Thursday, November 16th, 2023

Time	Event
12:02a	Lawmakers Question Apple Over Cancellation of Jon Stewart's Show An anonymous reader quotes a report from Engadget: A group of lawmakers from a House of Representatives committee wants Apple, like many Jon Stewart enthusiasts, to explain why its streaming arm abruptly canceled the talk show The Problem With Jon Stewart. The current affairs TV series hosted by Jon Stewart briefly made its debut on Apple TV+ in 2021 but its time on air ended when the show received the ax for a third season, reportedly due to "disagreements" over show topics. According to Reuters, Lawmakers want to know if the show's coverage and criticism of China has anything to do with the show's cancellation. The government officials have asked Apple to speak on the issue by Dec 15, 2023. In a letter to the tech giant, the House members wrote that while Apple has the right to determine what content it deems appropriate for its platform, "the coercive tactics of a foreign power should not be directly or indirectly influencing these determinations." This effort is bipartisan, with members from both Republican and Democratic parties affiliated with the House of Representatives' Select Committee on Competition with the Chinese Communist Party. Read more of this story at Slashdot. (Comment on this)
12:45a	Airbnb Acquires Secretive Firm Launched By Siri Co-Founder Airbnb has acquired a secretive new AI startup, GamePlanner.AI, for around $200 million. TechCrunch reports: GamePlanner was co-founded by Adam Cheyer and Siamak Hodjat. Cheyer famously helped co-launch the startup Siri, which Apple acquired and whose technology became the basis for Apple's AI-powered Siri assistant. Hodjat previously worked with Cheyer at Viv Labs, a firm that Samsung bought and leveraged to launch its own AI assistant, Bixby, in 2017. It's not immediately clear what GamePlanner does. A LinkedIn search only turns up two associates: Gabe Greenbaum, a general partner at B Capital who sits on GamePlanner's board of directors, and Joseph Huang, head of design at GamePlanner. GamePlanner hasn't had a web presence for some time; the Internet Archive's earliest cache of the website (from December 2021) yields a blank page. But in a canned statement, Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky hinted that the 12-person startup combines expertise in AI and design toward crafting AI-driven experiences, sort of like an AI-focused consultancy. "AI will rapidly alter our world more than any other technology in our lifetime, but we need to ensure that it augments humanity in a positive way," Chesky said, adding that the GamePlanner team will focus on "accelerating" select AI projects and integrating their tooling into Airbnb's platform. "Airbnb is one of the more humanistic companies in technology, and I believe that, together with Adam and his team, we can develop some of the best interfaces and practical applications for AI." Read more of this story at Slashdot. (Comment on this)
1:25a	Google Paid $8 Billion To Make Its Apps Default On Samsung Phones Lauren Irwin reports via The Hill: Google agreed to pay $8 billion over four years to Samsung to make its apps default on Samsung phones, according to information presented by Epic Games in court. James Kolotouros, vice president for partnerships at Google, testified Monday in a San Francisco trial, saying that the company and Samsung were to share app store revenue to ensure Android mobile devices came with Google Play preinstalled. Epic, the company that makes the popular video game "Fortnite," sued Google in 2020, alleging the company's app marketplace violates antitrust laws. Epic is trying to show that Google executives have discouraged third-party app stores on Samsung devices so it wouldn't cut into the profit of Google Play, Bloomberg reported. According to Kolotouros's testimony, half or more of Google Play revenue comes from Samsung devices. The trial targets the app store that distributes apps for the company's Android software, which powers virtually all the world's smartphones that aren't made by Apple. Epic alleges Google has created an illegal monopoly on Android apps so it can boost its profits through commissions, ranging from 15 to 30 percent on purchases made within an app. Google argues it was doing so to compete with Apple and its app store, an argument attacked by Epic attorney Lauren Moskowitz. Earlier in the trial, Google's attorney said the company can't be a monopoly because it faces competition from companies such as Apple. Further reading: Apple Gets 36% of Google Revenue in Search Deal, Witness Says Read more of this story at Slashdot. (Comment on this)
2:02a	Prices For Offshore Wind Power To Rise By 50% Simon Jack reports via the BBC: The price paid to generate electricity by offshore wind farms is set to rise by more than 50% as the government tries to entice energy firms to invest. Its comes after an auction for offshore wind projects failed to attract any bids, with firms arguing the price set for electricity generated was too low. The BBC understands the government now will raise the price it pays from 44 pounds per MWh to as much as 70 pounds. It is hoped more offshore wind capacity will lead to cheaper energy bills. Energy companies have told the BBC that electricity produced out at sea would remain cheaper and less prone to shock increases compared to power derived from gas-fired power stations. The UK is a world leader in offshore wind and is home to the world's four largest farms, supporting tens of thousands of jobs, which provided 13.8% of the UK's electricity generation last year, according to government statistics. But when the government revealed in September that no companies bid for project contracts, plans to nearly quadruple offshore wind capacity from 13 gigawatts GW to 50 by 2030 -- enough to power every home in the UK -- were dealt a heavy blow. The technology has been described as the "jewel in the UK's renewable energy crown," but firms have been hit by higher costs for building offshore farms, with materials such as steel and labour being more expensive. According to energy companies, the government's failure to recognize the impact of higher costs led some firms to abandon existing projects, and all operators to boycott the most recent auction. Read more of this story at Slashdot. (Comment on this)
3:30a	Global Decline In Male Fertility Linked To Common Pesticides An anonymous reader quotes a report from NBC News: A prolonged decline in male fertility in the form of sperm concentrations appears to be connected to the use of pesticides, according to a study published Wednesday. Researchers compiled, rated and reviewed the results of 25 studies of certain pesticides and male fertility and found that men who had been exposed to certain classes of pesticides had significantly lower sperm concentrations. The study, published Wednesday in Environmental Health Perspectives, included data from more than 1,700 men and spanned several decades. "No matter how we looked at the analysis and results, we saw a persistent association between increasing levels of insecticide and decreases in sperm concentration," said study author Melissa Perry, who is an environmental epidemiologist and the dean of the College of Public Health at George Mason University. "I would hope this study would get the attention of regulators seeking to make decisions to keep the public safe from inadvertent, unplanned impacts of insecticides." [...] Scientists have long suspected changes to the environment could be contributing, and they've been probing the role of pesticides for decades in studies of animals and in human epidemiology research. The new analysis focuses on two groups of chemicals -- organophosphates and some carbamates -- that are commonly used in insecticides. The researchers looked at data collected from groups of people with exposures to pesticides and others who were not. Most, but not all, of the research centered on exposures in the workplace. The researchers controlled for outside factors that could contribute to lower sperm counts like smoking and age. Perry said researchers aren't sure how pesticides are affecting sperm concentrations and more research will be needed. It's likely that pesticides are one of many environmental factors that could be contributing to a decline in sperm concentrations. The trend of sperm concentration declines has been widely observed in studies around the world, but it's a complicated topic and some scientists still have reservations. Sperm are notoriously difficult to count and the technology to do so has changed over the years. There are many confounding factors that can affect male fertility, including age, obesity and opioid use, to name a few. Sperm concentrations are one important data point to consider, but other factors -- like how sperm are shaped and how they swim -- are also critical to male fertility. Perry said she hopes agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency begin to factor the impact of chemicals and pesticides on reproductive health in their assessments. "Given the body of evidence and these consistent findings, it's time to proactively reduce these insecticide exposures for men wanting to have families," Perry said. Read more of this story at Slashdot. (Comment on this)
7:00a	FAA Clears SpaceX To Launch Second Starship Flight The FAA has cleared SpaceX to launch its second spaceflight attempt of its Starship rocket. CNBC reports: SpaceX posted on the social media platform X shortly after the greenlight that it was "targeting Friday, November 17 for Starship's second flight test." A two-hour launch window will begin at 8 a.m. ET. SpaceX plans to livestream the Starship launch, with a webcast beginning about 30 minutes before lift off. Starship first launched in April, achieving flight for a few minutes before exploding mid-air, severely damaging the ground infrastructure and raising environmental concerns. The FAA in coordination with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service launched a safety review prior to issuing a new flight license for the second attempt. FWS determined that the rocket launch and subsequent damage to the pad infrastructure had no long-term negative effects on the surrounding ecology, according to an agency report released Wednesday. Still, SpaceX will help mitigate damage to the area by reducing sound waves and vibrations, assisting in fire suppression, and providing launch pad protection, the agency said. As a result, "the FAA determined SpaceX met all safety, environmental, policy and financial responsibility requirements," the agency said in a statement Wednesday. Read more of this story at Slashdot. (Comment on this)
10:00a	China Receives US Equipment To Make Advanced Chips Despite New Rules schwit1 shares a report from Reuters: Chinese companies are buying up U.S. chipmaking equipment to make advanced semiconductors, despite a raft of new export curbs aimed at thwarting advances in the country's semiconductor industry, a report said on Tuesday. The 741 page annual report, released by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, takes aim at the Biden administration's Oct. 2022 export curbs, which seek to bar Chinese chipmakers from getting U.S. chipmaking tools if they would be used to manufacture advanced chips at the 14 nanometer node or below. With the Commerce Department using the 14 nanometer restriction limit, 'importers are often able to purchase the equipment if they claim it is being used on an older production line, and with limited capacity for end-use inspections, it is difficult to verify the equipment is not being used to produce more advanced chips,' the report stated. According to the document, between January and August 2023, China imported $3.2 billion (RMB 23.5 billion) worth of semiconductor manufacturing machines from the Netherlands, a 96.1% increase over the $1.7 billion (RMB 12 billion) recorded over the same period in 2022. China's imports of semiconductor equipment from all countries totaled $13.8 billion (RMB 100 billion) over the first eight months of 2023, it added. The report does not outline a specific recommendation to address the gaps in the U.S. rules, but urges Congress to request an annual evaluation, to be completed within 6 months by the General Accountability Office and later made public, of the effectiveness of export controls on chipmaking equipment to China. Read more of this story at Slashdot. (Comment on this)
1:00p	FCC Can Now Punish Telecom Providers For Charging Customers More For Less An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: The Federal Communications Commission has approved (PDF) a new set of rules aiming to prevent "digital discrimination." It means the agency can hold telecom companies accountable for digitally discriminating against customers -- or giving certain communities poorer service (or none at all) based on income level, race, or religion. The new rules come as part of the Biden Administration's 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which requires the FCC to develop and adopt anti-digital discrimination rules. "Many of the communities that lack adequate access to broadband today are the same areas that suffer from longstanding patterns of residential segregation and economic disadvantage," FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said following today's vote. "It shows that minority status and income correlate with broadband access." Under the new rules, the FCC can fine telecom companies for not providing equal connectivity to different communities "without adequate justification," such as financial or technical challenges of building out service in a particular area. The rules are specifically designed to address correlations between household income, race, and internet speed. Last year, a joint report from The Markup and the Associated Press found that AT&T, Verizon, and other internet service providers offer different speeds depending on the neighborhood in cities throughout the US. The report revealed neighborhoods with lower incomes and fewer white people get stuck with slower internet while still having to pay the same price as those with faster speeds. At the time, USTelecom, an organization that represents major telecom providers, blamed the higher price on having to maintain older equipment in certain communities. The FCC was nearly divided on the new set of rules, as it passed with a 3-2 vote. Critics of the new policy argue the rules are an overextension of the FCC's power. Jonathan Spalter, the CEO of USTelecom, says the FCC is "taking overly intrusive, unworkably vague, and ultimately harmful steps in the wrong direction." Spalter adds the framework "is counter" to Congress' goal of giving customers equal access to the internet. Still, supporters of the new rules believe they can go a long way toward improving fractured broadband coverage throughout the US. The FCC will also establish an "improved" customer portal, where the agency will field and review complaints about digital discrimination. It will take things like broadband deployment, network upgrades, and maintenance across communities into account when evaluating providers for potential rule violations, giving it the authority to hopefully finally address the disparities in internet access throughout the US. Read more of this story at Slashdot. (Comment on this)
2:01p	Proton Mail CEO Calls New Address Verification Feature 'Blockchain in a Very Pure Form' Proton Mail, the leading privacy-focused email service, is making its first foray into blockchain technology with Key Transparency, which will allow users to verify email addresses. From a report: In an interview with Fortune, CEO and founder Andy Yen made clear that although the new feature uses blockchain, the key technology behind crypto, Key Transparency isn't "some sketchy cryptocurrency" linked to an "exit scam." A student of cryptography, Yen added that the new feature is "blockchain in a very pure form," and it allows the platform to solve the thorny issue of ensuring that every email address actually belongs to the person who's claiming it. Proton Mail uses end-to-end encryption, a secure form of communication that ensures only the intended recipient can read the information. Senders encrypt an email using their intended recipient's public key -- a long string of letters and numbers -- which the recipient can then decrypt with their own private key. The issue, Yen said, is ensuring that the public key actually belongs to the intended recipient. "Maybe it's the NSA that has created a fake public key linked to you, and I'm somehow tricked into encrypting data with that public key," he told Fortune. In the security space, the tactic is known as a "man-in-the-middle attack," like a postal worker opening your bank statement to get your social security number and then resealing the envelope. Blockchains are an immutable ledger, meaning any data initially entered onto them can't be altered. Yen realized that putting users' public keys on a blockchain would create a record ensuring those keys actually belonged to them -- and would be cross-referenced whenever other users send emails. "In order for the verification to be trusted, it needs to be public, and it needs to be unchanging," Yen said. Read more of this story at Slashdot. (Comment on this)
2:40p	Windows is Now an App for iPhones, iPads, Macs, and PCs Microsoft has created a Windows App for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, Windows, and web browsers. From a report: The app essentially takes the previous Windows 365 app and turns it into a central hub for streaming a copy of Windows from a remote PC, Azure Virtual Desktop, Windows 365, Microsoft Dev Box, and Microsoft's Remote Desktop Services. Microsoft supports multiple monitors through its Windows App, custom display resolutions and scaling, and device redirection for peripherals like webcams, storage devices, and printers. The preview version of the Windows App isn't currently available for Android, though. The Windows App is also limited to Microsoft's range of business accounts, but there are signs it will be available to consumers, too. The sign-in prompt on the Windows App on Windows (yes that's a mouthful) suggests you can access the app using a personal Microsoft Account, but this functionality doesn't work right now. Read more of this story at Slashdot. (Comment on this)
3:20p	How Amazon Is Going After Microsoft's Cloud Computing Ambitions Amazon is the driving force behind a trio of advocacy groups working to thwart Microsoft's growing ambition to become a major cloud computing contractor for governments, a Bloomberg analysis shows. From the report: The groups -- the Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe (CISPE), the Coalition for Fair Software Licensing and the Alliance for Digital Innovation -- want to convince policymakers that Microsoft has improperly locked customers into Azure, its cloud computing service, choking off its rivals and hindering the advancement of technology within the government and beyond. These groups have dozens of members. But Amazon is the biggest funder for two of them and the largest company, measured by revenue, that funds another. Spokespeople for the groups say no single company determines their agendas. But according to a Bloomberg News review of tax filings, documents and interviews with people familiar with the three groups' operations, Amazon Web Services plays a direct role in shaping their efforts in ways that would boost the cloud giant. Through aggressive lobbying of policymakers, these groups want to ensure that customers can use popular Microsoft products like Office Suite or Windows on any cloud computing system -- and, in particular, on Amazon Web Services, the world's number one cloud infrastructure provider and the retail giant's top profit driver. To hammer that message, they've filed complaints, lobbied regulators and sought to shape the views of policymakers probing the cloud market. In one case, an Amazon executive is listed as the author of a public comment to the Federal Trade Commission, as well as testimony and letters to Congress on behalf of the group, according to an analysis of the documents' metadata, revealing the tech giant's role in the lobbying campaign. (The group says the documents reflect the consensus position of its members.) Amazon denied it authored statements for the group. Read more of this story at Slashdot. (Comment on this)
4:00p	Children's Tablet Has Malware and Exposes Kids' Data, Researcher Finds An anonymous reader shares a report: In May this year, Alexis Hancock's daughter got a children's tablet for her birthday. Being a security researcher, Hancock was immediately worried. "I looked at it kind of sideways because I've never heard of Dragon Touch," Hancock told TechCrunch, referring to the tablet's maker. As it turned out, Hancock, who works at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, had good reasons to be concerned. Hancock said she found that the tablet had a slew of security and privacy issues that could have put her daughter's and other children's data at risk. The Dragon Touch KidzPad Y88X contains traces of a well-known malware, runs a version of Android that was released five years ago, comes pre-loaded with other software that's considered malware and a "potentially unwanted program" because of "its history and extensive system level permissions to download whatever application it wants," and includes an outdated version of an app store designed specifically for kids, according to Hancock's report, which was released on Thursday and seen by TechCrunch ahead of its publication. Hancock said she reached out to Dragon Touch to report these issues, but the company never responded. Dragon Touch did not respond to TechCrunch's questions either. After TechCrunch reached out to the company, Walmart removed the listing from its website, while Amazon said it's looking into the matter. Read more of this story at Slashdot. (Comment on this)
4:40p	UK Approves World's First CRISPR-Based Medicine Britain's drugs regulator has approved a groundbreaking treatment for two painful and debilitating lifelong blood disorders, which works by "editing" the gene that causes them. From a report: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has given the green light for Casgevy to be used to treat sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia. It is the first medicine licensed anywhere that works by deploying gene editing that uses the "genetic scissors," known as CRISPR, for which its inventors won the Nobel prize for chemistry. Casgevy's developers hope the pioneering treatment could banish the pain, infections and anaemia sickle cell disease brings and the severe anaemia experienced by those with beta thalassemia. About 15,000 people in the UK, almost all of African or Caribbean heritage, have sickle cell disease. About 1,000 -- mainly of Mediterranean, south Asian, south-east Asian and Middle Eastern background -- have beta thalassemia and need regular blood transfusions to treat their anaemia. Experts in the illnesses hope Casgevy may be a cure, making it no longer necessary for people with the conditions to have a bone marrow transplant. Until now this has been the only treatment available, even though the body can reject the donor marrow. The Sickle Cell Society welcomed the MHRA's decision as a "historic moment for the sickle cell community" which "offers [them] newfound hope and optimism." Read more of this story at Slashdot. (Comment on this)
5:20p	Samsung Says Hackers Accessed Customer Data During Year-Long Breach Samsung has admitted that hackers accessed the personal data of U.K.-based customers during a year-long breach of its systems. From a report: In a statement to TechCrunch, Samsung spokesperson Chelsea Simpson, representing the company via a third-party agency, said Samsung was "recently alerted to a security incident" that "resulted in certain contact information of some Samsung U.K. e-store customers being unlawfully obtained." Samsung declined to answer further questions about the incident, such as how many customers were affected or how hackers accessed its internal systems. In a letter sent to affected customers, Samsung admitted that attackers exploited a vulnerability in an unnamed third-party business application to access the personal information of customers who made purchases at Samsung U.K.'s store between July 1, 2019 and June 30, 2020. The letter, which was shared on X (formerly Twitter), Samsung said it didn't discover the compromise until more than three years later, on November 13, 2023. Samsung told affected customers that hackers may have accessed their names, phone numbers, postal addresses, and email addresses. Read more of this story at Slashdot. (Comment on this)
6:00p	UK Will Refrain From Regulating AI 'in the Short Term' The UK has said it will refrain from regulating the British artificial intelligence sector, even as the EU, US and China push forward with new measures. From a report: The UK's first minister for AI and intellectual property, Viscount Jonathan Camrose, said at a Financial Times conference on Thursday that there would be no UK law on AI "in the short term" because the government was concerned that heavy-handed regulation could curb industry growth. The announcement comes as executives and policymakers around the world debate how to regulate the emerging technology, which holds the promise of transforming many industries and driven the rise in large tech company valuations over the past year. The EU has led the field, with its legislation on AI regulation expected to come into force before the end of this year. Beijing is also implementing measures to regulate the industry, while US President Joe Biden recently issued an executive order to promote "responsible innovation." Camrose added: "I would never criticise any other nation's act on this. But there is always a risk of premature regulation." In rushing to introduce industry controls, "you are not actually making anybody as safe as it sounds," he said. "You are stifling innovation, and innovation is a very very important part of the AI equation." Read more of this story at Slashdot. (Comment on this)
6:12p	Apple To Add RCS Support To iPhone Next Year 9to5Mac: In a surprising move, Apple has announced today that it will adopt the RCS (Rich Communication Services) messaging standard. The feature will launch via a software update "later next year" and bring a wide range of iMessage-style features to messaging between iPhone and Android users. Apple's decision comes amid pressure from regulators and competitors like Google and Samsung. It also comes as RCS has continued to develop and become a more mature platform than it once was. In a statement to 9to5Mac, an Apple spokesperson said that the company believes RCS will offer better interoperability for cross-platform messages. "Later next year, we will be adding support for RCS Universal Profile, the standard as currently published by the GSM Association. We believe RCS Universal Profile will offer a better interoperability experience when compared to SMS or MMS. This will work alongside iMessage, which will continue to be the best and most secure messaging experience for Apple users." Read more of this story at Slashdot. (Comment on this)
7:20p	Signal Reveals Its Operation Costs, Estimates $50 Million a Year In 2024 gaiageek writes: Of note, given the recent Slashdot article about Signal opening up to trying out usernames, is the $6 million annual cost of sending SMS messages for account verification, which certainly suggests that getting rid of phone number verification would be a significant cost-saving solution. Signal pays $14 million a year in infrastructure costs, for instance, including the price of servers, bandwidth, and storage. It uses about 20 petabytes per year of bandwidth, or 20 million gigabytes, to enable voice and video calling alone, which comes to $1.7 million a year. The biggest chunk of those infrastructure costs, fully $6 million annually, goes to telecom firms to pay for the SMS text messages Signal uses to send registration codes to verify new Signal accounts' phone numbers. Read more of this story at Slashdot. (Comment on this)
8:00p	Developers Can't Seem To Stop Exposing Credentials in Publicly Accessible Code Despite more than a decade of reminding, prodding, and downright nagging, a surprising number of developers still can't bring themselves to keep their code free of credentials that provide the keys to their kingdoms to anyone who takes the time to look for them. From a report: The lapse stems from immature coding practices in which developers embed cryptographic keys, security tokens, passwords, and other forms of credentials directly into the source code they write. The credentials make it easy for the underlying program to access databases or cloud services necessary for it to work as intended. [...] The number of studies published since following the revelations underscored just how common the practice had been and remained in the years immediately following Uber's cautionary tale. Sadly, the negligence continues even now. Researchers from security firm GitGuardian this week reported finding almost 4,000 unique secrets stashed inside a total of 450,000 projects submitted to PyPI, the official code repository for the Python programming language. Nearly 3,000 projects contained at least one unique secret. Many secrets were leaked more than once, bringing the total number of exposed secrets to almost 57,000. Read more of this story at Slashdot. (Comment on this)
8:40p	Amazon To Sell Cars Online, Starting With Hyundai Speaking of things Amazon can or cannot sell on its platform, the e-commerce giant getting into the car business. From a report: The e-commerce giant along with new partner Hyundai announced Thursday at the 2023 LA Auto Show that it will start selling vehicles on its website in the second half of 2024. Hyundai vehicles will be the first vehicles sold on Amazon.com's U.S. store with other brands following later in the year. The Amazon car sales section will allow customers to shop for vehicles in their area based on a range of preferences, including model, trim, color, and features, choose their preferred car, and then check out online with their chosen payment and financing options. Customers will be able to buy a vehicle online and then pick it up or have it delivered by their local dealership, according to Amazon. Read more of this story at Slashdot. (Comment on this)
9:20p	Users Can't Speak To Viral AI Girlfriend CarynAI Because CEO Is in Jail samleecole writes: People who paid to speak to an AI girlfriend modeled after real life 23-year-old influencer Caryn Marjorie are distraught because the service they paid for, Forever Companions, no longer works. It appears that the service stopped working shortly after Forever Companion CEO and founder John Meyer was arrested for trying to set his own apartment on fire. 404 Media tested CarynAI today as well as other AI bots and confirmed the service is not working. According to what we saw in the Telegram channel where Forever Companion users start conversations with CarynAI, the service has not been working since October 23. "I terminated my relationship with Forever Voices due to unforeseen circumstances," Marjorie told 404 Media in an email. "I wish the best for John Meyer and his family as he recovers from his mental health crisis. We didn't see this coming but I vow to push CarynAI forward for my fans and supporters." On October 30, Marjorie also announced that she's making a similar AI companion, "CarynAI 2.0," with another company called Banter AI. On social media for the last few weeks, the official Forever Voices Twitter account has been posting bizarre videos and statements about the CIA, Donald Trump, and the FBI. Read more of this story at Slashdot. (Comment on this)
10:00p	The EU Will Finally Free Windows Users From Bing An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: Microsoft will soon let Windows 11 users in the European Economic Area (EEA) disable its Bing web search, remove Microsoft Edge, and even add custom web search providers -- including Google if it's willing to build one -- into its Windows Search interface. All of these Windows 11 changes are part of key tweaks that Microsoft has to make to its operating system to comply with the European Commission's Digital Markets Act, which comes into effect in March 2024. Microsoft will be required to meet a slew of interoperability and competition rules, including allowing users "to easily un-install pre-installed apps or change default settings on operating systems, virtual assistants, or web browsers that steer them to the products and services of the gatekeeper and provide choice screens for key services." Alongside clearly marking which apps are system components in Windows 11, Microsoft is also responding by adding the ability to uninstall the following apps: Camera, Cortana, Web Search from Microsoft Bing in the EEA, Microsoft Edge in the EEA, and Photos. Only Windows 11 users in the EEA will be able to fully remove Microsoft Edge and the Bing-powered web search from Windows Search. Microsoft could easily extend this to all Windows 11 users, but it's limiting this extra functionality to EEA markets to comply with the rules. In EEA markets -- which includes EU countries and also Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway -- Windows 11 users will also get access to new interoperability features for feeds in the Windows Widgets board and web search in Windows Search. This will allow search providers like Google to extend the main Windows Search interface with their own custom web searches. Microsoft will allow EEA machines to remove the Bing results, so Google could provide its own search results here and effectively become the default if a user has uninstalled Bing. "If the user has more than one search provider installed, Windows Search will show the last one used when opened," explains Aaron Grady, partner group product manager for Windows, in a statement to The Verge. Read more of this story at Slashdot. (Comment on this)
10:40p	'Hallucinate' Chosen As Cambridge Dictionary's Word of the Year Cambridge dictionary's word of the year for 2023 is "hallucinate," a verb that took on a new meaning with the rise in popularity of artificial intelligence chatbots. The Guardian reports: The original definition of the chosen word is to "seem to see, hear, feel, or smell" something that does not exist, usually because of "a health condition or because you have taken a drug." It now has an additional meaning, relating to when artificial intelligence systems such as ChatGPT, which generates text that mimics human writing, "hallucinates" and produces false information. The word was chosen because the new meaning "gets to the heart of why people are talking about AI," according to a post on the dictionary site. Generative AI is a "powerful" but "far from perfect" tool, "one we're all still learning how to interact with safely and effectively -- this means being aware of both its potential strengths and its current weaknesses." The dictionary added a number of AI-related entries this year, including large language model (or LLM), generative AI (or GenAI), and GPT (an abbreviation of Generative Pre-trained Transformer). "AI hallucinations remind us that humans still need to bring their critical thinking skills to the use of these tools," continued the post. "Large language models are only as reliable as the information their algorithms learn from. Human expertise is arguably more important than ever, to create the authoritative and up-to-date information that LLMs can be trained on." Read more of this story at Slashdot. (Comment on this)
11:20p	Google News Removing Magazine Support In December 2023 Google has announced that its News app and news.google.com will remove support for paid magazines next month. "The removal not only applies to new subscriptions/purchases, but also to existing libraries of magazines," reports 9to5Google. "That means that users who have paid for magazines to use them in the Google News app will be cut off pretty soon." From the report: Ahead of the December 18 shutdown, users will be able to export copies of paid magazines. Magazines that cannot be exported due to interactive elements will be eligible for a refund. Google explains: "Support for magazine content in Google News is being discontinued beginning on December 18, 2023, which means if you previously purchased or subscribed to magazines, access from Google News apps or news.google.com to your library of magazines will be removed. To continue to access previously purchased magazine content, we are providing the opportunity to export and save each purchased issue. In some cases, purchased magazines contain interactive elements that cannot be downloaded and saved for future access, and we are offering a refund for this content." The company further adds that affected users will receive an email titled "An update to Google News magazine support" which will contain instructions on how to download copies of magazines they've paid for. However, the cutoff for downloads and/or refunds is also December 18, 2023, which means the clock is ticking. You can access your library of magazines on News here. Read more of this story at Slashdot. (Comment on this)

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