Websites Have a New Way To Spy On Visitors: Analyzing Their SSD Activity
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Now sites have a new way to spy on their visitors: measuring subtle interactions with their solid-state drives. The technique, named FROST (fingerprinting remotely using OPFS-based SSD timing), allows sites to monitor other sites a visitor is viewing and what apps are open … ⌘ Read more
Meta To Start Testing AI Subscription Services
Meta will begin testing paid subscriptions for its Meta AI app and website, with a $7.99/month Meta One Plus plan and a more capable $19.99/month Meta One Premium plan offering. The test will start next month in Singapore, Guatemala, and Bolivia as Meta looks for AI revenue beyond advertising while continuing to offer a free tier. CNBC reports: Naomi Gleit, the head of product at M … ⌘ Read more
Nvidia To Spend $150 Billion a Year In Taiwan
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says the company plans to spend around $150 billion a year in Taiwan, calling it the “epicenter of the AI revolution.” “Four years ago, five years ago, Nvidia was spending about $10, $15 billion dollars a year in Taiwan. Now we’re spending $100, going to $150 billion dollars in Taiwan each year,” Huang said. Reuters reports: Huang was speaking at a launch celebratio … ⌘ Read more
Rust Will Save Linux From AI, Says Greg Kroah-Hartman
Linux stable kernel maintainer Greg Kroah-Hartman says Rust can help Linux deal with a flood of AI-discovered security bugs (namely Dirty Frag, Copy Fail, and Fragnesia) by preventing common C mistakes around memory, locking, error handling, and untrusted data at build time rather than during human review. It’s “not a silver bullet” and does not mean rewriting the whol … ⌘ Read more
The AI Fight Brewing Inside the New York Times
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: How newsrooms should use AI – or if they should at all – has been a recurrent debate within the media industry over the last several years. Increasingly, these rules are being hammered out at the bargaining table between unions and publishers. Right now, employees at The New York Times are gearing up for a fight. Unionized staff … ⌘ Read more
YouTube To Automatically Detect, Label AI-Generated Videos
YouTube will begin automatically labeling videos when its systems detect “significant” photorealistic AI use, while also making AI-content disclosures more visible below long-form videos and directly on Shorts. “We’ve heard consistently from our community that they value transparency when it comes to generative AI content,” YouTube said in a blog post. “These … ⌘ Read more
Roku Updates Its UI For the First Time In a Decade
Roku is rolling out its first major homescreen update in a decade. The UI doesn’t look too dramatically different, but users will notice more personalization-driven changes, including frequently used apps, “top picks,” household-specific layouts, and recommendations based on viewing habits. Rest assured, Engadget adds, “Everything is still in various shades of purp … ⌘ Read more
Tech CEOs Are Apparently Suffering From AI Psychosis
An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: There is a certain wildness in the tech industry these days that both mimics previous eras of large changes, like cloud computing (runaway costs in the early days), and is like nothing we’ve ever seen before (record revenues accompanied by mass layoffs). One possible explanation: tech executives, especially CEOs, are … ⌘ Read more
Dropbox CEO Drew Houston To Step Down After 19 Years
Dropbox founder Drew Houston is stepping down as CEO after 19 years and will become executive chairman, with product chief Ashraf Alkarmi set to take over after a co-CEO transition period. CNBC reports: Drew Houston founded Dropbox
nearly two decades ago at age 24, eventually becoming a household name in Silicon Valley and the first tech entrepreneur to take a comp … ⌘ Read more
Company Behind School Bus AI Cameras Wants To Share Footage With Police
joshuark writes: BusPatrol, a company that has installed AI-powered cameras in tens of thousands of school buses around the U.S., now plans to turn those cameras into automatic license plate readers (ALPRs), capturing the location of every vehicle the buses drive past, and give that data to law enforcement, 404 Media has learned. Bus … ⌘ Read more
Starlink and Amazon May Be Able To Buy Into EU Mobile Satellite Spectrum Plan
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Elon Musk’s Starlink and Amazon’s low-earth-orbit satellite business may be able to acquire some European mobile satellite spectrum next year, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday. But they said two-thirds of the satellite spectrum that allows mo … ⌘ Read more
American Airlines Picks Starlink For In-Flight Wi-Fi
American Airlines plans to install SpaceX’s Starlink Wi-Fi on more than 500 narrow-body Airbus aircraft starting early next year. It does not, however, have any immediate plans to change providers on its Boeing fleet, which currently uses a mix of Viasat and Panasonic. CNBC reports: American in January rolled out free in-flight Wi-Fi for members of its frequent flyer … ⌘ Read more
A Fundamental Principle of Aeronautical Engineering Has Been Overturned
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Wired: Aerodynamic drag is a major “barrier” in high-speed airplanes, automobiles, and bullet trains. This is because a design with less aerodynamic drag allows the aircraft to move at higher speeds with less energy. When an aircraft or car body moves at high speed, a thin layer of air cal … ⌘ Read more
Windows’ Classic 3D Space Cadet Pinball Is Getting a Physical Re-Creation
Hobbyist CNCDan is trying to build a real-world version of Windows’ classic 3D Pinball for Windows – Space Cadet, using 3D-printed flippers, bumpers, LEDs, slingshots, and a raised playfield modeled after the original virtual table. But in bringing the digital table into the real world, CNCDan has already run into several physi … ⌘ Read more
Internet Starts Coming Back In Iran After Months-Long Blackout
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC: Internet access has started to be restored in Iran after being cut off almost three months ago, the country’s first vice-president has said. “The first step toward free and regulated access to cyberspace has been taken,” Mohammad Reza Aref wrote on X on Tuesday. Internet monitoring groups Netblocks an … ⌘ Read more
Mythos Detected 23,000 Vulnerabilities Across 1,000 OSS Projects
wiredmikey shares a report from SecurityWeek: Anthropic says its Claude Mythos model discovered thousands of severe vulnerabilities across more than 1,000 open source software (OSS) projects. According to the AI giant, Mythos Preview has identified more than 23,000 potential vulnerabilities. Of these, 1,900 have been reviewed by external security f … ⌘ Read more
Spain Blocks Polymarket and Kalshi
Spain has temporarily blocked Polymarket and Kalshi while it investigates whether the prediction-market platforms are violating gambling laws by operating without a license. Engadget reports: The country’s ministry in charge of consumer affairs said it blocked the websites as a precautionary measure pending an official investigation. This investigation will determine if the platforms violate Spain’s gambl … ⌘ Read more
Uber, Lyft Drivers In Massachusetts Form First US Ride-Share Union
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Ride-share drivers for app-based companies such as Uber and Lyft have unionized in Massachusetts, forming what state officials and labor leaders said was the first officially recognized organization in the U.S. to represent such gig workers. The newly formed App Drivers Union received certifica … ⌘ Read more
Netherlands Blocks US Takeover of Vital Digital Supplier
“Following months of public debate and protests against American IT giant Kyndryl’s proposed acquisition of Solvinity, a Dutch cloud provider that hosts the Netherlands’ online identity platform, the Dutch government has decided to block the acquisition,” writes longtime Slashdot reader rastakid. “The deal triggered fears that it would mean that ‘DigiD’ data woul … ⌘ Read more
Nvidia Retires Its GeForce Control Panel App After 20 Years
Nvidia is retiring its classic Control Panel for GeForce Game Ready and Studio Driver users after 20 years, as it pushes users to a newer, more unified “NVIDIA” app. Longtime Slashdot reader BrendaEM first shared the news, commenting: “Nvidia seems to no long want you to have control over your own video card that you paid your hard-earned money for? WTF!?” … ⌘ Read more
California Moves To Exempt Linux From Upcoming Age-Verification Law
California lawmakers are moving to exempt most open-source operating systems from the state’s upcoming age-verification law after backlash from Linux and privacy advocates who warned that the original rules could force decentralized projects to collect users’ ages. The amendment would likely shield major Linux distributions, though SteamOS … ⌘ Read more
Pope Leo Warns of Risks From AI In 42,300-Word Encyclical
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the New York Times: Pope Leo XIV on Monday set out a sweeping vision for corporate executives, politicians and individuals who will shape and be shaped by the future of artificial intelligence, warning leaders to safeguard humanity from A.I.’s most disruptive effects. Leo’s declaration came in the form of a papal encyclical, … ⌘ Read more
SpaceX Launches 29 Starlink Satellites on Memorial Day
“The expansion of SpaceX’s Starlink network of internet relay satellites continued Monday with a Memorial Day launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station,” reports Spaceflight Now.
The mission added another 29 Starlink satellites to more than 10,000 already in low Earth orbit:
This was SpaceX’s 60th orbital flight of the year, consisting of 59 Falcon 9 rocket … ⌘ Read more
Will Big Tech Layoffs Bring a Culture Shift to Anxiety and Job Insecurity?
Tech industry layoffs may be worse at large tech companies than the rest of the IT industry. The New York Times argues those layoffs have now shifted the culture at Big Tech companies, after interviewing more than two dozen of their workers. “Cooperation and collegiality are on the wane; chumminess between employees and managers … ⌘ Read more
It’s Like the Olympics - But Steroids Are Allowed
“Think Olympics on steroids. Literally,” quips the BBC, describing Sunday’s controversial Enhanced Games event in Las Vegas featuring dozens of athletes “using performance-enhancing drugs to try and break world records in track, weightlifting and swimming.
Some $25m (£18.6m) in prize money is up for grabs — with cash prizes for winners… The drugs they use must be legal, … ⌘ Read more
California Executive Order Directs Businesses and State Agencies to Prepare for AI-Driven Workforce Disruption
Thursday California’s governor issued an executive order “directing state agencies to prepare workers and businesses for AI-driven workforce disruption,” reports San Francisco’s KQED. In a statement the governor said “This moment demands that we reimagine t … ⌘ Read more
AI ‘Crashes the Party’ at This Year’s Cannes Film Festival - Including Multi-Year Meta Partnership
AI “crashed the party” at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, writes The Hollywood Reporter. The festival exposed “the fault lines reshaping cinema,” their article argues, including how “AI is here — and the industry has stopped pretending otherwise.”
A humanoid robot spotted … ⌘ Read more
FreeBSD Foundation Executive Director Tries Daily Driving FreeBSD On Laptop
Phoronix reports on a presentation about trying FreeBSD on modern Framework laptop from last week’s Open Source Summit hosted by the Linux Foundation:
With FreeBSD having worked on improving its laptop support over the past two years with some big changes and ongoing efforts for making a nice KDE desktop experience on FreeBS … ⌘ Read more
Canonical Is Shutting Down Ubuntu Pastebin
“Canonical says Ubuntu Pastebin will be decommissioned at the end of May 2026,” writes Slashdot reader BrianFagioli, “as part of an infrastructure modernization effort.”
The announcement only appeared this week, giving the Linux community barely any warning before a service that has been tied to Ubuntu support culture for years suddenly disappears.
Ubuntu Pastebin has long been used for … ⌘ Read more
Mozilla Brings Web Serial Workflows to Firefox, Collaborates With Adafruit
The Web Serial API lets websites write to (and read from) serial devices using JavaScript, including USB and Bluetooth devices with virtual serial ports. And this week’s Firefox 151 release introduced support for the Web Serial API on desktop.
“Most folks won’t use this API,” acknowledges Mozilla’s blog, “but for our community … ⌘ Read more
Disney’s ‘Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu’ Opens to ‘Mixed’ Box Office Results
It’s “the first time in seven years that a new Star Wars film has launched on the big screen,” writes CNBC. And Variety notes it’s expected to earn $102 million through Monday:
[B]ox office analysts are mixed on the results. On one hand, it’s significant for any film to debut above $100 million in post- … ⌘ Read more
Apple Preparing New ‘Gen AI’ Website Ahead of WWDC — and New AI Features?
Apple just registered a new subdomain record: genai.apple.com.
The domain was spotted by a MacRumors contributing researcher, and though it doesn’t yet lead to a live web page, they believe it’s tied to Apple’s annual developers conference WWDC which starts June 8, “where the company has promised to announce ‘AI advancements’ … ⌘ Read more
Wind and Solar Generated More Power Than Gas Globally in April
Last month saw a world first, reports Electrek. Wind and solar generated more power globally than gas:
According to new analysis from independent energy think tank Ember, wind and solar produced 22% of the world’s electricity in April 2026, compared to 20% from gas. Together, the two renewable sources generated a record 531 terawatt-hours (TWh) … ⌘ Read more
Scammers Are Abusing an Internal Microsoft Account to Send Spam Links
“For months, scammers have been taking advantage of a loophole that allows them to send spammy emails from an internal Microsoft email address typically used for sending legitimate account alerts,” TechCrunch reports:
[The scammers] have been able to set up new Microsoft accounts as if they are new customers and use that access to send out … ⌘ Read more
Lenovo, Dell, and HP Financially Support Linux Vendor Firmware Service
The It’s FOSS blog has news about the Linux Vendor Firmware Service, which gives hardware vendors a secure portal to upload firmware updates “which can then be downloaded and installed by users through clients such as GNOME Software or fwupdmgr.” (Originally developed in 2015 by GNOME maintainer Richard Hughes…)
The issue, however, o … ⌘ Read more
More Videogames Developers Consider Unionization - Some Spurred By Changes to Remote Work Policies
Developers for several top videogames have joined unions under the Communication Workers of America — including Call of Duty, Fallout, Overwatch, Diablo and World of Warcraft. Last month workers on the online game Magic: The Gathering Arena team announced their own CWA union.
T … ⌘ Read more
‘Underminr’ CDN Vulnerability Hides Malicious Traffic Behind Trusted Domains
Slashdot reader wiredmikey writes: Threat actors are exploiting a vulnerability in shared content delivery network (CDN) infrastructure to hide connections to malicious domains. Researchers say the vulnerability could impact roughly 88 million domains and can bypass DNS filtering and protective DNS controls, potentially enab … ⌘ Read more
Tesla’s Electric Cybercab is Certified as the Most Efficient EV Ever
Tesla’s upcoming Cybercab “has been certified at 165 Wh/mi,” reports Electrek — which makes it “the most efficient electric vehicle ever produced — by a wide margin.”
The next most efficient EV on the market, the Lucid Air Pure, consumes 28% more energy per mile. Tesla VP of Vehicle Engineering Lars Moravy confirmed the figure, which repre … ⌘ Read more
Linus Torvalds on How AI is Impacting the Hunt for Linux Kernel Bugs
Linus Torvalds spoke this week at the Linux Foundation’s Open Source Summit North America, reports ZDNet — and described how AI is impacting Linux kernel development:
“In the last six months, we’ve seen a lot more commits,” Torvalds noted, estimating that “the last two releases, it’s been about 20% more commits than we had in the previo … ⌘ Read more
Is America Closer to Ending Daylight Saving Time?
A proposal to make daylight saving time permanent has advanced in the U.S. House of Representative, reports California news station KCRA:
A proposal to make daylight saving time permanent has advanced in the House, reigniting an age-old American debate around the twice-annual clock changes. And this time, the proposal has the president’s backing. President Donald Trump said T … ⌘ Read more
AMD (Xilinx) is Excluding Linux From the Free Tier For Its FPGA Dev Tool
Long-time Slashdot reader Sun writes:
AMD has announced a change to the way they are licensing Vivado, their FPGA development tool… Hidden between the lines of the announcement [of a new model starting with the 2026.1 release] is the change to the free of charge tier. AMD is adding more devices to be supported in this tier, … ⌘ Read more
US Layoffs Haven’t Increased, and New Tech Industry Hiring Balances Firings
“The numbers show that layoffs in the U.S. are roughly at or below levels from before the pandemic,” reports the Washington Post, “although they are higher than in 2022 when businesses snapped up workers as the economy roared back to life…
“A different measure that accounts for the growing U.S. workforce shows that layoffs aff … ⌘ Read more
Air France, Airbus Guilty of Corporate Manslaughter In 2009 Air France 447 Crash
Long-time Slashdot reader UnknowingFool shares this report from the BBC:
Air France and Airbus have been found guilty of manslaughter over a 2009 plane crash which killed 228 people. The Paris Appeals Court found the airline and aircraft manufacturer “solely and entirely responsible” for the incident, in which flig … ⌘ Read more
Free Software Foundation’s Call for ‘LibreLocals’ Answered on Six Continents - With More Coming
The Free Software Foundation announced this week that “its global call for free software supporters to organize LibreLocals this May resulted in free software supporters organizing forty-six LibreLocal events on six continents thus far.” (And new dates and locations are being added daily. … ⌘ Read more
Friday Google’s AI-Powered Search Results Glitched on the Word ‘Disregard’
On Friday TechCrunch reported they could no longer Google the word “disregard”.
Google’s AI Overview responded “Understood. Let me know whenever you have a new prompt or question!” below an icon for hearing the word “disregard” pronounced — then displayed several inches of blank whitespace.
“The Merriam-Webster link is still in … ⌘ Read more
Researchers Say the Worst Climate Future is Less Likely. But the Best One is Also Slipping Away
Citing new research, the Associated Press reports that “modest gains in the fight to curb climate change have dialed back the most catastrophic of future heating.”
That’s the good news. But the same research “also confirmed that there’s no chance to limit warming to the international go … ⌘ Read more
Linux Kernel Flaw Lets Unprivileged Users Access Root-Only Files, Execute Arbitrary Commands as Root
Qualys’s Threat Research Unit (TRU) has discovered and published a logic flaw in Linux kernel “that permits an unprivileged local user to disclose sensitive files and execute arbitrary commands as root on default installations of several major distributions.” Friday their blo … ⌘ Read more
Tech CEOs Call for a Universal Basic Income. But What are the Alternatives?
The Washington Post looks at arguments that “AI’s coming upheaval may demand massive infusions of cash to everyday Americans”. But they also look at some of the alternatives:
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has called for similar public-relief measures, including, potentially, universal basic income, or UBI. Eventually “our current … ⌘ Read more
Caltech Could Lose Control of JPL For First Time In Decades
NASA plans to open competition for the contract to operate JPL for the first time in nearly a century, meaning Caltech’s historic role managing the iconic deep-space lab could come to an end when its current agreement expires in 2028. According to JPL, Caltech has managed the lab since the its inception in the 1930s, and has done so for NASA since the ag … ⌘ Read more
Pentagon Releases Second Batch of UFO Videos, First-Hand Testimony
The Pentagon released a second batch of UAP files, including 50 videos and documents showing unexplained objects over the Middle East, Syria, Iran, and in NASA recordings. Despite the reports, the agency stresses that it has found no evidence of extraterrestrial origin. The Guardian reports: In one video from the Middle East in 2019, … ⌘ Read more