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msmash @ Slashdot · 12/16/2024 16:00 EDT

To Log Into WordPress, You Now Have To Agree Pineapple on Pizza Is Good

WordPress co-founder and CEO of Automattic Matt Mullenweg is trolling contributors and users of the WordPress open-source project by requiring them to check a box that says "Pineapple is delicious on pizza." From a report: The change was spotted by WordPress contributors late Sunday, and is still up as of Monday morning. Trying to log in or create a new account without checking the box returns a "please try again"... Read more ›

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Slashdot
BeauHD @ Slashdot · 12/16/2024 15:20 EDT

Google DeepMind Unveils a New Video Model To Rival Sora

Google DeepMind announced a next-gen video-generating AI tool to rival OpenAI's Sora. Called Veo 2, it can generate AI video clips longer than two minutes with resolutions up to 4K (4096 x 2160). TechCrunch reports: In Google's experimental video creation tool, VideoFX, where Veo 2 is now exclusively available, videos are capped at 720p and eight seconds in length. (Sora can produce up to 1080p, 20-second-long clips.) VideoFX is behind... Read more ›

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Slashdot
BeauHD @ Slashdot · 12/16/2024 14:40 EDT

AI Helps ID Paint Chemistry of Berlin Wall Murals

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: The fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 was a seminal moment in 20th century history, paving the way for German reunification. Many segments, both large and small, were preserved for posterity -- including portions covered in graffiti or murals. A team of Italian scientists used a combination of spectroscopic analysis and machine learning to study paint chips from wall... Read more ›

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Slashdot
BeauHD @ Slashdot · 12/16/2024 14:01 EDT

EU Signs $1 Billion Deal For Sovereign Satellite Constellation To Rival Starlink

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: The European Union is forging ahead with plans for a constellation of internet satellites to rival Elon Musk-owned Starlink, after signing a $11.1 billion deal to launch nearly 300 satellites into low- and medium-Earth orbits by 2030. The bloc wants the space tech to boost its digital sovereignty by providing secure comms to governments. First announced in 2022, Iris^2 (Infrastructure for Resilience,... Read more ›

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Slashdot
msmash @ Slashdot · 12/16/2024 11:45 EDT

BlackBerry Sells Cylance For $160M, a Fraction of the $1.4B It Paid in 2018

Arctic Wolf has acquired Cylance, BlackBerry's beleaguered cybersecurity business, for $160 million -- a significant discount from the $1.4 billion BlackBerry paid to acquire the startup in 2018. From a report: Under the terms of the deal, which is expected to close in BlackBerry's fiscal Q4, BlackBerry will sell its Cylance assets to Arctic Wolf for $160 million in cash. BlackBerry will get ~$80 million at closing and the rest... Read more ›

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Slashdot
msmash @ Slashdot · 12/16/2024 11:12 EDT

Now ChromeOS Can Reset Itself Without Erasing Your Laptop

An anonymous reader shares a report: Google announced it's rolling out ChromeOS M131 to non-beta users, bringing with it a handy "Safety reset" feature that lets Chromebook users reset their laptops without totally wiping them. The update also introduced a new "Flash notifications" accessibility option to help those who might not otherwise easily hear or see them. Like Powerwash in ChromeOS, Safety reset will wipe the slate clean if you're... Read more ›

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Slashdot
msmash @ Slashdot · 12/16/2024 10:31 EDT

Apple Plans Thinner, Foldable iPhones To Revive Growth

Apple is preparing a series of major design and format changes to its lineup of iPhones and potentially other products, according to WSJ, a bid to revive growth after years of offering largely incremental upgrades. From the report: Starting next year, Apple plans to introduce an iPhone that will be thinner than the approximately 8-millimeter profile of current models, said people familiar with the company's plans. The model is intended... Read more ›

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Slashdot
msmash @ Slashdot · 12/16/2024 09:40 EDT

SoftBank Chief And Trump To Unveil $100 Billion US Investment Plan

An anonymous reader shares a report: Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son will announce a $100 billion investment in the U.S. over the next four years during a Monday visit to President-elect Donald Trump's residence Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, sources familiar with the matter told CNBC's Sara Eisen. The billionaire investor and founder of the Japanese tech-investing firm will also promise in the joint announcement with Trump to create 100,000 jobs... Read more ›

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Slashdot
msmash @ Slashdot · 12/16/2024 09:00 EDT

Are Adults Forgetting How To Read?

One in five adults in developed nations demonstrate primary school-level literacy and numeracy skills, according to an OECD study of 160,000 people across 31 countries released December 10. The decennial Survey of Adult Skills reveals declining literacy rates over the past decade despite rising secondary education completion. Finland topped rankings across all tested areas -- numeracy, literacy, and problem-solving -- while Japan, Norway and the Netherlands performed above average. The... Read more ›

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Slashdot
EditorDavid @ Slashdot · 12/16/2024 07:34 EDT

Bill Gates Recommends Four Books That 'Make Sense of the World'

This month Bill Gates recommended four books about making sense of the world, including The Coming Wave, by Mustafa Suleyman. Gates calls it "the book I recommend more than any other on AI — to heads of state, business leaders, and anyone else who asks — because it offers something rare: a clear-eyed view of both the extraordinary opportunities and genuine risks ahead." After helping build DeepMind from a small... Read more ›

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Slashdot
EditorDavid @ Slashdot · 12/16/2024 03:34 EDT

Study Finds Most Fulfilling Jobs:  Self-Employment, Government Work, Managing, and Social Service

"Envy the lumberjacks, for they perform the happiest, most meaningful work on earth," the Washington Post wrote almost two years ago, after analyzing more than 13,000 journals from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' time-use survey. (For the first time the surveys asked how workers felt during the day.) And outdoor forestry jobs "look awesome by that metric, dangerous as they often are in the long run," the Post wrote... Read more ›

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Slashdot
EditorDavid @ Slashdot · 12/16/2024 00:34 EDT

Microsoft Announces Phi-4 AI Model Optimized for Accuracy and Complex Reasoning

An anonymous reader shared this report from Computerworld: Microsoft has announced Phi-4 — a new AI model with 14 billion parameters — designed for complex reasoning tasks, including mathematics. Phi-4 excels in areas such as STEM question-answering and advanced problem-solving, surpassing similar models in performance. Phi-4, part of the Phi small language models (SLMs), is currently available on Azure AI Foundry under the Microsoft Research License Agreement and will launch... Read more ›

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Slashdot
EditorDavid @ Slashdot · 12/15/2024 21:41 EDT

Does Space Need Environmentalists?

Does space need environmentalists, asks the headline from a new article in Noema magazine. "As astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson notes, the first trillionaire will be made in space. "But amid such promising developments are worries among some scientists and environmentalists who fear humans will repeat the errors that resource extraction has wrought on Earth..." If we have mining in space, do we need a preemptive anti-mining campaign to protect our... Read more ›

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Slashdot
EditorDavid @ Slashdot · 12/15/2024 18:29 EDT

San Francisco Unicorn 'Scale AI' Accused of Wage Theft

They provide training data to top AI companies including OpenAI and Meta, according to its web site. Founded in 2016, San Francisco-based Scale AI now has over 900 employees, eventually growing beyond "unicorn" status with over $1.35 billion in ivnestments. In May the company's valuation was over $14 billion, with investors including Amazon, Meta, Nvidia, Cisco, Intel, and AMD (as well as earlier investments from Y Combinator and $100 million... Read more ›

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Slashdot
EditorDavid @ Slashdot · 12/15/2024 17:23 EDT

Two Drone Pilots Arrested Near Boston, and Drones Cause One-Hour Runway Closure at North New York Airport

Saturday night two men were arrested near Boston "following a hazardous drone operation near Logan Airport's airspace," according to a police statement. They credit an officer "leveraging advanced UAS monitoring technology" who "identified the drone's location, altitude, flight history, and the operators' position." Recognizing the serious risks posed by the drone's proximity to Logan's airspace, additional resources were mobilized. The Boston Police Department coordinated with Homeland Security, the Massa Read more ›

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Slashdot
EditorDavid @ Slashdot · 12/15/2024 16:13 EDT

Are AI-Powered Tools - and Cheating-Detection Tools - Hurting College Students?

A 19-year-old wrongfully accused of using AI told the Guardian's reporter that "to be accused of it because of 'signpost phrases', such as 'in addition to' and 'in contrast', felt very demeaning." And another student "told me they had been pulled into a misconduct hearing — despite having a low score on Turnitin's AI detection tool — after a tutor was convinced the student had used ChatGPT, because some of... Read more ›

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Slashdot
EditorDavid @ Slashdot · 12/15/2024 14:34 EDT

Protecting 'Funko' Brand,  AI-Powered 'BrandShield' Knocks Itch.io Offline After Questionable Registrar Communications

Launched in 2013, itch.io lets users host and sell indie video games online — now offering more than 200,000 — as well as other digital content like music and comics. But then someone uploaded a page based on a major videogame title, according to Game Rant. And somehow this provoked a series of overreactions and missteps that eventually knocked all of itch.io offline for several hours... The page was about... Read more ›

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Slashdot
EditorDavid @ Slashdot · 12/15/2024 13:34 EDT

Let's Encrypt Announces New-Certificate-Every-6-Days Offering

The non-profit, free certificate authority Let's Encrypt shared some news from their executive director as they approach their 10th anniversary in 2025: Internally things have changed dramatically from what they looked like ten years ago, but outwardly our service hasn't changed much since launch. That's because the vision we had for how best to do our job remains as powerful today as it ever was: free 90-day TLS certificates via... Read more ›

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Slashdot
EditorDavid @ Slashdot · 12/15/2024 12:34 EDT

Are People Starting to Love Self-Driving Robotaxis?

"In a tiny handful of places..." Wired wrote last month, "you can find yourself flanked by taxis with no one in the drivers' seats." But they added that "Granted, practically everyone has been numbed by the hype cycle." Wired's response? "[P]ile a few of us into an old-fashioned, human-piloted hired car, then follow a single Waymo robotaxi wherever it goes for a whole workday" to "study its movements, its relationship... Read more ›

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Slashdot
EditorDavid @ Slashdot · 12/15/2024 11:34 EDT

Single Crystal Lithium-Ion Batteries Last 8x Longer, Researchers Show

Researchers used Canada's national synchrotron light source facility "to analyze a new type of lithium-ion battery material — called a single-crystal electrode — that's been charging and discharging non-stop in a Halifax lab for more than six years," reports Tech Xplore. The results? The battery material "lasted more than 20,000 cycles before it hit the 80% capacity cutoff," which they say is equivalent to driving 8 million kms (nearly 5... Read more ›

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