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Laundry-Sorting Robot Spurs AI Hopes and Fears At Europe's Biggest Tech Event
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-16 02:22:01


An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: This year's Web Summit, in Lisbon, was all about artificial intelligence -- and a robot sorting laundry. Digit, a humanoid built by the US firm Agility Robotics, demonstrated how far AI has come in a few years by responding to voice commands -- filtered through Google's Gemini AI model -- to sift through a pile of colored T-shirts and place them in a basket. It wasn't a seamless demonstration but the enthusiastic response, nearly two years on from the launch of ChatGPT, reflected the excitement about all things AI that pervaded Europe's biggest annual tech conference.... [ Read it >> ]

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FTC Reports 50% Drop in Unwanted Call Complaints Since 2021
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-16 00:22:01


The Federal Trade Commission reported Friday that the number of consumer complaints about unwanted telemarketing phone calls has dropped over 50% since 2021, continuing a trend that started three years ago. From a report: This year, the FTC has received 1.1 million reports regarding robocalls, down from 1.2 million one year before 2023 and from more than 3.4 million in 2021. According to this year's National Do Not Call Registry Data Book -- which provides the most recent data on robocall complaints together with a complete state-by-state analysis -- the highest number of consumer complaints targeted unwanted calls about medical and prescription issues, with more than 170,000 reports (most of them robocalls) received until September 30, 2024.... [ Read it >> ]

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The Rich Country With the Worst Mobile-Phone Service
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-16 00:22:01


Economist: Britain has long been a pioneer in telecoms. In 1837 it built the world's first commercial telegraph; the first transatlantic call was placed from London in 1927; in 1992 a British programmer sent the first text message to a mobile phone. Today it lags rather than leads. According to figures provided to The Economist by Opensignal, a research firm, Britain ranks 46th for download speeds out of the 56 developed and developing countries for which there are data. That gives it the worst mobile service in the rich world. ... [ Read it >> ]

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Cop Summits 'No Longer Fit For Purpose', Say Leading Climate Policy Experts
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-15 23:22:01


An anonymous reader shares a report: Future UN climate summits should be held only in countries that can show clear support for climate action and have stricter rules on fossil fuel lobbying, according to a group of influential climate policy experts. The group includes former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, the former president of Ireland Mary Robinson, the former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres and the prominent climate scientist Johan Rockstrom. ... [ Read it >> ]

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Internet Archive Now Hosts Classic Unreal Games; Epic Games Gives Blessing
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-15 22:22:01


Classic first-person shooters Unreal (1998) and Unreal Tournament are now available for free on the Internet Archive, with official OK from publisher Epic Games.

An Epic spokesperson confirmed to PC Gamer that users are permitted to "independently link to and play these versions." Players can download the games directly from the Internet Archive and apply patches from Github for modern Windows compatibility, or use simplified installers through oldunreal.com. Both titles run on current hardware despite their age, though users may need to adjust dated default settings like 640x480 resolution and inverted mouse controls.... [ Read it >> ]

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Sony's Had the Year From Hell
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-15 22:22:01


Sony faces mounting challenges after a year marked by major setbacks in its gaming and film divisions. The company's $200-400 million gaming project "Concord" sold only 25,000 copies before being discontinued, while PlayStation 5 sales targets were cut from 25 million to 21 million units. ... [ Read it >> ]

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Is Anyone Crazy Enough To Audit Super Micro Computer?
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-15 21:22:01


Server maker Super Micro Computer is facing mounting challenges after EY resigned as its auditor on October 24, citing concerns about management's integrity and ethical values. EY's departure came just months after replacing Deloitte & Touche, which had audited Super Micro for two decades through June 2023. ... [ Read it >> ]

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Cloud Migration Is Back (If You Ignore the Actual Numbers)
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-15 20:22:02


An anonymous reader shares a report: The cloud migration narrative that powered tech valuations during the pandemic is attempting a comeback, but the underlying data suggests a more complex story.

UBS's new survey of IT services reveals a striking disconnect between industry expectations and customer reality. While executives proclaim "2025 will be far better than what we've seen in 2024," their enterprise clients report having migrated merely 15% of workloads to the cloud, with the remainder presenting increasingly complex challenges. ... [ Read it >> ]

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Virgin Media O2 Deploys AI Decoy To Waste Scammers' Time
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-15 20:22:02


British telecom Virgin Media O2 has deployed an AI tool to combat phone scammers by wasting their time with fake conversations, the company said. The AI system, named Daisy, uses voice synthesis to mimic an elderly woman and engages fraudsters in lengthy discussions about fictitious family members or provides false bank details, keeping them occupied for up to 40 minutes per call. ... [ Read it >> ]

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Brazil's Online Betting Surge Sparks Debt Crisis as Users Turn To 400% Loans
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-15 19:22:02


Brazilian officials are scrambling to control a gambling boom that has led some citizens to take out loans with interest rates as high as 438% to fund their betting habits, sparking concerns about household debt levels.

The surge in online betting has doubled Brazil's gambling population to 52 million in six months, with the central bank estimating monthly gambling spending between 18-21 billion reais ($3.1-3.6 billion) through August 2024. Central Bank President Roberto Campos Neto said lower-income families are disproportionately affected, with 20% of government social program payments in August directed to online gambling sites. ... [ Read it >> ]

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Republican States' Attorneys General Sue SEC, Gensler Over Crypto 'Overreach'
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2024-11-15 18:22:01


Eighteen Republican state attorneys general have sued the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Chair Gary Gensler on Thursday, challenging the agency's authority to regulate cryptocurrency markets.

The lawsuit, led by Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman, alleges the SEC has exceeded its statutory powers by attempting to assume broad regulatory control over digital assets without congressional authorization. The complaint argues the agency's actions infringe on states' rights to develop their own cryptocurrency regulations and harm consumers by imposing ill-fitting federal securities laws on digital assets. ... [ Read it >> ]

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Australia To Make Big Tech Liable For Citizens' Online Safety
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-15 17:22:01


An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: The Australian government plans to enact laws requiring big tech firms to protect its citizens online, the latest move by the center-left Labor administration to crack down on social media including through age limits and curbs on misinformation. Communications Minister Michelle Rowland announced the government's plan for a legislated Digital Duty of Care in Australia on Wednesday night, saying it aligned with similar laws in the UK and European Union. "It is now time for industry to show leadership, and for social media to recognize it has a social responsibility," Rowland said in a speech in Sydney announcing the measures. It would "keep users safe and help prevent online harms."... [ Read it >> ]

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Open Source Fights Back: 'We Won't Get Patent-Trolled Again'
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-15 14:22:02


ZDNet's Steven Vaughan-Nichols reports: [...] At KubeCon North America 2024 this week, CNCF executive director Priyanka Sharma said in her keynote, "Patent trolls are not contributors or even adopters in our ecosystem. Instead, they prey on cloud-native adopters by abusing the legal system. We are here to tell the world that these patent trolls don't stand a chance because CNCF is uniting the ecosystem to deter them. Like a herd of musk oxen, we will run them off our pasture." CNCF CTO Chris Aniszczyk added: "The reason trolls can make money is that many companies find it too expensive to fight back, so they pay trolls a settlement fee to avoid the even higher cost of litigation. Now, when a whole herd of companies band together like musk oxen to drive a troll off, it changes the cost structure of fighting back. It disrupts their economic model."... [ Read it >> ]

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Rocket Lab Signs First Neutron Launch Customer
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-15 11:22:01


Rocket Lab says it has signed the first customer for its Neutron launch vehicle, with a launch planned for mid-2025. SpaceNews reports: The company announced Nov. 12 that it signed a contract with an undisclosed "commercial satellite constellation operator" for two launches of Neutron, one in mid-2026 and the other in 2027, a deal that could lead to additional launches for the same customer. "We see this agreement as an important opportunity that signifies the beginning of a productive collaboration that could see Neutron deploy this particular customer's entire constellation," Peter Beck, chief executive of Rocket Lab, said in an earnings call Nov. 12 to discuss the company's third quarter financial results. [...]... [ Read it >> ]

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Half-Life 2 Celebrates 20th Anniversary
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-15 08:22:01


Each day leading up through the 16th (the official day Half-Life 2 was launched), Ars Technica will be publishing a new article looking back at the game and its impact. Here's an excerpt from an article published today by Ars Technica's Kyle Orland: When millions of eager gamers first installed Half-Life 2 20 years ago, many, if not most, of them found they needed to install another piece of software alongside it. Few at the time could imagine that piece of companion software -- with the pithy name Steam -- would eventually become the key distribution point and social networking center for the entire PC gaming ecosystem, making the idea of physical PC games an anachronism in the process.... [ Read it >> ]

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Meet Evo, the DNA-trained AI That Creates Genomes From Scratch
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-15 06:22:01


sciencehabit shares a report from Science Magazine: What if, rather than scouring the internet, ChatGPT could search all of the DNA on Earth? That future just got a bit closer with Evo, an AI model reported today in Science. The program -- trained on billions of lines of genetic sequences -- can design new proteins and even whole genomes. Previous AIs could only interpret and predict relatively short sections of DNA, and they could only work with groups of nucleotides -- the A, C, G, T alphabet of DNA -- not individual nucleotides. To take things to the next level, researchers trained Evo on 300 billion nucleotides of sequence information.... [ Read it >> ]

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Datacenters Line Up For 750MW of Oklo's Nuclear-Waste-Powered Small Reactors
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-15 06:22:01


Datacenter operators are increasingly turning to small modular reactors (SMRs) like those developed by Oklo to meet growing energy demands. According to The Register, Oklo has secured commitments from two major datacenter providers for 750 MW of power, pending regulatory approvals. It brings the firm's planned nuclear build-out to 2.1 gigawatts. From the report: Oklo's designs are, from what we understand, inspired by the Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) and utilize liquid-metal cooling. They are capable of producing between 15MW and 50MW of power, depending on the configuration. That means Oklo's datacenter customers plan to deploy somewhere between 15 and 50 of the reactors to satisfy their thirst for electricity. However, they may be waiting a while.... [ Read it >> ]

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Google Loses Yet Another AI Pioneer As Keras Creator Leaves
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-15 06:22:01


Francois Chollet, an AI pioneer and creator of the Keras framework, announced that he's leaving Google to co-found a new company. Neowin reports: In his parting message, Chollet assured that he would still be active with Keras and participate in its development on GitHub. His successor, Jeff Carpenter, will now lead Keras at Google, and Chollet expressed his full confidence in the team's future direction.... [ Read it >> ]

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Teen Pleads Guilty To Making 375 'Swatting' Calls Across US
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-15 04:22:01


quonset shares a report from CNN: Between August 2022 and January 2024, hundreds of swatting calls were made across the country targeting religious institutions, government offices, schools, and random people. Authorities were finally able to track down the criminal, Alan Fillon, who entered the plea to four counts of making interstate threats to injure the person of another, the US Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida said in a news release. He faces up to five years in prison on each count. A sentencing date has not yet been set.... [ Read it >> ]

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OpenMP 6.0 Released
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-15 04:22:01


Phoronix's Michael Larabel reports: The OpenMP Architecture Review Board announced from SC24 that OpenMP 6.0 is now available as a major upgrade to the OpenMP specification for multi-process programming within C / C++ / Fortran. A big emphasis on OpenMP 6.0 is making it easier for developers to embrace. OpenMP 6.0 aims to make it easier to support parallel programming in new applications, easier to adapt to new use-cases, and more fine-grained developer control.... [ Read it >> ]

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ChatGPT For macOS Now Works With Third-Party Apps, Including Apple's Xcode
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-15 03:22:01


An update to OpenAI's ChatGPT app for macOS adds integration with third-party apps, including developer tools such as VS Code, Terminal, iTerm2 and Apple's Xcode. 9to5Mac reports: In a demo seen by 9to5Mac, ChatGPT was able to understand code from an Xcode project and then provide code suggestions without the user having to manually copy and paste content into the ChatGPT app. It can even read content from more than one app at the same time, which is very useful for working with developer tools. According to OpenAI, the idea is to expand integration to more apps in the future. For now, integration with third-party apps is coming exclusively to the Mac version of ChatGPT, but there's another catch. The feature requires a paid ChatGPT subscription, at least for now.... [ Read it >> ]

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Japanese Government To Invest $65 Billion To Support Domestic Chip Sector
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-15 02:22:01


An anonymous reader quotes a report from Data Center Dynamics: The Japanese government is planning to invest approximately $65 billion to support the country's semiconductor and AI industries. The initiative, which will run until the end of the decade, is expected to generate ~$104 billion in public and private investment during the period. According to a report from Reuters, this new round of funding will specifically target state-backed chip foundry Rapidus and other AI chip suppliers.... [ Read it >> ]

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Academic Papers Yanked After Authors Found To Have Used Unlicensed Software
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-15 02:22:01


An academic journal has retracted two papers because it determined their authors used unlicensed software. The Register: Elsevier's Ain Shams Engineering Journal withdrew two papers exploring dam failures after complaints from Flow Science, the Santa Fe, New Mexico-based maker of a computational fluid dynamics application called FLOW-3D. ... [ Read it >> ]

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US Regulators Plan To Investigate Microsoft's Cloud Business
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-15 01:22:01


The Federal Trade Commission is preparing to launch an investigation into anti-competitive practices at Microsoft's cloud computing business, Financial Times reported Thursday, as the US regulator continues to pursue Big Tech in the final weeks of Joe Biden's presidency. From the report: The FTC is examining allegations that Microsoft is abusing its market power in productivity software by imposing punitive licensing terms to prevent customers from moving their data from its Azure cloud service to competitors' platforms, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter. ... [ Read it >> ]

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Microsoft Releases Windows 11 ISOs for Arm64-based PCs
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-15 01:22:01


An anonymous reader shares a report: After dragging its feet for years, Microsoft has finally released the first official Windows 11 ISOs for PCs with an Arm64 processor. This means users can now clean install Windows 11 using official offline media on an Arm64-based PC, including the latest Snapdragon X Copilot+ PCs. ... [ Read it >> ]

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Second Life for Server Components
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-15 01:22:01


Scientists have developed a method to reuse components from decommissioned data center servers, potentially reducing the carbon footprint of cloud computing infrastructure.

The research team from Microsoft, Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Washington demonstrated that older RAM modules and solid-state drives can be safely repurposed in new server builds without compromising performance, according to papers presented at recent computer architecture conferences. ... [ Read it >> ]

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Researchers Are Trying To Reinvent the Wheel
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-15 01:22:01


South Korean researchers have developed a "morphing" wheel that can navigate stairs and obstacles up to 1.3 times its radius, potentially revolutionizing mobility devices and robotics.

The wheel, created by the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM), features a chain-based outer hoop and sensor-controlled spoke wires that adjust stiffness based on terrain. Inspired by water droplet mechanics, it transitions between solid and fluid states when encountering impediments.... [ Read it >> ]

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Google Rolls Out Call Screening AI To Thwart Phone Fraudsters
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-14 23:22:02


Google is rolling out AI-powered scam call detection for Android phones, aiming to protect users from increasingly sophisticated phone fraud schemes. The new feature, available in beta for Pixel 6 and newer devices, analyzes conversation patterns in real-time to identify potential scams. When suspicious patterns emerge, such as urgently requesting fund transfers, the system alerts users through audio, haptic, and visual warnings. ... [ Read it >> ]

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Trust in Science Recovers Slightly, But Remains Below Pre-Pandemic Levels
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-14 23:22:02


Public trust in scientists is showing signs of recovery, according to a new Pew Research Center survey, though levels remain below pre-pandemic highs. The October 2024 study, which surveyed 9,593 U.S. adults, reveals that 76% of Americans have "a great deal" or "a fair amount" of confidence in scientists' commitment to public interests -- a modest increase from 73% in 2023, but still short of the 87% recorded in early 2020. ... [ Read it >> ]

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AMD To Lay Off 4% of Workforce, or About 1,000 Employees
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-14 21:22:01


AMD has announced plans to cut 4% of its global workforce as it repositions to compete in the AI chip market dominated by Nvidia. The layoffs will affect approximately 1,040 employees of its 26,000-strong workforce reported at the end of 2023. CNBC adds: AMD produces powerful AI accelerators for data centers, including the MI300X, which companies such as Meta and Microsoft purchase as an alternative to Nvidia-based systems. But Nvidia dominates the market for powerful AI chips, with over 80% market share, partially because it developed the core software that AI engineers use to develop programs such as OpenAI's ChatGPT.... [ Read it >> ]

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Apple Launches Final Cut Pro 11, the First Version Change in 13 Years
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-14 20:22:02


Apple released Final Cut Pro 11 this week, marking the first major version change in over a decade for its professional video editing software. The update introduces several AI-powered features, including a new "Magnetic Mask" function that automatically tracks objects through video clips for targeted color grading and effects. ... [ Read it >> ]

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JPL To Cut 5% of Workforce, Its Third Layoff This Year
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-14 20:22:02


An anonymous reader writes: JPL in California announced this week a layoff of 325 workers, about 5% of its workforce, the third major layoff imposed this year.

The JPL press release indicates the layoffs are because of NASA budget cutbacks, but does not provide any specificity. The cause centers mostly around NASA's decision to pause its Mars Sample Return project, which JPL was leading. From this report: This is the third round of layoffs at JPL this year, a reduction spurred primarily by major budgetary cuts to the Mars Sample Return mission, which is managed by JPL. NASA directed $310 million this year to the effort to bring Mars rocks back to Earth, a steep drop from the $822.3 million it spent on the program the previous year.... [ Read it >> ]

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CFPB Looks To Place Google Under Federal Supervision
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-14 19:22:02


Washington Post: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has taken steps to place Google under formal federal supervision, an extraordinary move that could subject the technology giant to the regular inspections and other rigorous monitoring that the government imposes on major banks. ... [ Read it >> ]

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Meta Fined $840 Million For Breaching EU Antitrust Rules
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-14 19:22:02


The European Union has fined Meta $840 million for unfairly tying its Facebook Marketplace classified ads service to its social network, marking the company's first EU antitrust penalty.

The European Commission ruled Meta must stop bundling Marketplace with Facebook's social platform and cease imposing unfair conditions on competing classified ads services. Regulators found Meta exploited Facebook's massive user base to disadvantage rivals and used competitors' advertising data to enhance Marketplace. ... [ Read it >> ]

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Apple Faces UK 'iCloud Monopoly' Compensation Claim Worth $3.8 Billion
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-14 19:22:02


An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: U.K. consumer rights group 'Which?' is filing a legal claim against Apple under competition law on behalf of some 40 million users of iCloud, its cloud storage service. The collective proceeding lawsuit, which is seeking 3 billion pounds in compensation damages (around $3.8 billion at current exchange rates), alleges that Apple has broken competition rules by giving its own cloud storage service preferential treatment and effectively locking people into paying for iCloud at "rip-off" prices. "iOS has a monopoly and is in control of Apple's operating systems and it is incumbent on Apple not to use that dominance to gain an unfair advantage in related markets, like the cloud storage market. But that is exactly what has happened," Which wrote in a press release announcing filing the claim with the U.K.'s Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT).... [ Read it >> ]

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Apple Faces UK 'iCloud Monopoly' Compensation Claim Worth $3.8 Million
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-14 17:22:02


An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: U.K. consumer rights group 'Which?' is filing a legal claim against Apple under competition law on behalf of some 40 million users of iCloud, its cloud storage service. The collective proceeding lawsuit, which is seeking 3 billion pounds in compensation damages (around $3.8 billion at current exchange rates), alleges that Apple has broken competition rules by giving its own cloud storage service preferential treatment and effectively locking people into paying for iCloud at "rip-off" prices. "iOS has a monopoly and is in control of Apple's operating systems and it is incumbent on Apple not to use that dominance to gain an unfair advantage in related markets, like the cloud storage market. But that is exactly what has happened," Which wrote in a press release announcing filing the claim with the U.K.'s Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT).... [ Read it >> ]

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Missed Deadlines Lead People To Judge Work More Harshly, Study Says
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-14 14:22:01


A new study reveals that late work is judged more negatively than on-time submissions, even if delays are minimal or pre-communicated. "The findings suggest that, while you might be tempted to take the maximum allotted time to put the finishing touches to a report, submission or piece of work, the extra effort might not be appreciated by colleagues if it comes at the expense of punctual delivery," reports The Guardian. From the report: The study surveyed thousands of people in the US and UK, including managers, executives, human resources personnel and others whose jobs included an element of evaluating others. Participants were asked to rate pieces of work, such as advertising flyers, art, business proposals, product pitches, photography and news articles. But first, they were told it was either submitted early, on deadline or late. "Late" work was consistently rated as worse in quality than when people were told the same work was completed early or on time. The difference was equivalent to including an objective shortcoming such as not meeting a word count.... [ Read it >> ]

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Experts Testify US Is Running Secret UAP Programs
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-14 11:22:01


During a public joint hearing today titled "Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Exposing the Truth," four experts testified that the U.S. is running secret UAP programs, including crash retrieval and reverse-engineering programs for advanced nonhuman technology. Although the Pentagon maintains there's no evidence of alien spacecraft, witnesses like Luis Elizondo and Michael Gold argue that UAPs represent an intelligence enigma and call for open, stigma-free study to address potential security concerns and unknown scientific possibilities. NPR reports: Tim Gallaudet, retired rear admiral, U.S. Navy; CEO of Ocean STL Consulting, LLC... [ Read it >> ]

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IBM Boosts the Amount of Computation You Can Get Done On Quantum Hardware
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-14 08:22:01


An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: There's a general consensus that we won't be able to consistently perform sophisticated quantum calculations without the development of error-corrected quantum computing, which is unlikely to arrive until the end of the decade. It's still an open question, however, whether we could perform limited but useful calculations at an earlier point. IBM is one of the companies that's betting the answer is yes, and on Wednesday, it announced a series of developments aimed at making that possible. On their own, none of the changes being announced are revolutionary. But collectively, changes across the hardware and software stacks have produced much more efficient and less error-prone operations. The net result is a system that supports the most complicated calculations yet on IBM's hardware, leaving the company optimistic that its users will find some calculations where quantum hardware provides an advantage. [...]... [ Read it >> ]

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Wi-Fi 8 Trades Speed For a More Reliable Experience
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-14 06:22:01


Wi-Fi 8 (also known as IEEE 802.11bn Ultra High Reliability) is expected to arrive around 2028, prioritizing an enhanced user experience over speed by optimizing interactions between devices and access points. While it retains similar bandwidth specifications as the previous standard, Wi-Fi 8 aims to improve network efficiency, reducing interference and congestion for a more reliable and adaptive connection. PCWorld's Mark Hachman reports: As of Nov. 2024, MediaTek believes that Wi-Fi 8 will look virtually identical to Wi-Fi 7 in several key areas: The maximum physical layer (PHY) rate will be the same at 2,880Mbps x 8, or 23Gbits/s. It will also use the same four frequency bands (2, 4, 5, and 6GHz) and the same 4096 QAM modulation across a maximum channel bandwidth of 320MHz. (A Wi-Fi 8 router won't get 23Gbps of bandwidth, of course. According to MediaTek, the actual peak throughput in a "clean," or laboratory, environment is just 80 percent or so of the hypothetical peak throughput, and actual, real-world results can be far less.)... [ Read it >> ]

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FBI Seizes Polymarket CEO's Phone, Electronics After Betting Platform Predicts Trump Win
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-14 05:22:01


The FBI raided Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan's Manhattan apartment, seizing his phone and electronic devices. A source close to the matter told The New York Post it was politically motivated due to Polymarket's successful prediction of Trump's election win. It's "grand political theater at its worst," the source said. "They could have asked his lawyer for any of these things. Instead, they staged a so-called raid so they can leak it to the media and use it for obvious political reasons."... [ Read it >> ]

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Bluesky Crosses the 15 Million User Mark
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-14 05:22:01


Bluesky has reached 15 million users, driven by a recent surge in U.S. signups following the presidential election. It's currently the top free app on iOS. The Verge reports: The platform, which rests on the decentralized AT Protocol, added about a million new users in the last week. Bluesky COO Rose Wang recently told The Verge that the "majority" of new users flocking to the platform have been from the US. Meta's Threads is still outpacing Bluesky, having recently hit 275 million monthly users and growing at a rate of over a million signups per day. But Bluesky offers a very different experience. Both are ad-free (for now), but whereas Threads uses a single Meta-made algorithmic feed, Bluesky offers user-created algorithmic feeds in addition to its "Discover" and "Popular With Friends" ones.... [ Read it >> ]

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GOG's Preservation Program Is the DRM-Free Store Refocusing On the Classics
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-14 04:22:01


An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: The classic PC games market is "in a sorry state," according to DRM-free and classic-minded storefront GOG. Small games that aren't currently selling get abandoned, and compatibility issues arise as technology moves forward or as one-off development ideas age like milk. Classic games are only 20 percent of GOG's catalog, and the firm hasn't actually called itself "Good Old Games" in 12 years. And yet, today, GOG announces that it is making "a significant commitment of resources" toward a new GOG Preservation Program. It starts with 100 games for which GOG's own developers are working to create current and future compatibility, keeping them DRM-free and giving them ongoing tech support, along with granting them a "Good Old Game: Preserved by GOG" stamp.... [ Read it >> ]

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Amazon Shuts Down Secret Project To Develop Fertility Tracker
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-14 03:22:01


Amazon has discontinued its secretive "Encore" project to develop an at-home fertility tracker, resulting in layoffs for around 100 employees. The project, part of Amazon's Grand Challenge division, aimed to launch a device and app that would predict fertility through saliva testing but was ultimately terminated to control costs. CNBC reports: The project was born out of the company's 2020 acquisition of Wisconsin-based startup bluDiagnostics, the sources said. BluDiagnostics was founded in 2015 by Weibel, Katie Brenner and Jodi Schroll, all of whom joined Grand Challenge. The startup had developed a thermometer-like device, called FertilityFinder, to help women track their fertility from home by testing their saliva and measuring two key hormones, estradiol and progesterone. The results of the test were viewable through a corresponding app. Business Insider reported on aspects of the fertility device in 2022, when its codename was Project Tiberius.... [ Read it >> ]

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Meta To Introduce Ads On Threads In Early 2025
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-14 02:22:01


Meta said it plans to introduce advertisements on Threads starting in early 2025, according to a report by The Information (paywalled). GuruFocus reports: Leading the effort -- which is still in its early phases -- is a team inside Instagram's advertising division. One source said Threads is anticipated to let a small number of marketers produce and post material on the platform in January. Threads had about 275 million monthly active users as late as October. During the company's third-quarter earnings call, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg observed that Threads daily sign-up count was about one million, each day.... [ Read it >> ]

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OpenAI Nears Launch of AI Agent Tool To Automate Tasks For Users
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-14 02:22:01


An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: OpenAI is preparing to launch a new artificial intelligence agent codenamed "Operator" that can use a computer to take actions on a person's behalf (Warning: source may be paywalled; alternative source), such as writing code or booking travel [...]. In a staff meeting on Wednesday, OpenAI's leadership announced plans to release the tool in January as a research preview and through the company's application programming interface for developers [...]. The one nearest completion will be a general-purpose tool that executes tasks in a web browser, one of the people said.... [ Read it >> ]

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Microsoft Gaming Handheld Device 'Few Years' Away, Says Xbox Chief
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-14 01:22:01


Microsoft's gaming division is developing prototypes for a handheld gaming device that won't launch for "a few years," gaming chief Phil Spencer said Wednesday. In an interview with Bloomberg, Spencer said that while Microsoft is actively working on prototypes, the company will first focus on improving its Xbox app performance on existing portable devices and establishing hardware partnerships. ... [ Read it >> ]

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How Italy Became an Unexpected Spyware Hub
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-14 01:22:01


Italy has emerged as a major global spyware hub alongside Israel and India, with at least six major vendors operating in the country with limited oversight, The Record reported this week, citing researchers and Italian experts. Companies like RCS Labs, which has operated since 1992, sell surveillance tools to both domestic law enforcement and foreign governments including Kazakhstan, Syria, and several Asian nations. ... [ Read it >> ]

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AI Systems Solve Just 2% of Advanced Maths Problems in New Benchmark Test
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-14 01:22:01


Leading AI systems are solving less than 2% of problems in a new advanced mathematics benchmark, revealing significant limitations in their reasoning capabilities, research group Epoch AI reported this week.

The benchmark, called FrontierMath, consists of hundreds of original research-level mathematics problems developed in collaboration with over 60 mathematicians, including Fields Medalists Terence Tao and Timothy Gowers. While top AI models like GPT-4 and Gemini 1.5 Pro achieve over 90% accuracy on traditional math tests, they struggle with FrontierMath's problems, which span computational number theory to algebraic geometry and require complex reasoning. ... [ Read it >> ]

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Dutch Publisher's AI Translation Plan Sparks Industry Backlash
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2024-11-14 01:22:01


Dutch publisher Veen Bosch & Keuning has announced plans to use AI for translating commercial fiction, drawing sharp criticism from literary professionals despite promises of human oversight and author consent.

Award-winning translator Michele Hutchison, who won the 2020 International Booker Prize, argues that translation extends beyond word conversion. "We build bridges between cultures, taking into account the target readership every step of the way," she said, noting that translators convey rhythm, poetry, and cultural nuances while conducting precise terminology research.... [ Read it >> ]

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