Бьёрн Страуструп (Bjarne Stroustrup), создатель языка C++, призвал комитет WG21, отвечающий за разработку стандартов для языка C++, предпринять меры для сохранения актуальности C++ в условиях активного продвижения инициатив по переходу на языки, обеспечивающие безопасную работу с памятью. Страуструп считает, что язык С++ уже предоставляет все возможности, необходимые для безопасной работы с памятью. Остаётся только предоставить средства, гарантирующие, что код написан с использование только безопасных возможностей.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=62821

Apple users noticed a change in 2023, "when streaming platforms like Netflix, HBO Max, Amazon Prime, and the Criterion Channel imposed a quiet embargo on the screenshot," noted the film blog Screen Slate:

At first, there were workarounds: users could continue to screenshot by using the browser Brave or by downloading extensions or third-party tools like Fireshot. But gradually, the digital-rights-management tech adapted and became more sophisticated. Today, it is nearly impossible to take a screenshot from the most popular streaming services, at least not on a Macintosh computer. The shift occurred without remark or notice to subscribers, and there's no clear explanation as to why or what spurred the change...

For PC users, this story takes a different, and happier, turn. With the use of Snipping Tool — a utility exclusive to Microsoft Windows, users are free to screen grab content from all streaming platforms. This seems like a pointed oversight, a choice on the part of streamers to exclude Mac users (though they make up a tiny fraction of the market) because of their assumed cultural class.
"I'm not entirely sure what the technical answer to this is," tech blogger John Gruber wrote this weekend, "but on MacOS, it seemingly involves the GPU and video decoding hardware..."

These DRM blackouts on Apple devices (you can't capture screenshots from DRM video on iPhones or iPads either) are enabled through the deep integration between the OS and the hardware, thus enabling the blackouts to be imposed at the hardware level. And I don't think the streaming services opt into this screenshot prohibition other than by "protecting" their video with DRM in the first place. If a video is DRM-protected, you can't screenshot it; if it's not, you can.

On the Mac, it used to be the case that DRM video was blacked-out from screen capture in Safari, but not in Chrome (or the dozens of various Chromium-derived browsers). But at some point a few years back, you stopped being able to capture screenshots from DRM videos in Chrome, tooâ — âby default. But in Chrome's Settings page, under System, if you disable "Use graphics acceleration when available" and relaunch Chrome, boom, you can screenshot everything in a Chrome window, including DRM video...

What I don't understand is why Apple bothered supporting this in the first place for hardware-accelerated video (which is all video on iOS platformsâ — âthere is no workaround like using Chrome with hardware acceleration disabled on iPhone or iPad). No one is going to create bootleg copies of DRM-protected video one screenshotted still frame at a timeâ — âand even if they tried, they'd be capturing only the images, not the sound. And it's not like this "feature" in MacOS and iOS has put an end to bootlegging DRM-protected video content.
Gruber's conclusion? "This 'feature' accomplishes nothing of value for anyone, including the streaming services, but imposes a massive (and for most people, confusing and frustrating) hindrance on honest people simply trying to easily capture high-quality (as opposed to, say, using their damn phone to take a photograph of their reflective laptop display) screenshots of the shows and movies they're watching."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://apple.slashdot.org/story/25/03/03/0245252/why-cant-we-screenshot-frames-from-drm-protected-video-on-apple-devices?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

China aims to commercialize nuclear fusion technology for use in emissions-free power generation by 2050, according to the countryâ(TM)s state-owned atomic company. From a report: China National Nuclear Corp., which runs an experimental device dubbed the 'artificial sun,' could start commercial operation of its first power generation project about five years after a demonstration phase starting around 2045, it said in a media briefing on Friday.

The Asian nation has recently stepped up its ambitions in achieving nuclear fusion, a process by which the sun and other stars generate energy and that is considered a near-infinite form of clean energy. It is notoriously difficult to carry out in a sustained and usable manner and only a handful of countries like the US, Russia and South Korea have managed to crack the basics.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/03/03/1335250/china-may-be-ready-to-use-nuclear-fusion-for-power-by-2050?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Daniel Parris: Some TV shows take a while to "get good." Modern classics like Breaking Bad, The Wire, Community, and Bojack Horseman are notorious for "starting slow" and are often recommended with a disclaimer like "Give it a few episodes; I promise it gets good!"

At the same time, some shows never get good. Recently, I started a spy series called The Agency, which could best be characterized as premium mediocre (at least so far). There are big-name actors (Michael Fassbender, Jeffrey Wright, Richard Gere), expensive sets, and glossy camerawork -- but after a few installments, I'm trapped in a liminal space between engaged and listless. At the end of each episode, I'm left with the same thought: "Maybe the next one will get good."

Committing to a mediocre program or continuing with a floundering series elicits a state of (mildly) torturous ambiguity. Should you cut your losses, or is this show some late-blooming classic like Breaking Bad? What is the optimal number of episodes one should watch before cleansing a subpar series from their life? Surely, a universal number must exist! Like 42, but for television. So today, we'll explore how long it takes a new show to reach its full potential and how many lackluster episodes you should grant an established series before cutting ties. His analysis reveals that viewers should watch six episodes before quitting TV shows. The study, based on IMDb user ratings, found most series require six to seven episodes before early ratings match or exceed the show's long-term average. After six consecutive subpar episodes, the likelihood of permanent decline exceeds 50%, making it the optimal point to abandon disappointing series.

Several acclaimed shows including Breaking Bad, Friends, and Seinfeld required multiple episodes before reaching their quality potential, with Seinfeld needing 16 episodes to match its series average. The research also identified a pattern where long-running shows typically experience quality decline around seasons five and six, with ratings dropping below first-season averages and continuing to fall.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/25/03/03/1424248/how-many-episodes-should-you-watch-before-quitting-a-tv-show-a-statistical-analysis?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Speaking of some concept devices that Lenovo has unveiled, the company today teased its ThinkBook "codename Flip" AI PC Concept at Mobile World Congress, featuring a flexible 18.1-inch OLED display that can transform between three configurations: a traditional 13.1-inch clamshell, a folded 12.9-inch tablet, or a laptop with an extra-tall vertical screen.

Unlike the motorized ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 expected in June, the Flip uses the display's flexibility to fold behind itself, eliminating motors while gaining 0.4 inches of additional screen space. Users can mirror content on the rear-facing portion when folded or enjoy the full 2000x2664 resolution display in vertical orientation. The concept also features a SmartForcePad trackpad with LED-illuminated shortcut layers. While still in prototype phase, Lenovo has specs in mind: Intel Ultra 7 processor, 32GB RAM, PCIe SSD storage, and Thunderbolt 4 connectivity.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/03/03/1529214/lenovos-thinkbook-flip-puts-an-extra-tall-folding-display-on-a-laptop?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Nvidia and Broadcom are conducting manufacturing tests using Intel's advanced 18A chip production process, according to Reuters, signaling potential confidence in the struggling chipmaker's contract manufacturing ambitions. The previously unreported tests could lead to significant manufacturing contracts for Intel, whose foundry business has suffered delays and lacks major chip designer customers.

AMD is also evaluating Intel's 18A technology, which competes with Taiwan's dominant TSMC, according to the report. The current tests focus on determining capabilities of Intel's process rather than running complete chip designs. Intel faces additional setbacks, with qualification of critical intellectual property for 18A taking longer than expected, potentially delaying some customer chip production until mid-2026.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/03/03/164209/nvidia-and-broadcom-testing-chips-on-intel-manufacturing-process?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Job placement rates have declined at all top U.S. business schools [non-paywalled source] since 2021, leaving MBA graduates anxious about their expensive degrees' return on investment. Harvard Business School, which produced Wall Street titans like Bill Ackman and Ray Dalio, saw the percentage of graduates without job offers three months post-graduation rise from 4% in 2021 to 15% currently.

Similar trends are evident at Stanford, Chicago Booth, MIT Sloan, and Wharton, where 7% of 2024 graduates lacked offers within three months of completing their programs. Industry experts cited in a Bloomberg report attribute the downturn to tepid white-collar job growth, declining private-sector wages, and high-profile layoffs at companies including Meta and JPMorgan.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/03/03/1652255/graduates-from-top-mba-programs-are-struggling-to-land-jobs?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Опубликован релиз Ubuntu Touch OTA-8 (Focal). Обновление является частью серии 20.04, однако разработчики сосредоточены на переводе системы на другую ветку Ubuntu, в связи с чем список изменений небольшой.

Основные нововведения:

• появилась поддержка VoLTE (Voice over LTE) на Volla Phone X23 и Volla Phone 22 (через прослойку Halium);

• добавлена возможность удаления аватарки добавленного контакта;

• появилась поддержка подключения к сетям Wi-Fi, защищённым по WPA3.

Поддерживаемые устройства:

• Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1

• F(x)tec Pro1 X

• Fairphone 3 and 3+

• Fairphone 4

• Google Pixel 3a and 3a XL

• JingPad A1

• Oneplus 5 and 5T

• OnePlus 6 and 6T

• OnePlus Nord N10 5G

• OnePlus Nord N100

• Sony Xperia X

• Volla Phone

• Volla Phone X

• Volla Phone 22

• Volla Phone X23

• Volla Phone Quintus

• Volla Tablet

• Xiaomi Poco M2 Pro

• Xiaomi Poco X3 NFC / X3

• Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro/Pro Max/9S

https://www.linux.org.ru/news/pda/17901830

В середине 2023го года, [ Интел заявил об инициативе x86S ]( https://www.linux.org.ru/forum/talks/17234994 )  — упрощения x86. Инициатива заключалась в полном удалении real-mode, удалении 16-битных инструкций из protected/long mode и частичном удалении
32-битных инструкций (для пользовательского режима 32-битные инструкции оставлялись — удалялись лишь системные).

Помимо этого, под редукцию попадал и механизм VTx — расширения для виртуализации, в котором, до этого, старались сохранять всё необходимое для совместимости с «устаревшими» ОС. Расширение VTx лежит в основе подсистемы linux/KVM, предоставляющей средства для работы виртуальных машин, а значит, работа множества ОС под виртуальными машинами, была бы существенно замедлена.

В конце 2024-го года, инициатива x86S была, наконец, свёрнута. Вместо неё, компания Intel создала рабочую группу с участием
AMD и Google, целью которой будет обсуждение
дальнейших решений по модификации архитектуры x86.
Таким образом, от попыток внесения изменений «явочным
порядком» (многие из которых уже оканчивались неудачей,
как, например, замена x86 на ia64), Интел впервые решила
перейти к обсуждению будущего архитектуры x86 с другими
участниками рынка.

https://www.linux.org.ru/news/hardware/17901707

U.S. publishers are increasingly abandoning paperback editions of nonfiction books, eliminating a traditional second chance for authors to reach readers with lower-priced versions of their work. New adult nonfiction paperback titles plummeted 42% between 2019 and 2024 [non-paywalled source] to under 40,000, while hardcover titles fell just 9% during the same period, according to Bowker Books in Print.

"It's profoundly demoralizing that a book that might have taken four years to write and was published with such promise is done after five months," Dan Conaway, a senior literary agent with Writers House, told WSJ. The shift reflects changing consumer habits, the rise of digital formats, and market realities where Amazon sometimes prices hardcovers below paperbacks. Barnes & Noble now promotes just one nonfiction paperback monthly.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/03/03/1740212/waiting-for-the-paperback-good-luck?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Britain, the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, now suffers from its opposite: profound energy shortages and deep affordability crises [non-paywalled link]. A new report titled "Foundations" identifies the root cause -- "it is difficult to build almost anything, anywhere" in the UK.

Housing exemplifies this malaise. Since the 1990s, homeownership among young British workers has halved while housing prices doubled. The 1947 Town and Country Planning Act effectively nationalized development rights, requiring special permission for new construction and establishing restrictive "green belts." Despite Margaret Thatcher's market reforms, British house-building never recovered.

This constrictive policy has stymied potential growth beyond housing, Atlantic reports. Cambridge remains a small city despite biotech breakthroughs that might have transformed it into a major hub. Transit infrastructure languishes -- Leeds is Europe's largest city without a metro system. Energy production has collapsed, with per capita electricity generation now roughly one-third of America's.

Britain faces a self-imposed scarcity crisis. Environmental regulations, while beneficial, created a one-way system where lawsuits easily block development. As co-author Sam Bowman summarized: "Europe has an energy problem; the Anglosphere has a housing problem; Britain has both." The solution requires comprehensive reform-- overhauling the planning system, reducing anti-growth litigation, and encouraging energy production to unlock what the private sector "already wants to do."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/03/03/182255/how-the-british-broke-their-own-economy?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Представлена прошивка OTA-8 Focal (over-the-air), развиваемая проектом UBports, взявшим в свои руки разработку мобильной платформы Ubuntu Touch, после того как от неё отстранилась компания Canonical. Это восьмой выпуск Ubuntu Touch, основанный на пакетной базе Ubuntu 20.04. Проектом также развивается экспериментальный порт рабочего стола Unity 8, который переименован в Lomiri.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=62822

Silicon Valley, the place that did more than any other to pioneer artificial intelligence, is the most exposed to its ability to automate work. That's according to an analysis by researchers at the Brookings Institution, a think tank, which matched the tasks that OpenAI's ChatGPT-4 could do with the jobs that are most common in different US cities. From a report: The result is a sharp departure from previous rounds of automation. Whereas technologies like robotics came for middle-class jobs -- and manufacturing cities such as Detroit -- generative AI is best at the white-collar work that's highly paid and most common in "superstar" cities like San Francisco and Washington, DC.

The Brookings analysis is of the US, but the same logic would apply anywhere: The more a city's economy is oriented around white-collar knowledge work, the more exposed it is to AI. "Exposure" doesn't necessarily mean automation, stressed Mark Muro, a senior fellow at Brookings and one of the study's authors. It could also mean productivity gains. From the Brookings report: Now, the higher-end workers and regions only mildly exposed to earlier forms of automation look to be most involved (for better or worse) with generative AI and its facility for cognitive, office-type tasks. In that vein, workers in high-skill metro areas such as San Jose, Calif.; San Francisco; Durham, N.C.; New York; and Washington D.C. appear likely to experience heavy involvement with generative AI, while those in less office-oriented metro areas such as Las Vegas; Toledo, Ohio; and Fort Wayne, Ind. appear far less susceptible. For instance, while 43% of workers in San Jose could see generative AI shift half or more of their work tasks, that share is only 31% of workers in Las Vegas.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/03/03/2011256/the-us-cities-whose-workers-are-most-exposed-to-ai?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Исследователи из компании Truffle Security опубликовали результаты анализа публичного набора данных Common Crawl, используемого при обучении больших языковых моделей (например, DeepSeek и ChatGPT). В исследовании использован декабрьский архив Common Crawl, включающий 400 терабайтов данных с содержимым 2.67 миллиардов web-страниц.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=62823

Вышла первая альфа-версия нативного порта RPCS3, эмулятора PlayStation 3, на Android. Разрабатывает его один из основателей проекта [ RPCS3 ]( https://rpcs3.net ) (а также [ RPCSX ]( https://github.com/RPCSX )  — эмулятора PS4), много лет ведущий работу над ним, [ DH ]( https://github.com/DHrpcs3 ) .

Ранее вышел официальный нативный порт RPCS3 на ArmLinux (Raspberry Pi, PineBook, Ubuntu Touch, Orange Pi и прочие устройства на Linux с Arm).

https://www.linux.org.ru/news/android/17902135

The world's biggest call center company is using artificial intelligence to "neutralise" Indian accents for Western customers. From a report: Teleperformance said it was applying real-time AI software on phone calls in order to increase "human empathy" between two people on the phone. The French company's customers in the UK include parts of the Government, the NHS, Vodafone and eBay.

Teleperformance has 90,000 employees in India and tens of thousands more in other countries. It is using software from Sanas, an American company that says the system helps "build a more understanding world" and reduces miscommunication. The company's website says it makes call center workers more productive and means customer service calls are resolved more quickly. The company also says it means call center workers are less likely to be abused and customers are less likely to demand to speak to a supervisor. It is already used by companies including Walmart and UPS.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/03/03/2029218/call-centers-using-ai-to-whiten-indian-accents?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Former Intel CEO Craig Barrett urged the rehiring of Pat Gelsinger, who was abruptly fired two months ago, arguing he should "finish the job he has aptly handled over the past few years."

"Pat Gelsinger did a great job resuscitating the technology development team," Barrett wrote, criticizing the company's current leadership under "a CFO and a product manager." He suggested firing the Intel board rather than splitting the company.

Barrett's comments come in response to proposals from four former board members advocating for Intel's separation into design and manufacturing businesses. Barrett dismissed these board members as "two academics and two former government bureaucrats" lacking semiconductor industry expertise.

The former CEO praised Intel's technological resurgence under Gelsinger, noting its capabilities now match industry leader TSMC's 2nm technology, with additional advances in imaging technology and backside power delivery to complex chips. "Intel is backâ"from a technology point of view," Barrett wrote, arguing the best path forward is building on current momentum rather than organizational restructuring that would disrupt the company's 100,000-plus employees across multiple continents.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/03/03/2051256/former-intel-ceo-barrett-calls-for-board-dismissal-and-gelsingers-return?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Chipmaker TSMC said that it aims to invest "at least" $100 billion in chip manufacturing plants in the U.S. over the next four years as part of an effort to expand the company's network of semiconductor factories. President Donald Trump announced the news during a press conference Monday. TSMC's cash infusion will fund the construction of several new facilities in Arizona, C. C. Wei, chairman and CEO of TSMC, said during the briefing. "We are going to produce many AI chips to support AI progress," Wei said.

TSMC previously pledged to pour $65 billion into U.S.-based fabrication plants and has received up to $6.6 billion in grants from the CHIPS Act, a major Biden administration-era law that sought to boost domestic semiconductor production. The new investment brings TSMC's total investments in the U.S. chip industry to around $165 billion, Trump said in prepared remarks. [...] TSMC, the world's largest contract chip maker, already has several facilities in the U.S., including a factory in Arizona that began mass production late last year. But the company currently reserves its most sophisticated facilities for its home country of Taiwan.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/03/03/2135222/tsmc-pledges-to-spend-100-billion-on-us-chip-facilities?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Microsoft has introduced Dragon Copilot, a voice-activated AI assistant for doctors that integrates dictation and ambient listening tools to automate clinical documentation, including notes, referrals, and post-visit summaries. The tool is set to launch in May in the U.S. and Canada. CNBC reports: Microsoft acquired Nuance Communications, the company behind Dragon Medical One and DAX Copilot, for about $16 billion in 2021. As a result, Microsoft has become a major player in the fiercely competitive AI scribing market, which has exploded in popularity as health systems have been looking for tools to help address burnout. AI scribes like DAX Copilot allow doctors to draft clinical notes in real time as they consensually record their visits with patients. DAX Copilot has been used in more than 3 million patient visits across 600 health-care organizations in the last month, Microsoft said.

Dragon Copilot is accessible through a mobile app, browser or desktop, and it integrates directly with several different electronic health records, the company said. Clinicians will still be able to draft clinical notes with the assistant like they could with DAX Copilot, but they'll be able to use natural language to edit their documentation and prompt it further, Kenn Harper, general manager of Dragon products at Microsoft, told reporters on the call. For instance, a doctor could ask questions like, "Was the patient experiencing ear pain?" or "Can you add the ICD-10 codes to the assessment and plan?" Physicians can also ask broader treatment-related queries such as, "Should this patient be screened for lung cancer?" and get an answer with links to resources like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. [...]

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/03/03/227225/microsoft-unveils-new-voice-activated-ai-assistant-for-doctors?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

A fully driverless Maserati MC20 Coupe set a new autonomous land speed record, reaching 197.7 mph at the Kennedy Space Center. The Verge reports: The Maserati was running self-driving software developed by Politecnico di Milano, Italy's largest scientific and technological university. The team also worked with the Indy Autonomous Challenge, which most recently ran at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway during CES 2025. In the shadow of NASA's iconic Space Shuttles, the race car flew down the 2.8-mile runway at record-breaking speeds, surpassing the 192.2mph record that was also held by Indy Autonomous Challenge and PoliMOVE, set by an IAC AV-21 race car in April 2022.

The Maserati MC20 is a stylish -- and expensive -- choice for the autonomous run. Retailing for at least $239,000, the race car sports a mid-mounted, twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 that Maserati calls the Nettuno. The engine makes serious power: 621 horsepower and 538 pound-feet of torque, which is sent through an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission to the rear wheels.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/03/03/2213252/driverless-race-car-sets-a-new-autonomous-speed-record?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: The United States has suspended its offensive cyber operations against Russia, according to reports, amid efforts by the Trump administration to grant Moscow concessions to end the war in Ukraine. The reported order to halt U.S.-launched hacking operations against Russia was authorized by U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, according to The Record. The new guidance affects operations carried out by U.S. Cyber Command, a division of the Department of Defense focused on hacking and operations in cyberspace, but does not apply to espionage operations conducted by the National Security Agency. The reported order has since been confirmed by The New York Times and The Washington Post.

The order was handed down before Friday's Oval Office meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, according to the reports. The New York Times said that the instruction came as part of a broader effort to draw Russian President Vladimir Putin into talks about the country's ongoing war in Ukraine. The Guardian also reports that the Trump administration has signaled it no longer views Russian hackers as a cybersecurity threat, and reportedly ordered U.S. cybersecurity agency CISA to no longer report on Russian threats. The newspaper cites a recent memo that set out new priorities for CISA, including threats faced by China and protecting local systems, but the memo did not mention Russia. CISA employees were reportedly informed verbally that they were to pause any work on Russian cyber threats.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://it.slashdot.org/story/25/03/03/2247209/us-to-halt-offensive-cyber-operations-against-russia?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Google Play on Android devices is being updated to include a new search filter for widgets, widget badges on app detail pages, and a curated editorial page dedicated to widgets. The Verge reports: With the search filter, users will be able to more easily search for apps with widgets. The badge "eliminates guesswork for users and highlights your widget offerings, encouraging them to explore and utilize this capability," Taiwo-Peters says. And the curated editorial page will show off "collections of excellent widgets." The updated widget discoverability tools will be "coming soon," Taiwo-Peters says. "Historically, one of the challenges with investing in widget development has been discoverability and user understanding," product manager Yinka Taiwo-Peters says in the post. "You've asked for better ways for users to find and utilize your widgets, and we're delivering." Yinka Taiwo-Peters also acknowledges that "we understand that the effort required to build and maintain widgets needs to be justified by user adoption."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://devices.slashdot.org/story/25/03/03/238215/google-play-is-going-to-start-highlighting-apps-with-widgets?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

NASA used specialized Schlieren photography to capture an image of Boom Supersonic's XB-1 demonstrator aircraft breaking the sound barrier on February 10, 2025 and producing shock waves as it exceeded Mach 1. The flight produced no audible sonic boom, marking progress toward the goal of quiet supersonic travel. CNN reports: "This image makes the invisible visible," said Blake Scholl, founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic, in a press release. In order to capture the Schlieren images, Boom chief test pilot Tristan "Geppetto" Brandenburg positioned XB-1 at an exact time in a precise location over the Mojave Desert.

As the aircraft flew in front of the sun, NASA's team documented the changing air speeds as speeds over Mach 1, the speed of sound (761.23 miles per hour or 1,225.1 kilometers per hour). The images were captured during ground telescopes with special filters that detect air distortions. You can view the photo here.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/03/03/2346245/nasa-photo-captures-sound-barrier-being-broken?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Since the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022, experts have debated how widely AI language models would impact the world. A few years later, the picture is getting clear. According to new Stanford University-led research examining over 300 million text samples across multiple sectors, AI language models now assist in writing up to a quarter of professional communications across sectors. It's having a large impact, especially in less-educated parts of the United States. "Our study shows the emergence of a new reality in which firms, consumers and even international organizations substantially rely on generative AI for communications," wrote the researchers.

The researchers tracked large language model (LLM) adoption across industries from January 2022 to September 2024 using a dataset that included 687,241 consumer complaints submitted to the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), 537,413 corporate press releases, 304.3 million job postings, and 15,919 United Nations press releases. By using a statistical detection system that tracked word usage patterns, the researchers found that roughly 18 percent of financial consumer complaints (including 30 percent of all complaints from Arkansas), 24 percent of corporate press releases, up to 15 percent of job postings, and 14 percent of UN press releases showed signs of AI assistance during that period of time.

The study also found that while urban areas showed higher adoption overall (18.2 percent versus 10.9 percent in rural areas), regions with lower educational attainment used AI writing tools more frequently (19.9 percent compared to 17.4 percent in higher-education areas). The researchers note that this contradicts typical technology adoption patterns where more educated populations adopt new tools fastest. "In the consumer complaint domain, the geographic and demographic patterns in LLM adoption present an intriguing departure from historical technology diffusion trends where technology adoption has generally been concentrated in urban areas, among higher-income groups, and populations with higher levels of educational attainment." "Arkansas showed the highest adoption rate at 29.2 percent (based on 7,376 complaints), followed by Missouri at 26.9 percent (16,807 complaints) and North Dakota at 24.8 percent (1,025 complaints)," notes Ars. "In contrast, states like West Virginia (2.6 percent), Idaho (3.8 percent), and Vermont (4.8 percent) showed minimal AI writing adoption. Major population centers demonstrated moderate adoption, with California at 17.4 percent (157,056 complaints) and New York at 16.6 percent (104,862 complaints)."

The study was listed on the arXiv preprint server in mid-February.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/03/03/2327219/researchers-find-less-educated-areas-adopting-ai-writing-tools-faster?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

После почти двух лет разработки состоялся релиз открытой платформы OpenBot 0.8, предназначенной для создания движущихся колёсных роботов, основой которых выступает обычный смартфон на базе Android. Платформа создана в исследовательском подразделении компании Intel и развивает идею задействования при создании роботов вычислительных возможностей смартфона и встроенных в смартфон GPS, гироскопа, компаса и камеры. Код, написанный на Swift и Java, распространяется под лицензией MIT.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=62827

Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lander successfully touched down on the moon, making it the first private company to achieve a stable lunar landing without crashing. The craft is carrying various NASA-funded experiments, including a "vacuum to suck up moon dirt for analysis and a drill to measure temperature as deep as 10 feet (3 meters) below the surface," reports the Associated Press. There's also "a device for eliminating abrasive lunar dust -- a scourge for NASA's long-ago Apollo moonwalkers, who got it caked all over their spacesuits and equipment." From the report: A half hour after landing, Blue Ghost started to send back pictures from the surface, the first one a selfie somewhat obscured by the sun's glare. The second shot included the home planet, a blue dot glimmering in the blackness of space. Blue Ghost -- named after a rare U.S. species of fireflies -- had its size and shape going for it. The squat four-legged lander stands 6-foot-6 (2 meters) tall and 11 feet (3.5 meters) wide, providing extra stability, according to the company.

Launched in mid-January from Florida, the lander carried 10 experiments to the moon for NASA. The space agency paid $101 million for the delivery, plus $44 million for the science and tech on board. It's the third mission under NASA's commercial lunar delivery program, intended to ignite a lunar economy of competing private businesses while scouting around before astronauts show up later this decade.

Firefly's Ray Allensworth said the lander skipped over hazards including boulders to land safely. Allensworth said the team continued to analyze the data to figure out the lander's exact position, but all indications suggest it landed within the 328-foot (100-meter) target zone in Mare Crisium. The demos should get two weeks of run time, before lunar daytime ends and the lander shuts down.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/03/04/0310239/private-lunar-lander-blue-ghost-aces-moon-touchdown?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

После семи месяцев разработки опубликован релиз свободного игрового движка Godot 4.4, подходящего для создания 2D- и 3D-игр. Движок поддерживает простой для изучения язык задания игровой логики, графическую среду для проектирования игр, систему развёртывания игр в один клик, возможности анимации и симуляции физических процессов, встроенный отладчик и систему выявления узких мест в производительности. Код игрового движка, среды проектирования игр и сопутствующих средств разработки (физический движок, звуковой сервер, бэкенды 2D/3D рендеринга и т.п.) распространяется под лицензией MIT.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=62828

CISA has warned U.S. federal agencies about active exploitation of vulnerabilities in Cisco VPN routers and Windows systems. "While the cybersecurity agency has tagged these flaws as actively exploited in the wild, it has yet to provide specific details regarding this malicious activity and who is behind it," adds Bleeping Computer. From the report: The first flaw (tracked as CVE-2023-20118) enables attackers to execute arbitrary commands on RV016, RV042, RV042G, RV082, RV320, and RV325 VPN routers. While it requires valid administrative credentials, this can still be achieved by chaining the CVE-2023-20025 authentication bypass, which provides root privileges. Cisco says in an advisory published in January 2023 and updated one year later that its Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT) is aware of CVE-2023-20025 publicly available proof-of-concept exploit code.

The second security bug (CVE-2018-8639) is a Win32k elevation of privilege flaw that local attackers logged into the target system can exploit to run arbitrary code in kernel mode. Successful exploitation also allows them to alter data or create rogue accounts with full user rights to take over vulnerable Windows devices. According to a security advisory issued by Microsoft in December 2018, this vulnerability impacts client (Windows 7 or later) and server (Windows Server 2008 and up) platforms.

Today, CISA added the two vulnerabilities to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which lists security bugs the agency has tagged as exploited in attacks. As mandated by the Binding Operational Directive (BOD) 22-01 issued in November 2021, Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB) agencies now have three weeks, until March 23, to secure their networks against ongoing exploitation.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://it.slashdot.org/story/25/03/04/0315205/cisa-tags-windows-cisco-vulnerabilities-as-actively-exploited?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Google has open sourced an AI model, SpeciesNet, designed to identify animal species by analyzing photos from camera traps. Researchers around the world use camera traps -- digital cameras connected to infrared sensors -- to study wildlife populations. But while these traps can provide valuable insights, they generate massive volumes of data that take days to weeks to sift through. In a bid to help, Google launched Wildlife Insights, an initiative of the company's Google Earth Outreach philanthropy program, around six years ago. Wildlife Insights provides a platform where researchers can share, identify, and analyze wildlife images online, collaborating to speed up camera trap data analysis.

Many of Wildlife Insights' analysis tools are powered by SpeciesNet, which Google claims was trained on over 65 million publicly available images and images from organizations like the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, the Wildlife Conservation Society, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, and the Zoological Society of London. Google says that SpeciesNet can classify images into one of more than 2,000 labels, covering animal species, taxa like "mammalian" or "Felidae," and non-animal objects (e.g. "vehicle"). SpeciesNet is available on GitHub under an Apache 2.0 license, meaning it can be used commercially largely sans restrictions.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/03/04/0321215/google-releases-speciesnet-an-ai-model-designed-to-identify-wildlife?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Realme plans to double smartphone battery capacity to 10,000mAh within its three-year strategic roadmap, the company said at tradeshow MWC on Tuesday. Current flagship devices typically offer 5,000mAh, while Realme's latest models already ship with 6,000mAh cells. The company expects to implement 7,500mAh batteries next year before reaching the 10,000mAh target, PCMag reported, citing the firm.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/25/03/04/1132213/realme-charts-path-to-10000mah-phone-batteries-by-2026?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

China's highest court has called for a crack down on the activities of paper mills, businesses that churn out fraudulent or poor-quality manuscripts and sell authorships. Nature: Some researchers are cautiously optimistic that the court's guidance will help curb the use of these services, while others think the impact will be minimal. "This is the first time the supreme court has issued guidance on paper mills and on scientific fraud," says Wang Fei, who studies research-integrity policy at Dalian University of Technology in China.

Paper mills sell suspect research and authorships to researchers who want journal articles to burnish their CVs. They are a significant contributor to overall research misconduct, particularly in China. Last month, the Supreme People's Court published a set of guiding opinions on technology innovation. Among the list of 25 articles, one called for lower courts to crack down on 'paper industry chains,' and for research fraud to be severely punished. Further reading:
Research Reveals Data on Which Institutions Are Retraction Hotspots;
Paper Mills Have Flooded Science With 400,000 Fake Studies, Experts Warn.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/03/04/1331210/chinas-supreme-court-calls-for-crack-down-on-paper-mills?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

AmiMoJo shares a report: Europe's biggest battery storage project has entered commercial operation in Scotland [alternative source], promising to soak up surplus wind power and prevent turbines being paid to switch off.

Zenobe said the first phase of its project at Blackhillock, between Inverness and Aberdeen, was now live with capacity to store enough power to supply 200 megawatts of electricity for two hours. It is due to be expanded to 300 megawatts by next year, enough to supply 3.1 million homes, more than every household in Scotland.

The government's Clean Power 2030 action plan sets a target capacity of up to 27 gigawatts of batteries by 2030, a sixfold increase from the 4.5 gigawatts installed today. This huge expansion is seen as critical as Britain builds more renewable wind and solar power, since batteries can store surplus generation for use when the wind does not blow and the sun does not shine.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/03/04/1348203/europes-biggest-battery-powered-up-in-scotland?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Apple today announced a significant update to its iPad Air lineup, integrating the M3 chip previously reserved for higher-end devices. The new tablets, available in both 11-inch ($599) and 13-inch ($799) configurations, deliver substantial performance gains: nearly 2x faster than M1-equipped models and 3.5x faster than A14 Bionic versions.

The M3 brings Apple's advanced graphics architecture to the Air for the first time, featuring dynamic caching, hardware-accelerated mesh shading, and ray tracing. The chip includes an 8-core CPU delivering 35% faster multithreaded performance over M1, paired with a 9-core GPU offering 40% faster graphics. The Neural Engine processes AI workloads 60% faster than M1, the company said. Apple also introduced a redesigned Magic Keyboard ($269/$319) with function row and larger trackpad.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://apple.slashdot.org/story/25/03/04/1552204/apple-unveils-ipad-air-with-m3-chip?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Состоялся релиз web-браузера Firefox 136 и сформированы обновления прошлых веток с длительным сроком поддержки - 115.21.0 и 128.8.0. На стадию бета-тестирования переведена ветка Firefox 137, релиз которой намечен на 1 апреля.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=62829

EmagGeek shares a report: Scientists have genetically engineered mice with some key characteristics of an extinct animal that was far larger -- the woolly mammoth. This "woolly mouse" marks an important step toward achieving the researchers' ultimate goal -- bringing a woolly mammoth-like creature back from extinction, they say.

"For us, it's an incredibly big deal," says Beth Shapiro, chief science officer at Colossal Biosciences, a Dallas company trying to resurrect the woolly mammoth and other extinct species. The company announced the creation of the woolly mice Tuesday in a news release and posted a scientific paper online detailing the achievement. Scientists implanted genetically modified embryos in female lab mice that gave birth to the first of the woolly pups in October.

My editorial: One has to wonder why it is necessary or even a great idea to bring back species that nature long ago determined were a failure.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/03/04/1624239/scientists-create-woolly-mice?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

After California's bar exams were plagued last week with technical problems, the State Bar of California is recommending that the agency return to in-person tests as it scrutinizes whether the vendor behind the new testing system met the obligations of its contract. From a report: "Based on the administration of the February Bar Exam, staff cannot recommend going forward with Meazure Learning," Donna Hershkowitz, chief of admissions for the State Bar, wrote to the agency's Board of Trustees in a staff memo, referring to the vendor. Instead, she wrote, staff recommend reverting to in-person testing for the next round of exams in July.

The State Bar's 13-member board, which is scheduled to meet March 5, will ultimately decide on plans for the July bar exam and remedies for test takers who faced problems. In a statement Monday, the State Bar said it is "closely scrutinizing whether Meazure Learning met its contractual obligations" in administering the February State Bar exam and will be "actively working with its psychometrician and other stakeholders to determine the full scope of necessary remediation measures for February 2025 bar exam test takers."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://it.slashdot.org/story/25/03/04/1728200/after-exam-fiasco-california-state-bar-staff-recommend-reverting-to-in-person-exams?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Apple is stepping up its fight with the British government over a demand to create a "back door" in its most secure cloud storage systems, by filing a legal complaint that it hopes will overturn the order. Financial Times: The iPhone maker has made its appeal to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, an independent judicial body that examines complaints against the UK security services, according to people familiar with the matter. The Silicon Valley company's legal challenge is believed to be the first time that provisions in the 2016 Investigatory Powers Act allowing UK authorities to break encryption have been tested before the court.

The Investigatory Powers Tribunal will consider whether the UK's notice to Apple was lawful and, if not, could order it to be quashed. The case could be heard as soon as this month, although it is unclear whether there will be any public disclosure of the hearing. The government is likely to argue the case should be restricted on national security grounds. Apple received a "technical capability notice" under the act in January.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://apple.slashdot.org/story/25/03/04/1743218/apple-launches-legal-challenge-to-uk-back-door-order?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD is rapidly gaining market share in Australia, with sales rising 65% last year as nearly one in four EVs sold in the country was a BYD, according to EVDirect CEO David Smitherman. Chinese EVs now comprise roughly one-third of electric vehicles sold in Australia, which has no domestic auto industry to protect with tariffs, unlike the United States where both Trump and Biden administrations have effectively blocked Chinese EV imports.

The Biden administration imposed a 100% tariff on Chinese EVs to shield U.S. automakers from what it termed unfair competition. U.S. officials also blocked Chinese vehicle software over security concerns that Beijing could use internet-connected cars for surveillance. Australian authorities are monitoring U.S. developments but remain noncommittal despite security experts urging restrictions on Chinese connected car technology.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/03/04/1842209/australia-with-no-auto-industry-to-protect-is-awash-with-chinese-evs?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Опубликован релиз проекта Memsafe, реализующего механизм безопасной работы со ссылочными типами и динамической памятью в коде на языке С++. Защита может быть добавлена без нарушения обратной совместимости со старым С++ кодом. Проект оформлен в виде одного заголовочного файла memsafe.h и плагина для компилятора Clang. Код распространяется под лицензией LGPL 2.1.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=62830

Citigroup nearly credited about $6 billion to a customer's account in its wealth-management business by accident. From a report: The near-error occurred after a staffer handling the transfer copied and pasted the account number into a field for the dollar figure, which was detected on the next business day, the report added. The wealth division's near-miss was reported to regulators and the company has since set up a tool to help vet large, anomalous payments and transfers, according to the report. The error was related to an attempted transfer of funds between internal accounts, the report said. Last week, the Financial Times reported that Citigroup erroneously credited $81 trillion, instead of $280, to a customer's account and took hours to reverse the transaction.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://it.slashdot.org/story/25/03/04/1952241/citi-copy-paste-error-almost-sent-6-billion-to-wealth-account?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from 404 Media: After a group of attorneys were caught using AI to cite cases that didn't actually exist in court documents last month, another lawyer was told to pay $15,000 for his own AI hallucinations that showed up in several briefs. Attorney Rafael Ramirez, who represented a company called HoosierVac in an ongoing case where the Mid Central Operating Engineers Health and Welfare Fund claims the company is failing to allow the union a full audit of its books and records, filed a brief in October 2024 that cited a case the judge wasn't able to locate. Ramirez "acknowledge[d] that the referenced citation was in error," withdrew the citation, and "apologized to the court and opposing counsel for the confusion," according to Judge Mark Dinsmore, U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of Indiana. But that wasn't the end of it. An "exhaustive review" of Ramirez's other filings in the case showed that he'd included made-up cases in two other briefs, too. [...]

In January, as part of a separate case against a hoverboard manufacturer and Walmart seeking damages for an allegedly faulty lithium battery, attorneys filed court documents that cited a series of cases that don't exist. In February, U.S. District Judge Kelly demanded they explain why they shouldn't be sanctioned for referencing eight non-existent cases. The attorneys contritely admitted to using AI to generate the cases without catching the errors, and called it a "cautionary tale" for the rest of the legal world. Last week, Judge Rankin issued sanctions on those attorneys, according to new records, including revoking one of the attorneys' pro hac vice admission (a legal term meaning a lawyer can temporarily practice in a jurisdiction where they're not licensed) and removed him from the case, and the three other attorneys on the case were fined between $1,000 and $3,000 each. The judge in the Ramirez case said that he "does not aim to suggest that AI is inherently bad or that its use by lawyers should be forbidden." In fact, he noted that he's a vocal advocate for the use of technology in the legal profession.

"Nevertheless, much like a chain saw or other useful [but] potentially dangerous tools, one must understand the tools they are using and use those tools with caution," he wrote. "It should go without saying that any use of artificial intelligence must be consistent with counsel's ethical and professional obligations. In other words, the use of artificial intelligence must be accompanied by the application of actual intelligence in its execution."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/03/04/2139203/judges-are-fed-up-with-lawyers-using-ai-that-hallucinate-court-cases?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg said on a podcast he aims to eventually hand over leadership to a single successor rather than "a committee," amid growing calls for him to step down following his legal battle with hosting company WP Engine. On a recent episode of Lenny's Podcast, Mullenweg discussed his succession strategy for Automattic, the parent company of WordPress.com, WooCommerce and Tumblr. "I want to pass it to someone else who could have a role similar to mine, and really sort of try to be a steward," Mullenweg said, comparing the position to "being like a mayor than a CEO" as the leader would remain accountable to users and contributors.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/03/04/2144219/automattic-ceo-matt-mullenweg-talks-succession---i-dont-want-to-pass-it-to-a-committee?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Fabled RepairTuber and right-to-repair crusader Louis Rossmann accuses Brother of implementing forced firmware updates that block third-party ink cartridges and remove older firmware versions from support portals. These updates also prevent color calibration with aftermarket ink, rendering cheaper cartridges unusable. Tom's Hardware reports: As mentioned in the intro, Rossmann has seen two big issues emerge for Brother printer users with recent firmware updates. Firstly, models that used to work with aftermarket ink, might refuse to work with the same cartridges in place post-update. Brother doesn't always warn about such updates, so Rossmann says that it is important to keep your printer offline, if possible. Moreover, he reckons it is best to keep your printers offline, and "I highly suggest that you turn off your updates," in light of these anti-consumer updates. Another anti-consumer problem Rossmann highlights affects color devices. He cites reports from a Brother MFP user who noticed color calibration didn't work with aftermarket inks post-update. They used to work, and if the update doesn't allow the printer to calibrate with this aftermarket ink the cheaper carts become basically unusable.

Making matters worse, and an aspect of this tale which seems particularly dastardly, Rossmann says that older printer firmware is usually removed from websites. This means users can't roll back when they discover the unwanted new 'features' post-update. While he admittedly can't do much about these printer industry machinations, Rossmann says it feels important to document these changes which show that property rights for individuals are disappearing. Additional info about Brother's issues are available on Rossmann's wiki.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/25/03/04/2151220/brother-accused-of-locking-down-third-party-printer-ink-cartridges-via-forced-firmware-updates?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

king*jojo shares a report from The Register: The Opera web browser now boasts "agentic AI," meaning users can ask an onboard AI model to perform tasks that require a series of in-browser actions. The AI agent, referred to as the Browser Operator, can, for example, find 12 pairs of men's size 10 Nike socks that you can buy. This is demonstrated in an Opera-made video of the process, running intermittently at 6x time, which shows the user has to type out the request for the undergarments rather than click around some webpages.

The AI, in the given example, works its way through eight steps in its browser chat sidebar, clicking and navigating on your behalf in the web display pane, to arrive at a Walmart checkout page with two six-packs of socks added to the user's shopping cart, ready for payment. [...] Other tasks such as finding specific concert tickets and booking flight tickets from Oslo to Newcastle are also depicted, accelerated at times from 4x to 10x, with the user left to authorize the actual purchase. Browser Operator runs more slowly than shown in the video, though that's actually helpful for a semi-capable assistant. A more casual pace allows the user to intervene at any point and take over.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/03/04/2158224/opera-adds-an-automated-ai-agent-to-its-browser?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader shares a report: YouTube is warning creators about a new phishing scam that attempts to lure victims using an AI-generated video of its CEO Neal Mohan. The fake video has been shared privately with users and claims YouTube is making changes to its monetization policy in an attempt to steal their credentials, according to an announcement on Tuesday.

"YouTube and its employees will never attempt to contact you or share information through a private video," YouTube says. "If a video is shared privately with you claiming to be from YouTube, the video is a phishing scam." In recent weeks, there have been reports floating around Reddit about scams similar to the one described by YouTube.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/03/04/220243/youtube-warns-creators-an-ai-generated-video-of-its-ceo-is-being-used-for-phishing-scams?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from 9to5Linux: Mozilla published today the final build of the Firefox 136 open-source web browser for all supported platforms ahead of the March 4th, 2025, official release date, so it's time to take a look at the new features and changes. Highlights of Firefox 136 include official Linux binary packages for the AArch64 (ARM64) architecture, hardware video decoding for AMD GPUs on Linux systems, a new HTTPS-First behavior for upgrading page loads to HTTPS, and Smartblock Embeds for selectively unblocking certain social media embeds blocked in the ETP Strict and Private Browsing modes.

Firefox 136 is available for download for 32-bit, 64-bit, and AArch64 (ARM64) Linux systems right now from Mozilla's FTP server. As mentioned before, Mozilla plans to officially release Firefox 136 tomorrow, March 4th, 2025, when it will roll out as an OTA (Over-the-Air) update to macOS and Windows users. Here's a list of the general features available in this release:
- Vertical Tabs Layout
- New Browser Layout Section
- PNG Copy Support
- HTTPS-First Behavior
- Smartblock Embeds
- Solo AI Link
- Expanded Data Collection & Use Settings
- Weather Forecast on New Tab Page
- Address Autofill Expansion

A full list of changes can be found here.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/03/04/2215249/firefox-136-released-with-vertical-tabs-official-arm64-linux-binaries?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

"TCL has emerged as a dominant force in the premium TV market, surpassing LG in global shipments and solidifying its position as a key competitor to Samsung," writes Slashdot reader jjslash. "According to Counterpoint Research, TCL's premium TV shipments more than doubled year-on-year in Q4 2024, capturing 20% of the market, while LG's share fell to 19%." TechSpot reports: The two companies' shipment figures have gone in opposite directions since Q4 2023, when LG held a 26% share and TCL was on 12%. Samsung remains the leader when it comes to premium TVs. Its share dropped from 41% to 29% year-on-year, but it's still comfortably ahead of second-place TCL. Chinese brands are showing impressive growth in this market. Hisense also saw its shipment share rise, from 10% in 2023 to 16% in Q4 2024.

Counterpoint writes that it classifies QD-MiniLED, QD-LCD, NanoCell, LCD 8K, QD-OLED, WOLED, and MicroLED TVs as premium TV models. The segment grew 51% YoY to reach a record high in the fourth quarter, with full year shipments up 38%. In terms of global shipments (i.e., not just the premium sector), TCL overtook LG in 2022, with Hisense doing the same a year later. Samsung also leads this area, though its share is only 2 percentage points higher than TCL's.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/25/03/05/0027211/tcl-overtakes-lg-to-become-second-largest-premium-tv-brand?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

The long-running text-based zombie MMO Urban Dead is shutting down on March 14, 2025, after nearly 20 years. The reason: compliance concerns with the UK's Online Safety Act. Games Radar+ reports: "The Online Safety Act comes into force later this month, applying to all social and gaming websites where users interact, and especially those without strong age restrictions," [writes Kevan Davis, the solo British developer behind the game]. "With the possibility of heavy corporate-sized fines even for solo web projects like this one, I've reluctantly concluded that it doesn't look feasible for Urban Dead to be able to continue operating."

"So a full 19 years, 8 months and 11 days after its quarantine began, Urban Dead will be shut down," Davis writes. "No grand finale. No final catastrophe. No helicopter evac. Make your peace or your final stand in whichever part of Malton you called home, and the game will be switched off at noon UTC on 14 March." The original website is still online if you want to play the game before its shutdown later this month.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://games.slashdot.org/story/25/03/05/0036212/cult-text-based-zombie-mmo-urban-dead-is-shutting-down-after-20-years?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Продолажается регистрация на Детско-юношеские соревнования по Linux — «Linux-skills».

Соревнования пройдут в двух номинациях: Alt-skills (ALT Linux) и Calculate-skills (Calculate Linux) и трёх возрастных группах: 10–13 лет, 14–17 лет, 18–22 лет.

Регистрация уже открыта и будет доступна до 9 марта 2025 включительно. Соревнования пройдут в период с 11 марта по 16 апреля в два этапа: отборочный — тестирование и финал — практическое задание.

Финал пройдёт на площадках в Санкт-Петербурге, Москве, Московской области, Ростове-на-Дону, Рязани, Иркутске (площадки в других городах по запросу).

В рамках соревнований участникам предстоит переехать с MS Windows на Linux, сохранив все документы, а также выполнить настройку локальной сети.

Образовательные учреждения при желании могут стать опорными площадками и принять очный этап на своей базе. Для этого необходимо связаться с организаторами.

https://www.linux.org.ru/news/russia/17903290

Выпущена новая версия [ контрольной панели ]( https://github.com/geoffreybennett/alsa-scarlett-gui ) для аудиоинтерфейсов Focusrite линеек Scarlett, Clarett/Clarett+ и Vocaster.

ALSA Scarlett Control Panel предоставляет удобный интерфейс для управления маршрутизацией сигнала и громкостью в каналах интерфейсов, а также для дополнительной настройки, такой как загрузка прошивок и включение режима mass storage device для некоторых моделей. Компания Focusrite предоставляет разработчику необходимую техническую информацию и устройства.

( [ читать дальше... ]( https://www.linux.org.ru/news/multimedia/17903328#cut ) )