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Scientists Reveal Never-Before-Seen Map of the Milky Way’s Central Engine
With funding from NASA, researchers from Villanova University have obtained a never-before-seen view of the central engine at the heart of our galaxy. Space.com reports: The new map of this central region of the Milky Way, which took four years to assemble, reveals the relationship between magnetic fields at the heart of our g … ⌘ Read more

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First Large Offshore US Wind Farm Delivers Power To Local Grid
An anonymous reader quotes a report from NPR: America’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm is officially open, a long-awaited moment that helps pave the way for a succession of large wind farms. Danish wind energy developer Orsted and the utility Eversource built a 12-turbine wind farm called South Fork Wind 35 miles (56 kilometers) east o … ⌘ Read more

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Tech Layoffs Highest Since Dot-Com Crash
Alex Koller reports via CNBC: Since the start of the year, more than 50,000 workers have been laid off from over 200 tech companies, according to tracking website Layoffs.fyi. It’s a continuation of the predominant theme of 2023, when more than 260,000 workers across nearly 1,200 tech companies lost their jobs. Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft have all taken part in the downsizing this yea … ⌘ Read more

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FTC Launches Inquiry Into Reddit’s AI Deals, Ahead of IPO
Days before Reddit’s upcoming initial public offering (IPO), the company announced that the FTC has launched an inquiry into the company’s licensing of user data to AI companies. Reddit says that it’s “not surprised” by the FTC’s inquiry, given the novel nature of these agreements. Axios reports: Reddit says it received a letter on Thursday, March 14, in which t … ⌘ Read more

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Apple Acquires Startup DarwinAI As AI Efforts Ramp Up
According to Bloomberg, Apple has acquired Canada-based AI startup DarwinAI for an undisclosed sum. Macworld reports: Apple has reportedly folded the DarwinAI staff into its own AI team, including DarwinAI co-founder Alexander Wong, an AI researcher at the University of Waterloo who “has published over 600 refereed journal and conference papers, as well as patents, i … ⌘ Read more

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McDonald’s IT Systems Outage Shuts Some Restaurants Globally
An anonymous reader quotes a report from BleepingComputer: McDonald’s restaurants are suffering global IT outages that prevent employees from taking orders and accepting payments, causing some stores to close for the day. The outages started overnight and are impacting restaurants globally, including those in the USA, Japan, Australia, Canada, the Netherlan … ⌘ Read more

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Lyft and Uber To Cease Operations In Minneapolis After New Minimum Wage Law
The city council of Minneapolis on Thursday voted 10-3 to allow rideshare drivers to be paid the local minimum wage of $15.57 an hour, overriding the mayor’s veto of the bill. As a result, Lyft and Uber said they will cease operations in the city. From a report: Lyft said in a statement the bill was “deeply flawed” and that … ⌘ Read more

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After 114 Days of Change, Broadcom CEO Acknowledges VMware-Related ‘Unease’
In a blog post Thursday, Broadcom CEO and President Hock Tan acknowledged the discomfort VMware customers and partners have experienced after the sweeping changes that Broadcom has instituted since it acquired the company nearly four months ago. “Of course, we recognize that this level of change has understandably created some uneas … ⌘ Read more

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FTC Goes Undercover Against Fake Antivirus Companies
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a legal complaint against two companies based in Cyprus on Wednesday that it claims are behind a wave of malicious pop-ups that trick people into downloading a fake piece of antivirus software that generated tens of millions of dollars for its operators, according to court records. From a report: The scam also involved misreprese … ⌘ Read more

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Walmart Begins Selling the Mac For the First Time
Walmart is teaming up with Apple to sell the Mac for the first time. From a report: In a press release today, the company said that it is now selling the base model M1 MacBook Air online and in select stores for $699. The move comes a week after Apple introduced the new M3 MacBook Air and stopped selling the M1 MacBook Air itself. While Walmart has historically sold Apple de … ⌘ Read more

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India Drops Plan To Require Approval For AI Model Launches
An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: India is walking back on a recent AI advisory after receiving criticism from many local and global entrepreneurs and investors. The Ministry of Electronics and IT shared an updated AI advisory with industry stakeholders on Friday that no longer asked them to take the government approval before launching or … ⌘ Read more

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Sam Bankman-Fried Deserves 40-50 Years in Prison For FTX Fraud, Prosecutors Say
Sam Bankman-Fried should spend between 40 and 50 years in prison after being convicted for stealing $8 billion from customers of his now-bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange, prosecutors said on Friday. From a report: “His life in recent years has been one of unmatched greed and hubris; of ambition and rationalization; … ⌘ Read more

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Microsoft is Once Again Asking Chrome Users To Try Bing Through Unblockable Pop-ups
Microsoft has been pushing Bing pop-up ads in Chrome on Windows 10 and 11. The new ad once again encourages Chrome users (in bold lettering) to use Bing instead of Google search. From a report: “Chat with GPT-4 for free on Chrome! Get hundreds of daily chat turns with Bing Al,” the ad reads. If you click “Yes,” … ⌘ Read more

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Mercedes is Trialing Humanoid Robots For ‘Low Skill, Repetitive’ Tasks
Mercedes-Benz is the latest automotive company to trial how humanoid robots could be used to automate “low skill, physically challenging, manual labor.” From a report: On Friday, robotics company Apptronik announced it had entered into a commercial agreement with Mercedes to pilot how “highly advanced robotics” like Apollo – Apptron … ⌘ Read more

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Apple, Investors Reach $490 Million Settlement in Fraud Case
Apple reached a $490 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit brought by a group of investors who accused Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook of misleading them in 2018 about the company’s sales prospects. From a report: Cook made false statements about the company’s business in China that caused Apple stock to trade at artificially inflated prices, the in … ⌘ Read more

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Supreme Court Tosses Rulings on Public Officials’ Social Media Blockings
The Supreme Court clarified when public officials can block critical constituents from their personal profiles without violating their constitutional protections in a unanimous decision Friday. From a report: After hearing appeals of two conflicting rulings – one filed against school board members in Southern California and another … ⌘ Read more

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Cable And Satellite Providers Required To Disclose ‘All In’ Pricing Under Newly Passed FCC Rules
The FCC passed new rules that will require cable and satellite providers to clearly disclose the “all in” price of subscriptions in promotional materials. From a report: “The advertised price for a service should be the price you pay when your bill arrives,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosen … ⌘ Read more

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Microsoft Singles Out Google’s Competitive Edge in Generative AI
Google enjoys a competitive edge in generative AI due to its trove of data and AI-optimised chips, Microsoft has told EU antitrust regulators, underscoring the rivalry between the two tech giants. From a report: The comments by Microsoft were in response to a consultation launched by the European Commission in January on the level of competition i … ⌘ Read more

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India Cuts Import Taxes on EVs in Boost For Tesla’s Entry Plans
India will lower import taxes on certain electric vehicles for companies committing to invest at least $500 million and setting up a local manufacturing facility within three years, a policy shift that could potentially bolster Tesla’s plans to enter the South Asian market. From a report: Companies must invest a minimum of $500 million in the countr … ⌘ Read more

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FCC Scraps Old Speed Benchmark, Says Broadband Should Be at Least 100Mbps
The Federal Communications Commission has voted to raise its Internet speed benchmark for the first time since January 2015, concluding that modern broadband service should provide at least 100Mbps download speeds and 20Mbps upload speeds. From a report: An FCC press release after today’s 3-2 vote said the 100Mbps/20Mbps benchmar … ⌘ Read more

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Giant Volcano Discovered On Mars
Scientists have discovered a giant volcano on Mars, as well as a possible sheet of buried glacier ice near the planet’s equator. Phys.Org reports: Imaged repeatedly by orbiting spacecraft around Mars since Mariner 9 in 1971 – but deeply eroded beyond easy recognition, the giant volcano had been hiding in plain sight for decades in one of Mars’ most iconic regions, at the boundary between the heavily fract … ⌘ Read more

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Southern Oregon Now Boasts World’s Largest Dark Sky Sanctuary
Sheraz Sadiq reports via Oregon Public Broadcasting: An area that’s nearly half the size of New Jersey in southern Oregon was recently named the world’s largest dark sky sanctuary by DarkSky International. The nonprofit works to combat light pollution through advocacy and conservation, including a program that has certified more than 200 places aroun … ⌘ Read more

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CIA Used Chinese Social Media In Covert Influence Operation Against Xi Jinping’s Government
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Two years into office, President Donald Trump authorized the Central Intelligence Agency to launch a clandestine campaign on Chinese social media aimed at turning public opinion in China against its government, according to former U.S. officials … ⌘ Read more

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Caffeine Makes Fuel Cells More Efficient, Cuts Cost of Energy Storage
Dan Robinson reports via The Register: Adding caffeine can enhance the efficiency of fuel cells, reducing the need for platinum in electrodes and significantly reducing the cost of making them, according to researchers in Japan. […] The study, published in the journal Communications Chemistry, concerns the catalysis process at the c … ⌘ Read more

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FTC and DOJ Think McDonald’s Ice Cream Machines Should Be Legal To Fix
The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice have urged the US Copyright Office to broaden exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s Section 1201. Specifically, the two agencies are advocating for the extension of the right to repair to include “commercial and industrial equipment,” which includes McDonald’s … ⌘ Read more

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SpaceX Celebrates Third Launch of Starship Rocket Despite Loss of Contact
sixoh1 writes: On the third attempt, SpaceX’s Super Heavy booster lofted the Starship vehicle to space on a sub-orbital parabolic trajectory. The test was successful for nearly all of the objectives, including payload delivery functions on Starship that will be used for Starlink deployment and in-space fuel transfers. Unfortu … ⌘ Read more

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Your Next Pair of Walmart Pants Could Be 3D Woven
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Wired: We’ve been ableto design and 3D-print plastic phone cases and toys at home for a decade now. For almost every other consumer product made in a factory, the robots have taken over the heavy lifting. But fashion is still stuck in the 20th century. Take a typical pair of chinos. Cotton threads are woven on a large loom at a mill … ⌘ Read more

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Refund Fraud Schemes Promoted Online Are Costing Amazon and Other Retailers Billions
Refund fraud groups are exploiting lenient refund policies, resulting in significant losses for retailers like Amazon and prompting civil lawsuits and arrests. The scheme has become so pervasive that groups now market their services on Reddit, TikTok and Telegram. CNBC reports: Fraud groups are taking advan … ⌘ Read more

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Court Docs Reveal Epic CEO’s Anger At Steam’s 30% Fees
New emails from before the launch of the Epic Games Store in 2018 show just how angry Epic CEO Tim Sweeney was with the “assholes” at companies like Valve and Apple for squeezing “the little guy” with what he saw as inflated fees. “The emails, which came out this week as part of Wolfire’s price-fixing case against Valve (as noticed by the GameDiscoverCo newsletter), con … ⌘ Read more

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How Nintendo’s Destruction of Yuzu Is Rocking the Emulator World
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: When Nintendo sued the developers of Yuzu out of existence on March 4th, it wasn’t just an attack on the leading way to play Nintendo Switch games without a Switch. It was a warning to anyone building a video game emulator. Seven developers have now stepped away from projects, are shutting them … ⌘ Read more

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Massively Popular Safe Locks Have Secret Backdoor Codes
Two of the biggest manufacturers of locks used in commercial safes have been accused of essentially putting backdoors in at least some of their products in a new letter by Senator Ron Wyden. 404 Media: Wyden is urging the U.S. government to explicitly warn the public about the vulnerabilities, which Wyden says could be exploited by foreign adversaries to steal what … ⌘ Read more

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US Investigators Say Video Footage Overwritten of Work On Boeing Jet’s Door Plug
The head of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says investigators still do not know who worked on a Boeing 737 MAX 9 door plug involved in a Jan. 5 Alaska Airlines midair emergency and that video footage was overwritten. From a report: NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said in a letter to senators that invest … ⌘ Read more

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Record Breach of French Government Exposes Up To 43 Million People’s Data
France Travail, the government agency responsible for assisting the unemployed, has fallen victim to a massive data breach exposing the personal information of up to 43 million French citizens dating back two decades, the department announced on Wednesday. The incident, which has been reported to the country’s data protection watchd … ⌘ Read more

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Microsoft Drops Azure Egress Fees
Microsoft has eliminated egress fees for customers removing data from its Azure cloud, joining Amazon Web Services and Google in this move. The decision comes as the European Data Act’s provisions targeting lock-in terms are set to take effect in 2025. Microsoft adds: Azure already offers the first 100GB/month of egressed data for free to all customers in all Azure regions around the world. If you need to egress … ⌘ Read more

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Code.org Tells Court Zuckerberg-Backed Byju’s Undermines Mission To Teach Kids CS
theodp writes: Tech-backed nonprofit Code.org on Wednesday fired the latest salvo in its legal battle over $3 million in unpaid licensing fees for the use of Code.org’s free [for non-commercial purposes] K-12 computer science curriculum by WhiteHat Jr., the learn-to-code edtech company with a controversial pa … ⌘ Read more

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Amazon Tells Warehouse Workers To Close Their Eyes and Think Happy Thoughts
Amazon is telling workers to close their eyes and dream of being somewhere else while they’re standing in a warehouse. From a report: A worker in one of Amazon’s fulfillment centers, who we’ve granted anonymity, sent 404 Media a photo they took of a screen imploring them to try “savoring” the idea of something that makes them hap … ⌘ Read more

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Google’s Safe Browsing Protection in Chrome Goes Real-Time
Google announced a major change to its Safe Browsing feature in Chrome today that will make the service work in real time by checking against a server-side list – all without sharing your browsing habits with Google. From a report: Previously, Chrome downloaded a list of known sites that harbor malware, unwanted software and phishing scams once or twice per … ⌘ Read more

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Undersea Cable Damage Causes Internet Outages Across Africa
Damage to at least three subsea cables off the west coast of Africa is disrupting internet services across the continent. From a report: The West Africa Cable System, MainOne and ACE sea cables – arteries for telecommunications data – were all affected on Thursday, triggering outages and connectivity issues for mobile operators and internet service provid … ⌘ Read more

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Outdoor Voices To Close All Stores This Week
Outdoor Voices, an athletic apparel company, is closing all its stores on Sunday, The New York Times reported this week, citing four employees at four different stores. From the report: In an internal Slack message reviewed by The New York Times, some employees were notified on Wednesday that “Outdoor Voices is embarking on a new chapter as we transition to an exclusively online business.” … ⌘ Read more

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Craig Wright Is Not Bitcoin Creator Satoshi Nakamoto, Judge Declares
A judge in the UK High Court has declared that Australian computer scientist Craig Wright is not Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin, marking the end of a years-long debate. From a report: “The evidence is overwhelming,” said Honourable Mr. Justice James Mellor, delivering a surprise ruling at the close of the trial. “Dr. Wright is not the … ⌘ Read more

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China Hits Out at US Push To Ban TikTok
Beijing has hit out at US legislation to ban TikTok as former Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said he was assembling a consortium to buy the app from its Chinese owner. From a report: Foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Thursday that the US had shown a “robber’s logic” towards the app (non-paywalled link), which has 170mn users in America. “When you see other people’s good things, you … ⌘ Read more

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Paul Alexander, ‘The Man In the Iron Lung’, Has Died
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC: The polio survivor known as “the man in the iron lung” has died at the age of 78. Paul Alexander contracted polio in 1952 when he was six, leaving him paralyzed from the neck down. The disease left him unable to breathe independently, leading doctors to place him in the metal cylinder, where he would spend the rest of his … ⌘ Read more

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SXSW Audiences Loudly Boo Festival Videos Touting the Virtues of AI
At this year’s SXSW festival, discussions on artificial intelligence’s future sparked controversy during screenings of premiers like “The Fall Guy” and “Immaculate.” Variety reports: The quick-turnaround video editors at SXSW cut a daily sizzle reel highlighting previous panels, premieres and other events, which then runs before festival sc … ⌘ Read more

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FAA Grants License For SpaceX’s Third Starship Launch
The FAA today awarded a launch license to SpaceX for Starship’s third-ever test flight on March 14. “The FAA determined SpaceX met all safety, environmental, policy and financial responsibility requirements,” the agency wrote in a post on X this afternoon. Space.com reports: The megarocket has two test flights under its belt so far, which took place in April and Nov … ⌘ Read more

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Playing Thriving Reef Sounds On Underwater Speakers ‘Could Save Damaged Corals’
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Underwater speakers that broadcast the hustle and bustle of thriving coral could bring life back to more damaged and degraded reefs that are in danger of becoming ocean graveyards, researchers say. Scientists working off the US Virgin Islands in the Caribbean found … ⌘ Read more

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Cognition Emerges From Stealth To Launch AI Software Engineer ‘Devin’
Longtime Slashdot reader ahbond shares a report from VentureBeat: Today, Cognition, a recently formed AI startup backed by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and tech industry leaders including former Twitter executive Elad Gil and Doordash co-founder Tony Xu, announced a fully autonomous AI software engineer called “Devin.” While there are mult … ⌘ Read more

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Trying Out Microsoft’s Pre-Release OS/2 2.0
Last month, the only known surviving copy of 32-bit OS/2 from Microsoft was purchased for $650. “Now, two of the internet’s experts in getting early PC operating systems running today have managed to fire it up, and you can see the results,” reports The Register. From the report: Why such interest in this nearly third-of-a-century old, unreleased OS? Because this is the way the PC industry … ⌘ Read more

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Modern Workplace Tech Linked To Lower Employee Well-Being, Study Finds
According to a new study from the Institute for the Future of Work, contemporary technology often has a negative impact on workers’ quality of life. The think tank surveyed over 6,000 people to learn how four categories of workplace technologies affected their wellbeing. TechSpot reports the findings: The study found that increased expos … ⌘ Read more

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Nvidia Founder Tells Stanford Students Their High Expectations May Make It Hard For Them To Succeed
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Fortune: We are often told that setting the bar high is key to success. After all, if you shoot for the moon and miss, at least you’ll land with the stars. But Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang wants privileged Gen Z grads to lower their expecta … ⌘ Read more

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Bitcoin Fog Crypto Mixer Found Guilty of Money Laundering, Jury Finds
Roman Sterlingov, the founder of a $400 million crypto-mixing service called Bitcoin Fog, has been convicted of money laundering in a United State District Court on Tuesday. Other charges include money laundering conspiracy, operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business, and violations of the D.C. Money Transmitters Act. CoinTelegra … ⌘ Read more

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