4 place 106 fresh
Dave W. Plummer, the Microsoft developer who created Task Manager and helped build Windows Product Activation, has revealed the origins of Windows XP's most notorious product key. The alphanumeric string FCKGW-RHQQ2-YXRKT-8TG6W-2B7Q8 was not cracked through clever hacking but leaked as a legitimate volume licensing key five weeks before XP's October 2001 release.
A warez group distributed the key alongside special corporate installation media. Windows Product Activation generated hardware IDs from system.
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This story appeared in The Logoff, a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. Subscribe here. Welcome to The Logoff: President Donald Trump successfully directed the indictment of another of his personal political enemies, New York state Attorney General Letitia James. What happened? James was […] Read more ›
1,454 fresh
"If you have a fetus in your placenta then something has gone quite wrong," one Bluesky user noted. Read more ›
1,145 fresh
The poll also found that most respondents don't agree with the Trump administration's assertion that taking Tylenol during pregnancy increases the risk of autism. Read more ›
927 fresh
Chinese smartphone maker Vivo has taken some inspiration from Apple's Liquid Glass design language for its latest operating system update, OriginOS 6. Unveiled this week, OriginOS 6 has the same rounded buttons and translucent glass look as iOS 26. In a demo video, a Vivo smartphone features an interface that could be easily mistaken for iOS 26. There's a Liquid Glass clock, Control Center, squircle icons, glass-like rounded buttons, translucent... Read more ›
619 fresh
Dominion settled lawsuits with Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell before its acquisition. Read more ›
570 fresh
The US military has increased its military presence in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific as the Trump administration says it is targeting suspected drug trafficking efforts. Read more ›
379 fresh
Belkin today announced the launch of the Stage PowerGrip, an accessory that pairs a camera grip with a power bank. The PowerGrip includes a 9,300 mAh battery that can provide a full charge to Apple's iPhones. Included magnets allow it to attach to the back of a MagSafe-compatible iPhone. It can charge at 7.5W wirelessly, but plugging an iPhone in with the included retractable USB-C cable speeds up charging. With... Read more ›
364 fresh
The CDC no longer broadly recommends the Covid-19 vaccine, but US residents will still be able to get one if they want. Read more ›
356
Rutgers historian Mark Bray is trying to flee to Spain after after an online campaign from far-right influencers was followed by death threats. He was turned back at the airport on his first attempt. Read more ›
349
Apple has invited a group of social media influencers to Colorado this week for an unusual event involving group hiking, trail running, and other outdoor activities designed to showcase the company's recently launched iPhone 17 Pro Max, AirPods Pro 3, and Apple Watch Ultra 3. An invitation was shared on X (Twitter) by photographer Johnny Hawk, featuring a simple message: "Hi Johnny. We're so excited to welcome you to Colorado.... Read more ›
332 fresh
Google required its employees to give startup Nayya personal data to get access to their health benefits. That requirement didn't come from Nayya. Read more ›
279 fresh
Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Oct. 10, No. 382. Read more ›
278 fresh
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia is facing a gas shortage and has tapped into its "rainy day" diesel reserves. Read more ›
257
Sean "Diddy" Combs' judge has offered to recommend that Combs be considered for admission to any available substance abuse program while incarcerated. Read more ›
208 fresh
Google and Amazon, as part of their competition for corporate AI spending, both announced new suites of products that make it easier for employees to find corporate data and automate multi-step work tasks. Both companies are essentially giving their existing AI search and agent-building products ... Read more ›
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The new legislation comes after a 2023 Business Insider investigation into sexual misconduct at a California high school. Read more ›
196 fresh
OpenAI told Europe’s top antitrust regulator that big tech firms including Microsoft, Google, and Apple could be difficult for the startup to compete against, Bloomberg reported Thursday. During a Sept. 24 meeting with EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribaldi, OpenAI said it faced “difficulties” ... Read more ›
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This week, Texas National Guard troops arrived in Chicago. The deployment was the latest turn in the Trump administration’s efforts to more aggressively marshal boots on the ground to abet its mass deportation efforts in some American cities. The situation on the ground in Chicago before the arrival of the National Guard was already tense. […] Read more ›
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Slashdot
Microsoft is eliminating all known workarounds that let users install Windows 11 without an internet connection or Microsoft account, forcing everyone through the online setup process. The Verge reports: "We are removing known mechanisms for creating a local account in the Windows Setup experience (OOBE)," says Amanda Langowski, the lead for the Windows Insider Program. "While these mechanisms were often used to bypass Microsoft account setup, they also inadvertently skip... Read more ›
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South Korea's government may have permanently lost 858TB of information after a fire at a data center in Daejeon. From a report: As reported by DCD, a battery fire at the National Information Resources Service (NIRS) data center, located in the city of Daejeon, on September 26, has caused havoc for government services in Korea. Work to restore the data center is ongoing, but officials fear data stored on the... Read more ›
147
Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a law banning excessively loud advertisements on streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime that could become a de facto national standard. From a report: The new California law is aimed at addressing what the Federal Communications Commission has called a "troubling jump" in TV ad noise complaints, fueled by streamers airing commercials louder than the shows and movies they accompany. It's modeled off... Read more ›
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The director of a tour operation remembers two tourists arriving in a rural town in Peru determined to hike alone in the mountains to a sacred canyon recommended by their AI chatbot. But the canyon didn't exists — and a high-altitude hike could be dangerous (especially where cellphone coverage is also spotty). They're part of a BBC report on travellers arriving at their destination "only to find they've been fed... Read more ›
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James Marriott, writing in a column: The world of print is orderly, logical and rational. In books, knowledge is classified, comprehended, connected and put in its place. Books make arguments, propose theses, develop ideas. "To engage with the written word," the media theorist Neil Postman wrote, "means to follow a line of thought, which requires considerable powers of classifying, inference-making and reasoning." As Postman pointed out, it is no accident,... Read more ›
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An anonymous reader shares a report: Tucked in the foothills of Tennessee's Smoky Mountains is a factory that has figured out a way to manufacture in America that's cheaper, quicker and better. It's the home of a famous American writing implement: the Sharpie marker. Pen barrels whirl along automated assembly lines that rapidly fill them with ink. At least half a billion Sharpie markers are churned out here every year,... Read more ›
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Currently DNA synthesis companies "deploy biosecurity software designed to guard against nefarious activity," reports the Washington Post, "by flagging proteins of concern — for example, known toxins or components of pathogens." But Microsoft researchers discovered "up to 100 percent" of AI-generated ricin-like proteins evaded detection — and worked with a group of leading industry scientists and biosecurity experts to design a patch. Microsoft's chief science officer called it "a Windows... Read more ›
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"It's not just you. The internet is getting worse, fast," writes Cory Doctorow. Sunday he shared an excerpt from his upcoming book Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It. He succinctly explains "this moment we're living through, this Great Enshittening" using Amazon as an example. Platforms amass users, but then abuse them to make things better for their business customers. And then they abuse those... Read more ›
77
Paramount has acquired The Free Press, Bari Weiss's Substack-born media outlet, for $150 million and appointed Weiss as editor-in-chief of CBS News. The move effectively places a conservative-leaning Substack writer at the helm of a legacy news network, following the FCC's approval of the Skydance-Paramount merger, which required CBS to feature a broader "diversity of viewpoints from across the political and ideological spectrum." The Verge reports: Before starting The Free... Read more ›
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Amazon will be adding facial recognition to its camera-equipped Ring doorbells for the first time in December, according to the Washington Post. "While the feature will be optional for Ring device owners, privacy advocates say it's unfair that wherever the technology is in use, anyone within sight will have their faces scanned to determine who's a friend or stranger." The Ring feature is "invasive for anyone who walks within range... Read more ›
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Most popular sources
Business Insider
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21% 1 |
Gizmodo
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12% 5 |
Tom's Hardware
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9% 7 |
Wired
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8% 4 |
Mashable
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6% 1 |
| View sources » | |
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09.10.2025 22:38
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