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Last updated 02 Jun, 05:33 PM

BBC News - Home

Homophobia has fuelled affair coverage, says Schofield - The former ITV host said his affair with a young colleague was a "grave error" and his career is "over".

Alison Hammond breaks down on This Morning over Phillip Schofield interview - The show's presenter Alison Hammond urges people not to judge her former colleague too harshly.

Dozens reported dead after India train crash - Between 30 and 50 deaths and scores of injuries are feared after two trains collide in the state of Odisha.

Boris Johnson to bypass government on Covid WhatsApps - He has said he will give the Covid inquiry his messages in full, after the government refused to.

Islamist terror plot teen will serve at least six years - Members of the public alerted police after becoming concerned about the 19-year-old's behaviour.

The Register

Starlink bags US defense contract to keep war-torn Ukraine connected - And poor Elon gets a break from subsidies Starlink has scored an official US government contract to supply satellite services to Ukraine, according to reports.…

Microsoft stashes nearly half a billion in case LinkedIn data drama hits - Irish regulators sniffing around Facebook-for-suits subsidiary have threatened fine Microsoft has warned investors about a "non-public" draft decision by Irish regulators against LinkedIn for allegedly dodgy ad data practices, explaining it had set aside some cash to pay off any potential fine.…

Meta tells staff to return to office three days a week - 'Engineers perform better in person' says Zuckerberg. Hang on, aren't you the defender of the Metaverse? Meta is asking employees to return to their designated office three days a week from the start of late summer as more tech companies discuss the perceived productivity losses of remote work.…

Buckle up for meetings on the road as Cisco brings Webex to Audi autos - Have you considered taking up cycling? Nothing says Happy Friday like news that Cisco is trying to help your boss pry yet more of your time and personal space from you: the Webex collaboration app will be equipped in select Audi cars from next year.…

Laid-off 60-year-old Kyndryl exec says he was told IT giant wanted 'new blood' - As spinoff quietly erases claim that average age in mainframe group was 35 An age discrimination claim filed on behalf of a former Kyndryl global software director against IBM and its spinoff has been amended to include similar allegations from a business development executive who also worked at both IT giants.…

New Scientist - News

Watch Mars ‘livestream’ by the European Space Agency – latest updates - The European Space Agency is about to attempt the first ever livestream from another planet - although the distance from Earth to Mars means there will be a short delay in broadcasting

Hundreds of weird filaments of gas are hiding in our galaxy’s centre - Astronomers have found strange strings of hot gas near the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way, and they may be hurtling towards Earth

Reports of an AI drone that 'killed' its operator are pure fiction - It has been widely reported that a US Air Force drone went rogue and "killed" its operator in a simulation, sparking fears of an AI revolution - but this simulation never took place. Why are we so quick to believe AI horror stories?

Wildfires across Canada have emitted record-breaking amounts of carbon - Carbon emissions from wildfires in Canada were the highest ever recorded in May, highlighting the growing risk of blazes earlier in the year

Inside the huge London super sewer designed to fight river pollution - A monstrous concrete pipe with a capacity of 1.6 million cubic metres is being built under London to reduce the frequency of sewage discharges into the Thames

Hacker News

Modern C - Comments

An open source, educational, low-cost modern analog computer - Comments

Render neural network into CUDA/HIP code - Comments

Skybox AI: Use AI to generate 3D worlds - Comments

Using Google’s code history to write more code - Comments

Slashdot

Laptop Makers Bet on Better Display Tech To Rekindle Sales - PC makers from Lenovo to Samsung are pinning their hopes for reviving laptop sales on upgraded displays. From a report: At the Computex show in Taiwan this week, every major local electronics brand showed off new laptop models with OLED displays, the same technology used in smartphones. Asustek Computer, Acer, Gigabyte Technology and Micro-Star International all expanded their portfolios, hoping to drive an upgrade cycle and revive flagging sales. OLED produces more vibrant colors, greater uniformity and superior contrast compared to conventional LCD technology, but it uses more energy and comes at a higher cost. It's become the universal standard on smartphones, after debuting on the highest-end devices, and Samsung's display subsidiary has been advocating its proliferation to larger form factors. "At Asus, we believe that OLED panels are truly the future of laptop displays," Asus co-chief executive officer Samson Hu told Bloomberg. The Taipei-based company, led by Hu and fellow engineer S.Y. Hsu, has a 55% share of the OLED notebook market today, having introduced its first such models two years ago. But it's a small market: OLED represents about 3% of notebook shipments, according to Asus' data. Cost is a key issue: a 15.6-inch OLED panel commands a price 2.5 to 3 times higher than a comparable LCD screen, according to IDC analyst Annabelle Hsu. Companies pass at least some of that expense to consumers: an Asus Vivobook 15 with OLED and some other upgrades costs $699 versus $549 for the LCD model. Part of the problem is that there's a practical monopoly over the category: Samsung Display has more than 99% of the laptop OLED market. Asus' co-CEOs said they hope suppliers like BOE or LG Display enter the fray to drive down prices. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Dropbox-like Cloud Storage Service Shadow Drive Lowers Its Price - Shadow has decided to cut the price of its cloud storage service Shadow Drive. Users can now get 2TB of storage for $5.3 per month instead of $9.6 per month. From a report: As for the free tier, things aren't changing. Users who sign up get 20GB of online storage for free. Shadow is also the company behind Shadow PC, a cloud computing service that lets you rent a virtual instance of a Windows PC in a data center near you. It works particularly well to play demanding PC games on any device, such as a cheap laptop, a connected TV or a smartphone. Coming back to Shadow Drive, as the name suggests, Shadow Drive works a lot like Google Drive, OneDrive, iCloud Drive or Dropbox. Users can upload and download files from a web browser. They are stored in a data center based in France so that you can access them later. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Meta Employees Are Selling the Metaverse, But Not Working In it - An anonymous reader shares a report: During the pandemic, when many workers saw their teams only via videoconference, Mark Zuckerberg's embrace of virtual reality seemed somewhat reasonable. The company renamed itself Meta Platforms and prioritized bringing about the "metaverse," a digital immersive world where people could meet up and do things together -- including their jobs -- while wearing VR headsets at home. Meta is still selling this vision to corporate customers, as well as consumers. The company debuted its Quest 3 headset on Thursday. Apple is expected to unveil an ambitious version that will compete with Meta on Monday. But so far, Meta isn't practicing what it preaches. Employees across the organization generally aren't using the headsets -- especially not for work meetings, according to 11 current and former employees. Even those in the VR part of the organization don't use it regularly for work, said one former employee, who, like the others, declined to be named discussing internal culture. Meta only provides headsets to employees if they've signed up for an internal program to test new features before the public. Otherwise, they get a discount, the people said. Some teams -- including policy head Nick Clegg's -- tried experimental VR meetings, only to abandon the practice after finding it uncomfortable and glitchy, one of the people said. Some of the glitches may be attributed to the testing program. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Meta Requires Office Workers To Return To Desks Three Days a Week - Meta Platforms employees assigned to an office will have to start coming in three days a week starting in September, as the company shifts to a more structured hybrid schedule. From a report: The move won't affect workers who currently have remote positions, Meta said in a statement Thursday. The three-day mandate only applies to workers already in an office some days. It will take effect Sept. 5. "We're confident people can make a meaningful impact both from the office and at home," a Meta spokesperson said. The change is meant to foster "the collaboration, relationships and culture necessary for employees to do their best work," the spokesperson said. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Amazon Is in Talks To Offer Free Mobile Service To US Prime Members - Amazon has been talking with wireless carriers about offering low-cost or possibly free nationwide mobile phone service to Prime subscribers, Bloomberg News reported Friday, citing people familiar with the situation. From a report: The company is negotiating with Verizon, T-Mobile US and Dish Network to get the lowest possible wholesale prices. That would let it offer Prime members wireless plans for $10 a month or possibly for free and bolster loyalty among its biggest spending customers, the people said, who requested anonymity to discuss a private matter. The talks have been going on for six to eight weeks and have also included AT&T at times, but the plan may take several more months to launch and could be scrapped, one person said. Read more of this story at Slashdot.