ICT news

• FDA Approves Apple AirPods As Hearing Aids

  12-09-2024 22:40 via science.slashdot.org
  
  The FDA on Thursday approved the first hearing aid software for Apple's latest AirPods Pro earbuds. According to Apple, the feature will be pushed to eligible devices through a software update in the coming weeks. The Washington Post reports: The move, which comes two years after the FDA first approved over-the-counter hearing aids, could help more Americans with hearing loss start getting help, the FDA said in a statement. The feature works by amplifying some sounds, such as voices, while minim
  
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• Kenya, US Sign Historic Pact On Nuclear Plans

  19-09-2024 12:00 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  Kenya signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the U.S. on nuclear technology cooperation during the 2024 IAEA General Conference in Vienna, with the aim of safely integrating nuclear power into Kenya's energy mix by 2035. The agreement focuses on collaboration in nuclear safety, regulatory experience, and research. The Standard reports: The historic pact came a day after Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi addressed the general session of the conference. Mudavadi had outlined Kenya'
  
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• FAA Fines SpaceX for Launch Violations, Company Fires Back with Lawsuit

  19-09-2024 09:00 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  schwit1 shares a report from SpaceNews: The FAA announced Sept. 17 that it notified SpaceX of $633,009 in proposed fines for violating terms of its launch licenses during the June 2023 Falcon 9 launch of the Satria-1, or PSN Satria, broadband satellite and the July 2023 Falcon Heavy launch of Jupiter-3, or EchoStar-24, broadband satellite. Both launches were successful.For the Satria-1 launch, the FAA said in its enforcement notice (PDF) to the company that SpaceX had requested in May 2023 chang
  
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• Patents For Software and Genetic Code Could Be Revived By Two Bills In Congress

  19-09-2024 05:30 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to consider two bills Thursday that would effectively nullify the Supreme Court's rulings against patents on broad software processes and human genes. Open source and Internet freedom advocates are mobilizing and pushing back. The Patent Eligibility Restoration Act (or PERA, S. 2140), sponsored by Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Chris Coons (D-Del.), would amend US Code such that "all judicial excepti
  
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• Snapchat Reserves the Right To Use AI-Generated Images of Your Face In Ads

  19-09-2024 04:02 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  Snapchat's terms of service for its "My Selfie" tool reserve the right to use users' AI-generated images in ads. While users can opt out by disabling the "See My Selfie in Ads" feature, it is enabled by default. 404 Media's Emanuel Maiberg reports: A support page on the Snapchat website titled "What is My Selfie?" explains further: "You'll take selfies with your Snap camera or select images from your camera roll. These images will be used to understand what you look like to enable you, Snap and
  
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• Apple A16 SoC Now Manufactured In Arizona

  19-09-2024 03:25 via apple.slashdot.org
  
  "Apple has begun manufacturing its A16 SoC at the newly-opened TSCM Fab 21 in Arizona," writes Slashdot reader NoMoreACs. AppleInsider reports: According to sources of Tim Culpan, Phase 1 of TSMC's Fab 21 in Arizona is making the A16 SoC of the iPhone 14 Pro in "small, but significant, numbers. The production is largely a test for the facility at this stage, but more production is expected in the coming months. The volume will ramp up massively once the second stage of the Phase 1 fab actually c
  
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• X Circumvents Court-Ordered Block In Brazil

  19-09-2024 03:05 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  Late last month, Brazilian Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered X to suspend operations in Brazil after a months-long dispute with X owner Elon Musk. The conflict centered on Musk's refusal to appoint a legal representative in the country and his refusal to take down disinformation and far-right accounts. However, on Wednesday, X bypassed the court-ordered block by utilizing third-party cloud services, allowing many Brazilian users to access the platform without the need for a virtual private net
  
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• 20 Years Later, Real-Time Linux Makes It To the Kernel

  19-09-2024 02:45 via linux.slashdot.org
  
  ZDNet's Steven Vaughan-Nichols reports: After 20 years, Real-Time Linux (PREEMPT_RT) is finally -- finally -- in the mainline kernel. Linus Torvalds blessed the code while he was at Open Source Summit Europe. [...] The real-time Linux code is now baked into all Linux distros as of the forthcoming Linux 6.12 kernel. This means Linux will soon start appearing in more mission-critical devices and industrial hardware. But it took its sweet time getting here. An RTOS is a specialized operating system
  
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• Microsoft and Abu Dhabi's MGX To Back $30 Billion BlackRock AI Infrastructure

  19-09-2024 02:02 via news.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Data Center Dynamics: BlackRock plans to launch a new $30 billion artificial intelligence (AI) investment fund focused on data centers and energy projects. Microsoft and Abu Dhabi-backed investment company MGX are general partners of the fund. GPU giant Nvidia will also advise. Run through BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners fund, which it acquired for $12.5 billion earlier this year, the 'Global AI Investment Partnership,' plans to raise up to $30
  
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• Chinese Spies Spent Months Inside Aerospace Engineering Firm's Network Via Legacy IT

  19-09-2024 01:20 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  The Register's Jessica Lyons reports: Chinese state-sponsored spies have been spotted inside a global engineering firm's network, having gained initial entry using an admin portal's default credentials on an IBM AIX server. In an exclusive interview with The Register, Binary Defense's Director of Security Research John Dwyer said the cyber snoops first compromised one of the victim's three unmanaged AIX servers in March, and remained inside the US-headquartered manufacturer's IT environment for
  
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• House Committee Approves Bill Requiring New Cars To Have AM Radio

  19-09-2024 00:40 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  The House Energy and Commerce Committee has approved the AM for Every Vehicle Act, which mandates that automakers include AM radio in new vehicles without additional charges. The Verge reports: The bill passed the committee on a roll-call vote of 45-2 and now heads to the full House for final approval. The bill, titled the AM for Every Vehicle Act, would direct the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to issue a rule that "requires automakers to maintain AM broadcast radio in t
  
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• YouTube Launches Communities, a Discord-Like Space For Creators and Fans

  19-09-2024 00:00 via news.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: At its Made On YouTube event on Wednesday, the company announced a new dedicated space for creators to interact with their fans and viewers. The space, called "Communities," is kind of like a Discord server built into a creator's channel. With Communities, YouTube is hoping creators won't need to use other platforms like Discord or Reddit in order to interact with viewers. Communities are a space for viewers to post and interact with other fan
  
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• OpenAI Threatens To Ban Users Who Probe Its 'Strawberry' AI Models

  18-09-2024 23:21 via slashdot.org
  
  OpenAI truly does not want you to know what its latest AI model is "thinking." From a report: Since the company launched its "Strawberry" AI model family last week, touting so-called reasoning abilities with o1-preview and o1-mini, OpenAI has been sending out warning emails and threats of bans to any user who tries to probe how the model works.
  Unlike previous AI models from OpenAI, such as GPT-4o, the company trained o1 specifically to work through a step-by-step problem-solving process before
  
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• 23andMe Board Resigns in New Blow To DNA-Testing Company

  18-09-2024 22:41 via slashdot.org
  
  All seven independent directors of DNA-testing company 23andMe resigned Tuesday, following a protracted negotiation with founder and Chief Executive Anne Wojcicki over her plan to take the company private. WSJ: It is the latest challenge for 23andMe, which has struggled to find a profitable business model. The stock price fell to $0.30 per share after hours on Tuesday. At that price the company is worth less than the cash on its balance sheet. In a letter addressed to Wojcicki, the directors wro
  
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• IBM is Quietly Axing Thousands of Jobs

  18-09-2024 22:00 via slashdot.org
  
  IBM has been laying off a substantial number of employees this week and is trying to keep it quiet, The Register reported Wednesday, citing its sources. From the report: One IBM employee told The Register that IBM Cloud experienced "a massive layoff" in the past few days that affected thousands of people. "Unlike traditional layoffs, this one was done in secret," the insider said. "My manager told me that they were required to sign an NDA not to talk about the specifics."
  Multiple posts on layof
  
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• Apple and Google Diverge on Photography Philosophy

  18-09-2024 21:21 via apple.slashdot.org
  
  Apple's VP of camera software engineering Jon McCormack has affirmed the company's commitment to traditional photography in an interview, contrasting with Google's "memories" approach for Pixel cameras. (A Google executive said last month of the AI usage in the pictures Pixel smartphone owners take: "What some of these edits do is help you create the moment that is the way you remember it, that's authentic to your memory and to the greater context, but maybe isn't authentic to a particular milli
  
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• Global Police Dismantle Encrypted Messaging App Used By Criminals

  18-09-2024 20:40 via it.slashdot.org
  
  International police forces have taken down an encrypted communication platform and arrested 51 people, marking a success for co-ordinated efforts to crack down on anonymous messaging services used by criminal groups. FT: Europol and law enforcement agencies from nine countries dismantled Ghost [non-paywalled source], an online platform which used three different encryption standards and allowed users to destroy all messages by sending a specific code, Europol announced on Wednesday. The crackdo
  
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• Federal Reserve Cuts Rates By Half a Point and Signals Era of Easing Has Begun

  18-09-2024 20:04 via news.slashdot.org
  
  The Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point [non-paywalled source] on Wednesday and signalled more reductions would follow, launching its first easing cycle since the onset of the pandemic. Financial Times: The US central bank's first cut in more than four years leaves the federal funds rate at a range of 4.75 per cent. Michelle Bowman, a governor on the Federal Open Market Committee, voted against the decision, favouring a quarter-point reduction. The half-poi
  
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• US Government 'Took Control' of a Botnet Run by Chinese Government Hackers, Says FBI Director

  18-09-2024 19:28 via news.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: Last week, the FBI took control of a botnet made up of hundreds of thousands of internet-connected devices, such as cameras, video recorders, storage devices, and routers, which was run by a Chinese government hacking group, FBI director Christopher Wray and U.S. government agencies revealed Wednesday. The hacking group, dubbed Flax Typhoon, was "targeting critical infrastructure across the U.S. and overseas, everyone from corporations and media organizations
  
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• LinkedIn Is Training AI on User Data Before Updating Its Terms of Service

  18-09-2024 18:45 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: LinkedIn is using its users' data for improving the social network's generative AI products, but has not yet updated its terms of service to reflect this data processing, according to posts from various LinkedIn users and a statement from the company to 404 Media. Instead, the company says it will update its terms "shortly." The move is unusual in that LinkedIn appears to have gone ahead with training AI on its users' data, even creating a new option in its s
  
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• Fossil Fuel Companies Sponsor $5.6 Billion in Global 'Sportswashing' Deals

  18-09-2024 18:12 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Fossil fuel companies pumped at least $5.6bn of sponsorship money into motorsports, football, golf and even snow sports in an effort to "buy social licence to operate," according to a new report. From a report: Almost no major spectator sport remains untouched by oil and gas money, according to research carried out by the New Weather Institute (NWI), a climate thinktank, which traced more than 200 sponsorship deals between sports teams and the industry. In addition, sports stars such as Cristian
  
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• Walkie-Talkies, Solar Energy Systems Explode Across Lebanon in Second Wave After Pager Attack

  18-09-2024 17:22 via news.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: Israel blew up thousands of two-way personal radios used by Hezbollah members in Lebanon in a second wave of an intelligence operation that started on Tuesday with the explosions of pager devices, two sources with knowledge of the operation told Axios. The second wave of clandestine attacks is another serious security breach in Hezbollah's ranks and increases the pressure on the militant Lebanese group.
  Lebanon's official news agency reported that at least th
  
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• Walkie-Talkies Explode Across Lebanon in Second Wave After Pager Attack

  18-09-2024 17:22 via news.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: Israel blew up thousands of two-way personal radios used by Hezbollah members in Lebanon in a second wave of an intelligence operation that started on Tuesday with the explosions of pager devices, two sources with knowledge of the operation told Axios. The second wave of clandestine attacks is another serious security breach in Hezbollah's ranks and increases the pressure on the militant Lebanese group.
  Lebanon's official news agency reported that at least th
  
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• YouTube Will Use AI To Generate Ideas, Titles, and Even Full Videos

  18-09-2024 16:51 via news.slashdot.org
  
  YouTube has announced a series of AI-related features on the platform, including a couple that might change how creators make videos -- and the videos they make. From a report: The first feature is the new Inspiration tab in the YouTube Studio app, which YouTube has been testing in a limited way over the last few months. The tab's job is, essentially, to tell you what to make: the AI-powered tool will suggest a concept for a video, provide a title and a thumbnail, and even write an outline and t
  
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• Lionsgate Embraces AI in Movie Production To Cut Costs

  18-09-2024 16:08 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  The entertainment company behind "The Hunger Games" and "Twilight" plans to start using generative AI in the creation of its new movies and TV shows, a sign of the emerging technology's advance in Hollywood. From a report: Lions Gate Entertainment has agreed to give Runway, one of several fast-evolving AI startups, access to its content library in exchange for a new, custom AI model that the studio can use in the editing and production process.
  The deal -- the first of its kind for Runway and on
  
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• AI Tool Cuts Unexpected Deaths In Hospital By 26%, Canadian Study Finds

  18-09-2024 15:00 via science.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from CBC News: Inside a bustling unit at St. Michael's Hospital in downtown Toronto, one of Shirley Bell's patients was suffering from a cat bite and a fever, but otherwise appeared fine -- until an alert from an AI-based early warning system showed he was sicker than he seemed. While the nursing team usually checked blood work around noon, the technology flagged incoming results several hours beforehand. That warning showed the patient's white blood cell coun
  
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• Microsoft Releases and Patents 'Python In Excel'

  18-09-2024 12:00 via developers.slashdot.org
  
  Longtime Slashdot reader theodp writes: Python in Excel is now generally available for Windows users of Microsoft 365 Business and Enterprise," Microsoft announced in a Monday blog post. "Last August, in partnership with Anaconda, we introduced an exciting new addition to Excel by integrating Python, making it possible to seamlessly combine Python and Excel analytics within the same workbook, no setup required. Since then, we've brought the power of popular Python analytics libraries such as pan
  
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• FDA Grants Neuralink With Breakthrough Device Tag For 'Blindsight' Implant

  18-09-2024 09:00 via science.slashdot.org
  
  Neuralink said on Tuesday it has received the FDA's "breakthrough device" designation for its experimental implant aimed at restoring vision. Called Blindsight, the device "will enable even those who have lost both eyes and their optic nerve to see," said Neuralink founder Elon Musk. Reuters reports: The FDA's breakthrough tag is given to certain medical devices that provide treatment or diagnosis of life-threatening conditions. It is aimed at speeding up development and review of devices curren
  
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• Windows Media Player and Silverlight Are Losing Legacy DRM Services on Windows 7 and 8

  18-09-2024 08:05 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: Per a recent update to Microsoft's Deprecated Windows features page, Legacy DRM services utilized by Windows Media Player and Silverlight clients for Windows 7 and Windows 8 are now deprecated. This will prevent the streaming or playback of DRM-protected content in those applications on those operating systems. It also includes playing content from personal CD rips and streaming from a Silverlight or Windows 8 client to an Xbox 360 if you were still doing tha
  
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• New Research Finds Microplastics In the Brain's Olfactory Bulb

  18-09-2024 05:30 via science.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from NBC News: Scientists in Brazil found microplastics in the brain tissue of cadavers, according to a new study published Monday in the journal JAMA Network Open. Mounting research over the last few years has found microplastics in nearly every organ in the body, as well as in the bloodstream and in plaque that clogs arteries. Whether these ubiquitous pollutants can reach the human brain has been a primary concern for scientists. The latest research looked a
  
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