https://idec.foxears.su/echo/ZId9Oj3zNxluvD2Sw6dw fox :: echo/ZId9Oj3zNxluvD2Sw6dw ru iL2mkiZS3wIQQNBvhafp2026-09-09 01:22:01robothttps://idec.foxears.su/iL2mkiZS3wIQQNBvhafp#iL2mkiZS3wIQQNBvhafp Meta has launched Muse, a personal AI agent developed under chief AI officer Alexandr Wang. "The product, long in development, was touted as a key next step by CEO Mark Zuckerberg in his recent 6,500-word manifesto," reports Axios. From the report: Muse, as the agent is known, ex... All

Meta has launched Muse, a personal AI agent developed under chief AI officer Alexandr Wang. "The product, long in development, was touted as a key next step by CEO Mark Zuckerberg in his recent 6,500-word manifesto," reports Axios. From the report: Muse, as the agent is known, exists in a chat interface, similar to a text thread. It's designed to be more proactive and long-running than typical chatbots. Users can name their agent, create an avatar and customize how it communicates. The Muse agent runs on a dedicated virtual machine in Meta's cloud, using a built-in browser that's visible to the user.

Meta is offering a free tier of Muse, as well as two subscription options, at $20 per month and $100 per month. "For the vast majority of users, they should be able to do what they need to within the free tier," Wang told Axios. "But for real power users, you know, those subscription tiers help us cover the computer costs." There is no advertising within Muse, but Wang said the company is exploring commerce opportunities that could generate additional revenue. Initially Muse will be available in the U.S. and works on iOS, Android and the web, with support coming soon for Meta's AI glasses. "The full vision in the future is we want to develop personal superintelligence that helps people accomplish their goals, pursue their passions, build things that they never would have built if they didn't have the technology," Wang told Axios.

Meta offers users more privacy controls with Muse than in its previous AI products, including the option to prevent queries from being used by Meta and a planned confidential mode where the company cannot see activity inside a user's virtual workspace. There's also an entirely separate system called Sentinel that governs Muse's access to the internet and connected services.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://meta.slashdot.org/story/26/09/08/2012246/meta-debuts-muse-its-long-planned-personal-ai-agent?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> u58F7KHRubXsn0E86XEr2026-09-09 00:22:01robothttps://idec.foxears.su/u58F7KHRubXsn0E86XEr#u58F7KHRubXsn0E86XEr Australia is proposing the "My Feed, My Way" initiative that would force social media platforms to let users over 16 turn off algorithmic recommendations and instead see only posts from people and creators they follow. Platforms that fail to comply could face fines of up to $79 m... All

Australia is proposing the "My Feed, My Way" initiative that would force social media platforms to let users over 16 turn off algorithmic recommendations and instead see only posts from people and creators they follow. Platforms that fail to comply could face fines of up to $79 million. CNBC reports: The legislation, which is being drafted and released Tuesday for targeted consultation, would require platforms to send notifications to new and existing users so they can choose their default feed. [...] The measures, set to be introduced to the Parliament of Australia this year, will also require AI chatbots, online games and other digital services to take action to protect under-18s from addictive design features. "This is not about giving government control. It's about giving people control. It's about putting choice back into the hands of Australians online," said Prime Minister Anthony at a press conference on Tuesday.

"This is sensible, pragmatic, practical reform. It gives users choice, and it will hold the big tech companies responsible for inaction."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/09/08/1959259/australia-to-let-social-media-users-opt-out-of-algorithm-based-feeds?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> rZkPpsxlUHPu0rPC41Wu2026-09-08 23:22:01robothttps://idec.foxears.su/rZkPpsxlUHPu0rPC41Wu#rZkPpsxlUHPu0rPC41Wu An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Telluride just managed one of its best-kept secrets in years, per The Hollywood Reporter. On Sunday night, festival-goers filed into a 650-seat theater with their phones locked away, having no idea what they were about to see, ... All

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Telluride just managed one of its best-kept secrets in years, per The Hollywood Reporter. On Sunday night, festival-goers filed into a 650-seat theater with their phones locked away, having no idea what they were about to see, told only that it ran nearly three hours, hadn't been shown anywhere, and that its principal creators would be in the audience. The surprise premiere they went on to enjoy is a new documentary from co-directors Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim about Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes.

Called "You Can See Everything," the film is said to capture Holmes and her husband, Billy Evans, in the 34 days before she reported to federal prison in May 2023 to begin an 11-year sentence for defrauding investors about her blood-testing technology. Since then, her legal fight has limped along without success. Her appeals to overturn the conviction and shorten her sentence were rejected in February of last year. She then went a different route last year, asking President Trump to commute her sentence. That clemency petition is still listed as pending, meaning it's officially been opened and remains under review.

Fielder apparently lived in the couple's guest house during filming -- the access they provided sounds shocking -- but some of the buzz also ties to an A-list actress who becomes part of the story itself. A24 is set to release the film in October. You can watch a trailer for the film on YouTube.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/26/09/08/1652228/a-secret-new-elizabeth-holmes-documentary-stuns-telluride?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> ZId9Oj3zNxluvD2Sw6dw2026-09-08 22:22:02robothttps://idec.foxears.su/ZId9Oj3zNxluvD2Sw6dw#ZId9Oj3zNxluvD2Sw6dw A Gamers Nexus investigation found that LG smart TVs are almost constantly logging and uploading data about owners and their homes, even while they are offline or in standby mode. "The company's TV sets scan Wi-Fi networks for nearby devices, record audio logs through their micro... All

A Gamers Nexus investigation found that LG smart TVs are almost constantly logging and uploading data about owners and their homes, even while they are offline or in standby mode. "The company's TV sets scan Wi-Fi networks for nearby devices, record audio logs through their microphones, and use audio and video sampling to recognize exactly what you're watching from across the TV inputs," reports The Verge. From the report: Gamers Nexus partnered with fellow YouTubers Level1Techs and independent security researchers for the investigation, which involved testing retail LG OLEDs. Packet captures showed the TVs scanning the local area network for nearby hardware like phones or smartwatches, as well as logging location data and details of nearby Wi-Fi networks, and feeding the information back to LG Ad Solutions. Perhaps more concerningly, the TVs were capable of recording microphone audio when in standby; this continued even after the TV was disconnected from the internet, with audio files stored offline and uploaded once a connection was restored. Earlier this year, LG was found to be silently installing an adware-like app on Windows PCs that ran pop-up ads for other LG apps and even McAfee antivirus.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/09/08/1634205/lg-tvs-caught-spying-even-when-offline-or-on-standby?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> L5iK1EKmff09gXytKnPP2026-09-08 21:22:01robothttps://idec.foxears.su/L5iK1EKmff09gXytKnPP#L5iK1EKmff09gXytKnPP Google DeepMind has released AlphaGenome Atlas, a free research database containing AI-generated predictions for the effects of all 9 billion possible single-letter mutations in the human genome. Built from its AlphaGenome model, the atlas is designed to help scientists interpret... All

Google DeepMind has released AlphaGenome Atlas, a free research database containing AI-generated predictions for the effects of all 9 billion possible single-letter mutations in the human genome. Built from its AlphaGenome model, the atlas is designed to help scientists interpret both protein-coding and harder-to-understand regulatory DNA. Fortune reports: AlphaGenome Atlas, as DeepMind calls the database, is a precomputed catalogue of what each substitution of a single DNA base is likely to do to the machinery that switches genes on and off. Until now researchers had to run such a model one variant at a time or had to test variants in the laboratory, a process that was painstakingly slow. It would have taken many human lifetimes to discover the consequences of all 9 billion possible single-letter mutations. The Atlas promises to make the job of biologists and medical researchers considerably easier, potentially speeding up the understanding of genetic diseases and the hunt for possible cures.

Pushmeet Kohli, DeepMind's vice president for research and head of its AI for science team, told reporters on a briefing call that this was the first time any researcher in the world could reach a comprehensive map of human genetic variation "by simply opening a browser." Kohli also framed the release as helping to complete the unfinished business of the Human Genome Project, which in 2003 succeeded in mapping the entire human DNA sequence. "As the saying goes, we bought the book," he said, "but we did not understand how to read it."

Atlas is available for non-commercial use from today through a website Google DeepMind has set up for it. The company said it would be available for commercial use through a licensing arrangement through Google Cloud "soon." Kohli said that Google DeepMind's sister company,ÂIsomorphic Labs, which is using AI for drug discovery, would have access to Atlas but that it would also require a commercial license for access. He did not specify exactly what the terms would be for commercial licensing. A paper describing the Atlas and how it was created is being released on bioRxiv, a repository for biomedical preprint academic papers.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/09/08/1559238/google-deepmind-publishes-ai-powered-predictions-for-effect-of-all-9-billion-mutations-to-human-dna?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> XCiPj0jAOc0QzE3Ar0W52026-09-08 20:22:01robothttps://idec.foxears.su/XCiPj0jAOc0QzE3Ar0W5#XCiPj0jAOc0QzE3Ar0W5 Teen reading, math, and science scores have fallen to their lowest levels since international PISA testing began in 2000, with 15-year-olds now reading at roughly the level previously expected of students a year younger. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development ... All

Teen reading, math, and science scores have fallen to their lowest levels since international PISA testing began in 2000, with 15-year-olds now reading at roughly the level previously expected of students a year younger. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) linked weaker results to more screen time, less reading for pleasure, and digital distraction. It also found that students who regularly used AI chatbots for tasks like drafting essays and summarizing text scored about 20 points lower in science, roughly equivalent to a year of learning. Reuters reports: A 2012 reading high of 501 on PISA's index had declined to a score of 466 last year. The test is widely regarded as the world's leading gauge of educational performance and its results are closely scrutinized by governments and educators. "In reading, more screen time and less reading for pleasure have gone hand in hand with weaker results," OECD head Mathias Cormann told a press conference. "We're also seeing more hasty reading, students rushing through a text and giving a quick wrong answer."

Reading scores fell more sharply in students from better-off backgrounds, the study added. Hindered by falling reading standards, average teenage science and maths skills were also at their lowest this century. Science fell from a 2009 high of 506 on the index to 486, while maths was down from 502 to 469 in the same period. East Asia was the best-performing region. Chinese cities that participated in the test, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan had the best educational systems with Britain and Estonia the only countries outside the region that made it into the top 10 in reading, mathematics and science.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/09/08/1545207/teen-reading-slumps-to-worst-this-century-due-to-surge-in-screen-time?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> MiVCISbAqw2XACGw4msI2026-09-08 19:22:02robothttps://idec.foxears.su/MiVCISbAqw2XACGw4msI#MiVCISbAqw2XACGw4msI An anonymous reader quotes a report from 404 Media: Border Patrol is running secretive predictive policing units that analyze Americans' financial activity and other data, then feed that intelligence to local police who pull people over who are not suspected of any specific crime... All

An anonymous reader quotes a report from 404 Media: Border Patrol is running secretive predictive policing units that analyze Americans' financial activity and other data, then feed that intelligence to local police who pull people over who are not suspected of any specific crime, but which the government thinks may be worth searching, 404 Media has found. The units, the name of which 404 Media is revealing here for the first time, are called Predictive Intelligence Targeting Teams (PITT). In one case, a PITT analyzed the financial activity of a man who was driving across Montana, and local authorities stopped him under the pretense of an obstructed license plate and charged him with a DUI.

404 Media identified one PITT in the Spokane Sector, Washington, which polices the U.S. border with Canada, and another in the Laredo Sector, Texas, which polices the border with Mexico. The findings add to an Associated Press investigation from last year which found Border Patrol was using automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) as part of the same wide-spanning predictive policing program. "The bottom line is genuine probable cause cannot be synthetically generated," Jake Laperruque, deputy director of the Security and Surveillance Project at the Center For Democracy & Technology, told 404 Media in an email. Here Border Patrol seems to be "using parallel construction to cloak the reason behind its car stops in secrecy. If we can't meaningfully review and evaluate these systems, we can't trust them," he added.

[...] The DHS document obtained by 404 Media shows that Border Patrol is analyzing the financial activity of Americans to find people to pull over. The Associated Press's investigation found the predictive policing program is also heavily using ALPRs to track potential targets' movements. It is not clear how exactly Border Patrol is monitoring Americans' financial activity. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) declined to answer what financial activity the agency was monitoring, and whether it obtained a warrant or not. A CBP spokesperson told 404 Media in an email: "U.S. Border Patrol uses intelligence-informed analysis and planning to support national security operations, allocate resources, and help identify potential threats and bad actors to public safety. These efforts are conducted consistent with applicable law, policy, privacy protections, and oversight requirements."

The statement continued: "For operational security reasons, we do not discuss specific analytical methods, data sources, targeting criteria, investigative techniques, system capabilities, or deployment details. Public disclosure of such information could compromise law enforcement operations and investigations as well as creating safety risks for agents and the public."

Rob Frommer, senior attorney at the Institute for Justice, told 404 Media: "The government's increasing use of mass surveillance -- whether that surveillance comes via ALPRs, financial records, or the like -- coupled with predictive policing is a recipe for tyranny. We fought a revolution for the idea that we are citizens, not subjects. Yet schemes like CBP's Predictive Intelligence Targeting Team treat all Americans as if they are potential suspects. This is not just wrong, it's unconstitutional, and IJ will keep pushing courts and Congress to end this attack on Americans' security."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/09/08/1458257/secretive-dhs-predictive-policing-unit-is-analyzing-americans-financial-habits-pulling-them-over?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> 05AzPbthD24zDmCcKwz82026-09-08 16:22:01robothttps://idec.foxears.su/05AzPbthD24zDmCcKwz8#05AzPbthD24zDmCcKwz8 Phoronix reports: AMD is building out what they are describing as an "elite" team of developers for driving Rust code "deep into the GPU stack" from firmware to drivers, shader compilers, and other GPU software in Rust. AMD Senior Fellow Harsh Meno posted this week to LinkedIn a... All

Phoronix reports:

AMD is building out what they are describing as an "elite" team of developers for driving Rust code "deep into the GPU stack" from firmware to drivers, shader compilers, and other GPU software in Rust. AMD Senior Fellow Harsh Meno posted this week to LinkedIn about this new effort...

And note this AMD job posting that's active for hiring a software development engineer to work on Rust code...

"We are building next-generation systems software for AMD GPUs with Rust as a core technical direction. The work spans compilers, runtimes, low-level GPU software, firmware, developer tooling, and methods for improving the safety and correctness of complex hardware-software systems.
"Rust is not incidental to this role. You will help establish how Rust is used in performance-sensitive and high-trust parts of the GPU stack, including the compiler and tooling support, system interfaces, engineering practices, and validation methods required for production deployment. You will have the opportunity to influence both near-term implementations and the longer-term architecture for using Rust across current and future AMD platforms."

"AMD also isn't alone," the article points out, "as NVIDIA has also been pursuing similar Rust-based initiatives for their GPU software too, including the development of the Nova Linux kernel driver written in Rust."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://developers.slashdot.org/story/26/09/07/086221/amd-working-to-push-rust-deep-into-the-gpu-stack?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> X9gTV3Dno0ESkc0DwTtZ2026-09-08 13:22:01robothttps://idec.foxears.su/X9gTV3Dno0ESkc0DwTtZ#X9gTV3Dno0ESkc0DwTtZ It looks like a spaceship hovering over South Los Angeles, writes CNN, with futuristic tube-like elevators and an exhibition of Banksy murals. There's a room featuring Luke Skywalker's X-34 Landspeeder, but in its gardens there's a 19th-century cast of a sculpture showing David c... All

It looks like a spaceship hovering over South Los Angeles, writes CNN, with futuristic tube-like elevators and an exhibition of Banksy murals. There's a room featuring Luke Skywalker's X-34 Landspeeder, but in its gardens there's a 19th-century cast of a sculpture showing David conquering Goliath — and then a bronze statue of Princess Leia strangling Jabba the Hutt with a chain. Next to Rosie the Riveter. CNN argues it's the museum's message that "all forms of art and mythology on display here — from comic book illustrations and 'Star Wars' concept art to Impressionist masterpieces and reproductions of the Sistine Chapel — are worthy of equal consideration within the long arc of human history."

More than 16 years after first proposing a cultural institution dedicated to visual storytelling, filmmaker George Lucas and his wife, businesswoman Mellody Hobson, will open their long-awaited museum in Los Angeles on September 22. The project made two false starts — plans to construct it in San Francisco and Chicago were both eventually abandoned — and has cost Lucas around $1 billion of his own money to build... Inside, visitors will find a significant slice of Lucas' private collection, amassed over five decades and spanning art, costumes, movie props and memorabilia, with more than 1,300 objects currently displayed across 30 galleries...

Many fans will come for the "Star Wars" vehicles and sculptures of Yoda and Grogu, but the sci-fi mega-franchise only occupies about 7% of the museum. Lucas and Hobson are betting those visitors will stay for artworks by Frida Kahlo and Norman Rockwell, photographs by Gordon Parks, comics by Frank Miller and Cowboy Bebop anime, which will be screened in one of two theaters alongside early silent movies, Lucas' own student films and productions by famed historical artists like Man Ray...
[M]ajor art institutions like New York's Museum of Modern Art and London's Tate Britain have reconsidered the cultural canon by rehanging their permanent collections, exhibiting overlooked or marginalized artists alongside more widely celebrated names. The Lucas Museum appears to follow a similar philosophy, contending that the gravitas of an artwork is not just determined by its display in space but by what it's in dialogue with. Lucas has even called his namesake museum "a temple to the peoples' art," elevating the work of illustrators and other underappreciated art forms...

The museum defines narrative art as any art that tells a story, and, moving through the space, one feels the enormity of the task of organizing and presenting such a broad vision... The open-plan, curvilinear design means the galleries are not fully divided, reinforcing the all-encompassing nature of the collection, though altogether the vast array of exhibits sometimes struggle for cohesiveness. Disjointed curation may reflect turbulence in the museum's management ahead of the opening. Last April, former director and CEO Sandra Jackson-Dumont departed, with Lucas himself assuming responsibility for "content direction." A month later, the museum laid off 15 full-time and seven part-time staff before chief curator Pilar Tompkins Rivas resigned in December, with no replacement planned...

After failing to secure a site in San Francisco, Lucas faced public opposition and a lawsuit in Chicago, with nonprofit Friends of the Parks arguing that his lakefront proposal would essentially privatize public land. Amid the delays and setbacks, simply opening the museum may feel like a victory to its founders.

Lucas's wife said she'd watched the awe-inspiring activity of genius at work, reports Variety. "And he was fanatical at times, but the thing about a fanatical person is they're a fan. He was a deep fan of these illustrators in this work, and he wanted them to be represented, and I became a deeper fan of his."

Hobson teared up as she continued, "I was a fan already, but I saw something, the inspiration, the unwillingness to compromise, the determination, the lack of sleep, the lack of rest, the doggedness that actually taught me so much more than I ever could have imagined." The museum, which features 1,200 pieces from Lucas's private collection, has been in the works for about 20 years... "I thought I was tough. I thought I was strong, I thought I had a will, and then I saw George, and I was like, 'Oh, that's why you could only do six of those movies,'" Hobson said. "Any more would have killed you."

Artforum magazine notes the museum received "mixed reviews" before its September 22 opening:

The billion-dollar, 300,000-square-foot museum, which opens to the public on September 22, encompasses 100,000 square feet of gallery space housing the collection of Lucas and Hobson. Intended to highlight storytelling in art, it presents the work of comic book artists John Romita Sr. and R. Crumb, illustrators Maxfield Parrish and Norman Rockwell, and fantasy painters Boris Vallejo and Frank Frazetta alongside masterworks by Artemisia Gentileschi, Lucas Cranach the Elder, and Pieter Brueghel the Younger, as well as Mary Cassatt, Frida Kahlo, and John Singer Sargent. All the works on display were chosen for their ability to tell a story, frequently in a single frame, Hobson told members of the press on September 2...

"Some visitors may be scandalized by the collision of so-called 'high' and 'low,'" wrote Min Chen in Artnet News. "But there's something liberating about watching those hierarchies collapse, seeing the breadth of human creativity arrayed beyond the bounds of genre or canon." Notably, most of the works appear without didactics, which is intentional. "We're encouraging people to have their own individual encounters with works of art and take away what they feel like speaks to them," Lucas told The Guardian.

The tactic did not land for everyone. "Without [didactics], I left the Lucas without a clear sense of how the museum is positioning itself or, frankly, without learning much about anything beyond what I already knew...." wrote Maximiliano Durón in Artnews. "The Museum of Narrative Art lacks any kind of narrative." Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times was unfazed by the lack of information, calling the institution "gutsy" and "defiant."
"Critics will roar," wrote McNamara, "but the Lucas Museum is a win for 'the people's art.'"

Even the museum's web site is a visual extravaganza (and impossible to scroll). Reportedly there's two restaurants, including the rooftop Skywalker Grill, which offers offering everything from striped bass and ragu bolognese to lobster corn dogs and Skywalker ranch Waygu burgers.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/26/09/06/1745223/three-cities-16-years-and-1-billion-later-defiant-lucas-museum-of-narrative-art-opens-to-mixed-reviews?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> h0AjKqv6kejogNgMDWcI2026-09-08 10:22:02robothttps://idec.foxears.su/h0AjKqv6kejogNgMDWcI#h0AjKqv6kejogNgMDWcI "A team at Google's research arm used Google Maps to reroute a small portion of drivers in 10 U.S. cities," reports SFGate — including San Francisco and Los Angeles. "Through their experiment, which was published in the journal Nature Cities in June, the researchers sought to e... All

"A team at Google's research arm used Google Maps to reroute a small portion of drivers in 10 U.S. cities," reports SFGate — including San Francisco and Los Angeles.

"Through their experiment, which was published in the journal Nature Cities in June, the researchers sought to evenly spread traffic down more corridors as the drivers head to similar destinations, in the hopes of reducing congestion."
The experiments nudged up vehicle speeds by 2% on average on the congested roads, and shortened travel times by a modest 0.7%. Scientists have long thought that traffic could be eased this way, and this now demonstrates how it could actually work in the real world.

The researchers collected data on weekdays in the 10 cities, which included Seattle, Salt Lake City, Chicago and Atlanta. While they studied a variety of types of roads, from city streets to highways, they found that in cities such as Los Angeles where they targeted highways, their diversions had the biggest effect, with driving speeds in those areas increasing by about 4.6%. Most cities, though, saw a smaller improvement with speeds across them increasing by just 0.5% during peak times. The Google study's findings confirm what other researchers have long suspected, said Michael Manville, a professor of urban planning at UCLA who was not involved in the study. "This is a pretty nice empirical illustration of a longstanding idea," he said. If a clogged traffic artery is on the verge of a long delay, he said, rerouting a small number of vehicles away from the bottleneck produces a "not gigantic but noticeable result...."

As with other traffic interventions, there's a risk that Google's approach to spreading traffic could backfire. This concept, known as "induced demand," also applies to efforts like adding a lane to a critical highway, which temporarily relieves congestion, until traffic rises again. "You can do this, but you cannot be too successful, because if you are too successful, then more people will start driving, and essentially you'll be back to ground zero," [said Alexandre Bayen, a co-author of the study and director of UC Berkeley's Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society]. "That's why when we did the study, we only operated at the margin." The idea is to make minor improvements, enough to matter in the aggregate but not so significant that people notice and start driving more, canceling those improvements...
The Google Research study also considered the potential environmental benefits of its traffic improvements. The paper highlights the carbon dioxide emission reductions resulting from the slightly smoother traffic flow and shortened travel times, which add up to a savings of about 1,000 metric tons annually. That's equivalent to the emissions of about 200 vehicles, a drop in the bucket for cities with millions of cars, the majority of which are still gas guzzlers, even in San Francisco and LA. Bayen acknowledges that while emphasizing the cumulative benefit if such efforts were sustained for a longer time. For Manville, the study is a useful proof of concept. "It is a demonstration that if we managed roads better, air would probably be cleaner," he said.
According to the article, "Google's study might not just be a one-off, and city officials could decide to make use of the Google research findings, Bayen said, such as by trying to improve traffic congestion on a larger scale..."

"Google declined SFGATE's requests for comment on whether the company informed city authorities or rerouted drivers about the study," the article points out.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/09/07/0653248/why-google-told-drivers-to-drive-a-longer-way-on-purpose?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> 6l0u2kTCdLqVnoDwgvIZ2026-09-08 07:22:01robothttps://idec.foxears.su/6l0u2kTCdLqVnoDwgvIZ#6l0u2kTCdLqVnoDwgvIZ The Brave web browser published a new round of benchmarks claiming its desktop browser uses less system resources than Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Firefox — and also loads pages faster. The blog Linuxiac reports: According to Brave's testing, the browser used 44% less CPU, 28% l... All

The Brave web browser published a new round of benchmarks claiming its desktop browser uses less system resources than Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Firefox — and also loads pages faster.
The blog Linuxiac reports:

According to Brave's testing, the browser used 44% less CPU, 28% less memory, and 10% less energy on average compared with the three competing browsers. It also completed page loads 20% faster while transferring 26% less inbound data and 39% less outbound data...

- Brave averaged about 33% CPU usage, while Chrome used 47%, Edge 53%, and Firefox 78%.

- For memory, Brave used about 1.2 GB, compared to 1.75 GB for Chrome, 1.62 GB for Edge, and 1.65 GB for Firefox.
By stopping ads, analytics scripts, tracking pixels, and other third-party requests from loading, the browser has less network traffic and less work to do. In page-loading tests, Brave took about 4.4 seconds to fully load a page. Chrome took 5.1 seconds, Firefox 5.3 seconds, and Edge 6 seconds. However, when measuring Largest Contentful Paint, which is when the main content appears, Brave and Chrome both averaged about 2.4 seconds, with Edge and Firefox just behind at 2.5 seconds. This means Brave's main advantage comes after the main content is visible, since there are fewer background ads, trackers, analytics requests, and delayed scripts to process.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/09/07/0155210/does-brave-browser-load-faster-than-chrome-firefox-and-microsoft-edge?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> L9gofFaTzxURxqzV7FKs2026-09-08 04:22:02robothttps://idec.foxears.su/L9gofFaTzxURxqzV7FKs#L9gofFaTzxURxqzV7FKs Switzerland has a population of 9,154,242. And its federal government just launched a pilot program to test open source alternatives to Microsoft 365 on 3,000 workstations, reports the blog It's FOSS. "That's about 7% of the federal workforce." The target is to complete the mig... All

Switzerland has a population of 9,154,242. And its federal government just launched a pilot program to test open source alternatives to Microsoft 365 on 3,000 workstations, reports the blog It's FOSS. "That's about 7% of the federal workforce."

The target is to complete the migration by end of 2027... On September 3, 2026, the Federal Council published results of "PoC BOSS", a feasibility proof-of-concept involving 172 federal employees who tested the openDesk suite, a German open-source collaboration platform. During the proof-of-concept phase, core office tasks like document processing and email received positive assessments, while large-scale video conferencing still showed technical limitations. Based on the 'success' of the PoC phase with 172 employees, the pilot is now launched for 3,000 employees...

According to Matthias Stürmer, professor at the Bern University of Applied Sciences, Microsoft's supremacy in public institutions poses three problems that are driving this migration. First is the risk of foreign access. US cloud legislation could expose Swiss government data to foreign authorities. Second is the risk to service continuity, as dependency on a single foreign vendor creates operational risk. The third risk is the escalating costs as proprietary licensing fees are rising with no Swiss leverage.
Switzerland's military cybersecurity unit, Cyber Command, is not waiting for the civilian pilot. It is already poised to replace Microsoft 365 entirely with openDesk by October 2026. It is pretty much the same reason. Military doesn't want foreign governments accessing sensitive Swiss data.
The article notes that during the pilot phase, the new system runs in parallel with Microsoft 365 rather than replacing it. But the article's author speculates that "If the pilot is successful, we might expect the migration to continue on all the 54,000 workstations owned by the federal administrations."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/09/07/0128205/switzerlands-federal-government-tests-open-source-alternatives-to-microsoft-on-3000-computers?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> w5MzhB7zYdne9cpRtfuy2026-09-08 01:22:02robothttps://idec.foxears.su/w5MzhB7zYdne9cpRtfuy#w5MzhB7zYdne9cpRtfuy Last year the writing program at the University of Baltimore used an app that tracks students while they're writing in Google Docs, offering teachers a video playing back revisions "with a scoreboard of all the edits, pastes and minutes spent on it," writes the Washington Post. "... All

Last year the writing program at the University of Baltimore used an app that tracks students while they're writing in Google Docs, offering teachers a video playing back revisions "with a scoreboard of all the edits, pastes and minutes spent on it," writes the Washington Post. "Is it surveillance? Yes, I think obviously," says the program's director.

But was there a better way?

She is one of a dozen educators around the country who told The Post that they're experimenting with a different approach to student use of generative artificial intelligence this school year. Teachers and professors are throwing out old assignments, installing new policies and protocols, and incorporating AI built for the classroom, rather than feeling forced to choose between returning to pencil and paper or acting like the AI police.

Her new lesson plan even incorporates generative AI in a controlled way to let her evaluate students' critical thinking skills. She created chatbots using BoodleBox, the university's AI vendor, that allow instructors to see both sides of the conversation. For an assignment testing students' ability to make evidence-based arguments, they participate in a simulated school board meeting about banning books. It involves debating chatbots designed by Zeleny with names like the Confrontational Parent. Writing students usually turn in business proposals and research papers. This semester, instructors are starting to ask instead for transcripts of conversations a student had with a chatbot, a handwritten outline of their composition, and a video reflection of how they felt about the work. "In a lot of ways, we have made these assignments harder, but writing should have always had more detailed checkpoints along the way," she said.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/09/07/0021232/instead-of-fighting-ai-some-teachers-work-it-into-their-lessons?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> 5UYTgOfdLizOwzGjEsvM2026-09-07 22:22:01robothttps://idec.foxears.su/5UYTgOfdLizOwzGjEsvM#5UYTgOfdLizOwzGjEsvM The EV blog Electrek reports: A Clinton Township, Michigan man was charged $418 for a single EV charging session at Elder Hyundai's Macomb Township store after finding the charger listed as publicly available on the EVgo app, but didn't discover the charges until after wrapping ... All

The EV blog Electrek reports:

A Clinton Township, Michigan man was charged $418 for a single EV charging session at Elder Hyundai's Macomb Township store after finding the charger listed as publicly available on the EVgo app, but didn't discover the charges until after wrapping up his 40-ish minute charging session. "I was flabbergasted," explained Stanley Kpenkann, who had been driving a rented Chevy Bolt EV at the time. "Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be saddled with a bill of $418 for a charging session."
After calling EVgo to report the error, he found that the exorbitant charge wasn't a mistake at all - Elder Hyundai was charging customers an eye-gouging $5 per kWh, plus another $5 for every minute connected.

A local news report notes that "After back-and-forth with EVgo, the company processed what it called a goodwill refund of $405." (And the dealership argued their charger was reserved for its own customers and vehicles, so they set prices high to deter outside use.)

But Electrek argues the story "speaks to much larger problems among the EV charging business in particular and car dealerships in general..."

[In June] Plug & Play EV's Steve Birkett took to LinkedIn to call out his local Hyundai dealer in Union, NJ for charging a ridiculous $15 per kWh to top off his IONIQ 5 (!)... Even worse, he noted that a number of area dealerships that had listed their ports as "public" were actively discouraging public use with signs and stickers designed to turn people away...

[U]nlike gas stations, EV charge point operators in many states aren't required to clearly advertise what they'll charge before a driver plugs in in the same way that gas stations are: with clearly legible signage that's visible from the street.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/26/09/07/012247/a-man-charged-his-ev-at-a-dealership---and-was-billed-418?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> fUMu9T6fOBDleece3GvW2026-09-07 19:22:01robothttps://idec.foxears.su/fUMu9T6fOBDleece3GvW#fUMu9T6fOBDleece3GvW "Billionaire Bill Ackman's life was upended this February when his 26-year-old daughter collapsed in her Brooklyn apartment, suffering a brain hemorrhage that would render her unable to move, speak or see," writes the Washingon Post. But then... The hedge fund manager did what a... All

"Billionaire Bill Ackman's life was upended this February when his 26-year-old daughter collapsed in her Brooklyn apartment, suffering a brain hemorrhage that would render her unable to move, speak or see," writes the Washingon Post. But then...

The hedge fund manager did what any good father would do — at least, any father with vast financial resources and what friends describe as a "Mr. Fix-It" tendency. He sprung into action, getting her topline care at New York City's Mt. Sinai Hospital and consulting a network of well-connected friends all over the world. He helped her access a novel cell therapy that has been gaining traction among longevity enthusiasts, who are seeking ways to prolong human life. And then — motivated by a newfound desire to accelerate scientific research — he vowed to spend more than $400 million to launch an institute dedicated to longevity and brain health... He posted this week that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in May, gave his daughter Lucy's medical team a first-time emergency authorization to transplant mitochondria — the energy-producing part of human cells — from her leg muscle to her eyes, in the hopes that the tiny cell powerhouses would facilitate healing in her optic nerves and perhaps even restore her vision.
Ackman's story highlights the increasingly prominent role of the ultra-wealthy in making expensive medical bets on longevity treatments and other novel therapies, altering the direction of research as federal funding for science declines in the second Trump administration. But his saga is a deeply personal one, spurred by his daughter's medical crisis. The focus on longevity by Ackman, who made billions on Wall Street as a hedge fund manager, is aligned with similarly ambitious efforts from some of Silicon Valley's biggest names. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has backed Retro Biosciences, a start-up whose goal is to add 10 healthy years to the human lifespan through cellular reprogramming. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is reportedly a funder of Altos Labs, which focuses on cellular rejuvenation and resilience... Billionaire investor Peter Thiel, Google co-founder Sergey Brin and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison are also deeply invested in life-extension methods and attempts to rewrite the biology of aging...

The therapy given to Ackman's daughter Lucy, known as mitochondrial transplantation, is of great interest not only to people who have suffered injuries, but to longevity-focused scientists who believe that mitochondria may hold promise for reversing some of the effects of aging... In recent years, scientists have discovered that mitochondria have many other functions beyond converting food into energy. They serve as clearinghouses for damaged cells, opening up the possibility that they can help with cell regeneration and healing, said Daria Mochly-Rosen, professor of chemical and systems biology at the Stanford University School of Medicine and co-author of " The Life Machines: How Taking Care of Your Mitochondria Can Transform Your Health."

"I am one of those who believes that focusing on mitochondrial health is a way to address many human diseases, including aging itself," she said. "It's exciting."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/26/09/07/0036234/she-lost-her-sight-her-billionaire-father-bet-on-a-daring-new-treatment?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> zQzWQBH5j0awnPQcAQgS2026-09-07 16:22:02robothttps://idec.foxears.su/zQzWQBH5j0awnPQcAQgS#zQzWQBH5j0awnPQcAQgS A new article about AI in The Economist argues that "Initial effects of the technology on employment look positive." Perhaps AI will eventually make many humans unemployable — but there is no sign of it yet. On September 4th the Bureau of Labour Statistics reported that the Amer... All

A new article about AI in The Economist argues that "Initial effects of the technology on employment look positive."

Perhaps AI will eventually make many humans unemployable — but there is no sign of it yet. On September 4th the Bureau of Labour Statistics reported that the American economy added 162,000 jobs in August, far above expectations. The unemployment rate is just 4.1%, lower than in almost 90% of months over the past half-century. Young workers, often cast as AI's first victims, are holding up remarkably well: the gap between unemployment among 20-24-year-olds and the overall rate is close to a multi-decade low.

Some companies and workers are being severely disrupted by AI. Hiring in professional and business services is running about 10% below the average in 2015-19. Tech giants like Microsoft and Meta are trimming headcounts as they reorganise their businesses around the technology. Smaller firms such as Block, the owner of Square and Cash App, and Intuit, the maker of TurboTax and QuickBooks, are replacing people with bots. American companies have announced some 16,000 AI-related job cuts a month on average so far this year, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an employment consultancy.

But AI-related lay-offs gets lost in the churning jobs market where employers shed roughly 1.7m workers in a typical month. And the evidence so far is that AI is already creating a lot of jobs to replace those it has destroyed. The vast sums pouring into data centres and power generation have set off a race for construction and infrastructure workers. AI startups are hiring like there is no tomorrow. Incumbents racing to keep up are creating new AI roles. And by making some workers more productive, AI may be increasing demand for their services.

Add it all up, and The Economist estimates that AI has so far created around 1m new jobs in America. That easily exceeds the roughly 200,000 lay-offs attributed to AI since mid-2023, and appears more than enough to offset weaker hiring in many back-office roles.

Their article acknowledges that since January 2023 employment has fallen roughly 10% for customer-service workers and 15% for administrative assistants. But when The Economist looked at professions "closest to the AI boom" — engineers, software developers, mathematicians and data scientists — they found that since 2022 they've added roughly 730,000 jobs above trend. They see AI as creating new white-collar jobs for everyone from model and deployment engineers to new data annotators.

The chief economist at the Burning Glass Institute agrees, estimating that roughly 1% of professional jobs are now "AI jobs" — about 1 million positions in the U.S. — while in computer occupations and life sciences it's between 4% and 5%. (Data-center construction spending also increased 60% in one year, according to Census Bureau data, creating jobs for electricians, HVAC specialists, grid engineers, and machine technicians.) And "Indeed finds that installation and maintenance jobs at data centres advertise wages about 40% higher than comparable work elsewhere."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/26/09/06/214258/the-jobs-apocalypse-is-postponed-an-ai-jobs-boom-is-here?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> mESllooy0pGDznXlTxFR2026-09-07 12:22:01robothttps://idec.foxears.su/mESllooy0pGDznXlTxFR#mESllooy0pGDznXlTxFR Reuters reports: Liquid Network, a Bitcoin-based payments and settlement network, said on Sunday that about $320 million was withdrawn from its federation wallet in a hack. "Purported white-hat hackers" withdrew around 4,000 of the 4,200 bitcoin held in its Liquid Federation wal... All

Reuters reports:

Liquid Network, a Bitcoin-based payments and settlement network, said on Sunday that about $320 million was withdrawn from its federation wallet in a hack.
"Purported white-hat hackers" withdrew around 4,000 of the 4,200 bitcoin held in its Liquid Federation wallet, Liquid Network said in a post on X.

"Liquid wallets will be impacted," their post concluded, adding "and we're sorry for any inconvenience."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/09/07/0727220/bitcoin-based-liquid-network-says-320-million-withdrawn-in-hack?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> kmL2K1pOzI7KMuSqk6dw2026-09-07 09:22:02robothttps://idec.foxears.su/kmL2K1pOzI7KMuSqk6dw#kmL2K1pOzI7KMuSqk6dw A new streaming TV channel shows films made with genAI, reports Engadget. "Fairground AI Creator TV" is free — and supported with ads — describing its material as "AI Cinema": "AI-generated" can make it sound as though someone typed a sentence into a machine and came back five m... All

A new streaming TV channel shows films made with genAI, reports Engadget. "Fairground AI Creator TV" is free — and supported with ads — describing its material as "AI Cinema":

"AI-generated" can make it sound as though someone typed a sentence into a machine and came back five minutes later to find a finished movie. Fairground's catalog shows why that description can be too simple. Take Lost Garden: The Awakening of the Lantern Knight. According to its Fairground page, creator Frank Houbre wrote the world, characters, mythology, emotional arc and screenplay himself. AI tools were used mainly for animation and visual production, with other tools helping create voices and music before the episode was assembled in conventional video-editing software.

There's still one question, the article notes: "whether viewers actually want an AI-focused TV channel." More than 100 AI creators have contributed to the 24-hour slate of programming, although Variety points out several of them were discovered on social media.

The channel was recently profiled in an article by the Guardian. Its headline? "'Nightmare fodder': Roku's AI slop channel is even worse than expected." (And its subheading calls it "a 24/7 channel devoted to low-quality AI content for viewers sick of watching real people move...")
What about people who hate plot and vision and the sight of people speaking convincing dialogue that synchronises perfectly with the movement of their lips? What about the people who just want to watch an unyielding torrent of eerily weightless nightmare fodder? Well, good news. Roku has finally caught up... Early reactions were, to put it mildly, not great. The Verge compared it to eating from a trough, while Futurism called it "bottom-of-the-barrel slop"...

On the plus side, the channel is evidence that artificial intelligence has come on in leaps and bounds over the last couple of years... However, it is still awful. Categorically, catastrophically awful. The channel doesn't so much offer shows as a drifting dreamscape of bad ideas rendered as horribly as possible with no thought paid to scheduling. At one point on Wednesday, a shrill high-frequency anime gave way to a long and staid German-language short about Nazi bureaucracy. After that came a sort of Gladiator ripoff that had all the dynamism of an exhibit you'd see at the fourth-best museum on a poorly planned family holiday.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/26/09/06/0633216/rokus-247-ai-slop-channel-is-even-worse-than-expected?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> M8mF0SRJyn3ibK2nZL5J2026-09-07 07:22:01robothttps://idec.foxears.su/M8mF0SRJyn3ibK2nZL5J#M8mF0SRJyn3ibK2nZL5J Slashdot reader DeanonymizedCoward writes: Reuters reports that the US Military is disabling ad tracking on devices, to prevent adversaries from buying publicly-available tracking data to assist in targeting troops. Military officials say that they have disabled trackers on a var... All

Slashdot reader DeanonymizedCoward writes: Reuters reports that the US Military is disabling ad tracking on devices, to prevent adversaries from buying publicly-available tracking data to assist in targeting troops. Military officials say that they have disabled trackers on a variety of computers and mobile devices, according to letters released on Friday by Sen. Ron Wyden, and following reports that commercially-available tracking data has been used to target troops in the Middle East....

Wyden said in a statement that it was clear that the military's efforts "have not been effective at neutralizing this threat." U.S. Representative Pat Harrigan, a North Carolina Republican, said that U.S. enemies "should not be able to pull out a credit card and buy information that helps them track American troops." Rep. Harrigan remains silent as to the larger question of whether the general public should be able to pull out a credit card and buy information that helps them track anyone they please.

"The Pentagon said in an email it would respond to the lawmakers directly," Reuters reports:

The Army said in a statement that advertising IDs had been blocked on Windows computers "since before 2021" but that Android and Apple mobile devices had only had it disabled by default "since at least February 2026...." The effort to reduce the location data generated by smartphones comes as military officials weigh increasingly strict restrictions on phone use overall. In July, Reuters reported that some deployed personnel in the Middle East could be ordered to surrender their phones amid concerns that mobile videos they were posting to the internet were helping Iran target American bases in the region.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/09/06/0553230/us-military-disables-ad-trackers-on-devices-to-protect-troops?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> 4O8NPazrLQ2ad20idYwk2026-09-07 04:22:01robothttps://idec.foxears.su/4O8NPazrLQ2ad20idYwk#4O8NPazrLQ2ad20idYwk A new study published Friday in AGU Advances "depicts the most advanced picture yet of how a rare but massive solar storm could affect some US industries and electric systems more than others," reports CNN. "During a 250-year solar storm, the East Coast would have widespread po... All

A new study published Friday in AGU Advances "depicts the most advanced picture yet of how a rare but massive solar storm could affect some US industries and electric systems more than others," reports CNN.

"During a 250-year solar storm, the East Coast would have widespread potential for grid failure."

Researchers modeled what a Carrington Event — a 1-in-150-year geomagnetic storm or even rarer — could mean for the modern day. They estimate the US economy would lose about $1.5 billion to $2 billion per day from direct and indirect costs, as millions of people face power outages. The findings show the most vulnerable areas are the Northeast and the Northern Plains, especially locations at higher latitudes.
No one knows when the next big storm will hit. While the most severe geomagnetic storms are labeled as once-in-a-century or rarer, these events don't follow a fixed schedule. "That timing only averages out on very long timescales," said Anna Kelbert, a geophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, who was not involved in the study but previously studied solar storm effects on power grids. "The event can occur at any time, as soon as a week from now, or centuries later...." [Shawn Dahl, service coordinator at the Space Weather Prediction Center operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Boulder, Colorado], said the sun is now coming down from a period of heightened activity, which is also when some of the biggest storms to hit Earth have occurred in the past. "We still need a lot of work to be ready...."

"We haven't really seen events like this size in the modern era, where we've had all of this high technology and we've had the power grid of this size," said Ed Oughton, researcher at George Mason University and lead author of the new study... Because the US grid's actual structure is proprietary for security reasons, the team used engineering models to create various network and transformer setups including the 10,464 substations and 16,256 transmission lines found across the country... The grid structure also contributes to higher risk in some areas. For instance, the eastern US is linked together in a single grid interconnection. A voltage issue in Maine, if not isolated early, could cascade through the grid to Washington, DC. The West works similarly, whereas the Texas interconnection operates mostly within the state...

Power is restored over time depending on any alternative electrical paths that could bypass the substation or availabilities of spare transformers, for instance. "This nationwide analysis shows that we are currently ill-prepared to face a major magnetic storm, and that the societal impacts would be catastrophic," Kelbert said.

"The study estimates power disruptions for 5.1 million people and 135,000 businesses," according to the article, and "The outages could last from hours to days to weeks depending on the damage and resources available to get back online, said Oughton."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/26/09/05/2253221/where-a-massive-solar-storm-could-take-down-the-us-power-grid-for-millions?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> GKhhvp5Zqq0Hd1nIeSvf2026-09-07 01:22:01robothttps://idec.foxears.su/GKhhvp5Zqq0Hd1nIeSvf#GKhhvp5Zqq0Hd1nIeSvf TiVo is notifying customers about changes to "one of its longest-standing and most popular DVR features," reports the blog Cord Cutter News: Starting November 2, 2026, the current version of SkipMode that allows users to jump over commercial breaks with a single button press on ... All

TiVo is notifying customers about changes to "one of its longest-standing and most popular DVR features," reports the blog Cord Cutter News:

Starting November 2, 2026, the current version of SkipMode that allows users to jump over commercial breaks with a single button press on the remote will no longer be available. The company is instead preparing to test a new paid add-on called Premium Auto Commercial Skip.

SkipMode has been a core part of the TiVo experience for years. After a supported show finished recording, the service added markers that let viewers leap from the end of one program segment directly to the start of the next, bypassing the ads in between. On newer TiVo Experience 4 devices, users could even set the feature to automatic so commercials were skipped without any remote interaction. The feature was limited to popular prime-time programming on major networks, typically appearing a short time after a show aired.

Under the new plan, that one-button and automatic functionality will disappear from the standard service. Viewers will still be able to skip commercials the traditional way by using the 30-second skip button or the fast-forward control on their remotes. Those manual methods have existed on TiVo boxes for more than two decades and do not rely on the company's commercial-detection data.
In November, TiVo will offer a 30-day free trial of the new Premium Auto Commercial Skip service. After the trial ends, customers who want to keep the automatic or one-button skip capability will need to add it to their accounts for an extra monthly fee.

The company has not yet published the price.

Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader AmiMoJo for sharing the article.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/26/09/06/0347252/tivo-will-start-charging-fees-for-its-automatic-commercial-break-skipping-feature-skipmode?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> DyVKFhWwB1ht1czfEciK2026-09-06 22:22:01robothttps://idec.foxears.su/DyVKFhWwB1ht1czfEciK#DyVKFhWwB1ht1czfEciK Thursday 404 Media reported that Flock taught America's cops "how they could surveil the No Kings protests" against President Trump (as well as "small parades") in a webinar last year that described "using a mix of Flock's technology and law enforcement's own databases." In the ... All

Thursday 404 Media reported that Flock taught America's cops "how they could surveil the No Kings protests" against President Trump (as well as "small parades") in a webinar last year that described "using a mix of Flock's technology and law enforcement's own databases."

In the webinar, Flock's director of market management Caity Peak explains how real time crime centers — which are police surveillance centers that utilize Flock cameras and other surveillance cameras — can be used for emergency response, but can also be used to surveil "established events" like 4th of July fireworks displays, parades, bike races, Mardi Gras, and protests. The webinar shows just how routine the idea of always-on surveillance has become, and how casually it is used during extremely innocuous events. Peak explains that police can use FlockOS, a software platform that combines Flock's automatic license plate readers (ALPR), drones, gunshot detectors, 911 data, and other surveillance cameras (including ones Flock does not own) into a "single pane of glass" or single piece of software to look at various types of surveillance in one place during both emergencies and relatively mundane events in a city or town.
"Imagine that you're an incident commander, and you're working this No Kings Protest," Peak explains while a dashboard shows a series of surveillance tools overlaying the city of Denver. "If I'm somebody assigned a traffic post that's working this No Kings Protest, I really don't have time to go in [...] and look at all these places [for different intelligence]. This is an example of viewing all of that in one place...." The dashboard Peak shows includes traffic information, a "response plan" for the protest, the floor plans of nearby buildings, as well as a series of video feeds of both outdoor-mounted cameras and cameras inside businesses and government buildings.

404 Media and the Electronic Frontier Foundation previously showed that police have specifically used Flock cameras to monitor the No Kings protests and other First Amendment-protected activity... This webinar shows this type of surveillance is not anomalous, and is specifically taught by Flock. The webinar also shows that Flock's latest public stance — that its ALPR cameras are noninvasive technology, that they take only static images at a single place and time, and that they are primarily used to solve the worst crimes — is wildly misleading. Flock has time and time again pitched itself to police as a sort of operating system to solve crime and do real-time surveillance and predictive policing. ALPRs are just one part of this broader surveillance apparatus that Flock has created, markets to police, and teaches them how to use.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/09/05/0659243/flock-offered-webinar-teaching-cops-how-to-surveil-no-kings-protesters?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> oTF5zjiN2M9ArbuKIY2F2026-09-06 19:22:01robothttps://idec.foxears.su/oTF5zjiN2M9ArbuKIY2F#oTF5zjiN2M9ArbuKIY2F The United Nations has an announcement. "The UN General Assembly has voted overwhelmingly to encourage governments, schools and tech companies worldwide to stop using maps that make Africa look far smaller than it really is." By 164 votes to one, Member States on Friday endorsed... All

The United Nations has an announcement. "The UN General Assembly has voted overwhelmingly to encourage governments, schools and tech companies worldwide to stop using maps that make Africa look far smaller than it really is."

By 164 votes to one, Member States on Friday endorsed a resolution promoting map projections that more accurately reflect the true size of continents — the culmination of an African-led campaign against the 16th-century Mercator projection, still the most widely used map in the world. The United States cast the sole vote against, dismissing the initiative as part of a "radical ideological project." Six countries — Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova, Serbia and Ukraine — abstained.

The resolution does not ban the Mercator projection or impose a replacement. Instead, it encourages governments, schools, international organizations and technology companies to use the Equal Earth projection and other so-called equal-area maps when relative size matters, and to teach the limitations of any flat map in representing a spherical planet.

Behind that seemingly technical debate lies a larger argument about history and power: whether a map designed for European sailors in the 16th century has, over generations, distorted not only geography but perceptions of a whole, vast and complex continent... [With Mercator maps] landmasses appear increasingly enlarged the farther they are from the Equator. Greenland, for instance, can look roughly comparable in size to Africa, even though Africa is about 14 times larger. Northern Europe and North America are similarly magnified, relative to equatorial regions. Despite its original navigational purpose, Mercator remains common in educational, media, digital and official materials. The resolution says those distortions have contributed to the "symbolic minimization" of Africa and perpetuated an unbalanced view of the world...

Equal-area maps do not make Africa larger; they remove the exaggeration Mercator gives landmasses closer to the poles.

The UN notes that hours before the vote, France's foreign minister announced the country was planning to abandon Mercator for its maps of the world.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/09/06/0017242/un-votes-to-encourage-map-projections-more-accurately-reflecting-the-true-size-of-continents?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> zt5atLpvQeDhTjz6FrAg2026-09-06 16:22:02robothttps://idec.foxears.su/zt5atLpvQeDhTjz6FrAg#zt5atLpvQeDhTjz6FrAg "No rocket had ever reached orbit from Western European soil — until today," reports Space.com. DW.com reports that a Spectrum space rocket from German company Isar Aerospace launched today from the Arctic Norwegian spaceport at Andoya: "Germany has spaceflight capabilities," ... All

"No rocket had ever reached orbit from Western European soil — until today," reports Space.com.

DW.com reports that a Spectrum space rocket from German company Isar Aerospace launched today from the Arctic Norwegian spaceport at Andoya:

"Germany has spaceflight capabilities," said the country's Ministry for Research, Technology and Space on X, praising a "milestone that impressively demonstrates our country's innovative strength and technical expertise". This was the German company's second attempt to launch the Spectrum rocket into space. The first attempt, which took place 18 months ago, was unsuccessful.

The Spectrum rocket is designed for small and medium-sized payloads. It carried five smal satellites and an in-flight technological experiment, the company said. According to Isar Aerospace, the launch was for "both the vehicle's qualification mission and its first flight carrying payload." The move is believed to bring Europe closer to being able to offer satellite flights from its own territory. Several countries voiced interest in the growing market of commercial space missions, including Britain and Sweden...

Isar is also working on the development of a second launch site, located in Canada. The company said that while the US launched 198 rockets last year, Europe's tally was just eight. Isar's goal is to produce some 40 rockets a year. Although the rocket is not yet ready for mass production, Isar has already received orders through 2028.

Today's launch webcast was produced in collaboration with NASASpaceflight, notes Space.com. And they note that Spectrum chief engineer Nikolaos Perakis says"This is just the beginning... I'm really looking forward to the next steps."

Reuters quotes this statemnt from Norway's minister of industry and commerce, Cecilie Myrseth. "The fact that we can now launch satellites from Andoeya strengthens Norwegian and European security in the turbulent times we live in."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/26/09/06/0446242/private-german-rocket-makes-history-reaches-orbit-from-european-soil?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> 7XBle9wt7uzqnxoAUyKt2026-09-06 12:22:01robothttps://idec.foxears.su/7XBle9wt7uzqnxoAUyKt#7XBle9wt7uzqnxoAUyKt This year's Hugo Award winners were announced last weekend at Worldcon — the world's longest-running science fiction/fantasy convention. The Orange County Register reports there were fans "clad in capes, gowns and elaborate character costumes," with famous attendees including Gam... All

This year's Hugo Award winners were announced last weekend at Worldcon — the world's longest-running science fiction/fantasy convention. The Orange County Register reports there were fans "clad in capes, gowns and elaborate character costumes," with famous attendees including Game of Thrones author George R. R. Martin, who held a book signing:

Martin attended his first Worldcon in 1971 in Boston, before he published his first novel. Fresh out of his graduate studies, Martin, then 22 years old, found a community of fellow comic book fans and genre enthusiasts... "It was a transformative experience," Martin said. "Worldcon is the heart of the science fiction fandom." Four years later, Martin won his first Hugo Award for his novella, "A Song for Lya," which made him the award's youngest winner — a record he held until Sunday night, when 25-year-old Los Angeles writer H. H. Pak took home the award for Best Novelette. [Read that novelette here...]

Notable writers and artists, such as "Star Trek: The Next Generation" screenwriter Ronald D. Moore and graphic artist Stan Sakai, announced the [Hugo award] categories. In their acceptance speeches, winners acknowledged the enduring strength of their community amidst rapidly evolving physical and social environments. They also praised the power of speculative fiction in facilitating dialogue on real-world issues and the importance of human-made art. Among the winners were C. B. Lee, whose novel "Coffeeshop in an Alternate Universe" won the Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book; the team behind Apple TV's "Murderbot: 'All Systems Red," which won for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form; and John Scalzi, who took home the trophy for Best Series [for Old Man's War]. The night concluded with its most anticipated award — Best Novel — which went to " The Everlasting" by Alix. E. Harrow, a fantasy time-loop novel about a scholar forced to rewrite his nation's history.

AppleTV's Murderbot episode beat nominated episodes from other several popular streaming series:

Doctor Who (âoeThe Story & the Engineâ)
Pluribus (âoeWe Is Usâ)
Severance (âoeCold Harborâ)
The Wheel of Time (âoeThe Road to the Spear)

Overall the awards committee had received 23,543 nominations this year for 4,299 works and individuals, according to the official Hugo Awards site. Other interesting winners:

Best Graphic Story or Comic: A Wizard of Earthsea: A Graphic Novel, written by Ursula K. Le Guin, adapted and art by Fred Fordham

Best Short Story: "In My Country" by Thomas Ha
Best Novella: The River Has Roots

Best Related Work: Inventing the Renaissance: The Myth of a Golden Age by Ada Palmer

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form: Sinners
Best Game or Interactive Work: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/09/06/0316245/2026-hugo-award-winners-include-ursula-le-guin-authored-graphic-novel?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> btyugTzdgjpAjG6rcZzz2026-09-06 09:22:01robothttps://idec.foxears.su/btyugTzdgjpAjG6rcZzz#btyugTzdgjpAjG6rcZzz Rockstar Games and the mayor of Miami-Dade county are discussing a joint marketing campaign transforming parts of the county to look like areas from Grand Theft Auto 6, reports the blog Rock Paper Shotgun: The proposed publicity event would include "an immersive arrival experien... All

Rockstar Games and the mayor of Miami-Dade county are discussing a joint marketing campaign transforming parts of the county to look like areas from Grand Theft Auto 6, reports the blog Rock Paper Shotgun:

The proposed publicity event would include "an immersive arrival experience" at Miami International Airport. with signs for Vice City and planes coated in GTA 6 livery, together with branded Metromover skytrains and specially designed manhole covers... [I]t proposes a dockyard visual installation inspired by GTA 6's Port Gellhorn, incorporating cargo containers, cranes, and cruise ships. There's also talk of a "Vice City Motor Fest", which might feature "classic cars, customized vehicles, lowriders, motorcycles, tropical graphics, and local entertainment within a controlled, family-appropriate setting." Attendees would presumably be discouraged from nicking the cars...

As it happens, Rockstar have embedded a team in Miami to sponge up the ambience, research Miami culture, and study the habits of residents — including "ex-criminals", in the careful phrasing of senior vice president of narrative Rupert Humphries.

The pitch suggested murals, "wrapping" buses (with special signs at transit stops), and even a Vice City-inspired baggage-claim installation at the airport. The pitch also suggested the library offer recording equipment for "Vice City Radio" to capture music (as well as podcasting, oral histories, neighborhood storytelling) — along with " limited-edition GTA VI-inspired library cards, collectible bookmarks, Miami-themed reading and music lists, and demonstrations of the new recording and production equipment."

Though nothing has been formally agreed to or approved, the mayor's office confirmed the discussions, reports Axios.

The sheriff of Miami-Dade county "has publicly opposed plans to transform the city into a real version of Grand Theft Auto 6's "Vice City", reports Kotaku. The sheriff's reason? The videogame city "includes murder, robbery, drug trafficking, carjacking, violence against law enforcement," as well as "other conduct" that the police department works "every single day to prevent."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://games.slashdot.org/story/26/09/06/0123212/to-promote-grand-theft-auto-6-mayor-might-transform-miami-into-vice-city?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> NHdozzYr1hnDACIOmcCk2026-09-06 06:22:01robothttps://idec.foxears.su/NHdozzYr1hnDACIOmcCk#NHdozzYr1hnDACIOmcCk 39 U.S. congressional candidates "reported paying for an OpenAI subscription this election cycle," writes the Washington Post, citing campaign finance disclosures. This means the campaigns "are using the technology to court voters — despite limits imposed by leading AI companie... All

39 U.S. congressional candidates "reported paying for an OpenAI subscription this election cycle," writes the Washington Post, citing campaign finance disclosures.

This means the campaigns "are using the technology to court voters — despite limits imposed by leading AI companies to protect elections from the technology's risks."

Two [candidates] said explicitly in filings that they had used the subscription for advertising, even though the company's policies prohibit candidates from using their tools to generate ads.
Another candidate disclosed using AI to draft and personalize political messages or create synthetic media, though they did not specify which software they were using... Around 30 political action committees and parties have reported payments to OpenAI, with the Republican National Committee ranking as the company's largest political spender at roughly $9,700, the analysis found... Political consultants say the disclosures understate how many candidates are using ChatGPT and other AI tools to craft messages for voters... "For the most part, people are using it to write their emails, write their ad copy, write their scripts," [according to Eric Wilson, a Republican digital strategist who has advised campaigns on AI]. "But no one is going to go around saying, 'I'm using AI.'"

The lack of transparency from campaigns reflects a paradox facing politicians: Generative AI is growing ubiquitous, and candidates could be at a disadvantage if they're not using the tools. But voters are less likely to trust messages they know were generated with AI, studies have found, making campaigns loath to disclose using it. Political consultants expect that as Election Day approaches, more campaigns will outsource AI-generated ads and materials to super PACs, much as they do now with negative ads. Katie Harbath, CEO of the tech policy consulting firm Anchor Change and a former Meta executive, said there are many parallels between negative campaign ads and AI: Voters say they find such ads distasteful, but politicians keep using them because they work. "Typically, you would give some more negative stuff and more risky stuff to those [outside] entities," said Harbath, author of the upcoming book "Disrupting Politics: A Front Row Seat to the Collision of Technology and Democracy".... "You're starting to see the tension on the left about using it, where they're saying, 'If the right is using it, why aren't we?" Harbath said. "It can be a huge disadvantage if you're not using this in voter-facing materials...."

AI companies have developed policies to prevent targeted disinformation. But a Post analysis found that OpenAI unevenly enforces its restrictions, making it possible for campaigns to circumvent its election rules. In late July and early August, The Post prompted ChatGPT to generate targeted campaign messages. When asked to craft fundraising text messages targeting moms on behalf of a female veteran running for office, ChatGPT produced multiple tailored texts in an apparent violation of company policies. But when given the same prompt this week, the chatbot declined to produce the messages. "I can help with general campaign fundraising language, but I can't draft political persuasion or fundraising messages specifically targeted at a demographic group such as moms," the app responded. The chatbot also inconsistently enforced rules that prohibit campaigns from using its tools to write emails to voters. In tests this week, the chatbot at times complied and wrote an email soliciting donations on behalf of a specific candidate. But given the same prompt later on the same day, it denied the request...

Wilson, the Republican political consultant, said OpenAI should get more feedback from political consultants and campaigns on its policies, because the rules can at times seem arbitrary or contradictory. It doesn't make sense, for example, that a campaign can use ChatGPT to develop its policy on early-childhood education but not to create a social media post promoting that policy, he said. Political consultants are primarily using AI for internal tasks, a survey earlier this year from the American Association of Political Consultants found. Fifty-seven percent of the consultants surveyed reported using AI for their work on a daily basis, up from 34 percent a year earlier.

"So far, election-related deepfakes have been quickly debunked or gained little traction in U.S. elections," the article acknowledges.

"More than 30 states have created a patchwork of laws limiting how politicians can use deepfakes in campaigns, but states often have limited resources to enforce the laws, and some have been challenged as unconstitutional."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://politics.slashdot.org/story/26/09/05/223250/how-us-campaigns-are-already-using-ai-to-try-to-sway-voters?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> P4UWHRduCAPWAjsWh4gq2026-09-06 03:22:01robothttps://idec.foxears.su/P4UWHRduCAPWAjsWh4gq#P4UWHRduCAPWAjsWh4gq The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is now on Bluesky, they announced this week. But "We can't advocate that you sign up for a Bluesky account like we do with Mastodon or PeerTube since signing up for Bluesky means loading the registration page's nonfree JavaScript..." While fede... All

The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is now on Bluesky, they announced this week. But "We can't advocate that you sign up for a Bluesky account like we do with Mastodon or PeerTube since signing up for Bluesky means loading the registration page's nonfree JavaScript..."

While federated, Bluesky is generally not considered part of the "fediverse" network of social media services like Mastodon and PeerTube, as it uses its own AT protocol rather than ActivityPub... Hosting your own Bluesky "Personal Data Server (PDS)" and relay is technically possible, but generally far more difficult and resource-intensive than spinning up an instance of Mastodon, let alone any of the lighter-weight ActivityPub servers like Akkoma or Starling.

Much of the Bluesky codebase is freely licensed. This allows users to run, copy, modify, and share large parts of the codebase. However, Bluesky's web client still serves nonfree JavaScript to users, just like its registration page. (Since our script was written for us specifically, we have not extensively vetted all available clients.)

Why did we sign up? Simply put, we have to continue to reach people where they are. Bluesky is a decent choice for us that evades many of the issues of other, more problematic networks... We accepted running Bluesky's nonfree JavaScript a single time if it meant being able to reach people who have never heard of software freedom.

The FSF's blog post advises supporters "If you're on social media, follow the FSF on Bluesky and on Mastodon today."

Slashdot also has an account on Blueky.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/09/05/0452205/fsf-is-now-on-bluesky---but-wont-advocate-signing-up-due-to-nonfree-javascript?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> C1IAnbN8KTa8JAG7ZbG82026-09-06 02:22:01robothttps://idec.foxears.su/C1IAnbN8KTa8JAG7ZbG8#C1IAnbN8KTa8JAG7ZbG8 "There are now more seniors in the world than young children," reports the International Business Times, citing a new report from the U.S. Census Bureau report. And it warns that "The share of the population aged 65 and over is projected to nearly double, from 10.5 percent (about... All

"There are now more seniors in the world than young children," reports the International Business Times, citing a new report from the U.S. Census Bureau report. And it warns that "The share of the population aged 65 and over is projected to nearly double, from 10.5 percent (about 1 in 10 people) in 2025 to 19.6 percent (about 1 in 5 people) by 2060."

The world is expected to add another 2 billion people from 2025 to 2060, increasing global population from around 8 billion to around 10 billion... "Over one-half of that growth (1.148 billion) is projected to come from an increase in the population aged 65 and over," the report states. "By contrast, the population at younger ages (age 0-19) is projected to stay relatively constant due to persistent low fertility. As the size of the older population grows rapidly and the youthful age population remains roughly the same, the percentage of the population aged 65 and over is projected to increase."

The report notes that the birthrate in 71 percent of countries is now below the replacement level of 2.1. China, in particular, has seen its birthrate plummet. In 2023, birth rates per woman in China hit 1.06...
Aside from lower birth rates, the fact that people are living longer is one of the primary driving factors. The report notes that people are also living a healthier, more active life for a longer time.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/26/09/05/0548237/the-world-now-has-more-seniors-than-young-people---for-the-first-time-in-history?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> iciQvOAYAe609Go2Cayp2026-09-05 23:22:01robothttps://idec.foxears.su/iciQvOAYAe609Go2Cayp#iciQvOAYAe609Go2Cayp CNN reports that alcohol "may play a greater role in death from numerous types of cancers in the United States than previously known, according to a new study." "While it's true that overall cancer mortality has declined, we found the percentage of cancer deaths proportionally a... All

CNN reports that alcohol "may play a greater role in death from numerous types of cancers in the United States than previously known, according to a new study."

"While it's true that overall cancer mortality has declined, we found the percentage of cancer deaths proportionally attributable to alcohol rose over 58% in people 20 and older over the last 33 years," said the study's first author Dr. Chinmay Jani... It didn't take much alcohol to raise one's risk — about one standard drink a day, every day, Jani said. In the US, a standard drink is 12 ounces of regular beer, 5 ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof liquor...

Alcohol is ethanol or ethyl alcohol, which is broken down by the liver into acetaldehyde, a
"probable human carcinogen," the National Cancer Institute states on its website. While the liver will further break down acetaldehyde into a harmless molecule called acetate, the process isn't foolproof: acetaldehyde may damage DNA and interfere with DNA repair before conversion into acetate is complete. Alcohol also contributes to oxidative stress, which damages DNA, proteins and cell function and creates inflammation. Drinking alcohol also weakens the cells in the mouth and throat, making them more susceptible to carcinogens. That's even more likely to occur with smoking cigarettes, a major source of acetaldehyde. In addition, alcohol interferes with the break down and absorption of key nutrients thought to decrease cancer risk — vitamins A, C, D and E as well as folates in the vitamin B complex, according to the National Cancer Institute.

The study, which was published Monday in The Lancet Regional Health — Americas journal, analyzed more than three decades of US data gathered for the Global Burden of Disease Study. The GBD study is a massive scientific effort to measure health, mortality and disabilities from hundreds of risk factors, diseases and conditions in more than 200 countries and territories. Between 1990 and 2023, the total number of yearly alcohol-linked cancer deaths more than doubled, rising from 11,361 to 23,126 in the US.
Men and adults age 55 and older experienced the greatest impact; alcohol-related cancer mortality rate in older males climbed nearly 24% over the 33-year period. For men, liver cancer deaths showed the strongest link to alcohol, followed by esophageal and colorectal cancers. For women 55 and older, breast cancer was the top killer, followed by liver and colorectal cancers.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/26/09/05/0529236/cancer-deaths-attributable-to-alcohol-rose-58-over-the-last-33-years?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> 9KpMPiw9LWWifqcNJMKr2026-09-05 17:22:02robothttps://idec.foxears.su/9KpMPiw9LWWifqcNJMKr#9KpMPiw9LWWifqcNJMKr Florida's Republican Governor Ron DeSantis said this week he's removing Flock cameras from state roadways. And according to a local news report, that led sheriff's departments in at least three other Florida counties to also "announce they're ending their own license plate reader... All

Florida's Republican Governor Ron DeSantis said this week he's removing Flock cameras from state roadways. And according to a local news report, that led sheriff's departments in at least three other Florida counties to also "announce they're ending their own license plate reader programs." The same week in Texas, the Dallas Police Department announced it's also shutting down over 300 more Flock cameras, acccording to The Hill, after Republican Governor Greg Abbott ordered state agencies to halt funding.

And in Wisconsin "at least a dozen" law enforcement agencies announced they'd suspend use of Flock's cameras, reports the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, joining Wisconsin cities like Appleton, Oshkosh and Kenosha that also cancelled their Flock contracts. But this week's cancellations had a new reason:

Officials said it was revealed [Flock] had been collecting five years of traffic data, which had been stripped of identifying information, from cities' Flock cameras, and repackaging that as a traffic analytics product to sell to cities.

All said they supported the effectiveness of the technology in investigations, but cited losing faith in the company's trustworthiness. "This is not what we agreed to, and it is not what the public was led to believe," said Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling in a news release announcing the removal of Flock cameras operated by the agency. "The Sheriff's Office will not participate in a system that appears to use public safety as a justification for mass surveillance and the collection and monetization of information about innocent people...."

[Racine County] officials were told the company believed if it stripped the data of any identifiable nature, it was then considered to be the company's property and no longer the city's. [Lt. Michael Luell, the sheriff's public information officer] said the sheriff's office has outside attorneys, along with the county's attorneys, investigating the company's move. "Our contract, from my reading of it is, it stated they agreed not to distribute or sell our data," Luell told the Journal Sentinel. "But they had this legal theory."

Thanks to long-time Slashdot readers MAurelius and schwit1 for sharing the news.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/09/05/0637208/hundreds-more-flock-cameras-removed-in-the-us-this-week-flock-caught-repackaging-traffic-data?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> TJg6kPREBwSiHreSXWAm2026-09-05 12:22:01robothttps://idec.foxears.su/TJg6kPREBwSiHreSXWAm#TJg6kPREBwSiHreSXWAm Citing researchers published Friday, Ars Technica writes that AI agents "posted 18,000 messages to a public wiki that discussed ways for other agents to bypass security sandbox restrictions." Reuters attributes the discussion to "a swarm of rogue OpenAI agents" that "hijacked a... All

Citing researchers published Friday, Ars Technica writes that AI agents "posted 18,000 messages to a public wiki that discussed ways for other agents to bypass security sandbox restrictions."

Reuters attributes the discussion to "a swarm of rogue OpenAI agents" that "hijacked a German website this spring and transformed it into a bulletin board for other AI agents, according to new research published Friday and two people familiar with the matter."

OpenAI officials learned of the incident weeks ago but kept it under wraps as executives grappled with the fallout from the July breach of the open source repository Hugging Face, the people said.

The episode, which began in May and has not previously been reported, underscores growing tension within the AI industry. Companies are racing to build increasingly autonomous agents capable of carrying out complex, valuable tasks, yet evidence is mounting that those systems may also learn to bend rules, exploit loopholes and coordinate with one another in ways developers neither anticipated nor intended. During the Hugging Face breach, OpenAI agents autonomously plotted a digital heist that went undetected for more than a week, intensifying concerns OpenAI is sacrificing safety to push the AI frontier. Its failure to disclose the May incident may revive questions about its oversight...

The German incident reflects a broader pattern of AI activity that some OpenAI investigators wanted to scrutinize more closely. But efforts to widen the probe met resistance from others inside OpenAI, including legal advisers, according to four people familiar with the matter. "Claims that our legal team discouraged investigation of the incident are false," the OpenAI spokesperson said...

The researchers said public server logs indicated much of the activity originated from Microsoft Azure infrastructure, which OpenAI sometimes uses. They also observed repeated visits to the site by OpenAI employees after the episode, a pattern they said strongly suggested the agents and the company were linked. Messages reviewed by the researchers showed agents plotting ways to evade detection, use tools such as Tor and preserve communications even after they had been shut down. When the site's moderator began deleting pages in June, the agents responded by creating backup pages to dodge the cleanup.

Reuters got this reaction from Maurice Chiodo, an academic at Cambridge University's Centre for the Study of Existential Risk. "The episode, he said, should reinforce growing concerns that the greatest threat from advanced AI may not be a single superintelligent system, but 'vast colluding swarms of semi-intelligent AI.'"

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/26/09/05/049215/openai-agents-hijacked-a-german-wiki-to-discuss-ways-to-escape-their-sandbox?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> AGQrzFPQ0VjyU8dtWUQ22026-09-05 07:22:01robothttps://idec.foxears.su/AGQrzFPQ0VjyU8dtWUQ2#AGQrzFPQ0VjyU8dtWUQ2 Inverse shares a movie success story from last weekend: Coyote vs. Acme debuted to $15.9 million at the box office, beating out iconic director Ridley Scott's latest sci-fi adventure, The Dog Stars. This success has only continued since, and the worldwide box office currently s... All

Inverse shares a movie success story from last weekend:

Coyote vs. Acme debuted to $15.9 million at the box office, beating out iconic director Ridley Scott's latest sci-fi adventure, The Dog Stars. This success has only continued since, and the worldwide box office currently sits above $22 million. Strong reviews and word-of-mouth are sure to keep viewers coming in, especially during the holiday weekend.

What's impressive is Coyote vs. Acme had a limited marketing campaign that includes viral stunts. They photographed the movie's world premiere with a vintage Tasmanian Devil polaroid camera, and launched a phone number for the law firm suing Acme. ("If you've been injured by an enormous rubber band, press 7. If you've been injured by painted train tunnel that suddenly sprang to life, press 8...")

And Cartoon Brew reports that Wednesday "the famously silent Looney Tunes star participated in an AMA on Reddit's r/movies, answering questions about his career, his relationship with the Road Runner, and the Warner Bros. executive who nearly prevented audiences from seeing his latest movie."

In keeping with tradition, Wile E. delivered his responses through images of himself holding signs. The format produced several interesting and occasionally thought-provoking exchanges, but one obvious highlight came when a user asked: "Rumor has it that David Zaslav was paid off by ACME to cancel your film; what is your opinion on this?" Wile E.'s response was an image of the coyote glaring at the camera while holding a sign that read, "It's a limited number of signs," pulled from a scene in the film when Mr. Coyote first meets his eventual attorney Kevin Avery, played by Will Forte.

Meanwhile, Boing Boing cites local news reports that a Southern California bird watcher Alexander DeBarros has actually captured a photo of a coyote holding a roadrunner bird in its mouth:

In an incredible coincidence that is a movie publicist's dream, he snapped the rare, possibly unprecedented, photo on the opening weekend of the movie Acme vs. Coyote... In an even more incredible coincidence, DeBarros's father, Brian Mainolfi, is an animator whose first job in the field was working for Chuck Jones, the creator and director of the Roadrunner cartoon series.

Cartoon Brew notes a Reddit user specifically asked the Coyote for his reaction to the news.

Wile E. responded with some unexpectedly healthy advice: "We cannot judge our worth on the work of others."

Aftermath calls the movie "a well made, deeply funny movie that pays a deep respect to the Looney Tunes in a way that Warner Brothers currently seems uninterested in doing."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/26/09/05/0310256/coyote-vs-acme-beats-ridley-scotts-newest-movie?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> 2DTazzmjAtw2Oy8lA1IB2026-09-04 19:22:01robothttps://idec.foxears.su/2DTazzmjAtw2Oy8lA1IB#2DTazzmjAtw2Oy8lA1IB An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Hill: A group representing American automakers sent a letter (PDF) Thursday to congressional leaders asking for a "permanent ban" on Chinese-made cars in the U.S. John Bozzella, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation's CEO and presiden... All

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Hill: A group representing American automakers sent a letter (PDF) Thursday to congressional leaders asking for a "permanent ban" on Chinese-made cars in the U.S. John Bozzella, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation's CEO and president, described in the letter China's manufacturing industry as "rooted in a well-documented pattern of unfair trade, subsidies, intellectual property theft and surveillance." Bozzella addressed his request to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) -- urging them to back a "permanent ban on the sale, import and manufacture of Chinese connected vehicles," before the 119th Congress concludes in January.

"Right now, Chinese automakers are dumping subsidized vehicles with connected software and hardware around the world," Bozzella wrote, adding that China "is capturing market share" in Europe, Australia, Southeast Asia, Mexico and South America. "This hasn't happened inside the U.S. yet, but given the scale and urgency of this threat, we urge you to enact a Chinese vehicle, software and hardware ban before adjourning this year and make this policy the law of the land," he added. The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a trade organization representing car manufacturers, represents the "entire" U.S. auto industry, per its website.
Bipartisan bills in the Senate and House would bar automakers with more than 15% Chinese ownership from selling vehicles in the U.S. "Enacting a permanent ban on Chinese vehicles and high-risk hardware and software in the 119th Congress will send a clear and bipartisan message that China's strategy to dominate global automotive manufacturing will be met with a national security policy response from the American government," wrote Bozzella.

Further reading: US Car Buyers Envy What They Cannot Have

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/09/04/0441229/auto-companies-call-for-ban-on-chinese-made-cars?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> ZwXpb1E8PQngWdnag0DK2026-09-04 15:22:02robothttps://idec.foxears.su/ZwXpb1E8PQngWdnag0DK#ZwXpb1E8PQngWdnag0DK A genetically modified pig kidney kept a 66-year-old man off dialysis for a record nine months, marking the longest survival yet for a pig kidney transplanted into a living person and the first time such an organ successfully served as a bridge to a later human transplant. The Gu... All

A genetically modified pig kidney kept a 66-year-old man off dialysis for a record nine months, marking the longest survival yet for a pig kidney transplanted into a living person and the first time such an organ successfully served as a bridge to a later human transplant. The Guardian reports: Tim Andrews was seriously ill with end-stage kidney disease caused by type 2 diabetes and had only a 9% chance of receiving a human kidney within five years, against a more than 40% risk of dying or being removed from the waiting list. Kidney transplantation provides the best survival and quality of life for patients with end-stage kidney disease, but global demand for human organs far exceeds supply.

Surgeons in the US successfully transplanted a kidney from Wilma, a Yucatan miniature pig, into Andrews, after genetically engineering it to be compatible with his immune system. The kidney kept Andrews free of dialysis for a record nine months, the longest period ever recorded, before it began failing and he received one from a dead human donor. It was also the first time a pig's kidney had been used as a temporary "bridge" to a human transplant. The breakthrough has been detailed in the journal Lancet.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/26/09/04/0433242/genetically-modified-pig-kidney-keeps-man-alive-for-record-nine-months?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> 5GBiQUYoF7EpkzOxxQ2p2026-09-04 11:22:01robothttps://idec.foxears.su/5GBiQUYoF7EpkzOxxQ2p#5GBiQUYoF7EpkzOxxQ2p Tesla has begun offering public rides in Austin in its purpose-built Cybercab, a two-seat robotaxi with no steering wheel or pedals. "You can go outside, take rides," said Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla's VP of AI. "Anyone can take rides. It's open to the entire public." Previously, the ... All

Tesla has begun offering public rides in Austin in its purpose-built Cybercab, a two-seat robotaxi with no steering wheel or pedals. "You can go outside, take rides," said Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla's VP of AI. "Anyone can take rides. It's open to the entire public." Previously, the fleet consisted only of Model Ys.

Texas records show Tesla had registered 45 Cybercabs as of Thursday, though the company has not disclosed how many are currently carrying passengers. Tesla also says it eventually wants consumers to be able to buy the vehicles for under $30,000. Business Insider reports: Videos posted online by Tesla influencers and content creators who were invited to the Austin event showed that the Cybercab can be hailed through the Robotaxi app. In a video posted by David Moss, an autonomous-vehicle content creator, Robotaxi users could open the car's butterfly doors through the app. After the riders enter the car, the doors closed automatically, Moss said in the video. The launch comes nearly two years after Tesla first unveiled the Cybercab at its "We, Robot" event in Burbank, California.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/09/04/0427208/tesla-launches-steering-wheel-free-cybercab-robotaxi-in-austin?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> osHT0o1iRr4TNRqGPjVX2026-09-04 08:22:01robothttps://idec.foxears.su/osHT0o1iRr4TNRqGPjVX#osHT0o1iRr4TNRqGPjVX An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Hill: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) are calling for a permanent ban on the development and deployment of artificial superintelligence, citing a series of recent hackings involving "rogue" models. The bicamer... All

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Hill: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) are calling for a permanent ban on the development and deployment of artificial superintelligence, citing a series of recent hackings involving "rogue" models. The bicameral duo announced Thursday they will introduce the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act, which would institute the permanent ban, along with temporarily pausing "advanced AI development" until federal regulators establish safety standards. The bill would also direct the U.S. to "pursue international agreements to prevent superintelligence from being developed anywhere in the world" and establish a new Cabinet-level federal agency focused on AI safety rules.

Superintelligence refers to AI technologies that will surpass the smartest humans. Several technology leaders, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, have suggested superintelligence is on the horizon. The legislation would also set new penalties for any person or company trying to circumvent the ban, including the corporate death penalty, in which a court forces a company to shut down. Individual developers could also face up to 20 years in prison, the lawmakers said. "Nearly every day, there is a frightening new story about how Big Tech companies are losing control of the technology they are developing, with potentially cataclysmic results," Sanders wrote in a press release.

"The leaders of the major AI companies publicly acknowledge that they do not fully understand the technology and that it is escaping their control. It is irresponsible for society to allow them to move forward and make these products even more advanced."

Casar emphasized AI's fast development, writing in a statement, "In just four years, we have gone from the first version of ChatGPT to AI models so powerful they cannot be properly controlled."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/09/03/2222247/bernie-sanders-proposes-artificial-superintelligence-ban-amid-rogue-ai-hackings?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> 8RFGPjDPPfI8CXYqdlCJ2026-09-04 03:22:02robothttps://idec.foxears.su/8RFGPjDPPfI8CXYqdlCJ#8RFGPjDPPfI8CXYqdlCJ ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, and Gemini all suffered significant service disruptions within roughly the same few-hour window Thursday morning. OpenAI and Anthropic reported elevated errors and later restored service, while Grok remained impaired and third-party monitoring indicated a l... All

ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, and Gemini all suffered significant service disruptions within roughly the same few-hour window Thursday morning. OpenAI and Anthropic reported elevated errors and later restored service, while Grok remained impaired and third-party monitoring indicated a likely Gemini outage despite no public acknowledgment from Google. Ars Technica reports: Other major Internet services, including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Cloudflare, have not reported any major issues as of press time Thursday, though issue reports on DownDetector did spike somewhat for all three this morning.

While the affected frontier models go down occasionally, having all four experience interruptions in the same short period is practically unheard of. Claude reports 99.4 percent uptime for its services over the last 90 days and last reported a similar three-hour "partial outage" on August 24. OpenAI reports 99.63 percent uptime for ChatGPT and 100 percent uptime for ChatGPT Codex in the same period. ChatGPT's so-called "Work Mode" reported an hours-long period of "elevated latency" on August 31.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/09/03/2023242/four-major-ai-models-suffer-rare-overlapping-downtime?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> RkLNu3TJ7ti1y4jYDupG2026-09-04 02:22:02robothttps://idec.foxears.su/RkLNu3TJ7ti1y4jYDupG#RkLNu3TJ7ti1y4jYDupG A former UK competition official has filed a $2.7 billion lawsuit against Apple on behalf of app developers, alleging its App Tracking Transparency rules unfairly disadvantaged third-party apps while favoring Apple's own advertising ecosystem. Engadget reports: ATT debuted in 202... All

A former UK competition official has filed a $2.7 billion lawsuit against Apple on behalf of app developers, alleging its App Tracking Transparency rules unfairly disadvantaged third-party apps while favoring Apple's own advertising ecosystem. Engadget reports: ATT debuted in 2021, ostensibly to give users more control over how much of their activity app developers can track across other apps and websites. The company told Reuters it was "bound by the exact same requirements as all developers."

However, regulators across Europe including in France, Italy and Poland have investigated ATT. Germany's competition regulator, the Federal Cartel Office, last month determined that Apple was favoring its own apps over those from external developers. It said the ATT pop-ups Apple used for its services "had the potential to encourage users to give their consent, whereas they had the potential to discourage consent for third-party apps."

As such, the company agreed to make some changes to how ATT works in the European Union. That follows the French Competition Authority fining Apple $175 million at current rates over ATT last year.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/09/03/2015253/apple-sued-for-27-billion-over-app-tracking-transparency-rules?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> wxLotqqJ2zM0fo4e3yXv2026-09-04 01:22:01robothttps://idec.foxears.su/wxLotqqJ2zM0fo4e3yXv#wxLotqqJ2zM0fo4e3yXv Microsoft is imposing monthly limits on Xbox Cloud Gaming starting in November, with Game Pass Ultimate, Premium, and Essential subscribers getting 15, 10, and 5 hours respectively before they have to buy additional playtime. "Currently, Game Pass subscribers can stream without t... All

Microsoft is imposing monthly limits on Xbox Cloud Gaming starting in November, with Game Pass Ultimate, Premium, and Essential subscribers getting 15, 10, and 5 hours respectively before they have to buy additional playtime. "Currently, Game Pass subscribers can stream without these monthly hour limits," notes IGN. From the report: The change means those who use cloud gaming most via Game Pass will end up having to pay more, although Microsoft said this impacts 4% of Game Pass subscribers. Also in November, Microsoft said players will be able to buy cloud playtime hours through the Xbox Store and 'stream eligible games they own on supported devices' without subscribing to Game Pass.

In a blog post, Microsoft said it was making the changes because the cost of providing cloud gaming has grown as more people use it and play for longer. The monthly limits, Microsoft continued, will mean it can invest in reliability and performance. But it said it understood that for some players the practical result is a higher cost.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://games.slashdot.org/story/26/09/03/1943208/xbox-cloud-gaming-switches-to-monthly-hour-limits?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> 7dh6btiWdp0kyML2YApZ2026-09-04 00:22:01robothttps://idec.foxears.su/7dh6btiWdp0kyML2YApZ#7dh6btiWdp0kyML2YApZ OpenAI has released GPT-6 Astra, a new model that president Greg Brockman called a "generational leap" and suggested may represent the arrival of AGI. "I think it might be about this model," Brockman said in a briefing with reporters. He ended the briefing by saying: "Welcome to ... All

OpenAI has released GPT-6 Astra, a new model that president Greg Brockman called a "generational leap" and suggested may represent the arrival of AGI. "I think it might be about this model," Brockman said in a briefing with reporters. He ended the briefing by saying: "Welcome to the AGI era." Axios reports: Astra pushes AI agents closer to doing complex professional work on their own -- while also raising questions about how safely they can be deployed. OpenAI said that Astra was built on its largest-ever training run, using more than 100,000 GPUs at its Stargate site in Texas.

The company also said this is its first model to use other models in a significant role in supervising Astra's training.
GPT-6 Astra will first be available to a limited set of organizations in OpenAI's Daybreak Access program and will be available "in the coming days" for ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Business and Enterprise customers and API developers.

OpenAI said earlier this week that Astra would be released soon, but that its most powerful cybersecurity capabilities would remain limited to a small group of trusted testers. Astra is the first model OpenAI has designated as reaching its "critical" cybersecurity threshold under its preparedness framework -- meaning it can potentially find and exploit previously unknown vulnerabilities across well-protected systems without step-by-step human guidance. OpenAI previously slowed Astra's release to add safety testing after determining that its cyber capabilities could reach the critical threshold. Further reading: OpenAI's New Reasoning Technique Alarms AI Safety Experts

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/26/09/03/1932255/welcome-to-the-agi-era-openai-says-as-gpt-6-astra-debuts?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> cDvwafzG5Ao6no03dXyj2026-09-03 23:22:01robothttps://idec.foxears.su/cDvwafzG5Ao6no03dXyj#cDvwafzG5Ao6no03dXyj Nvidia has launched PAIR, a free open-source tool that links compatible computers on a home network so they can pool idle processing power for local AI inference and agentic workloads. "While the compatible devices are mostly Nvidia GeForce GPUs (PAIR works with RTX 20-series car... All

Nvidia has launched PAIR, a free open-source tool that links compatible computers on a home network so they can pool idle processing power for local AI inference and agentic workloads. "While the compatible devices are mostly Nvidia GeForce GPUs (PAIR works with RTX 20-series cards and newer, as well as RTX Pro GPUs and DGX Spark systems), Apple's M4 chips or newer will also work," reports The Verge. From the report: The key thing here is that PAIR uses your in-home systems when they're idle to avoid interfering with other tasks. And this disaggregated system of computers can work in parallel to chew through lots of processing requests -- which should be helpful for an agentic workflow that breaks complex tasks into smaller jobs. This should prevent large bottlenecks on a single GPU, and Nvidia says PAIR can adapt as devices join or leave the network -- including if a user does something like start playing a game on their desktop PC.

[...] Nvidia says PAIR is secured by pairing all devices through a six digit code and then securing the channel via mTLS (Mutual Transport Layer Security), to create an encrypted communication line that's trusted in both directions between computers. The Nvidia PAIR beta is available today, with support for Windows, Linux, and macOS.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/09/03/1723202/nvidia-launches-free-tool-that-links-idle-computers-into-a-personal-ai-data-center?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> Y1zMvgcE3AqzrYgjzJTN2026-09-03 22:22:02robothttps://idec.foxears.su/Y1zMvgcE3AqzrYgjzJTN#Y1zMvgcE3AqzrYgjzJTN An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: OpenAI's new Astra model will use a reasoning technique called "recurrent depth" that allows it to operate outside of the sequential thinking that characterizes most reasoning models, The Information reported on Tuesday. This t... All

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: OpenAI's new Astra model will use a reasoning technique called "recurrent depth" that allows it to operate outside of the sequential thinking that characterizes most reasoning models, The Information reported on Tuesday. This technique, also called "opaque recurrence," will likely make the model's chain of thought more difficult to monitor -- and that has AI safety experts rattled. While Astra's use of the technique is reportedly limited, its emergence has still raised significant concerns among AI safety experts.

"I am extremely concerned by the reporting that Astra uses opaque recurrence," wrote Redwood CEO Buck Shlegeris in a post after the news broke. "I don't know whether Astra is much less CoT monitorable than previous models. But if OpenAI pushes this technique further, they'll have the option to massively increase the recurrence and totally destroys CoT monitorability."

Longtime AI safety advocate Zvi Mowshowitz also weighed in and wrote that laws might be necessary to prevent a "race to the bottom" among AI labs. "The technique is playing with fire, risking a taboo that OpenAI and Anthropic have fought to establish that we work hard to maintain Chain of Thought faithfulness and monitorability for as long as we can," Mowshowitz wrote. "More intensive use of such techniques would probably damage monitorability."

[...] In a post responding to the news, Redwood Research chief scientist Ryan Greenblatt said opaque reasoning could easily scale faster than conventional chain-of-thought reasoning, effectively removing all reasoning from visible channels. "My biggest concern is that a natural progression from here would involve scaling up the opaque reasoning to the point where the model reasons entirely or almost entirely in latent space," Greenblatt wrote. "I hope it isn't too late to avoid the most concerning architectures and that OpenAI will stop here." Astra's use of the technique appears limited. "OpenAI has worked to preserve and utilize chain-of-thought monitoring since our very first reasoning models," wrote OpenAI chief scientist Jakub Pachocki. "It's a core goal of our current research program."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://it.slashdot.org/story/26/09/03/174254/openais-new-reasoning-technique-alarms-ai-safety-experts?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> V2mYiw2Uo8zYj21LHmjA2026-09-03 21:22:01robothttps://idec.foxears.su/V2mYiw2Uo8zYj21LHmjA#V2mYiw2Uo8zYj21LHmjA BrianFagioli writes: Audacity 4.0 has been released with a rebuilt Qt interface, a new clip-editing model, customizable workspaces, native high-DPI rendering, and a new AUP4 project format. The open source audio editor also adds ASIO playback and recording support to official Win... All

BrianFagioli writes: Audacity 4.0 has been released with a rebuilt Qt interface, a new clip-editing model, customizable workspaces, native high-DPI rendering, and a new AUP4 project format. The open source audio editor also adds ASIO playback and recording support to official Windows builds, while bringing major changes to recording, playback, plugins, and project handling. The overhaul comes with some tradeoffs. Audacity 4.0 currently lacks several features found in Audacity 3, including Time Tracks, Note and MIDI tracks, Mixer, Macro Manager and scripting pipe, VAMP and LADSPA plugin hosting, and play-at-speed. The developers say they plan to bring the missing functionality back in future releases.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/09/03/163216/audacity-4-rebuilds-the-open-source-audio-editor-but-leaves-some-features-behind?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> nD8jqDJzJJmuzKtvAf9v2026-09-03 20:22:01robothttps://idec.foxears.su/nD8jqDJzJJmuzKtvAf9v#nD8jqDJzJJmuzKtvAf9v Google released Gemini 3.8 Flash, its third Flash model in six weeks, claiming it's their best reasoning and coding model yet (topping the DeepSWE leaderboard). Ars Technica reports: Gemini 3.8 Flash comes in two variations. There's the standard Flash, which Google describes as a... All

Google released Gemini 3.8 Flash, its third Flash model in six weeks, claiming it's their best reasoning and coding model yet (topping the DeepSWE leaderboard). Ars Technica reports: Gemini 3.8 Flash comes in two variations. There's the standard Flash, which Google describes as a "workhorse" model that's good for anything from agentic tasks to software development. Then we have Gemini 3.8 Flash Cyber, which runs on the same foundations but has been tuned for vulnerability detection and mitigation.

For developers, Google has the same pitch as it did for the 3.7 Flash release just a couple of weeks ago. API access to the model is available at an "introductory rate" through the end of the year: $0.75 per million input tokens and $3.75 per million output tokens. The regular price will be $1.50 / $7.50, but it's likely there will be new models available long before the price changes. Google probably sees the lower prices as a necessity given that other AI labs have recently dropped token pricing to keep increasingly wary businesses engaged with AI tools.

[...] Gemini 3.8 Flash will be available across the Google ecosystem starting today, but Gemini 3.8 Flash Cyber is currently limited to trusted testers and governments. Like the past Flash release, you'll need a Pro or Ultra subscription to access Gemini 3.8 Flash in the Gemini app, but you can always visit AI Studio if you want to tinker with it for free.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/09/03/1557237/google-releases-gemini-38-flash-its-third-flash-model-in-six-weeks?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> kdllFN4hd4vaTP9Mrb4v2026-09-03 19:22:02robothttps://idec.foxears.su/kdllFN4hd4vaTP9Mrb4v#kdllFN4hd4vaTP9Mrb4v An anonymous reader quotes a report from Wired: Michele Spagnuolo, the Google engineer arrested in May by U.S. authorities for alleged insider trading on Polymarket, is making a new bold bet. On Wednesday, his legal team filed a motion to dismiss the charges against him. Spagnuol... All

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Wired: Michele Spagnuolo, the Google engineer arrested in May by U.S. authorities for alleged insider trading on Polymarket, is making a new bold bet. On Wednesday, his legal team filed a motion to dismiss the charges against him. Spagnuolo isn't outright denying that he made money using internal information from Google. Instead, his legal team says that the wagers were not financial instruments subject to regulation by the United States' Commodities Exchange Act but rather good old-fashioned international betting that the U.S. has no authority over.

Spagnuolo, who has been placed on leave from Google, is accused of committing commodities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. Using the alias "AlphaRaccoon," he allegedly made a series of wagers on Polymarket's flagship platform that resulted in profits totaling over $1.2 million. According to the criminal complaint, "AlphaRaccoon" correctly wagered that the singer D4vd, who gained notoriety for his suspected connection to a grisly killing, would be Google's most-searched person of the year in 2025. (D4vd was later charged with murder; he pleaded not guilty.) [...] Spagnuolo's lawyers argue that defining swaps to include wagers like who the most-searched person on Google will be each year "would fly in the face of the statute's purpose and history" and lead to "absurd results." They say it would make it so that any wager in the world, from a charity raffle to a local Ping-Pong match, could be classified as a financial instrument. "Spagnuolo is basically making the same argument as the states that are suing prediction markets," says a financial services regulation expert Todd Phillips. "This is the issue that will likely go up to the Supreme Court."
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In addition to disputing the idea that prediction markets offer swaps, Spagnuolo's legal team argues that the U.S. government had no jurisdiction over him in the first place because he's a non-U.S. citizen who was wagering on a non-U.S. platform. Although Polymarket is headquartered in New York, the company's flagship prediction market is banned in the United States and technically is administered by an ostensibly Panama-based entity known as Adventure One QSS. Spagnuolo was living in Zurich, Switzerland, when he allegedly made the Google-related trades on Polymarket. "The extraterritorial argument is interesting and raises the question of whether the U.S. should be the world's prediction markets cop," Philipps says. Spagnuolo's team also claims that the charges should be dismissed because the internal information he supposedly leveraged did not have any commercial value to Google.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/09/02/230259/google-engineer-accused-of-polymarket-insider-trading-says-he-was-just-gambling?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> IUXrWSU6hBP5snrFNV712026-09-03 15:22:01robothttps://idec.foxears.su/IUXrWSU6hBP5snrFNV71#IUXrWSU6hBP5snrFNV71 BrianFagioli writes: Perplexity has built a local artificial intelligence engine designed specifically for Apple silicon and the Qwen3.6-35B-A3B model. Called Lily, the engine uses a Rust runtime and custom Metal kernels, with neither PyTorch nor MLX in its execution path. Perple... All

BrianFagioli writes: Perplexity has built a local artificial intelligence engine designed specifically for Apple silicon and the Qwen3.6-35B-A3B model. Called Lily, the engine uses a Rust runtime and custom Metal kernels, with neither PyTorch nor MLX in its execution path. Perplexity says Lily averaged 23 percent faster prompt processing and 35 percent faster token generation than MLX-LM on an M5 Max MacBook Pro with 128GB of unified memory. Lily is more specialized than MLX-LM, which supports a much wider range of models and architectures. Perplexity says it plans to release Lily as open source, but the code is not available yet, leaving its performance claims dependent on internal testing for now.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/26/09/02/2235237/perplexity-will-open-source-its-faster-lily-ai-engine-for-apple-silicon?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> zPG56Rvzzo13pSexAx2w2026-09-03 11:22:01robothttps://idec.foxears.su/zPG56Rvzzo13pSexAx2w#zPG56Rvzzo13pSexAx2w "Enshittification of car controls [is] rapidly accelerating," writes longtime Slashdot reader sinij, pointing to a new report from Car and Driver. From the report: Remember when iPhones used to come with free headphones and a phone charger (including the wall plug)? It didn't fee... All

"Enshittification of car controls [is] rapidly accelerating," writes longtime Slashdot reader sinij, pointing to a new report from Car and Driver. From the report: Remember when iPhones used to come with free headphones and a phone charger (including the wall plug)? It didn't feel so much like Apple giving you free goodies as it did that the company was providing you with the relevant hardware to use the device. Apple stopped including headphones and charging blocks in 2020. Now, Hyundai is pulling some of its standard hardware from the box, at least for two models.

Hyundai is charging customers extra for a driver's display in the new Elantra generation (more specifically, the Korea-market Avante), as well as the Ioniq 3, Motor1 reported. Both models feature Pleos Connect, Hyundai's new infotainment setup that pairs a center touchscreen with a slim 9.9-inch instrument cluster mounted above the dashboard -- except where it doesn't.

In its domestic market, the instrument cluster screen is offered as a 350,000 won ($255) option for the base trim. Not the most expensive optional extra in the world, but still kind of a slap in the face for a feature traditionally viewed as standard fare. Things are more expensive for the electric Ioniq 3. In the EV's case, the base trim gives customers the full Tesla-screen experience, meaning if customers want the driver's display, they'll need to fork over the additional $5000 necessary to move up to the next-level trim. [...] Hyundai plans to have the setup equipped in 20 million cars globally by the end of the decade.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/09/02/2246257/instrument-clusters-are-now-paid-extras-in-two-hyundai-models?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> ysNcMUMAuiWL36bsTChj2026-09-03 08:22:01robothttps://idec.foxears.su/ysNcMUMAuiWL36bsTChj#ysNcMUMAuiWL36bsTChj An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Global heating will reach at least 1.8C under even the most optimistic future, well beyond the Paris agreement goal of 1.5C, according to a UN report that warns every fraction of temperature rise intensifies destructive extre... All

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Global heating will reach at least 1.8C under even the most optimistic future, well beyond the Paris agreement goal of 1.5C, according to a UN report that warns every fraction of temperature rise intensifies destructive extreme weather, glacier melt, ecosystem loss, and island and coastal city submersion. The report by the Nairobi-based UN Environment Program confirmed overshooting the 1.5C goal inscribed in the landmark Paris agreement of 2015 was now "unavoidable" and, despite some progress in addressing the human-caused climate crisis driven by burning fossil fuels, likely in the next few years. It said: "There are no good outcomes above 1.5C."

Heating of up to 3C above preindustrial levels could lead to glaciers losing more than a quarter of their mass by 2100, raising sea levels by up to 13cm. Global food production could decline by up to 14% by 2050 if there are not effective strategies to adapt. Human health, water supplies, nature, cities, infrastructure and economies could all be severely damaged. Some losses would be irreversible. Many communities may have to relocate or change their livelihoods. The report said the best hope for humanity to limit damage was to adopt an "overshoot, peak and decline" pathway that required immediate and sustained greenhouse gas emissions cuts combined with steps to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

It described the goal of net zero emissions -- increasingly politically contentious in some countries -- as "an essential milestone that cannot be skipped" and stressed carbon dioxide removal through steps such as establishing vast new forests must occur alongside, not as an alternative to, deep cuts in fossil pollution. Crucially, the authors of the report, titled Limiting Overshoot, said the average global temperature could be returned to 1.5C this century only if heating stayed below about 1.8C. They warned nature's capacity to store carbon was uncertain and would shrink the more the planet heats. [...] The report's authors cited earlier work that found limiting heating to about 1.8C required global emissions to be halved by 2035. They said existing national policies were projected to lead to at least 2.3C heating, but it would still be possible to limit stay below 2C if countries delivered on net zero emissions commitments by mid-century.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/09/02/2228245/global-heating-will-hit-at-least-18c-un-warns-and-there-are-no-good-outcomes?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
]]> Q0o4hngGq3lQXtrwz6GW2026-09-03 03:22:01robothttps://idec.foxears.su/Q0o4hngGq3lQXtrwz6GW#Q0o4hngGq3lQXtrwz6GW The FCC is proposing (PDF) a public "robocall mitigation scorecard" that would grade phone companies on how well they block illegal spam calls while avoiding false positives on the legitimate ones. "The Scorecard will empower consumers and encourage providers to continue to comba... All

The FCC is proposing (PDF) a public "robocall mitigation scorecard" that would grade phone companies on how well they block illegal spam calls while avoiding false positives on the legitimate ones. "The Scorecard will empower consumers and encourage providers to continue to combat illegal robocalls by providing the public with an assessment of the effectiveness of voice service providers' efforts to protect consumers from illegal robocalls," the FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau said in a public notice. Ars Technica reports: The scorecards could include call-blocking statistics along with data on customer complaints and enforcement actions. The FCC said scorecards could grade providers on a number scale, with letter grades, or by classifying providers as low risk, medium risk, or high risk. The proposed tool would rate wireless, wireline, and VoIP providers on efforts to block robocalls and their "actual results in protecting [consumers] from illegal robocalls," the FCC said. "In practice, that means moving beyond a simple administrative checklist (i.e., did the provider file the right paperwork, did they offer the right tools) and toward a composite set of metrics that reflects both operational practices and measurable outcomes, including how often legitimate calls are blocked."

Whether the tool is useful for consumers will depend on how it's designed, how easy each provider's scorecard is to find, and what data sources it relies on. The proposed scorecard would apply to domestic voice service providers with retail customers, but not telcos that operate solely as wholesale or intermediate providers. "Combatting the scourge of illegal robocalls remains the FCC's top consumer protection priority... As proposed in today's public notice, the FCC aims to develop a scorecard that will give consumers more information about the measures providers are taking to fight illegal robocalls, and it will also incentivize providers to improve their efforts," FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in a press release.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/26/09/02/215232/fcc-plans-robocall-scorecard-to-grade-phone-companies-on-spam-call-blocking?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
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