Longtime Slashdot reader ptorrone writes: The January 1, 2026, NYC mayoral inauguration prohibits attendees from bringing specific brand-name devices, explicitly banning Raspberry Pi single-board computers and the Flipper Zero, listed alongside weapons, explosives, and drones. Rather than restricting behaviors or capabilities like signal interference or unauthorized transmitters, the policy names two widely used educational and testing tools while allowing smartphones and laptops that are far more capable. Critics argue this device-specific ban creates confusion, encourages selective enforcement, and reflects security theater rather than a clear, capability-based public safety framework. New York has handled large-scale events more pragmatically before.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/25/12/31/005202/nyc-inauguration-bans-raspberry-pi-flipper-zero-devices?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Представлен выпуск переносимой редакции пакета маршрутизации OpenBGPD 9.0, развиваемого разработчиками проекта OpenBSD и адаптированного для использования во FreeBSD и Linux (заявлена поддержка Alpine, Debian, Fedora, RHEL/CentOS, Ubuntu). Для обеспечения переносимости использованы части кода из проектов OpenNTPD, OpenSSH и LibreSSL. Проект поддерживает большую часть спецификаций BGP 4 и соответствует требованиям RFC8212, но не пытается объять необъятное и обеспечивает главным образом поддержку наиболее востребованных и распространённых функций.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=64534

PostNord is ending letter delivery in Denmark after a 90%+ collapse in mail volume. It marks the first known case of a national postal carrier abandoning letters entirely -- a symbolic milestone of a fully digitized society that's sparking nostalgia even among people who stopped sending mail years ago. The New York Times reports: Denmark has had a postal service for more than 400 years. But a steep decline in its use has led the Nordic country's longtime postal carrier to stop letter deliveries entirely, a change taking effect on Tuesday.

Danes have seen it coming for months: The carrier, PostNord, has been removing its red mailboxes, once a ubiquitous public fixture. The disappearance of the mailboxes is "what actually made people emotional," said Julia Lahme, a trend researcher and the director of Lahme, a Danish communications agency, "even though most of them hadn't sent a letter in 18 months."

Letter writing in the country has declined by more than 90 percent since 2000, according to PostNord, which is owned jointly by the Danish and Swedish governments. Next year, in Denmark, it will only deliver packages, although in Sweden it will continue to deliver letters.

The change comes partly as a result of a drop-off in government mail. Denmark is one of the world's most digitized countries. Only 250,000 people, or less than 5 percent of the population, still receive their official communications in the mail. "People simply do not rely on physical letters the way they used to," Andreas Brethvad, the communications director of PostNord Denmark, said in an emailed statement. He said that because nine in 10 Danes shop online each month, the change "is about keeping up with times to meet the demands of society. It's a natural evolution." The report notes that snail mail lovers will still be able to send and receive letters through Dao, a private company. "While some Danes are quietly mourning a service that, for the most part, they had largely stopped using, the transition feels like a sign of the times," reports the Times.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/12/31/0012244/denmarks-main-postal-carrier-ends-letter-delivery?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Awawawa

Опубликован релиз кластерной файловой системы Lustre 2.17, используемой в большей части крупнейших Linux-кластеров, содержащих десятки тысяч узлов. Ключевыми компонентами Lustre являются серверы обработки и хранения метаданных (MDS), управляющие серверы (MGS), серверы хранения объектов (OSS), хранилище объектов (OST, поддерживается работа поверх ext4 и ZFS) и клиенты. Код проекта распространяется под лицензией GPLv2.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=64533

TOP10 VISITORS:

[1] 37.252.14.x point=143 web=0 up=28.0MB (47%) <--- ake (6/hr)
[2] PetalBot point=6 web=1019 up=6.0MB (10%) <--- PetalBot
[3] ClaudeBot point=0 web=302 up=4.6MB (7%)
[4] Amazon point=1 web=146 up=4.5MB (7%) <--- Amazon
[5] 144.76.32.x point=0 web=56 up=2.9MB (4%)
[6] 216.244.66.x point=3 web=29 up=1.1MB (1%) <--- 216.244.66.x
[7] TikTok point=0 web=43 up=1.0MB (1%)
[8] 217.114.158.x point=26 web=0 up=1.0MB (1%) <--- fox (1/hr)
[9] 94.25.231.x point=1 web=0 up=0.9MB (1%) <--- 94.25.231.x
[10] Facebook point=0 web=62 up=0.6MB (<1%)

TOTAL TRAFFIC: 59MB

Дэниел Cтенберг (Daniel Stenberg), автор утилиты для получения и отправки данных по сети curl, объявил о прекращении использования функции strcpy() в кодовой базе проекта и запрете применения данной функции в дальнейшем. Решение является продолжением инициированного в прошлом году отказа от использования функции strncpy(), копирующей заданное число байт из входящей строки. Применение strncpy() создавало опасность возникновения ошибок из-за пропуска нулевого символа в конце строки или добавочного заполнения нулями.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=64532

Israel has operationally deployed Iron Beam, a 100,000-watt laser air-defense system capable of shooting down drones, rockets, and mortars at negligible per-shot cost. According to Tom's Hardware, it marks the first real-world deployment of a high-energy laser as part of a modern, multi-layered missile defense network. From the report: The Iron Beam is a short-range line-of-sight laser interceptor that is extremely cheap to run and, therefore, perfectly suited for intercepting low-cost, high-volume threats. According to the official Israeli announcement, Iron Beam systems have "successfully intercepted rockets, mortars, and UAVs."

A complex mix of government, military, scientific, and commercial interests were responsible for the research and development of the Iron Beam laser system. Central to the Iron Beam are "an advanced laser source and a unique electro-optical targeting system, enabling the interception of a wide range of targets at an enhanced operational range, with maximum precision and superior efficiency," boasted the press release by Israel's MoD. Moreover, it works "at a negligible marginal cost, which constitutes the laser system's primary advantage."

We don't get much more by way of technical details, perhaps understandably. However, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems execs heralded the system's "unique adaptive optics technology," in what it calls "the world's most advanced laser-based system for intercepting aerial threats." Its operational debut "marks the beginning of the era of high-energy laser defense," they claimed.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/12/31/0020214/israel-deploys-worlds-first-drone-defense-laser?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from the New York Times: South Africans ... have found a remedy for power cuts that have plagued people in the developing world for years. Thanks to swiftly falling prices of Chinese made solar panels and batteries, they now draw their power from the sun. These aren't the tiny, old-school solar lanterns that once powered a lightbulb or TV in rural communities. Today, solar and battery systems are deployed across a variety of businesses -- auto factories and wineries, gold mines and shopping malls. And they are changing everyday life, trade and industry in Africa's biggest economy. This has happened at startling speed. Solar has risen from almost nothing in 2019 to roughly 10 percent of South Africa's electricity-generating capacity.

No longer do South Africans depend entirely on giant coal-burning plants that have defined how people worldwide got their electricity for more than a century. That's forcing the nation's already beleaguered electric utility to rethink its business as revenues evaporate. Joel Nana, a project manager with Sustainable Energy Africa, a Cape Town-based organization, called it "a bottom-up movement" to sidestep a generations-old problem. "The broken system is unreliable electricity, expensive electricity or no electricity at all," he said. "We've been living in this situation forever." What's happening in South Africa is repeating across the continent. Key to this shift: China's ambition to lead the world in clean energy. The report says that more than 7 gigawatts of solar capacity have been installed in South Africa over the past five years -- about 1/10 of the country's total installed capacity (55 GW). And most of this new solar capacity is privately owned and installed by households and businesses rather than utilities.

Across the continent, Chinese solar imports rose 50% in the first 10 months of 2025. Cheap Chinese solar is rapidly reshaping Africa's energy landscape from the bottom up but it's also shifting geopolitical influence, hollowing out local manufacturing opportunities, and deepening divides between those who can afford energy independence and those who can't. "The solar surge does little to address the most pressing social and economic problems of developing countries like South Africa, the need to generate new jobs for millions of young citizens," reports the NYT. "Installation labor is local, but the panels and batteries are almost all made in China."

Further reading: Why Solarpunk Is Already Happening In Africa

[ Read more of this story ]( https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/25/12/31/001211/cheap-solar-is-transforming-lives-and-economies-across-africa?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

In an opinion piece for Computerworld, columnist Steven Vaughan-Nichols argues that restrictive visa policies and a hostile border climate under the Trump administration are driving foreign tech workers, researchers, and conference speakers away from the U.S. The result, he says, is a gradual shift of talent, events, and long-term innovation toward more welcoming regions such as Europe, Canada, and Asia. From the report: I go to a lot of tech conferences -- 13 in 2025 -- and many of those I attend are outside the U.S.; several are in London, one is in Amsterdam, another in Paris, and two in Tokyo. Wherever I went this past year, when we weren't talking about AI, Linux, the cloud, or open-source software, the top non-tech topic for non-Americans involved the sweeping changes that have occurred since President Donald J. Trump returned to office last January. The conversations generally ended with something like this: "I'm not taking a job or going to a conference in the United States."

Honestly, who can blame them? Under Trump, America now has large "Keep Out!" and "No Trespassing!" signs effectively posted. I've known several top tech people who tried to come to the U.S. for technology shows with proper visas and paperwork, but were still turned away at the border. Who wants to fly for 8+ hours for a conference, only to be refused entry at the last minute, and be forced to fly back? I know many of the leading trade show organizers, and it's not just me who's seeing this. They universally agree that getting people from outside the States to agree to come to the U.S. is increasingly difficult. Many refuse even to try to come. As a result, show managers have begun to close U.S.-based events and are seeking to replace them with shows in Europe, Canada, and Asia. [...]

Once upon a time, everyone who was anyone in tech was willing to uproot their lives to come to the U.S. Here, they could make a good living. They could collaborate, publish, and build companies in jurisdictions that welcome them, and meet their peers at conferences. Now, they must run a gauntlet at the U.S. border and neither a green card nor U.S. citizenship guarantees they won't be abused by the federal government. Trump's America seems bound and determined to become a second-rate tech power. His administration can loosen all the restrictions it wants on AI, but without top global talent, U.S. tech prowess will decline. That's not good for America, the tech industry or the larger world.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/12/30/2341244/foreign-tech-workers-are-avoiding-travel-to-the-us?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

One-Netbook has unveiled the OneXSugar Wallet, the first gaming handheld with a folding OLED display. The Verge reports: The OneXSugar Wallet was announced on China's Weibo yesterday, but with few details about its features and capabilities. That folding OLED screen has a resolution of 2480 x 1860 pixels, and the handheld will be powered by an unspecified "Qualcomm gaming platform flagship processor," but its performance and emulation capabilities are unknown.

Based on photos and a video released by One-Netbook, the OneXSugar Wallet will feature a standard set of controls including asymmetrical thumbsticks, four action buttons, and a D-pad situated on either side of the lower half of its display. There are also shoulder buttons and triggers on the back of the handheld, and a pair of front-facing speakers flanking the top half of the screen. The biggest question is how much will the handheld cost...

[ Read more of this story ]( https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/25/12/30/2335237/first-gaming-handheld-with-a-folding-screen?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

PC Gamer argues that 2025 was a year full of high-profile AI embarrassments across games and entertainment, with Disney and Lucasfilm serving as the "opening salvo." From the report: At a TED talk back in April, Lucasfilm senior vice president of creative innovation Rob Bredow presented a demonstration of what he called "a new era of technology." Across 50 years of legendary innovation in miniature design, practical effects, and computer animation, Lucasfilm and its miracle workers at Industrial Light & Magic have blazed the trail for visual effects in creative storytelling -- and now Bredow was offering a glimpse at what wonders might come next.

That glimpse, created over two weeks by an ILM artist, was Star Wars: Field Guide: a two-minute fizzle reel of AI-generated blue lions, tentacled walruses, turtles with alligator heads, and zebra-stripe chimpanzees, all lazily spliced together from the shuffled bits of normal-ass animals. These "aliens" were less Star Wars than they were Barnum & Bailey. It felt like a singular embarrassment: Instead of showing its potential, generative AI just demonstrated how out of touch a major media force had become. And then it kept happening.

At the time, I wondered whether evoking the legacy of Lucasfilm just to declare creative bankruptcy had provoked enough disgusted responses to convince Disney to slow its roll on AI ventures. In the months since, however, it's clear that Star Wars: Field Guide wasn't a cautionary tale. It was a mission statement. Disney is boldly, firmly placing its hand on the hot stove. Other embarrassing AI use cases include Fortnite's AI-powered Darth Vader NPC, Activision's use of AI-generated art in what was widely described as the "weakest" Call of Duty launch in years, McDonald's short-lived AI holiday ad, and Disney's $1 billion licensing deal with OpenAI.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/25/12/30/2043241/2025-was-the-year-of-creative-bankruptcy?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from DW: India has surpassed Japan to become the world's fourth-largest economy, according to calculations in the Indian government's end-of-year economic review. On current trends, India is expected to overtake Germany to become the world's third-largest economy within the next three years, the review said.

The review said India's gross domestic product has already reached about $4.18 trillion, and is projected to reach $7.3 trillion by 2030. On current trends, it said, India would trail only the United States and China in economic heft. India's real GDP grew 8.2% in the second quarter of the 2025-26 financial year, up from 7.8% in the previous quarter and marking a six-quarter high.

Export performance has also strengthened, the review noted. Merchandise exports rose to $38.13 billion in November, up from $36.43 billion in January, supported by engineering goods, electronics, pharmaceuticals, and petroleum products. Official confirmation however depends on data due in 2026 when final annual GDP figures are released. The International Monetary Fund suggests India will surpass Japan next year. The Reserve Bank of India has revised its growth forecast for the 2025-26 financial year upward to 7.3%.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/12/30/2025244/india-overtakes-japan-as-4th-largest-economy?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Axios reports that venture capitalist Alex Davis is warning that a speculative rush to build data centers without committed tenants could trigger a financing crunch by 2027-2028.

"This critique is coming from inside the AI optimist camp," notes Axios, as Davis' firm, Disruptive, "recently led a large investment in AI chipmaker Groq, which then signed a $20 billion licensing deal with Nvidia. It's also backed such unicorn startups as Reflection AI, Shield AI and Gecko Robotics."

Here's what Davis had to say in his investor letter this morning: "While I continue to believe the ongoing advancements in AI technology present 'once in a lifetime' investment opportunities, I also continue to see risks and reason for caution and investment discipline. For example, we are seeing way too many business models (and valuation levels) with no realistic margin expansion story, extreme capex spend, lack of enterprise customer traction, or overdependence on 'round-trip' investments -- in some cases all with the same company. I am also deeply concerned about the 'speculative' data center market. The 'build it and they will come' strategy is a trap. If you are a hyperscaler, you will own your own data centers. We foresee a significant financing crisis in 2027-2028 for speculative landlords. We want to back theowner/users, not the speculative landlords, and we are quite concerned for their stress on the system."
The full letter can be found here.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/12/30/2016207/groq-investor-sounds-alarm-on-data-centers?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

China is quietly mandating that chipmakers use at least 50% domestically made equipment when expanding capacity, "as Beijing pushes to build a self-sufficient semiconductor supply chain," according to Reuters. From the report: The rule is not publicly documented, but chipmakers seeking state approval to build or expand their plants have been told by authorities in recent months that they must prove through procurement tenders that at least half their equipment will be Chinese-made, the people told Reuters. The mandate is one of the most significant measures Beijing has introduced to wean itself off reliance on foreign technology, a push that gathered pace after the U.S. tightened technology export restrictions in 2023, banning sales of advanced AI chips and semiconductor equipment to China.

While those U.S. export restrictions blocked the sale of some of the most advanced tools, the 50% rule is leading Chinese manufacturers to choose domestic suppliers even in areas where foreign equipment from the U.S., Japan, South Korea and Europe remain available. Applications failing the threshold are typically rejected, though authorities grant flexibility depending on supply constraints, the people said. The requirements are relaxed for advanced chip production lines, where domestically developed equipment is not yet fully available. "Authorities prefer if it is much higher than 50%," one source told Reuters. "Eventually they are aiming for the plants to use 100% domestic equipment."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/12/30/205238/china-mandates-50-domestic-equipment-rule-for-chipmakers?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Guardian: Mac Bauer is fast, but the city's trams, weighing more than 100,000lbs and traveling at a maximum speed of nearly 45mph, should be far faster than him. And yet as of late December, in head-to-head races against streetcars, the 32-year-old remains undefeated in his quest to highlight how sluggish the trams, used by 230,000 people daily, truly are.

Some races have pushed him closer to his limits as a runner. On other occasions, the car has been so slow he's had time to nip into a McDonald's before it reaches the last station. "I don't like winning. I really don't. I really, really wish these streetcars were faster than me," he said. "But they're not. And this is the problem." Bauer's rise as a running celebrity and transit critic embodies the mounting frustration of a city beset by chronic delays, congested streets and decades of under-built transit.

"Streetcars just shouldn't be stuck in traffic," he said, adding the system also needed more "signal priority" which gives the streetcars lengthened green lights and shortened red lights. Bauer started racing transit vehicles roughly a year ago after he and his wife realized how long it took them to traverse the city. He posted videos of those races to Instagram and quickly transformed into a minor celebrity. Bauer describes his runs as a form of social activism, and his ability to lay bare the absurdities of Toronto's beleaguered public transit system -- a person can outrun a streetcar! -- has struck a nerve with the tens of thousands of commuters who share his Instagram posts.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/12/30/202203/toronto-man-outruns-streetcars-to-show-up-sluggish-transit-network?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Two cybersecurity professionals who spent their careers defending organizations against ransomware attacks have pleaded guilty in a Florida federal court to using ALPHV/BlackCat ransomware to extort American businesses throughout 2023.

Ryan Goldberg, a 40-year-old incident response manager from Georgia, and Kevin Martin, a 36-year-old ransomware negotiator from Texas, admitted to conspiring to obstruct commerce through extortion. Between April and December 2023, Goldberg, Martin, and a third unnamed co-conspirator deployed the ransomware against multiple U.S. victims and agreed to pay ALPHV BlackCat's operators a 20% cut of any ransoms received. They successfully extracted approximately $1.2 million in Bitcoin from one victim, splitting their 80% share three ways before laundering the proceeds. Both men face up to 20 years in prison and are scheduled for sentencing on March 12, 2026.

The Justice Department noted that all three conspirators possessed specialized skills in securing computer systems against the very attacks they carried out. ALPHV BlackCat has targeted more than 1,000 victims globally and was the subject of an FBI disruption operation in December 2023 that saved victims an estimated $99 million through a custom decryption tool.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/12/30/1911201/cybersecurity-employees-plead-guilty-to-ransomware-attacks?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

The global airline industry is on track to post an all-time profit high of nearly $40 billion in 2025, according to trade group IATA, surpassing the pre-pandemic 2019 figure of $26 billion, but carriers are still managing a net margin of just 4% -- roughly $7.90 per passenger. Economist adds: Not everything has been in the ascent. European and North American airlines, which account for three-fifths of the industry's net profits, have had to contend with circuitous long-haul routes to avoid Russian airspace since the start of the war in Ukraine. This year parts of the Middle East became no-go zones after Israel's strike on Iran in June. America's airlines were hit by a government shutdown that stopped federal workers from travelling and kept unpaid air-traffic controllers at home, disrupting flights.

What is more, despite a drop in fuel prices, which account for 25-30% of airlines' operating expenses, other costs have risen. Airlines flew 4.8 billion passengers in 2024, beating the 2019 peak, and that figure likely reached 5 billion in 2025 as combined revenues topped $1 trillion for the first time and load factors hit a record of nearly 84%.

But the industry is flying older planes because Boeing and Airbus can't deliver enough new ones. The duopoly shipped under 1,400 aircraft in 2025, well below the 2018 record of just over 1,600. Boeing has struggled since two fatal 737 MAX crashes in late 2018 and early 2019 led to a 20-month grounding, and a fuselage panel blew off another 737 MAX mid-flight in early 2024. Airbus cut its 2025 delivery target from 820 to 790 in early December due to a supplier's production flaw, and Pratt & Whitney engine problems have grounded a third of the global A320neo fleet.

IATA estimates the aircraft shortage won't resolve before 2031 at the earliest, and the global fleet's average age has climbed to 15 years from 13 in 2019. Annual fuel efficiency gains have slowed from about 2% to 0.3% in 2025, and an IATA and Oliver Wyman report pegs the cost of aging fleets -- extra fuel, repairs, spare parts -- at over $11 billion in 2025.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/12/30/1748203/despite-a-record-year-airlines-are-grappling-with-big-challenges?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Эндрю Хуан (Andrew Huang) и Шон Кросс (Sean Cross), в своё время спроектировавшие открытый ноутбук Novena и платформу для создания смартфонов Precursor, представили на конференции 39C3 (Chaos Communication Congress) открытый SoC Baochip-1x, предназначенный для создания защищённых устройств интернета вещей (IoT). Чип спроектирован для использования вместе с микроядерной операционной системой Xous, развиваемым Эндрю и Шоном последние пять лет. Схемы, описания аппаратных блоков на языке Verilog, симулятор и сопутствующая проектная документация доступны под открытой лицензией CERN OHL 2.0. Код операционной системы Xous написан на языке Rust и распространяется под лицензией Apache 2.0.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=64521

A study by a Singapore government agency has found that children exposed to high levels of screen time before age two showed brain development changes linked to slower decision-making and higher anxiety in adolescence, adding to concerns about early digital exposure. From a report: The study was conducted by a team within the country's Agency for Science, Technology and Research and the National University of Singapore, and published in The Lancet's eBioMedicine open access journal. It tracked 168 children for more than a decade, and conducted brain scans on them at three time points. Heavier screen exposure among very young children was associated with "accelerated maturation of brain networks" responsible for vision and cognitive control, the study found.

The researchers suggested this may have been the result of "intense sensory stimulation that screens provide." They found that screen time measured at ages three and four, however, did not show the same effects. Those children with "altered brain networks" took longer to make decisions when they were 8.5, and also had higher anxiety symptoms at age 13, the study said.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/12/30/1716246/singapore-study-links-heavy-infant-screen-time-to-teen-anxiety?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader shares a report: The French government on Dec 30 postponed a ban on plastic throwaway cups by four years to 2030 because of difficulties finding alternatives. The ban was meant to start on Jan 1. But the Ministry for Ecological Transition said the "technical feasibility of eliminating plastic from cups" following a review in 2025 justified pushing back the deadline.

It said in an official decree that a new review would be carried out in 2028 of "progress made in replacing single-use plastic cups." It added that the ban would now start Jan 1, 2030, when companies would have 12 months to get rid of their stock. France has gradually rolled out bans on single-use plastic products over the past decade as environmental campaigners have stepped up warnings about the impact on rivers and oceans.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/12/30/1711255/france-pushes-back-plastic-cup-ban-by-four-years?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

After more than three decades of service, New York City's iconic MetroCard is about to retire, as December 31, 2025 marks the final day commuters can purchase or refill the gold-hued plastic cards that replaced subway tokens back in 1994. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has been transitioning to OMNY, a contactless payment system introduced in 2019 that lets riders tap a credit card, phone or smart device at turnstiles.

More than 90% of subway and bus trips are now paid using the tap-and-go system, and the agency says the changeover saves at least $20 million annually in MetroCard-related costs. The new system also introduces automatic fare capping: riders get unlimited travel within a seven-day period after 12 paid rides, maxing out at $35 a week once fares rise to $3 in January. Riders who prefer not to link a credit card or phone can purchase reloadable OMNY cards.

Existing MetroCards will continue to work into 2026, allowing riders time to use up remaining balances. The MetroCard's arrival in 1994 was itself a significant shift from the brass tokens that had been in use since 1953. London and Singapore have long operated similar contactless systems; San Francisco launched its own tap-to-pay system earlier this year, joining Chicago and other U.S. cities.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/12/30/1659234/new-yorks-metrocard-era-ends-after-31-years?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

The consulting firm CVL Economics estimated last year that AI would disrupt more than 200,000 entertainment-industry jobs in the United States by 2026, but writer Nick Geisler argues in The Atlantic that the most consequential casualties may be the humble entry-level positions where aspiring artists have traditionally paid dues and learned their craft. Geisler, a screenwriter and WGA member who started out writing copy for a how-to website in the mid-2010s, notes that ChatGPT can now handle the kind of articles he once produced.

This pattern is visible today across creative industries: the AI software Eddie launched an update in September capable of producing first edits of films, and LinkedIn job listings increasingly seek people to train AI models rather than write original copy. The story adds: The problem is that entry-level creative jobs are much more than grunt work. Working within established formulas and routines is how young artists develop their skills. The historical record suggests those early rungs matter. Hunter S. Thompson began as a copy boy for Time magazine; Joan Didion was a research assistant at Vogue; directors Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Demme, and Francis Ford Coppola shot cheap B movies for Roger Corman before their breakthrough work. Geisler himself landed his first Netflix screenplay commission through a producer he met while making rough cuts for a YouTube channel. The story adds: Beyond the money, which is usually modest, low-level creative jobs offer practice time and pathways for mentorship that side gigs such as waiting tables and tending bar do not. Further reading: Hollow at the Base.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/12/30/124254/the-problem-with-letting-ai-do-the-grunt-work?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

The World Health Organization's latest annual malaria report paints a grim picture that's about to get grimmer, as the United States -- which has supplied 37% of global malaria funding since 2010 -- pulls back its international health commitments under President Donald Trump. Malaria cases have been climbing since 2015, when progress against the mosquito-borne disease stalled due to insecticide resistance and chronic underfunding.

In 2024, the world recorded 282 million cases and 610,000 deaths, and African countries accounted for 95% of both figures. Children under 5 made up 75% of malaria-related deaths in Africa. Global spending on malaria reached $3.9 billion last year.

Trump's decision to slash international public health funding and gut the US Agency for International Development has caused what the WHO calls "widespread disruption to health operations around the world." The burden of these setbacks, the organization adds, is expected to fall disproportionately on children. Seventeen countries now offer malaria vaccines to younger populations, up from three countries the year before, but funding constraints mean many countries still can't provide the shots.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/12/30/0841215/malaria-shows-no-sign-of-stopping?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

A scheme to encourage climbers to bring their waste down from Mount Everest is being scrapped -- with Nepalese authorities telling the BBC it has been a failure. From the report: Climbers had been required to pay a deposit of $4,000, which they would only get back if they brought at least 8kg (18lbs) of waste back down with them. It was hoped it would begin to tackle the rubbish problem on the world's highest peak, which is estimated to be covered in some 50 tonnes of waste. But after 11 years -- and with the rubbish still piling up -- the scheme is being shelved because it "failed to show a tangible result."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/12/30/0836252/nepal-to-scrap-failed-mount-everest-waste-deposit-scheme?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Опубликовано: Tue, 30 Dec 2025 16:21:23 GMT
Канал: Все статьи подряд / DIY или Сделай сам / Хабр

В этой статье я бросаю вызов общепринятому представлению о больших языковых моделях как о «тупых исполнителях», которые ничего не понимают, галлюционируют, но позволяют получить результат быстрее (нередко за счет качества). Подобные мифы активно распространяются в сети, а также на курсах, на которых обучают «правильно» писать промпты. Я на Хабре уже написал несколько статей, разоблачающих отсутствие мышления у LLM, но здесь я опишу способность больших языковых моделей решать задачи, людям недоступные. Из этой статьи вы узнаете, как на самом деле надо использовать нейронки, чтобы получать максимальную пользу от них. Читать далее]]>

https://habr.com/ru/articles/982008/

The camera industry shipped 6.5 million interchangeable lens cameras last year -- a 50% decline from 2010's peak -- yet 2025 may have been the most creatively ambitious year in nearly two decades of digital photography. DPReview's Richard Butler argues that this year's releases displayed "invention, experimentation and niche-tickling lunacy" not seen since digital's earliest days.

Interchangeable lens shipments rose 11% in the first ten months of 2025 compared to last year, and fixed lens cameras climbed roughly 26%. The practical cameras arrived as expected: Panasonic's S1 II, Canon's EOS R6 III, and Sony's a7 V all delivered performance that "can go toe-to-toe with the pro sports models of just a few years ago." But the stranger releases drew attention.

Sony's RX1R III faced criticism for being a "lazy update," yet Butler found it "small, fun to use and the pictures look great." Leica launched the Q3 Monochrom, a $7,800 fixed-lens full-frame compact that cannot capture color. Fujifilm's X half targeted young buyers who might otherwise hunt for vintage compacts on eBay. The Sigma BF abandoned traditional camera design entirely -- no viewfinder, one dial, intentionally stylized.

"Look at some of this year's releases through a pragmatic lens of whether they're the best tool for the job, and the conclusion you'd typically draw is 'no,'" Butler wrote. These cameras "aren't trying to be the best, the most flexible or the most practical. They're intentionally, knowingly niche."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/12/30/0833258/camera-makers-went-weird-in-2025---and-thats-exactly-what-the-shrinking-industry-needed?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

In a year when print book sales have slipped 1% to 679 million copies through early December, according to Circana BookScan, audiobooks continue to carve out territory that once belonged exclusively to hardcovers, and in several notable cases this year, the audio versions have outright outsold their physical counterparts.

S.A. Cosby's southern crime novel "King of Ashes" moved more copies as an audiobook than as a hardcover, according to publisher Macmillan Audio. The same is true for celebrity memoirs from Jeremy Renner, Alyson Stoner, and Brooke Shields -- all narrated by the authors themselves. Karin Slaughter's thriller "We Are All Guilty Here" and comedian Nate Bargatze's "Big Dumb Eyes" also saw their audio editions outpace hardcover sales.

Digital audiobook revenue jumped nearly 24% in 2024 to $1.1 billion, per the Association of American Publishers, though growth has cooled to 1% through October this year, bringing in nearly $888 million. The format's strength has professional narrators watching AI developments nervously. Emily Lawrence, who has narrated more than 600 audiobooks, said there's "a lot of water cooler talk about people who haven't had work in months." Hachette Audio publisher Ana Maria Allessi said voice-cloning technology is becoming more sophisticated and could change how authors approach narration.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/12/30/0754259/some-audiobooks-are-outselling-hardcovers?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Japan's demographic transformation is no longer a distant forecast but an accelerating reality, and the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research now estimates the country's population will fall to roughly 100 million by 2050 -- more than 20 million fewer people than today.

The share of residents aged 65 and over stood at 29.4% as of September and is expected to reach 37.1% by midcentury. The dependency ratio -- children and older adults supported by every 100 working-age people -- is projected to rise from 68.0 to 89.0, meaning each working-age person will effectively support one dependent.

Akita Prefecture is currently offering a preview of this future. Its population fell 1.93% year over year as of November 1, the steepest decline of any prefecture, and more than 40% of its residents are already 65 or older. By 2050, Akita's population is projected to drop to around 560,000, roughly 60% of its current size. Japan's total fertility rate fell for the ninth consecutive year in 2024, declining to 1.15 from 1.2. A health ministry survey found around 319,000 babies were born in the first half of 2025, more than 10,000 fewer than the same period last year -- a pace that could put the full-year total at a record low.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/12/30/0716215/life-in-a-shrinking-japan?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

The six-decade flow of highly skilled Indian immigrants to the United States -- a migration pattern that produced some of the country's highest-earning households, several Nobel laureates, and the CEOs of Google, Microsoft, and Pepsi -- appears to be grinding to a halt amid rising anti-Indian rhetoric from Republican officials and chaos in the visa system, according to New York Times.

Indian student arrivals at American universities fell 44% this year, even as Indians had just become the largest contingent of foreign students the previous year. The decline comes as top Trump administration officials have publicly accused Indian immigrants of gaming the system. Stephen Miller, the architect of the president's immigration crackdown, declared on Fox News that Indians "engage in a lot of cheating on immigration policies that is very harmful to American workers." Governor Ron DeSantis called the H-1B visa program "chain migration run amok."

The hostility extends beyond policy circles. At a Hindu temple in Sugar Land, Texas, conservative Christian protesters gathered during the dedication of a 90-foot Hanuman statue, calling the deity "a demon god." A U.S. Senate candidate wrote on social media: "Why are we allowing a false statue of a false Hindu God to be here in Texas? We are a CHRISTIAN nation." Indian Americans' median household income significantly outstrips that of white Americans, and about three-quarters hold at least a college degree. Foreign students have earned more engineering and computer science doctorates than American citizens and permanent residents for over two decades, according to the National Science Foundation. American tech giants have announced $67.5 billion in new investments in India in just the past few months.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/12/30/0659206/one-of-americas-most-successful-experiments-is-coming-to-a-shuddering-halt?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Опубликовано: Tue, 30 Dec 2025 13:01:46 GMT
Канал: Все статьи подряд / Assembler / Хабр

Очередной Новый Год на носу, а значит, срочно нужно придумать очередной новогодний проектик и написать про него статью. И я придумал сделать интро-поздравление для ZX Spectrum. Да не современное, поражающее невообразимыми эффектами, а напротив, в максимально классическом стиле очень ранней демосцены. Заодно это повод рассказать про особенности национальных хакерских традиций в зимний и иные периоды. Сведём же новогодние олдскулы зарядом концентрированной ностальгии! Читать далее]]>

https://habr.com/ru/companies/ruvds/articles/981398/

Опубликовано: Tue, 30 Dec 2025 12:52:35 GMT
Канал: Все статьи подряд / DIY или Сделай сам / Хабр

Для большинства из нас кубик Рубика — это популярная головоломка; для спидкуберов — спортивный снаряд; для художников и дизайнеров — пиксельный строительный блок в кубических мозаиках. Но если посмотреть на классический кубик 3×3×3 как на механическую систему со своей симметрией и жёсткими ограничениями, он начинает вести себя как математическая модель. Несколько лет я экспериментировал со свойствами куба, собирая мозаики из кубиков Рубика, и в процессе разработал метод, позволяющий создавать двусторонние паттерны — когда на противоположных сторонах мозаики формируются зеркальные изображения в инверсивных цветах. Я назвал этот метод Mirror Dual-Sided Inverse (MDSI). С его помощью любую мозаику из десятков и сотен кубиков Рубика можно превратить в «кубическую ткань» с лицевой и изнаночной сторонами. В этой статье я расскажу, как работает MDSI-метод и на каких принципах он основан. Крутить далее]]>

https://habr.com/ru/articles/981936/

An anonymous reader quotes a report from SecurityWeek: Insurance giant Aflac is notifying roughly 22.65 million people that their personal information was stolen from its systems in June 2025. The company disclosed the intrusion on June 20, saying it had identified suspicious activity on its network in the US on June 12 and blaming it on a sophisticated cybercrime group. The company said it immediately contained the attack and engaged with third-party cybersecurity experts to help with incident response. Aflac's operations were not affected, as file-encrypting ransomware was not deployed.

[...] The compromised information, the insurance giant says, includes names, addresses, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, driver's license numbers, government ID numbers, medical and health insurance information, and other data. "The review of the potentially impacted files determined personal information associated with customers, beneficiaries, employees, agents, and other individuals related to Aflac was involved," Aflac said in a notification (PDF) on its website. The company is providing the affected individuals with 24 months of free credit monitoring, identity theft protection, and medical fraud protection services.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://it.slashdot.org/story/25/12/30/0645220/22-million-affected-by-aflac-data-breach?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Meta has agreed to acquire viral AI agent startup Manus, "a Singapore-based AI startup that's become the talk of Silicon Valley since it materialized this spring with a demo video so slick it went instantly viral," reports TechCrunch. "The clip showed an AI agent that could do things like screen job candidates, plan vacations, and analyze stock portfolios. Manus claimed at the time that it outperformed OpenAI's Deep Research." From the report: By April, just weeks after launch, the early-stage firm Benchmark led a $75 million funding round that assigned Manus a post-money valuation of $500 million. General partner Chetan Puttagunta joined the board. Per Chinese media outlets, some other big-name backers had already invested in Manus at that point, including Tencent, ZhenFund, and HSG (formerly known as Sequoia China) via an earlier $10 million round.

Though Bloomberg raised questions when Manus started charging $39 or $199 a month for access to its AI models (the outlet noted the pricing seemed "somewhat aggressive... for a membership service still in a testing phase,") the company recently announced it had since signed up millions of users and crossed $100 million in annual recurring revenue. That's when Meta started negotiating with Manus, according to the WSJ, which says Meta is paying $2 billion -- the same valuation Manus was seeking for its next funding round.

For Zuckerberg, who has staked Meta's future on AI, Manus represents something new: an AI product that's actually making money (investors have grown increasingly twitchy about Meta's $60 billion infrastructure spending spree). Meta says it'll keep Manus running independently while weaving its agents into Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, where Meta's own chatbot, Meta AI, is already available to users.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://meta.slashdot.org/story/25/12/30/0640250/meta-just-bought-manus-an-ai-startup-everyone-has-been-talking-about?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

В пакете Net-SNMP, реализующем протоколы SNMP v1, SNMP v2c и SNMP v3, выявлена уязвимость (CVE-2025-68615), позволяющая добиться удалённого выполнения кода на сервере, использующем сервис snmptrapd для приёма и обработки trap-сообщений от устройств. По умолчанию сервис принимает запросы на 162 UDP-порту и запускается с правами root. Проблеме присвоен критический уровень опасности (9.8 из 10). Атака может быть совершена без прохождения аутентификации.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=64530

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The Wall Street Journal reports that Boston's once-booming biotech sector has hit a sharp downturn, leaving newly minted Ph.D.s struggling to find work as venture funding dries up, lab space sits empty, and companies downsize or relocate amid rising costs and policy uncertainty. The Wall Street Journal reports: Boston's biotech sector, long a vital economic engine for one of America's wealthiest metro areas, is sputtering. A double whammy of cutbacks in venture capital and government funding have taken a toll, leading to layoffs and struggles for job seekers. For workers who thought they would easily launch into a well-paying science career, the downturn has been especially harsh.

Massachusetts experienced a slight decline in its roughly 65,000 biotech research-and-development jobs in 2024 after years of mostly strong increases, including during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to federal data. The numbers indicate that job losses continued through at least June, while hiring remains sluggish. By the end of September, nearly 28% of greater Boston's laboratory space sat empty, according to the latest estimates from real-estate firm CBRE. "Every stage of the life cycle has been impacted by policy or regulatory uncertainty this year," said Kendalle Burlin O'Connell, chief executive of MassBio, an industry trade group. The impact has hit startups especially hard, she said.

A continued downturn poses risks for a region where workers will put up with sky-high real-estate costs if they can land high-paying jobs. Massachusetts faces competition from other states and China, which are eager to peel away talent and investment. "There are states and countries chasing us every single day," Gov. Maura Healey said in an interview. In late October, the Democrat testified before the Massachusetts legislature in support of a $400 million "competitiveness agenda" that she is seeking to spur new investment and supplement research funding lost this year. Lawmakers are reviewing the bill, a House spokesman said.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/12/29/2357222/phds-cant-find-work-as-bostons-biotech-engine-sputters?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Проект U-boot, развивающий загрузчик для встраиваемых устройств, вошёл в состав некоммерческой организации Software Freedom Conservancy (SFC), которая занимается аккумулированием и перераспределением спонсорских средств, а также предоставлением юридической защиты свободным проектам. SFC позволяет участникам сконцентрироваться на процессе разработки, беря на себя функции по сбору пожертвований. SFC также становится владельцем активов проекта и избавляет разработчиков от личной ответственности в случае судебных разбирательств.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=64529

Компания "Базальт СПО" опубликовала дистрибутив Simply Linux 11.1, построенный на 11-й платформе ALT. Дистрибутив представляет собой простую в работе и нетребовательную к ресурсам систему с классическим рабочим столом на основе Xfce, предоставляющую полную русификацию интерфейса и большинства приложений. Продукт распространяется в рамках лицензионного договора, не передающего право на распространение дистрибутива, но позволяющего без ограничений использовать систему физическим и юридическим лицам. Сборки подготовлены для архитектур x86_64 и Aarch64.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=64528

Доступен выпуск дистрибутива Ubuntu Sway Remix 25.04, предоставляющего преднастроенный и готовый к использованию рабочий стол на основе мозаичного композитного менеджера Sway. Дистрибутив является неофициальной редакцией Ubuntu 25.04, созданной с оглядкой как на опытных пользователей GNU/Linux, так и на новичков, желающих попробовать окружение с мозаичным оконным менеджером без необходимости его долгой настройки. Для загрузки подготовлены сборки для архитектур amd64 и arm64 (Raspberry Pi).

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=64527

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: The nervous system does an astonishing job of tracking sensory information, and does so using signals that would drive many computer scientists insane: a noisy stream of activity spikes that may be transmitted to hundreds of additional neurons, where they are integrated with similar spike trains coming from still other neurons. Now, researchers have used spiking circuitry to build an artificial robotic skin, adopting some of the principles of how signals from our sensory neurons are transmitted and integrated. While the system relies on a few decidedly not-neural features, it has the advantage that we have chips that can run neural networks using spiking signals, which would allow this system to integrate smoothly with some energy-efficient hardware to run AI-based control software.

[...] There are four ways that these trains of spikes can convey information: the shape of an individual pulse, through their magnitude, through the length of the spike, and through the frequency of the spikes. Spike frequency is the most commonly used means of conveying information in biological systems, and the researchers use that to convey the pressure experienced by a sensor. The remaining forms of information are used to create something akin to a bar code that helps identify which sensor the reading came from. In addition to registering the pressure, the researchers had each sensor send a "I'm still here" signal at regular time intervals. Failure to receive this would be an indication that something has gone wrong with a sensor.

The spiking signals allow the next layer of the system to identify any pressure being experienced by the skin, as well as where it originated. This layer can also do basic evaluation of the sensory input: "Pressure-initiated raw pulses from the pulse generator accumulated in the signal cache center until a predefined pain threshold is surpassed, activating a pain signal." This can allow the equivalent of basic reflex reactions that don't involve higher-level control systems. For example, the researchers set up a robotic arm covered with their artificial skin, and got it to move the arm whenever it experiences pressure that can cause damage. The second layer also combines and filters signals from the skin before sending the information on to the arm's controller, which is the equivalent of the brain in this situation. So, the same system caused a robotic face to change expressions based on how much pressure its arm was sensing.

[...] The skin is designed to be assembled from a collection of segments that can snap together using magnetic interlocks. These automatically link up any necessary wiring, and each segment of skin broadcasts a unique identity code. So, if the system identifies damage, it's relatively easy for an operator to pop out the damaged segment and replace it with fresh hardware, and then update any data that links the new segment's ID with its location. The researchers call their development a neuromorphic robotic e-skin, or NRE-skin. "Neuromorphic" as a term is a bit vague, with some people using it to mean a technology that directly follows the principles used by the nervous system. That's definitely not this skin. Instead, it uses "neuromorphic" far more loosely, with the operation of the nervous system acting as an inspiration for the system.The findings have been published in the journal PNAS.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/25/12/29/2344207/researchers-make-neuromorphic-artificial-skin-for-robots?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Amid a global DDR5 shortage and soaring prices, Russian hardware enthusiasts are experimenting with do-it-yourself DDR5 RAM by sourcing empty PCBs and soldering memory chips by hand. Tom's Hardware reports: The idea comes from Russian YouTuber PRO Hi-Tech's Telegram channel, where a local enthusiast known as "Vik-on" already performs VRAM upgrades for GPUs, so this is a relatively safe operation for him. According to Vik-on, empty RAM PCBs can be sourced from China for as little as $6.40 per DIMM. The memory chips themselves, though, that's a different challenge.

The so-called spot market for memory doesn't really exist at the moment, since no manufacturer has the production capacity to make more RAM, and even if they did, they'd sell to better-paying AI clients instead. Still, you can find SK Hynix and Samsung chips across Chinese marketplaces if you search for the correct part number, as shown in the attached screenshots.

Moreover, the Telegram thread says it would cost roughly 12,000 Russian Rubles ($152) to build a 16 GB stick with "average" specs, which is about the same as a retail 16 GB kit. There's also a ZenTimings snapshot showing CL28 timings, claiming that even relatively high-end DDR5 RAM can be built using this method, but it won't be cost-effective. Therefore, it doesn't make too much sense just yet to get the BGA rework station out and assemble your own DDR5. Things are expected to get worse, though, so maybe these Russians are on to something.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/25/12/29/2336254/russian-enthusiasts-planning-diy-ddr5-memory-amidst-worldwide-shortage?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Phoronix's Michael Larabel is "reliving some of the best moments for Fedora Linux in 2025" by highlighting the year's most popular news around the distro. Throughout 2025, Fedora continued to lead upstream Linux innovation with bold changes like Wayland-only GNOME, newer kernels, architecture cleanups, and experimental features -- while openly grappling with controversial shifts such as dropping 32-bit support and modernizing long-standing subsystems.

"Fedora Linux this year continued in punctually shipping the very latest upstream Linux innovations from the freshest Wayland components to Linux kernel features and continuing to leverage other improvements in the open-source world," writes Larabel. "Fedora enjoyed the successful Fedora 42 and Fedora 43 releases this year, including going with Wayland-noly GNOME and further phasing of 32-bit packages. Fedora's KDE spin continued improving too and the Red Hat sponsored Linux distribution enjoyed a wealth of other improvements this year."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://linux.slashdot.org/story/25/12/29/2330252/fedora-continued-at-the-forefront-of-upstream-linux-innovations-in-2025?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Longtime Slashdot reader theodp writes: MacRumors reports that Apple plans to expand iPhone and Apple Watch driver's licenses to 7 U.S. states (CT, KY, MS, OK, UT, AR, VA). A recent convert is the State of Illinois, whose website videos demo how you can use your Apple Wallet license to display proof of identity or age the next time you get carded by a cop, bartender, or TSA agent. The new states will join 13 others who already offer driver's licenses in the Wallet app (AZ, MD, CO, GA, OH, HI, CA, IA, NM, MT, ND, WV, IL).

There's certainly been a lot of foot-dragging by the states when it comes to embracing phone-based driver's licenses -- Slashdot reported that Iowa was ready to launch a mobile driver's license in 2014; they didn't get one until nearly a decade later, in late 2023.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/25/12/29/2147256/pull-over-and-show-me-your-apple-wallet?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Опубликовано: Mon, 29 Dec 2025 23:45:55 GMT
Канал: Все статьи подряд / DIY или Сделай сам / Хабр

Рынок найма IT-специалистов в России, кажется, реально «сломался» под натиском автоматизации. Соискатели массово вооружились нейросетями: автогенерация резюме, шаблонные сопроводительные письма и скрипты, которые пачками откликаются на вакансии. В ответ работодатели подкручивают фильтры, ATS и чат-ботов для первичного отбора — по сути, соискатели штурмуют рынок ИИ-откликами, а работодатели отбиваются ИИ-фильтрами. Флоу превращается в «битву двух ИИ», где люди — где-то рядом, иногда даже живые. (Habr)Доходит до абсурда: HR пишет кандидату «Вы откликались на вакансию…», а кандидат отвечает «Это не я, это робот откликнулся». И вроде бы смешно, но рекрутеру — не всегда. (Сетка)Решение hh.ru: с 15 декабря 2025 закрыли публичный API для соискателей. Старый добрый автоотклик через API (когда сервисы отправляли отклики «по кнопке» программно) — всё, приехали.Теперь, чтобы автоматизация продолжала жить, приходится возвращаться в «ручной режим 2.0»: парсить HTML, эмулировать браузер и нажимать кнопки так, будто вы — очень мотивированный человек с бесконечным терпением. Читать далее]]>

https://habr.com/ru/articles/981764/

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: Most people use dating apps to find love. Tiffany Chau used one to hunt for a summer internship. This fall, the 20-year-old junior at California College of the Arts tailored her Hinge profile to connect with people who could offer job referrals or interviews. One match brought her to a Halloween party, where she networked in hopes of landing a product-design internship for the summer. While there, she got some tips from someone who had recently interviewed at Accenture. As for the connection with her date? Not so much. "I feel like my approach to the dating apps is it being another networking platform like everything else, like Instagram or LinkedIn," Chau said.

Chau is among a cadre of workers who are using dating apps to boost their job searches. They're recognizing that the online job hunt is broken as unemployed workers flood the system, AI screens out resumes and many job matching programs are overwhelmed. Automation has squeezed human contact out of hiring, which has pushed applicants to seek any path to a live hiring manager, no matter the means.

The overall US unemployment rate continued to climb throughout 2025, reaching 4.6%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And while the number of unemployed high school graduates held steady at about 4.4% in November, the rate for workers with a bachelor's degree rose to 2.9% from 2.5% a year ago. About a third of dating app users said they had sought matches for job hook-ups, according to a ResumeBuilder.com survey of about 2,200 US dating site customers in October. Two-thirds targeted potential paramours who worked at a desirable employer. Three-quarters said they matched with people working in roles they wanted. "People are doing it to expand their networks, make connections, because the best way to get a job today is who you know," said Stacie Haller, ResumeBuilder.com's chief career advisor. "Networking is the only way people are rising above the horror show that the job search is today."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://interviews.slashdot.org/story/25/12/29/2144201/tough-job-market-has-people-using-dating-apps-to-get-interviews?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

OpenAI is offering a $555,000 salary (plus equity) to recruit a new "head of preparedness," a high-pressure role tasked with anticipating and mitigating extreme AI risks. "This will be a stressful job, and you'll jump into the deep end pretty much immediately," said Sam Altman as he launched the hunt to fill "a critical role" to "help the world." The Guardian reports: In what may be close to the impossible job, the "head of preparedness" at OpenAI will be directly responsible for defending against risks from ever more powerful AIs to human mental health, cybersecurity and biological weapons. That is before the successful candidate has to start worrying about the possibility that AIs may soon begin training themselves amid fears from some experts they could "turn against us."

The successful candidate will be responsible for evaluating and mitigating emerging threats and "tracking and preparing for frontier capabilities that create new risks of severe harm." Some previous executives in the post have lasted only for short periods. Altman said on X as he launched the job search: "We have a strong foundation of measuring growing capabilities, but we are entering a world where we need more nuanced understanding and measurement of how those capabilities could be abused, and how we can limit those downsides both in our products and in the world, in a way that lets us all enjoy the tremendous benefits. These questions are hard and there is little precedent."

One user responded sardonically: "Sounds pretty chill, is there vacation included?" What is included is an unspecified slice of equity in OpenAI, a company that has been valued at $500 billion.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/12/29/2136221/sam-altman-offers-555k-salary-to-fill-most-daunting-role-in-ai?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Nvidia has completed its previously announced $5 billion investment in Intel, buying over 214 million shares at a fixed price after the deal received clearance from Federal Trade Commission. "The leading AI chip designer said in September it would pay $23.28 per share for Intel common stock, in a deal that is seen as a major financial lifeline for the chipmaker after years of missteps and capital intensive production capacity expansions drained its finances," reports Reuters.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/12/29/2130223/nvidia-takes-5-billion-stake-in-intel-under-september-agreement?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: China drafted landmark rules to stop AI chatbots from emotionally manipulating users, including what could become the strictest policy worldwide intended to prevent AI-supported suicides, self-harm, and violence. China's Cyberspace Administration proposed the rules on Saturday. If finalized, they would apply to any AI products or services publicly available in China that use text, images, audio, video, or "other means" to simulate engaging human conversation. Winston Ma, adjunct professor at NYU School of Law, told CNBC that the "planned rules would mark the world's first attempt to regulate AI with human or anthropomorphic characteristics" at a time when companion bot usage is rising globally.

[...] Proposed rules would require, for example, that a human intervene as soon as suicide is mentioned. The rules also dictate that all minor and elderly users must provide the contact information for a guardian when they register -- the guardian would be notified if suicide or self-harm is discussed. Generally, chatbots would be prohibited from generating content that encourages suicide, self-harm, or violence, as well as attempts to emotionally manipulate a user, such as by making false promises. Chatbots would also be banned from promoting obscenity, gambling, or instigation of a crime, as well as from slandering or insulting users. Also banned are what are termed "emotional traps," -- chatbots would additionally be prevented from misleading users into making "unreasonable decisions," a translation of the rules indicates.

Perhaps most troubling to AI developers, China's rules would also put an end to building chatbots that "induce addiction and dependence as design goals." [...] AI developers will also likely balk at annual safety tests and audits that China wants to require for any service or products exceeding 1 million registered users or more than 100,000 monthly active users. Those audits would log user complaints, which may multiply if the rules pass, as China also plans to require AI developers to make it easier to report complaints and feedback. Should any AI company fail to follow the rules, app stores could be ordered to terminate access to their chatbots in China. That could mess with AI firms' hopes for global dominance, as China's market is key to promoting companion bots, Business Research Insights reported earlier this month.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/12/29/2127224/china-drafts-worlds-strictest-rules-to-end-ai-encouraged-suicide-violence?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Stingless bees from the Amazon have become the first insects to be granted legal rights anywhere in the world, in a breakthrough supporters hope will be a catalyst for similar moves to protect bees elsewhere. From a report: It means that across a broad swathe of the Peruvian Amazon, the rainforest's long-overlooked native bees -- which, unlike their cousins the European honeybees, have no sting -- now have the right to exist and to flourish. Cultivated by Indigenous peoples since pre-Columbian times, stingless bees are thought to be key rainforest pollinators, sustaining biodiversity and ecosystem health.

But they are faced with a deadly confluence of climate change, deforestation and pesticides, as well as competition from European bees, and scientists and campaigners have been racing against time to get stingless bees on international conservation red lists. Constanza Prieto, Latin American director at the Earth Law Center, who was part of the campaign, said: "This ordinance marks a turning point in our relationship with nature: it makes stingless bees visible, recognises them as rights-bearing subjects, and affirms their essential role in preserving ecosystems."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/12/29/1956236/stingless-bees-from-the-amazon-granted-legal-rights-in-world-first?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.