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 » Is America Running Out of Electrical Power?
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Week Magazine: The advancement of new technologies appears to have given rise to a new problem across the United States: a crippling power shortage on the horizon. The advent of these technologies, such as eco-friendly factories and data centers, has renewed concerns that America could run out of electrical power. These worries … [Link]
Slashdot » Apple Will Cut Off Third-Party App Store Updates If Your iPhone Leaves the EU For a Month
In an updated support page, Apple says it won't let your iPhone update software installed by third-party app stores if you leave the European Union for more than 30 days. The Verge reports: Shortly after the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) went into effect on Wednesday, users noticed an Apple support page stating users would "lose access to some features" … [Link]
New Scientist – News » Clownfish avoid the sting of their anemone hosts with sugary slime
As a clownfish spends time with an anemone, its mucus coating begins to change. Chemical tweaks to sugars in the slime may calm stinging cells in anemone tentacles [Link]
Slashdot » Researchers Jailbreak AI Chatbots With ASCII Art
Researchers have developed a way to circumvent safety measures built into large language models (LLMs) using ASCII Art, a graphic design technique that involves arranging characters like letters, numbers, and punctuation marks to form recognizable patterns or images. Tom's Hardware reports: According to the research paper ArtPrompt: ASCII Art-based Jailbreak Attacks against Aligned LLMs, chatbots such as GPT-3.5, GPT-4, Gemini, … [Link]
Slashdot » US Lost Record $12.5 Billion To Online Crime In 2023, Says FBI
An anonymous reader quotes a report from BleepingComputer: FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has released its 2023 Internet Crime Report (PDF), which recorded a 22% increase in reported losses compared to 2022, amounting to a record of $12.5 billion. The number of relevant complaints submitted to the FBI in 2023 reached 880,000, 10% higher than the previous year, with … [Link]
New Scientist – News » 6 things to look out for during the total solar eclipse
A total solar eclipse is a unique experience. From shadow bands to the sun’s majestic corona and pinkish prominences, here’s what you can expect to see [Link]
Slashdot » EU Looking Into Apple's Decision To Kill Epic Games' Developer Account
The European Union has confirmed it's looking into Apple's decision to close Epic Games' developer account — citing three separate regulations that may apply. From a report: Yesterday the Fortnite maker revealed Apple had terminated the account, apparently reversing a decision to approve the developer account last month. Epic had planned to launch its own app store, the Epic Games … [Link]
Slashdot » China Intensifies Push To 'Delete America' From Its Technology
A directive known as Document 79 ramps up Beijing's effort to replace U.S. tech with homegrown alternatives. From a report: For American tech companies in China, the writing is on the wall. It's also on paper, in Document 79. The 2022 Chinese government directive expands a drive that is muscling U.S. technology out of the country — an effort some … [Link]
New Scientist – News » Worm-like amphibian produces a kind of milk for its hatchlings
After hatching from eggs, young ringed caecilians feed on their mother’s skin, but also on a milk-like substance secreted from her rear end [Link]
Slashdot » Samsung Making It Harder To Know What Type of OLED TV You're Getting
Samsung's 2024 OLED TV lineup will feature both QD-OLED and WOLED panels, making it harder for consumers to distinguish between the two technologies. The company announced three new series without specifying the panel types, but reports suggest that even within the S90D series, both QD-OLED and WOLED may be used. Samsung's decision to use both panel types is attributed to … [Link]
Slashdot » Feds To Offer New Support To Open-Source Developers
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) will start providing more hands-on support to open-source software developers as they work to better secure their projects, the agency said. From a report: CISA hosted a two-day, invite-only summit this week with leaders in the open-source software community and other federal officials. During the private event, the agency also ran what's … [Link]
Slashdot » Apple is Working To Make It Easier To Switch From iPhone To Android Because of the EU
Apple is preparing to allow EU-based iPhone users to uninstall its first-party Safari browser by the end of 2024 and is working on a more "user-friendly" way of transferring data "from an iPhone to a non-Apple phone" by fall 2025. From a report: That's according to a new compliance document published by the company, which outlines all the ways it's … [Link]
New Scientist – News » A tale of two mysteries: ghostly neutrinos and the proton decay puzzle
Searching for the true nature of neutrino particles also provides the perfect experimental conditions to seek evidence of another slippery customer – proton decay, says Chanda Prescod-Weinstein [Link]
Slashdot » SEC Approves Rule Requiring Some Companies To Report Greenhouse Gas Emissions
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday approved a rule that will require some public companies to report their greenhouse gas emissions and climate risks, after last-minute revisions that weakened the directive in the face of strong pushback from companies. From a report: The rule was one of the most anticipated in recent years from the nation's top financial … [Link]
New Scientist – News » Experimental weight loss pill seems to be more potent than Ozempic
The results, of 13 per cent weight loss after three months, need to be confirmed by larger and longer studies, but are seen as promising [Link]
New Scientist – News » D-Wave says its quantum computers can solve otherwise impossible tasks
Quantum computing firm D-Wave says its machines are the first to achieve "computational supremacy" by solving a practically useful problem that would otherwise take millions of years on an ordinary supercomputer [Link]
Slashdot » EA Says Generative AI Could Make It 30% More Efficient
EA CEO Andrew Wilson believes generative AI will "revolutionize" the gaming industry over the next five years. He predicts that the technology will allow for more efficient content creation, reducing development time from months to days. From a report: Greater efficiency coupled with "deeper, more immersive experiences" will lead to significant audience expansion over the next few years and provide … [Link]
New Scientist – News » Salmon farms are increasingly being hit by mass die-offs
Mass mortality events at salmon farms have been getting more frequent since 2011, sometimes killing millions of fish at once, with causes including heatwaves and poor living conditions [Link]
Slashdot » Voyager 1, First Craft in Interstellar Space, May Have Gone Dark
The 46-year-old probe, which flew by Jupiter and Saturn in its youth and inspired earthlings with images of the planet as a "Pale Blue Dot," hasn't sent usable data from interstellar space in months. From a report: When Voyager 1 launched in 1977, scientists hoped it could do what it was built to do and take up-close images of Jupiter … [Link]
Slashdot » 'AI Prompt Engineering Is Dead'
The hype around AI language models has companies scrambling to hire prompt engineers to improve their AI queries and create new products. But new research hints that the AI may be better at prompt engineering than humans, indicating many of these jobs could be short-lived as the technology evolves and automates the role. IEEE Spectrum: Battle and Gollapudi decided to … [Link]
New Scientist – News » Jupiter’s stormy surface replicated in lab
By rotating a tank of water at 75 revolutions per minute, it’s possible to replicate some of the stunning, swirling patterns on Jupiter’s surface [Link]
Slashdot » Millions of Research Papers at Risk of Disappearing From the Internet
More than one-quarter of scholarly articles are not being properly archived and preserved, a study of more than seven million digital publications suggests. From a report: The findings, published in the Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication on 24 January, indicate that systems to preserve papers online have failed to keep pace with the growth of research output. "Our entire … [Link]
Slashdot » Bipartisan Bill Could Force ByteDance To Divest TikTok
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC: A group of US lawmakers has introduced a bill that would require Chinese tech giant ByteDance to sell off the popular video-sharing TikTok app within six months or face a ban. For years American officials have raised concerns that data from the app could fall into the hands of the Chinese … [Link]
New Scientist – News » Light and sound therapy for Alzheimer’s may also prevent 'chemo brain'
An experimental Alzheimer's treatment involving sounds and flickering lights also prevented a decline in mental sharpness among mice having chemotherapy [Link]
New Scientist – News » AI chatbots use racist stereotypes even after anti-racism training
Large language models still demonstrate racial prejudice against speakers of African American English, despite the safety guard rails implemented by tech companies such as OpenAI [Link]
New Scientist – News » How manners can be a weapon to divide and disempower
Living in close proximity to strangers requires shared social norms – but manners can also be used to divide us, says Kirsty Sedgman [Link]
Slashdot » Teachers Are Embracing ChatGPT-Powered Grading
Schools are widely adopting a new tool called Writable that uses ChatGPT to help grade student writing assignments. Axios reports: Writable, which is billed as a time-saving tool for teachers, was purchased last month by education giant Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, whose materials are used in 90% of K-12 schools. Teachers use it to run students' essays through ChatGPT, then evaluate … [Link]
Slashdot » Nikon To Acquire US Cinema Camera Manufacturer RED
Nikon, in a press statement: Nikon hereby announces its entry into an agreement to acquire 100% of the outstanding membership interests of RED.com, LLC (RED) whereby RED will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nikon, pursuant to a Membership Interest Purchase Agreement with Mr. James Jannard, its founder, and Mr. Jarred Land, its current President, subject to the satisfaction of certain … [Link]
The Joy of Tech » When the aliens arrive…
Seeking out life! [Link]
Slashdot » New 'Water Batteries' Are Cheaper, Recyclable, And Won't Explode
Clare Watson reports via ScienceAlert: By replacing the hazardous chemical electrolytes used in commercial batteries with water, scientists have developed a recyclable 'water battery' — and solved key issues with the emerging technology, which could be a safer and greener alternative. 'Water batteries' are formally known as aqueous metal-ion batteries. These devices use metals such as magnesium or zinc, which … [Link]
Slashdot » VMware Sandbox Escape Bugs Are So Critical, Patches Are Released For End-of-Life Products
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: VMware is urging customers to patch critical vulnerabilities that make it possible for hackers to break out of sandbox and hypervisor protections in all versions, including out-of-support ones, of VMware ESXi, Workstation, Fusion, and Cloud Foundation products. A constellation of four vulnerabilities — two carrying severity ratings of 9.3 out of … [Link]
New Scientist – News » The world just experienced the hottest February on record
February was the ninth month in a row to set a global heat record, with global average temperatures 1.77°C above the pre-industrial average for the month [Link]
Slashdot » Former Google Engineer Indicted For Stealing AI Secrets To Aid Chinese Companies
Linwei Ding, a former Google software engineer, has been indicted for stealing trade secrets related to AI to benefit two Chinese companies. He faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each criminal count. Reuters reports: Ding's indictment was unveiled a little over a year after the Biden administration created an interagency Disruptive Technology Strike Force … [Link]
Slashdot » Rising Temperatures and Heat Shocks Prompt Job Relocations, Study Finds
dcblogs writes: A recent study in the National Bureau of Economic Research has found that companies are quietly adapting to rising temperatures by shifting operations from hotter to cooler locations. The researchers analyzed data from 50,000 companies between 2009 and 2020. "To illustrate the economic impact, the researchers found that when a company with equal employment across two counties experiences … [Link]
Slashdot » Apple iPhone Sales In China Plummet As Huawei Soars
Huawei is back from the dead after recording a sales jump of 64% in the first six weeks of 2024 compared to a year earlier. Meanwhile, Apple's iPhone sales in China fell by 24% during the same period. The BBC reports: Aside from a resurgence of Huawei sales at the more expensive end of the Chinese phone market, Apple was … [Link]
Slashdot » Google Adds New Developer Fees As Part of Play Store's DMA Compliance Plan
An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Google today is sharing more details about the fees that will accompany its plan to comply with Europe's new Digital Markets Act (DMA), the new regulation aimed at increasing competition across the app store ecosystem. While Google yesterday pointed to ways it already complied with the DMA — by allowing sideloading of … [Link]
Slashdot » Public Trust In AI Is Sinking Across the Board
Trust in AI technology and the companies that develop it is dropping, in both the U.S. and around the world, according to new data from Edelman shared first with Axios. Axios reports: Globally, trust in AI companies has dropped to 53%, down from 61% five years ago. In the U.S., trust has dropped 15 percentage points (from 50% to 35%) … [Link]
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