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[>] Police Using AI Personas to Infiltrate Online Activist Spaces, Records Reveal
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2025-04-18 08:22:01


samleecole shares a report from 404 Media: American police departments near the United States-Mexico border are paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for an unproven and secretive technology that uses AI-generated online personas designed to interact with and collect intelligence on "college protesters," "radicalized" political activists, and suspected drug and human traffickers, according to internal documents, contracts, and communications 404 Media obtained via public records requests. Massive Blue, the New York-based company that is selling police departments this technology, calls its product Overwatch, which it markets as an "AI-powered force multiplier for public safety" that "deploys lifelike virtual agents, which infiltrate and engage criminal networks across various channels." According to a presentation obtained by 404 Media, Massive Blue is offering cops these virtual personas that can be deployed across the internet with the express purpose of interacting with suspects over text messages and social media. [...]

While the documents don't describe every technical aspect of how Overwatch works, they do give a high-level overview of what it is. The company describes a tool that uses AI-generated images and text to create social media profiles that can interact with suspected drug traffickers, human traffickers, and gun traffickers. After Overwatch scans open social media channels for potential suspects, these AI personas can also communicate with suspects over text, Discord, and other messaging services. The documents we obtained don't explain how Massive Blue determines who is a potential suspect based on their social media activity. Salzwedel, of Pinal County, said "Massive Blue's solutions crawl multiple areas of the Internet, and social media outlets are just one component. We cannot disclose any further information to preserve the integrity of our investigations." [...] Besides scanning social media and engaging suspects with AI personas, the presentation says that Overwatch can use generative AI to create "proof of life" images of a person holding a sign with a username and date written on it in pen.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/04/17/2259259/police-using-ai-personas-to-infiltrate-online-activist-spaces-records-reveal?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Amazon To Launch First Vega OS-powered TV Streaming Device This Year
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2025-04-18 06:22:01


Amazon plans to release its first TV streaming device powered by Vega OS later this year while courting major publishers to bring their apps to the platform, according to Lowpass, which cites sources familiar with the company's plans and multiple leaks.

Vega, a Linux-based operating system, may eventually replace Amazon's Android-based Fire OS across its device ecosystem. The company has already implemented Vega in three products: the Echo Show 5 and Echo Hub smart displays, as well as the Echo Spot smart clock/speaker. The tech giant has moved more cautiously in transitioning its TV hardware to Vega, having previously delayed a Vega-powered streaming stick originally slated for release in late 2024.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/25/04/18/0012231/amazon-to-launch-first-vega-os-powered-tv-streaming-device-this-year?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Liz Truss Announces 'Uncensorable' Social Media Venture
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2025-04-18 06:22:01


databasecowgirl writes: [Liz Truss will launch an "uncensorable" social media platform this summer.] The shortest-serving prime minister, who was quickly shown the door after crashing the UK economy, claims the platform is needed to take on the Deep State. Truss has worked diligently to earn comparisons to Trump with appearances at American political rallies sporting a red MAGA cap. The effort has paid off with Trump's recent tariff announcement and resulting market meltdown, resulting in the two brands combined in the neologism Liz Trump to mark the unprecedented economic policy disasters of the two politicians.

Truss' continuing in Trump's footsteps is creating her own uncensored social media platform for the UK to talk about important matters, which apparently is unable to be achieved without censorship on Musk's X or Trump's Truth Social. While a name has yet to be announced, Lettuce Talk has been suggested as appropriate for a platform run by a prime minister whose term was famously outlasted by a head of lettuce.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/04/17/2250222/liz-truss-announces-uncensorable-social-media-venture?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] HP Agrees To $4 Million Settlement Over Claims of 'Falsely Advertising' PCs, Keyboards
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2025-04-18 04:22:01


HP has agreed to a $4 million settlement over allegations of deceptive pricing practices on its website, including falsely inflating original prices for computers and accessories to create the illusion of steep discounts. Ars Technica reports: Earlier this month, Judge P. Casey Pitts for the US District Court of the San Jose Division of the Northern District of California granted preliminary approval [PDF] of a settlement agreement regarding a class-action complaint first filed against HP on October 13, 2021. The complaint accused HP's website of showing "misleading" original pricing for various computers, mice, and keyboards that was higher than how the products were recently and typically priced.

Per the settlement agreement [PDF], HP will contribute $4 million to a "non-reversionary common fund, which shall be used to pay the (i) Settlement Class members' claims; (ii) court-approved Notice and Settlement Administration Costs; (iii) court-approved Settlement Class Representatives' Service Award; and (iv) court-approved Settlement Class Counsel Attorneys' Fees and Costs Award. All residual funds will be distributed pro rata to Settlement Class members who submitted valid claims and cashed checks."

The two plaintiffs who filed the initial complaint may also file a motion to receive a settlement class representative service award for up to $5,000 each, which would come out of the $4 million pool. People who purchased a discounted HP desktop, laptop, mouse, or keyboard that was on sale for "more than 75 percent of the time the products were offered for sale" from June 5, 2021, to October 28, 2024, are eligible for compensation. The full list of eligible products is available here [PDF] and includes HP Spectre, Chromebook Envy, and Pavilion laptops, HP Envy and Omen desktops, and some mechanical keyboards and wireless mice. Depending on the product, class members can receive $10 to $100 per eligible product purchased.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/04/17/2229247/hp-agrees-to-4-million-settlement-over-claims-of-falsely-advertising-pcs-keyboards?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Microsoft Researchers Develop Hyper-Efficient AI Model That Can Run On CPUs
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2025-04-18 03:22:01


Microsoft has introduced BitNet b1.58 2B4T, the largest-scale 1-bit AI model to date with 2 billion parameters and the ability to run efficiently on CPUs. It's openly available under an MIT license. TechCrunch reports: The Microsoft researchers say that BitNet b1.58 2B4T is the first bitnet with 2 billion parameters, "parameters" being largely synonymous with "weights." Trained on a dataset of 4 trillion tokens -- equivalent to about 33 million books, by one estimate -- BitNet b1.58 2B4T outperforms traditional models of similar sizes, the researchers claim.

BitNet b1.58 2B4T doesn't sweep the floor with rival 2 billion-parameter models, to be clear, but it seemingly holds its own. According to the researchers' testing, the model surpasses Meta's Llama 3.2 1B, Google's Gemma 3 1B, and Alibaba's Qwen 2.5 1.5B on benchmarks including GSM8K (a collection of grade-school-level math problems) and PIQA (which tests physical commonsense reasoning skills). Perhaps more impressively, BitNet b1.58 2B4T is speedier than other models of its size -- in some cases, twice the speed -- while using a fraction of the memory.

There is a catch, however. Achieving that performance requires using Microsoft's custom framework, bitnet.cpp, which only works with certain hardware at the moment. Absent from the list of supported chips are GPUs, which dominate the AI infrastructure landscape.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/04/17/2224205/microsoft-researchers-develop-hyper-efficient-ai-model-that-can-run-on-cpus?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] US Halts $5 Billion New York Offshore Wind Project Mid-Build
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2025-04-18 02:22:02


An anonymous reader quotes a report from Electrek: In its most aggressive attack against offshore wind yet, the Trump administration halted the $5 billion Empire Wind 1, already under construction off New York's coast. Norwegian developer Equinor announced yesterday that it received notice from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) ordering Empire Wind 1 to halt all activities on the outer continental shelf until BOEM has completed its review. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum posted this tweet yesterday: ".@Interior, in consultation with @HowardLutnick, is directing @BOEM to immediately halt all construction activities on the Empire Wind Project until further review of information that suggests the Biden administration rushed through its approval without sufficient analysis."

Burgum gave no indication of what insufficiencies there were in the approval process for the fully permitted offshore wind project, despite Trump's recent declaration of a national energy emergency that speeds up permitting processes. The commercial lease for the 810-megawatt (MW) Empire Wind 1's federal offshore wind area was signed in March 2017 during the first Trump administration. It was approved by the Biden administration in November 2023 and began construction in 2024. The project is being developed under contract with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). Empire Wind 1, which was due to come online in 2027, has the potential to power 500,000 New York homes. Equinor says it's considering appealing the order.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul issued a statement: "Every single day, I'm working to make energy more affordable, reliable and abundant in New York and the federal government should be supporting those efforts rather than undermining them. Empire Wind 1 is already employing hundreds of New Yorkers, including 1,000 good-paying union jobs as part of a growing sector that has already spurred significant economic development and private investment throughout the state and beyond. As Governor, I will not allow this federal overreach to stand. I will fight this every step of the way to protect union jobs, affordable energy and New York's economic future."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/04/17/2217200/us-halts-5-billion-new-york-offshore-wind-project-mid-build?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Google Is Gifting Gemini Advanced To US College Students
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2025-04-18 01:22:01


Google is offering all U.S. college students a free year of its Gemini Advanced AI tools through its Google One AI Premium plan, as part of a push to expand Gemini's user base and compete with ChatGPT. It includes access to the company's Pro models, Veo 2 video generation, NotebookLM, Gemini Live and 2TB of Drive storage. Ars Technica reports: Google has a new landing page for the deal, allowing eligible students to sign up for their free Google One AI Premium plan. The offer is valid from now until June 30. Anyone who takes Google up on it will enjoy the free plan through spring 2026. The company hasn't specified an end date, but we would wager it will be June of next year. Google's intention is to give students an entire school year of Gemini Advanced from now through finals next year. At the end of the term, you can bet Google will try to convert students to paying subscribers.

As for who qualifies as a "student" in this promotion, Google isn't bothering with a particularly narrow definition. As long as you have a valid .edu email address, you can sign up for the offer. That's something that plenty of people who are not actively taking classes still have. You probably won't even be taking undue advantage of Google if you pretend to be a student -- the company really, really wants people to use Gemini, and it's willing to lose money in the short term to make that happen.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/04/17/1959204/google-is-gifting-gemini-advanced-to-us-college-students?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Federal Judge Declares Google's Digital Ad Network Is an Illegal Monopoly
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2025-04-18 01:22:01


Longtime Slashdot reader schwit1 shares a report from the Associated Press: Google has been branded an abusive monopolist by a federal judge for the second time in less than a year, this time for illegally exploiting some of its online marketing technology to boost the profits fueling an internet empire currently worth $1.8 trillion. The ruling issued Thursday by U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Virginia comes on the heels of a separate decision in August that concluded Google's namesake search engine has been illegally leveraging its dominance to stifle competition and innovation. [...] The next step in the latest case is a penalty phase that will likely begin late this year or early next year. The same so-called remedy hearings in the search monopoly case are scheduled to begin Monday in Washington D.C., where Justice Department lawyers will try to convince U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta to impose a sweeping punishment that includes a proposed requirement for Google to sell its Chrome web browser.

Brinkema's 115-page decision centers on the marketing machine that Google has spent the past 17 years building around its search engine and other widely used products and services, including its Chrome browser, YouTube video site and digital maps. The system was largely built around a series of acquisitions that started with Google's $3.2 billion purchase of online ad specialist DoubleClick in 2008. U.S. regulators approved the deals at the time they were made before realizing that they had given the Mountain View, California, company a platform to manipulate the prices in an ecosystem that a wide range of websites depend on for revenue and provides a vital marketing connection to consumers.

The Justice Department lawyers argued that Google built and maintained dominant market positions in a technology trifecta used by website publishers to sell ad space on their webpages, as well as the technology that advertisers use to get their ads in front of consumers, and the ad exchanges that conduct automated auctions in fractions of a second to match buyer and seller. After evaluating the evidence presented during a lengthy trial that concluded just before Thanksgiving last year, Brinkema reached a decision that rejected the Justice Department's assertions that Google has been mistreating advertisers while concluding the company has been abusing its power to stifle competition to the detriment of online publishers forced to rely on its network for revenue.

"For over a decade, Google has tied its publisher ad server and ad exchange together through contractual policies and technological integration, which enabled the company to establish and protect its monopoly power in these two markets." Brinkema wrote. "Google further entrenched its monopoly power by imposing anticompetitive policies on its customers and eliminating desirable product features." Despite that rebuke, Brinkema also concluded that Google didn't break the law when it snapped Doubleclick nor when it followed up that deal a few years later by buying another service, Admeld. The Justice Department "failed to show that the DoubleClick and Admeld acquisitions were anticompetitive," Brinkema wrote. "Although these acquisitions helped Google gain monopoly power in two adjacent ad tech markets, they are insufficient, when viewed in isolation, to prove that Google acquired or maintained this monopoly power through exclusionary practices." That finding may help Google fight off any attempt to force it to sell its advertising technology to stop its monopolistic behavior.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/04/17/1950221/federal-judge-declares-googles-digital-ad-network-is-an-illegal-monopoly?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] ChatGPT Models Are Surprisingly Good At Geoguessing
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2025-04-18 00:22:01


An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: There's a somewhat concerning new trend going viral: People are using ChatGPT to figure out the location shown in pictures. This week, OpenAI released its newest AI models, o3 and o4-mini, both of which can uniquely "reason" through uploaded images. In practice, the models can crop, rotate, and zoom in on photos -- even blurry and distorted ones -- to thoroughly analyze them. These image-analyzing capabilities, paired with the models' ability to search the web, make for a potent location-finding tool. Users on X quickly discovered that o3, in particular, is quite good at deducing cities, landmarks, and even restaurants and bars from subtle visual clues.

In many cases, the models don't appear to be drawing on "memories" of past ChatGPT conversations, or EXIF data, which is the metadata attached to photos that reveal details such as where the photo was taken. X is filled with examples of users giving ChatGPT restaurant menus, neighborhood snaps, facades, and self-portraits, and instructing o3 to imagine it's playing "GeoGuessr," an online game that challenges players to guess locations from Google Street View images. It's an obvious potential privacy issue. There's nothing preventing a bad actor from screenshotting, say, a person's Instagram Story and using ChatGPT to try to doxx them.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/04/17/1941258/chatgpt-models-are-surprisingly-good-at-geoguessing?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Synology Locks Key NAS Features Behind Proprietary Drive Requirement
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2025-04-17 23:22:02


Synology's upcoming Plus Series NAS systems will restrict full functionality to users who install the company's self-branded hard drives, Tom's Hardware is reporting, marking a significant shift in the consumer NAS market. While third-party drives will still work for basic storage, critical features including drive health monitoring, volume-wide deduplication, lifespan analysis, and automatic firmware updates will be disabled, the publication said.

The restriction doesn't apply to Synology's 2024 and older models, only affecting new Plus Series devices targeted at SMBs and advanced home users. Synology itself doesn't manufacture drives but rebrands HDDs from major manufacturers like Seagate, Western Digital, and Toshiba, often with custom firmware that functions as DRM. According to Synology, the change follows successful implementation in their enterprise solutions and will deliver "higher performance, increased reliability, and more efficient support." A workaround exists: users can initialize a non-Synology drive in an older Synology NAS and then migrate it to a new Plus model without restrictions.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://it.slashdot.org/story/25/04/17/197239/synology-locks-key-nas-features-behind-proprietary-drive-requirement?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Google, Apple, and Snap Aren't Happy About Meta's Poorly-redacted Slides
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2025-04-17 23:22:02


During Meta's antitrust trial this week, lawyers representing Apple, Google, and Snap each expressed irritation with Meta over the slides it presented on Monday that The Verge found to contain easy-to-remove redactions. From a report: Attorneys for both Apple and Snap called the errors "egregious," with Apple's representative indicating that it may not be able to trust Meta with its internal information in the future. Google's attorney also blamed Meta for jeopardizing the search giant's data with the mistake.

Details about the attorneys' comments come from The Verge's Lauren Feiner, who is currently in the courtroom where proceedings are taking place today. Apple, Google, and Meta did not immediately respond to The Verge's request for comment. Snap declined to comment. Snap's attorney maligned Meta's "cavalier approach and casual disregard" of other companies swept into the case, and wondered if "Meta would have applied meaningful redactions if it were its own information that was at stake."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/04/17/1839249/google-apple-and-snap-arent-happy-about-metas-poorly-redacted-slides?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Опубликована среда рабочего стола LXQt 2.2.0
lor.opennet
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2025-04-17 22:44:03


После 6 месяцев разработки представлен релиз среды рабочего стола LXQt 2.2.0 (Qt Lightweight Desktop Environment), продолжающей развитие проектов LXDE и Razor-qt. Интерфейс LXQt следует идеям классической организации рабочего стола, но привносит современное оформление и приёмы, увеличивающие удобство работы. LXQt позиционируется как легковесное, модульное, быстрое и удобное окружение, вобравшее лучшие черты LXDE и Razor-qt. Код размещён на GitHub и поставляется под лицензиями GPL 2.0+ и LGPL 2.1+. Появление готовых сборок ожидается для Ubuntu (LXQt по умолчанию предлагается в Lubuntu), Arch Linux, Fedora, openSUSE, Mageia, FreeBSD, ROSA и ALT Linux.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=63097

[>] Ubuntu 25.04 'Plucky Puffin' Arrives With Linux 6.14, GNOME 48, and ARM64 Desktop ISO
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2025-04-17 21:22:01


Canonical today released Ubuntu 25.04 "Plucky Puffin," bringing significant upgrades to the non-LTS distribution including Linux kernel 6.14, GNOME 48 with triple buffering, and expanded hardware support.

For the first time, Ubuntu ships an official generic ARM64 desktop ISO targeting virtual machines and Snapdragon-based devices, with initial enablement for the Snapdragon X Elite platform. The release also adds full support for Intel Core Ultra Xe2 integrated graphics and "Battlemage" discrete GPUs, delivering improved ray tracing performance and hardware-accelerated video encoding.

Networking improvements include wpa-psk-sha256 Wi-Fi support and enhanced DNS resolution detection. The installer now better handles BitLocker-protected Windows partitions for dual-boot scenarios. Other notable changes include JPEG XL support by default, NVIDIA Dynamic Boost enabled on supported laptops, Papers replacing Evince as the default document viewer, and APT 3.0 becoming the standard package manager. Ubuntu 25.04 will receive nine months of support until January 2026.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/04/17/1631222/ubuntu-2504-plucky-puffin-arrives-with-linux-614-gnome-48-and-arm64-desktop-iso?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Bot Students Siphon Millions in Financial Aid from US Community Colleges
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2025-04-17 20:22:01


Fraud rings using fake "bot" students have infiltrated America's community colleges, stealing over $11 million from California's system alone in 2024. The nationwide scheme, which began in 2021, targets open-admission institutions where scammers enroll fictitious students in online courses to collect financial aid disbursements.

"We didn't used to have to decide if our students were human," said Eric Maag, who has taught at Southwestern College for 21 years. Faculty now spend hours vetting suspicious enrollees and analyzing AI-generated assignments. At Southwestern in Chula Vista, professor Elizabeth Smith discovered 89 of her 104 enrolled students were fraudulent. The California Community College system estimates 25% of all applicants statewide are bots. Community college administrators describe fighting an evolving technological battle against increasingly sophisticated fraud tactics. The fraud crisis has particularly impacted asynchronous online courses, crowding real students out of classes and fundamentally altering faculty roles.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/04/17/1611216/bot-students-siphon-millions-in-financial-aid-from-us-community-colleges?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Meta Blocks Apple Intelligence in iOS Apps
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2025-04-17 20:22:01


Meta has disabled Apple Intelligence features across its iOS applications, including Facebook, WhatsApp, and Threads, according to Brazilian tech blog Sorcererhat Tech. The block affects Writing Tools, which enable text creation and editing via Apple's AI, as well as Genmoji generation. Users cannot access these features via the standard text field interface in Meta apps. Instagram Stories have also lost previously available keyboard stickers and Memoji functionality.

While Meta hasn't explained the decision, it likely aims to drive users toward Meta AI, its own artificial intelligence service that offers similar text and image generation capabilities. The move follows failed negotiations between Apple and Meta regarding Llama integration into Apple Intelligence, which reportedly collapsed over privacy disagreements. The companies also maintain ongoing disputes regarding App Store policies.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/04/17/1539231/meta-blocks-apple-intelligence-in-ios-apps?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] 5 причин веры в лженауку | Ученые против мифов 23-14 | Оксана Зинченко
bot.antropogenezru.rss
BotYouTube(tgi,4) — All
2025-04-17 19:20:00


Опубликовано: 2025-04-17T14:33:24+00:00

Каким ошибкам мышления подвержен каждый из нас? Что такое “ошибка выжившего”? Как наш мозг игнорирует неудачи и запоминает успехи? Как когнитивные искажения приводят к вере в лженауку?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdBrw-zqHHs

[>] How a Secretive Gambler Called 'The Joker' Took Down the Texas Lottery
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2025-04-17 19:22:02


A global gambling syndicate led by secretive Tasmanian gambler Zeljko Ranogajec and London bookmaker Bernard Marantelli successfully executed an unprecedented operation to claim a $57.8 million Texas lottery jackpot in 2023.

The group, operating through a limited partnership called Rook TX, purchased 99.3% of all possible number combinations, printing over 25 million tickets across four makeshift workshops in Texas. Using dozens of official lottery terminals and working nearly around the clock for three days, the team systematically printed hundreds of tickets per second.

Texas officials have since launched investigations, with Lt. Governor Dan Patrick calling it "the biggest theft from the people of Texas in the history of Texas." The Texas Rangers are now investigating the operation. Through legal representation, the syndicate maintains they "followed all applicable laws, rules and regulations" throughout the process.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/04/17/1440236/how-a-secretive-gambler-called-the-joker-took-down-the-texas-lottery?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] India's IT Services Giants Hit With Steepest Growth Slowdown in Years
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2025-04-17 18:22:02


India's three largest IT services companies are facing their steepest growth slowdown in years as corporations curtail large technology projects amid global economic uncertainty and geopolitical challenges. From a report: Infosys, the country's second-largest IT services provider, on Thursday forecast revenue growth of just 0-3% for the fiscal year through March 2026, far below analysts' expectations of 6.3%. The guidance follows a quarter where net income fell 12% to $823 million, though this exceeded analyst estimates of $780 million. The disappointing outlook echoes similar concerns from rivals Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro, as US President Donald Trump's tariff policies add fresh headwinds to an industry already struggling with cautious client spending.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/04/17/1339247/indias-it-services-giants-hit-with-steepest-growth-slowdown-in-years?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Доступен дистрибутив Ubuntu 25.04
lor.opennet
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2025-04-17 17:44:02


Опубликован дистрибутив Ubuntu 25.04 "Plucky Puffin", который отнесён к промежуточным выпускам, обновления для которых формируются в течение 9 месяцев. Готовые установочные образы созданы для Ubuntu, Ubuntu Server, Lubuntu, Kubuntu, Ubuntu Mate, Ubuntu Budgie, Ubuntu Studio, Xubuntu, UbuntuKylin (редакция для Китая), Ubuntu Unity, Edubuntu и Ubuntu Cinnamon.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=63095

[>] China Bans 'Smart' and 'Autonomous' Driving Terms From Vehicle Ads
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2025-04-17 17:22:01


China is banning automakers from using the terms "smart driving" and "autonomous driving" when they advertise driving assistance features, and it will tighten scrutiny of such technology upgrades. From a report: The mandate on vehicle advertising was delivered by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in its meeting with nearly 60 representatives from automakers on Wednesday, according to a transcript seen by Reuters and confirmed by one of the attendees. The move follows a fatal accident involving Xiaomi's best-selling SU7 sedan in March that triggered widespread concerns over vehicle safety.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/04/17/0813228/china-bans-smart-and-autonomous-driving-terms-from-vehicle-ads?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Выпуск KDE Gear 25.04, набора приложений от проекта KDE
lor.opennet
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-04-17 16:44:03


После четырёх месяцев разработки представлено апрельское сводное обновление приложений KDE Gear 25.04, развиваемых проектом KDE. В составе набора опубликованы выпуски 250 программ, библиотек и плагинов. Информацию о наличии Live-сборок с новыми выпусками приложений можно получить на данной странице. Новые версии отдельных приложений можно загрузить из каталогов Flathub и SnapCraft.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=63093

[>] How Nintendo's Legal Team Destroyed Atari Games Through Courtroom Strategy
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2025-04-17 14:22:01


Nintendo's lawyers systematically dismantled Atari Games in a landmark 1989 legal battle that reshaped the gaming industry, killing off the Tengen brand until its surprise resurrection recently.

When Atari Games (operating as Tengen) attempted to circumvent Nintendo's control by reverse-engineering the NES security system, Nintendo's legal team discovered a fatal flaw in their rival's approach: Atari had fraudulently obtained Nintendo's proprietary code from the Copyright Office by falsely claiming they were defendants in a nonexistent lawsuit.

Though courts ultimately established that reverse engineering was legal under fair use principles, Atari's deception proved catastrophic. The judge invoked the centuries-old "unclean hands" doctrine, ruling that Atari could not claim fair use protection after approaching the court in bad faith.

"As a result of its lawyers' filthy hands, Atari was barred from manufacturing games for the NES. Nintendo, with its stronger legal team, subsequently 'bled Atari to death,'" writes tech industry attorney Julien Mailland. The court ordered the recall of Tengen's "Tetris" version, now a rare collector's item.

After a 30-year absence, Tengen Games returned in July 2024 with "Zed and Zee" for the NES, finally achieving what its predecessor was legally prohibited from doing.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://games.slashdot.org/story/25/04/17/0715235/how-nintendos-legal-team-destroyed-atari-games-through-courtroom-strategy?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Новые версии nginx 1.27.5, форка FreeNginx 1.27.6 и JavaScript-модуля njs 0.8.10
lor.opennet
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-04-17 12:44:03


Представлен выпуск основной ветки nginx 1.27.5, в которой продолжается развитие новых возможностей. В параллельно поддерживаемую стабильную ветку 1.26.x вносятся только изменения, связанные с устранением серьёзных ошибок и уязвимостей. В дальнейшем на базе основной ветки 1.27.x будет сформирована стабильная ветка 1.28. Код проекта написан на языке Си и распространяется под лицензией BSD.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=63092

[>] LG TVs' Integrated Ads Get More Personal With Tech That Analyzes Viewer Emotions
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-04-17 11:22:01


LG is partnering with Zenapse to integrate AI-driven emotional intelligence into its smart TVs, enabling hyper-targeted ads based on viewers' psychological traits, emotions, and behaviors. Ars Technica reports: The upcoming advertising approach comes via a multi-year licensing deal with Zenapse, a company describing itself as a software-as-a-service marketing platform that can drive advertiser sales "with AI-powered emotional intelligence." LG will use Zenapse's technology to divide webOS users into hyper-specific market segments that are supposed to be more informative to advertisers. LG Ad Solutions, LG's advertising business, announced the partnership on Tuesday.

The technology will be used to inform ads shown on LG smart TVs' homescreens, free ad-supported TV (FAST) channels, and elsewhere throughout webOS, per StreamTV Insider. LG will also use Zenapse's tech to "expand new software development and go-to-market products," it said. LG didn't specify the duration of its licensing deal with Zenapse. Zenapse's platform for connected TVs (CTVs), ZenVision, is supposed to be able to interpret the types of emotions shown in the content someone is watching on TV, partially by using publicly available information about the show's or movie's script and plot, StreamTV Insider reported. ZenVision also analyzes viewer behavior, grouping viewers based on their consumption patterns, the publication noted. Under the new partnership, ZenVision can use data that LG has gathered from the automatic content recognition software in LG TVs.

With all this information, ZenVision will group LG TV viewers into highly specified market segments, such as "goal-driven achievers," "social connectors," or "emotionally engaged planners," an LG spokesperson told StreamTV Insider. Zenapse's website for ZenVision points to other potential market segments, including "digital adopters," "wellness seekers," "positive impact & environment," and "money matters." Companies paying to advertise on LG TVs can then target viewers based on the ZenVision-specified market segments and deliver an "emotionally intelligent ad," as Zenapse's website puts it.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/25/04/16/2240228/lg-tvs-integrated-ads-get-more-personal-with-tech-that-analyzes-viewer-emotions?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] STATS 2025-04-16
spnet.stats
root(spnet, 1) — All
2025-04-17 11:11:01


TOP10 VISITORS:

[1] 45.135.180.x point=221 web=0 up=18.4MB (28%) <--- yesterlink (9/hr)
[2] 37.252.14.x point=144 web=0 up=17.7MB (27%) <--- ake (6/hr)
[3] TikTok point=0 web=1127 up=9.6MB (14%)
[4] Google point=0 web=793 up=5.6MB (8%)
[5] PetalBot point=65 web=833 up=5.0MB (7%) <--- PetalBot (3/hr)
[6] Facebook point=0 web=373 up=2.8MB (4%)
[7] Amazon point=0 web=174 up=2.6MB (4%)
[8] 24.130.121.x point=19 web=2 up=1.6MB (2%) <--- spnet (1/hr)
[9] 217.114.158.x point=25 web=0 up=0.9MB (1%) <--- fox (1/hr)
[10] 5.175.234.x point=0 web=1 up=65KB

TOTAL TRAFFIC: 64MB

[>] Astronomers Detect a Possible Signature of Life on a Distant Planet
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-04-17 09:22:01


Astronomers have detected what may be the strongest evidence yet of extraterrestrial life on K2-18b, a massive exoplanet orbiting a star 120 light-years from Earth. The research team, led by Cambridge astronomer Nikku Madhusudhan, published their findings today in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Using the James Webb Space Telescope, researchers found significant concentrations of dimethyl sulfide and dimethyl disulfide in K2-18b's atmosphere. On Earth, these sulfur compounds are exclusively produced by living organisms, particularly marine algae. "It is in no one's interest to claim prematurely that we have detected life," said Madhusudhan, though he described the findings as "a revolutionary moment" and "the first time humanity has seen potential biosignatures on a habitable planet."

The team detected the signals during two separate observations, with the second showing an even stronger signature. Their analysis suggests K2-18b may be a "Hycean" planet -- covered with warm oceans and wrapped in a hydrogen-rich atmosphere -- with concentrations of dimethyl sulfide thousands of times higher than Earth levels.

Other scientists remain cautious. Christopher Glein of the Southwest Research Institute suggested K2-18b could instead be "a massive hunk of rock with a magma ocean and a thick, scorching hydrogen atmosphere." Further observations with Webb and future NASA telescopes will be necessary to confirm whether K2-18b is truly habitable or inhabited, though planned budget cuts may impact follow-up research.

Further reading: Water Found On a Potentially Life-Friendly Alien Planet (2019).

[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/04/17/0429213/astronomers-detect-a-possible-signature-of-life-on-a-distant-planet?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] 'We Are Not Programmed to Die,' Says Nobel Laureate Venki Ramakrishnan
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-04-17 08:22:01


In a recent interview with Wired, Nobel laureate Venkatraman Ramakrishnan discusses his book Why We Die, in which he argues that death is not genetically programmed but rather a consequence of evolution favoring reproduction over longevity. Here are some of the most thought-provoking excerpts:
WIRED: Professor Ramakrishnan, the crucial question in your book is why we die. But exactly what is death?
Venki Ramakrishnan: By death, we mean the irreversible loss of the ability to function as a coherent individual. It is the result of the failure of a critical system or apparatus, for example, heart, brain, lung, or kidney failure. In this sense there is an apparent paradox: When our organism, as a whole, is alive, millions of cells within us are constantly dying, and we do not even realize it. On the other hand, at the time of death, most of the cells in our bodies are still alive, and entire organs are still functioning and can be donated to people in need of transplantation. But at that point the body has lost the ability to function as a whole. In this sense, it is therefore important to distinguish between cell death and death of the individual.

Speaking of death and aging, you say in your most recent book that you "wanted to offer an objective look at our current understanding of the two phenomena." What was the biggest surprise or most deeply held belief that you had to reconsider while writing and researching this work?

There have been several surprises, actually. One is that death, contrary to what one might think, is not programmed by our genes. Evolution does not care how long we live, but merely selects the ability to pass on our genes, a process known as "fitness" in evolutionary biology. Thus, the traits that are selected are those that help us survive childhood and reproduce. And it is these traits, later in life, that cause aging and decline. Another curious finding was the fact that aging is not simply due to wear and tear on cells. Wear and tear happens constantly in all living things, yet different species have very different lifespans. Instead, lifespan is the result of a balance between the expenditure of resources needed to keep the organism functioning and repairing it and those needed to make it grow, mature, and keep it healthy until it reproduces and nurtures offspring.

Do you think there is an aspect of the biology of aging that is still deeply misunderstood by the general public?
Certainly the indefinite extension of life. Although in principle there are no laws or constraints that prevent us from living much longer than we do currently, great longevity or "eternal youth" are still far off, and very significant obstacles to increasing our maximum life expectancy remain. We must also beware of the pseudoscience -- and business -- around the concepts of "anti-aging" or the "reversal of aging." These are often baseless concepts, unsupported by hard evidence, even though they may use language that sounds scientific. Unfortunately, we are all afraid of growing old and dying, so we are very sensitive to any claim that promises to help us avoid it. [...]

What do you think are the social and ethical implications of our desire to live longer?
Ever since we became aware of our mortality, we have desired to defeat aging and death. However, our individual desires may conflict with what is best for society. A society in which fertility rates are very low and lifespans are very high will be a stagnant society, with very slow generational turnover, and probably much less dynamic and creative. The Nobel Prize-winning South American novelist Mario Vargas Llosa, who recently passed away, expressed it best: "Old age on the one hand terrifies us, but when we feel anxious, it is important to remember how terrible it would be to live forever. If eternity were guaranteed, all the incentives and illusions of life would vanish. This thought can help us live old age in a better way."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/04/16/2229250/we-are-not-programmed-to-die-says-nobel-laureate-venki-ramakrishnan?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Microsoft Confirms Classic Outlook CPU Usage Spikes, Offers No Fix
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-04-17 07:22:01


Microsoft has acknowledged that Classic Outlook can mysteriously transform into a system resource hog, causing CPU usage spikes between 30-50% and significantly increasing power consumption on both Windows 10 and 11 systems.

Users first reported the issue in November 2024, but Microsoft only confirmed the problem this week, offering little resolution beyond stating that "the Outlook Team is investigating this issue." The company's sole workaround involves forcing a switch to the Semi-Annual Channel update through registry edits -- an approach many enterprise environments will likely avoid. Microsoft hasn't announced a definitive end date for Classic Outlook, but the company continues pushing users toward its New Outlook client despite its incomplete feature set.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://it.slashdot.org/story/25/04/16/2021236/microsoft-confirms-classic-outlook-cpu-usage-spikes-offers-no-fix?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Harvard's RoboBee Masters Landing, Paving Way For Agricultural Pollination
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-04-17 06:22:01


After more than a decade of development, Harvard's insect-sized flying robot, RoboBee, has successfully learned to land using dragonfly-inspired legs and improved flight controls. The researchers see RoboBee as a potential substitute for endangered bees, assisting in the pollination of plants. From a report: RoboBee is a micro flying robot that Harvard has been developing since 2013. As the name suggests, it is the size of a bee, capable of flying like a bee and hovering in mid-air. Its wings are 3 cm long and it weighs only 0.08 g. The weight was reduced by using light piezoelectric elements instead of motors. Piezoelectric elements change shape when an electric current flows through them. The researchers were able to make RoboBee flap its wings 120 times per second by turning the current on and off, which is similar to actual insects.

While RoboBee exhibited flight capabilities comparable to those of a bee, the real problem was landing. Being too light and having short wings, it could not withstand the air turbulence generated during landing. It is easy to understand if you think about the strong winds generated when a helicopter approaches the ground. Christian Chan, a graduate student at Harvard who participated in the research, said, "Until now, it was a matter of shutting off the robot while it attempted to land and praying for a proper touchdown."

To ensure RoboBee's safe landing, it was important to dissipate energy just before touchdown. Hyun Nak-Seung, a professor at Purdue University who participated in the development of RoboBee, explained, "For any flying object, the success of landing depends on minimizing speed just before impact and rapidly dissipating energy afterward. Even for tiny flapping like RoboBee's, the ground effect cannot be ignored, and after landing, the risk of bouncing or rolling makes the situation more complex." The findings have been published in the journal Science Robotics.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/25/04/16/2018225/harvards-robobee-masters-landing-paving-way-for-agricultural-pollination?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Researchers Grow Record-sized Lab Meat
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-04-17 05:22:01


Researchers at the University of Tokyo have created what they believe is the largest single piece of lab-grown meat to date: a chicken nugget-sized chunk measuring 7 centimeters long, 4 centimeters wide, and 2.25 centimeters thick, weighing 11 grams. The breakthrough, reported today in Trends in Biotechnology, uses an artificial circulatory system to overcome a fundamental limitation in cultured meat production.

The team, led by biohybrid system engineer Shoji Takeuchi, grew cells around a network of semipermeable hollow fibers -- similar to those used in water filters and dialysis machines -- that deliver nutrients and oxygen throughout the tissue. Unlike most commercial approaches that produce tiny meat fragments later assembled with binders or scaffolds, this method creates a single coherent piece with more natural structure and texture.

This is the first working model using tubes to grow muscle tissue into a thick slab, according to Mark Post, chief science officer at Mosa Meat, who created the world's first lab-grown hamburger in 2013. Significant hurdles remain before commercialization. The hollow fibers aren't edible and must be manually removed. Researchers are exploring automating this process or creating edible alternatives using cellulose.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/04/16/2013255/researchers-grow-record-sized-lab-meat?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Discord Begins Testing Facial Recognition Scans For Age Verification
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-04-17 05:22:01


Discord has begun testing age verification via facial scans or ID uploads for users in the UK and Australia seeking access to sensitive content. "The chat app's new process has been described as an 'experiment,' and comes in response to laws passed in those countries that place guardrails on youth access to online platforms," reports Gizmodo. From the report: Users may be asked to verify their age when encountering content that has been flagged by Discord's systems as being sensitive in nature, or when they change their settings to enable access to sensitive content. The app will ask users to scan their face through a computer or smartphone webcam; alternatively, they can scan a driver's license or other form of ID. "We're currently running tests in select regions to age-gate access to certain spaces or user settings," a spokesperson for Discord said in a statement. "The information shared to power the age verification method is only used for the one-time age verification process and is not stored by Discord or our vendor. For Face Scan, the solution our vendor uses operates on-device, which means there is no collection of any biometric information when you scan your face. For ID verification, the scan of your ID is deleted upon verification."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/04/16/2010241/discord-begins-testing-facial-recognition-scans-for-age-verification?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Following Layoffs, Automattic Employees Discover Leak-Catching Watermarks
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-04-17 04:22:01


An anonymous reader quotes a report from 404 Media: As part of the company's months-long obsession with catching employees leaking internal developments to the press, staff at Wordpress parent company Automattic recently noticed individually-unique watermarks on internal sites, according to employees who spoke to 404 Media. Automattic added the watermarks to an internal employee communications platform called P2. P2 is a WordPress product other workplaces can also use. There are hundreds of P2 sites across teams at Automattic alone; many are team-specific, but some are company-wide for announcements. The watermarks in Automattic's P2 instance are nearly invisible, rendered as a pattern overlaid on the site's white page backgrounds. Zooming in or manually changing the background color reveals the pattern. If, for example, a journalist published a screenshot leaked to them that was taken from P2, Automattic could theoretically identify the employee who shared it.

In October, as part of a series of buyout offers meant to test employee's loyalty to his leadership, Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg issued a threat for anyone speaking to the press, saying they should "exit gracefully, or be fired tomorrow with no severance." Earlier this month, the company laid off nearly 300 people. [...] It's not clear when the watermarks started appearing on P2, and Automattic has not responded to a request for comment. But Mullenweg has been warring with web hosting platform WP Engine -- and as the story has developed, seemingly with his own staff -- since last year. [...] One Automattic employee told me they don't think anyone is shocked by the watermarking, considering Mullenweg's ongoing campaign to find leakers, but that it's still adding to the uncertain, demoralized environment at the company. "Can't help but feel even more paranoid now," they said.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/04/16/1959227/following-layoffs-automattic-employees-discover-leak-catching-watermarks?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] First Global Pandemic Treaty Agreed - Without the US
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-04-17 03:22:01


For the first time -- and despite fears that it might never happen -- nations have agreed a series of measures to prevent, prepare for and respond to pandemics. Nature: The terms of the first global pandemic accord were still being hashed out at the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, up until the early hours of 16 April. "This is a definitive moment in the history of global health," says Lawrence Gostin, a specialist in health law and policy at Georgetown University in Washington DC, who followed the negotiations closely. The accord "sets out some very important norms to keep the world safe," he says.

The accord was agreed without the United States, which withdrew from the pandemic treaty the day that President Trump was inaugurated. This reduces its power, says Gostin, but is also a source of strength. "Instead of collapsing in the face of President Trump's assault on global health, the world came together." The treaty is not perfect but represents a major achievement, says Michelle Childs, policy advocacy director at the non-profit organization Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative in Geneva. "People didn't think that they'd get to this stage of agreeing at all."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/04/16/1957254/first-global-pandemic-treaty-agreed---without-the-us?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] The Last RadioShack In Maryland Is Closing Its Doors
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-04-17 03:22:01


After over 40 years in operation, the last RadioShack store in Maryland is closing. Store manager Cindy Henning, who worked there for three decades, reflected on the joy of helping customers and the legacy left by late owner Michael King: Henning told WTOP she's going to miss it dearly. She's worked there for three decades. "We would have a lot of fun. That was half of our day was to have fun with people and show them how electronics work," Henning said. It was owned and operated by longtime local resident Michael King, who passed away at the end of January at the age of 79. His son Edward has taken over as owner. "It's the end of an era," he said.

King said his grandfather owned a TV repair shop in the '50s and then his dad worked with him. They started carrying RadioShack products and grew to franchise three stores in Maryland. The RadioShack franchise first declared bankruptcy in 2015. King said they used the RadioShack name, but they don't have a warehouse in the U.S., so they were buying product from other wholesalers and selling it. "It was fun while it lasted, but it's not the same anymore," King said. "I know my dad realized that." The store's last day is Saturday, April 26.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/04/16/1952250/the-last-radioshack-in-maryland-is-closing-its-doors?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] OpenAI In Talks To Buy Windsurf For About $3 Billion
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-04-17 02:22:01


According to Bloomberg (paywalled), OpenAI is in talks to buy AI-assisted coding tool Windsurf for about $3 billion. "The deal would be OpenAI's largest to date, the terms of which have not yet been finalized," notes Reuters. From a report: Windsurf was in talks with investors such as Kleiner Perkins and General Catalyst to raise funding at a $3 billion valuation, the report added. It closed a $150 million funding round led by General Catalyst last year, valuing it at $1.25 billion.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/04/16/1946237/openai-in-talks-to-buy-windsurf-for-about-3-billion?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Google Used AI To Suspend Over 39 Million Ad Accounts Suspected of Fraud
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-04-17 01:22:02


An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Google on Wednesday said it suspended 39.2 million advertiser accounts on its platform in 2024 -- more than triple the number from the previous year -- in its latest crackdown on ad fraud. By leveraging large language models (LLMs) and using signals such as business impersonation and illegitimate payment details, the search giant said it could suspend a "vast majority" of ad accounts before they ever served an ad.

Last year, Google launched over 50 LLM enhancements to improve its safety enforcement mechanisms across all its platforms. "While these AI models are very, very important to us and have delivered a series of impressive improvements, we still have humans involved throughout the process," said Alex Rodriguez, a general manager for Ads Safety at Google, in a virtual media roundtable. The executive told reporters that a team of over 100 experts assembled across Google, including members from the Ads Safety team, the Trust and Safety division, and researchers from DeepMind. "In total, Google said it blocked 5.1 billion ads last year and removed 1.3 billion pages," adds TechCrunch. "In comparison, it blocked over 5.5 billion ads and took action against 2.1 billion publisher pages in 2023. The company also restricted 9.1 billion ads last year, it said."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/04/16/1939254/google-used-ai-to-suspend-over-39-million-ad-accounts-suspected-of-fraud?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] OpenAI Debuts Codex CLI, an Open Source Coding Tool For Terminals
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-04-17 01:22:02


OpenAI has released Codex CLI, an open-source coding agent that runs locally in users' terminal software. Announced alongside the company's new o3 and o4-mini models, Codex CLI directly connects OpenAI's AI systems with local code and computing tasks, enabling them to write and manipulate code on users' machines.

The lightweight tool allows developers to leverage multimodal reasoning capabilities by passing screenshots or sketches to the model while providing access to local code repositories. Unlike more ambitious future plans for an "agentic software engineer" that could potentially build entire applications from descriptions, Codex CLI focuses specifically on integrating AI models with command-line interfaces.

To accelerate adoption, OpenAI is distributing $1 million in API credits through a grant program, offering $25,000 blocks to selected projects. While the tool expands AI's role in programming workflows, it comes with inherent risks -- studies show AI coding models frequently fail to fix security vulnerabilities and sometimes introduce new bugs, particularly concerning when given system-level access.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://developers.slashdot.org/story/25/04/16/1931240/openai-debuts-codex-cli-an-open-source-coding-tool-for-terminals?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Выпуск Tor Browser 14.5
lor.opennet
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-04-17 00:44:03


После 6 месяцев разработки представлен значительный выпуск специализированного браузера Tor Browser 14.5, в котором продолжено развитие функциональности на базе ESR-ветки Firefox 128. Браузер сосредоточен на обеспечении конфиденциальности и безопасности, весь трафик перенаправляется только через сеть Tor. Обратиться напрямую через штатное сетевое соединение текущей системы невозможно (в случае взлома браузера, атакующие могут получить доступ к системным параметрам сети, поэтому для полного блокирования возможных утечек следует использовать такие продукты, как Whonix). Сборки Tor Browser подготовлены для Linux, Android, Windows и macOS.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=63091

[>] OpenAI Unveils o3 and o4-mini Models
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-04-17 00:22:02


OpenAI has released two new AI models that can "think with images" during their reasoning process. The o3 and o4-mini models represent a significant advancement in visual perception, enabling them to manipulate images -- cropping, zooming, and rotating -- as part of their analytical process.

Unlike previous models, o3 and o4-mini can agentically use all of ChatGPT's tools, including web search, Python code execution, and image generation. This allows them to tackle multi-faceted problems by selecting appropriate tools based on the task at hand.

The models have set new state-of-the-art performance benchmarks across multiple domains. On visual tasks, o3 achieved 86.8% accuracy on MathVista and 78.6% on CharXiv-Reasoning, while o4-mini scored 91.6% on AIME 2024 competitions. In expert evaluations, o3 made 20% fewer major errors than its predecessor on complex real-world tasks. ChatGPT Plus, Pro, and Team users will see o3, o4-mini, and o4-mini-high in the model selector starting today, replacing o1, o3â'mini, and o3â'miniâ'high.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/04/16/1925253/openai-unveils-o3-and-o4-mini-models?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Выпуск дистрибутива Deepin 23.1, развивающего собственное графическое окружение
lor.opennet
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-04-16 23:44:03


Опубликован релиз дистрибутива Deepin 23.1, развивающего собственный рабочий стол Deepin Desktop Environment (DDE), а также около 40 пользовательских приложений, среди которых музыкальный проигрыватель DMusic, видеоплеер DMovie, система обмена сообщениями DTalk, инсталлятор и центр установки программ Deepin Software Center. Проект основан группой разработчиков из Китая, но трансформировался в международный проект и поддерживает русский язык. Репозиторий дистрибутива включает более 8000 пакетов. Все наработки распространяются под лицензией GPLv3. Размер загрузочных iso-образов от 3.3 до 5 ГБ (amd64, arm64 и loongarch64).

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=63090

[>] Trump Administration Plans To End the IRS Direct File Program for Free Tax Filing
bot.slashdot
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-04-16 23:22:01


The Trump administration plans to eliminate the IRSâ(TM) Direct File program, an electronic system for filing tax returns directly to the agency for free, AP reported Wednesday, citing two people familiar with the decision. From the report: The program developed during Joe Biden's presidency was credited by users with making tax filing easy, fast and economical. But Republican lawmakers and commercial tax preparation companies complained it was a waste of taxpayer money because free filing programs already exist, although they are hard to use.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/04/16/1917209/trump-administration-plans-to-end-the-irs-direct-file-program-for-free-tax-filing?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Опубликована Linux-версия инструмента стресс-тестирования оборудования OCCT
lor.opennet
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2025-04-16 21:44:02


Для платформы Linux опубликован официальный порт пакета OCCT, предназначенного для тестирования стабильности системы в штатном режиме и во время разгона. Инструментарий является проприетарным, но доступен бесплатно с некоторыми ограничениями. Для загрузки предлагается бинарный файл размером 263 мегабайта.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=63088

[>] Google To Phase Out Country Code Top-level Domains
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2025-04-16 21:22:01


Google has announced that it will begin phasing out country code top-level domains (ccTLDs) such as google.ng and google.com.br, redirecting all traffic to google.com. The change comes after improvements in Google's localization capabilities rendered these separate domains unnecessary.

Since 2017, Google has provided identical local search experiences whether users visited country-specific domains or google.com. The transition will roll out gradually over the coming months, and users may need to re-establish search preferences during the migration.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/04/16/1642209/google-to-phase-out-country-code-top-level-domains?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] AI-generated Music Accounts For 18% of All Tracks Uploaded To Deezer
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2025-04-16 21:22:01


About 18% of songs uploaded to Deezer are fully generated by AI, the French streaming platform said on Wednesday, underscoring the technology's growing use amid copyright risks and concerns about fair payouts to artists. From a report: Deezer said more than 20,000 AI-generated tracks are uploaded on its platform each day, which is nearly twice the number reported four months ago. "AI-generated content continues to flood streaming platforms like Deezer and we see no sign of it slowing down," said Aurelien Herault, the company's innovation chief.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/25/04/16/1631223/ai-generated-music-accounts-for-18-of-all-tracks-uploaded-to-deezer?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] Embox v0.6.6
lor.opennet
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-04-16 20:44:04


16 апреля 2025 года вышла новая версия открытой операционной системы реального времени Embox.

Embox предназначена для встраиваемых систем. Главной идей провозглашается использование Linux-ПО без Linux. ОС является POSIX-совместимой и кроссплатформенной (ARM, MIPS, x86, RISC-V, Microblaze, SPARC, PowerPC, E2K),имеет аналог ./configure; make; make install; поддерживает C++. Есть поддержка файловых систем FAT, ext2/3/4. Доступны популярные ЯП: Python, Lisp TCL, Ruby, Lua, JS, Scheme.

ОС написана на языке C, отличается гибкой конфигурируемостью на уровне исходных текстов и распространяется на условиях двухпунктной лицензии BSD.

( [ читать дальше... ]( https://www.linux.org.ru/news/opensource/17944085#cut ) )

[>] Тихо и незаметно вышла Fedora 42
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2025-04-16 20:44:04


Fedora – ведущий дистрибутив GNU/Linux, развиваемый энтузиастами при поддержке компании Red Hat.

15 апреля 2025 года команда Fedora Project официально выпустила стабильную версию Fedora Linux 42 — одну из самых ожидаемых сборок за последние годы. Дистрибутив по традиции предлагает пользователям свежайшие компоненты open source-мира с упором на стабильность и технологии будущего.

( [ читать дальше... ]( https://www.linux.org.ru/news/redhat/17943716#cut ) )

[>] Существованние организации MITRE поставлено под угрозу.
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2025-04-16 20:44:04


Дальнейшее существование организации MITRE,деятельность которой связана с ведением базы данных уязвимостей CVE, а также списков видов уязвимостей CWE поставлено под угрозу. Министерство внутренней безопасности США не стало продлевать контракт с организацией в части финансирования работы по назначению идентификаторов уязвимостей. Кроме того, имеет место быть и общее сокращение финансирования, в результате которого только за этот месяц было уволено более 400 сотрудников. Если не будет найдено альтернативного решения по поддержанию деятельности программы, то уже сегодня может быть остановлено присвоение новых идентификаторов.

https://www.linux.org.ru/news/security/17944138

[>] Для независимого ведения CVE учреждена организация CVE Foundation
lor.opennet
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-04-16 20:44:02


Правительство США возобновило финансирование деятельности MITRE, связанной с поддержанием базы CVE. Несмотря на это, участники управляющего совета CVE (CVE Board) объявили о создании некоммерческой организации CVE Foundation, нацеленной на поддержание стабильной деятельности и независимости проекта CVE.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=63089

[>] Companies Are Slashing Their SaaS Spends, UBS Says
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2025-04-16 20:22:01


Enterprise software optimization is accelerating as companies face potential budget freezes in 2025, according to new research from UBS reviewed by Slashdot. Following discussions with two leading SaaSOps vendors, analysts report that 21% of organizations cut their SaaS spend last year, with a staggering 30% of existing licenses sitting unused.

SaaS rationalization efforts are targeting familiar categories: collaboration tools (Zoom, Teams, Slack), project management solutions, and sales engagement platforms. Back-office systems like Workday remain relatively insulated due to their stickiness and pricing leverage, while front-office software faces mixed pressures. "Companies were looking to return to spend growth in 2HF25 from cost cutting but now that might no longer be the case," one CEO told UBS.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/04/16/1510222/companies-are-slashing-their-saas-spends-ubs-says?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[>] CISA Extends Funding To Ensure 'No Lapse in Critical CVE Services'
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2025-04-16 19:22:01


CISA says the U.S. government has extended funding to ensure no continuity issues with the critical Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) program. From a report: "The CVE Program is invaluable to cyber community and a priority of CISA," the U.S. cybersecurity agency told BleepingComputer. "Last night, CISA executed the option period on the contract to ensure there will be no lapse in critical CVE services. We appreciate our partners' and stakeholders' patience."

The announcement follows a warning from MITRE Vice President Yosry Barsoum that government funding for the CVE and CWE programs was set to expire today, April 16, potentially leading to widespread disruption across the cybersecurity industry. "If a break in service were to occur, we anticipate multiple impacts to CVE, including deterioration of national vulnerability databases and advisories, tool vendors, incident response operations, and all manner of critical infrastructure," Barsoum said.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://it.slashdot.org/story/25/04/16/1441255/cisa-extends-funding-to-ensure-no-lapse-in-critical-cve-services?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.