Latest News

Last updated 27 Apr, 03:22 AM

BBC News

Pentagon to 'rush' Patriot missiles to Ukraine - The $6bn package will include air defence munitions but no new Patriot batteries.

At last some cautious optimism after the royal gloom - Buckingham Palace has broken the long silence over the King's health with some positive messages.

BBC returns to beach where five migrants died - Andrew Harding saw migrants board an overcrowded boat in Wimereux, northern France, on Tuesday.

British man injured in Tobago shark attack - The 64-year-old was 10 metres off the shore when he was attacked by a bull shark, a local official says.

'I had no idea my son's body was buried in the garden' - Yvonne Valentine sat having a Christmas drink with her son's partner, unaware she had killed him.

The Register

Big Cloud is still making bank – Is this AI adoption, price rises, or what? - Shareholders are loving it. What are customers getting out of it all? Kettle This week a chunk of Big Tech reported its latest quarterly financial figures, and our beady eyes were on whether the ongoing AI obsession will pay off for these mega corporations.…

Ex-Space Shuttle boss corrects the record on Hubble upgrade mission - Under Flight Rules, the crew should have turned back to Earth Former Space Shuttle Program Manager Wayne Hale has posted a correction to NASA's history of STS-109, which he claims "is a lie" - although that may be a slight exaggeration.…

Jensen Huang and Sam Altman among tech chiefs invited to federal AI Safety Board - Stacking the deck – we've heard of it Leaders of the world's most prominent AI companies are being recruited for the Homeland Security Department's new advisory group.…

ASML caves to US pressure to cease servicing some kit used by Chinese customers - Not even maintenance is OK in the eyes of the Uncle Sam Under US pressure, Dutch photolithography giant ASML will no longer service certain chipmaking equipment purchased by Chinese customers.…

Microsoft dusts off ancient MS-DOS 4.0 code for release on GitHub - Nobody's favorite operating system is now available for inspection In partnership with IBM, Microsoft has released the source code for MS-DOS 4.0, more than 35 years since the operating system made a muted appearance ahead of Windows 3.x.…

New Scientist - News

How the US is preparing for a potential bird flu pandemic - As the US grapples with an ongoing bird flu outbreak in dairy cattle, the country’s health agencies are ramping up surveillance efforts and working to develop a vaccine if needed

Bowhead whales still harmed from whaling that ended a century ago - Commercial bowhead whaling ended in the early 20th century, but the industry’s lasting effects on the whales’ genetic diversity are leading to declines again

5 extraordinary ideas about the mind and what it means to be conscious - To celebrate the launch of our new event series in the US, kicking off with a masterclass on the brain and consciousness, we have unlocked five incredible long reads

Rare mutation that causes short stature may shed light on ageing - The genetic variant, which causes people to be insensitive to growth hormone, may also protect people from heart disease

Alpacas are the only mammals known to directly inseminate the uterus - When alpacas mate, males deposit sperm directly into the uterus, a reproductive strategy not confirmed in any other mammals

Hacker News

Leaving Rust gamedev after 3 years - Comments

World War I dangers in France's red zones - Comments

Show HN: I made a spaced repetition tool to master coding problems - Comments

Bun's New Crash Reporter - Comments

I'm creating PBR Textures and 3D models since 2018 and sharing them for free - Comments

Slashdot

Ring Customers Get $5.6 Million In Refunds In Privacy Settlement - The FTC is issuing more than $5.6 million in refunds to Ring customers as part of a privacy settlement. The Associated Press reports: In a 2023 complaint, the FTC accused the doorbell camera and home security provider of allowing its employees and contractors to access customers' private videos. Ring allegedly used such footage to train algorithms without consent, among other purposes. Ring was also charged with failing to implement key security protections, which enabled hackers to take control of customers' accounts, cameras and videos. This led to "egregious violations of users' privacy," the FTC noted. The resulting settlement required Ring to delete content that was found to be unlawfully obtained, establish stronger security protections and pay a hefty fine. The FTC says that it's now using much of that money to refund eligible Ring customers. According to a Tuesday notice, the FTC is sending 117,044 PayPal payments to impacted consumers who had certain types of Ring devices -- including indoor cameras -- during the timeframes that the regulators allege unauthorized access took place. Eligible customers will need to redeem these payments within 30 days, according to the FTC -- which added that consumers can contact this case's refund administrator, Rust Consulting, or visit the FTC's FAQ page on refunds for more information about the process. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Xbox Console Sales Are Tanking As Microsoft Brings Games To PS5 - In its third-quarter earnings call on Thursday, Microsoft reported a 30% drop in Xbox console sales, after reporting a 30% drop last April. "It blamed the nosedive on a 'lower volume of consoles sold' during the start of 2024," reports Kotaku. From the report: In February, Grand Theft Auto VI parent company Take-Two claimed in a presentation to investors that there were roughly 77 million "gen 9" consoles in people's homes. It didn't take fans long to do the math and speculate that Microsoft had only sold around 25 million Xbox Series X/S consoles to-date. That puts it ahead of the GameCube but behind the Nintendo 64, at least for now. Given the results this quarter as well, it doesn't seem like Game Pass and Starfield have moved the needle much. Maybe that will change once Call of Duty, which Microsoft acquired last fall along with the rest of Activision Blizzard, finally makes its way to Game Pass. Diablo IV only just arrived on the Netflix-like subscription platform this month. But given the fact that the fate of Xbox Series X/S appears to be locked in at this point, it's easy to see why Microsoft is looking at other places it can put its games. Sea of Thieves, the last of four games in this initial volley to come to PS5, dominated the PlayStation Store's top sellers list last week on pre-orders alone. CEO Satya Nadella specifically called this out during a call with investors, noting that Microsoft had more games in the top 25 best sellers on PS5 than any other publisher. "We are committed to meeting players where they are by bringing great games to more people on more devices," he said. If players there continue to flock to the live-service pirate sim, it's not hard to imagine Microsoft bringing another batch of its first-party exclusives to the rival platform. Whether that means more recent blockbusters like Starfield or the upcoming Indiana Jones game will someday make the journey remains to be seen. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Court Upholds New York Law That Says ISPs Must Offer $15 Broadband - The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit overturned a prior district court decision, lifting the injunction that blocked New York's law mandating that ISPs offer $15 broadband plans to low-income families. Ars Technica reports: The ruling (PDF) is a loss for six trade groups that represent ISPs, although it isn't clear right now whether the law will be enforced. For consumers who qualify for means-tested government benefits, the state law requires ISPs to offer "broadband at no more than $15 per month for service of 25Mbps, or $20 per month for high-speed service of 200Mbps," the ruling noted. The law allows for price increases every few years and makes exemptions available to ISPs with fewer than 20,000 customers. "First, the ABA is not field-preempted by the Communications Act of 1934 (as amended by the Telecommunications Act of 1996), because the Act does not establish a framework of rate regulation that is sufficiently comprehensive to imply that Congress intended to exclude the states from entering the field," a panel of appeals court judges stated in a 2-1 opinion. Trade groups claimed the state law is preempted by former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai's repeal of net neutrality rules. Pai's repeal placed ISPs under the more forgiving Title I regulatory framework instead of the common-carrier framework in Title II of the Communications Act. 2nd Circuit judges did not find this argument convincing: "Second, the ABA is not conflict-preempted by the Federal Communications Commission's 2018 order classifying broadband as an information service. That order stripped the agency of its authority to regulate the rates charged for broadband Internet, and a federal agency cannot exclude states from regulating in an area where the agency itself lacks regulatory authority. Accordingly, we REVERSE the judgment of the district court and VACATE the permanent injunction." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Fake Job Interviews Target Developers With New Python Backdoor - An anonymous reader quotes a report from BleepingComputer: A new campaign tracked as "Dev Popper" is targeting software developers with fake job interviews in an attempt to trick them into installing a Python remote access trojan (RAT). The developers are asked to perform tasks supposedly related to the interview, like downloading and running code from GitHub, in an effort to make the entire process appear legitimate. However, the threat actor's goal is make their targets download malicious software that gathers system information and enables remote access to the host. According to Securonix analysts, the campaign is likely orchestrated by North Korean threat actors based on the observed tactics. The connections are not strong enough for attribution, though. [...] Although the perpetrators of the Dev Popper attack aren't known, the tactic of using job lures as bait to infect people with malware is still prevalent, so people should remain vigilant of the risks. The researchers note that the method "exploits the developer's professional engagement and trust in the job application process, where refusal to perform the interviewer's actions could compromise the job opportunity," which makes it very effective. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

IRS Free Tax Filing Pilot Saved Consumers $5.6 Million In Prep Fees - The free tax filing pilot from the IRS that rolled out in 12 states last month saved filers an estimated $5.6 million in tax preparation fees for federal returns, said IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel. CNBC reports: This season, more than 140,000 taxpayers successfully filed returns using IRS Direct File, a free tax filing pilot from the IRS, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the IRS. Direct File surveyed more than 15,000 users, around 90% of whom rated their experience as "excellent," the agencies reported. "We have not made a decision about the future of Direct File," Werfel said, noting the agency still needs to analyze data and get feedback from a "wide variety of stakeholders." The IRS plans to release a more detailed report about the Direct File pilot "in the coming days," he added. If Direct File were expanded for the next season, the program could add additional states and tax situations, according to a senior IRS official. The agency expects to decide the future of Direct File later this spring, Werfel said. Read more of this story at Slashdot.