AMD is warning users of a newly discovered form of side-channel attack affecting a broad range of its chips that could lead to information disclosure. Register: Akin to Meltdown and Spectre, the Transient Scheduler Attack (TSA) comprises four vulnerabilities that AMD said it discovered while looking into a Microsoft report about microarchitectural leaks.

The four bugs do not appear too venomous at face value -- two have medium-severity ratings while the other two are rated "low." However, the low-level nature of the exploit's impact has nonetheless led Trend Micro and CrowdStrike to assess the threat as "critical."

The reasons for the low severity scores are the high degree of complexity involved in a successful attack -- AMD said it could only be carried out by an attacker able to run arbitrary code on a target machine. It affects AMD processors (desktop, mobile and datacenter models), including 3rd gen and 4th gen EPYC chips -- the full list is here.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://it.slashdot.org/story/25/07/09/1835230/amd-warns-of-new-meltdown-spectre-like-bugs-affecting-cpus?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Под мощные фанфары к нам приехал новый релиз тайлового оконного менеджера/композитора для Wayland за авторством (преимущественно) Matthew Kosarek.

( [ читать дальше... ]( https://www.linux.org.ru/news/opensource/18023285#cut ) )

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Wired: If you want a job at McDonald's today, there's a good chance you'll have to talk to Olivia. Olivia is not, in fact, a human being, but instead anAI chatbotthat screens applicants, asks for their contact information and resume, directs them to a personality test, and occasionally makes them "go insane" by repeatedly misunderstanding their most basic questions. Until last week, the platform that runs the Olivia chatbot, built by artificial intelligence software firm Paradox.ai, also suffered from absurdly basic security flaws. As a result, virtually any hacker could have accessed the records of every chat Olivia had ever had with McDonald's applicants -- including all the personal information they shared in those conversations -- with tricks as straightforward as guessing the username and password "123456."

On Wednesday, security researchers Ian Carroll and Sam Curryrevealedthat they found simple methods to hack into the backend of the AI chatbot platform on McHire.com, McDonald's website that many of its franchisees use to handle job applications. Carroll and Curry, hackers with along track record of independent security testing, discovered that simple web-based vulnerabilities -- including guessing one laughably weak password -- allowed them to access a Paradox.ai account and query the company's databases that held every McHire user's chats with Olivia. The data appears to include as many as 64 million records, including applicants' names, email addresses, and phone numbers.

Carroll says he only discovered that appalling lack of security around applicants' information because he was intrigued by McDonald's decision to subject potential new hires to an AI chatbot screener and personality test. "I just thought it was pretty uniquely dystopian compared to a normal hiring process, right? And that's what made me want to look into it more," says Carroll. "So I started applying for a job, and then after 30 minutes, we had full access to virtually every application that's ever been made to McDonald's going back years." Paradox.ai confirmed the security findings, acknowledging that only a small portion of the accessed records contained personal data. The company stated that the weak-password account ("123456") was only accessed by the researchers and no one else. To prevent future issues, Paradox is launching a bug bounty program. "We do not take this matter lightly, even though it was resolved swiftly and effectively," Paradox.ai's chief legal officer, Stephanie King, told WIRED in an interview. "We own this."

In a statement to WIRED, McDonald's agreed that Paradox.ai was to blame. "We're disappointed by this unacceptable vulnerability from a third-party provider, Paradox.ai. As soon as we learned of the issue, we mandated Paradox.ai to remediate the issue immediately, and it was resolved on the same day it was reported to us," the statement reads. "We take our commitment to cyber security seriously and will continue to hold our third-party providers accountable to meeting our standards of data protection."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/07/09/2014234/mcdonalds-ai-hiring-bot-exposed-millions-of-applicants-data-to-hackers?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Samsung on Wednesday unveiled three new foldable smartphones at a time when the company is facing increased competition from Chinese rivals such as Honor and Oppo, reports CNBC. The company's share of the global foldable phone market slipped to 45% in 2024, down from 54% a year earlier. Today's new devices include the ultra-thin Galaxy Z Fold 7, the clamshell-style Galaxy Z Flip 7, and the more affordable Flip 7 FE. Here's a breakdown of each: The Galaxy Z Fold 7 is super thin at a thickness of 8.9 millimeters (0.35 inches) closed and only 4.2 millimeters open. It's also much lighter than its predecessor, weighing 215 grams (7.62 ounces). These stats put the phone on par with both Honor's Magic V5 and the Oppo Find N5. The new Fold device has a 6.5-inch cover screen and an 8-inch main display when opened, making it bigger than its predecessor. It's also decked out with premium new cameras, featuring a 200-megapixel main lens, as well as a 10-megapixel telephoto sensor, 12-megapixel ultra-wide and two 10-megapixel front cameras on both the cover screen and on the main display.

Samsung's new Fold generation is, nevertheless, much more limited than other devices in the market when it comes to battery capacity. The Galaxy Z Fold 7 has a 4,400 milliampere-hour (mAh) battery -- far less than the 6,100 mAh power pack in Honor's Magic V5's or the Oppo Find N5's 5,600 mAh battery. Samsung says its device is capable of 24 hours of video playback.

Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip 7 is also thinner than its predecessor, coming in at 6.5 millimeters when opened flat. By contrast, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 has a depth of 6.9 millimeters when unfolded. The new phone has a 4.1-inch cover screen and a 6.9-inch main display. It comes with a 50-megapixel main camera and 12-megapixel ultra-wide sensor on the back and a 10-megapixel lens on the main display. It also has a bigger 4,300 mAh battery, which Samsung says supports 31 hours of video playtime on a single charge.

In addition to Flip 7, Samsung is also introducing a cheaper version of the phone, called the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE, which is slightly smaller and thicker than its more premium counterpart. What about the AI features, you ask? They all include various AI-driven camera tools that can identify and suggest removal of unwanted people or objects in photos, and an audio eraser that filters out background noise in videos.

The Galaxy Z Flip 7 also integrates Gemini Live, allowing users to overlay the AI assistant during live video recordings -- for instance, to receive real-time outfit suggestions.

The Z Fold 7 starts at $1,999, and the Z Flip 7 starts at $1,099. Meanwhile, the Flip 7 FE is priced at $899.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/25/07/09/2027259/samsung-launches-three-new-foldable-smartphones-as-it-fends-off-chinese-rivals?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

The UK has transformed its broadband infrastructure in five years -- with full-fiber coverage jumping from 12% of properties in January 2020 to more than 78% by 2025, according to communications regulator Ofcom and ThinkBroadband data. Northern Ireland leads with 96% of premises in postcodes served with full-fiber connections.

The rollout accelerated after Ofcom's May 2021 regulatory framework gave other providers access to BT's Openreach ducts and poles while promising the company regulatory certainty through a "fair bet" approach that avoided price caps. The framework sparked investment from alternative networks, or "altnets," which increased homes passed from 8.2 million in 2022 to 16.4 million by 2025.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/07/09/2021217/uk-full-fiber-broadband-coverage-jumps-from-12-to-78-in-five-years?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

IKEA is relaunching its smart home line with over 20 new Matter-over-Thread devices that will work across ecosystems such as Apple Home and Amazon Alexa, with or without IKEA's own hub. This marks a major shift toward openness, affordability, and interoperability, and positions IKEA as one of the first major retailers to bring Matter to the mainstream while maintaining backward compatibility with Zigbee products. The Verge reports: We don't have a lot of details on the over 20 new devices coming next year, but [David Granath of IKEA of Sweden] confirmed that they are replacing existing functions. So, new smart bulbs, plugs, sensors, remotes, buttons, and air-quality devices, including temperature and humidity monitors. They will also come with a new design. Although "not necessarily what's been leaked," says Granath, referring to images of the Bilresa Dual Button that appeared earlier this year. He did confirm that some new product categories will arrive in January, with more to follow in April and beyond, including potentially Matter-over-Wi-Fi products. Pricing will be comparable to or lower than that of previous products, which start under $10. "Affordability remains a key priority for us."

"The premium to make a product smart is not that high anymore, so you can expect new product types and form factors coming," he says. "Matter unlocks interoperability, ease of use, and affordability for us. The standardization process means more companies are sharing the workload of developing for this." Despite the move away from Zigbee, IKEA is keeping Zigbee's Touchlink functionality. This point-to-point protocol allows devices to be paired directly to each other and work together out of the box, without an app or hub -- such as the bulb and remote bundles IKEA sells. This means older Zigbee remotes can control the newer Thread bulbs and vice versa, retaining backward compatibility with its Tradfri line. "Touchlink and Matter will coexist in new products," says Granath. "It's still very important for IKEA -- not everyone wants an app or hub."

Interestingly, IKEA's new Matter-over-Thread products will also work without the IKEA hub or app, as they can be set up directly in any compatible Matter smart home ecosystem, such as Apple Home, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Samsung SmartThings, Home Assistant, and others.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/25/07/09/2038213/ikea-ditches-zigbee-for-thread-going-all-in-on-matter-smart-homes?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from VentureBeat: Hugging Face, the $4.5 billion artificial intelligence platform that has become the GitHub of machine learning, announced Tuesday the launch of Reachy Mini, a $299 desktop robot designed to bring AI-powered robotics to millions of developers worldwide. The 11-inch humanoid companion represents the company's boldest move yet to democratize robotics development and challenge the industry's traditional closed-source, high-cost model.

The announcement comes as Hugging Face crosses a significant milestone of 10 million AI builders using its platform, with CEO Clement Delangue revealing in an exclusive interview that "more and more of them are building in relation to robotics." The compact robot, which can sit on any desk next to a laptop, addresses what Delangue calls a fundamental barrier in robotics development: accessibility. "One of the challenges with robotics is that you know you can't just build on your laptop. You need to have some sort of robotics partner to help in your building, and most people won't be able to buy $70,000 robots," Delangue explained, referring to traditional industrial robotics systems and even newer humanoid robots like Tesla's Optimus, which is expected to cost $20,000-$30,000.

Reachy Mini emerges from Hugging Face's April acquisition of French robotics startup Pollen Robotics, marking the company's most significant hardware expansion since its founding. The robot represents the first consumer product to integrate natively with the Hugging Face Hub, allowing developers to access thousands of pre-built AI models and share robotics applications through the platform's "Spaces" feature. [...] Reachy Mini packs sophisticated capabilities into its compact form factor. The robot features six degrees of freedom in its moving head, full body rotation, animated antennas, a wide-angle camera, multiple microphones, and a 5-watt speaker. The wireless version includes a Raspberry Pi 5 computer and battery, making it fully autonomous. The robot ships as a DIY kit and can be programmed in Python, with JavaScript and Scratch support planned. Pre-installed demonstration applications include face and hand tracking, smart companion features, and dancing moves. Developers can create and share new applications through Hugging Face's Spaces platform, potentially creating what Delangue envisions as "thousands, tens of thousands, millions of apps." Reachy Mini's $299 price point could significantly transform robotics education and research. "Universities, coding bootcamps, and individual learners could use the platform to explore robotics concepts without requiring expensive laboratory equipment," reports VentureBeat. "The open-source nature enables educational institutions to modify hardware and software to suit specific curricula. Students could progress from basic programming exercises to sophisticated AI applications using the same platform, potentially accelerating robotics education and workforce development."

"... For the first time, a major AI platform is betting that the future of robotics belongs not in corporate research labs, but in the hands of millions of individual developers armed with affordable, open-source tools."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/25/07/09/2051245/hugging-face-launches-299-robot-that-could-disrupt-entire-robotics-industry?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

After discovering that ChatGPT was falsely telling users that Soundslice could convert ASCII tablature into playable music, founder Adrian Holovaty decided to actually build the feature -- even though the app was never designed to support that format. TechCrunch reports: Soundslice is an app for teaching music, used by students and teachers. It's known for its video player synchronized to the music notations that guide users on how the notes should be played. It also offers a feature called "sheet music scanner" that allows users to upload an image of paper sheet music and, using AI, will automatically turn that into an interactive sheet, complete with notations. [Adrian Holovaty, founder of music-teaching platform Soundslice] carefully watches this feature's error logs to see what problems occur, where to add improvements, he said. That's where he started seeing the uploaded ChatGPT sessions.

They were creating a bunch of error logs. Instead of images of sheet music, these were images of words and a box of symbols known as ASCII tablature. That's a basic text-based system used for guitar notations that uses a regular keyboard. (There's no treble key, for instance, on your standard QWERTY keyboard.) The volume of these ChatGPT session images was not so onerous that it was costing his company money to store them and crushing his app's bandwidth, Holovaty said. He was baffled, he wrote in a blog post about the situation.

"Our scanning system wasn't intended to support this style of notation. Why, then, were we being bombarded with so many ASCII tab ChatGPT screenshots? I was mystified for weeks -- until I messed around with ChatGPT myself." That's how he saw ChatGPT telling people they could hear this music by opening a Soundslice account and uploading the image of the chat session. Only, they couldn't. Uploading those images wouldn't translate the ASCII tab into audio notes. He was struck with a new problem. "The main cost was reputational: New Soundslice users were going in with a false expectation. They'd been confidently told we would do something that we don't actually do," he described to TechCrunch.

He and his team discussed their options: Slap disclaimers all over the site about it -- "No, we can't turn a ChatGPT session into hearable music" -- or build that feature into the scanner, even though he had never before considered supporting that offbeat musical notation system. He opted to build the feature. "My feelings on this are conflicted. I'm happy to add a tool that helps people. But I feel like our hand was forced in a weird way. Should we really be developing features in response to misinformation?" he wrote.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/07/09/2247255/soundslice-adds-ascii-tab-support-after-chatgpt-hallucinates-feature?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Over 240 browser extensions with nearly a million total installs have been covertly turning users' browsers into web-scraping bots. "The extensions serve a wide range of purposes, including managing bookmarks and clipboards, boosting speaker volumes, and generating random numbers," reports Ars Technica. "The common thread among all of them: They incorporate MellowTel-js, an open source JavaScript library that allows developers to monetize their extensions." Ars Technica reports:
Some of the data swept up in the collection free-for-all included surveillance videos hosted on Nest, tax returns, billing invoices, business documents, and presentation slides posted to, or hosted on, Microsoft OneDrive and Intuit.com, vehicle identification numbers of recently bought automobiles along with the names and addresses of the buyers, patient names and the doctors they saw, travel itineraries hosted on Priceline, Booking.com, and airline websites, Facebook Messenger attachments and Facebook photos, even when the photos were set to be private. The dragnet also collected proprietary information belonging to Tesla, Blue Origin, Amgen, Merck, Pfizer, Roche, and dozens of other companies.

Tuckner said in an email Wednesday that the most recent status of the affected extensions is:

- Of 45 known Chrome extensions, 12 are now inactive. Some of the extensions were removed for malware explicitly. Others have removed the library.
- Of 129 Edge extensions incorporating the library, eight are now inactive.
- Of 71 affected Firefox extensions, two are now inactive.
Some of the inactive extensions were removed for malware explicitly. Others have removed the library in more recent updates. A complete list of extensions found by Tuckner is here.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/07/09/2257245/browser-extensions-turn-nearly-1-million-browsers-into-website-scraping-bots?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

"Max" has officially reverted back to "HBO Max," two years after Warner Bros. Discovery dropped the HBO branding. Variety reports: The switch had been anticipated to take place sometime this summer, but Warner Bros. Discovery hadn't revealed an exact day for the reversal until now. The timing is key: Execs wanted to restore the "HBO Max" name prior to next week's Emmy nominations announcement on July 15.

The decision to turn "Max" back into "HBO Max" was first announced in May, timed to Warner Bros. Discovery's upfronts presentation. At the time, WBD said in a press release that "returning the HBO brand into HBO Max will further drive the service forward and amplify the uniqueness that subscribers can expect from the offering. It is also a testament to WBD's willingness to keep boldly iterating its strategy and approach -- leaning heavily on consumer data and insights -- to best position itself for success."

The streamer launched as HBO Max in 2020, but then WBD opted to excise HBO from the streamer's name in 2023, changing it to just "Max." (HBO and Max continued to compete under one "HBO/Max" label for industry awards; for next week's Emmy noms, they can once again just be called "HBO Max.") The streaming giant put out a marketing spot announcing that the change was done.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/07/09/2317211/max-changed-back-to-hbo-max?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: America's largest power grid is under strain as data centers and AI chatbots consume power faster than new plants can be built. Electricity bills are projected to surge by more than 20% this summer in some parts of PJM Interconnection's territory, which covers 13 states -- from Illinois to Tennessee, Virginia to New Jersey -- serving 67 million customers in a region with the most data centers in the world. The governor of Pennsylvania is threatening to abandon the grid, the CEO has announced his departure and the chair of PJM's board of managers and another board member were voted out.

The upheaval at PJM started a year ago with a more than 800% jump in prices at its annual capacity auction. Rising prices out of the auction trickle down to everyday people's power bills. Now PJM is barreling towards its next capacity auction on Wednesday, when prices may rise even further. The auction aims to avoid blackouts by establishing a rate at which generators agree to pump out electricity during the most extreme periods of stress on the grid, usually the hottest and coldest days of the year. High prices out of the auction should spur new power plant construction, but that hasn't happened quickly enough in PJM's region as aging power plants continue to retire and data center demand explodes. PJM has made the situation worse by delaying auctions and pausing the application process for new plants, according to more than a dozen power developers, regulators, energy attorneys and other experts interviewed by Reuters.

PJM says the supply and demand crunch has been caused largely by factors outside of its control, including state energy policies that closed fossil-fuel fired power plants prematurely and data center growth in "Data Center Alley" in Northern Virginia and other burgeoning hubs in the Mid-Atlantic. "Prices will remain high as long as demand growth is outstripping supply -- this is a basic economic policy," said PJM spokesman Jeffrey Shields. "Right now, we need every megawatt we can get." New projects totaling about 46 gigawatts -- enough capacity to power 40 million homes -- have been cleared in recent years, "but are not getting built because of local opposition, supply chain backups or financing issues that have nothing to do with PJM," Shields said.

PJM has lost more than 5.6 net gigawatts in the last decade as power plants shut faster than new ones enter service, according to a PJM presentation filed with regulators this year. PJM added about 5 gigawatts of power-generating capacity in 2024, fewer than smaller grids in California and Texas. Meanwhile, data center demand is surging. By 2030, PJM expects 32 gigawatts of increased demand on its system, with all but two of those gigawatts coming from data centers.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/25/07/09/235205/americas-largest-power-grid-is-struggling-to-meet-demand-from-ai?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Amazon's Prime Day sales plunged 41% on the first day compared to last year's kickoff, with experts attributing the drop to shoppers delaying purchases in anticipation of better deals during the extended four-day event. From a report: Momentum Commerce reported that figure for Tuesday (July 8), with Momentum's Founder and CEO John Shea saying that the sales numbers for this year's longer event could still surpass those of last year's shorter one, Bloomberg reported Wednesday (July 9). Shea attributed the drop in first-day sales to consumers putting items in their shopping carts but holding off on completing the purchase in case better deals come along, according to the report. Last year's shorter event encouraged shoppers to head to checkout to ensure they wouldn't miss out on the discounts, Shea said, per the report. Amazon Prime Vice President Jamil Ghani remains optimistic, telling Bloomberg Television the company was "pleased by the engagement" with shoppers during the event and that it is "very early." He said the company extended the duration of Prime Day because shoppers wanted more time to discover the deals.

According to numbers provided by Adobe, Prime Day's kickoff surpassed Thanksgiving 2024's $6.1 billion in eCommerce spend. The software company also found that 50.2% of sales came through a mobile device and that buy now, pay later orders for Amazon's Prime Day were up 13.6% year over year.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/07/10/0123233/prime-day-loses-its-spark-as-sales-nosedive-41?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Ком­па­ния ByteDance, вла­де­лец хо­стин­га ко­ро­тких вер­ти­каль­ных ви­део TikTok, сде­ла­ла свой фир­мен­ный шрифт до­ступ­ным под ли­цен­зи­ей SIL Open Font License 1.1.

«Де­лая TikTok Sans сво­бод­ным, мы откры­ва­ем дверь для бо­лее глу­бо­кой ин­те­гра­ции и боль­шей твор­че­ской сво­бо­ды для раз­ра­бот­чи­ков и гло­баль­но­го со­об­ще­ства.» — го­во­рит­ся в бло­ге ком­па­нии.

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https://www.linux.org.ru/news/opensource/18023612

Игорь Любунчич (Igor Ljubuncic), до 2024 года отвечавший в компании Canonical за продукты, связанные с высокопроизводительными вычислениями, провёл тестирование производительности и энергопотребления сеансов KDE Plasma 6.4 на базе X11 и Wayland. В конце июня Игорь опубликовал обзор возможностей KDE Plasma 6.4, в котором пришёл к выводу, что сеанс на базе Wayland уступает в производительности и больше нагружает CPU и GPU, чем сеанс на базе X11. В серии новых статей Игорь попытался более глубоко протестировать производительность обоих сеансов.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=63563

BrianFagioli shares a report from NERDS.xyz: Red Hat has introduced a new option that gives developers a fast lane to enterprise-grade Linux without needing to go through IT. The new release, called Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Business Developers, is now available for free. It offers direct, self-serve access to the same operating system used in production environments, specifically for business-focused development and testing.

The offering is part of the Red Hat Developer Program and is designed to reduce friction between development and operations teams. Developers can now build and test applications on the same platform that powers critical systems across physical servers, virtual machines, cloud deployments, and edge devices. [...] Each registered user can deploy up to 25 instances, whether virtual, physical, or cloud-based. The program includes signed and curated developer content such as programming languages, open source tools, and databases. Red Hat also includes Podman Desktop, its go-to container development tool, allowing users to work with containers that can closely match production environments.

While access is free, developers can choose to purchase support plans that tap into Red Hat's Linux expertise. This could appeal to developers working in business units or teams that want to build quickly without waiting on formal IT approval. This new option complements Red Hat's existing free Developer Subscription for Individuals and the Enterprise Developer Subscription for Teams, which is available through Red Hat reps or partners.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://linux.slashdot.org/story/25/07/10/0112201/red-hat-gives-developers-free-access-to-enterprise-linux-for-business-use?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: On Sunday, Block CEO and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey launched an open source chat app called Bitchat, promising to deliver "secure" and "private" messaging without a centralized infrastructure. The app relies on Bluetooth and end-to-end encryption, unlike traditional messaging apps that rely on the internet. By being decentralized, Bitchat has potential for being a secure app in high-risk environments where the internet is monitored or inaccessible. According to Dorsey's white paper detailing the app's protocols and privacy mechanisms, Bitchat's system design "prioritizes" security.

But the claims that the app is secure, however, are already facing scrutiny by security researchers, given that the app and its code have not been reviewed or tested for security issues at all -- by Dorsey's own admission. Since launching, Dorsey has added a warning to Bitchat's GitHub page: "This software has not received external security review and may contain vulnerabilities and does not necessarily meet its stated security goals. Do not use it for production use, and do not rely on its security whatsoever until it has been reviewed." This warning now also appears on Bitchat's main GitHub project page but was not there at the time the app debuted.

As of Wednesday, Dorsey added: "Work in progress," next to the warning on GitHub. This latest disclaimer came after security researcher Alex Radocea found that it's possible to impersonate someone else and trick a person's contacts into thinking they are talking to the legitimate contact, as the researcher explained in a blog post. Radocea wrote that Bitchat has a "broken identity authentication/verification" system that allows an attacker to intercept someone's "identity key" and "peer id pair" -- essentially a digital handshake that is supposed to establish a trusted connection between two people using the app. Bitchat calls these "Favorite" contacts and marks them with a star icon. The goal of this feature is to allow two Bitchat users to interact, knowing that they are talking to the same person they talked to before.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://it.slashdot.org/story/25/07/10/0117206/jack-dorsey-says-his-secure-new-bitchat-app-has-not-been-tested-for-security?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

На ресурсе KDE Community в вики появилось предупреждение избегать альтернативные реализации X.org, такие как XLibre. Согласно изменению, для обеспечения работы сеанса KDE на базе X11 будут поддерживаться только официальный X.Org Server и XWayland. Примечание добавил Ксавьер Хугл (Xaver Hugl), один из двух активных ключевых разработчиков композитного менеджера Kwin. До этого проект XLibre считал KDE поддерживаемой средой рабочего стола.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=63564

Researchers have discovered 27 million tonnes of nanoplastics distributed across just the top layer of the temperate to subtropical North Atlantic Ocean, according to a study published in Nature. The team sampled water at three depths across 12 locations during a November 2020 research cruise, finding average concentrations of 18 milligrams per cubic meter of three plastic types: polyethylene terephthalate, polystyrene and polyvinylchloride.

These particles, smaller than one micrometer in diameter, behave differently from larger microplastics by remaining suspended throughout the water column rather than settling to the ocean floor. The nanoplastics can pass through cell walls and enter the marine food web through phytoplankton, said Tony Walker, an environmental scientist at Dalhousie University. The world's oceans contain an estimated 3 million tonnes of floating plastic pollution when excluding nanoplastics.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/07/10/142250/millions-of-tonnes-of-nanoplastics-are-polluting-the-ocean?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan told employees this week that the company has fallen out of the "top 10 semiconductor companies" and that it's "too late" to catch up with Nvidia in AI training technology.

The remarks came as Intel began laying off thousands of workers globally, including 529 in Oregon and several hundred others in California, Arizona and Israel. "Twenty, 30 years ago, we are really the leader," Tan said during a conversation broadcast to Intel employees worldwide. "Now I think the world has changed. We are not in the top 10 semiconductor companies." Tan said Nvidia's position in AI training is "too strong" and that customers are giving Intel failing grades.

Intel's market value has dropped to around $100 billion, roughly half its value from 18 months ago, while Nvidia briefly hit $4 trillion on Wednesday. Tan said Intel will instead focus on "edge" AI that operates directly on devices rather than centralized computers.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/07/10/1430209/intel-ceo-says-company-has-fallen-from-top-10-semiconductor-firms-too-late-to-catch-nvidia-in-ai?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

European Union officials unveiled new AI regulations on Thursday that require makers of the most powerful AI systems to improve transparency, limit copyright violations and protect public safety.

The rules apply to companies like OpenAI, Microsoft and Google that develop general-purpose AI systems underpinning services like ChatGPT, which can analyze enormous amounts of data and perform human tasks. The code of practice provides concrete details about enforcing the AI Act passed last year, with rules taking effect August 2.

EU regulators cannot impose penalties for noncompliance until August 2026. Companies must provide detailed breakdowns of content used for training algorithms and conduct risk assessments to prevent misuse for creating biological weapons. CCIA Europe, representing Amazon, Google and Meta, told New York Times the code imposes a disproportionate burden on AI providers.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/07/10/1449202/new-eu-regulations-require-transparency-copyright-protection-from-powerful-ai-systems?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Senators from both parties are preparing to challenge the Trump administration's proposed 24% cut to NASA's budget, with the Senate appropriations committee advancing a $24.9 billion allocation that matches the agency's 2025 funding levels.

The bipartisan pushback directly contradicts President Donald Trump's budget request, which sought to slash NASA's science portfolio funding nearly in half and terminate dozens of operating and planned missions. "We rejected cuts that would have devastated NASA science by 47% and would have terminated 55 operating and planned missions," Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat from Maryland, said.

The Senate bill allocates $7.3 billion for science programs. Senators also refused the administration's call to cancel the Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew capsule after their third flights, programs Trump's budget labeled "grossly expensive and delayed." "The bill reflects an ambitious approach to space exploration, prioritizing the agency's flagship program, Artemis, and rejecting premature termination of systems like SLS and Orion before commercial replacements are ready," said Senator Jerry Moran, a Kansas Republican.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/07/10/161254/senators-signal-theyre-prepared-to-push-back-against-nasa-cuts?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

US's emergency-warning infrastructure failed to prevent more than 100 deaths during flash flooding in Kerr County, Texas over the July 4 weekend, despite repeated warnings from the National Weather Service. At least 27 young campers and counselors died at Camp Mystic when the Guadalupe River surged during early morning hours. The alerts never reached residents who lacked cellphone service, had silenced notifications, or didn't carry phones with them.

Similar communication failures occurred during recent Los Angeles wildfires and Maui blazes. Maui's outdoor sirens never sounded during 2023 wildfires when cellular networks failed. Nearly 30% of Texas residents opt out of wireless emergency alerts, the highest rate nationally. Rural officials often lack funding or permission to send alerts through broadcasters and cellphones. So what's going on?

Federal, state and local authorities share responsibility for alerting citizens through multiple platforms, but the country's patchwork of digital and physical emergency-alert tools often lags behind rapidly developing weather events, WSJ argues.

The Atlantic has a story that adds more color: It details how officials lack training in writing effective alerts, how messages like "move to higher ground" are meaningless without context, and how the absence of warning-coordination meteorologists creates communication gaps between weather services and local authorities.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/07/10/1533207/why-america-still-cant-get-disaster-alerts-right?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Swedish security service members who shared details of their running and cycling routes on fitness app Strava have been accused of revealing details of the prime minister's location, including his private address. Politico: According to Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter, on at least 35 occasions bodyguards uploaded their workouts to the training app and revealed information linked to Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, including where he goes running, details of overnight trips abroad, and the location of his private home, which is supposed to be secret.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/07/10/168215/swedish-bodyguards-reveal-prime-ministers-location-on-fitness-app?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Almost three-quarters of all solar and wind power projects being built globally are in China, says a new report that highlights the country's rapid expansion of renewable energy sources. From a report: China is building 510 gigawatts of utility-scale solar and wind projects, according to data from the Global Energy Monitor, a non-governmental organisation based in San Francisco. That compares with about 689GW under construction globally, GEM said.

A rough rule of thumb is that a gigawatt can potentially supply electricity for about 1mn homes. "China is [...] leading the world in global renewable energy build-out," the report said. "It continues to add solar and wind power at a record pace." China's expansion of clean energy sources is important for efforts to fight climate change, given the country's dominant role in global manufacturing.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/07/10/1614230/china-is-building-74-of-all-current-solar-and-wind-projects?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

A federal judge has dismissed an antitrust lawsuit that accused Apple, Visa and Mastercard of conspiring to suppress competition in the payments network market and inflate merchant transaction fees.

U.S. District Judge David Dugan in Illinois ruled that merchants failed to provide sufficient evidence supporting claims that Apple illegally declined to launch a competing payment network to rival Visa and Mastercard.

The lawsuit, filed by beverage retailer Mirage Wine & Spirits and other businesses representing thousands of merchants, alleged the payment networks paid Apple hundreds of millions of dollars annually to avoid competition. Dugan found the plaintiffs offered only "a slew of circumstantial allegations" but permitted them to amend their complaint.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/07/10/1659205/judge-throws-out-lawsuit-accusing-apple-of-taking-bribes-to-avoid-competing-with-visa-and-mastercard?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Mazda is redesigning the steering wheel controls in its new CX-5 to address potential safety concerns from its shift to touchscreen-based infotainment systems. The Japanese automaker developed what it calls "an all new steering wheel layout with physical buttons" that allow drivers to control critical vehicle functions without taking their hands off the wheel. Stefan Meisterfeld, Mazda's U.S. VP of operations, said the new steering wheel design goes beyond simple redundant shortcuts.

The company is pairing the enhanced steering wheel controls with Google Assistant voice commands and a 15.6-inch central touchscreen that now houses audio and climate controls previously operated by physical dashboard buttons. Mazda had been the sole mainstream holdout against touchscreen infotainment systems, relying instead on a console-mounted dial. The steering wheel redesign represents the company's attempt to maintain its "hands on the wheel, eyes on the road" safety philosophy while adopting touchscreen technology that customer research indicated buyers wanted.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/07/10/1752220/physical-buttons-make-comeback-on-mazda-steering-wheels-as-company-adopts-first-touchscreen?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Indeed and Glassdoor -- both owned by the Japanese group Recruit Holdings -- are cutting roughly 1,300 jobs as part of a broader move to combine operations and shift more focus toward AI. From a report: The cuts will mostly affect people in the US, especially within teams including research and development and people and sustainability, Recruit Holdings Chief Executive Officer Hisayuki "Deko" Idekoba said in a memo to employees. The company didn't give a specific reason for the cuts, but Idekoba said in his email that "AI is changing the world, and we must adapt by ensuring our product delivers truly great experiences."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/07/10/1756200/indeed-glassdoor-to-cut-1300-jobs-in-ai-focused-consolidation?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Представлен релиз HTTP-сервера Apache 2.4.64, в котором устранено 8 уязвимостей и внесено 19 изменений.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=63566

Google is rolling out photo-to-video generation in its Gemini app today, allowing paid subscribers to upload images and transform them into short AI videos using the company's Veo 3 model. The feature requires a subscription to Google's AI Pro plan at $20 per month for three daily video generations, or the $250 AI Ultra plan for five daily videos.

Videos are limited to 720p resolution and eight seconds in length, taking several minutes to generate due to computational requirements.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/07/10/180230/gemini-can-now-turn-your-photos-into-video-with-veo-3?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Russia's State Duma rejected legislation that would have legalized ethical hacking, citing national security concerns. Politicians worried that discovering vulnerabilities in software from hostile countries would require sharing those security flaws with foreign companies, potentially enabling strategic exploitation.

The bill also failed to explain how existing laws would accommodate white-hat hacking provisions. Russia's Ministry of Digital Development introduced the proposal in 2022, with a first draft in 2023. Individual security researchers currently face prosecution under Russian Criminal Code for unauthorized computer access, while established cybersecurity companies can conduct limited vulnerability research.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://it.slashdot.org/story/25/07/10/1833225/russia-blocks-ethical-hacking-legislation-over-security-concerns?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Record: A German court has ruled that Meta must pay $5,900 to a German Facebook user who sued the platform for embedding tracking technology in third-party websites -- a ruling that could open the door to large fines down the road over data privacy violations relating to pixels and similar tools. The Regional Court of Leipzig in Germany ruled Friday that Meta tracking pixels and software development kits embedded in countless websites and apps collect users' data without their consent and violate the continent's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The ruling in favor of the plaintiff sets a precedent which the court acknowledged will allow countless other users to sue without "explicitly demonstrating individual damages," according to a Leipzig Regional Court press release. "Every user is individually identifiable to Meta at all times as soon as they visit the third-party websites or use an app, even if they have not logged in via the Instagram and Facebook account," the press release said. "This may very well be one of the most substantial rulings coming out of Europe this year," said Ronni K. Gothard Christiansen, the CEO of AesirX, a consultancy which helps businesses comply with data privacy laws. "$5,900 in damages for one visitor adds up quickly if you have tens of thousands of visitors, or even millions."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/07/10/2056216/german-court-rules-meta-tracking-tech-violates-eu-privacy-laws?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Dubai-based airline Emirates is partnering with Crypto.com to integrate Bitcoin payments into the airliner's payment systems and add NFT collectibles on the company's websites for trading. The airline is also hiring staff to support its blockchain, crypto, and metaverse ambitions, positioning itself at the forefront of digital transformation in aviation.

"NFTs and metaverse are two different applications and approaches," explained Emirates Chief Operating Officer Adel Ahmed Al-Redha, adding that the airline will also seek to use the blockchain in tracing records of aircraft. "With the metaverse, you will be able to transform your whole processes -- whether it is in operation, training, sales on the website, or complete experience -- into a metaverse type application, but more importantly making it interactive."

The official integration of crypto payments is expected to take place next year, according to the announcement.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/07/10/214219/emirates-airline-adding-crypto-payments-with-cryptocom-partnership?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Qantas has confirmed that 5.7 million customers have been impacted by a recent data breach through a third-party platform used by its contact center. The breach, attributed to the Scattered Spider threat group, exposed various personal details but did not include passwords, financial, or passport data. BleepingComputer reports: In a new update today, Qantas has confirmed that the threat actors stole data for approximately 5.7 million customers, with varying types of data exposed in the breach:

4 million customer records are limited to name, email address and Qantas Frequent Flyer details. Of this:
- 1.2 million customer records contained name and email address.
- 2.8 million customer records contained name, email address and Qantas Frequent Flyer number. The majority of these also had tier included. A smaller subset of these had points balance and status credits included.

Of the remaining 1.7 million customers, their records included a combination of some of the data fields above and one or more of the following:
- Address - 1.3 million. This is a combination of residential addresses and business addresses including hotels for misplaced baggage delivery.
- Date of birth - 1.1 million
- Phone number (mobile, landline and/or business) - 900,000
- Gender - 400,000. This is separate to other gender identifiers like name and salutation.
- Meal preferences - 10,000

[ Read more of this story ]( https://it.slashdot.org/story/25/07/10/2110255/qantas-confirms-data-breach-impacts-57-million-customers?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Straight Arrow News: Hollywood video game performers ended their nearly year-long strike Wednesday with new protections against the use of digital replicas of their voices or appearances. If those replicas are used, actors must be paid at rates comparable to in-person work. The SAG-AFTRA union demanded stronger pay and better working conditions. Among their top concerns was the potential for artificial intelligence to replace human actors without compensation or consent.

Under a deal announced in a media release, studios such as Activision and Electronic Arts are now required to obtain written consent from performers before creating digital replicas of their work. Actors have the right to suspend their consent for AI-generated material if another strike occurs. "This deal delivers historic wage increases, industry-leading AI protections and enhanced health and safety measures for performers," Audrey Cooling, a spokesperson for the video game producers, said in the release. The full list of studios includes Activision Productions, Blindlight, Disney Character Voices, Electronic Arts Productions, Formosa Interactive, Insomniac Games, Llama Productions, Take 2 Productions and WB Games.

SAG-AFTRA members approved the contract by a vote of 95.04% to 4.96%, according to the announcement. The agreement includes a wage increase of more than 15%, with additional 3% raises in November 2025, 2026 and 2027. The contract expires in October 2028. [...] The video game strike, which started in July 2024, did not shut down production like the SAG-AFTRA actors' strike in 2023. Hollywood actors went on strike for 118 days, from July 14 to November 9, 2023, halting nearly all scripted television and film work. That strike, which centered on streaming residuals and AI concerns, prevented actors from engaging in promotional work, such as attending premieres and posting on social media. In contrast, video game performers were allowed to work during their strike, but only with companies that had signed interim agreements addressing concerns related to AI. More than 160 companies signed on, according to The Associated Press. Still, the year took a toll.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://games.slashdot.org/story/25/07/10/2119204/video-game-actors-end-11-month-strike-with-new-ai-protections?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Longtime Slashdot reader SonicSpike shares a report from Gizmodo: YouTube is inundated with AI-generated slop, and that's not going to change anytime soon. Instead of cutting down on the total number of slop channels, the platform is planning to update its policies to cut out some of the worst offenders making money off "spam." At the same time, it's still full steam ahead adding tools to make sure your feeds are full of mass-produced brainrot.

In an update to its support page posted last week, YouTube said it will modify guidelines for its Partner Program, which lets some creators with enough views make money off their videos. The video platform said it requires YouTubers to create "original" and "authentic" content, but now it will "better identify mass-produced and repetitious content." The changes will take place on July 15. The company didn't advertise whether this change is related to AI, but the timing can't be overlooked considering how more people are noticing the rampant proliferation of slop content flowing onto the platform every day.

The AI "revolution" has resulted in a landslide of trash content that has mired most creative platforms. Alphabet-owned YouTube has been especially bad recently, with multiple channels dedicated exclusively to pumping out legions of fake and often misleading videos into the sludge-filled sewer that has become users' YouTube feeds. AI slop has become so prolific it has infected most social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram. Last month, John Oliver on "Last Week Tonight" specifically highlighted several YouTube channels that crafted obviously fake stories made to show White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt in a good light. These channels and similar accounts across social media pump out these quick AI-generated videos to make a quick buck off YouTube's Partner Program.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/07/10/2327220/youtube-cant-put-pandoras-ai-slop-back-in-the-box?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

BrianFagioli shares a report from NERDS.xyz: Android is changing how it gives developers access to early features. The company is replacing its old Developer Preview model with a new Canary channel that provides rolling updates all year long. This new approach is meant to give developers earlier and more consistent access to experimental tools and APIs.
Previously, Developer Previews had to be manually flashed onto devices. They only ran during the earliest stages of each release cycle and stopped once Android entered the beta phase. That meant promising features that were not quite ready for beta had nowhere to go and no way to collect feedback. The Canary channel solves that by running in parallel with the existing beta program and delivering over the air updates automatically.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://developers.slashdot.org/story/25/07/10/2329218/google-replaces-android-developer-preview-with-rolling-canary-channel?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

The city of Centerville, Ohio has deployed AI-enabled garbage trucks that scan residents' trash and send personalized postcards scolding them for improper recycling. Dayton Daily News reports: "Reducing contamination in our recycling system lowers processing costs and improves the overall efficiency of our collection," City Manager Wayne Davis said in a statement regarding the AI pilot program. "This technology allows us to target problem areas, educate residents and make better use of city resources." Residents whose items don't meet the guidelines will be notified via a personalized postcard, one that tells them which items are not accepted and provides tips on proper recycling.

The total contract amount for the project is $74,945, which is entirely funded through a Montgomery County Solid Waste District grant, Centerville spokeswoman Kate Bostdorff told this news outlet. The project launched Monday, Bostdorff said. "A couple of the trucks have been collecting baseline recycling data, and we have been working through software training for a few weeks now," she said. [...] Centerville said it will continually evaluate how well the AI system works and use what it learns during the pilot project to "guide future program enhancements."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/07/10/2338216/ohio-city-using-ai-equipped-garbage-trucks-to-scan-your-trash-scold-you-for-not-recycling?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Automated surgery could be trialled on humans within a decade, say researchers, after an AI-trained robot armed with tools to cut, clip and grab soft tissue successfully removed pig gall bladders without human help. The robot surgeons were schooled on video footage of human medics conducting operations using organs taken from dead pigs. In an apparent research breakthrough, eight operations were conducted on pig organs with a 100% success rate by a team led by experts at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore in the US. [...]

The technology allowing robots to handle complex soft tissues such as gallbladders, which release bile to aid digestion, is rooted in the same type of computerized neural networks that underpin widely used artificial intelligence tools such as Chat GPT or Google Gemini. The surgical robots were slightly slower than human doctors but they were less jerky and plotted shorter trajectories between tasks. The robots were also able to repeatedly correct mistakes as they went along, asked for different tools and adapted to anatomical variation, according to a peer-reviewed paper published in the journal Science Robotics. The authors from Johns Hopkins, Stanford and Columbia universities called it "a milestone toward clinical deployment of autonomous surgical systems." [...]

In the Johns Hopkins trial, the robots took just over five minutes to carry out the operation, which required 17 steps including cutting the gallbladder away from its connection to the liver, applying six clips in a specific order and removing the organ. The robots on average corrected course without any human help six times in each operation. "We were able to perform a surgical procedure with a really high level of autonomy," said Axel Krieger, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Johns Hopkins. "In prior work, we were able to do some surgical tasks like suturing. What we've done here is really a full procedure. We have done this on eight gallbladders, where the robot was able to perform precisely the clipping and cutting step of gallbladder removal without any human intervention. "So I think it's a really big landmark study that such a difficult soft tissue surgery is possible to do autonomously." Currently, nearly all of the NHS's 70,000 annual robotic surgeries are human-controlled, but the UK plans to expand robot-assisted procedures to 90% within the next decade.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/25/07/10/2348238/ai-trained-surgical-robot-removes-pig-gallbladders-without-any-human-help?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Компания Google объявила об изменении организации тестирования находящихся в разработке будущих выпусков платформы Android. Прекращена публикация отдельных предварительных выпусков Android Developer Preview, вместо которых предложена отдельная постоянно существующая ветка Android Canary, позволяющая разработчикам приложений на ранних стадиях тестировать вносимые в API изменения и улучшения. Формирование бета-выпусков Android, в которых акцент делается не на ознакомлении с новыми API, а на тестировании видимой пользователю функциональности, продолжится без изменений.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=63567

Senator Dick Durbin questioned a Texas-led effort to move Space Shuttle Discovery from the Smithsonian to Space Center Houston, describing it as an expensive "heist" costing an estimated $305 million, not the $85 million initially budgeted. "This is not a transfer. It's a heist," said Durbin during a budget markup hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee. "A heist by Texas because they lost a competition 12 years ago." In April, Texas Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz introduced legislation to move the Space Shuttle Discovery from Virginia to Houston, which ultimately passed into law on July 4 as part of the "One Big Beautiful Bill." Ars Technica reports: "In the reconciliation bill, Texas entered $85 million to move the space shuttle from the National Air and Space Museum in Chantilly, Virginia, to Texas. Eighty-five million dollars sounds like a lot of money, but it is not nearly what's necessary for this to be accomplished," Durbin said. Citing research by NASA and the Smithsonian, Durbin said that the total was closer to $305 million and that did not include the estimated $178 million needed to build a facility to house and display Discovery once in Houston.

Furthermore, it was unclear if Congress even has the right to remove an artifact, let alone a space shuttle, from the Smithsonian's collection. The Washington, DC, institution, which serves as a trust instrumentality of the US, maintains that it owns Discovery. The paperwork signed by NASA in 2012 transferred "all rights, interest, title, and ownership" for the spacecraft to the Smithsonian. "This will be the first time ever in the history of the Smithsonian someone has taken one of their displays and forcibly taken possession of it. What are we doing here? They don't have the right in Texas to claim this," said Durbin. [...]

To be able to bring up his points at Thursday's hearing, Durbin introduced the "Houston, We Have a Problem" amendment to "prohibit the use of funds to transfer a decommissioned space shuttle from one location to another location." He then withdrew the amendment after having voiced his objections. "I think we're dealing with something called waste. Eighty-five million dollars worth of waste. I know that this is a controversial issue, and I know that there are other agencies, Smithsonian, NASA, and others that are interested in this issue; I'm going to withdraw this amendment, but I'm going to ask my colleagues be honest about it," said Durbin. "I hope that we think about this long and hard."

"I am glad to see this pass as part of the Senate's One Big Beautiful Bill and look forward to welcoming Discovery to Houston and righting this egregious wrong," Cornyn said in a statement. "Houston has long been the cornerstone of our nation's human space exploration program, and it's long overdue for Space City to receive the recognition it deserves by bringing Space Shuttle Discovery home."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/07/11/0349227/senator-calls-out-texas-for-trying-to-steal-shuttle-from-smithsonian?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Ком­па­ния Google объ­яви­ла об из­ме­не­нии ор­га­ни­за­ции те­сти­ро­ва­ния на­хо­дя­щих­ся в раз­ра­бо­тке бу­ду­щих вы­пу­сков плат­фор­мы An­dro­id. Пре­кра­ще­на пуб­ли­ка­ция от­дель­ных пре­два­ри­тель­ных вы­пу­сков An­dro­id De­ve­lo­per Pre­view, вме­сто ко­то­рых пред­ло­же­на от­дель­ная по­сто­ян­но су­ще­ству­ющая ве­тка An­dro­id Ca­nary, поз­во­ля­ющая раз­ра­бот­чи­кам при­ло­же­ний на ран­них ста­ди­ях те­сти­ро­вать вно­си­мые в API из­ме­не­ния и улуч­ше­ния. Фор­ми­ро­ва­ние бе­та-вы­пу­сков Android, в ко­то­рых ак­цент де­ла­ет­ся не на оз­на­ком­ле­нии с но­вы­ми API, а на те­сти­ро­ва­нии ви­ди­мой поль­зо­ва­те­лю фун­кци­ональ­но­сти, про­дол­жит­ся без из­ме­не­ний.

( [ читать дальше... ]( https://www.linux.org.ru/news/android/18024861#cut ) )

A new study found that psilocybin treatment significantly delayed cellular aging, extending human cell lifespan by over 50% and increasing survival in aged mice by 30%. The compound appeared to achieve these effects by reducing oxidative stress, preserving telomeres, and improving DNA repair. Neuroscience News reports: A newly published study in Nature Partner Journals' Aging demonstrates that psilocin, a byproduct of consuming psilocybin, the active ingredient in psychedelic mushrooms, extended the cellular lifespan of human skin and lung cells by more than 50%. In parallel, researchers also conducted the first long-term in vivo study evaluating the systemic effects of psilocybin in aged mice of 19 months, or the equivalent of 60-65 human years. Results indicated that the mice that received an initial low dose of psilocybin of 5 mg, followed by a monthly high dose of 15 mg for 10 months, had a 30% increase in survival compared to mice that did not receive any. These mice also displayed healthier physical features, such as improved fur quality, fewer white hairs and hair regrowth.

While traditionally researched for its mental health benefits, this study suggests that psilocybin impacts multiple hallmarks of aging by reducing oxidative stress, improving DNA repair responses, and preserving telomere length. Telomeres are the structured ends of a chromosome, protecting it from damage that could lead to the formation of age-related diseases, such as cancer, neurodegeneration, or cardiovascular disease. These foundational processes influence human aging and the onset of these chronic diseases. The study concludes that psilocybin may have the potential to revolutionize anti-aging therapies and could be an impactful intervention in an aging population.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/07/11/0354259/psilocybin-treatment-extends-cellular-lifespan-improves-survival-of-aged-mice?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Исследователи безопасности из компании Secure Annex обратили внимание на рост популярности нового метода монетизации браузерных дополнений, при котором из пользователей дополнений формируется распределённая сеть, применяемая для скрапинга (индексации содержимого сайтов). Системы пользователей используют в качестве web-ботов и прокси для скачивания содержимого сайтов - установленное браузерное дополнение получает с внешнего сервера инструкции по индексации сайтов, после чего в отдельном скрытом iframe запускает загрузку запрошенного контента и передаёт полученные данные внешнему сервису. В каталогах Chrome, Firefox и Edge применение данной схемы монетизации выявлено в 245 дополнениях, в сумме насчитывающих 909 тысяч установок.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=63568

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Dexerto: It's been ten years since YouTube first introduced its trending page in 2015, and the platform is finally sunsetting the program in favor of a new system. [...] As announced by YouTube in a support thread on July 10, 2025, the site is now set on introducing Charts, a new system for ranking popular content on its platform. "Back when we first launched the Trending page in 2015, the answer to 'What's trending?' was a lot simpler to capture with a singular list of viral videos that everyone was talking about," the post reads. "But today, trends consist of many videos created by many fandoms, and there are more micro-trends enjoyed by diverse communities than ever before."

As a result, YouTube says that its Trending page has seen "significantly" less traffic in the last five years, prompting them to make a change. Now, YouTube Charts will break up trends from one, all-encompassing page into separate, category-specific lists. The current Trending page will be moved to a Trending Now section, where the site's most popular content overall will be shown. However, viewers can now look for specific trends in certain categories on YouTube Charts for things like music videos, top podcasts, movie trailers and more. In the meantime, YouTube says that its Gaming Explore page will be home to trending gaming videos, and it will continue to serve personalized content to users via recommendations on their home feeds.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/07/11/0359240/youtube-is-shutting-down-its-trending-page-after-10-years?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Fertility rates have fallen to historically low levels [PDF] in virtually all high-income countries due to a fundamental reordering of adult priorities rather than economic factors, according to a new National Bureau of Economic Research study. Economists Melissa Schettini Kearney and Phillip B. Levine analyzed cohort data and found rising childlessness at all observed ages alongside falling completed fertility rates.

Total fertility rates have dropped below replacement level in nearly all OECD countries, with many sustaining rates below 1.5. Some East Asian countries including South Korea, Singapore, and China now have fertility rates at or below one child per woman. The researchers concluded that period-based explanations focused on short-term income or price changes cannot explain the widespread decline. Instead, evidence points to "shifting priorities" involving changing norms, evolving economic opportunities, and broader social and cultural forces that have diminished parenthood's role in adult lives.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/07/11/0755248/why-is-fertility-so-low-in-high-income-countries?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

The University of Washington's Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering is overhauling its approach to computer science education as AI reshapes the tech industry. Director Magdalena Balazinska has declared that "coding, or the translation of a precise design into software instructions, is dead" because AI can now handle that work.

The Pacific Northwest's premier tech program now allows students to use GPT tools in assignments, requiring them to cite AI as a collaborator just as they would credit input from a fellow student. The school is considering "coordinated changes to our curriculum" after encouraging professors to experiment with AI integration.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://developers.slashdot.org/story/25/07/11/1418225/coding-is-dead-university-of-washington-cs-program-rethinks-curriculum-for-the-ai-era?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader shares a report: HMD Global, the company best known for licensing the Nokia brand for new phones and tablets over the last decade, has announced that it will "scale back" its US operations, and appears to have stopped selling both HMD and Nokia devices entirely.

[...] Based in Finland, HMD was formed in 2016 in order to purchase the Nokia feature phone business from Microsoft, which had in turn bought the ailing brand in 2014. It also secured a license to use the Nokia name on smartphones and tablets, with a focus on affordable and midrange hardware.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/07/11/1425212/hmd-scaling-back-in-the-us-killing-nokia-all-over-again?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader shares a report: JPMorgan Chase boss Jamie Dimon did not pull his punches when he spoke at Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs.

"You're losing," he said of European competitiveness with the U.S. and Asia, in comments reported by the Financial Times. "Europe has gone from 90% U.S. GDP to 65% over 10 or 15 years. That's not good."

"We've got this huge, strong market and our companies are big and successful, have huge kinds of scale that are global. You have that, but less and less," Dimon said on Thursday.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/07/11/1432259/jamie-dimons-blunt-message-for-europe-youre-losing?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

A Russian professional basketball player has been arrested in France at the request of the United States, which reportedly accused him of being involved in a ransomware group that allegedly targeted hundreds of American companies and federal institutions. From a report: Daniil Kasatkin, 26, was detained in June at Paris's Charles de Gaulle Airport shortly after arriving in the country with his fiancee, according to local media reports. He is currently being held in extradition custody, with a U.S. warrant reportedly issued against him. Kasatkin previously studied and played basketball in the U.S., at Penn State University.

The unnamed ransomware network Kasatkin is suspected of being part of is believed to have targeted nearly 900 entities between 2020 and 2022. Local media, citing court proceedings in Paris, reported that Kasatkin allegedly helped negotiate ransom payments, though the extent of the damage caused by the attacks has not been disclosed.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/07/11/1515207/russian-basketball-player-arrested-in-france-over-alleged-ransomware-ties?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

New submitter RJFerret shares a Belkin support page: After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to end technical support for older Wemo products, effective January 31, 2026. After this date, several Wemo products will no longer be controllable through the Wemo app. Any features that rely on cloud connectivity, including remote access and voice assistant integrations, will no longer work.'

List of devices found in the link (four Thread based unaffected).

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/07/11/1520202/belkin-ending-support-for-most-wemo-smart-devices?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.