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Google Publishes Exploit Code Threatening Millions of Chromium Users
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Google on Wednesday published exploit code for an unfixed vulnerability in its Chromium browser codebase that threatens millions of people using Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and virtually all other Chromium-based browsers. The proof-of-concept code exploits the Browser Fetch programming inte … ⌘ Read more

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RHEL 10.2 Released With New AI Command Line Assistance
Red Hat has released RHEL 10.2 and 9.8 with new AI-assisted command-line tools. The releases also add updated developer toolchains such as Go 1.26, LLVM 21, Rust 1.92, Python 3.14, and PHP 8.4. Phoronix reports: Red Hat Enterprise Linux has introduced the goose command for power users. Goose is an optional CLI AI assistance with model context protocol (MCP) integrati … ⌘ Read more

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GitHub’s Internal Repos Breached Via Employee’s Use of Malicious VS Code Extension
Longtime Slashdot reader Himmy32 writes: GitHub has announced on X that their internal repositories have been breached through a compromised VS Code Extension on an employee’s workstation. Bleeping Computer reported that the attack is linked to TeamPCP who have been in the news for a recent campaign affecting Checkm … ⌘ Read more

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Anna’s Archive Hit With Global Domain Takedown Order
An anonymous reader quotes a report from TorrentFreak: A coalition of thirteen major publishers has won a massive $19.5 million default judgment against shadow library Anna’s Archive. A New York federal judge fully approved the publishers’ requests, issuing a broad permanent injunction that orders more than twenty specific global registries, hosts, and service providers t … ⌘ Read more

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Seagate Sparks Memory Sell-Off As CEO Says It Would ‘Take Too Long’ To Build New Factories
Seagate CEO Dave Mosley said Monday that building new memory chip factories or adding capacity would “take too long” to keep up with AI-driven storage demand. “If we took the teams off and started building new factories or bringing up new machines, that would just take too long. You would end … ⌘ Read more

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Yearslong Fight Over Users’ Right To Tweak Smart TV Software Heads To Trial
A long-running lawsuit over Vizio’s Linux-based smart TV software is headed to trial in August, with the Software Freedom Conservancy arguing that GPL rules require Vizio to release complete source code owners could use to modify, maintain, or strip ads and tracking from their TVs. Ars Technica reports: The outcome could rever … ⌘ Read more

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Regional Winners of Prestigious Literary Prize Suspected of Using Chatbots
The 2026 Commonwealth Short Story Prize is facing backlash after several winning entries were accused of being AI-generated, with one Caribbean winner’s story flagged as fully AI-written by a detector that WIRED says it independently confirmed. From the report: Each year, the Commonwealth Foundation, a nongovernmental organization … ⌘ Read more

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Google’s AI Studio Now Lets Anyone Build Android Apps In Minutes
An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: The AI coding boom is now coming directly for Android app development. On Tuesday at Google IO 2026, the company announced new native Android app creation capabilities in its web-based Google AI Studio, shrinking a process that takes weeks of setup and coding down to minutes. The company also sa … ⌘ Read more

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Google Accused of Pushing ‘Free For Life’ G Suite Users Onto Paid Plans
Google is again pressuring some longtime G Suite Legacy users to move onto paid Workspace plans, warning that accounts flagged as “commercial use” could lose access to Gmail, Drive, Calendar, and other services if appeals fail. “The trouble, according to users, is that the appeals system appears about as transparent as a brick,” adds … ⌘ Read more

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Webb Discovers One of the Universe’s First Galaxies
Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have identified an ultra-faint galaxy seen just 800 million years after the Big Bang. The galaxy contains almost no heavy elements, shows signs of intense early stellar radiation, and could offer a rare glimpse into the first stages of galaxy formation. Phys.org reports: In a paper published in the journal Nature, a team o … ⌘ Read more

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Minnesota Becomes First State To Ban Prediction Markets
An anonymous reader quotes a report from NPR: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has signed the nation’s first law banning prediction market sites from operating in the state, and in response, the Trump administration has sued, teeing up a legal battle over the most far-reaching crackdown on popular services like Kalshi and Polymarket. It comes as states confront a growing st … ⌘ Read more

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Plex Triples Lifetime Subscription Cost To $750
BrianFagioli shares a report from NERDS.xyz: Plex is raising the price of a new Lifetime Plex Pass from $249.99 to $749.99 on July 1. That’s a $500 increase for media server software. Plex says it needs the money for “long-term development” and future features, but a lot of self-hosting folks are already wondering if this is basically a soft way of killing the Lifetime option with … ⌘ Read more

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Google Changes Its Search Box for the First Time in 25 Years
Google is giving its iconic search box its first major redesign since 2001. The new design incorporates, you guessed it, artificial intelligence, “getting bigger and more interactive so that people can ask even longer questions and upload photographs and videos into queries,” reports the New York Times. “In addition, people can ask follow-up questions … ⌘ Read more

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NextEra and Dominion’s $67 Billion Mega-Merger Is All About the Data Centers
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Inside Climate News: A proposed merger of the largest utility in the country by market value, NextEra Energy, with the sixth-largest, Dominion, would create a megacompany at a time when data centers and rapid increases in electricity demand are reshaping the industry. The proposal … ⌘ Read more

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OpenAI Co-Founder Andrej Karpathy Joins Anthropic
OpenAI co-founder Andrej Karpathy has joined rival AI lab Anthropic. “The hire is a major coup for Anthropic in the high-stakes competition for elite AI talent – and another sign the company is emerging as a magnet for some of the industry’s most respected technical minds,” reports Axios. From the report: Karpathy will start this week on Anthropic’s pre-training team, which is re … ⌘ Read more

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StanChart To Cut Over 7,000 Jobs, Boost AI To Replace ‘Lower-Value Human Capital’
The London-headquartered lender Standard Chartered announced plans to cut more than 7,000 jobs by 2030, with CEO Bill Winters saying the bank will replace some “lower-value human capital” through automation and AI while offering retraining to affected workers. “It’s not cost-cutting. It’s replacing in some cases lower-val … ⌘ Read more

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CISA Admin Leaked AWS GovCloud Keys On Github
An anonymous reader quotes a report from KrebsOnSecurity: Until this past weekend, a contractor for the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) maintained a public GitHub repository that exposed credentials to several highly privileged AWS GovCloud accounts and a large number of internal CISA systems. Security experts said the public archive included files detailing how … ⌘ Read more

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Microsoft Launches Surface Pro 12, Surface Laptop 8 With Intel Chips
Microsoft is launching three new Intel-powered Surface devices for businesses: the Surface Pro 12, Surface Laptop 8, and a smaller 13-inch Surface Laptop model. These new machines come equipped with newer Intel chips, a few business-focused upgrades, and notably higher starting prices. “The high pricing of these three new Surface devic … ⌘ Read more

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Microsoft Surprises With Its First Server Linux Distribution: Azure Linux 4.0
Microsoft is turning Azure Linux into a general-purpose, Fedora-based cloud distribution available to all Azure customers, while also productizing Flatcar as Azure Container Linux for immutable container hosts. “When Microsoft joined the Linux Foundation, there was this big conspiracy theory that somehow the Linux Foundat … ⌘ Read more

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Before Mass Layoffs, Meta Reassigns 7,000 Workers To Focus On AI
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the New York Times: Meta told employees on Monday that it was reassigning 7,000 workers to focus on new initiatives around artificial intelligence, the latest change in a company transformation spurred by the powerful technology. Employees will be moved to four new organizations focused on building new A.I. … ⌘ Read more

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Amazon’s Alexa+ Now Produces AI-Generated Podcasts
Amazon is adding AI-generated “podcasts” to Alexa+, letting users request custom audio explainers on any topic featuring two synthetic co-hosts. Variety reports: Seemingly to dispel the notion that these “podcasts” will be AI audio slop, Amazon emphasized that it has deals with major news organizations to ensure “accurate, real-time news and information.” Those inclu … ⌘ Read more

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Europe Tests Laser Links As Satellite Comms Outgrow Radio
Europe is testing laser-based satellite communications through a new mountaintop ground station in Greece, aiming to deliver faster, more secure links than traditional radio systems as bandwidth demand grows. The Register reports: Lithuanian space and defense biz Astrolight says that it has commissioned a new optical ground station in Greece that will support … ⌘ Read more

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PlayStation Exclusives Aren’t Coming To PC Anymore
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: Sony reportedly won’t release its major single-player PlayStation games on PC anymore. According to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, Hermen Hulst, who heads up PlayStation’s studios business, informed employees in a town hall on Monday about the change in strategy. Schreier had previously reported on the shift in March, saying … ⌘ Read more

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FBI Wants to Buy Nationwide Access to License Plate Readers
The FBI is seeking up to $36 million for nationwide access to automated license plate reader (ALPRs) data, which could let it query vehicle movements across the U.S. and its territories through a commercial database. 404 Media reports: “The FBI has a crucial need for accessible LPRs to provide a diverse and reliable range of collections across the United S … ⌘ Read more

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New Windows ‘MiniPlasma’ Zero-Day Exploit Gives SYSTEM Access, PoC Released
A researcher known as Chaotic Eclipse has released a proof-of-concept exploit for a new Windows zero-day dubbed MiniPlasma, which BleepingComputer confirmed can grant SYSTEM privileges on fully patched Windows 11 systems. The researcher claims the bug is effectively a still-exploitable version of a 2020 flaw Microsoft said it had … ⌘ Read more

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Nintendo Tries To Obtain Touchscreen-Specific Patent On Monster Capturing
Nintendo is trying to secure a touchscreen-specific monster-catching patent that could be relevant to Palworld Mobile. Japan’s patent office has initially rejected the application for lacking an inventive step over prior art, but the company could appeal or amend the claims. Games Fray reports: The Japan Patent Office (JPO) has no … ⌘ Read more

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Meta Layoffs Stress Harsh AI Reality Inside Zuckerberg’s Company
Meta is expected to begin cutting about 8,000 jobs this week as it pours more money into AI infrastructure and looks to “offset” other investments, with additional layoffs reportedly possible later this year. According to CNBC, the morale has worsened inside the company. “Internally, there’s an emerging sense of dread across wide swaths of the comp … ⌘ Read more

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Elon Musk Loses Lawsuit Against OpenAI
After three weeks of testimony, which was covered extensively here on Slashdot, a U.S. jury on Monday ruled against Elon Musk in his lawsuit against OpenAI, finding that he waited too long to bring his claims that the company betrayed its nonprofit mission. Reuters reports: The trial had widely been seen as a critical moment for the future of OpenAI and artificial intelligence generally, both in ho … ⌘ Read more

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A Master’s Degree Isn’t the Job Guarantee It Used To Be
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Wall Street Journal: Going back to grad school has long been the Plan B of young professionals who aspire to climb higher in their careers or struggle to get promoted in a tough job market. New data show that getting a master’s degree isn’t the guarantee it used to be. The unemployment rate for workers under 35 with a mas … ⌘ Read more

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Microsoft Testing Adjustable Taskbar, Start Menu In Windows 11
Microsoft is testing long-requested Windows 11 customization options, including a resizable taskbar, smaller taskbar buttons, and a more configurable Start menu that lets users reduce recommended content. BleepingComputer reports: Starting with Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26300.8493, the taskbar can now be configured to use smaller buttons and mo … ⌘ Read more

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The US Is Betting On AI To Catch Insider Trading In Prediction Markets
The CFTC says it is ramping up efforts to catch insider trading and market manipulation in prediction markets, using AI tools, blockchain tracing, and other surveillance systems to flag suspicious bets. It’s also monitoring activity by U.S. traders accessing offshore platforms like Polymarket through VPNs. Wired reports: [T]he Commod … ⌘ Read more

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WHO Declares Ebola Outbreak a Global Health Emergency
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the New York Times: The World Health Organization declared on Saturday that the spread of the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda was a global health emergency. The announcement was made a day after Africa’s leading public health authority reported that an outbreak in a province in the northeast of the … ⌘ Read more

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Steven Soderbergh Defends AI Use in His New Documentary about John Lennon
John Lennon’s last interview — just hours before he was shot on December 8, 1980 — has become a documentary directed by Steven Soderbergh, debuting Saturday at the Cannes Film Festival.

In a new interview with the Associated Press, Soderbergh defends the film’s limited use of AI to visualize concepts from that two-hour … ⌘ Read more

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Iran Now Threatens Fees for Subsea Internet Cables in the Strait of Hormuz
Iran’s government “wants to charge the world’s largest tech companies for using the subsea internet cables laid under the Strait of Hormuz,” reports CNN. Their article also notes that Iran’s state-linked media outlets “have vaguely threatened that traffic could be disrupted if firms don’t pay.”

Lawmakers in Tehran discussed a … ⌘ Read more

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Linus Torvalds: AI-Detected Bug Reports Make Kernel Security List ‘Almost Entirely Unmanageable’
Today Linus Torvalds announced another Linux release candidate on the kernel mailing list. But he also highlighted “documentation updates” to address a new problem.

“The continued flood of AI reports has basically made the security list almost entirely unmanageable, with enormous dupl … ⌘ Read more

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America’s Library of Congress Officially Inducts… the Soundtrack for the Videogame ‘Doom’
America’s Library of Congress “is preserving a little piece of Hell,” jokes Engadget, “by inducting the soundtrack to the original Doom into the National Recording Registry.”

The album of demon-slaying tracks is joined by several other notable 2026 additions to the registry, like Weezer’s self-ti … ⌘ Read more

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Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt Booed During Graduation Speech About AI
Today former Google CEO Eric Schmidt “was booed multiple times,” reports NBC News, “while discussing AI during a commencement speech at the University of Arizona.”

Schmidt had started by remembering how computer platforms “gave everyone a voice” but also “degraded the public square… They rewarded outrage. They amplified our worst instin … ⌘ Read more

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Small Town Fights Over Flock’s AI-Enhanced Network of License Plate-Reading Cameras
160 miles north of New York City, a man was convicted of manslaughter “with the help of license plate reader technology,” reports a local news station. In the small town of Troy (population: 51,000), the mayor described the cameras as “a critical tool” in that investigation. But locals and city officials “have … ⌘ Read more

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Microsoft Exchange Server Vulnerability Actively Exploited, in a Bad Week for Microsoft
Forbes describes it as “definitely already out there, and under active exploitation according to the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, urging all organizations to prioritize timely remediation as the attack vector poses a significant risk.”

“We have issued CVE-2026-42897 to address … ⌘ Read more

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‘We Still Can’t See Dark Matter. But What If We Can Hear It?’
“We may have accidentally detected dark matter back in 2019,” writes ScienceAlert.

“What if instead of trying to see dark matter, scientists attempted to hear it instead?” asks Space.com:
New research suggests dark matter could leave a tiny but discernible imprint in the cacophony of ripples in spacetime called “gravitational waves” that ring through the … ⌘ Read more

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Us Math/Reading Scores Continue 13-Year Decline. Researchers Blame Reduced Testing and Social Media
Test scores “are lower than they were a decade ago in school districts across the U.S.,” reports Times magazine, citing new data released Wednesday by Stanford researchers. “Reading scores were down roughly 0.6 grades in 2025 compared to 2015, and math scores were down about 0.4 … ⌘ Read more

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How Owners of EVs from Bankrupt Fisker Saved Their Cars With an Open Source Nonprofit
An anonymous reader shared this report from Electrek:
When Fisker Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 2024, it left roughly 11,000 Ocean SUV owners holding the keys to vehicles that cost them anywhere from $40,000 to $70,000 — and that were rapidly losing the software brains that made them work. … ⌘ Read more

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Sysadmin Creates ‘ModuleJail’ To Automatically Blacklist Unused Kernel Modules
Long-time Slashdot reader internet-redstar shares an interestging response to “the recent wave of Linux kernel privilege escalation vulnerabilities like ‘Copy Fail’ and ‘Dirty Frag’”:

Belgian Linux sysadmin and Tesla Hacker “Jasper Nuyens” got tired of the idea of manually blacklisting dozens or even hundreds of obscure … ⌘ Read more

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Python Stays #1, R Rises in Popularity, Says TIOBE
Are statistical programmers coalescing around a handful of popular languages? That’s the question asked by the CEO of software assessment site TIOBE, which every month estimates the popularity of programming languages based on their frequency in search results:

This month, the programming language R matched its all-time high by reaching position #8 in the TIOBE index on … ⌘ Read more

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Elon Musk’s xAI Launches ‘Grok Build’, Its First AI Coding Agent
xAI has launched Grok Build, “a coding agent of its own to serve as competitor to its rivals’ products, such as Anthropic’s Claude Code,” reports Engadget:

As Bloomberg notes, xAI has been trying to catch up to its rival companies like Anthropic and OpenAI. Elon Musk, the company’s founder and CEO, previously admitted that it has fallen behind … ⌘ Read more

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The UK Finally Starts Reforming Its ‘Computer Misuse Act’
Computer Weekly reports on “the long-awaited reform of Britain’s outdated Computer Misuse Act of 1990 — which has hamstrung the work of the nation’s cyber security professionals and researchers for years.”

The Computer Misuse Act was passed 35 years ago in response to a high-profile hacking incident involving no less than the King’s father, the late Duke of Edi … ⌘ Read more

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Amazon Stops Supporting Pre-2013 Kindles Today. Some Owners Turn to Jailbreaking
Today Amazon ends support for first- and second-generation versions of Kindles and Kindle Fire tablets, along with the Kindle Touch, the 9.7-inch Kindle DX, and other devices released in 2012 or earlier.

Owners can continue reading ebooks that they’ve already downloaded, and they can also still sideload books using … ⌘ Read more

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Some Datacenters Divert Power from Homes. Will It Drive Homeowners to Solar and Batteries?
An anonymous reader shared this report from Electrek:

A Nevada utility just told 49,000 Lake Tahoe residents that it’s redirecting 75% of their electricity supply to data centers, and they have less than a year to find a new power source. It’s one of the starkest examples yet of the AI boom … ⌘ Read more

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An Entire Wikipedia That’s 100% AI Hallucinations
“Every link leads to an entry that does not exist yet,” explains the GitHub page for a Wikipedia-like site called Halupedia. “Until you click it, at which point an LLM pretends it has always existed and writes it for you, in the deadpan register of a 19th-century scholarly press…”

Every article is invented on demand. The footnotes are also lies… The hardest problem with an infi … ⌘ Read more

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How I Added an LLM-Based Grammar Checking + TeX Math Import To LibreOffice
Former Microsoft programmer Keith Curtis “wrote and self-published After the Software Wars to explain the caliber of free and open source software,” according to his entry on Wikipedia, “and why he believes Linux is technically superior to any proprietary OS.”

He’s also KeithCu (long-time Slashdot reader #925,649), and has wri … ⌘ Read more

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