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BeauHD @ Slashdot · 02/21/2025 19:50 EDT

Asus Continues Fragrant Device Trend With an Aromatic Mouse

Asus has introduced the Fragrance Mouse, a hybrid wireless mouse that features a removable container for fragrance oils. Despite not being a gaming mouse, it includes premium features like PTFE pads, low-noise clicks rated for up to 10 million presses, and three fixed DPI settings (1200, 1600, 2400). Tom's Hardware reports: The selling point of the new mouse is its fragrance-producing capabilities. Under the mouse (right behind the AA battery... Read more ›

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Slashdot
BeauHD @ Slashdot · 02/21/2025 19:10 EDT

OpenAI Bans Chinese Accounts Using ChatGPT To Edit Code For Social Media Surveillance

OpenAI has banned a group of Chinese accounts using ChatGPT to develop an AI-powered social media surveillance tool. Engadget reports: The campaign, which OpenAI calls Peer Review, saw the group prompt ChatGPT to generate sales pitches for a program those documents suggest was designed to monitor anti-Chinese sentiment on X, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and other platforms. The operation appears to have been particularly interested in spotting calls for protests against... Read more ›

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Slashdot
BeauHD @ Slashdot · 02/21/2025 18:30 EDT

The Protesters Who Want To Ban AGI Before It Even Exists

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Register: On Saturday at the Silverstone Cafe in San Francisco, a smattering of activists gathered to discuss plans to stop the further advancement of artificial intelligence. The name of their non-violent civil resistance group, STOP AI, makes its mission clear. The organization wants to ban something that, by most accounts, doesn't yet exist -- artificial general intelligence, or AGI, defined by OpenAI... Read more ›

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Slashdot
BeauHD @ Slashdot · 02/21/2025 17:50 EDT

The GSA Is Shutting Down Its EV Chargers

The General Services Administration (GSA) is shutting down its nationwide electric vehicle (EV) chargers, deeming them "not mission critical." The U.S. government agency also plans to offload newly purchased EVs, reversing initiatives from the Biden administration aimed at transitioning the federal vehicle fleet to electric. The Verge reports: The GSA currently operates several hundred EV chargers across the country, with approximately 8,000 plugs that are available for government-owned EVs as... Read more ›

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Slashdot
BeauHD @ Slashdot · 02/21/2025 17:10 EDT

OpenAI Plans To Shift Compute Needs From Microsoft To SoftBank

According to The Information (paywalled), OpenAI plans to shift most of its computing power from Microsoft to SoftBank-backed Stargate by 2030. TechCrunch reports: That represents a major shift away from Microsoft, OpenAI's biggest shareholder, who fulfills most of the startup's power needs today. The change won't happen overnight. OpenAI still plans to increase its spending on Microsoft-owned data centers in the next few years. During that time, OpenAI's overall costs... Read more ›

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Slashdot
BeauHD @ Slashdot · 02/21/2025 16:26 EDT

India's 'Human Calculator Kid' Shatters 6 World Records In a Single Day

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Gizmodo: Fourteen-year-old Aaryan Shukla cruised through six mental math calculation world records in a single day, according to a Guinness World Records statement published on February 12, earning the well-deserved nickname, "human calculator kid." Specifically, it took Shukla: - 30.9 seconds to mentally add 100 four-digit numbers - One minute and 9.68 seconds to mentally add 200 four-digit numbers - 18.71 seconds to... Read more ›

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Slashdot
msmash @ Slashdot · 02/21/2025 13:41 EDT

DeepSeek To Share Some AI Model Code

Chinese startup DeepSeek will make its models' code publicly available, it said on Friday, doubling down on its commitment to open-source artificial intelligence. From a report: The company said in a post on social media platform X that it will open source 5 code repositories next week, describing the move as "small but sincere progress" that it will share "with full transparency." "These humble building blocks in our online service... Read more ›

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Slashdot
msmash @ Slashdot · 02/21/2025 12:40 EDT

HP Ends Forced 15-Minute Wait Times for Customer Support

HP has ended its controversial practice of imposing mandatory 15-minute wait times for customer support calls in several European countries, following internal pushback and customer complaints. The company confirmed the reversal and said it will "continue to prioritize timely access to live phone support." Read more of this story at Slashdot. Read more ›

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Slashdot
msmash @ Slashdot · 02/21/2025 11:45 EDT

Bybit CEO Confirms Exchange Was Hacked for $1.46B, Says His Firm Can Cover The Loss

Cryptocurrency exchange Bybit has experienced $1.46 billion worth of "suspicious outflows," according to blockchain sleuth ZachXBT. From a report: The wallet in question appears to have sent 401,346 ETH ($1.1 billion) as well as several other iterations of staked ether (stETH) to a fresh wallet, which is now liquidating mETH and stETH on decentralized exchanges, etherscan shows. The wallet has sold around $200 million worth of stETH so far. Bybit... Read more ›

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Slashdot
msmash @ Slashdot · 02/21/2025 11:16 EDT

New WinRAR Version Strips Windows Metadata In Privacy Push

WinRAR 7.10 now lets users remove potentially sensitive metadata from downloaded files while preserving core Windows security features. The file compression tool's latest release introduces a "Zone value only" setting that strips download locations and IP addresses from Windows' Mark-of-the-Web security flags during file extraction. The new privacy control, enabled by default, maintains only the basic security zone identifier that triggers Windows' safety prompts for downloaded files. This change prevents Read more ›

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Slashdot
msmash @ Slashdot · 02/21/2025 10:29 EDT

Apple Removes Cloud Encryption Feature From UK After Backdoor Order

Apple is removing its most advanced, end-to-end encrypted security feature for cloud data in the United Kingdom [alternative source], in a stunning development after the government ordered the company to build a backdoor for accessing user data. From a report: The company said Friday that Advanced Data Protection, an optional feature that adds end-to-end encryption to a wide assortment of user data is no longer available in the UK for... Read more ›

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Slashdot
msmash @ Slashdot · 02/21/2025 09:40 EDT

AI Is Prompting an Evolution, Not Extinction, for Coders

AI coding assistants are reshaping software development, but they're unlikely to replace human programmers entirely, according to industry experts and developers. GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke projects AI could soon generate 80-90% of corporate code, transforming developers into "conductors of an AI-empowered orchestra" who guide and direct these systems. Current AI coding tools, including Microsoft's GitHub Copilot, are delivering 10-30% productivity gains in business environments. At KPMG, developers report. Read more ›

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Slashdot
msmash @ Slashdot · 02/21/2025 09:00 EDT

Software Engineering Job Openings Hit Five-Year Low

Software engineering job listings have plummeted to a five-year low, with postings on Indeed dropping to 65% of January 2020 levels -- a steeper decline than any other tech-adjacent field. According to data from Indeed's job aggregator, software development positions are now at 3.5x fewer vacancies compared to their mid-2022 peak and 8% lower than a year ago. The decline appears driven by multiple factors including widespread adoption of AI... Read more ›

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Slashdot
BeauHD @ Slashdot · 02/21/2025 05:00 EDT

AI Cracks Superbug Problem In Two Days That Took Scientists Years

A new AI tool developed by Google solved a decade-long superbug mystery in just two days, reaching the same conclusion as Professor Jose R Penades' unpublished research and even offering additional, promising hypotheses. The BBC reports: The researchers have been trying to find out how some superbugs - dangerous germs that are resistant to antibiotics - get created. Their hypothesis is that the superbugs can form a tail from different... Read more ›

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Slashdot
BeauHD @ Slashdot · 02/21/2025 02:00 EDT

California Takes Steps Toward Officially Recognizing Bigfoot

California is considering officially recognizing Bigfoot as its state cryptid through Assembly Bill 666, introduced last week by North Coast Assemblymember Chris Rogers. "Rogers' district spans Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, Sonoma and Trinity counties, a region known as the epicenter of Bigfoot lore," reports SFGATE. From the report: Assemblyman Rogers' Assembly Bill 666 is still in its early stages. According to the California Legislative Information website, the bill's title has... Read more ›

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Slashdot
BeauHD @ Slashdot · 02/20/2025 22:30 EDT

Meta Claims Torrenting Pirated Books Isn't Illegal Without Proof of Seeding

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Just because Meta admitted to torrenting a dataset of pirated books for AI training purposes, that doesn't necessarily mean that Meta seeded the file after downloading it, the social media company claimed in a court filing (PDF) this week. Evidence instead shows that Meta "took precautions not to 'seed' any downloaded files," Meta's filing said. Seeding refers to sharing a torrented... Read more ›

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Slashdot
BeauHD @ Slashdot · 02/20/2025 21:11 EDT

Rivian Reports First Quarter of 'Positive Gross Profit'

Rivian reported its first-ever positive gross profit of $170 million in Q4 2024, driven by cost reductions and increased regulatory credit sales, despite a $4.7 billion net loss for the year. The company said it expects to sell 46,000-51,000 vehicles this year and achieve "modest gross profit." The Verge reports: Rivian reported $170 million in positive gross profits, which includes production and sales but does not factor in other expenses,... Read more ›

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Slashdot
BeauHD @ Slashdot · 02/20/2025 20:25 EDT

Ghost Ransomware Continues To Infect Critical Infrastructure, Feds Warn

Mirnotoriety shares a report from The Register: The operators of Ghost ransomware continue to claim victims and score payments, but keeping the crooks at bay is possible by patching known vulnerabilities and some basic infosec actions, according to a joint advisory issued Wednesday by the FBI and US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. The Feds warned orgs to beware of this spectral menace, which is known to have infected critical... Read more ›

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Slashdot
BeauHD @ Slashdot · 02/20/2025 19:45 EDT

YouTube Plans Lower-Priced, Ad-Free Version of Paid Video Tier

According to Bloomberg, YouTube plans to introduce a lower-priced, ad-free version of its paid video service. From the report: The package, dubbed "premium lite," will be announced soon in the US, Australia, Germany and Thailand, according to a person familiar with the plans. The service will target viewers who primarily want to watch programs other than music videos. While YouTube may be best known for the free videos uploaded by... Read more ›

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Slashdot
BeauHD @ Slashdot · 02/20/2025 19:02 EDT

Netflix To Invest $1 Billion In Mexico Over Next 4 Years

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: The chief executive of streaming giant Netflix on Thursday announced a $1 billion investment to produce some 20 films and TV series in Mexico annually over the next four years. Speaking at President Claudia Sheinbaum's morning press conference in Mexico City, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos said he looked forward to entering more partnerships with producers in the Latin American nation. Sheinbaum said... Read more ›

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