Amazon has launched a new innovation-focused team called ZeroOne, led by Xbox co-creator J Allard, to develop breakthrough consumer products across hardware and software. CNBC reports: The ZeroOne team is spread across Seattle, San Francisco and Sunnyvale, California, and is focused on both hardware and software projects, according to job postings from the past month. The name is a nod to its mission of developing emerging product ideas from conception to launch, or "zero to one." [...] The new group is being led by J Allard, who spent 19 years at Microsoft, most recently as technology chief of consumer products, a role he left in 2010, according to his LinkedIn profile. He was a key architect of the Xbox game console, as well as the Zune, a failed iPod competitor.

Allard joined Amazon in September, and the company confirmed at the time that he would be part of the devices and services team under Panos Panay, who left Microsoft for Amazon in 2023 to lead the group. An Amazon spokesperson confirmed Allard oversees ZeroOne but declined to comment further on the group's work. The job postings provide few specific details about what ZeroOne is building, though one listing references working on "conceiving, designing, and bringing to market computer vision techniques for a new smart-home product." Another post for a senior customer insights manager in San Francisco says the job entails owning "the methodology and execution of concept testing and early feedback for ZeroOne programs." "You'll be part of a team that embraces design thinking, rapid experimentation, and building to learn," the description says. "If you're excited about working in small, nimble teams to create entirely new product categories and thrive in the ambiguity of breakthrough innovation, we want to talk to you."

Amazon has pulled in staffers from other business units that have experience developing innovative technologies, including its Alexa voice assistant, Luna cloud gaming service and Halo sleep tracker, according to Linkedin profiles of ZeroOne employees. The head of a projection mapping startup called Lightform that Amazon acquired is helping lead the group. While Amazon is expanding this particular corner of its devices group, the company is scaling back other areas of the sprawling devices and services division.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://games.slashdot.org/story/25/05/29/2149241/amazon-taps-xbox-co-founder-to-develop-breakthrough-consumer-products?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

A Texas jury ruled that Intel may hold a license to patents owned by VLSI Technology through its agreement with Finjan Inc., both controlled by Fortress Investment Group -- potentially nullifying over $3 billion in previous patent infringement verdicts against Intel. Reuters reports: VLSI has sued Intel in multiple U.S. courts for allegedly infringing several patents covering semiconductor technology. A jury in Waco, Texas awarded VLSI $2.18 billion in their first trial in 2021, which a U.S. appeals court has since overturned and sent back for new proceedings.

An Austin, Texas jury determined that VLSI was entitled to nearly $949 million from Intel in a separate patent infringement trial in 2022. Intel has argued in that case that the verdicts should be thrown out based on a 2012 agreement that gave it a license to patents owned by Finjan and other companies "under common control" with it. U.S. District Judge Alan Albright held the latest jury trial in Austin to determine whether Finjan and VLSI were under the "common control" of Fortress. VLSI said it was not subject to the Finjan agreement, and that the company did not even exist until four years after it was signed.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/05/29/2058225/intel-wins-jury-trial-over-patent-licenses-in-3-billion-vlsi-fight?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: An accused movie pirate who stole more than 1,000 Blu-ray discs and DVDs while working for a DVD manufacturing company struck a plea deal (PDF) this week to lower his sentence after the FBI claimed the man's piracy cost movie studios millions. Steven Hale no longer works for the DVD company. He was arrested in March, accused of "bypassing encryption that prevents unauthorized copying" and ripping pre-release copies of movies he could only access because his former employer was used by major movie studios. As alleged by the feds, his game was beating studios to releases to achieve the greatest possible financial gains from online leaks.

Among the popular movies that Hale is believed to have leaked between 2021 and 2022 was Spider-Man: No Way Home, which the FBI alleged was copied "tens of millions of times" at an estimated loss of "tens of millions of dollars" for just one studio on one movie. Other movies Hale ripped included animated hits like Encanto and Sing 2, as well as anticipated sequels like The Matrix: Resurrections and Venom: Let There Be Carnage. The cops first caught wind of Hale's scheme in March 2022. They seized about 1,160 Blu-rays and DVDs in what TorrentFreak noted were the days just "after the Spider-Man movie leaked online." It's unclear why it took close to three years before Hale's arrest, but TorrentFreak suggested that Hale's case is perhaps part of a bigger investigation into the Spider-Man leaks. A plea deal for Hale significantly reduced the estimated damages from his piracy case to under $40,000 and led to the dismissal of two charges, though he still faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for one remaining copyright infringement charge. His final sentence and restitution amount will be decided at a court hearing in Tennessee at the end of August.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/05/29/216216/man-who-stole-1000-dvds-from-employer-strikes-plea-deal-over-movie-leaks?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Google's Gemini AI can now analyze and summarize video files stored in Google Drive, letting users ask questions about content like meeting takeaways or product updates without watching the footage. The Verge reports: The Gemini in Drive feature provides a familiar chatbot interface that can provide quick summaries describing the footage or pull specific information. For example, users can ask Gemini to list action items mentioned in recorded meetings or highlight the biggest updates and new products in an announcement video, saving time spent on manually combing through and taking notes.

The feature requires captions to be enabled for videos, and can be accessed using either Google Drive's overlay previewer or a new browser tab window. It's available in English for Google Workspace and Google One AI Premium users, and anyone who has previously purchased Gemini Business or Enterprise add-ons, though it may take a few weeks to fully roll out. You can learn more about the update in Google's blog post.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/25/05/29/211200/gemini-can-now-watch-google-drive-videos-for-you?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

A Texas jury ruled that Intel may hold a license to patents owned by VLSI Technology through its agreement with Finjan Inc., both controlled by Fortress Investment Group -- potentially nullifying over $3 billion in previous patent infringement verdicts against Intel. Reuters reports: VLSI has sued Intel in multiple U.S. courts for allegedly infringing several patents covering semiconductor technology. A jury in Waco, Texas awarded VLSI $2.18 billion in their first trial in 2021, which a U.S. appeals court has since overturned and sent back for new proceedings.

An Austin, Texas jury determined that VLSI was entitled to nearly $949 million from Intel in a separate patent infringement trial in 2022. Intel has argued in that case that the verdicts should be thrown out based on a 2012 agreement that gave it a license to patents owned by Finjan and other companies "under common control" with it. U.S. District Judge Alan Albright held the latest jury trial in Austin to determine whether Finjan and VLSI were under the "common control" of Fortress. VLSI said it was not subject to the Finjan agreement, and that the company did not even exist until four years after it was signed.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/05/29/2058225/intel-wins-jury-trial-over-patent-licenses-in-3-billino-vlsi-fight?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

The SEC on Thursday voluntarily dismissed its lawsuit against Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange. It brings an end to one of the last remaining crypto enforcement actions brought by the agency. Reuters reports: The SEC had accused the defendants in 2023 of artificially inflating trading volumes, diverting customer funds, failing to restrict U.S. customers from Binance's platform, and misleading investors about its market surveillance controls. It also accused Binance of unlawfully facilitating trading of several tokens that prior SEC leadership deemed unregistered securities. Developing...

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/05/29/2155215/sec-voluntarily-dismisses-lawsuit-against-binance?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from SC Media: Thousands of ASUS routers have been compromised with malware-free backdoors in an ongoing campaign to potentially build a future botnet, GreyNoise reported Wednesday. The threat actors abuse security vulnerabilities and legitimate router features to establish persistent access without the use of malware, and these backdoors survive both reboots and firmware updates, making them difficult to remove.

The attacks, which researchers suspect are conducted by highly sophisticated threat actors, were first detected by GreyNoise's AI-powered Sift tool in mid-March and disclosed Thursday after coordination with government officials and industry partners. Sekoia.io also reported the compromise of thousands of ASUS routers in their investigation of a broader campaign, dubbed ViciousTrap, in which edge devices from other brands were also compromised to create a honeypot network. Sekoia.io found that the ASUS routers were not used to create honeypots, and that the threat actors gained SSH access using the same port, TCP/53282, identified by GreyNoise in their report. The backdoor campaign affects multiple ASUS router models, including the RT-AC3200, RT-AC3100, GT-AC2900, and Lyra Mini.

GreyNoise advises users to perform a full factory reset and manually reconfigure any potentially compromised device. To identify a breach, users should check for SSH access on TCP port 53282 and inspect the authorized_keys file for unauthorized entries.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://it.slashdot.org/story/25/05/29/2052229/asus-router-backdoors-affect-9000-devices-persists-after-firmware-updates?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader shares a report: China's Ministry of Commerce is meeting with some of the country's biggest automakers to discuss whether the industry is using a loophole to mask weakening sales. Reuters adds: It comes after Great Wall Motor's Chairman Wei Jianjun said in an interview with Sina Finance last week that a phenomenon called "secondhand cars with zero mileage" had emerged in the Chinese market as a result of the industry's years-long price war.

The phenomenon, he said, involved cars that had been registered and had licence plates -- marking them as sold -- but had never been driven being sold in the secondhand market. Wei said that at least 3,000 to 4,000 vendors on Chinese used car platforms were selling such cars. The source said the tactic was seen as a potential method within the industry for automakers and dealers to support new car sales as they try to meet aggressive sales targets.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/05/29/2028234/china-summons-top-carmakers-over-zero-mileage-used-vehicles?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

India faces a paradoxical climate challenge that requires embracing air conditioning despite the environmental costs, according to analysis of the country's warming patterns and pollution crisis. While the past decade marked India's warmest on record, the nation has warmed at only 0.09C per decade compared to 0.30C globally, with horrific air pollution serving as an unintended cooling agent by intercepting solar radiation and making clouds more reflective.

The cooling effect creates a dangerous trade-off: cleaner air would accelerate temperature rises just as the country desperately needs relief from intensifying heat waves. Only one in ten Indian households owns air conditioning, compared to two-thirds in China and four-fifths in Malaysia, despite air-conditioner sales doubling between 2020 and 2024. During heat waves, cooling systems already account for one-fifth of power demand, mostly supplied by coal plants that worsen the pollution problem India must eventually solve.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/05/29/2011206/india-needs-to-turn-the-air-con-on?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

DevNull127 writes: Stack Overflow will test paying experts to answer questions. That's one of many radical experiments they're now trying to stave off an AI-induced death spiral. Questions and answers to the site have plummeted more than 90% since April of 2020. So here's what Stack Overflow will try next. 1. They're bringing back Chat, according to their CEO (to foster "even more connections between our community members" in "an increasingly AI-driven world"). 2. They're building a "new Stack Overflow" meant to feel like a personalized portal. "It might collect videos, blogs, Q&A, war stories, jokes, educational materials, jobs... and fold them together into one personalized destination." 3. They're proposing areas more open to discussion, described as "more flexible Stack Exchanges... where users can explore ideas or share opinions." 4. They're also licensing Stack Overflow content to AI companies for training their models. 5. Again, they will test paying experts to answer questions.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://developers.slashdot.org/story/25/05/29/1921248/stack-overflows-radical-new-plan-to-fight-ai-induced-death-spiral?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Anthropic co-founder and CEO Dario Amodei is warning that AI could eliminate half of all entry-level white-collar jobs within the next five years -- and overall unemployment potentially spiking between 10 and 20% during that period.

The prediction comes as new data from venture capital firm SignalFire shows Big Tech companies have already reduced their hiring of new graduates by approximately 50% compared to pre-pandemic levels, with AI adoption cited as a contributing factor. Amodei told Axios that AI companies and government officials are "sugarcoating" the risks of mass job displacement in technology, finance, law, and consulting sectors.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://developers.slashdot.org/story/25/05/29/1835258/anthropic-ceo-warns-ai-could-eliminate-half-of-all-entry-level-white-collar-jobs-within-five-years?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

The entertainment industry has achieved an unprecedented milestone: more film and television content exists today than at any point in human history. The technical infrastructure to deliver this content directly to consumers' homes works flawlessly. The problem? Actually finding something to watch has become a user experience nightmare that would make early-2000s software developers cringe.

Multiple streaming platforms are suffering from fundamental interface design failures that actively prevent users from discovering content. Cameron Nudleman, an Austin-based user, told Salon that scrolling through streaming service landing pages feels "like a Herculean task," while his Amazon Fire Stick setup -- designed to consolidate multiple services -- delivers consistent crashes across Paramount+ and Max, with Peacock terminating randomly "for no discernible reason."

The technical problems extend beyond stability issues to basic functionality failures. Max automatically enables closed captions despite user preferences, while Paramount+ crashes during show transitions. Chicago media writer Tim O'Reilly describes "every single interface" as "complete garbage except for Netflix's," though even Netflix has recently implemented changes that degrade user experience.

The industry eliminated simple discovery mechanisms like newspaper listings and Moviefone's telephone service in favor of algorithm-driven interfaces that Tennessee attorney Claire Tuley says have "turned art into work," transforming what was supposed to "democratize movies" into "a system that requires so many subscriptions, searching and effort."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/25/05/29/1825254/theres-more-film-and-television-for-you-to-watch-than-ever-before---good-luck-finding-it?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

International interest in American higher education has plummeted to levels not seen since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new data tracking prospective student behavior online. Studyportals, which operates a global directory of degree programs, reports that clicks on American university courses have reached their lowest point since the early pandemic period.

Weekly page views of US university courses halved between January 5th and the end of April. First-quarter traffic to American undergraduate and master's degree programs fell more than 20% compared to the same period last year, while interest in PhD programs dropped by one-third. India, which supplies nearly a third of America's international students, showed the steepest decline at 40%. The data suggests British universities would be the primary beneficiaries of students looking elsewhere.

The sharp drop in interest follows the Trump administration's escalating restrictions on international students, including stripping Harvard University of its enrollment authority on May 22nd and suspending all new student visa interviews on May 27th. International students contributed $43.8 billion to the American economy during the 2023-24 academic year, with about three-quarters of international PhD students indicating they plan to remain in the country after graduation.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/05/29/1738234/demand-for-american-degrees-has-already-hit-covid-era-lows?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

New submitter salyavin writes: The final issue of Linux Format has been released. After 25 years the magazine is going out with a bang. Interviewing the old staff members, and looking back at old Linux distros [...] The last 10-15 years have been absolutely brutal to computer hobbyist magazines -- (or magazines and media at large, in general).

[ Read more of this story ]( https://linux.slashdot.org/story/25/05/29/1650210/linux-format-ceases-publication?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

California's battery power capacity rose from 500 megawatts in 2018 to nearly 16,000 megawatts in 2025. Nearly a quarter of America's battery capacity is now in California alone, according to Bloomberg.

At their daily peak around 8pm, batteries can provide as much as 30% of the state's electricity. The batteries charge in the afternoon when solar power is cheap and release energy in the evenings when Californians get home and crank up their air conditioners. In the middle of the day, when the sun is strongest, as much as three-quarters of the state's electricity can come from solar.

California relied on regulation to achieve this scale. In 2013, the California Public Utilities Commission ordered the state's three big investor-owned utilities to procure 1,325 megawatts of energy storage by 2020 to help meet renewable targets and stabilize the grid. That goal was easily met. Mark Jacobson, an engineering professor at Stanford University, told Economist that most days this year contained periods when solar, hydropower and wind, helped by batteries, met 100% of California's demand -- even though just 54% of the state's electricity generation comes from renewables.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/05/29/164217/california-has-got-really-good-at-building-giant-batteries?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Apple's upcoming macOS 26 operating system may abandon support for several older Mac models, according to AppleInsider. The casualties will include 2018 MacBook Pro models, the 2020 Intel MacBook Air, the 2017 iMac Pro, and the 2018 Mac mini -- all currently the oldest machines compatible with macOS Sequoia, the report said, citing a source familiar with the matter. The 2019 MacBook Pro models and 2020 5K iMac models will retain compatibility with the new system, codenamed "Cheer," said AppleInsider.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://apple.slashdot.org/story/25/05/29/1528238/macos-26-may-not-support-2018-macbook-pros-2019-imacs-or-the-imac-pro?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader shares a report: HP is close to ending production of North-America-bound products in China, after US tariffs kicked a hole in its quarterly profits. "A quarter ago, we shared that our goal was to have less than ten percent of the products in North America being shipped from China by September," HP president and CEO Enrique Lores told investors on the company's Q2 2025 earnings call. "We have accelerated that and we share that now almost no products will be coming from China sold in the US by June. It's a very significant acceleration of the plan that we have."

"We accelerated the shift of factories out from China into Southeast Asia, into Mexico to a certain extent in the US to mitigate the impact of the change," he added. Lores also revealed that HP has removed the US as a distribution hub for products sold in Canada or to Latin America. Doing so means HP doesn't have to pay tariffs.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/05/29/1450252/hp-hastens-china-exit-as-tariffs-kick-a-hole-in-its-profits?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Arizona State University researchers are pushing back [PDF] against the widespread practice of describing AI language models' intermediate text generation as "reasoning" or "thinking," arguing this anthropomorphization creates dangerous misconceptions about how these systems actually work. The research team, led by Subbarao Kambhampati, examined recent "reasoning" models like DeepSeek's R1, which generate lengthy intermediate token sequences before providing final answers to complex problems. Though these models show improved performance and their intermediate outputs often resemble human scratch work, the researchers found little evidence that these tokens represent genuine reasoning processes.

Crucially, the analysis also revealed that models trained on incorrect or semantically meaningless intermediate traces can still maintain or even improve performance compared to those trained on correct reasoning steps. The researchers tested this by training models on deliberately corrupted algorithmic traces and found sustained improvements despite the semantic noise. The paper warns that treating these intermediate outputs as interpretable reasoning traces engenders false confidence in AI capabilities and may mislead both researchers and users about the systems' actual problem-solving mechanisms.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/05/29/1411236/researchers-warn-against-treating-ai-outputs-as-human-like-reasoning?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Researchers at SignalFire, a data-driven VC firm that tracks job movements of over 600 million employees and 80 million companies on LinkedIn, believe they may be seeing first signs of AI's impact on hiring. When analyzing hiring trends, SignalFire noticed that tech companies recruited fewer recent college graduates in 2024 than they did in 2023. Meanwhile, tech companies, especially the top 15 Big Tech businesses, ramped up their hiring of experienced professionals. Specifically, SignalFire found that Big Tech companies reduced the hiring of new graduates by 25% in 2024 compared to 2023. Meanwhile, graduate recruitment at startups decreased by 11% compared to the prior year. Although SignalFire wouldn't reveal exactly how many fewer grads were hired according to their data, a spokesperson told us it was thousands.

While adoption of new AI tools might not fully explain the dip in recent grad hiring, Asher Bantock, SignalFire's head of research, says there's "convincing evidence" that AI is a significant contributing factor. Entry-level jobs are susceptible to automation because they often involve routine, low-risk tasks that generative AI handles well. AI's new coding, debugging, financial research, and software installation abilities could mean companies need fewer people to do that type of work. AI's ability to handle certain entry-level tasks means some jobs for new graduates could soon be obsolete. [...]

Although AI's threat to low-skilled jobs is real, tech companies' need for experienced professionals is still rising. According to SignalFire's report, Big Tech companies increased hiring by 27% for professionals with two to five years of experience, while startups hired 14% more individuals in that same seniority range. A frustrating paradox emerges for recent graduates: They can't get hired without experience, but they can't get experience without being hired. While this dilemma is not new, Heather Doshay, SignalFire's people and talent partner, says it is considerably exacerbated by AI. Doshay's advice to new grads: master AI tools. "AI won't take your job if you're the one who's best at using it," she said.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/05/28/2239206/ai-may-already-be-shrinking-entry-level-jobs-in-tech-new-research-suggests?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[ Agama ]( https://agama-project.github.io ) — но­вая про­грам­ма уста­нов­ки от про­ек­та openSUSE, соз­дан­ная для за­ме­ны ста­ро­го уста­нов­щи­ка на ба­зе YaST.

( [ читать дальше... ]( https://www.linux.org.ru/news/novell/17982457#cut ) )

Разработчики проекта openSUSE представили инсталлятор Agama 15, разрабатываемый для замены классического интерфейса установки SUSE и openSUSE, и примечательный отделением пользовательского интерфейса от внутренних компонентов YaST. Agama поддерживает использование различных фронтэндов, например, фронтэнда для управления установкой через web-интерфейс. Код компонентов инсталлятора распространяется под лицензией GPLv2 и написан на языках Ruby, Rust и JavaScript/TypeScript.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=63326

The world is facing a new form of climate denial -- not the dismissal of climate science, but a concerted attack on the idea that the economy can be reorganised to fight the crisis, the president of global climate talks has warned. The Guardian reports: Andre Correa do Lago, the veteran Brazilian diplomat who will direct this year's UN summit, Cop30, believes his biggest job will be to counter the attempt from some vested interests to prevent climate policies aimed at shifting the global economy to a low-carbon footing.

"There is a new kind of opposition to climate action. We are facing a discredit of climate policies. I don't think we are facing climate denial," he said, referring to the increasingly desperate attempts to pretend there is no consensus on climate science that have plagued climate action for the past 30 years. "It's not a scientific denial, it's an economic denial." This economic denial could be just as dangerous and cause as much delay as repeated attempts to deny climate science in previous years, he warned in an exclusive interview with the Guardian.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/05/28/2048209/world-faces-new-danger-of-economic-denial-in-climate-fight-cop30-head-says?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

В применяемых различными дистрибутивами конфигурациях DHCP-сервера Kea, развиваемого консорциумом ISC в качестве замены классического ISC DHCP, выявлены уязвимости, в некоторых ситуациях позволяющие локальному пользователю выполнить код с правами root или перезаписать любой файл в системе.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=63324

Astronomers have discovered a mysterious cosmic object, ASKAP J1832-0911, that emits both radio waves and X-rays in precise 44-minute cycles, making it unlike anything observed before. Space.com reports: This is the first time an object like this, a so-called "long-period transient" or "LPT," has been seen in high-energy X-ray light as well as low-energy radio wave light. The team behind this discovery hopes the finding could help reveal what these flashing objects actually are and how they launch their mystery signals. However, not only is there no explanation for how the signals from LPTs are generated yet, but astronomers also don't know why these signals "switch on" and "switch off" at long, regular and unusual intervals. "This object is unlike anything we have seen before," team leader and Curtin University researcher Zieng (Andy) Wang said in a statement. [...]

The team believes the true nature of ASKAP J1832-0911 is a dead star, they just don't quite know what form that star takes. A highly magnetic neutron star, or "magnetar," is one option, and a a white dwarf -- the kind of stellar remnant the sun will leave behind when it dies in over 5 billion years -- is another. "ASKAP J1831- 0911 could be a magnetar, the core of a dead star with powerful magnetic fields, or it could be a pair of stars in a binary system where one of the two is a highly magnetized white dwarf, a low-mass star at the end of its evolution," Wang said. "However, even those theories do not fully explain what we are observing. "This discovery could indicate a new type of physics or new models of stellar evolution." The research has been published in the journal Nature.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/05/29/0238200/astronomers-discover-mystery-cosmic-body-bursting-with-x-rays?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

TOP10 VISITORS:

[1] 45.135.180.x point=228 web=0 up=19.2MB (49%) <--- yesterlink (10/hr)
[2] PetalBot point=116 web=1072 up=7.5MB (19%) <--- PetalBot (5/hr)
[3] TikTok point=0 web=903 up=6.7MB (17%)
[4] Facebook point=0 web=157 up=1.5MB (3%)
[5] 24.130.121.x point=14 web=4 up=1.2MB (3%) <--- spnet (1/hr)
[6] 217.114.158.x point=23 web=0 up=0.8MB (2%) <--- fox (1/hr)
[7] Google point=0 web=96 up=0.6MB (1%)
[8] Yandex point=0 web=7 up=0.2MB (<1%)
[9] 65.21.113.x point=0 web=3 up=0.1MB (<1%)
[10] 93.152.210.x point=0 web=3 up=0.1MB (<1%)

TOTAL TRAFFIC: 38MB

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: LexisNexis Risk Solutions, a data broker that collects and uses consumers' personal data to help its paying corporate customers detect possible risk and fraud, has disclosed a data breach affecting more than 364,000 people. The company said in a filing with Maine's attorney general that the breach, dating back to December 25, 2024, allowed a hacker to obtain consumers' sensitive personal data from a third-party platform used by the company for software development.

Jennifer Richman, a spokesperson for LexisNexis, told TechCrunch that an unknown hacker accessed the company's GitHub account. The stolen data varies, but includes names, dates of birth, phone numbers, postal and email addresses, Social Security numbers, and driver license numbers. It's not immediately clear what circumstances led to the breach. Richman said LexisNexis received a report on April 1, 2025 "from an unknown third party claiming to have accessed certain information." The company would not say if it had received a ransom demand from the hacker.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://it.slashdot.org/story/25/05/29/0232235/data-broker-giant-lexisnexis-says-breach-exposed-personal-information-of-over-364000-people?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

26 мая выпущена новая версия свободного и бесплатного кроссплатформенного редактора изображений с растровыми и векторными слоями LazPaint, написанного в среде Lazarus на языке Free Pascal.

( [ читать дальше... ]( https://www.linux.org.ru/news/multimedia/17982208#cut ) )

>>> [ Запись в блоге автора ]( https://lazpaint.blogspot.com/2025/05/lazpaint-73-released.html )

>>> [ SVG support with version 7.1.6 ]( https://lazpaint.blogspot.com/2020/12/svg-support-with-version-716.html )

Microsoft is previewing a new Windows Update orchestration platform that lets third-party apps schedule and manage updates alongside system updates, "aiming to centralize update scheduling across Windows 11 devices," reports The Register. From the report: On Tuesday, Redmond announced it's allowing a select group of developers and product teams to hook into the Windows 11 update framework. The system doesn't push updates itself but allows apps to register their own update logic via WinRT APIs and PowerShell, enabling centralized scheduling, logging, and policy enforcement. "Updates across the Windows ecosystem can feel like a fragmented experience," wrote Angie Chen, a product manager at the Borg, in a blog post. "To solve this, we're building a vision for a unified, intelligent update orchestration platform capable of supporting any update (apps, drivers, etc.) to be orchestrated alongside Windows updates."

As with other Windows updates, the end user or admin will be able to benefit from intelligent scheduling, with updates deferred based on user activity, system performance, AC power status, and other environmental factors. For example, updates may install when the device is idle or plugged in, to minimize disruption. All update actions will be logged and surfaced through a unified diagnostic system, helping streamline troubleshooting. Microsoft says the platform will support MSIX/APPX apps, as well as Win32 apps that include custom installation logic, provided developers integrate with the offered Windows Runtime (WinRT) APIs and PowerShell commands. At the moment, the orchestration platform is available only as a private preview. Developers must contact unifiedorchestrator@service.microsoft.com to request access. Redmond is taking a cautious approach, given the risk of update conflicts, but may broaden availability depending on how the preview performs.

Meanwhile, Windows Backup for Organizations, first unveiled at Microsoft Ignite in November 2024, has entered limited public preview. Redmond touts the service as a way to back up Windows 10 and 11 devices and restore them with the same settings in place. It's saying it'll be a big help in migrating systems to the more recent operating systems after Windows 10 goes end of life in October. "With Windows Backup for Organizations, get your users up and running as quickly as possible with their familiar Windows settings already in place," Redmond wrote in a blog post on Tuesday. "It doesn't matter if they're experiencing a device reimage or reset."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/05/28/2232237/microsoft-is-opening-windows-update-to-third-party-apps?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Electronic Arts has canceled its in-development Black Panther game and shut down Cliffhanger Games, marking its third round of layoffs this year. IGN reports: In an email sent to staff from EA Entertainment president Laura Miele, Miele said that these changes, alongside other recent cancellations and layoffs, are being done to "sharpen our focus and put our creative energy behind the most significant growth opportunities." In addition to closing Cliffhanger and canceling Black Panther, EA is also laying off some individuals on both its mobile and central teams. [...] As with past rounds of layoffs, EA is endeavoring to place affected individuals in other roles across the company. [...]

To that end, Miele's email continues, the company is focusing on a small handful of franchises going forward: Battlefield, The Sims, Skate, and Apex Legends. Miele also reassures EA will continue to invest in its Iron Man game at Motive and the third Star Wars: Jedi game, as well as it maintain its mobile business despite today's cuts, while Bioware works on the next Mass Effect. Additionally, last year, CEO Andrew Wilson announced the company would be "moving away from development of future licensed IP that we do not believe will be successful in our changing industry." The email doesn't mention EA Sports, but this is due to Miele running EA Entertainment, while EA Sports is a separate division. IGN understands that the sports division is unaffected by these changes for now.

Notably, Marvel and EA's agreement for Black Panther was part of a three-game deal that included Iron Man and a third, unannounced title. IGN understands this partnership will continue, with Motive Studios leading future Marvel titles. EA provided the following statement regarding the deal with Marvel to IGN, attributed to Miele: "Our partnership with Marvel remains strong and our multi-title, long-term collaboration continues."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://games.slashdot.org/story/25/05/28/2226236/ea-cancels-black-panther-game-closes-cliffhanger-games?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Discord is testing "Discord Orbs," a new in-app currency that rewards users for engaging with interactive ads and promotional Quests. The Verge reports: In addition to spending Orbs on regular items on the Discord Shop, users can exchange the digital tokens for Orb exclusives like special badges or 3-day passes to try out Discord's subscription service, Discord Nitro. Discord says Orbs are rolling out globally to a "small number" of its users to start before a wider rollout. If you're part of the beta test for Orbs, you will get a notification like the one below.

Before this, publishers or brands that offered Quests had to provide their own rewards -- things like avatar decorations or in-game bonuses. They can still do that if they want, Discord spokesperson Bradley Sheets tells The Verge in an email; awarding Orbs is simply an alternative option.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/05/28/2221220/discords-new-currency-pays-users-to-interact-with-ads?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

A security researcher has discovered an exposed database containing 184 million login credentials for major services including Apple, Facebook, and Google accounts, along with credentials linked to government agencies across 29 countries. Jeremiah Fowler found the 47-gigabyte trove in early May, but the database contained no identifying information about its owner or origins.

The records included plaintext passwords and usernames for accounts spanning Netflix, PayPal, Discord, and other major platforms. A sample analysis revealed 220 email addresses with government domains from countries including the United States, China, and Israel. Fowler told Wired he suspects the data was compiled by cybercriminals using infostealer malware. World Host Group, which hosted the database, shut down access after Fowler's report and described it as content uploaded by a "fraudulent user." The company said it would cooperate with law enforcement authorities.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/05/28/2024243/mysterious-database-of-184-million-records-exposes-vast-array-of-login-credentials?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

CD Projekt Red's (CDPR) sequel to Cyberpunk 2077, which the studio is now calling Cyberpunk 2, has moved from a "conceptual phase" into preproduction, according to an earnings report released on Wednesday. The Verge: Cyberpunk 2 isn't the official title, CDPR senior PR manager Ola Sondej tells The Verge. "'Cyberpunk 2' just means it's another game in the Cyberpunk universe." The game has had the codename of "Project Orion" since it was announced in 2022.

CDPR hasn't shared many details about the game, but did describe it on Wednesday as "the next big game set in the Cyberpunk universe." There are 96 developers working on the title as of April 30th, according to a slide deck. There's no official release date, either, though on an investor call, joint chief executive officer Michal Nowakowski said that the company would deliver the game "in due time."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://games.slashdot.org/story/25/05/28/2018208/cd-projekt-red-is-moving-forward-with-cyberpunk-2?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Wednesday that the U.S. would restrict visas for "foreign nationals who are responsible for censorship of protected expression in the United States." He called it "unacceptable for foreign officials to issue or threaten arrest warrants on U.S. citizens or U.S. residents for social media posts on American platforms while physically present on U.S. soil" and "for foreign officials to demand that American tech platforms adopt global content moderation policies or engage in censorship activity that reaches beyond their authority and into the United States."

It's not yet clear how or against whom the policy will be enforced, but seems to implicate Europe's Digital Services Act, a law that came into effect in 2023 with the goal of making online platforms safer by imposing requirements on the largest platforms around removing illegal content and providing transparency about their content moderation. Though it's not mentioned directly in the press release about the visa restrictions, the Trump administration has slammed the law on multiple occasions, including in remarks earlier this year by Vice President JD Vance.

The State Department's homepage currently links to an article on its official Substack, where senior advisor for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Samuel Samson critiques the DSA as a tool to "silence dissident voices through Orwellian content moderation." He adds, "Independent regulators now police social media companies, including prominent American platforms like X, and threaten immense fines for non-compliance with their strict speech regulations." "We will not tolerate encroachments upon American sovereignty," Rubio says in the announcement, "especially when such encroachments undermine the exercise of our fundamental right to free speech."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/05/28/201215/us-will-ban-foreign-officials-to-punish-countries-for-social-media-rules?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman (paywalled), this year's iOS update won't be called iOS 19. "Instead, Apple is planning to call it 'iOS 26' as part of a new year-based naming strategy," reports 9to5Mac. The new naming scheme will apply to all of Apple's software platforms. From the report: Bloomberg explains that Apple is making this change to "bring consistency to its branding and move away from an approach that can be confusing to customers and developers." The branding alignment comes as Apple is also reportedly planning dramatic redesigns for all of its platforms. The goal seems to be to unify everything both in terms of naming and design.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://apple.slashdot.org/story/25/05/28/1953246/apple-will-announce-ios-26-at-wwdc-not-ios-19?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Telegram has partnered with xAI to integrate the Grok chatbot into its platform for one year, with xAI paying $300 million in cash and equity. Telegram will also receive 50% of subscription revenue from Grok. TechCrunch reports: Earlier this year, xAI made the Grok chatbot available to Telegram's premium users. It seems Grok might now be made available to all users. A video posted by [Telegram CEO Pavel Durov] on X suggested that Grok can be pinned on top of chats within the app, and users can also ask questions to Grok from the search bar. Notably, Meta has also integrated Meta AI into the search bar on Instagram and WhatsApp. The video also shows that you will be able to use Grok for writing suggestions, summarizing chats, links, and documents, and creating stickers. Grok will supposedly also help answer questions for businesses and assist with moderation.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/05/28/1946247/xai-to-pay-telegram-300-million-to-integrate-grok-into-chat-app?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Компания Google опубликовала релиз web-браузера Chrome 137. Одновременно доступен стабильный выпуск свободного проекта Chromium, выступающего основой Chrome. Браузер Chrome отличается от Chromium использованием логотипов Google, наличием системы отправки уведомлений в случае краха, модулями для воспроизведения защищённого от копирования видеоконтента (DRM), системой автоматической установки обновлений, постоянным включением Sandbox-изоляции, поставкой ключей к Google API и передачей RLZ-параметров при поиске. Для тех, кому необходимо больше времени на обновление, отдельно поддерживается ветка Extended Stable, сопровождаемая 8 недель. Следующий выпуск Chrome 138 запланирован на 24 июня.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=63315

An anonymous reader quotes a report from 9to5Google: Google Photos was announced at I/O 2015 and the company is now celebrating the app's 10th birthday with a redesign of the photo editor. Google is redesigning the Photos editor so that it "provides helpful suggestions and puts all our powerful editing tools in one place." It starts with a new fullscreen viewer that places the date, time, and location at the top of your screen. Meanwhile, it's now Share, Edit, Add to (instead of Lens), and Trash at the bottom.

Once editing, Google Photos has moved controls for aspect ratio, flip, and rotate to be above the image. In the top-left corner, we have Auto Frame, which debuted in Magic Editor on the Pixel 9, to fill-in backgrounds and is now coming to more devices. Underneath, we get options for Enhance, Dynamic, and "AI Enhance" in the Auto tab. That's followed by Lighting, Color, and Composition, as well as a search shortcut: "You can use AI-powered suggestions that combine multiple effects for quick edits in a variety of tailored options, or you can tap specific parts of an image to get suggested tools for editing that area."

The editor allows you to circle or "tap specific parts of an image to get suggested tools for editing that area." This includes the subject, background, or some other aspect. You then see the Blur background, Add portrait light, Sharpen, Move and Reimagine appear in the example below. We also see the redesigned sliders throughout this updated interface. This Google Photos editor redesign "will begin rolling out globally to Android devices next month, with iOS following later this year." We already know the app is set for a Material 3 Expressive redesign. Meanwhile, Google Photos is starting to roll out the ability to share albums with a QR code. This method makes for easy viewing and adding with people nearby. Google even suggests printing it out when in (physical) group settings. Google shared a few tips, tricks and tools for the new editor in a blog post.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/05/28/1940259/google-photos-turns-10-with-major-editor-redesign-qr-code-sharing?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Japanese police referred five individuals and a company to prosecutors last week for allegedly operating a website that published detailed movie plots without permission from rights holders. The Miyagi Prefectural Police Headquarters and Minamisanriku Police Station sent the case to the Sendai District Public Prosecutors Office on suspicion of violating the Copyright Act.

The Content Overseas Distribution Association described the case as having "very few precedents for a corporation being referred to the prosecutor's office on suspicion of violating the Copyright Act, making this an extremely rare case."

The website posted detailed content from films including "Godzilla Minus One" and four others copyrighted by Toho, "Shin Kamen Rider" and two others by Toei, "Neck" and one other by KADOKAWA, and "Shin Ultraman" by Tsuburaya Productions. The site listed more than 8,000 films with complete storylines, character names, dialogue, and scene descriptions.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/05/28/111250/japanese-authorities-refer-spoiler-website-operators-to-prosecutors-in-rare-corporate-copyright-case?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

The world faces an 80% probability of breaking another annual temperature record within the next five years, according to a forecast released Wednesday by the World Meteorological Organization and the UK Meteorological Office.

The projections, derived from more than 200 computer simulations run by 10 global scientific centers, indicate an 86% chance that one of the next five years will surpass the 1.5 degrees Celsius warming threshold established by the Paris climate accord, with a 70% chance that the entire five-year period will average above that milestone.

For the first time, the agencies identified a slight possibility that global annual temperatures could reach the more alarming 2 degrees Celsius benchmark before the decade's end.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/05/28/1616255/80-chance-of-record-heat-in-coming-years-climate-agencies-forecast?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

A fairly comprehensive look at the early personal computer culture reveals that from 1975 through early 1977, personal computers remained "almost exclusively the province of hobbyists who loved to play with computers and found them inherently fascinating," according to newly surfaced historical research. When BYTE magazine launched in 1975, its cover called computers "the world's greatest toy," reflecting the recreational rather than practical focus of early adopters.

A BYTE magazine survey from late 1976 showed these pioneers were remarkably homogeneous: 72% held at least a bachelor's degree, had a median annual income of $20,000 ($123,000 in 2025 dollars), and were overwhelmingly male at 99%. Rather than developing practical software applications, early users gravitated toward games, particularly Star Trek simulations that appeared frequently in magazine advertisements and user group demonstrations.

The hobbyist community organized around local clubs like the famous Homebrew Computer Club, retail stores, and specialized magazines that helped establish what one researcher calls "a mythology of the microcomputer." This narrative positioned hobbyists as democratizing heroes who "ripped the computer and the knowledge of how to use it from the hands of the priests, sharing freedom and power with the masses," challenging what they termed the "computer priesthood" of institutional gatekeepers. This self-contained hobbyist culture would soon be "subsumed by a larger phenomenon" as businessmen began targeting mass markets in 1977.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://it.slashdot.org/story/25/05/28/126210/the-hobby-computer-culture?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Japan Post has launched a "digital address" system that links seven-digit combinations of numbers and letters to physical addresses. From a report: Under the system, users can input these seven-digit codes on online shopping websites, and their addresses will automatically appear on the sites.

People can obtain digital addresses by registering with Japan Post's Yu ID membership service. Their digital addresses will not change even if their physical addresses change. Their new addresses will be linked to the codes if they submit notices of address changes.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/05/28/1638216/japan-post-launches-digital-address-system?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

The recent surge in cyberattacks is pushing cyber insurers toward a fundamental reassessment of premium pricing, Bloomberg reports, with industry analysts warning of an impending "inflection point" that could reshape the market. Marks & Spencer's impending $404 million hit to its operating profit from a recent hack underscores claims that will "attract intense scrutiny from insurers," according to cybersecurity expert Adam Casey.

While incidents like this might not trigger immediate premium hikes across the board, they might likely contribute to an upward pricing trend. Panmure Liberum analyst Abid Hussain said that premiums have recently been falling as policy coverage has tightened, but the industry now faces a critical decision point. "There's going to be another step change, either in the policy wording or in the premiums, or both," Hussain said.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://it.slashdot.org/story/25/05/28/1215203/cyberattack-surge-creates-opportunity-for-insurers-prompts-rethink-on-premiums?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Sales of blue book exam booklets have surged dramatically across the nation as professors turn to analog solutions to prevent ChatGPT cheating. The University of California, Berkeley reported an 80% increase in blue book sales over the past two academic years, while Texas A&M saw 30% growth and the University of Florida recorded nearly 50% increases this school year. The surge comes as students who were freshmen when ChatGPT launched in 2022 approach senior year, having had access to AI throughout their college careers.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/05/28/1526237/blue-book-sales-surge-as-universities-combat-ai-cheating?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Great swathes of the planet's oceans have become darker in the past two decades, according to researchers who fear the trend will have a severe impact on marine life around the world. From a report: Satellite data and numerical modelling revealed that more than a fifth of the global ocean darkened between 2003 and 2022, reducing the band of water that life reliant on sunlight and moonlight can thrive in. The effect is evident across 75m sq km (30m sq miles) of ocean, equivalent to the land area of Europe, Africa, China and North America combined, and disturbs the upper layer of water where 90% of marine species live.

Dr Thomas Davies, a marine conservationist at the University of Plymouth, said the findings were a "genuine cause for concern," with potentially severe implications for marine ecosystems, global fisheries and the critical turnover of carbon and nutrients in the oceans. Most marine life thrives in the photic zones of the world's oceans, the surface layers that allow sufficient light through for organisms to exploit. While sunlight can reach a kilometre beneath the waves, in practice there is little below 200 metres.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/05/28/118244/planets-darkening-oceans-pose-threat-to-marine-life-scientists-say?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader shares a report: Without seeking approval of the San Francisco Board of Education, Superintendent of Schools Maria Su plans to unveil a new Grading for Equity plan on Tuesday that will go into effect this fall at 14 high schools and cover over 10,000 students. The school district is already negotiating with an outside consultant to train teachers in August in a system that awards a passing C grade to as low as a score of 41 on a 100-point exam.

Were it not for an intrepid school board member, the drastic change in grading with implications for college admissions and career readiness would have gone unnoticed and unexplained. It is buried in a three-word phrase on the last page of a PowerPoint presentation embedded in the school board meeting's 25-page agenda. The plan comes during the last week of the spring semester while parents are assessing the impact of over $100 million in budget reductions and deciding whether to remain in the public schools this fall. While the school district acknowledges that parent aversion to this grading approach is typically high and understands the need for "vigilant communication," outreach to parents has been minimal and may be nonexistent. The school district's Office of Equity homepage does not mention it and a page containing the SFUSD definition of equity has not been updated in almost three years.

Grading for Equity eliminates homework or weekly tests from being counted in a student's final semester grade. All that matters is how the student scores on a final examination, which can be taken multiple times. Students can be late turning in an assignment or showing up to class or not showing up at all without it affecting their academic grade. Currently, a student needs a 90 for an A and at least 61 for a D. Under the San Leandro Unified School District's grading for equity system touted by the San Francisco Unified School District and its consultant, a student with a score as low as 80 can attain an A and as low as 21 can pass with a D.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/05/28/1222221/grading-for-equity-coming-to-san-francisco-high-schools-this-fall?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Опубликован выпуск оконного менеджера plwm 0.4, развиваемого на языке Пролог и поддерживающего мозаичную (tiling) компоновку окон. В качестве целей проекта заявлено достижение высокого качества кодовой базы и документации, проста настройки под свои предпочтения и охват типовых потребностей пользователей мозаичных оконных менеджеров. Код проекта распространяется под лицензией MIT. Для запуска может использоваться инструментарий SWI-Prolog.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=63323

A former Minnesota waitress unknowingly helped North Korean workers steal $17.1 million in wages from over 300 American companies through an elaborate remote work scheme, federal prosecutors said this week. Christina Chapman operated a "laptop farm" from her home, managing dozens of computers that allowed North Koreans using stolen U.S. identities to work as legitimate tech employees.

The FBI estimates this broader infiltration involves thousands of North Korean workers generating hundreds of millions annually for the sanctions-hit regime. Chapman, recruited via LinkedIn in 2020 to serve as "the U.S. face" for overseas IT workers, handled logistics including receiving company laptops, installing remote access software, and processing falsified employment documents.

The North Korean workers accessed the devices daily from overseas, with some maintaining jobs for months or years at major American corporations. Chapman earned just under $177,000 before the FBI raided her Arizona operation in October 2023, seizing over 90 computers. She pleaded guilty in February to wire fraud, identity theft, and money laundering charges, facing up to nine years in prison at her July sentencing.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/05/28/1046243/north-korean-laptop-farm-operation-netted-17-million-through-unwitting-american-accomplice?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

В GitHub MCP Server, реализации протокола MCP (Model Context Protocol) от GitHub, выявлена уязвимость, позволяющая извлечь данные из приватных репозиториев пользователей, использующих AI-ассистены для автоматизации работы с репозиториями.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=63322

Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols writes in an op-ed for The Register: I use AI a lot, but not to write stories. I use AI for search. When it comes to search, AI, especially Perplexity, is simply better than Google. Ordinary search has gone to the dogs. Maybe as Google goes gaga for AI, its search engine will get better again, but I doubt it. In just the last few months, I've noticed that AI-enabled search, too, has been getting crappier.

In particular, I'm finding that when I search for hard data such as market-share statistics or other business numbers, the results often come from bad sources. Instead of stats from 10-Ks, the US Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) mandated annual business financial reports for public companies, I get numbers from sites purporting to be summaries of business reports. These bear some resemblance to reality, but they're never quite right. If I specify I want only 10-K results, it works. If I just ask for financial results, the answers get... interesting. This isn't just Perplexity. I've done the exact same searches on all the major AI search bots, and they all give me "questionable" results.

Welcome to Garbage In/Garbage Out (GIGO). Formally, in AI circles, this is known as AI model collapse. In an AI model collapse, AI systems, which are trained on their own outputs, gradually lose accuracy, diversity, and reliability. This occurs because errors compound across successive model generations, leading to distorted data distributions and "irreversible defects" in performance. The final result? A Nature 2024 paper stated, "The model becomes poisoned with its own projection of reality." [...]

We're going to invest more and more in AI, right up to the point that model collapse hits hard and AI answers are so bad even a brain-dead CEO can't ignore it. How long will it take? I think it's already happening, but so far, I seem to be the only one calling it. Still, if we believe OpenAI's leader and cheerleader, Sam Altman, who tweeted in February 2024 that "OpenAI now generates about 100 billion words per day," and we presume many of those words end up online, it won't take long.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/05/28/0242240/some-signs-of-ai-model-collapse-begin-to-reveal-themselves?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

В утилите sort, поставляемой в составе пакета GNU Coreutils, выявлена уязвимость (CVE-2025-5278), приводящая к обращению к данным вне границы буфера при сортировке с использованием синтаксиса "+POS1[.C1][OPTS]", применяемого для выделения сортируемых ключей в обрабатываемых данных. Проблема вызвана целочисленным переполнением (wraparound) в функции begfield(), позволяющим прочитать содержимое одного байта данных вне буфера. Уязвимость может использоваться для вызова аварийного завершения приложений или организации утечки информации из процесса при передаче атакующим специально оформленных параметров сортировки. Проблема проявляется начиная с версии 7.2 (2009 год) и пока устранена в форме патча.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=63320