ICT news

• Porch Pirates Are Now Raising the Price You Pay at Checkout

  26-12-2024 00:01 via slashdot.org
  
  Lost deliveries, shipping delays and theft on the front porch have become such growing problems that companies are making consumers pay for package protection. From a report: Tens of thousands of online retailers now offer the service for a few dollars per order. The fees go to young companies -- Route and Corso, to name two -- that promise to make customers whole without charging the merchant if a delivery doesn't arrive. Consumers are finding that retailers either ask them to pay for package p
  
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• Even Apple Wasn't Able To Make VR Headsets Mainstream in 2024

  26-12-2024 18:22 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Apple's $3,499 Vision Pro headset has failed to gain widespread adoption despite advanced technology, with consumers preferring discreet wearables like smartwatches. The Verge: Nearly a year from launch, though, Apple hasn't done enough to demonstrate why the Vision Pro should be a potential showcase of the future of computing. It's taking a long time to put together its immersive content library, and while those are great demonstrations of what's possible, the videos have been short and isolati
  
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• Microsoft-OpenAI Deal Defines AGI as $100 Billion Profit Milestone

  26-12-2024 17:12 via slashdot.org
  
  OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is negotiating major changes to the company's $14 billion partnership with Microsoft. The companies have defined artificial general intelligence (AGI) as systems generating $100 billion in profits [non-paywalled source] -- the point at which OpenAI could end certain Microsoft agreements, The Information reports.
  According to their contract, AGI means AI that surpasses humans at "most economically valuable work." The talks focus on Microsoft's equity stake, cloud exclusivity
  
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• US Data Center Boom Creates Windfall For Electricians

  26-12-2024 16:13 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Data center construction is driving an unprecedented influx of electricians to central Washington state, where abundant hydropower and tax incentives have attracted major tech companies building AI infrastructure, New York Times is reporting.
  Microsoft alone projects needing 2,300 electricians in coming years for facilities across three counties along the Columbia River. Union electricians earning up to $2,800 weekly after taxes are transforming agricultural communities like Quincy, where data c
  
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• Microsoft Is Forcing Its AI Assistant on People - And Making Them Pay

  26-12-2024 15:01 via slashdot.org
  
  Microsoft has integrated its AI assistant Copilot into Microsoft 365 subscriptions in Australia and Southeast Asia, simultaneously raising prices for all users. The move forces customers to pay for AI features regardless of interest, prompting complaints about intrusive pop-ups and price hikes, WSJ reports. From the report: Some users said on social media that Copilot pop-ups reminded them of Clippy, Microsoft's widely derided Office helper from the late 1990s, that would frequently offer unsoli
  
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• James Bond Battles a New Foe: Amazon

  26-12-2024 14:01 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader writes: James Bond has dodged more than 4,000 bullets. He has jumped from an airplane, skied off a cliff and escaped castration by laser beam.
  Now, 007 is in a new kind of peril. Nearly three years after Amazon acquired the right to release Bond movies through its $6.5 billion purchase of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio, the relationship between the family that oversees the franchise and the ecommerce giant has all but collapsed, WSJ reports.Read more of this story at Slashdot
  
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• Flying Was Already the Worst. Then America Stopped Using Headphones.

  26-12-2024 12:02 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Airports are facing a growing nuisance as travelers increasingly watch videos and take calls on speakerphone without headphones, creating tension among passengers at gates and lounges.
  Flight attendants at American Airlines, Alaska Air, and Delta have begun addressing the issue through announcements and website notices, though enforcement remains challenging, WSJ reports. Passengers report confrontations rarely end well, with offenders often dismissive or hostile when asked to use headphones. Th
  
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• Bald Eagle Officially Declared US National Bird After 250 Years

  26-12-2024 10:01 via news.slashdot.org
  
  The bald eagle is now officially the national bird of the US, after President Joe Biden signed a law on Christmas Eve bestowing the honour upon the white-headed and yellow-beaked bird of prey. BBC News: The bird has been a national emblem in the US for years, appearing on the Great Seal of the US -- used on US documents -- since 1782. But it had not been officially designated to be the national bird until Congress passed the bill last week, sending it to Biden's desk to be signed.
  "For nearly 25
  
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• Japan Airlines Hit By Cyberattack, Delaying Flights During Year-End Holiday Season

  26-12-2024 06:45 via it.slashdot.org
  
  Japan Airlines said it was hit by a cyberattack Thursday, causing delays to more than 20 domestic flights but the carrier said there was no impact on flight safety. From a report: JAL said the problem started Thursday morning when the company's network connecting internal and external systems began malfunctioning. The airline said the cyberattack had delayed 24 domestic flights for more than 30 minutes, and the impact could expand later in the day.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
  
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• Germany Joins EU's 'Ultra-Low' Fertility Club

  26-12-2024 06:00 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Three more EU member states -- including the most populous, Germany -- have joined the list of countries with "ultra-low" fertility rates [non-paywalled source], highlighting the extent of the region's demographic challenges. Financial Times: Official statistics show Germany's birth rate fell to 1.35 children per woman in 2023, below the UN's "ultra-low" threshold of 1.4 -- characterising a scenario where falling birth rates become tough to reverse.
  Estonia and Austria also passed under the 1.4
  
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• Apple Explains Why It Doesn't Plan To Build a Search Engine

  26-12-2024 03:56 via apple.slashdot.org
  
  Apple has no plans to develop its own search engine despite potential restrictions on its lucrative revenue-sharing deal with Google, citing billions in required investment and rapidly evolving AI technology as key deterrents, according to a court filing [PDF].
  In a declaration filed with the U.S. District Court in Washington, Apple Senior Vice President Eddy Cue said creating a search engine would require diverting significant capital and employees, while recent AI developments make such an inv
  
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• Russia Bans Crypto Mining in Multiple Regions, Citing Energy Concerns

  26-12-2024 01:30 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  The Russian government has banned crypto mining in ten regions for a period of six years, according to reporting by the state-owned news agency Tass. Engadget adds: Russia has cited the industry's high power consumption rates as the primary reason behind the ban. Crypto is particularly power-hungry, as mining operations already account for nearly 2.5 percent of US energy use.
  This ban takes effect on January 1 and lasts until March 15, 2031. The country's Council of Ministers has also stated tha
  
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• Microsoft Edge Takes a Victory Lap With Some High-Looking Usage Stats For 2024

  25-12-2024 23:05 via it.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: Microsoft has published a year in review for its Edge browser and talked up AI-powered chats while lightly skipping over the software's stagnating market share. The company had some big numbers to share. There had been over 10 billion AI-powered chats with Copilot from inside the Edge browser window (although it did not disclose how many chats were customers asking how to install Chrome). Some 38 trillion characters had been auto-translated. Seven trillion me
  
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• Apple Is Not Losing Google's Billions Without a Fight

  25-12-2024 20:11 via apple.slashdot.org
  
  Apple may be worth one and a half Googles now, but the world's most valuable company needs its relationship with the world's largest search engine to keep clicking. From a report: Such was evident Monday when Apple filed papers seeking to participate in the penalty phase of the Justice Department's antitrust case against Google. The search giant lost that case in August and is now battling the government over what remedies are appropriate. The DOJ has a long wish list that includes breaking the
  
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• Bret Taylor Urges Rethink of Software Development as AI Reshapes Industry

  25-12-2024 17:10 via developers.slashdot.org
  
  Software development is entering an "autopilot era" with AI coding assistants, but the industry needs to prepare for full autonomy, argues former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor. Drawing parallels with self-driving cars, he suggests the role of software engineers will evolve from code authors to operators of code-generating machines. Taylor, a board member of OpenAI and who once rewrote Google Maps over a weekend, calls for new programming systems, languages, and verification methods to ensure AI-
  
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• Headlights Are Growing Brighter

  25-12-2024 17:03 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Modern LED headlights are significantly brighter and more glaring than traditional halogen bulbs, creating dangerous driving conditions, lighting experts report. The newer lights produce an intense, concentrated beam that is bluer and more disorienting, particularly affecting older drivers. "Headlights are getting brighter, smaller and bluer. All three of those things increase a particular kind of glare. It's called discomfort glare," said Daniel Stern, chief editor of Driving Vision News.Read m
  
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• FCC 'Rip and Replace' Provision For Chinese Tech Tops Cyber Provisions in Defense Bill

  25-12-2024 16:07 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  The annual defense policy bill signed by President Joe Biden Monday evening allocates $3 billion to help telecom firms remove and replace insecure equipment in response to recent incursions by Chinese-linked hackers. From a report: The fiscal 2025 National Defense Authorization Act outlines Pentagon policy and military budget priorities for the year and also includes non-defense measures added as Congress wrapped up its work in December. The $895 billion spending blueprint passed the Senate and
  
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• Elite Colleges Have a Looming Money Problem

  25-12-2024 15:00 via news.slashdot.org
  
  They gave it the old college try, but America's elite universities are facing money problems partly of their own creation.ÂFrom a report: It might not seem that way compared with the broader world of U.S. higher education. Ivy League institutions and a handful in a similar orbit like Stanford, Duke and the University of Chicago aren't just blessed to have international cachet and their pick of excellent students and professors -- they also have the most money and the richest alumni. By con
  
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• In Maine, Remote Work Gives Prisoners a Lifeline

  25-12-2024 14:00 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Boston Globe: Every weekday morning at 8:30, Preston Thorpe makes himself a cup of instant coffee and opens his laptop to find the coding tasks awaiting his seven-person team at Unlocked Labs. Like many remote workers, Thorpe, the nonprofit's principal engineer, works out in the middle of the day and often stays at his computer late into the night. But outside Thorpe's window, there's a soaring chain-link fence topped with coiled barbed wire. And at n
  
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• Critics, Not Fans, Perpetuate the Failed Second Album Myth, Study Shows

  25-12-2024 11:00 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  
  A new study reveals that the widely accepted "sophomore slump" phenomenon -- where a band's second album is perceived as significantly worse than the first -- exists primarily in professional critics' reviews, not fan ratings. Researchers suggest this bias stems from social conformity among critics, while fans provide more consistent and reliable evaluations across albums. "If every music critic has heard of a sophomore slump and everyone knows it happens, they might be convinced to over-apply i
  
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• NASA's Parker Solar Probe Completes Historic Christmas Eve Flyby of the Sun

  25-12-2024 08:00 via science.slashdot.org
  
  NASA's Parker Solar Probe made a historic approach on Christmas Eve, flying within 3.8 million miles of the Sun at a record-breaking speed of 430,000 mph. It marks humanity's closest encounter with a star. Live Science reports: Mission control cannot communicate with the probe during this rendezvous due to its vicinity to the sun, and will only know how the spacecraft fared in the early hours of Dec. 27 after a beacon signal confirms both the flyby's success and the overall state of the spacecra
  
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• AI Beats Human Experts At Distinguishing American Whiskey From Scotch

  25-12-2024 04:30 via slashdot.org
  
  An AI system has outperformed human experts in distinguishing between American whiskey and Scotch, achieving 100% accuracy by identifying subtle differences in the chemical composition of the spirits. New Scientist reports: Andreas Grasskamp at the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV in Germany and his colleagues trained an AI molecular odor prediction algorithm called OWSum on descriptions of different whiskies. Then, in a study involving 16 samples -- nine types of S
  
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• Scientists Observe 'Negative Time' In Quantum Experiments

  25-12-2024 03:02 via science.slashdot.org
  
  Researchers at the University of Toronto have experimentally observed "negative time" in photon interactions with atoms, suggesting a measurable effect rather than an illusion. The researchers stress that these findings, posted on the preprint server arXiv, don't imply time travel. Phys.Org reports: The experiments, conducted in a cluttered basement laboratory bristling with wires and aluminum-wrapped devices, took over two years to optimize. The lasers used had to be carefully calibrated to avo
  
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• South Korea Mulls Creating 'KSMC' Contract Chipmaker To Compete With TSMC

  25-12-2024 02:25 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Tom's Hardware: Although Samsung Foundry is a major chip contract manufacturer, the South Korean government mulls creating a government-funded contract chipmaker tentatively called Korea Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, KSMC, reports The Korea Biz Wire. Industry experts and academics have proposed the initiative.The Semiconductor Industry Association's Ahn Ki-hyun called for a long-term government investment. Experts project that an investment of KRW
  
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• North Korean Hackers Stole $1.3 Billion Worth of Crypto This Year

  25-12-2024 01:45 via it.slashdot.org
  
  In 2024, North Korean state-sponsored hackers stole $1.34 billion in cryptocurrency across 47 attacks, marking a 102.88% increase from 2023 and accounting for 61% of global crypto theft. BleepingComputer reports: Although the total number of incidents in 2024 reached a record-breaking 303, the total losses figure isn't unprecedented, as 2022 remains the most damaging year with $3.7 billion. Chainalysis says most of the incidents this year occurred between January and July, during which 72% of th
  
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• More Than 140 Kenya Facebook Moderators Diagnosed With Severe PTSD

  25-12-2024 01:02 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: More than 140 Facebook content moderators have been diagnosed with severe post-traumatic stress disorder caused by exposure to graphic social media content including murders, suicides, child sexual abuse and terrorism. The moderators worked eight- to 10-hour days at a facility in Kenya for a company contracted by the social media firm and were found to have PTSD, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and major depressive disorder (MDD), by Dr I
  
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• One Third of Adults Can't Delete Device Data

  25-12-2024 00:20 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  The UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) warns that while most adults recognize the importance of wiping personal data from old devices, nearly 30% don't know how, and a significant number of young people either don't care or find it too cumbersome. The Register reports: Clearing personal data off an old device is an important step before ditching it or handing it on to another user. However, almost three in ten (29 percent) of adults don't know how to remove the information, according t
  
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• El Salvador Strikes $1.4 Billion IMF Deal After Scaling Back Bitcoin Policies

  24-12-2024 23:40 via slashdot.org
  
  El Salvador secured a $1.4 billion loan deal with the IMF after agreeing to scale back its bitcoin policies, making cryptocurrency acceptance voluntary for businesses and limiting public sector involvement. The deal aims to stabilize the country's economy, with bitcoin's recent rally boosting the value of El Salvador's holdings. The BBC reports: In 2021, El Salvador became the first country in the world to make bitcoin legal tender. This week, the cryptocurrency briefly hit a fresh record high o
  
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• Cloudflare Must Block 'Piracy Shield' Domains and IP Addresses Across Its Service

  24-12-2024 23:00 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from TorrentFreak: In a landmark ruling, the Court of Milan has ordered (PDF) Cloudflare to block pirate streaming services that offer Serie A football matches. The court found that Cloudflare's services are instrumental in facilitating access to live pirate streams, undermining Italy's 'Piracy Shield' legislation. The order, which applies in Italy, affects Cloudflare's CDN, DNS resolver, WARP and proxy services. It also includes a broad data disclosure sectio
  
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• Post Office Creates CTO Role To Support 'Extensive and Complex' Plans

  24-12-2024 22:22 via news.slashdot.org
  
  The UK Post Office has appointed Paul Anastassi as interim CTO amid efforts to replace its controversial Horizon IT system, which led to hundreds of wrongful convictions of subpostmasters due to software errors since 1999.
  The appointment, the news of which an anonymous reader shared, comes as the Post Office grapples with its $1.25 billion over-budget New Branch IT project, which was recently paused after being deemed "unachievable" in a government report. The organization is reportedly conside
  
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