Anyone who works as a freelancer these days has to be at least a bit familiar with techie things. But it isn’t just that. When I was a kid and those vaguely SF puppet shows were on the television and all the other kids wanted to be Greg Gogetem or Steve Savetheuniverse, I wanted to be the guy in a white coat and glasses called Doc or Brains. Here are some technology-related feeds I find useful and/or entertaining.
Slashdot » Copilot Pane As Annoying As Clippy May Pop Up In Windows 11
Richard Speed reports via The Register: Copilot in Windows is set to get even more assertive after Microsoft added a function that makes the AI assistant's window pop up after a user's cursor hovers over the icon in the task bar. […] Windows Insiders on the Beta Channel â" with the option to get the latest updates turned on â" … [Link]
Slashdot » iOS 17.4 Is Here and Ready For a Whole New Europe
Jess Weatherbed reports via The Verge: Apple's iOS 17.4 update is now available, introducing new emoji and a cryptographic security protocol for iMessage, alongside some major changes to the App Store and contactless payments for the iPhone platform in Europe. Apple is making several of these changes to comply with the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA), a law that aims … [Link]
Slashdot » Oregon OKs Right-To-Repair Bill That Bans the Blocking of Aftermarket Parts
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Oregon has joined the small but growing list of states that have passed right-to-repair legislation. Oregon's bill stands out for a provision that would prevent companies from requiring that official parts be unlocked with encrypted software checks before they will fully function. Bill SB 1596 passed Oregon's House by a 42 … [Link]
Slashdot » The Arctic Ocean Could Be 'Ice-Free' Within the Decade, Researchers Warn
The loss of Arctic sea ice has long been a graphic measure of human-caused climate change, with wrenching images of suffering polar bears illustrating a worsening planetary crisis. Now, new research has found that Arctic Ocean sea ice is shrinking even faster than previously thought — and that the Arctic may start to see its first "ice-free" days within the … [Link]
New Scientist – News » Surprise decision not to define the Anthropocene shocks scientists
A proposal to define the Anthropocene, a geologic epoch defined by human activity, has been rejected – surprising even scientists who consulted the voting group [Link]
Slashdot » In a First, US Students Will Take the SAT Entirely Online
The SAT, a college admissions exam that for nearly a century was completed using paper and pencil, is now officially all-digital. From a report: This week, students in the U.S. will begin taking the new SAT on their own devices — including a tablet or a laptop — or on school devices. The test is also one hour shorter (down … [Link]
Slashdot » Amazon Cancels Fees for Customers Moving To Rival Cloud Services
Amazon's cloud services division is halting fees it has long charged customers that switch to a rival provider — following in the steps of Google, which recently announced it was ending the practice. From a report: Amazon Web Services will no longer charge customers who want to extract all of their data from the company's servers and move them to … [Link]
Slashdot » Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads Are All Down
Facebook, Instagram, and Threads are all experiencing issues. From a report: The three Meta-owned platforms aren't working for many users, with the widespread outage seeming to start around 10AM ET. Some users are experiencing issues logging in to their Meta Quest headsets, too. Facebook is logging users out of their accounts, leaving them unable to get back in. Meanwhile, over … [Link]
Slashdot » Microsoft To End Its Android Apps on Windows 11 Subsystem in 2025
Microsoft is ending support for its Android subsystem in Windows 11 next year. From a report: The software giant first announced it was bringing Android apps to Windows 11 with Amazon's Appstore nearly three years ago, but this Windows Subsystem for Android will now be deprecated starting March 5th, 2025. "Microsoft is ending support for the Windows Subsystem for Android … [Link]
New Scientist – News » How to view an eclipse safely and what to look for in eclipse glasses
Follow these tips to have a safe viewing experience during the upcoming North American total solar eclipse [Link]
Slashdot » Google is Starting To Squash More Spam and AI in Search Results
Google announced updates to its search ranking systems aimed at promoting high-quality content and demoting manipulative or low-effort material, including content generated by AI solely to summarize other sources. The company also stated it is improving its ability to detect and combat tactics used to deceive its ranking algorithms. 
Read more of this story at Slashdot. [Link]
Slashdot » Microsoft Accuses the New York Times of Doom-Mongering in OpenAI Lawsuit
Microsoft has filed a motion seeking to dismiss key parts of a lawsuit The New York Times filed against the company and Open AI, accusing them of copyright infringement. From a report: If you'll recall, The Times sued both companies for using its published articles to train their GPT large language models (LLMs) without permission and compensation. In its filing, … [Link]
New Scientist – News » US Army tests AI chatbots as battle planners in a war game simulation
Researchers in the US Army are experimenting with commercial AI chatbots as battlefield advisers in war game simulations – but experts caution that such AI should not be used in high-stakes situations [Link]
New Scientist – News » JWST will officially begin searching for exomoons around other planets
Five exomoon programmes have been picked for the James Webb Space Telescope, raising the hopes of finding moons around exoplanets for the first time [Link]
Slashdot » US Sanctions Founder of Spyware Maker Intellexa for Targeting Americans
The U.S. government announced Tuesday sanctions against the founder of the notorious spyware company Intellexa and one of his business partners. From a report: This is the first time the U.S. government has targeted specific people, in addition to companies, with sanctions related to the misuse of commercial spyware. And it signifies an escalation of the White House and U.S. … [Link]
New Scientist – News » Asian elephants seen burying their dead for the first time
Five elephant calves have been found buried in drainage ditches on tea-growing estates in India in a rare example of burial behaviour in non-human animals [Link]
Slashdot » Facebook, Instagram, and Threads Are All Down
Facebook, Instagram, and Threads are all experiencing issues. From a report: The three Meta-owned platforms aren't working for many users, with the widespread outage seeming to start around 10AM ET. Some users are experiencing issues logging in to their Meta Quest headsets, too. Facebook is logging users out of their accounts, leaving them unable to get back in. Meanwhile, over … [Link]
Slashdot » Bitcoin Surges To Record Above $69,000
Bitcoin surged to a record as demand from new US exchange-traded funds and a looming reduction in the token's supply growth fuel a breathtaking rebound in the original cryptocurrency. From a report: The largest digital asset rose as much as 2.5% to $69,191.95 as of 10:10 a.m. Tuesday in New York. Bitcoin has climbed about 62% so far in 2024, … [Link]
New Scientist – News » Blue cheese could get an upgrade thanks to new mould hybrids
Five new varieties of Penicillium roqueforti, the fungus used to make blue cheese, might rescue the fungus from a genetic dead end and produce pharmaceutical compounds [Link]
Slashdot » Hackers Exploited Windows 0-day for 6 Months After Microsoft Knew of It
Hackers backed by the North Korean government gained a major win when Microsoft left a Windows zero-day unpatched for six months after learning it was under active exploitation. From a report: Even after Microsoft patched the vulnerability last month, the company made no mention that the North Korean threat group Lazarus had been using the vulnerability since at least August … [Link]
Slashdot » New Proposal Could Ban Landlords From Charging for Cable and Internet in Bulk
The Federal Communications Commission is considering a proposal to bar landlords from charging tenants in bulk for cable, internet, and satellite services, offering them more choice in the kinds of services they need. From a report: The agency is circulating a proposed rule to ban the practice of "bulk billing," the White House announced in a press release ahead of … [Link]
Slashdot » Carmakers Must Bring Back Physical Buttons, Says Europe
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Hagerty: Euro NCAP, the automotive safety industry body for Europe, is introducing new guidance for 2026 which means that five important tasks in every car will have to be performed by actual buttons instead of by accessing a screen. Indicators, hazard warning lights, windscreen wipers, horn, and SOS features will have to be … [Link]
New Scientist – News » Earliest known sex chromosomes evolved in octopuses
Genetic analysis of the California two-spot octopus reveals that the species has sex chromosomes, and they may have originated up to 378 million years ago [Link]
Slashdot » In Indonesia, Women Pirate More Music and Movies Than Men
Piracy was traditionally seen as something that predominantly young males were interested in. This is a largely outdated representation of reality, as girls and women began to catch up a long time ago. In some countries, including Indonesia, more women pirate music, movies, and TV-shows than their male counterparts. TorrentFreak reports: [N]ew findings published by researchers from Northumbria University Newcastle, … [Link]
Slashdot » Blue Origin Targets 2025 For Cargo Lander's Inaugural Moon Trip, With Humans To Follow
In an update on CBS' "60 Minutes" on Sunday, Blue Origin said it was aiming to send an uncrewed lander to the surface of the moon in the next 12 to 16 months. A crewed version is expected to follow. GeekWire reports: "We're expecting to land on the moon between 12 and 16 months from today," [said John Couluris, senior … [Link]
Slashdot » Setback For Hopes of Life As NASA Says Less Oxygen On Jupiter Moon Than Thought
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: New research suggests there's less oxygen on the icy surface of Jupiter's moon Europa than thought — and that could affect what if any life might be lurking in Europa's underground ocean. Even with little or no oxygen, microbes might still be bustling around in the ocean believed to exist miles … [Link]
Slashdot » Qualcomm Launches First True 'App Store' For AI With 75 Free Models
Wayne Williams reports via TechRadar: Qualcomm has unveiled its AI Hub, an all-inclusive library of pre-optimized AI models ready for use on devices running on Snapdragon and Qualcomm platforms. These models support a wide range of applications including natural language processing, computer vision, and anomaly detection, and are designed to deliver high performance with minimal power consumption, a critical factor … [Link]
Slashdot » Linux Passes 4% Desktop Market Share
"Linux gained from 3% to 4% in 8 months," writes longtime Slashdot reader bobdevine. Linuxiac reports: According to the latest data from StatCounter, a leading web traffic analysis tool, Linux's market share has reached 4.03%. At first glance, the number might seem modest, but it represents a significant leap. Let's break it down. It took Linux 30 years to secure … [Link]
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