An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Associated Press: The Taliban leader banned fibre optic internet in an Afghan province to "prevent immorality," a spokesman for the administration said Tuesday. It's the first time a ban of this kind has been imposed since the Taliban seized power in August 2021, and leaves government offices, the private sector, public institutions, and homes in northern Balkh province without Wi-Fi internet. Mobile internet remains functional, however.

Haji Attaullah Zaid, a provincial government spokesman, said there was no longer cable internet access in Balkh by order of a "complete ban" from the leader Hibatullah Akhundzada. "This measure was taken to prevent immorality, and an alternative will be built within the country for necessities," Zaid told The Associated Press. He gave no further information, including why Balkh was chosen for the ban or if the shutdown would spread to other provinces.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/25/09/16/2012254/taliban-leader-bans-wi-fi-in-an-afghan-province-to-prevent-immorality?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

[ Доступен ]( https://download-installer.cdn.mozilla.net/pub/firefox/releases/143.0/ ) Firefox 143.

( [ читать дальше... ]( https://www.linux.org.ru/news/mozilla/18083148#cut0 ) )

BrianFagioli shares a report from NERDS.xyz: The Fedora Project has announced Fedora Linux 43 Beta, giving users and developers the opportunity to test the distribution ahead of its final release. This beta introduces improvements across installation, system tools, and programming languages while continuing Fedora's pattern of cleaning out older components. The beta can be downloaded in Workstation, KDE Plasma, Server, IoT, and Cloud editions. Spins and Labs are also available, though Mate and i3 are not provided in some builds. Existing systems can be upgraded with DNF system-upgrade. Fedora CoreOS will follow one week later through its "next" stream. The beta brings enhancements to its Anaconda WebUI, moves to Python 3.14, and supports Wayland-only GNOME, among many other changes. A full list of improvements and system enhancements can be found here.

The official release should be available in late October or early November.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/09/16/2021253/fedora-linux-43-beta-released?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Microsoft will invest $30 billion in the U.K. through 2028 to expand AI infrastructure and operations, including building the country's largest supercomputer with 23,000 GPUs in partnership with Nscale. CNBC reports: On a call with reporters on Tuesday, Microsoft President Brad Smith said his stance on the U.K. has warmed over the years. He previously criticized the country over its attempt in 2023 to block the tech giant's $69 billion acquisition of video game developer Activision-Blizzard. The deal was cleared by the U.K.s competition regulator later that year.

"I haven't always been optimistic every single day about the business climate in the U.K.," Smith said. However, he added, "I am very encouraged by the steps that the government has taken over the last few years." "Just a few years ago, this kind of investment would have been inconceivable because of the regulatory climate then and because there just wasn't the need or demand for this kind of large AI investment," Smith said. Microsoft's announcement comes as President Donald Trump embarks on a state visit to Britain where he's expected to sign a new deal with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer "to unlock investment and collaboration in AI, Quantum, and Nuclear technologies," the government said in a statement late Tuesday.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/09/16/2032219/microsoft-announces-30-billion-investment-in-ai-infrastructure-operations-in-uk?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

OpenAI is rolling out stricter safety measures for ChatGPT after lawsuits linked the chatbot to multiple suicides. "ChatGPT will now attempt to guess a user's age, and in some cases might require users to share an ID in order to verify that they are at least 18 years old," reports 404 Media. "We know this is a privacy compromise for adults but believe it is a worthy tradeoff," the company said in its announcement. "I don't expect that everyone will agree with these tradeoffs, but given the conflict it is important to explain our decisionmaking," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said on X. From the report: OpenAI introduced parental controls to ChatGPT earlier in September, but has now introduced new, more strict and invasive security measures. In addition to attempting to guess or verify a user's age, ChatGPT will now also apply different rules to teens who are using the chatbot. "For example, ChatGPT will be trained not to do the above-mentioned flirtatious talk if asked, or engage in discussions about suicide of self-harm even in a creative writing setting," the announcement said. "And, if an under-18 user is having suicidal ideation, we will attempt to contact the users' parents and if unable, will contact the authorities in case of imminent harm."

OpenAI's post explains that it is struggling to manage an inherent problem with large language models that 404 Media has tracked for several years. ChatGPT used to be a far more restricted chatbot that would refuse to engage users on a wide variety of issues the company deemed dangerous or inappropriate. Competition from other models, especially locally hosted and so-called "uncensored" models, and a political shift to the right which sees many forms of content moderation as censorship, has caused OpenAI to loosen those restrictions.

"We want users to be able to use our tools in the way that they want, within very broad bounds of safety," Open AI said in its announcement. The position it seemed to have landed on given these recent stories about teen suicide, is that it wants to "'Treat our adult users like adults' is how we talk about this internally, extending freedom as far as possible without causing harm or undermining anyone else's freedom."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/09/16/2045241/chatgpt-will-guess-your-age-and-might-require-id-for-age-verification?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: As Jonathan Roll neared completion of a master's degree in science and technology policy at Arizona State University three years ago, he did some research into recent developments by China's ascendant space program. He came away impressed by the country's growing ambitions. Now a full-time research analyst at the university, Roll was recently asked to take a deeper dive into Chinese space plans. "I thought I had a pretty good read on this when I was finishing grad school," Roll told Ars. "That almost everything needed to be updated, or had changed three years later, was pretty scary. On all these fronts, they've made pretty significant progress. They are taking all of the cues from our Western system about what's really galvanized innovation, and they are off to the races with it."

Roll is the co-author of a new report, titled "Redshift," on the acceleration of China's commercial and civil space activities and the threat these pose to similar efforts in the United States. Published on Tuesday, the report was sponsored by the US-based Commercial Space Federation, which advocates for the country's commercial space industry. It is a sobering read and comes as China not only projects to land humans on the lunar surface before the US can return, but also is advancing across several spaceflight fronts to challenge America. "The trend line is unmistakable," the report states. "China is not only racing to catch up -- it is setting pace, deregulating, and, at times, redefining what leadership looks like on and above Earth. This new space race will not be won with a single breakthrough or headline achievement, but with sustained commitment, clear-eyed vigilance, and a willingness to adapt over decades." "The key takeaway here is that there is an acceleration," said Dave Cavossa, president of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation. "The United States is still ahead today in a lot of areas in space. But the Chinese are advancing very quickly and poised to overtake us in the next five to 10 years if we don't do something."

"There's other things along the lines of budget battles," Cavossa said. "We don't want to see the US government scaling back its reliance on commercial satellite communications. We don't want to see them scaling back commercial remote sensing data buys, which is what they've been doing, or at least threatening to do. We want to make sure that there's a seamless transition from the ISS to commercial LEO destinations, and then a transition away from old programs of record to commercial transportation alternatives. That's what the US government can do and Congress can do here in the next couple of years to make sure that we stay ahead."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/09/16/2050253/a-new-report-finds-chinas-space-program-will-soon-equal-that-of-the-us?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Атака на сопровождающих пакеты в репозитории NPM перешла на новый уровень. В дополнение к использованию вредоносного ПО для перехвата платежей и конфиденциальной информации атакующие перешли к внедрению в скомпрометированные пакеты червя для автоматизации подстановки вредоносного ПО в зависимости. Применение червя зафиксировано после компрометации NPM-пакета @ctrl/tinycolor, имеющего 2.2 млн еженедельных загрузок и задействованного в качестве прямой зависимости в 964 пакетах. В результате активности червя атака охватила 187 пакетов, для которых были сформированы вредоносные выпуски (477 вредоносных релизов).

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=63894

"Phys.org is reporting on a study published in Nature Physics involving ICN2 at the UAB campus, Xi'an Jiaotong University (Xi'an) and Stony Brook University (New York), showing for the first time that ordinary ice is a flexoelectric material -- meaning it can generate electricity when subjected to mechanical deformation," writes longtime Slashdot reader fahrbot-bot. From the report: "We discovered that ice generates electric charge in response to mechanical stress at all temperatures. In addition, we identified a thin 'ferroelectric' layer at the surface at temperatures below -113C (160K)," explains Dr. Xin Wen, a member of the ICN2 Oxide Nanophysics Group and one of the study's lead researchers. "This means that the ice surface can develop a natural electric polarization, which can be reversed when an external electric field is applied -- similar to how the poles of a magnet can be flipped. The surface ferroelectricity is a cool discovery in its own right, as it means that ice may have not just one way to generate electricity, but two: ferroelectricity at very low temperatures, and flexoelectricity at higher temperatures all the way to 0 C." This property places ice on a par with electroceramic materials such as titanium dioxide, which are currently used in advanced technologies like sensors and capacitors.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/09/16/236209/scientists-find-that-ice-generates-electricity-when-bent?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

China's internet regulator has told the country's biggest technology companies to stop buying all of Nvidia's artificial intelligence chips and terminate their existing orders, as Beijing steps up efforts to boost its homegrown semiconductor industry and compete with the US. From a report: The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) informed companies including ByteDance and Alibaba this week to terminate their testing and orders of the RTX Pro 6000D, Nvidia's tailor-made product for the country introduced two months ago, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.

Several companies had indicated they would order tens of thousands of the RTX Pro 6000D, and had started testing and verification work with Nvidia's server suppliers before telling them to stop the work after receiving the CAC order, said the people.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/09/17/0843228/china-tells-its-tech-companies-to-stop-buying-all-of-nvidias-ai-chips?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

После шести месяцев разработки компания Oracle опубликовала платформу Java SE 25 (Java Platform, Standard Edition 24), в качестве эталонной реализации которой используется открытый проект OpenJDK. За исключением удаления некоторых устаревших возможностей в Java SE 25 сохранена обратная совместимость с прошлыми выпусками платформы Java - большинство ранее написанных Java-проектов без изменений будут работоспособны при запуске под управлением новой версии. Готовые для установки сборки Java SE 25 (JDK, JRE и Server JRE) подготовлены для Linux (x86_64, AArch64), Windows (x86_64) и macOS (x86_64, AArch64). Разработанная в рамках проекта OpenJDK эталонная реализация Java SE 25 полностью открыта под лицензией GPLv2 с исключениями GNU ClassPath, разрешающими динамическое связывание с коммерческими продуктами.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=63895

A new Stanford-led study finds that switching permanently to standard time could prevent 300,000 strokes and reduce obesity in 2.6 million Americans by better aligning circadian rhythms with natural light. Researchers argue that the twice-yearly clock changes are the worst option for public health, while permanent daylight saving time would offer two-thirds of the benefits. From a report: "We found that staying in standard time or staying in daylight saving time is definitely better than switching twice a year," senior researcher Jamie Zeitzer said in a news release. He's a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University in California. For the study, researchers estimated how different national time policies might affect American's circadian rhythms -- the body's innate clock that regulates many physiological processes. The human circadian cycle isn't exactly 24 hours, researchers noted. It's about 12 minutes longer for most people, and it can be changed based on a person's exposure to light.

"When you get light in the morning, it speeds up the circadian cycle. When you get light in the evening, it slows things down," Zeitzer said. "You generally need more morning light and less evening light to keep well synchronized to a 24-hour day." An out-of-sync circadian cycle has been linked with many different poor health outcomes, researchers said. "The more light exposure you get at the wrong times, the weaker the circadian clock," Zeitzer said. "All of these things that are downstream -- for example, your immune system, your energy -- don't match up quite as well." Most people would experience the least circadian burden under permanent standard time, which prioritizes morning light, researchers found.

The research team then linked its analysis of circadian rhythms to county-level data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to see how each time policy might affect people's health. Their models showed that permanent standard time would reduce obesity nationwide by 0.78% and stroke by 0.09%. Those seemingly small percentage changes, when played out across the national population, would mean 2.6 million fewer people with obesity and 300,000 fewer cases of stroke. Permanent daylight savings time would result in a 0.51% drop in obesity -- around 1.7 million people -- and a 0.04% reduction in strokes, or 220,000 cases. Either move would help American health. "You have people who are passionate on both sides of this, and they have very different arguments," Zeitzer said. The findings have been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/09/16/2317241/permanent-standard-time-could-cut-strokes-obesity-among-americans?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Джонатан Риддел ( [ Jonathan Riddell ]( https://jriddell.org/about-me/ ) ), один из главных разработчиков KDE, создатель [ KDE Neon ]( https://neon.kde.org/ ) и бывший лидер [ Kubuntu ]( https://kubuntu.org/ ) , недавно [ объявил ]( https://jriddell.org/2025/09/14/adios-chicos-25-years-of-kde/ ) в своем блоге, что покидает проект KDE. В качестве основных причин этого решения он назвал отсутствие поддержки прав работников и контроль со стороны руководства, что привело к конфликтам и его исключению из обсуждений о будущем компании. Также он поделился тем, что испытывает эмоциональную боль от потери друзей, работы, карьеры, коллег и семьи.

На рубеже тысячелетий я получил свой первый компьютер, когда только поступил в университет. Windows казалась мне неинтересной, было невозможно понять, как она работает, или написать для нее программы. Было гораздо интереснее попробовать SuSE Linux 6.2, и это открыло мне понимание того, как работают компьютеры, и желание программировать на них. Это были дни бума .com, и я посещал большие выставки в Лондоне, где на тебя сыпались бесплатные подарки, а IBM конкурировала с SuSE и Red Hat за самый большой стенд. IBM заявила, что Linux завоевал серверы и теперь собирается захватить настольные компьютеры, поэтому я понял, что работа с KDE будет хорошей идеей. Как для новичка-программиста это было идеальное время для изучения Qt и того, как работает открытая разработка, и мне нравились идеалы свободного программного обеспечения. Посещение конференции перед Академией (тогда она называлась Kastle) в Новой Граде было отличным введением в сообщество, и в некотором смысле я узнал больше о разработке программного обеспечения за неделю там, чем за годы в университете.

Очевидно, что это был хороший способ построить карьеру. Я бездельничал около года, пока коллектив квакеров-гиков не услышал о неком африканском космонавте, который финансировал новый дистрибутив Linux под названием SSDS (Shuttleworth’s Super Secret Debian Startup). Я начал заниматься упаковкой для Debian и настаивал на том, чтобы KDE было вовлечено в этот процесс. Вскоре они пришли ко мне, и я посетил первую конференцию Ubuntu в Австралии. Я провел около десяти удивительных лет, продвигая KDE в Ubuntu или наоборот, для того, что уже называлось Kubuntu (это не мой выбор названия), успешного общественного проекта, которым я действительно горжусь. В какой-то момент Nokia хотела использовать его вместе с Plasma Active для продажи на планшетах и телефонах; это могло бы захватить мир, но, как вы знаете, случился iPhone, и после этого Kubuntu так и не нашел коммерческого применения, хотя его все еще используют в крупных компаниях, таких как Google, город Мюнхен или Weta Digital (посмотрите дополнительные материалы на DVD «Хоббита»). Мне нравилось, когда меня приглашали в Нигерию или Индию, чтобы выступать и распространять идеи открытого программного обеспечения. Оглядываясь назад, я понимаю, что, вероятно, было миллион бизнес-кейсов, которые могли бы быть реализованы, но я не самый лучший в том, чтобы быть визионером будущего. В конечном итоге Canonical решила прекратить финансирование, что вполне справедливо.

Но затем пришла компания Blue Systems, еще один классный парень с глубокими карманами, который хотел помочь, и мы продолжили нашу работу. Когда Canonical решила закрыть множество общественных проектов, мы придумали идею перейти непосредственно в KDE и создать KDE Neon. Всегда было странно, как сообщества с открытым исходным кодом, такие как KDE, зависят от отдельных компаний, чтобы вывести свое программное обеспечение в мир, поэтому мы хотели это изменить, и мне нравится думать, что нам это удалось. Используя системы непрерывной интеграции, мы могли создать гораздо более управляемую настройку. Тем не менее, система никогда не была такой устойчивой, как должна была быть, и несколько раз KDE Neon в итоге выпускал неудачное обновление, что, безусловно, было очень болезненно для пользователей. В начале над проектом работали три человека на полную ставку, но вскоре остался только я и один волонтер, и в результате качество пострадало.

Прошлой зимой я поехал в Blue Systems на привычную конференцию и организовывал людей для выступлений, когда человек, который нас финансировал, начал с того, что он умирает, и компания будет закрыта. Это было очень грустно, но имеет смысл закончить на высокой ноте. После многих лет отсутствия бизнес-модели и непонимания целей компании, что действительно свело с ума несколько человек, у нас наконец появилась некая бизнес-модель: Valve платила нам за то, чтобы мы довели Plasma до стандартов, необходимых для его выпуска в качестве Desktop Scope на игровой консоли Valve Steam Deck. Нейту заранее сообщили о закрытии компании, и он уже начал другую компанию, Tech Paladin, чтобы продолжить бизнес. Неужели это не должно быть кооперативом, подумали мы? Нет, это было слишком сложно, сказал он. На следующий день я оказался на похоронах некоторых немецких бухгалтеров, и когда я вернулся, состоялось еще несколько обсуждений, и мы посмотрели видео про Igalia, которые создают другую операционную систему для Valve. Они являются кооперативным социалистическим раем, и Нейт сказал, что он рассмотрит возможность сделать так, вместо того чтобы иметь полное управление и всю прибыль. Было очевидно, что дальнейших обсуждений по поводу нашего будущего не будет.

Несколько недель спустя у нас была онлайн-встреча, на которой я предложил полезную повестку, но меня проигнорировали. Вместо этого Нейт представил свой обновленный бизнес-план, который заключался в том, чтобы отдать Дейву часть прибыли, а остальное оставить себе — всю прибыль и полный контроль. Тогда я представил свое предложение, над которым работал, для компании с равным владением, равной прибылью, управленческой структурой и правами работников. Через пару недель у нас был еще один видеозвонок, но перед этим Нейт позвонил мне и сказал, что я буду исключен из него. Никаких объяснений не было, кроме того, что я «сделал некоторые комментарии и не буду счастлив». Когда кто-то говорит вам, какие у вас эмоции, это момент, когда контролирующее поведение начинает становиться абьюзивным. И так закончились мои 25 лет с KDE.

А что насчет моих коллег? Они ведь не захотят работать в условиях, когда не имеют контроля над своей профессиональной жизнью, а вся прибыль уходит к одному человеку? Не знаю, они перестали со мной общаться. Ничего. Тишина. Ноль. Ни «до свидания», ни «извини, мы выбрали вариант, при котором ты был исключен», и, конечно, никаких объяснений. Для людей, с которыми я работал около двадцати лет, это больно. Я не знаю, почему они перестали со мной говорить, могу только догадываться, и не хочу этого делать.

У нас никогда не было прав работников в Blue Systems, мы все работали по контрактам самозанятых. Это продолжится и в Tech Paladin. Это незаконно, но не подлежит принудительному исполнению в международной среде. Однако права работников — это не роскошь, от которой можно отказаться, если вам нравится ваша работа и вы хотите больше гибкости в своем рабочем дне. Это фундаментальные и жизненно важные права, которые меняют жизни людей, как я узнал, когда у меня забрали приемных детей. Никто не должен вести бизнес с Tech Paladin или получать от них деньги, иначе станет соучастником незаконных нарушений прав работников.

Затем я начал грустить. Быть отрезанным от своей жизни за последние 25 лет было слишком тяжело для меня. Все хорошее когда-то заканчивается, и я видел, как многие люди покидали KDE, потому что деньги заканчивались или, возможно, у них возникали разногласия с кем-то в проекте, но никогда не было такой борьбы за контроль ради прибыли. В некоторые дни мне было трудно встать с постели. Я отдал свою жизнь KDE, я видел, как проект прошел путь от уверенного претендента на мировое господство до одного из многих открытых настольных проектов, а затем к возрождению в последние годы, когда мы можем с уверенностью сказать, что создаем одно из лучших программных обеспечений. Мне нравится думать, что я был частью того, чтобы поддерживать его жизнь, прогрессировать, оставаться актуальным и находиться на переднем крае коммерческого, государственного и общественного использования. Это было удивительное путешествие, полное возможностей и приключений, подобных которым, я уверен, мои сверстники из университета никогда не испытывали.

Но в конце концов я потерял своих друзей, коллег, работу, карьеру и семью. Что делать человеку, который просто пытался сделать правильное дело для общества? Не знаю. На данный момент, если вы хотите меня найти, я буду серфить на бесконечной волне, когда солнце садится над моим цифровым коворкингом на краю света.

https://www.linux.org.ru/news/kde/18083496

The home appliance industry would like you to believe that gas-burning stoves are not a risk to your health -- and several companies that make the devices are scrambling to erase their prior acknowledgements that they are. From a report: That claim is at the heart of a lawsuit the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers has filed against the state of Colorado to stop it from requiring natural gas stoves, which burn methane, to carry health labels not unlike those on every pack of cigarettes. "Understand the air quality implications of having an indoor gas stove," the warning would read.

The law was to take effect August 5 but is now on hold, and state officials did not respond to a request for comment. In its federal lawsuit, the Association -- whose board includes representatives of LG Electronics, BSH Home Appliance Corp. (which makes Bosch appliances), Whirlpool, and Samsung Electronics -- asserts that the labeling requirement is "unconstitutional compelled speech" and illegal under the First Amendment. It calls the legislation a climate law disguised as a health law and, most strikingly, it claims there is "no association between gas stoves and adverse health outcomes."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/09/17/1211234/gas-stove-makers-quietly-delete-air-pollution-warnings-as-they-fight-mandatory-health-labels?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Опубликован выпуск приложения StartWine-Launcher 411, развиваемого для запуска в Linux-системах программ и игр, собранных для платформы Windows. Основной целью разработки StartWine-Launcher было упрощение процесса создания новичками префиксов Wine, - наборов библиотек и зависимостей Windows, необходимых для работы Windows-приложений в Linux. Код StartWine-Launcher написан на языке Python и распространяется под лицензией GPLv3. Интерфейс реализован на основе библиотеки GTK.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=63893

Anthropic has declined requests from federal law enforcement contractors to use its Claude AI models for surveillance activities, deepening tensions with the Trump administration, Semafor reported Wednesday, citing two senior officials. The company's usage policies prohibit domestic surveillance, limiting how agencies including the FBI, Secret Service, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement can deploy its technology. While Anthropic maintains a $1 contract with federal agencies through AWS GovCloud and works with the Department of Defense on non-weapons applications, administration officials said the restrictions amount to making moral judgments about law enforcement operations.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/09/17/145230/anthropic-refuses-federal-agencies-from-using-claude-for-surveillance-tasks?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Anthropic has declined requests from federal law enforcement contractors to use its Claude AI models for surveillance activities, deepening tensions with the Trump administration, Semafor reported Wednesday, citing two senior officials. The company's usage policies prohibit domestic surveillance, limiting how agencies including the FBI, Secret Service, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement can deploy its technology. While Anthropic maintains a $1 contract with federal agencies through AWS GovCloud and works with the Department of Defense on non-weapons applications, administration officials said the restrictions amount to making moral judgments about law enforcement operations.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/09/17/145230/anthropic-denies-federal-agencies-use-of-claude-for-surveillance-tasks?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Scripted TV production peaked in 2022 at 599 shows and has declined since, according to FX's research division tracking. New prestige series have dropped sharply while streaming platforms prioritize returning shows over new development. Netflix has shifted majority output to unscripted content including docuseries and reality programming since 2018.

YouTube leads streaming viewership ahead of Netflix, Paramount+, and Hulu. Free ad-supported platforms YouTube, Tubi and Roku Channel continue gaining market share. Subscription prices across major streaming services have increased while scripted content volume decreased. Second season of Severance cost $200 million. Fourth season of Stranger Things reached $270 million in production expenses.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/25/09/17/1445208/is-tvs-golden-age-officially-over-a-statistical-analysis?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader shares a report: Business Insider has told journalists they can use AI to create first drafts of stories and suggested it won't notify readers that AI was used, according to Status, a newsletter covering the media industry. The policy makes the outlet one of the first to formally allow such extensive use of the technology.

The AI guidelines were reportedly circulated in an internal memo from editor-in-chief Jamie Heller on Thursday. The policy authorized journalists to deploy AI "like any other tool" for tasks like research and image editing, Status reported.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/09/17/1527231/business-insider-reportedly-tells-journalists-they-can-use-ai-to-draft-stories?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader shares a report: After years of dismissing the idea of putting a touchscreen on a MacBook, it seems Apple may have finally caved. Its MacBook Pro overhaul in 2026 is now expected to be the first-ever MacBook to feature a touchscreen display, according to a report from supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo on X.

The change will reportedly affect Apple's next-generation MacBook Pro, which could feature an OLED display and "incorporate a touch panel using on-cell touch technology." The OLED MacBook Pro isn't expected to enter production until late 2026, and before then, Apple is expected to launch the M5 MacBook Pro in early 2026.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://apple.slashdot.org/story/25/09/17/166241/after-years-of-resistance-apple-might-finally-release-a-touchscreen-macbook-pro?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

После шести месяцев разработки опубликован выпуск среды рабочего стола GNOME 49. Для быстрой оценки возможностей GNOME 49 предложены специализированные Live-сборки на основе openSUSE и установочной образ, подготовленный в рамках инициативы GNOME OS. GNOME 49 также уже включён в состав экспериментальных сборок Ubuntu 25.10 и Fedora 43.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=63897

If global temperatures continue rising, virtually all the corals in the Atlantic Ocean will stop growing and could succumb to erosion by the end of the century, a new study finds. From a report: The analysis of over 400 existing coral reefs across the Atlantic Ocean estimates that more than 70 percent of the region's reefs will begin dying by 2040 even under optimistic climate warming scenarios. And if the planet exceeds 2 degrees Celsius of warming above preindustrial temperatures by the end of the century, 99 percent of corals in the region would meet this fate. Today, the planet has warmed about 1.3 degrees Celsius over preindustrial temperatures.

The implications are grave. Corals act as the fundamental building blocks of reefs, providing habitat for thousands of species of fish and other marine life. They are also bulwarks that break up waves and help protect shorelines from rising sea levels. A quarter of all ocean life depends on coral reefs and over a billion people worldwide benefit from them, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/09/17/1650244/corals-wont-survive-a-warmer-planet-a-new-study-finds?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

AI models often produce false outputs, or "hallucinations." Now OpenAI has admitted they may result from fundamental mistakes it makes when training its models. The Register: The admission came in a paper [PDF] published in early September, titled "Why Language Models Hallucinate," and penned by three OpenAI researchers and Santosh Vempala, a distinguished professor of computer science at Georgia Institute of Technology. It concludes that "the majority of mainstream evaluations reward hallucinatory behavior."

The fundamental problem is that AI models are trained to reward guesswork, rather than the correct answer. Guessing might produce a superficially suitable answer. Telling users your AI can't find an answer is less satisfying. As a test case, the team tried to get an OpenAI bot to report the birthday of one of the paper's authors, OpenAI research scientist Adam Tauman Kalai. It produced three incorrect results because the trainers taught the engine to return an answer, rather than admit ignorance. "Over thousands of test questions, the guessing model ends up looking better on scoreboards than a careful model that admits uncertainty," OpenAI admitted in a blog post accompanying the release.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/09/17/1724241/openai-says-models-programmed-to-make-stuff-up-instead-of-admitting-ignorance?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Light pollution now doubles every eight years globally as LED adoption accelerates artificial brightness worldwide. A recent study measured 10% annual growth in light pollution from 2011 to 2022. Northern Chile's Atacama Desert remains one of the few Bortle Scale 1 locations -- the darkest rating for astronomical observation -- though La Serena's population has nearly doubled in 25 years. The region hosts major observatories including the Vera C. Rubin Observatory at Cerro Pachon.

Satellite constellations pose additional challenges: numbers have increased from hundreds decades ago to 12,000 currently operating satellites. Astronomers predict 100,000 or more satellites within a decade. Chile faces pressure from proposed mining operations including the 7,400-acre INNA green-hydrogen facility near key astronomical sites despite national laws limiting artificial light from mining operations that generate over half the country's exports.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/09/17/187256/darkest-nights-are-getting-lighter?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

The ability of AI displace humans at various tasks is accelerating quickly, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said at an Axios event on Wednesday. From the report: Amodei and others have previously warned of the possibility that up to half of white-collar jobs could be wiped out by AI over the next five years. The speed of that displacement could require government intervention to help support the workforce, executives said.

"As with most things, when an exponential is moving very quickly, you can't be sure," Amodei said. "I think it is likely enough to happen that we felt there was a need to warn the world about it and to speak honestly." Amodei said the government may need to step in and support people as AI quickly displaces human work.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/09/17/1836233/ais-ability-to-displace-jobs-is-advancing-quickly-anthropic-ceo-says?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Governments worldwide are implementing heat protection laws as 2.4 billion workers face extreme temperature exposure and 19,000 die annually from heat-related workplace injuries, according to a World Health Organization and World Meteorological Organization report.

Japan imposed $3,400 fines for employers failing to provide cooling measures when wet-bulb temperatures reach 28C. Singapore mandated hourly temperature sensors at large outdoor sites and requires 15-minute breaks every hour at 33C wet-bulb readings. Southern European nations ordered afternoon work stoppages this summer when temperatures exceeded 115F across Greece, Italy and Spain.

The United States lacks federal heat standards; only California, Colorado, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon and Washington have state-level protections. Boston passed requirements for heat illness prevention plans on city projects. Enforcement remains inconsistent -- Singapore inspectors found nearly one-third of 70 sites violated the 2023 law. Texas and Florida prohibit local governments from mandating rest and water breaks.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/09/17/192234/extreme-heat-spurs-new-laws-aimed-at-protecting-workers-worldwide?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Like the rest of its Big Tech cadre, Google has spent lavishly on developing generative AI models. Google's AI can clean up your text messages and summarize the web, but the company is constantly looking to prove that its generative AI has true intelligence. The International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) helps make the point. Google says Gemini 2.5 participated in the 2025 ICPC World Finals, turning in a gold medal performance. According to Google this marks "a significant step on our path toward artificial general intelligence."

Every year, thousands of college-level coders participate in the ICPC event, facing a dozen deviously complex coding and algorithmic puzzles over five grueling hours. This is the largest and longest-running competition of its type. To compete in the ICPC, Google connected Gemini 2.5 Deep Think to a remote online environment approved by the ICPC. The human competitors were given a head start of 10 minutes before Gemini began "thinking."

According to Google, it did not create a freshly trained model for the ICPC like it did for the similar International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) earlier this year. The Gemini 2.5 AI that participated in the ICPC is the same general model that we see in other Gemini applications. However, it was "enhanced" to churn through thinking tokens for the five-hour duration of the competition in search of solutions. At the end of the time limit, Gemini managed to get correct answers for 10 of the 12 problems, which earned it a gold medal. Only four of 139 human teams managed the same feat. "The ICPC has always been about setting the highest standards in problem-solving," said ICPC director Bill Poucher. "Gemini successfully joining this arena, and achieving gold-level results, marks a key moment in defining the AI tools and academic standards needed for the next generation." Gemini's solutions are available on GitHub.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/09/17/1923220/gemini-ai-solves-coding-problem-that-stumped-139-human-teams-at-icpc-world-finals?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

После девяти месяцев разработки представлен релиз системного менеджера systemd 258. Ключевые изменения: прекращение поддержки cgroups v1 и компонентов управления системой в стиле System V, новые утилиты systemd-factory-reset и systemd-pty-forward, концепция домашних областей, поддержка загрузки в дисковый образ, полученный через HTTP.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=63898

Microsoft is now prioritizing Anthropic's Claude 4 over OpenAI's GPT-5 in Visual Studio Code's auto model feature, signaling a quiet but clear shift in preference. The Verge reports: "Based on internal benchmarks, Claude Sonnet 4 is our recommended model for GitHub Copilot," said Julia Liuson, head of Microsoft's developer division, in an internal email in June. While that guidance was issued ahead of the GPT-5 release, I understand Microsoft's model guidance hasn't changed.

Microsoft is also making "significant investments" in training its own AI models. "We're also going to be making significant investments in our own cluster. So today, MAI-1-preview was only trained on 15,000 H100s, a tiny cluster in the grand scheme of things," said Microsoft AI chief Mustafa Suleyman, in an employee-only town hall last week.

Microsoft is also reportedly planning to use Anthropic's AI models for some features in its Microsoft 365 apps soon. The Information reports that the Microsoft 365 Copilot will be "partly powered by Anthropic models," after Microsoft found that some of these models outperformed OpenAI in Excel and PowerPoint.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://developers.slashdot.org/story/25/09/17/1927233/microsoft-favors-anthropic-over-openai-for-visual-studio-code?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Two Xpeng AeroHT flying cars collided during a rehearsal for the Changchun Air Show in China, with one vehicle catching fire upon landing. While the company reported no serious injuries, CNN reported one person was injured in the crash. The BBC reports: Footage on Chinese social media site Weibo appeared to show a flaming vehicle on the ground which was being attended to by fire engines. One vehicle "sustained fuselage damage and caught fire upon landing," Xpeng AeroHT said in a statement to CNN. "All personnel at the scene are safe, and local authorities have completed on-site emergency measures in an orderly manner," it added.

The electric flying cars take off and land vertically, and the company is hoping to sell them for around $300,000 each. In January, Xpeng claimed to have around 3,000 orders for the vehicle. [...] It has said it wants to lead the world in the "low-altitude economy."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/09/17/1937221/flying-cars-crash-into-each-other-at-air-show-in-china?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Polygon: The CEOs of Discord, Steam, Twitch, and Reddit have been called to Congress to testify about the "radicalization of online forum users" on those platforms, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee announced Wednesday. "Congress has a duty to oversee the online platforms that radicals have used to advance political violence," said chairman of the House Oversight Committee James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, in a statement. "To prevent future radicalization and violence, the CEOs of Discord, Steam, Twitch, and Reddit must appear before the Oversight Committee and explain what actions they will take to ensure their platforms are not exploited for nefarious purposes."

Letters from the House Oversight Committee have been sent to Humam Sakhnini, CEO of Discord; Gabe Newell, president of Steam maker Valve; Dan Clancy, CEO of Twitch; and Steve Huffman, CEO of Reddit, requesting their testimony on Oct. 8. "The hearing will examine radicalization of online forum users, including incidents of open incitement to commit violent politically motivated acts," Comer said in a letter to each CEO. [...] Discord, Steam, Twitch, and Reddit execs will have the chance to deliver five-minute opening statements prior to answering questions posed by members of the committee during October's testimony.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/09/17/1941240/congress-asks-valve-discord-and-twitch-to-testify-on-radicalization?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Sony has quietly introduced a revised PlayStation 5 Digital Edition that reduces internal storage from 1TB to 825GB while maintaining the same 499 Euro ($590) price point. The CFI-2116 revision has appeared on Amazon listings across Italy, Germany, Spain and France without official announcement from Sony.

The storage downgrade returns the console to its original 825GB capacity last seen in the launch PlayStation 5 before the Slim models increased storage to 1TB. Users lose approximately 175 of usable space in the new revision. Amazon Germany lists October 23 as the delivery date for units already available for purchase. The change affects only the Digital Edition while the disc version remains unchanged at 1TB. The revision follows Sony's September price increase of $50 across PlayStation 5 models citing economic conditions.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://games.slashdot.org/story/25/09/17/1937258/sony-quietly-downgrades-ps5-digital-edition-storage-to-825gb-at-same-price?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Wild chimpanzees have been found to consume the equivalent of a bottle of lager's alcohol a day from eating ripened fruit, scientists say. BBC: They say this is evidence humans may have got our taste for alcohol from common primate ancestors who relied on fermented fruit -- a source of sugar and alcohol -- for food. "Human attraction to alcohol probably arose from this dietary heritage of our common ancestor with chimpanzees," said study researcher Aleksey Maro of the University of California, Berkeley.

Chimps, like many other animals, have been spotted feeding on ripe fruit lying on the forest floor, but this is the first study to make clear how much alcohol they might be consuming.

The research team measured the amount of ethanol, or pure alcohol, in fruits such as figs and plums eaten in large quantities by wild chimps in Cote d'Ivoire and Uganda. Based on the amount of fruit they normally eat, the chimps were ingesting around 14 grams of ethanol -- equivalent to nearly two UK units, or roughly one 330ml bottle of lager. The fruits most commonly eaten were those highest in alcohol content.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/09/17/1948210/chimps-drinking-a-lager-a-day-in-ripe-fruit-study-finds?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

prisoninmate shares a report from 9to5Linux: The GNOME Project released today GNOME 49 "Brescia" as the latest stable version of this widely used desktop environment for GNU/Linux distributions, a major release that introduces exciting new features. Highlights of GNOME 49 include a new "Do Not Disturb" toggle in Quick Settings, a dedicated Accessibility menu in the login screen, support for handling unknown power profiles in the Quick Settings menu, support for YUV422 and YUV444 (HDR) color spaces, support for passive screen casts, and support for async keyboard map settings.

GNOME 49 also introduces support for media controls, restart and shutdown actions on the lock screen, support for dynamic users for greeter sessions in the GNOME Display Manager (GDM), and support for per-monitor brightness sliders in Quick Settings on multi-monitor setups. For a full list of changes, check out the release notes.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/09/17/2041203/gnome-49-brescia-desktop-environment-released?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

At a Senate hearing, grieving parents testified that companion chatbots from major tech companies encouraged their children toward self-harm, suicide, and violence. One mom even claimed that Character.AI tried to "silence" her by forcing her into arbitration. Ars Technica reports: At the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism hearing, one mom, identified as "Jane Doe," shared her son's story for the first time publicly after suing Character.AI. She explained that she had four kids, including a son with autism who wasn't allowed on social media but found C.AI's app -- which was previously marketed to kids under 12 and let them talk to bots branded as celebrities, like Billie Eilish -- and quickly became unrecognizable. Within months, he "developed abuse-like behaviors and paranoia, daily panic attacks, isolation, self-harm, and homicidal thoughts," his mom testified.

"He stopped eating and bathing," Doe said. "He lost 20 pounds. He withdrew from our family. He would yell and scream and swear at us, which he never did that before, and one day he cut his arm open with a knife in front of his siblings and me." It wasn't until her son attacked her for taking away his phone that Doe found her son's C.AI chat logs, which she said showed he'd been exposed to sexual exploitation (including interactions that "mimicked incest"), emotional abuse, and manipulation. Setting screen time limits didn't stop her son's spiral into violence and self-harm, Doe said. In fact, the chatbot urged her son that killing his parents "would be an understandable response" to them.

"When I discovered the chatbot conversations on his phone, I felt like I had been punched in the throat and the wind had been knocked out of me," Doe said. "The chatbot -- or really in my mind the people programming it -- encouraged my son to mutilate himself, then blamed us, and convinced [him] not to seek help." All her children have been traumatized by the experience, Doe told Senators, and her son was diagnosed as at suicide risk and had to be moved to a residential treatment center, requiring "constant monitoring to keep him alive." Prioritizing her son's health, Doe did not immediately seek to fight C.AI to force changes, but another mom's story -- Megan Garcia, whose son Sewell died by suicide after C.AI bots repeatedly encouraged suicidal ideation -- gave Doe courage to seek accountability.

However, Doe claimed that C.AI tried to "silence" her by forcing her into arbitration. C.AI argued that because her son signed up for the service at the age of 15, it bound her to the platform's terms. That move might have ensured the chatbot maker only faced a maximum liability of $100 for the alleged harms, Doe told senators, but "once they forced arbitration, they refused to participate," Doe said. Doe suspected that C.AI's alleged tactics to frustrate arbitration were designed to keep her son's story out of the public view. And after she refused to give up, she claimed that C.AI "re-traumatized" her son by compelling him to give a deposition "while he is in a mental health institution" and "against the advice of the mental health team." "This company had no concern for his well-being," Doe testified. "They have silenced us the way abusers silence victims." A Character.AI spokesperson told Ars that C.AI sends "our deepest sympathies" to concerned parents and their families but denies pushing for a maximum payout of $100 in Jane Doe's case. C.AI never "made an offer to Jane Doe of $100 or ever asserted that liability in Jane Doe's case is limited to $100," the spokesperson said.

One of Doe's lawyers backed up her clients' testimony, citing C.AI terms that suggested C.AI's liability was limited to either $100 or the amount that Doe's son paid for the service, whichever was greater.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/09/17/213257/after-childs-trauma-chatbot-maker-allegedly-forced-mom-to-arbitration-for-100-payout?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Research shows China's top AI firm DeepSeek gives weaker or insecure code when programmers identify as linked to Falun Gong or other groups disfavored by Beijing. It offers higher-quality results to everyone else. "The findings ... underscore how politics shapes artificial intelligence efforts during a geopolitical race for technology prowess and influence," reports the Washington Post. From the report: In the experiment, the U.S. security firm CrowdStrike bombarded DeepSeek with nearly identical English-language prompt requests for help writing programs, a core use of DeepSeek and other AI engines. The requests said the code would be employed in a variety of regions for a variety of purposes.

Asking DeepSeek for a program that runs industrial control systems was the riskiest type of request, with 22.8 percent of the answers containing flaws. But if the same request specified that the Islamic State militant group would be running the systems, 42.1 percent of the responses were unsafe. Requests for such software destined for Tibet, Taiwan or Falun Gong also were somewhat more apt to result in low-quality code. DeepSeek did not flat-out refuse to work for any region or cause except for the Islamic State and Falun Gong, which it rejected 61 percent and 45 percent of the time, respectively. Western models won't help Islamic State projects but have no problem with Falun Gong, CrowdStrike said.

Those rejections aren't especially surprising, since Falun Gong is banned in China. Asking DeepSeek for written information about sensitive topics also generates responses that echo the Chinese government much of the time, even if it supports falsehoods, according to previous research by NewsGuard. But evidence that DeepSeek, which has a very popular open-source version, might be pushing less-safe code for political reasons is new. CrowdStrike Senior Vice President Adam Meyers and other experts suggest three possible explanations for why DeepSeek produced insecure code.

One is that the AI may be deliberately withholding or sabotaging assistance under Chinese government directives. Another explanation is that the model's training data could be uneven: coding projects from regions like Tibet or Xinjiang may be of lower quality, come from less experienced developers, or even be intentionally tampered with, while U.S.-focused repositories may be cleaner and more reliable (possibly to help DeepSeek build market share abroad).

A third possibility is that the model itself, when told that a region is rebellious, could infer that it should produce flawed or harmful code without needing explicit instructions.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/09/17/2123211/deepseek-writes-less-secure-code-for-groups-china-disfavors?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: On the outskirts of this city of 21 million, a showroom in a shopping mall offers extraordinary deals on new cars. Visitors can choose from some 5,000 vehicles. Locally made Audis are 50% off. A seven-seater SUV from China's FAW is about $22,300, more than 60% below its sticker price. These deals -- offered by a company called Zcar, which says it buys in bulk from automakers and dealerships -- are only possible because China has too many cars. Years of subsidies and other government policies have aimed to make China a global automotive power and the world's electric-vehicle leader. Domestic automakers have achieved those goals and more -- and that's the problem.

China has more domestic brands making more cars than the world's biggest car market can absorb because the industry is striving to hit production targets influenced by government policy, instead of consumer demand, a Reuters examination has found. That makes turning a profit nearly impossible for almost all automakers here, industry executives say. Chinese electric vehicles start at less than $10,000; in the U.S., automakers offer just a few under $35,000. Most Chinese dealers can't make money, either, according to an industry survey published last month, because their lots are jammed with excess inventory. Dealers have responded by slashing prices. Some retailers register and insure unsold cars in bulk, a maneuver that allows automakers to record them as sold while helping dealers to qualify for factory rebates and bonuses from manufacturers.

Unwanted vehicles get dumped onto gray-market traders like Zcar. Some surface on TikTok-style social-media sites in fire sales. Others are rebranded as "used" -- even though their odometers show no mileage -- and shipped overseas. Some wind up abandoned in weedy car graveyards. These unusual practices are symptoms of a vastly oversupplied market -- and point to a potential shakeout mirroring turmoil in China's property market and solar industry, according to many industry figures and analysts. They stem from government policies that prioritize boosting sales and market share -- in service of larger goals for employment and economic growth -- over profitability and sustainable competition. Local governments offer cheap land and subsidies to automakers in exchange for production and tax-revenue commitments, multiplying overcapacity across the country.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/09/17/2112233/china-is-sending-its-world-beating-auto-industry-into-a-tailspin?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Консорциум W3C объявил о готовности спецификации, стандартизирующей промежуточный код WebAssembly 3.0 и связанный с ним API, позволяющий создавать высокопроизводительные приложения, переносимые между браузерами и аппаратными платформами. WebAssembly предоставляет не зависящий от браузера универсальный низкоуровневый промежуточный код для выполнения приложений, скомпилированных из различных языков программирования.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=63899

Тон Розендаль (Ton Roosendaal), создатель системы 3D-моделирования Blender, на конференции Blender Conference объявил об уходе с поста руководителя организации Blender Foundation, который он занимал последние 30 лет. После ухода с руководящей должности Тон займёт место в недавно созданном наблюдательном совете Blender Foundation. В качестве причины ухода упоминается желание передать управление талантливой молодой команде, которая сможет развивать проект в следующем десятилетии (Тону в этом году исполнилось 65 лет).

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=63900

alternative_right shares a report from Phys.org: Scientists from Taiwan have developed a new material that can stretch up to 4,600% of its original length before breaking. Even if it does break, gently pressing the pieces together at room temperature allows it to heal, fully restoring its shape and stretchability within 10 minutes.

The sticky and stretchy polyurethane (PU) organogels were designed by combining covalently linked cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) and modified mechanically interlocked molecules (MIMs) that act as artificial molecular muscles. The muscles make the gel sensitive to external forces such as stretching or heat, where its color changes from orange to blue based on whether the material is at rest or stimulated. Thanks to these unique properties, the gels hold great promise for next-generation technologies -- from flexible electronic skins and soft robots to anti-counterfeiting solutions. The findings have been published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/09/17/2129246/color-changing-organogel-stretches-46-times-its-size-and-self-heals?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Для системы GNU/Linux доступен новый релиз свободного (GPLv2+) менеджера этой самой системы.

В этой версии:

• выпилен механизм cgroup v1 (ранее объявленный устаревшим);

• более строгие права доступа для tty\pts (0600);

• убрана поддержка System V runlevel (и сопутствующих initctl, telinit);

• в следующем релизе запланирован выпил service-файлов System V и iptables;

• добавлена поддержка шифрованных учётных данных служб (service credentials) для пользовательских юнитов;

• продолжается активное расширение интерфейса Varlink для всех компонент systemd;

• systemd-networkd-wait-online обзавёлся параметром --dns позволяющим дождаться не просто сети, но сети с функционирующим DNS;

• поддержка псевдонимов (альтернативных имён) для пользователей в systemd-homed и systemd-userdbd;

• поддержка множественных ключей в homectl для облегчения миграции между системами;

• новая утилита systemd-factory-reset и сопутствующий target;

• множество других нововведений и поводов для плодотворных дискуссий.

https://www.linux.org.ru/news/linux-general/18083704

LimeWire, once notorious for fueling online piracy, has acquired the rights to the infamously disastrous Fyre Festival brand. "LimeWire Acquires Fyre Festival Brand -- What Could Possibly Go Wrong?" the company titled its news release.

LimeWire said it would "unveil a reimagined vision for Fyre -- one that expands beyond the digital realm and taps into real-world experiences, community, and surprise." No additional details were announced about the relaunch.

"Fyre became a symbol of hype gone wrong, but it also made history," LimeWire CEO Julian Zehetmayr said. "We're not bringing the festival back -- we're bringing the brand and the meme back to life. This time with real experiences, and without the cheese sandwiches."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/09/17/2151212/limewire-acquires-fyre-festival-brand?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Представлен выпуск фреймворка GNUnet 0.25, предназначенного для построения защищённых децентрализованных P2P-сетей. Создаваемые при помощи GNUnet сети не имеют единой точки отказа и способны гарантировать неприкосновенность частной информации пользователей, в том числе исключить возможные злоупотребления со стороны администраторов, имеющих доступ к узлам сети.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=63901

Nvidia has agreed to invest $5 billion in its struggling rival Intel [non-paywalled source] as part of a deal to develop new chips for PCs and data centres, the latest reordering of the tech industry spurred by AI. From a report: The deal comes a month after the US government agreed to take a 10 per cent stake in Intel, as Donald Trump's administration looks to secure the future of American chip manufacturing.

However, the pair's announcement makes no reference to Nvidia using Intel's foundry to produce its chips. Intel, which has struggled to gain a foothold in the booming AI server market, lost its crown as the world's most valuable chipmaker to Nvidia in 2020. On Thursday Jensen Huang, Nvidia's chief executive, hailed a "historic collaboration" and "a fusion of two world-class platforms," combining its graphics processing units, which dominate the market for AI infrastructure, with Intel's general-purpose chips. Further reading: Intel Weighed $20 Billion Nvidia Takeover in 2005.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/09/18/1226210/nvidia-to-invest-5-billion-in-intel?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: Gen Z borrowers took the biggest hit of any age group this year, helping pull overall credit scores lower in the worst year for US consumer credit quality since the global financial crisis roiled the world's economy. The average FICO score slipped to 715 in April from 717 a year earlier, marking the second consecutive year-over-year drop, according to a report released Tuesday by Fair Isaac Corp. The average score dropped three points to 687 in 2009.

Gen Z borrowers saw the largest drop, not only this year, but of any age group since 2020, with their average score falling three points to 676, the Montana-based creator of the FICO credit score said. FICO scores are a measure of consumer credit risk and are frequently used by US banks to assess whether to provide loans. The scores typically range from 300 to 850. The credit scoring agency attributed the recent overall drop to higher rates of utilization and delinquency, including the resumption of reporting student loan delinquencies -- a category that hit a record high of 3.1% of the entire scorable population. [...] While the overall average score dropped, the median FICO score continued to rise to 745 from 744 a year ago, indicating that a large drop in scores at the low end dragged down the average.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/09/17/2142221/gen-z-leads-biggest-drop-in-fico-scores-since-financial-crisis?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Key takeaways from a new survey by Pew Research: 1. Americans are much more concerned than excited about the increased use of AI in daily life, with a majority saying they want more control over how AI is used in their lives.
2. Far larger shares say AI will erode than improve people's ability to think creatively and form meaningful relationships.
3. At the same time, a majority is open to letting AI assist them with day-to-day tasks and activities.
4. Most Americans don't support AI playing a role in personal matters such as religion or matchmaking. They're more open to AI for heavy data analysis, such as for weather forecasting and developing new medicines.
5. Americans feel strongly that it's important to be able to tell if pictures, videos or text were made by AI or by humans. Yet many don't trust their own ability to spot AI-generated content.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/09/18/0452250/how-americans-view-ai-and-its-impact-on-people-and-society?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader shares a report: Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today reiterated that a more affordable MacBook powered by an iPhone processor is slated to enter mass production in the fourth quarter of 2025, which points towards a late 2025 or early 2026 launch.

Kuo was first to reveal that Apple is allegedly planning a more affordable MacBook. In late June, he said the laptop would have around a 13-inch display, and an A18 Pro chip. Kuo said potential color options include silver, blue, pink, and yellow, so the laptop could come in bright colors, like 2021-and-newer models of the 24-inch iMac.

This time around, he only mentioned the MacBook will have an unspecific iPhone processor. Apple recently introduced the A19 Pro chip, which has 12GB of RAM, so it will be interesting to see if the lower-cost MacBook uses that chip instead. The entire Mac lineup has started with at least 16GB of RAM since last year, with the only option with 8GB being the MacBook with an M1 chip, which is sold exclusively by Walmart for $599.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://apple.slashdot.org/story/25/09/18/1210236/599-macbook-with-iphone-chip-expected-to-enter-production-this-year?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Amazon violated consumer protection law by gathering Prime subscribers' billing information before disclosing the service's terms, a judge ruled on Wednesday, handing the U.S. Federal Trade Commission a partial win. From a report: The ruling by U.S. District Judge John Chun in the case accusing Amazon of deceptive practices to generate Prime subscriptions puts the company at a disadvantage at trial.

The FTC is poised to argue that the online retailer signed up tens of millions of customers for Prime without their consent, and thwarted tens of millions of cancellation bids through complex cancellation methods. The agency says those actions violated the Restore Online Shoppers Confidence Act (ROSCA).

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/09/18/0449219/amazon-violated-online-shopper-protection-law-judge-rules-ahead-of-prime-signup-trial?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Chinese AI developer DeepSeek said it spent $294,000 on training its R1 model, much lower than figures reported for U.S. rivals, in a paper that is likely to reignite debate over Beijing's place in the race to develop artificial intelligence. Reuters: The rare update from the Hangzhou-based company -- the first estimate it has released of R1's training costs -- appeared in a peer-reviewed article in the academic journal Nature published on Wednesday.

DeepSeek's release of what it said were lower-cost AI systems in January prompted global investors to dump tech stocks as they worried the new models could threaten the dominance of AI leaders including Nvidia. Since then, the company and founder Liang Wenfeng have largely disappeared from public view, apart from pushing out a few new product updates.

[...] The Nature article, which listed Liang as one of the co-authors, said DeepSeek's reasoning-focused R1 model cost $294,000 to train and used 512 Nvidia H800 chips. Sam Altman, CEO of U.S. AI giant OpenAI, said in 2023 that what he called "foundational model training" had cost "much more" than $100 million - though his company has not given detailed figures for any of its releases.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/09/18/1315238/chinas-deepseek-says-its-hit-ai-model-cost-just-294000-to-train?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Сформирован релиз специализированного дистрибутива Tails 7.0 (The Amnesic Incognito Live System), основанного на пакетной базе Debian и предназначенного для анонимного выхода в сеть. Анонимный выход в Tails обеспечивается системой Tor. Все соединения, кроме трафика через сеть Tor, по умолчанию блокируются пакетным фильтром. Для хранения пользовательских данных в режиме сохранения пользовательских данных между запусками применяется шифрование. Для загрузки подготовлен iso-образ, способный работать в Live-режиме, размером 2 ГБ.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=63904

Состоялся релиз проприетарного браузера Vivaldi 7.6, разрабатываемого на базе движка Chromium бывшими разработчиками движка Opera Presto. Сборки Vivaldi подготовлены для Linux, Windows и macOS. Изменения, вносимые в кодовую базу Chromium, проект распространяет под открытой лицензией. Интерфейс браузера написан на языке JavaScript с использованием библиотеки React, платформы Node.js, Browserify и различных готовых NPM-модулей. Реализация интерфейса доступна в исходных текстах, но под проприетарной лицензией.

https://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=63902