools Beyond Screens "organizing in WhatsApp groups, petition drives and actions at school board meetings and demanding meetings with district administrators, pressuring them to pull back on the school-mandated screen
  
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• Could Netflix's Deal for Warner Bros. Fall Apart?

  06-12-2025 17:34 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  While Netflix hopes to buy Warner Bros. Discovery for $72 billion, CNBC reports a senior official in America's federal government said the administration was viewing the deal with "heavy skepticism. And that's not the only hurdle:On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Paramount, in a letter to lawyers for Warner Bros. Discovery [WBD], had warned that a sale to Netflix likely would "never close" because of regulatory challenges in the United States and overseas. "Acquiring Warner's st
  
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• The AI Boom Could Increase Prices for Phones and Tablets Next Year

  06-12-2025 16:34 via hardware.slashdot.org
  CNN's prediction for 2026? "Any device that uses memory, from phones to tablets and smartwatches, could get pricier." But will it be a little or a lot?
  The article cites an analysis from multinational strategy/management consulting firm McKinsey & Company which found America's data center demand could continue growing by 20 to 25 percent per year" through 2030. "That's prompted memory manufacturers like Micron and Samsung to shift their focus to data centers, which use a different type of me
  
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• Linus Torvalds Defends Windows' Blue Screen of Death

  06-12-2025 14:13 via linux.slashdot.org
  Linus Torvalds recently defended Windows' infamous Blue Screen of Death during a video with Linus Sebastian of Linus Tech Tips, where the two built a PC together. It's FOSS reports: In that video, Sebastian discussed Torvalds' fondness for ECC (Error Correction Code). I am using their last name because Linus will be confused with Linus. This is where Torvalds says this: "I am convinced that all the jokes about how unstable Windows is and blue screening, I guess it's not a blue screen anymore, a
  
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• 'Rage Bait' Named Oxford Word of the Year 2025

  06-12-2025 11:10 via tech.slashdot.org
  Longtime Slashdot reader sinij shares a report from the BBC: Do you find yourself getting increasingly irate while scrolling through your social media feed? If so, you may be falling victim to rage bait, which Oxford University Press has named its word or phrase of the year. It is a term that describes manipulative tactics used to drive engagement online, with usage of it increasing threefold in the last 12 months, according to the dictionary publisher.Rage bait beat two other shortlisted terms
  
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• Meta Confirms 'Shifting Some' Funding 'From Metaverse Toward AI Glasses'

  06-12-2025 08:07 via news.slashdot.org
  Meta has officially confirmed it is shifting investment away from the metaverse and VR toward AI-powered smart glasses, following a Bloomberg report of an up to 30% budget cut for Reality Labs. "Within our overall Reality Labs portfolio we are shifting some of our investment from Metaverse toward AI glasses and Wearables given the momentum there," a statement from Meta reads. "We aren't planning any broader changes than that." From the report: Following Bloomberg's report, other mainstream news
  
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• OpenAI Has Trained Its LLM To Confess To Bad Behavior

  06-12-2025 04:03 via slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from MIT Technology Review: OpenAI is testing another new way to expose the complicated processes at work inside large language models. Researchers at the company can make an LLM produce what they call a confession, in which the model explains how it carried out a task and (most of the time) owns up to any bad behavior. Figuring out why large language models do what they do -- and in particular why they sometimes appear to lie, cheat, and deceive -- is one of
  
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• Blackest Fabric Ever Made Absorbs 99.87% of All Light That Hits It

  06-12-2025 03:02 via science.slashdot.org
  alternative_right shares a report from ScienceAlert: Engineers at Cornell University have created the blackest fabric on record, finding it absorbs 99.87 percent of all light that dares to illuminate its surface. [...] In this case, the Cornell researchers dyed a white merino wool knit fabric with a synthetic melanin polymer called polydopamine. Then, they placed the material in a plasma chamber, and etched structures called nanofibrils -- essentially, tiny fibers that trap light. "The light bas
  
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• AI Led To an Increase In Radiologists, Not a Decrease

  06-12-2025 02:01 via science.slashdot.org
  Despite predictions that AI would replace radiologists, healthcare systems worldwide are hiring more of them because AI tools enhance their work, create new oversight tasks, and increase imaging volumes rather than reducing workloads. "Put all that together with the context of an aging population and growing demand for imaging of all kinds, and you can see why Offiah and the Royal College of Radiologists are concerned about a shortage of radiologists, not their displacement," writes Financial Ti
  
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• Trump Wants Asia's 'Cute' Kei Cars To Be Made and Sold In US

  06-12-2025 01:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  sinij shares news of the Trump administration surprising the auto industry by granting approval for "tiny cars" to be built in the United States. Bloomberg reports: President Donald Trump, apparently enamored by the pint-sized Kei cars he saw during his recent trip to Japan, has paved the way for them to be made and sold in the U.S., despite concerns that they're too small and slow to be driven safely on American roads.
  "They're very small, they're really cute, and I said "How would that do in t
  
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• Chinese-Linked Hackers Use Backdoor For Potential 'Sabotage,' US and Canada Say

  06-12-2025 00:23 via it.slashdot.org
  U.S. and Canadian cybersecurity agencies say Chinese-linked actors deployed "Brickstorm" malware to infiltrate critical infrastructure and maintain long-term access for potential sabotage. Reuters reports: The Chinese-linked hacking operations are the latest example of Chinese hackers targeting critical infrastructure, infiltrating sensitive networks and "embedding themselves to enable long-term access, disruption, and potential sabotage," Madhu Gottumukkala, the acting director of the Cybersecu
  
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• Meta Acquires AI Wearable Company Limitless

  05-12-2025 23:22 via hardware.slashdot.org
  Meta is acquiring AI wearable startup Limitless, maker of a pendant that records conversations and generates summaries. "We're excited that Limitless will be joining Meta to help accelerate our work to build AI-enabled wearables," a Meta spokesperson said in a statement. CNBC reports: Limitless CEO Dan Siroker revealed the deal on Friday via a corporate blog post but did not disclose the financial terms. "Meta recently announced a new vision to bring personal superintelligence to everyone and a
  
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• India Reviews Telecom Industry Proposal For Always-On Satellite Location Tracking

  05-12-2025 22:21 via yro.slashdot.org
  India is weighing a proposal to mandate always-on satellite tracking in smartphones for precise government surveillance -- an idea strongly opposed by Apple, Google, Samsung, and industry groups. Reuters reports: For years, the [Prime Minister Narendra Modi's] administration has been concerned its agencies do not get precise locations when legal requests are made to telecom firms during investigations. Under the current system, the firms are limited to using cellular tower data that can only pro
  
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• The New York Times Is Suing Perplexity For Copyright Infringement

  05-12-2025 21:20 via yro.slashdot.org
  The New York Times is suing Perplexity for copyright infringement, accusing the AI startup of repackaging its paywalled reporting without permission. TechCrunch reports: The Times joins several media outlets suing Perplexity, including the Chicago Tribune, which also filed suit this week. The Times' suit claims that "Perplexity provides commercial products to its own users that substitute" for the outlet, "without permission or remuneration." [...] "While we believe in the ethical and responsibl
  
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• Cloudflare Says It Blocked 416 Billion AI Scraping Requests In 5 Months

  05-12-2025 20:19 via tech.slashdot.org
  Cloudflare says it blocked 416 billion AI scraping attempts in five months and warns that AI is reshaping the internet's economic model -- with Google's combined crawler creating a monopoly-style dilemma where opting out of AI means disappearing from search altogether. Tom's Hardware reports: "The business model of the internet has always been to generate content that drive traffic and then sell either things, subscriptions, or ads, [Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince] told Wired. "What I think peopl
  
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• Netflix To Buy Warner Bros. In $72 Billion Cash, Stock Deal

  05-12-2025 19:18 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  Netflix is buying Warner Bros. Discovery in an $82.7 billion deal that gives it HBO, iconic franchises, and major studio infrastructure. "Warner Bros. shareholders will receive $27.75 a share in cash and stock in Netflix," notes Bloomberg. "The total equity value of the deal is $72 billion, while the enterprise value of the deal is about $82.7 billion." From the report: Prior to the closing of the sale, Warner Bros. will complete the planned spinoff of its networks division, which includes cable
  
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• Why One Man Is Fighting For Our Right To Control Our Garage Door Openers

  05-12-2025 18:17 via hardware.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from the New York Times: A few years ago, Paul Wieland, a 44-year-old information technology professional living in New York's Adirondack Mountains, was wrapping up a home renovation when he ran into a hiccup. He wanted to be able to control his new garage door with his smartphone. But the options available, including a product called MyQ, required connecting to a company's internet servers. He believed a "smart" garage door should operate only over a local Wi
  
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• QuickTime Turns 34

  05-12-2025 17:16 via news.slashdot.org
  On Dec. 2, QuickTime turned 34, and despite its origins in Apple's chaotic 1990s (1991 to be exact), "it's still the backbone of video on our devices," writes Macworld's Jason Snell. That includes MP4 and Apple's immersive video formats for Vision Pro. From the report: By the late '80s and early '90s, digital audio had been thoroughly integrated into Macs. (PCs needed add-on cards to do much more than issue beeps.) The next frontier was video, and even better, synchronized video and audio. There
  
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• Contractors With Hacking Records Accused of Wiping 96 Government Databases

  05-12-2025 16:15 via yro.slashdot.org
  Two Virginia brothers Muneeb and Sohaib Akhter, previously convicted of hacking the U.S. State Department, were rehired as federal contractors and are now charged with conspiring to steal sensitive data and destroy government databases after being fired. "Following the termination of their employment, the brothers allegedly sought to harm the company and its U.S. government customers by accessing computers without authorization, issuing commands to prevent others from modifying the databases bef
  
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• AV1 Open Video Codec Now Powers 30% of Netflix Streaming

  05-12-2025 15:14 via news.slashdot.org
  Netflix says its open AV1 video codec now powers about 30% of all streaming on the platform and is rapidly becoming its primary delivery format thanks to major gains in compression, bandwidth efficiency, HDR support, and film-grain rendering. TVTechnology reports: The blog by Liwei Guo, Zhi Li, Sheldon Radford and Jeff Watts comes at a time when AV2 is on the horizon. [...] The blog revisits Netflix's AV1 journey to date, highlights emerging use cases, and shares adoption trends across the devic
  
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• AI Chatbots Can Sway Voters Better Than Political Ads

  05-12-2025 14:13 via politics.slashdot.org
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from MIT Technology Review: New research reveals that AI chatbots can shift voters' opinions in a single conversation -- and they're surprisingly good at it. A multi-university team of researchers has found that chatting with a politically biased AI model was more effective than political advertisements at nudging both Democrats and Republicans to support presidential candidates of the opposing party. The chatbots swayed opinions by citing facts and evidence,
  
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• Satellite Captures the First Detailed Look At a Massive Tsunami

  05-12-2025 11:10 via news.slashdot.org
  NASA and CNES's SWOT satellite captured the first high-resolution, wide-swath image of a major tsunami in the open ocean after the July 2025 Kuril-Kamchatka quake. "Instead of a single neat crest racing across the basin, the image revealed a complicated, braided pattern of energy dispersing and scattering over hundreds of miles," reports Earth.com. "These are details that traditional instruments almost never resolve. They suggest the physics we use to forecast tsunami hazards -- especially the a
  
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• Sugars, 'Gum,' Stardust Found In NASA's Asteroid Bennu Samples

  05-12-2025 08:07 via science.slashdot.org
  NASA's OSIRIS-REx samples from asteroid Bennu have revealed bio-essential sugars, a never-before-seen "space gum" polymer, and unusually high levels of supernova-origin dust. The findings bolster the RNA-world hypothesis, suggest complex organics formed early on Bennu's parent body, and show preserved presolar grains that escaped alteration for billions of years."All five nucleobases used to construct both DNA and RNA, along with phosphates, have already been found in the Bennu samples brought t
  
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