RSS
[>] Is Xbox Betting on Cross-Platform Gaming?
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-12-22 17:22:01


A "slew of layoffs, price hikes and studio closures" for Microsoft's Xbox "have led many to declare — not for the first time — that the Xbox is dead," reports CNBC.

Or is it just changing its business model?

The company's overall gaming revenue decreased 2% year-over-year, with a 29% dip in Xbox hardware sales, according to Microsoft's first-quarter earnings for fiscal 2026. The broader console industry has been in a major slump, with hardware spending down 27% year-over-year in November, which is typically a busy shopping month, according to a recent report from research firm Circana. It was the worst November in two decades, IGN reported, citing Circana data. Combined Switch and Switch 2 unit sales were down more than 10% during the month and PS5 sales were down more than 40%, IGN said. But the Xbox Series hardware took the biggest beating, with a dramatic 70% drop in sales...Microsoft's Xbox Series S and Series X, at 1.7 million units, couldn't outsell the original Nintendo Switch, which launched in 2017 and has sold 3.4 million units so far this year, data from game sales tracking site VGChartz estimated...

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in a recent interview with the TBPN podcast that the company's gaming business model will look to be "everywhere in every platform," from consoles to TV to mobile. His comments also hinted that the next Xbox may function more like a PC. "It's kind of funny people think about the console and PC as two different things," Nadella said. "We built a console because we wanted to build a better PC, which could then perform for gaming. So I kind of want to revisit some of that conventional wisdom...." A source familiar with Xbox strategy told CNBC that the company is looking at creating an open system that enables players to jump between console, PC and cloud gaming — and any form of entertainment beyond gaming. [Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter told CNBC] that while Microsoft is not completely abandoning hardware, the company is splitting its audience into existing buyers interested in specialized consoles and everyone else.

Xbox Game Pass subscription service, which gives subscribers access to games from a variety of publishers, is a clear example of this strategy... The growth in cloud gaming has been blistering. Xbox reported a record 34 million Game Pass subscribers in 2024 and a total Game Pass revenue of almost $5 billion over the last fiscal year. Xbox said in a November blog post that the number of cloud gaming hours from Game Pass subscribers was up 45% compared to the same time last year. The Microsoft subsidiary also said console players are "spending 45% more time cloud streaming on console and 24% more on other devices..."

Despite gaming's scaling limitations, Microsoft seems committed to doing what it has done with the rest of its products — moving it to the cloud... [Xbox President Sarah] Bond recently said in an interview with Mashable that the idea of exclusive games is "antiquated" as the company has leaned into cross-platform gaming... Xbox is betting that cloud and cross-platform gaming are the future. For a decade, claims have been made about the death of the Xbox, and what comes next could fully spell the end, or bring a metamorphosis.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://games.slashdot.org/story/25/12/22/0721241/is-xbox-betting-on-cross-platform-gaming?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] mpv 0.41
lor.opennet
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-12-22 15:44:04


После девяти месяцев разработки состоялся выпуск 0.41 популярного кроссплатформенного медиаплеера с открытым исходным кодом [ mpv ]( https://mpv.io ) .

( [ читать дальше... ]( https://www.linux.org.ru/news/multimedia/18175277#cut ) )

[>] Apple Developer's Account Restored After Compromised Gift Card Incident
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-12-22 15:22:01


"It's all fixed," says that Apple developer who was locked out of his Apple Account after redeeming a compromised Apple Gift Card.

"A lovely man from Singapore, working for Apple Executive Relations, who has been calling me every so often for a couple of days, has let me know it's all fixed. It looks like the gift card I tried to redeem, which did not work for me, and did not credit my account, was already redeemed in some way (sounds like classic gift card tampering), and my account was caught by that.

"Obviously it's unacceptable that this can happen, and I'm still trying to get more information out of him, but at least things are now mostly working.

"Strangely, he did tell me to only ever buy gift cards from Apple themselves; I asked if that means Apple's supply chain of Blackhawk Network, InComm, and other gift card vendors is insecure, and he was unwilling to comment."

Updates to his original blog post now include a frequently-asked questions list:

Yes, I have the receipt for the card, including the activation receipt.
Yes, the card was legitimately purchased, it's not from eBay.
Yes, I have contacted the retailer.
Yes, I do have backups... No, I don't know why parts of the account still kinda work, and parts don't.
No, I didn't write this article with AI...
Yes, Apple really did use emojis in their Live Chat...

[ Read more of this story ]( https://apple.slashdot.org/story/25/12/22/0741256/apple-developers-account-restored-after-compromised-gift-card-incident?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Релиз видеоплеера MPV 0.41
lor.opennet
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-12-22 13:44:03


После девяти месяцев разработки сформирован выпуск открытого видеоплеера MPV 0.41, в 2013 году ответвившегося от кодовой базы проекта MPlayer2. В MPV основное внимание уделяется разработке новых возможностей, не заботясь о сохранении совместимости с MPlayer. Код MPV распространяется под лицензией LGPLv2.1+, некоторые части остаются под GPLv2, но процесс перехода на LGPL почти завершён и для отключения оставшегося GPL-кода можно использовать опцию "--enable-lgpl".

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=64473

[>] Выпуск эмулятора 86Box 5.3
lor.opennet
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-12-22 12:44:03


Представлен выпуск проекта 86Box 5.3, развивающего эмулятор систем на базе архитектуры x86, при помощи которого можно запускать старые операционные системы и приложения, включая те, что применялись в начале 1980-годов на компьютерах IBM PC 5150 и IBM PS/2. Поддерживается точная низкоуровневая эмуляция систем, начиная с процессоров 8086 и заканчивая Intel Сeleron Mendocino. Код проекта написан на языке C и распространяется под лицензией GPLv2.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=64472

[>] Игрушка на елку к Новому году
bot.habr.rss
BotHabr(tgi,2) — All
2025-12-22 12:35:04


Опубликовано: Mon, 22 Dec 2025 08:05:57 GMT
Канал: Все статьи подряд / Программирование микроконтроллеров / Хабр

Приветствую, Хабр!Перед Новым годом для поднятия настроения до праздничного, захотелось сделать что-то необычное и новое. Все мы украшаем елку, ставим на вершину звезду, вешаем на ветки игрушки и ждем Деда Мороза. Женя, 41 годик. Читать далее]]>

https://habr.com/ru/companies/selectel/articles/978598/

[>] Разбираемся с новой мощной платой Orange Pi 6 Plus на базе Armv9 Cix P1 CD8160
bot.habr.rss
BotHabr(tgi,2) — All
2025-12-22 12:35:02


Опубликовано: Mon, 22 Dec 2025 08:05:56 GMT
Канал: Все статьи подряд / DIY или Сделай сам / Хабр

Компания Shenzhen Xunlong Software выпустила новую open-source плату на базе 12-ядерного высокопроизводительного процессора Armv9 Cix P1 CD8160. Плата предыдущего поколения Orange PI 5 построена на Rockchip RK3588. Новый процессор Cix P1 состоит из 8 ядер Cortex‑A720 и 4-х Cortex‑A520, и обещает прирост производительности на 300% по сравнению с последним Rockchip RK3588. Ядро Cortex‑A720 было впервые представлено публике в 2023 году и через два года уже готова плата на новых процессорных ядрах. Из коробки работает UEFI/TianoCore EDK II (ED2) с запуском Debian, Android, Windows 11. Под катом разберемся с новой архитектурой Armv9, рассмотрим процессор Cix P1, оценим производительность новой платы и сравним с предыдущим поколением, платой Orange PI 5 Plus. Читать далее]]>

https://habr.com/ru/companies/timeweb/articles/972254/

[>] In 2025 Scammers Have Stolen $835M from Americans Using Fake Customer Service Numbers
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-12-22 12:22:01


They call it "the business-impersonator scam". And it's fooled 396,227 Americans in just the first nine months of 2025 — 18% more than the 335,785 in the same nine months of 2024. That's according to a Bloomberg reporter (who also fell for it in late November), citing the official statistics from America's Federal Trade Commission:

Some pose as airline staff on social media and respond to consumer complaints. Others use texts or e-mails claiming to be an airline reporting a delayed or cancelled flight to phish for travellers' data. But the objective is always the same: to hit a stressed out, overwhelmed traveller at their most vulnerable.
In my case, the scammer exploited weaknesses in Google's automated ad-screening system, so that fraudulent sponsored results rose to the top [They'd typed "United airlines agent on demand" into Google, and the top search result on their phone said United.com, had a 1-888 number next to it and said it had had 1M+ visits in past month. "It looked legit. I tapped the number..." ]

After I reported the fake "United Airlines" ad to Google, via an online form for consumers, it was taken down. But a few days later, I entered the same search terms and the identical ad featuring the same 1-888 number was back at the top of my results. I reported it again, and it was quickly removed again... A [Google] spokesperson there said the company is constantly evolving its tactics "to stay ahead of bad actors." Of the 5.1 billion ads blocked by the company last year, she said, 415 million were taken down for "scam-related violations." Google updated its ads misrepresentation policy in 2024 to include "impersonating or falsely implying affiliation with a public figure, brand or organization to entice users to provide money or information." Still, many impostor ads slip through the cracks.

"Reported losses from business-impostor scams in the United States rose 30 per cent, to US$835 million, in the first three quarters of 2025," the article points out (citing more figures from the America's Federal Trade Commision). An updated version of the article also includes a response from United Airlines. "We encourage customers to only use customer-service contact information that is listed on our website and app."

And what happened to the scammed reporter? "I called American Express and contested the charge before cancelling my credit card. I then contacted Experian, one of the three major credit bureaus, to put a fraud alert on my file. Next, I filed a complaint with the FTC and reported the fake ad to Google.

"American Express wound up resolving the dispute in my favour, but the memories of this chaotic Thanksgiving will stay with us forever. "

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/12/22/0524233/in-2025-scammers-have-stolen-835m-from-americans-using-fake-customer-service-numbers?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] STATS 2025-12-21
spnet.stats
root(spnet, 1) — All
2025-12-22 12:11:02


TOP10 VISITORS:

[1] 217.197.116.x point=417 web=3 up=29.3MB (33%) <--- naste (17/hr)
[2] 37.252.14.x point=144 web=0 up=28.0MB (32%) <--- ake (6/hr)
[3] PetalBot point=2 web=1029 up=6.0MB (6%) <--- PetalBot
[4] Amazon point=0 web=153 up=5.7MB (6%)
[5] 216.244.66.x point=2 web=78 up=5.2MB (5%) <--- 216.244.66.x
[6] Google point=0 web=323 up=2.5MB (2%)
[7] 217.114.158.x point=26 web=0 up=0.9MB (1%) <--- fox (1/hr)
[8] 54.39.0.x point=0 web=79 up=0.5MB (<1%)
[9] ChatGPT point=0 web=5 up=0.5MB (<1%)
[10] 51.222.168.x point=0 web=74 up=0.4MB (<1%)

TOTAL TRAFFIC: 86MB

[>] Жених
humor.24
nnii(naste, 2) — All
2025-12-22 11:45:58


- Дочка, все люди говорят, что ты уже спишь со своим женихом.
- Люди тебе наговорят, ты их больше слушай, у них если с кем-нибудь
переспишь - так сразу жених!

[>] Релиз ОС Qubes 4.3.0, использующей виртуализацию для изоляции приложений
lor.opennet
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-12-22 11:44:03


После двух лет разработки представлен релиз операционной системы Qubes 4.3.0, реализующей идею использования гипервизора для строгой изоляции приложений и компонентов ОС (каждый класс приложений и системные сервисы работают в отдельных виртуальных машинах). Для работы рекомендуется система с 16 Гб ОЗУ (минимум - 6 Гб) и 64-разрядным CPU Intel или AMD с поддержкой технологий VT-x c EPT/AMD-v c RVI и VT-d или AMD IOMMU, желательно наличие GPU Intel (GPU NVIDIA и AMD недостаточно хорошо протестированы). Размер установочного образа - 7.8 ГБ (x86_64).

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=64471

[>] Re: пустовато тут
idec.talks
doesnm(spnet, 6) — cthulhu
2025-12-22 11:43:28


В этом (или в прошлом году вроде) была довольно активная дискуссия в результаты которой Лобанов и Hugeping решили покинуть ii/idec (Лобанов потушил ноду совсем, а hugeping снял со всех фетчи, но нода еще жива)
Я тогда еще решил перебраться с tgi на ping, но видимо поспешил с выбором

[>] The U.S. Could Ban Chinese-Made Drones Used By Police Departments
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-12-22 08:22:01


Tuesday the White House faces a deadline to decide "whether Chinese drone maker DJI Technologies poses a national security threat," reports Bloomberg. But their article notes it's "a decision with the potential to ground thousands of machines deployed by police and fire departments across the US."

One person making the case against the drones is Mike Nathe, a North Dakota Republican state representative described by the Post as "at the forefront of a nationwide campaign sounding alarms about the Made-in-China aircraft." Nathe tells them that "People do not realize the security issue with these drones, the amount of information that's being funneled back to China on a daily basis."

The president already signed anexecutive orderin June targeting "foreign control or exploitation" of America's drone supply chain. That came after Congress mandated a review to determine whether DJI deserves inclusion in a federal register of companies believed to endanger national security. If DJI doesn't get a clean bill of health for Christmas, it could join Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. and ZTE Corp.on that Federal Communications Commission list. The designation would give the Trump administration authority to prevent new domestic sales or even impose a flight ban, affecting public agencies from New York to North Dakota to Nevada...

The fleet used by public safety agencies nationwide exceeds about 25,000 aircraft, said Chris Fink, founder of Unmanned Vehicle Technologies LLC, a Fayetteville, Arkansas-based firm that advises law-enforcement clients. The overwhelming majority of those drones — called uncrewed aerial vehicles, or UAVs, in industry parlance — comes from China, said Jon Beal, president of theLaw Enforcement Drone Association, a training and advocacy group that counts DJI and some US competitors as corporate sponsors...

Currently, at least half a dozen states havetargeted DJIand other Chinese-manufactured drones, including restrictions in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee. A Nevada law prohibiting public agencies from using Chinese drones took effect in January... Legislators also took up the cause in Connecticut, which passed a law this year preventing public offices from using Chinese drones. Supporters said they're worried about these eyes in the skies being used for spying. "We're kind of sitting ducks," said Bob Duff, the Democratic majority leader in the state senate who promoted the legislation. "They are designed to infiltrate systems even when the users don't think that they will."

One North Dakota sheriff's department complains U.S.-made drones are "at least double and triple the price out of the gate," according to the article, which adds that public safety officials "say it's difficult to find domestic alternatives that match DJI in price and performance."

And DJI "wants an extension on the security review," according to the article, "saying Tuesday is too soon to make a conclusion."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/12/22/042225/the-us-could-ban-chinese-made-drones-used-by-police-departments?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] FSF Says Nintendo's New DRM Allows Them to Remotely Render User Devices 'Permanently Unusable'
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-12-22 07:22:02


"In the lead up to its Switch 2 console release, Nintendo updated its user agreement," writes the Free Software Foundation, warning that Nintendo now claims "broad authority to make consoles owned by its customers permanently unusable."

"Under Nintendo's most aggressive digital restrictions management (DRM) update to date, game console owners are now required to give Nintendo the unilateral right to revoke access to games, security updates, and the Internet, at its sole discretion."

The new agreement states: "You acknowledge that if you fail to comply with [Nintendo's restrictions], Nintendo may render the Nintendo Account Services and/or the applicable Nintendo device permanently unusable in whole or in part...."

There are probably other reasons that Nintendo has and will justify bricking game consoles, but here are some that we have seen reported:
— "Tampering" with hardware or software in pretty much any way;
— Attempting to play a back-up game;
— Playing a "used" game; or
— Use of a third-party game or accessory...

Nintendo's promise to block a user from using their game console isn't just an empty threat: it has already been wielded against many users. For example, within a month of the Switch 2's release, one user unknowingly purchased an open-box return that had been bricked, and despite functional hardware, it was unusable for many games. In another case, a user installing updates for game cartridges purchased via a digital marketplace had their console disabled. Though it's unclear exactly why they were banned, it's possible that the cartridge's previous owner made a copy and an online DRM check determined that the current and previous owner's use were both "fraudulent." The user only had their console released through appealing to Nintendo directly and providing evidence of their purchase, a laborious process.

Nintendo's new console banning spree is just one instance of the threat that nonfree software and DRM pose to users. DRM is but one injustice posed by nonfree software, and the target of the FSF's Defective by Design campaign. Like with all software, users ought to be able to freely copy, study, and modify the programs running on their devices. Proprietary software developers actively oppose and antagonize their users. In the case of Nintendo, this means punishing legitimate users and burdening them with proving that their use is "acceptable." Console users shouldn't have to tread so carefully with a console that they own, and should they misstep, beg Nintendo to allow them to use their consoles again.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://games.slashdot.org/story/25/12/21/0020228/fsf-says-nintendos-new-drm-allows-them-to-remotely-render-user-devices-permanently-unusable?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Google Launches CO2 Battery Plants for Long-Duration Storage of Renewable Energy
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-12-22 06:22:01


In July Google promised to scale the CO2 batteries of "Energy Dome" as a long-duration energy storage solution. Now IEEE Spectrum visits its first plant in Sardinia, where 2,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide power a turbine generating 20 MW over 10 hours — storing "large amounts of excess renewable energy until it's needed..."

"Google likes the concept so much that it plans to rapidly deploy the facilities in all of its key data-center locations in Europe, the United States, and the Asia-Pacific region."

Developed by the Milan-based company Energy Dome, the bubble and its surrounding machinery demonstrate a first-of-its-kind "CO2 Battery," as the company calls it... And in 2026, replicas of this plant will start popping up across the globe. We mean that literally. It takes just half a day to inflate the bubble. The rest of the facility takes less than two years to build and can be done just about anywhere there's 5 hectares of flat land.

The first to build one outside of Sardinia will be one of India's largest power companies, NTPC Limited. The company expects to complete its CO2 Battery sometime in 2026 at the Kudgi power plant in Karnataka, in India. In Wisconsin, meanwhile, the public utility Alliant Energy received the all clear from authorities to begin construction of one in 2026 to supply power to 18,000 homes... The idea is to provide electricity-guzzling data centers with round-the-clock clean energy, even when the sun isn't shining or the wind isn't blowing. The partnership with Energy Dome, announced in July, marked Google's first investment in long-duration energy storage...

CO2 Batteries check a lot of boxes that other approaches don't. They don't need special topography like pumped-hydro reservoirs do. They don't need critical minerals like electrochemical and other batteries do. They use components for which supply chains already exist. Their expected lifetime stretches nearly three times as long as lithium-ion batteries. And adding size and storage capacity to them significantly decreases cost per kilowatt-hour. Energy Dome expects its LDES solution to be 30 percent cheaper than lithium-ion.

China has taken note. China Huadian Corp. and Dongfang Electric Corp. are reportedly building a CO2-based energy-storage facility in the Xinjiang region of northwest China.

Google's senior lead for energy storage says they like how Energy Dome's solution can work in any region. "They can really plug and play this."

And they expect Google to help the technology "reach a massive commercial stage."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/25/12/21/2337215/google-launches-co2-battery-plants-for-long-duration-storage-of-renewable-energy?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Are 'Geek Gifts' Becoming Their Own Demographic?
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-12-22 03:22:01


Long-time Slashdot reader destinyland wonders if "gifts for geeks" is the next big consumer demographic:

For this year's holiday celebrations, Hallmark made a special Christmas tree ornament, a tiny monitor displaying screens from the classic video game "Oregon Trail." ("Recall the fun of leading a team of oxen and a wagon loaded with provisions from Missouri to the West....") Top sites and major brands are now targeting the "tech" demographic — including programmers, sysadmins and even vintage game enthusiasts — and when Hallmark and Amazon are chasing the same customers as GitHub and Copilot, you know there's been a strange yet meaningful shift in the culture...

While AI was conquering the world, GitHub published its "Ultimate gift guide for the developer in your life" just as soon as doors opened on Black Friday. So if you're wondering, "Should I push to production on New Year's Eve?" GitHub recommends their new "GitHub Copilot Amazeball," which it describes as "GitHub's magical collectible ready to weigh in on your toughest calls !" Copilot isn't involved — questions are randomly matched to the answers printed on the side of a triangle-shaped die floating in water. "[Y]ou'll get answers straight from the repo of destiny with a simple shake," GitHub promises — just like the Magic 8 Ball of yore. "Get your hands on this must-have collectible and enjoy the cosmic guidance — no real context switching required!"
And GitHub's "Gift Guide for Developers" also suggests GitHub-branded ugly holiday socks and keyboard keycaps with GitHub's mascots.

But GitHub isn't the only major tech site with a shopping page targeting the geek demographic. Firefox is selling merchandise with its new mascot. Even the Free Software Foundation has its own shop, with Emacs T-shirts, GNU beanies and a stuffed baby gnu ("One of our most sought-after items ... "). Plus an FSF-branded antisurveillance webcam guard.

Maybe Dr. Seuss can write a new book: "How the Geeks Stole Christmas." Because this newfound interest in the geek demographic seems to have spread to the largest sites of all. Google searches on "Gifts for Programmers" now point to a special page on Amazon with suggestions like Linux crossword puzzles. But what coder could resist a book called " Cooking for Programmers? "Each recipe is written as source code in a different programming language," explains the book's description... The book is filled with colorful recipes — thanks to syntax highlighting, which turns the letters red, blue and green. There are also real cooking instructions, but presented as an array of strings, with both ingredients and instructions ultimately logged as messages to the console...
Some programmers might prefer their shirts from FreeWear.org, which donates part of the proceeds from every sale to its corresponding FOSS project or organization. (There are T-shirts for Linux, Gnome and the C programming language — and even one making a joke about how hard it is to exit Vim.)

But maybe it all proves that there's something for everybody. That's the real heartwarming message behind these extra-geeky Christmas gifts — that in the end, tech is, after all, still a community, with its own hallowed traditions and shared celebrations.
It's just that instead of singing Christmas carols, we make jokes about Vim.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/25/12/21/2134227/are-geek-gifts-becoming-their-own-demographic?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] 'Confused' Waymos Stopped in Intersections During San Francisco Power Outage
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-12-22 02:22:01


"On Saturday, videos shared widely on social media showed Waymo vehicles stopped mid-intersection with hazard lights flashing, forcing other cars to maneuver around them," reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

The Independent notes that "Without working traffic lights, the driverless cars were seemingly left confused, with many halting in their tracks and causing major traffic jams. Local riders and pedestrians shared photos and videos of the vehicles stuck at intersections with long lines of drivers piling up behind them..."

In some instances, several Waymos were piled up in front of a single intersection. "6 Waymos parked at a broken traffic light blocking the roads. Seems like they were not trained for a power outage," another social media user wrote.

More from CNBC:

San Francisco resident Matt Schoolfield said he saw at least three Waymo autonomous vehicles stopped in traffic Saturday around 9:45 p.m. local time, including one he photographed near Arguello Boulevard and Geary Street. "They were just stopping in the middle of the street," Schoolfield said.

The power outages began around 1:09 p.m. Saturday and peaked roughly two hours later, affecting about 130,000 customers, according to Pacific Gas and Electric. As of Sunday morning, about 21,000 customers remained without power, mainly in the Presidio, the Richmond District, Golden Gate Park and parts of downtown San Francisco. PG&E said the outage was caused by a fire at a substation that resulted in "significant and extensive" damage, and said it could not yet provide a precise timeline for full restoration...

Amid the disruption, Tesla
CEO Elon Musk posted on X: "Tesla Robotaxis were unaffected by the SF power outage." Unlike Waymo, Tesla does not operate a driverless robotaxi service in San Francisco. Tesla's local ride-hailing service uses vehicles equipped with "FSD (Supervised)," a premium driver assistance system. The service requires a human driver behind the wheel at all times...

The Waymo pause in San Francisco indicates cities are not yet ready for highly automated vehicles to inundate their streets, said Bryan Reimer, a research scientist at the MIT Center for Transportation and co-author of "How to Make AI Useful." "Something in the design and development of this technology was missed that clearly illustrates it was not the robust solution many would like to believe it is," he said. [He recommends "human backup systems in place around highly automated systems, including robotaxis."] State and city regulators will need to consider what the maximum penetration of highly automated vehicles should be in their region, Reimer added, and AV developers should be held responsible for "chaos gridlock," just as human drivers would be held responsible for how they drive during a blackout.
Waymo did not say when its service would resume and did not specify whether collisions involving its vehicles had occurred during the blackout.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/12/21/2048257/confused-waymos-stopped-in-intersections-during-san-francisco-power-outage?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Do Gamers Hate AI? Indie Game Awards Disqualifies 'Clair Obscur' Over GenAI Usage
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-12-22 01:22:01


"Perhaps no group of fans, industry workers, and consumers is more intense about AI use than gamers...." writes New York magazine's "Intelligencer" column:

Just this month, the latest Postal game was axed by its publisher, which was "overwhelmed with negative responses"
from the "concerned Postal community" after fans spotted
AI-generated material in the game's trailer. The developers of Arc
Raiders were accused
of using AI instead of voice actors, leading to calls for boycotts,
while the developers of the Call of Duty franchise were
called out for AI-generated assets that players found strewn across
Black Ops 7.Games that weren't developed with
generative AI are getting caught
up in accusations anyway, while workers at Electronic Arts are
going
to the press to describe pressure from bosses to adopt AI tools.
Nintendo has sworn off using generative AI, as has the company behind
the Cyberpunk series. Valve, the company that operates
Steam, now requires AI disclosures on listed games and surveys
all submitters. Perhaps sensing the emergence of a new
constituency, California congressman Ro Khanna responded in November
to the Call of Duty backlash:"We need
regulations that prevent companies from using AI to eliminate jobs to
extract greater profits," he posted
on X....

AI is often seen as a tool for managers to extract more productivity and justify
layoffs. Among players, it can foster a sense that gamers are being
tricked or ripped off, while also dovetailing with more general
objections to generative AI. It can sometimes be hard to tell whether
gamer backlash is a bellwether or an outlier, an early signal from our youngest major creative industry or a localized and unique fit of rage. The sheer number of
incidents here suggests the former, which foretells bitter, messy,
and confusing fights to come in entertainment beyond gaming — where,
notably, technologies referred to as "AI" have previously been
embraced with open arms.

And now "the price of the sort of memory PC gamers most want to buy has skyrocketed" (per Tom's Hardware). "The rush to build data centers is making it much more expensive to game. Nobody's going to be happy about that."

Insider Gaming shares another example of anti-AI sentiment in the gaming industry:

The Indie Game Awards took place on December 18, and, as many could assume, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 took home the awards for Game of the Year and Debut Game. However, things have changed and The Indie Game Awards are making a big decision to strip the Clair Obscur and developer Sandfall Interactive of their awards over the use of gen AI in the game.

In an announcement made on Saturday afternoon, Six One Indie, the creators of the show, said that it's removal comes after the discovery after voting was done, and the show was recorded. "The Indie Game Awards have a hard stance on the use of gen AI throughout the nomination process and during the ceremony itself," the statement reads. "When it was submitted for consideration, representatives of Sandfall Interactive agreed that no gen AI was used in the development of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

Polygon notes the award-stripping is "due to inclusion of generative AI assets at launch that were quickly patched out."

Quotes from earlier in the year from Sandfall Interactive's FranÃois Meurisse made the rounds on social media last week amid a news cycle caught up in the use of generative AI in games... In June, the Spanish outlet El País published a story including an interview conducted around Clair Obscur's launch, in which Meurisse admitted that Sandfall used a minimal amount generative AI in some form during the game's development... Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 launched with what some suspected to be AI-generated textures that, as it clarified to El País, were then replaced with custom assets in a swift patch five days after release.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://games.slashdot.org/story/25/12/21/1945258/do-gamers-hate-ai-indie-game-awards-disqualifies-clair-obscur-over-genai-usage?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Выпуск EasyOS 7.1, дистрибутива от создателя Puppy Linux
lor.opennet
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-12-22 00:44:03


Барри Каулер (Barry Kauler), основатель проекта Puppy Linux, опубликовал дистрибутив EasyOS 7.1, совмещающий технологии Puppy Linux с применением контейнерной изоляции для запуска компонентов системы. Управление дистрибутивом производится через развиваемый проектом набор графических конфигураторов. Размер загрузочного образа 1 ГБ.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=64470

[>] Релиз программы для обработки фотографий Darktable 5.4.0
lor.opennet
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-12-22 00:44:03


Представлен релиз программы для обработки цифровых фотографий Darktable 5.4.0. Darktable специализируется на недеструктивной работе с raw-изображениями и может использоваться в качестве свободной альтернативы Adobe Lightroom. Программа позволяет вести базу фотографий, осуществлять наглядную навигацию по имеющимся снимкам, а также корректировать искажения, устранять шумы, управлять цветом и улучшать качество фотографии, сохраняя при этом исходный снимок и всю историю операций с ним. Код проекта написан на языке Си и распространяется под лицензией GPLv3. Интерфейс построен с использованием библиотеки GTK. Бинарные сборки подготовлены для Linux (AppImage, в процессе подготовки flatpak и snap), Windows и macOS.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=64466

[>] Package Forge: The Lesser Known Snap/Flatpak Alternative Without Distro Lock-In
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-12-22 00:22:01


An anonymous reader shared this report from the site It's FOSS:

Linux gives you plenty of ways to install software: native distro packages, Flatpak, Snap, AppImage, source builds, even curl-piped installers. The catch is that each one solves a different problem, yet none of them fully eliminates the "works here, breaks there" reality across all distros. Package Forge (PkgForge) is a new project with a narrower mission: deliver truly distro-independent portable applications that run the same way across systems....

It's not a new packaging format in and of itself, nor is it trying to replace AppImages. Instead, it's an ecosystem that publishes portable packages and static binaries in curated repositories, paired with a package manager designed to install and manage them. One of the ways PkgForge stands out from some portable app efforts on Linux is its focus on accessible documentation and a security-minded distribution model. The project primarily delivers prebuilt binary packages, keeps transparent build logs, and relies on checksum verification. This helps reduce the spread of ad-hoc install scripts and the need for local compilation, which has long been a common pattern when downloading Linux software directly (and still is for many projects today).

To make life easier for the end-user, the project maintains its own frontend, called Soar... which you can use like an additional package manager, and let it handle installation, updates, and system integration. It also allows you to search for apps and utilities without having to dig through the repos online. Alternatively, you can search the PkgForge repos manually, and download and manage individual portable packages on your own. This is preferable if you're building a portable toolkit on a USB drive, testing a single app temporarily, or simply want full control over where files live...

Even if it doesn't replace Flatpak, Snap, or AppImage, it helps give definition to what a more flexible, truly distro-independent future for portable Linux apps could look like.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://linux.slashdot.org/story/25/12/21/199237/package-forge-the-lesser-known-snapflatpak-alternative-without-distro-lock-in?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Inaugural 'Hour of AI' Event Includes Minecraft, Microsoft, Google and 13.1 Million K-12 Schoolkids
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-12-21 23:22:01


Long-time Slashdot reader theodp writes: Last September, tech-backed nonprofit Code.org pledged to engage 25 million K-12 schoolchildren in an "Hour of AI" this school year. Preliminary numbers released this week by the Code.org Advocacy Coalition showed that [halfway through the five-day event Computer Science Education Week] 13.1 million users had participated in the inaugural Hour of AI, attaining 52.4% of its goal of 25 million participants.

In a pivot from coding to AI literacy, the Hour of AI replaced Code.org's hugely-popular Hour of Code this December as the flagship event of Computer Science Education Week (December 8-14). According to Code.org's 2024-25 Impact Report, "in 2024–25 alone, students logged over 100 million Hours of Code, including more than 43 million in the four months leading up to and including CS Education Week."

Minecraft participated with their own Hour of AI lessons. ("Program an AI Agent to craft tools and build shelter before dusk falls in this iconic challenge!") And Google contributed AI Quests, "a gamified, in-class learning experience" allowing students to "step into the shoes of Google researchers using AI to solve real-world challenges." Other participating organizations included the Scratch Foundation, Lego Education, Adobe, and Roblox.

And Microsoft contributed two — including one with their block-based programming environment Microsoft MakeCode Arcade, with students urged to "code and train your own super-smart bug using AI algorithms and challenge other AI bugs in an epic Tower battle for ultimate Bug Arena glory!"

See all the educational festivities here...

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/12/21/1724209/inaugural-hour-of-ai-event-includes-minecraft-microsoft-google-and-131-million-k-12-schoolkids?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Will Work Change Over the Next 20 Years?
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-12-21 23:22:01


What is the future of work? The Wall Street Journal asked five workplace experts and practitioners.

So while AI "is already doing tasks once relegated to newly minted college graduates in many professions," the Journal predicts that in the next 20 years AI "will have an impact on the role of managers, how organizations measure business outcomes and accelerate tasks that once took months."

A senior partner at the consulting firm Mercer predicts AI (plus advances in quantum computing) will enable entrepreneurs to reshape industries with a fraction of the resources traditionally required.

Some other predictions:
Alan Guarino, vice chairman and CEO of board services at the global consulting firm Korn Ferry: In 25 years, the workplace will likely be unrecognizable, with employees and AI operating as one. Yes, there will be tasks and entire jobs taken over by AI, but we will all be elevated to a whole new superpower to make critical and creative decisions. The idea that work was once done strictly by people will seem quaint to some. Tasks that took entire teams, and months to complete, will be crunched down to a few minutes, with success measured on metrics we can't imagine today.

The middle layers of management — so central to today's corporate structure — could be a vestige of the past. The role of the leader too will change, as they directly oversee a collaboration of people and intelligent systems. The attitude toward in-person collaboration is growing and 25 years from now, counterintuitively, I believe face-to-face connection won't just be indispensable, but invaluable. Emotional intelligence will still set leaders apart. Those who blend empathy with tech savvy will be the ones shaping the future.
Peter Fasolo, a former executive vice president and chief human resources officer at Johnson & Johnson, and director of the Human Resource Policy Institute at Boston University's Questrom School of Business: There will be fewer available workers in Europe, Japan and the U.S. over this time frame and the demographic shift will be profound. In addition, there will be even fewer young adults available for colleges in the U.S., even if they decide the investment is worth it.

The implications of this shift will be the need for more investments in vocational and trade schools, and the need to invest in skill-based, not pedigree-based training. There will also be more on-the-job specific training. Companies will become classrooms. Companies that want a more sustainable relationship with employees will need an investment model versus a transactional one: We will invest in your skills so you can be a competitive professional in your domain.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://it.slashdot.org/story/25/12/21/0610253/will-work-change-over-the-next-20-years?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] FSF Says Nintendo's New DRM Allows Them to Remotely Render User's Device 'Permanently Unusuable'
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-12-21 23:22:01


"In the lead up to its Switch 2 console release, Nintendo updated its user agreement," writes the Free Software Foundation, warning that Nintendo now claims "broad authority to make consoles owned by its customers permanently unusable."

"Under Nintendo's most aggressive digital restrictions management (DRM) update to date, game console owners are now required to give Nintendo the unilateral right to revoke access to games, security updates, and the Internet, at its sole discretion."

The new agreement states: "You acknowledge that if you fail to comply with [Nintendo's restrictions], Nintendo may render the Nintendo Account Services and/or the applicable Nintendo device permanently unusable in whole or in part...."

There are probably other reasons that Nintendo has and will justify bricking game consoles, but here are some that we have seen reported:
— "Tampering" with hardware or software in pretty much any way;
— Attempting to play a back-up game;
— Playing a "used" game; or
— Use of a third-party game or accessory...

Nintendo's promise to block a user from using their game console isn't just an empty threat: it has already been wielded against many users. For example, within a month of the Switch 2's release, one user unknowingly purchased an open-box return that had been bricked, and despite functional hardware, it was unusable for many games. In another case, a user installing updates for game cartridges purchased via a digital marketplace had their console disabled. Though it's unclear exactly why they were banned, it's possible that the cartridge's previous owner made a copy and an online DRM check determined that the current and previous owner's use were both "fraudulent." The user only had their console released through appealing to Nintendo directly and providing evidence of their purchase, a laborious process.

Nintendo's new console banning spree is just one instance of the threat that nonfree software and DRM pose to users. DRM is but one injustice posed by nonfree software, and the target of the FSF's Defective by Design campaign. Like with all software, users ought to be able to freely copy, study, and modify the programs running on their devices. Proprietary software developers actively oppose and antagonize their users. In the case of Nintendo, this means punishing legitimate users and burdening them with proving that their use is "acceptable." Console users shouldn't have to tread so carefully with a console that they own, and should they misstep, beg Nintendo to allow them to use their consoles again.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://games.slashdot.org/story/25/12/21/0020228/fsf-says-nintendos-new-drm-allows-them-to-remotely-render-users-device-permanently-unusuable?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Trump Admin to Hire 1,000 for New 'Tech Force' to Build AI Infrastructure
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-12-21 23:22:01


An anonymous reader shared this report from CNBC:

The Trump administration on Monday unveiled a new initiative dubbed the "U.S. Tech Force," comprising about 1,000 engineers and other specialists who will work on artificial intelligence infrastructure and other technology projects throughout the federal government.

Participants will commit to a two-year employment program working with teams that report directly to agency leaders in "collaboration with leading technology companies," according to an official government website. ["...and work closely with senior managers from companies partnering with the Tech Force."] Those "private sector partners" include Amazon Web Services, Apple, Google Public Sector, Dell Technologies, Microsoft, Nvidia, OpenAI, Oracle, Palantir, Salesforce and numerous others [including AMD, IBM, Coinbase, Robinhood, Uber, xAI, and Zoom], the website says.

The Tech Force shows the Trump administration increasing its focus on developing America's AI infrastructure as it competes with China for dominance in the rapidly growing industry... The engineering corps will be working on "high-impact technology initiatives including AI implementation, application development, data modernization, and digital service delivery across federal agencies," the site says.

"Answer the call," says the new web site at TechForce.gov.

"Upon completing the program, engineers can seek employment with the partnering private-sector companies for potential full-time roles — demonstrating the value of combining civil service with technical expertise." [And those private sector companies can also nominate employees to participate.] "Annual salaries are expected to be in the approximate range of $150,000 to $200,000."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/12/21/075239/trump-admin-to-hire-1000-for-new-tech-force-to-build-ai-infrastructure?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] While Releasing 'Avatar 3', James Cameron Questions the Future of Movies
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-12-21 23:22:01


"If I get to do another Avatar film, it'll be because the business model still works," James Cameron tells CNN in a video interview — adding "That I can't guarantee, as I sit here today. That'll play out over the next month, really." He says theatre is a "sacred space," and while it will never go away, "I think that it could fall below a threshhold where the kinds of movies that I like to make and that I like to see... won't be sustainable, they won't be economically viable. And that can happen. We're very close to that right now."

The Wrap notes he filmed his new movie at the same time as its predecessor, The Way of Water."

"We did all the performance capture in an 18-month period for both films. Then we did a lot of the virtual camera work to figure out exactly how we were going to do the live-action," Cameron explained. "Then we did all live-action together for both films. Then we split it and said, All right, now we just got to finish [movie] two....." While Cameron has been iffy about whether the previously announced fourth and fifth films will actually happen, he has already shot some of the fourth movie. "We're in a fluid scenario. Theatrical's contracting, streaming is expanding. People's habit patterns are changing. The teen demo consumes media differently than what we grew up with. And how much is it changing? Does theatrical contract to a point where it just stops right and doesn't get any smaller because we still value that, or does it continue to wither away?" Cameron said.

It's a theme he continued in his interview with The Hollywood Reporter"

"This can be the last one. There's only one [unanswered question] in the story. We may find that the release of Avatar 3 proves how diminished the cinematic experience is these days, or we may find it proves the case that it's as strong as it ever was — but only for certain types of films. It's a coin toss right now. We won't know until the middle of January."

I ask something that might sound odd: What do you want to happen? But Cameron gets the implication. "That's an interesting question," he says. "I feel I'm at a bit of a crossroads. Do I want it to be a wild success — which almost compels me to continue and make two more Avatar movies? Or do I want it to fail just enough that I can justify doing somethingelse...?"
"What won't happen is, I won't go down the rabbit hole of exclusively making only Avatar for multiple years. I'm going to figure out another way that involves more collaboration. I'm not saying I'm going to step away as a director, but I'm going to pull back from being as hands-on with every tiny aspect of the process..." Cameron won't reveal his next project — and he might even be unsure himself — but will give intriguing hints. In addition to co-directing Billie Eilish's upcoming 3D concert documentary, Hit Me Hard and Soft, Cameron has another globe-trotting documentary adventure in the works, the details of which are under wraps. His next narrative film probably won't be Ghosts of Hiroshima, which has generated considerable press after Cameron acquired the rights to Charles Pellegrino's book chronicling the true story of Tsutomu Yamaguchi, who in 1945 survived the nuclear blasts at both Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Cameron promised Yamaguchi on his deathbed in 2010 that he'd makethefilm. "The postapocalypse is not going to be the fun that it is in science fiction," he says. "It's not going to have mutants and monsters and all sorts of cool stuff. It's hell...."

Cameron first portrayed the apocalypse in his 1984 debut, The Terminator, a franchise he's quietly working on revisiting. "Once the dust clears on Avatar in a couple of months, I'm going to really plunge into that," he says. "There are a lot of narrative problems to solve. The biggest is how do I stay enough ahead of what's really happening to make it science fiction?" Asked whether he's cracked the premise, Cameron replies, "I'm working on it," but his sly smile suggests that he has.... There needs to be a broader interpretation of Terminator and the idea of a time war and super intelligence. I want to do new stuff that people aren't imagining."

Maybe Cameron's best response was what he told USA Today:
"Let's do another interview in a year and then I'll tell you what my plans are," Cameron, 71, says with a grin. For now, he's still catching his breath.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/25/12/21/0510249/while-releasing-avatar-3-james-cameron-questions-the-future-of-movies?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Is America's Tech Industry Already Facing a Recession?
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-12-21 23:22:01


America's unemployment rate for tech jobs rose to 4% in November, and "has been steadily rising since May," reports the Washington Post (citing data from the IT training/certifications company CompTIA).

Between October and November, the number of technology workers across different industries fell 134,000, while the number of people working in the tech industry declined by more than 6,800. Tech job postings were also down by more than 31,800, the report found, citing data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and California-based market intelligence firm Lightcast. "The data is pretty definitive that the tech industry is struggling," said Mark Zandi, Moody's chief economist. "There's a jobs recession in the industry, and it feels like that's going to continue given the slide in postings...."

The unemployment rate in the tech industry still sits below the national rate, which in November hit 4.6 percent, the highest since 2021. However, that gap has been narrowing, with tech unemployment rising faster in recent months than is the case nationally.... Employers are largely in "wait and see" mode when it comes to hiring given the current uncertainties surrounding the economy and impact of AI, so they're likely to delay backfilling, Herbert said, citing CompTIA's surveys of chief information officers. But Justin Wolfers, professor of public policy and economics at the University of Michigan, said uncertainty is likely to continue in the foreseeable future. "I'm feeling substantially more pessimistic," Wolfers said, recalling that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell recently suggested that federal job numbers may be overstated. "That's pretty grim."

Technology companies have announced more than 141,000 job cuts so far this year, representing a 17 percent increase from the same period last year, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. At the same time Big Tech companies like Google, Microsoft, Meta and Amazon have announced plans to invest up to $375 billion in AI infrastructure this year.

"AI is quickly becoming a requirement, with 41 percent of all active job postings representing AI roles or requiring AI skills, according to CompTIA's analysis," the article points out.

Economist Zandi tells the Post that "If you have AI skills, there seems to be jobs. But if you don't, I think it's going to feel like you've been hit by a dump truck."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://it.slashdot.org/story/25/12/20/0512216/is-americas-tech-industry-already-facing-a-recession?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Rust's 'Vision Doc' Makes Recommendations to Help Keep Rust Growing
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-12-21 23:22:01


The team authoring the Rust 2025 Vision Doc interviewed Rust developers to find out what they liked about the language — and have now issued three recommendations "to help Rust continue to scale across domains and usage levels."

— Enumerate and describe Rust's design goals and integrate them into our processes, helping to ensure they are observed by future language designers and the broader ecosystem.
— Double down on extensibility, introducing the ability for crates to influence the develop experience and the compilation pipeline.
— Help users to navigate the crates.io ecosystem and enable smoother interop

The real "empowering magic" of Rust arises from achieving a number of different attributes all at once — reliability, efficiency, low-level control, supportiveness, and so forth. It would be valuable to have a canonical list of those values that we could collectively refer to as a community and that we could use when evaluating RFCs or other proposed designs... We recommend creating an RFC that defines the goals we are shooting for as we work on Rust... One insight from our research is that we don't need to define which values are "most important". We've seen that for Rust to truly work, it must achieveallthe factors at once...

We recommenddoubling down on extensibilityas a core strategy. Rust's extensibility — traits, macros, operator overloading — has been key to its versatility. But that extensibility is currently concentrated in certain areas: the type system and early-stage proc macros. We should expand it to coversupportive interfaces(better diagnostics and guidance from crates) andcompilation workflow(letting crates integrate at more stages of the build process)... Doubling down on extensibility will not only make current Rust easier to use, it will enable and support Rust's use in new domains. Safety Critical applications in particular require a host of custom lints and tooling to support the associated standards. Compiler extensibility allows Rust to support those niche needs in a more general way.

We recommend finding ways to help users navigate the crates.io ecosystem... [F]inding which crates to use presents a real obstacle when people are getting started. The Rust org maintains a carefully neutral stance, which is good, but also means that people don't have anywhere to go for advice on a good "starter set" crates... Part of the solution is enabling better interop between libraries.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://developers.slashdot.org/story/25/12/21/0341243/rusts-vision-doc-makes-recommendations-to-help-keep-rust-growing?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Стартап у станка: как бюрократия тормозит «высокотех»
bot.habr.rss
BotHabr(tgi,2) — All
2025-12-21 19:35:05


Опубликовано: Sun, 21 Dec 2025 15:06:20 GMT
Канал: Все статьи подряд / Робототехника / Хабр

В августе 2023 года вступил в силу закон «О развитии технологических компаний в РФ», который ввёл новую категорию — «малая технологическая компания» (МТК). Под неё могут подпасть как заводы, так и ИТ-компании, создающие продукты и технологии, критически важные для обеспечения технологического суверенитета. Уже к концу 2025 года статус МТК получили более 6,4 тысяч организаций.Наша компания занимается аналитикой для промышленности, и мы формируем большие массивы данных из открытых источников. Нам показалось интересным провести исследование именно на примере заводов, производящих электронику, специальное оборудование, новые материалы, чтобы понять: 1) какие меры поддержки работают на практике; 2) даёт ли статус МТК реальные конкурентные преимущества промышленности В каких условиях развивается "высокотех"]]>

https://habr.com/ru/articles/979056/

[>] AI-водитель вместо дальнобойщика
bot.habr.rss
BotHabr(tgi,2) — All
2025-12-21 17:35:05


Опубликовано: Sun, 21 Dec 2025 13:04:51 GMT
Канал: Все статьи подряд / Робототехника / Хабр

Магнит, один из ведущих ритейлеров в России, совершил тестовый рейс по новому маршруту на автономном грузовике Navio — от распределительного центра в Санкт-Петербурге до точки назначения в Зеленодольске. Часть пути проходила по новому направлению — трассе М-12 «Восток» и, с учетом возвращения в Санкт-Петербург, протяженность всего рейса с коммерческим грузом составила порядка 3000 км. Таким образом, этот круговой маршрут стал самым протяженным беспилотным логистическим коридором в России. Читать далее]]>

https://habr.com/ru/articles/979036/

[>] Разбираем схемотехнику Macbook Pro 15'' ч.1
bot.habr.rss
BotHabr(tgi,2) — All
2025-12-21 15:35:02


Опубликовано: Sun, 21 Dec 2025 10:39:24 GMT
Канал: Все статьи подряд / DIY или Сделай сам / Хабр

Регулярно в процессе разработки электроники возникают вопросы: "А как правильно? А так можно? Будет ли это работать?". В связи с этим предлагаю посмотреть: а как же проектируют свои устройства передовые технологические компании? Где они ошибаются, а что делают превосходно. Читать далее]]>

https://habr.com/ru/articles/978994/

[>] Умный дом. Схема контроллера CAN
bot.habr.rss
BotHabr(tgi,2) — All
2025-12-21 13:35:02


Опубликовано: Sun, 21 Dec 2025 08:43:18 GMT
Канал: Все статьи подряд / DIY или Сделай сам / Хабр

Данная статья является продолжением раннее опубликованной мною темы: Умный дом на основе интерфейса CAN. Вот ссылки на предыдущие статьи:1 Протокол обмена данными. Пользовательский уровень, поверх CAN 2.0. Проект https://habr.com/ru/articles/929478/2 Выбор структуры для системы «Умный дом» https://habr.com/ru/articles/966620/В качестве ядра схемы контроллера сети был выбран модуль ESP32-C6-WROOM-1-N8 Читать далее]]>

https://habr.com/ru/articles/978978/

[>] Выпуск отладчика GDB 17
lor.opennet
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-12-21 12:44:03


Представлен релиз отладчика GDB 17.1 (первый выпуск серии 17.x, ветка 17.0 использовалась для разработки). GDB поддерживает отладку на уровне исходных текстов для широкого спектра языков программирования (Ada, C, C++, D, Fortran, Go, Objective-C, Modula-2, Pascal, Rust и т.д.) на различных аппаратных (i386, amd64, ARM, Power, Sparc, RISC-V, LoongArch и т.д.) и программных платформах (GNU/Linux, *BSD, Unix, Windows, macOS).

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=64463

[>] STATS 2025-12-20
spnet.stats
root(spnet, 1) — All
2025-12-21 12:11:01


TOP10 VISITORS:

[1] 217.197.116.x point=418 web=1 up=29.4MB (34%) <--- naste (17/hr)
[2] 37.252.14.x point=144 web=0 up=28.0MB (32%) <--- ake (6/hr)
[3] PetalBot point=5 web=1022 up=6.0MB (6%) <--- PetalBot
[4] Amazon point=0 web=170 up=5.8MB (6%)
[5] 216.244.66.x point=1 web=74 up=3.2MB (3%) <--- 216.244.66.x
[6] Google point=1 web=370 up=3.0MB (3%) <--- Google
[7] 217.114.158.x point=26 web=0 up=1.0MB (1%) <--- fox (1/hr)
[8] TikTok point=0 web=29 up=0.8MB (<1%)
[9] 51.222.168.x point=0 web=81 up=0.5MB (<1%)
[10] 51.161.37.x point=0 web=67 up=0.5MB (<1%)

TOTAL TRAFFIC: 86MB

[>] Моя версия системы автоматического тестирования БК моторов (PHPH)
bot.habr.rss
BotHabr(tgi,2) — All
2025-12-21 11:35:02


Опубликовано: Sun, 21 Dec 2025 07:16:45 GMT
Канал: Все статьи подряд / Программирование микроконтроллеров / Хабр

Я увлекаюсь авиамоделизмом, в основном радиоуправляемыми моделями на бесколлекторных двигателях, но в последние годы данная сфера престала быть нишевой, и поэтому цены на компоненты заметно выросли. Без того дорогие проверенные бренды стали еще дороже, поэтому я все чаще выбираю более бюджетные аналоги с AliExpress или от малоизвестных производителей. Но тут возникает проблема: как убедиться, что дешёвый мотор выдаст заявленные характеристики, и будет надёжным в полёте? Конечно, есть инструменты вроде Betaflight, которые отлично справляются с настройкой полётных контроллеров и дают данные о работе мотора по обратной ЭДС. Но я бы хотел получать дополнительно независимые данные о таких харакетритиках как RPM, потребляемый ток, напряжение, тяга двигателя и его температура. Читать далее]]>

https://habr.com/ru/articles/978956/

[>] Выпуск дистрибутива Chimera 20251220, сочетающего ядро Linux с окружением FreeBSD
lor.opennet
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-12-21 10:44:03


Опубликовано обновление сборок дистрибутива Chimera Linux, примечательного использованием ядра Linux в сочетании с утилитами из FreeBSD, системным менеджером dinit и стандартной Си-библиотекой Musl. Сборка осуществляется компилятором Clang. Загрузочные Live-образы сформированы для архитектур x86_64, ppc64le, aarch64, riscv64 и ppc64 в вариантах с GNOME (1.8 ГБ), KDE (2.5 ГБ) и урезанным окружением (1 Гб).

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=64462

[>] Arch Linux переходит на использование открытых модулей ядра в пакетах с драйверами NVIDIA
lor.opennet
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-12-21 10:44:03


Разработчики дистрибутива Arch Linux анонсировали замену пакетов с проприетарными драйверами NVIDIA "nvidia", "nvidia-dkms" и "nvidia-lts" на пакеты "nvidia-open", "nvidia-open-dkms" и "nvidia-lts-open", в которых используются открытые компанией NVIDIA модули ядра. Решение обусловлено оставлением в драйверах NVIDIA 590.x только поддержки GPU, начиная с микроархитектуры Turing (серии RTX 20xx и GTX 1650), что делает бессмысленным поддержание в официальных репозиториях проприетарного варианта модулей, основной причиной поставки которого было сохранение поддержки старых GPU.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=64461

[>] LSP Plugins 1.2.26
lor.opennet
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-12-21 08:44:05


Доступен новый релиз плагинов LSP Plugins 1.2.26!

Плагины предназначены для обработки звука при сведении и мастеринге аудиозаписей, в условиях живых выступлений, а также при организации вещания и подкастов. Пакет совместим с форматами LADSPA, LV2, VST2 (LinuxVST), VST3, CLAP и GStreamer, а также предоставляет standalone-версии с поддержкой JACK.

Сегодны мы отмечаем десятую годовщину! Десять лет пролетели как мгновение с нашего первого релиза 1.0.0!
Проект LSP вырос из небольшого проекта энтузиаста в серьёзную коллекцию достаточно мощных инструментов!
Большое спасибо всем, кто нас поддерживал, давал идеи, сообщал о багах, публиковал pull-реквесты и рекламировал проект!

В этом релизе мы выкладываем новую, но достаточно мощную игрушку!

( [ читать дальше... ]( https://www.linux.org.ru/news/multimedia/18173884#cut ) )

[>] Re: пустовато тут
idec.talks
shaos(spnet, 2) — cthulhu
2025-12-21 08:28:46


Дык есть уже :)

https://github.com/Cthulhu2/caesium/tree/fix/crash-long-title

Мёрджи себе в мейн и сам веди новую версию цезия - кому надо будут у тебя брать ;)

[>] Bell Labs 'Unix' Tape from 1974 Successfully Dumped to a Tarball
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-12-21 06:22:01


Archive.org now has a page with "the raw analog waveform and the reconstructed digital tape image (analog.tap), read at the Computer History Museum's Shustek Research Archives on 19 December 2025 by Al Kossow using a modified tape reader and analyzed with Len Shustek's readtape tool." A Berlin-based retrocomputing enthusiast has created a page with the contents of the tape ready for bootstrapping, "including a tar file of the filesystem," and instructions on dumping an RK05 disk image from tape to disk (and what to do next).

Research professor Rob Ricci at the University of Utah's school of computing posted pictures and video of the tape-reading process, along with several updates. ("So far some of our folks think they have found Hunt The Wumpus and the C code for a Snobol interpreter.")
University researcher Mike Hibler noted the code predates the famous comment "You are not expected to understand this" — and found part of the C compiler with a copyright of 1972.

The version of Unix recovered seems to have some (but not all) of the commands that later appeared in Unix v5, according to discussion on social media. "UNIX wasn't versioned as we know it today," explains University of Utah PhD student Thalia Archibald, who researched early Unix history (including the tape) and also worked on its upload. "In the early days, when you wanted to cut a tape, you'd ask Ken if it was a good day — whether the system was relatively bug-free — and copy off the research machine... I've been saying It's probably V5 minus a tiny bit, which turned out to be quite true."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/12/21/020235/bell-labs-unix-tape-from-1974-successfully-dumped-to-a-tarball?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Does AI Really Make Coders Faster?
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-12-21 04:22:01


One developer tells MIT Technology Review that AI tools weaken the coding instincts he used to have. And beyond that, "It's just not fun sitting there with my work being done for me."

But is AI making coders faster? "After speaking to more than 30 developers, technology executives, analysts, and researchers, MIT Technology Review found that the picture is not as straightforward as it might seem..."

For some developers on the front lines, initial enthusiasm is waning as they bump up against the technology's limitations. And as a growing body of research suggests that the claimed productivity gains may be illusory, some are questioning whether the emperor is wearing any clothes.... Data from the developer analytics firm GitClear shows that most engineers are producing roughly 10% more durable code — code that isn't deleted or rewritten within weeks — since 2022, likely thanks to AI. But that gain has come with sharp declines in several measures of code quality. Stack Overflow's survey also found trust and positive sentiment toward AI tools falling significantly for the first time. And most provocatively, a July study by the nonprofit research organization Model Evaluation & Threat Research (METR) showed that while experienced developers believed AI made them 20% faster, objective tests showed they were actually 19% slower...

Developers interviewed by MIT Technology Review generally agree on where AI tools excel: producing "boilerplate code" (reusable chunks of code repeated in multiple places with little modification), writing tests, fixing bugs, and explaining unfamiliar code to new developers. Several noted that AI helps overcome the "blank page problem" by offering an imperfect first stab to get a developer's creative juices flowing. It can also let nontechnical colleagues quickly prototype software features, easing the load on already overworked engineers. These tasks can be tedious, and developers are typically glad to hand them off. But they represent only a small part of an experienced engineer's workload. For the more complex problems where engineers really earn their bread, many developers told MIT Technology Review, the tools face significant hurdles...

The models also just get things wrong. Like all LLMs, coding models are prone to "hallucinating" — it's an issue built into how they work. But because the code they output looks so polished, errors can be difficult to detect, says James Liu, director of software engineering at the advertising technology company Mediaocean. Put all these flaws together, and using these tools can feel a lot like pulling a lever on a one-armed bandit. "Some projects you get a 20x improvement in terms of speed or efficiency," says Liu. "On other things, it just falls flat on its face, and you spend all this time trying to coax it into granting you the wish that you wanted and it's just not going to..." There are also more specific security concerns, she says. Researchers have discovered a worrying class of hallucinations where models reference nonexistent software packages in their code. Attackers can exploit this by creating packages with those names that harbor vulnerabilities, which the model or developer may then unwittingly incorporate into software.

Other key points from the article:

LLMs can only hold limited amounts of information in context windows, so "they struggle to parse large code bases and are prone to forgetting what they're doing on longer tasks."

"While an LLM-generated response to a problem may work in isolation, software is made up of hundreds of interconnected modules. If these aren't built with consideration for other parts of the software, it can quickly lead to a tangled, inconsistent code base that's hard for humans to parse and, more important, to maintain."

"Accumulating technical debt is inevitable in most projects, but AI tools make it much easier for time-pressured engineers to cut corners, says GitClear's Harding. And GitClear's data suggests this is happening at scale..."
"As models improve, the code they produce is becoming increasingly verbose and complex, says Tariq Shaukat, CEO of Sonar, which makes tools for checking code quality. This is driving down the number of obvious bugs and security vulnerabilities, he says, but at the cost of increasing the number of 'code smells' — harder-to-pinpoint flaws that lead to maintenance problems and technical debt."

Yet the article cites a recent Stanford University study that found employment among software developers aged 22 to 25 dropped nearly 20% between 2022 and 2025, "coinciding with the rise of AI-powered coding tools."

The story is part of MIT Technology Review's new Hype Correction series of articles about AI.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://developers.slashdot.org/story/25/12/20/2335253/does-ai-really-make-coders-faster?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Parrot OS Switches to KDE Plasma Desktop
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-12-21 02:22:01


"Yet another distro is making the move to the KDE Plasma desktop," writes Linux magazine.

"Parrot OS, a security-focused Linux distribution, is migrating from MATE to KDE Plasma, starting with version 7.0, now available in beta."

Based on Debian 13, Parrot OS's goal is a shift toward "modernization, focusing on clearing technical debt and future-proofing the system." One big under-the-hood change is that the/tmpdirectory is now automatically mounted astmpfs(in RAM), as opposed to the physical drive. By making this change, Parrot OS enjoys improved performance and reduces wear on SSDs. This shift also means that all data in/tmpis lost during a reboot.

ParrotOS senior systems engineer Dario Camonita explains the change in a blog post, calling it "not only aesthetic, but also in terms of usability and greater consistency with our future goals..."

"While MATE will continue to be supported by us as long as upstream development continues, We have noticed and observed the continuous improvements made by the KDE team..."

And elsewhere Linux Magazine notes two other distros are embracing the desktop Enlightenment:

For years, Bodhi Linux was one of the very few distributions that used anything based on Enlightenment. That period of loneliness is officially over, withMX Mokshaand AV Linux 25. MX Moksha doesn't replace the original MX Linux. Instead, it will serve as an "official spin" of the distribution...

The Enlightenment desktop (and subsequently Moksha) was developed with systemd in mind, so MX Moksha uses systemd. If you're not a fan of systemd, MX Moksha is not for you. MX Moksha is lighter than MX Linux, so it will perform better on older machines. It also uses the Liquorix kernel for lower latency.

AV Linux has been released with the Xfce and LXDE desktops at different times and has only recently opted to make the switch to Enlightenment.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/12/20/2059205/parrot-os-switches-to-kde-plasma-desktop?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Аналоговый датчик CO₂
bot.habr.rss
BotHabr(tgi,2) — All
2025-12-21 02:35:02


Опубликовано: Sat, 20 Dec 2025 22:01:53 GMT
Канал: Все статьи подряд / DIY или Сделай сам / Хабр

Всем привет и наступающими! Захотелось тут сделать пару гаджетов для друзей в их умные дома. И что-то вдруг подумалось - а что они все скучные такие? Давайте же сегодня сделаем датчик в таком форм-факторе, в котором точно не купишь в магазине, будет отличный подарок на Новый Год или Рождество. Ну и ещё что-бы подарить было не стыдно. Читать далее]]>

https://habr.com/ru/articles/978912/

[>] Flock Executive Says Their Camera Helped Find Shooting Suspect, Addresses Privacy Concerns
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-12-21 01:22:01


During a search for the Brown shoogin suspect, a law enforcement press conference included a request for "Ring camera footage from residents and businesses near Brown University," according to local news reports.

But in the end it was Flock cameras according to an article in Gizmodo, after a Reddit poster described seeing "odd" behavior of someone who turned out to be the suspect:

The original Reddit poster, identified only as John in the affidavit, contacted police the next day and came in for an interview. He told them about his odd encounter with the suspect, noting that he was acting suspiciously by not having appropriate cold-weather clothes on when he saw him in a bathroom at Brown University. That was two hours before the shooting. After spotting him in the bathroom wearing a mask, John actually started following the suspect in what he called a "game of cat and mouse...." Police detectives showed John two images obtained through Flock, the company that's built extensive surveillance infrastructure across the U.S. used by investigators, and he recognized the suspect's vehicle, replying, "Holy shit. That might be it," according to the affidavit. Police were able to track down the license plate of the rental car, which gave them a name, and within 24 hours, they had found Claudio Manuel Neves Valente dead in a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire, where he reportedly rented a unit.
"We intend to continue using technology to make sure our law enforcement are empowered to do their jobs," Flock's safety CEO Garrett Langley wrote on X.com, pinning the post to the top of his feed.

Though ironically, hours before Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez credited Flock for helping to find the suspect, CNN was interviewing Flock's safety CEO to discuss "his response to recent privacy concerns surrounding Flock's technology."

To Langley, the situation underscored the value and importance of Flock's technology, despite mounting privacy concerns that have prompted some jurisdictions to cancel contracts with the company... Langley told me on Thursday that he was motivated to start Flock to keep Americans safer. His goal is to deter crime by convincing would-be criminals they'll be caught... One of Flock's cameras had recently spotted [the suspect's] car, helping police pinpoint Valente's location. Flock turned on additional AI capabilities that were not part of Providence Police's contract with the company to assist in the hunt, a company spokesperson told CNN, including a feature that can identify the same vehicle based on its description even if its license plates have been changed.

The company has faced criticism from some privacy advocates and community groups who worry that its networks of cameras are collecting too much personal information from private citizens and could be misused. Both the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union have urged communities not to work with Flock.
"State legislatures and local governments around the nation need to enact strong, meaningful protections of our privacy and way of life against this kind of AI surveillance machinery," ACLU Senior Policy Analyst Jay Stanley wrote in an August blog post. Flock also drew scrutiny in October when it announced a partnership with Amazon's Ring doorbell camera system... ["Local officers using Flock Safety's technology can now post a request directly in the Ring Neighbors app asking for help," explains Flock's blog post.]

Langley told me it was up to police to reassure communities that the cameras would be used responsibly... "If you don't trust law enforcement to do their job, that's actually what you're concerned about, and I'm not going to help people get over that." Langley added that Flock has built some guardrails into its technology, including audit trails that show when data was accessed. He pointed to a case in Georgia where that audit found a police chief using data from LPR cameras to stalk and harass people. The chief resigned and was arrested and charged in November...

More recently, the company rolled out a "drone as first responder" service — where law enforcement officers can dispatch a drone equipped with a camera, whose footage is similarly searchable via AI, to evaluate the scene of an emergency call before human officers arrive. Flock's drone systems completed 10,000 flights in the third quarter of 2025 alone, according to the company... I asked what he'd tell communities already worried about surveillance from LPRs who might be wary of camera-equipped drones also flying overhead. He said cities can set their own limitations on drone usage, such as only using drones to respond to 911 calls or positioning the drones' cameras on the horizon while flying until they reach the scene. He added that the drones fly at an elevation of 400 feet.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/12/20/1940214/flock-executive-says-their-camera-helped-find-shooting-suspect-addresses-privacy-concerns?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Military Satellites Now Maneuver, Watch Each Other, and Monitor Signals and Data
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-12-21 00:22:01


An anonymous reader shared this report from the Washington Post. (Alternate URL here):

The American patrol satellite had the targets in its sights: two recently launched Chinese spacecraft flying through one of the most sensitive neighborhoods in space. Like any good tactical fighter, the American spacecraft, known as USA 270, approached from behind, so that the sun would be at its back, illuminating the quarry.
But then one of the Chinese satellites countered by slowing down. As USA 270 zipped by, the Chinese satellite dropped in behind its American pursuer, like Maverick's signature "hit-the-brakes" move in the movie "Top Gun." The positions reversed, U.S. officials controlling their spacecraft from Earth were forced to plot their next move. The encounter some 22,000 miles above Earth in 2022 was never acknowledged publicly by the Pentagon or Beijing. Happening out of sight and little noticed except by space and defense specialists, this kind of orbital skirmishing has become so common that defense officials now refer to it as "dogfighting..."

Much of the "dogfighting" activity in space is simply for spying, defense analysts say, with specifics largely classified — snapping photos of each other's satellites to learn what kind of systems are on board and their capabilities. They monitor the signals and data emitted by satellites, listening to communications between space and the ground. Many can even jam those signals or interfere with orbiting craft that provide missile warnings, spy or relay critical information to troops... Traditionally, once a satellite was in orbit, it largely stayed on a fixed path, its operators reluctant to burn precious fuel. But now, the Pentagon and its adversaries, notably China and Russia, are launching satellites designed to fly in more dynamic ways that resemble aircraft — banking hard, slowing down, speeding up, even flying in tandem.

"Traditionally satellites weren't designed to fight, and they weren't designed to protect themselves in a fight," said Clinton Clark, the chief growth officer of ExoAnalytic Solutions, a company that monitors activity in space. "That is all changing now."

"Unlike dogfights between fighter jets, the jockeying-for-position encounters in orbit take place over several hours, even days," the article points out.

But it also notes that recently Germany's defense minister "complained about a Russian satellite that had been flying close to a commercial communications satellite used by the German military. 'They can jam, blind, manipulate or kinetically disrupt satellites,' he said."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/12/20/0418259/military-satellites-now-maneuver-watch-each-other-and-monitor-signals-and-data?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] 'Subscription Captivity': When Things You Buy Own You
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-12-20 23:22:01


A reporter at Mother Jones writes about a $169 alarm clock with special lighting and audio effects. But to use the features, "you need to pay an additional $4.99 per month, in perpetuity."

"Welcome to the age of subscription captivity, where an increasing share of the things you pay for actually own you."

What vexes me are the companies that sell physical products for a hefty, upfront fee and subsequently demand more money to keep using items already in your possession. This encompasses those glorified alarm clocks, but also: computer printers, wearable wellness devices, and some features on pricey new cars.

Subscription-based business models are great for businesses because they amount to consistent revenue streams. They're often bad for consumers for the same reason: You have to pay companies, consistently. We're effectively being $5 per month-ed (or more) to death, and it's only going to get worse. Industry research suggests the average customer spent $219 per month on subscriptions in 2023. In 2024, the global subscription market was an estimated $492 billion. By 2033, that figure is expected to triple.

Companies would argue these models benefit consumers, not just their bottom lines. For example, HP's Instant Ink program suggests you will never again find your device out of ink when you need it most. The printer apparently knows when it's running low, spurring automatic deliveries of ink to your home for $7.99 per month if you select the company-recommended plan. But if you cancel the subscription, the printer will literally hold hostage the half-full cartridges already sitting in your printer. The ransom to use it? Re-enroll... The company has added firmware to its technology that deliberately blocks cheaper, off-brand cartridges from working at all...

"There's even a subscription service that enables you to track and cancel your piling subscriptions — for just $6 to $12 per month."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/12/20/0754203/subscription-captivity-when-things-you-buy-own-you?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Как я писал систему, которая упростит поиск квартиры мечты
bot.habr.rss
BotHabr(tgi,2) — All
2025-12-20 23:35:02


Опубликовано: Sat, 20 Dec 2025 19:15:50 GMT
Канал: Все статьи подряд / DIY или Сделай сам / Хабр

Покупка квартиры — достаточно сложное и дорогое дело. Хочется выбрать лучшее из того, что есть на рынке и не прогадать по цене. С такими мыслями наша семья начинала поиски квартиры на вторичном рынке в Санкт Петербурге в начале 2023 года.Объявления в России принято искать на многочисленных площадках с недвижимостью: Циан, Авито, Дом Клик и так далее У каждой свои механики и множество объектов недвижимости. Я пытался просмотреть все, которые подходили по параметрам «станция метро», «время до метро», «максимальная цена», «минимальная площадь». Но вскоре понял, что это занимает слишком много времени ежедневно. Читать о приключении на 20 минут]]>

https://habr.com/ru/articles/978916/

[>] EV Battery-Swapping Startup That Raised $330 Million Files for Bankruptcy
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-12-20 22:22:02


In 2023 Slashdot covered a battery-swapping startup that promised to give EVs a full charge in about the same time it takes to fill a tank of gas.

They just filed for bankruptcy, reports Inc:

Ample was founded in 2014 with a goal of "solving slow charging times and infrastructure incompatibility" for commercial EV fleets such as those in logistics, ride-hailing, and delivery, the filing states. To-date, Ample has raised more than $330 million across five rounds of funding to finance research and development and deployment. Rather than tackling fast charging, its strategy involved developing "fully autonomous modular battery swapping," capable of delivering a fully charged battery in just five minutes. The technology requires purpose-built "Ample stations" that look a little like carwashes. A car is guided into the bay and elevated on a platform. A robot then identifies the location of a car's battery module, removes it, and replaces it with a charged module, Canary Media reported.

The company also boasts partnerships with Uber, Mitsubishi, and Stellantis, and notes it has deployed its technology — or is pursuing deployment — in San Francisco, Madrid and Tokyo. Even so, it ran up against funding issues. In its filing, Ample attributed its bankruptcy to macroeconomic and industry headwinds, such as "severe supply chain disruptions," "contraction in both public and private investment in renewable energy" and the "reduction, delay, or redirection of government incentives intended to accelerate EV adoption." The filing notes that regulatory and permitting delays slowed its launch in international markets, after which access to capital foiled its scaling efforts. The company eliminated all but two full-time, non-executive employees after formerly employing about 200...

Electrek noted that Ample is the second battery swapping startup to go bankrupt after California-based Better Place in collapsed in 2013 amid financial issues related to how capital intensive it was to build infrastructure, Reuters reported. And Tesla briefly pursued the concept, building a station in California, before ditching the idea altogether.

Ample "claimed to have designed autonomous battery swapping stations that would be rapidly deployable, cheap to build, and could adapt to any EV design with a modular battery which would be easy for manufacturers to use," notes Electrek's article:

Where this bankruptcy leaves Ample's technology is unclear. Another company could snap it up and try to do something with it, if they find that the technology is real and useful. Ample had gotten investments and partnerships with Shell, Mitsubishi and Stellantis, for example, so the company wasn't alone in touting its tech. Or, it could just disappear, as other EV battery swapping plans have before...

That's not to say that nobody has been successful at at implementing battery swap, though. NIO seems to be successful with its battery swapping tech in China, though the company did miss its 2025 scaling goals by a longshot. But as of yet, this is the only notable example of a successful battery swap initiative, and it was done by an automaker itself, rather than a startup claiming to work for every automaker.

Electrek's writer is "just not bullish on battery swapping as a solution in general. Currently, the fastest-charging vehicles can charge from 10-80% in about 18 minutes. While that's longer than 5 minutes, it's not really a terrible amount of time to spend during most stops."

Plus, if cars come and go in 5 minutes instead of 18 minutes, "then you're going to have more than triple the throughput at peak utilization." And Ample's prices would be about the same as normal EV quick-charging prices...

[ Read more of this story ]( https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/25/12/20/0733202/ev-battery-swapping-startup-that-raised-330-million-files-for-bankruptcy?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Выпуск Coreboot 25.12, открытой альтернативы проприетарным прошивкам
lor.opennet
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-12-20 21:44:03


Опубликован выпуск проекта CoreBoot 25.12, разрабатывающего свободную альтернативу проприетарным прошивкам и BIOS. Код проекта распространяется под лицензией GPLv2. В состав новой версии включено 680 изменений, подготовленных при участии 110 разработчиков.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=64460

[>] Firefox Will Ship With an 'AI Kill Switch' To Completely Disable All AI Features
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-12-20 21:22:02


An anonymous reader shared this report from 9to5Linux:

After the controversial news shared earlier this week by Mozilla's new CEO that Firefox will evolve into "a modern AI browser," the company now revealed it is working on an AI kill switch for the open-source web browser...

What was not made clear [in Tuesday's comments by new Mozilla CEO Anthony Enzor-DeMeo] is that Firefox will also ship with an AI kill switch that will let users completely disable all the AI features that are included in Firefox. Mozilla shared this important update earlier Thursday to make it clear to everyone that Firefox will still be a trusted web browser.... "...that's how seriously and absolutely we're taking this," said Firefox developer Jake Archibald on Mastodon.

In addition, Jake Archibald said that all the AI features that are or will be included in Firefox will also be opt-in. "I think there are some grey areas in what 'opt-in' means to different people (e.g. is a new toolbar button opt-in?), but the kill switch will absolutely remove all that stuff, and never show it in future. That's unambiguous..."

Mozilla has contacted me shortly after writing the story to confirm that the "AI Kill Switch" will be implemented in Q1 2026."

The article also cites this quote left by Mozilla's new CEO on Reddit:

"Rest assured, Firefox will always remain a browser built around user control. That includes AI. You will have a clear way to turn AI features off. A real kill switch is coming in Q1 of 2026. Choice matters and demonstrating our commitment to choice is how we build and maintain trust."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/12/20/0643217/firefox-will-ship-with-an-ai-kill-switch-to-completely-disable-all-ai-features?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.