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.
The Joy of Tech » Troll Clouds.
Hard to ignore these ones! [Link]
Slashdot » Hospital Network Admin Used Fake Identity For 35 Years
An anonymous reader writes: Could you imagine discovering that your identity had been used to take out fraudulent loans and when you tried to resolve the issue by providing your state ID and Social Security card you were instead arrested, charged with multiple felonies, jailed for over a year, incarcerated in a mental hospital and given psychotropic drugs, eventually to … [Link]
Slashdot » Traders Are Betting Millions That Trump Media 'Meme Stock' Will Tumble
Many investors are lining up to bet on the collapse of former President Donald J. Trump's social media company, Trump Media & Technology Group Corp., which made its stock market debut last week under the ticker "DJT." The stock has been called the "mother of all meme stocks" since it is highly volatile and there are no fundamental underpinnings. It's … [Link]
Slashdot » Developer Hacks Denuvo DRM After Six Months of Detective Work and 2,000 Hooks
After six months of work, DRM developer Maurice Heumann successfully cracked Hogwarts Legacy's Denuvo DRM protection system to learn more about the technology. According to Tom's Hardware, he's "left plenty of the details of his work vague so as not to promote illegal cracking." From the report: Heumann reveals in his blog post that Denuvo utilizes several different methods to … [Link]
New Scientist – News » I might be an astrophysicist, but I'm still learning about stargazing
I have two degrees in astronomy, so you'd think I would know what I'm doing when it comes to looking at the sky. I don't, but I'm trying to change that, says Chanda Prescod-Weinstein [Link]
Slashdot » A 'Law Firm' of AI Generated Lawyers Is Sending Fake Threats As an SEO Scam
An anonymous reader quotes a report from 404 Media: Last week, Ernie Smith, the publisher of the website Tedium, got a "copyright infringement notice" from a law firm called Commonwealth Legal: "We're reaching out on behalf of the Intellectual Property division of a notable entity, in relation to an image connected to our client," it read. […] In this case, … [Link]
Slashdot » PCIe 7.0 On Track For a 2025 Release
An anonymous reader shares a PC Gamer report: PCI Express 7.0 is coming. But don't feel as though you need to start saving for a new motherboard anytime soon. The PCI-SIG has just released the 0.5 version, with the final version set for release in 2025. That means supporting devices are not likely to land until 2026, with 2027-28 likely … [Link]
New Scientist – News » Should we be worried about a bird flu pandemic in the US?
One person in the US has contracted bird flu after being exposed to dairy cows that have the virus, but experts say there is no immediate threat of a wider outbreak in people [Link]
Slashdot » YouTube Says OpenAI Training Sora With Its Videos Would Break Rules
The use of YouTube videos to train OpenAI's text-to-video generator would be an infraction of the platform's terms of service, YouTube Chief Executive Officer Neal Mohan said. Bloomberg: In his first public remarks on the topic, Mohan said he had no firsthand knowledge of whether OpenAI had, in fact, used YouTube videos to refine its artificial intelligence-powered video creation tool, … [Link]
New Scientist – News » There are hints that dark energy may be getting weaker
The standard model of cosmology says that the strength of dark energy should be constant, but tentative hints are emerging that it may have weakened recently [Link]
Slashdot » German State Moving Tens of Thousands of PCs To Linux and LibreOffice
The Document Foundation: Following a successful pilot project, the northern German federal state of Schleswig-Holstein has decided to move from Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office to Linux and LibreOffice (and other free and open source software) on the 30,000 PCs used in the local government. As reported on the homepage of the Minister-President: "Independent, sustainable, secure: Schleswig-Holstein will be a … [Link]
Slashdot » Google Books Is Indexing AI-Generated Garbage
Google Books is indexing low quality, AI-generated books that will turn up in search results, and could possibly impact Google Ngram viewer, an important tool used by researchers to track language use throughout history. From a report: I was able to find the AI-generated books with the same method we've previously used to find AI-generated Amazon product reviews, papers published … [Link]
New Scientist – News » What is Disease X and do we need to worry about it?
The term “Disease X” means a new infection, or an existing pathogen that has mutated to become more dangerous, with the potential to cause a global pandemic [Link]
New Scientist – News » Why some songs make our heart swell and others give us butterflies
Where in our body we feel the physical sensation of hearing music seems to depend on how surprising the piece's chords are [Link]
Slashdot » Disney Will Crack Down on Password Sharing in June
Disney said Thursday it planned to crack down on password sharing [non-paywalled link] for its streaming services starting with a few countries in June before implementing a wider rollout in September. From a report: Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger unveiled the timeline to limit password sharing in a CNBC interview Thursday morning, a day after the company defeated activist Nelson … [Link]
Slashdot » Microsoft Edge Will Let You Control How Much RAM It Uses Soon
Microsoft is working on a new feature for its Edge browser that will let you limit the amount of RAM it uses. From a report: Leopeva64, who is one of the best at finding new Edge features, has spotted a new settings section in test builds of the browser that includes a slider so you can limit how much RAM … [Link]
Slashdot » Amazon Still Has a Serious Plastic Waste Problem in the US
Despite making pledges to cut down on plastic packaging, a new report from the nonprofit conservation organization Oceana estimates that Amazon's plastic waste has continued to grow in the US. From a report: The company created 208 million pounds of plastic waste from its packaging in the US in 2022 alone, which Oceana says is enough trash to circle Earth … [Link]
New Scientist – News » Bisexual women expect to have an orgasm with women more than with men
When asked to imagine a hypothetical sexual encounter, bisexual women anticipated that they would be more likely to orgasm with another woman than with a man [Link]
Slashdot » New 3D Cosmic Map Raises Questions Over Future of Universe, Scientists Say
The biggest ever 3D map of the universe, featuring more than 6m galaxies, has been revealed by scientists who said it raised questions about the nature of dark energy and the future of the universe. From a report: The map is based on data collected by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (Desi) in Arizona and contains three times as many … [Link]
New Scientist – News » Electric vehicles have lowered San Francisco's carbon footprint
A network of sensors stretching from San Francisco to Sonoma county’s vineyards shows that electric vehicles have helped lower carbon emissions by almost 2 per cent per year within the Bay Area [Link]
Slashdot » Amazon Sellers Plagued by Surge in Scam Returns
An anonymous reader shares a report: Amazon has built one of the world's most efficient delivery systems. Yet people regularly ship junk back to sellers and claim they are returns, often with little to no penalty, merchants say. Amazon has long believed in a system based on pleasing customers above all, including easy returns, but that ethos has hurt the … [Link]
Slashdot » Google Weighs Offer for $32 Billion Marketing Firm HubSpot
Google parent Alphabet has been talking to its advisers about the possibility of making an offer for HubSpot, an online marketing software company with a market value of $32 billion, Reuters reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. From the report: If Alphabet moves ahead with an offer, it would be a rare example of a major technology company … [Link]
Slashdot » Only 57 Companies Produced 80% of Global Carbon Dioxide
Last year was the hottest on record and the Earth is headed towards a global warming of 2.7 degrees, yet top fossil fuel and cement producers show a disregard for climate change and actively make things worse. From a report: A new Carbon Majors Database report found that just 57 companies were responsible for 80 percent of the global carbon … [Link]
Slashdot » Google Considers Charging For AI-Powered Search
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Financial Times: Google is considering charging for new "premium" features powered by generative artificial intelligence, in what would be the biggest ever shake-up of its search business. The proposed revamp to its cash cow search engine would mark the first time the company has put any of its core product behind a … [Link]
New Scientist – News » Marine protected areas aren't helping fish populations recover
Protected zones are meant to let adult fish populations recover from overfishing, but an analysis of 111 sites in the Caribbean finds that this is not happening in most cases [Link]
New Scientist – News » Why it is time for a longevity revolution
With global life expectancy now exceeding 70 years old, we need to change how we age, not how long we age, says Andrew Scott [Link]
Slashdot » Are Your Solar Eclipse Glasses Fake?
SonicSpike shares a report from Scientific American: A day after the American Astronomical Society (AAS) announced that there were no signs of unsafe eclipse glasses or other solar viewers on the market in early March, astronomer and science communicator Rick Fienberg received an alarming call. Fienberg is project manager of the AAS Solar Eclipse Task Force, which is busy preparing … [Link]
Slashdot » NASA Picks 3 Companies to Help Astronauts Drive Around the Moon
NASA announced on Wednesday that they have selected three companies to develop preliminary designs for vehicles to take astronauts around the south polar region of the Moon. "After the astronauts return to Earth, these vehicles would be able to self-drive around as robotic explorers, similar to NASA's rovers on Mars," reports the New York Times. "The self-driving capability would also … [Link]
New Scientist – News » Climate change can disturb the accuracy of trees’ biological clocks
Trees use circadian genes to time photosynthesis and reproduction – but as temperatures rise, the clocks may not work as well [Link]
Slashdot » Groundbreaking Trial To Grow 'Mini Liver' From Patient's Own Lymph Node
An anonymous reader quotes a report from InterestingEngineering: A Pittsburgh-based biotech company has started a one-of-a-kind trial in a patient with a failing liver. Their goal is to grow a functional second liver within the patient's body — something never achieved before. If effective, it might be a life-saving therapy for those who require liver transplants but have to wait … [Link]
Slashdot » Scientists Complete Construction of the Biggest Digital Camera Ever
Isaac Schultz reports via Gizmodo: Nine years and 3.2 billion pixels later, it is complete: the LSST Camera stands as the largest digital camera ever built for astronomy and will serve as the centerpiece of the Vera Rubin Observatory, poised to begin its exploration of the southern skies. The Rubin Observatory's key goal is the 10-year Legacy Survey of Space … [Link]
Slashdot » Feds Finally Decide To Do Something About Years-Old SS7 Spy Holes In Phone Networks
Jessica Lyons reports via The Register: The FCC appears to finally be stepping up efforts to secure decades-old flaws in American telephone networks that are allegedly being used by foreign governments and surveillance outfits to remotely spy on and monitor wireless devices. At issue are the Signaling System Number 7 (SS7) and Diameter protocols, which are used by fixed and … [Link]
Slashdot » ChatGPT Customers Can Now Use AI To Edit DALL-E Images
Paid ChatGPT users can now edit AI-generated images using text prompts from within ChatGPT. Axios reports: In a demo shared on X (formerly Twitter), OpenAI showed off the new capability, using it to add bows to a poodle's ears in an image created by DALL-E. DALL-E will also begin letting people choose the aspect ratio of the desired image as … [Link]
Archive
30 Apr 2024 29 Apr 2024 28 Apr 2024 27 Apr 2024 26 Apr 2024 25 Apr 2024 24 Apr 2024 23 Apr 2024 22 Apr 2024 21 Apr 2024 20 Apr 2024 19 Apr 2024 18 Apr 2024 17 Apr 2024 16 Apr 2024 15 Apr 2024 14 Apr 2024 13 Apr 2024 12 Apr 2024 11 Apr 2024 10 Apr 2024 09 Apr 2024 08 Apr 2024 07 Apr 2024 06 Apr 2024 05 Apr 2024 04 Apr 2024 03 Apr 2024 02 Apr 2024 01 Apr 2024 31 Mar 2024 30 Mar 2024
0 responses so far ↓
There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.
You must log in to post a comment.