‘Apple Tax is Dead in the USA’
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has almost entirely upheld a scathing April ruling that found Apple in willful violation of a 2021 injunction meant to open up iOS App Store payments in its long-running legal battle against Epic Games. A three-judge panel affirmed that Apple’s 27% fee for developers using outside payment options had a “prohibitive effect” and that the company’s design restrictions on external pay … ⌘ Read more
Right at sunset we went for a quick stroll into the woods. Cannot complain about the colors in the sky: https://lyse.isobeef.org/abendhimmel-2025-12-12/
China Leads Research in 90% of Crucial Technologies - a Dramatic Shift this Century
China is leading research in nearly 90% of the crucial technologies that “significantly enhance, or pose risks to, a country’s national interests,” according to a technology tracker run by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) – an independent think-tank. Nature: The ASPI’s Critical Technology Tracker e … ⌘ Read more
The Immediate Post-College Transition and its Role in Socioeconomic Earnings Gaps
A new study of roughly 80,000 bachelor’s degree recipients from a large urban public college system finds that characteristics of a graduate’s first job can explain nearly two-thirds of the otherwise-unexplained earnings gap between students from low-income and high-income families five years after graduation.
T … ⌘ Read more
Washington Post’s AI-Generated Podcasts Rife With Errors, Fictional Quotes
The Washington Post’s top standards editor Thursday decried “frustrating” errors in its new AI-generated personalized podcasts, whose launch has been met with distress by its journalists. From a report: Earlier this week, the Post announced that it was rolling out personalized AI-generated podcasts for users of the paper’s mobil … ⌘ Read more
Hollywood Director Found Guilty of Blowing $11 Million Netflix Budget on Crypto and Ferraris
Carl Rinsch, the director behind the 2013 Keanu Reeves film “47 Ronin,” has been found guilty of defrauding Netflix out of $11 million that was meant to fund a science fiction series called “Conquest,” which the streaming company ultimately cancelled in 2021 after Rinsch failed to meet any pro … ⌘ Read more
Major Automakers Say China Poses ‘Clear and Present Threat’ To US Auto Industry
Major automakers have urged Washington to prevent Chinese government-backed automakers and battery manufacturers from opening U.S. manufacturing plants, warning the industry’s future is at stake. From a report: The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents General Motors, Ford, Toyota Motor, Volkswagen, Hyund … ⌘ Read more
Reddit Launches High Court Challenge To Australia’s Under-16s Social Media Ban
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Guardian: Reddit has filed a challenge against Australia’s under-16s social media ban in the high court, lodging its case two days after implementing age restrictions on its website. The company said in a Reddit post on Friday that while it agreed with protecting people under 1 … ⌘ Read more
Ubuntu Studio 26.04 May Modernize Its Desktop Layout
Ubuntu Studio is the variant of Ubuntu Linux focused on content creation and audio recording needs, video editing, and other creative workloads. Ubuntu Studio’s desktop hasn’t seen too many changes since Ubuntu 12.04 LTS some 13+ years ago. But Ubuntu Studio developers are now considering desktop layout changes to help modernize its appearance… ⌘ Read more
SEC Gives DTCC OK to Tokenize Stocks In Move To Blockchain
The SEC has granted the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp., or DTCC, a no-action letter allowing it to custody and recognize tokenized stocks, ETFs, and Treasuries on approved blockchains for three years. “Although this program is a pilot subject to various operational limitations, it marks a significant incremental step in moving markets onchain,” SEC Commiss … ⌘ Read more
Cadmium Zinc Telluride: The Wonder Material Powering a Medical ‘Revolution’
Cadmium zinc telluride (CZT), a hard-to-manufacture semiconductor produced by only a handful of companies, is enabling a quiet revolution in medical imaging, science, and security by delivering faster scans, lower radiation doses, and far more precise X-ray and gamma-ray detection. “You get beautiful pictures from this scann … ⌘ Read more
TerraUSD Creator Do Kwon Sentenced To 15 Years Over $40 Billion Crypto Collapse
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Do Kwon, the South Korean cryptocurrency entrepreneur behind two digital currencies that lost an estimated $40 billion in 2022, was sentenced in New York federal court on Thursday to 15 years in prison for fraud and conspiracy. Kwon, 34, who co-founded Singapore-based T … ⌘ Read more
97% of Buildings On Earth 3D-Mapped
Longtime Slashdot reader Gilmoure shares a report from Nature: Scientists have produced the most detailed 3D map of almost all buildings in the world. The map, called GlobalBuildingAtlas, combines satellite imagery and machine learning to generate 3D models for 97% of buildings on Earth. The dataset, published in the open-access journal Earth System Science Data on December 1, covers 2.75 billion buildin … ⌘ Read more
Over 10,000 Docker Hub Images Found Leaking Credentials, Auth Keys
joshuark shares a report from BleepingComputer: More than 10,000 Docker Hub container images expose data that should be protected, including live credentials to production systems, CI/CD databases, or LLM model keys. After scanning container images uploaded to Docker Hub in November, security researchers at threat intelligence company Flare foun … ⌘ Read more
VMware Kills vSphere Foundation In Parts of EMEA
Broadcom has quietly pulled VMware vSphere Foundation from parts of EMEA, pushing smaller customers toward far more expensive bundles and prompting some to consider jumping to Hyper-V or Nutanix. The Register reports: VVF is a bundle that offers compute, storage, and networking virtualization, and a platform to run containers. It’s most useful in hyperconverged infrastructure and hy … ⌘ Read more
Trump Signs Executive Order For Single National AI Regulation Framework, Limiting Power of States
President Trump signed an executive order establishing a single federal AI regulatory framework that preempts state-level rules, aiming to centralize oversight of the rapidly growing AI industry. “The Trump administration, with the aid of AI and crypto czar David Sacks, has been purs … ⌘ Read more
UC Berkeley Professor Uses Secret Camera To Catch PhD Candidate Sabotaging Rival
A UC Berkeley professor, suspecting years of targeted computer damage against one Ph.D. student, secretly installed a hidden camera that allegedly caught another doctoral candidate sabotaging the student’s laptop. The student now faces felony vandalism charges and is due for his first court appearance on Dec. 15. The … ⌘ Read more
Rivian Goes Big On Autonomy, With Custom Silicon, Lidar, and a Hint At Robotaxis
During the company’s first “Autonomy & AI Day” event today, Rivian unveiled a major autonomy push featuring custom silicon, lidar, and a “large driving model.” It also hinted at a potential entry into the self-driving ride-hail market, according to CEO RJ Scaringe. TechCrunch reports: Rivian said it will expand the ha … ⌘ Read more
Disney Says Google AI Infringes Copyright ‘On a Massive Scale’
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: The Wild West of copyrighted characters in AI may be coming to an end. There has been legal wrangling over the role of copyright in the AI era, but the mother of all legal teams may now be gearing up for a fight. Disney has sent a cease and desist to Google, alleging the company’s AI tools are infr … ⌘ Read more
Google is Building an Experimental New Browser and a New Kind of Web App
Google’s Chrome team has built an experimental browser called Disco that takes a query or prompt, opens a cluster of related tabs, and then generates a custom application tailored to whatever task the user is trying to accomplish. The browser launched Thursday as an experiment in Google’s Search Labs.
GenTabs, the core feature po … ⌘ Read more
Cisco Stock Hits New All-Time High, 25 Years After the Dotcom Bubble Burst
Cisco’s stock price touched $80.25 on Wednesday, finally eclipsing its dotcom-era peak of $80.06 set on March 27, 2000 – when the networking giant briefly surpassed Microsoft to become the world’s most valuable company. The journey back took 25 years, eight months and 13 days. The company’s fundamentals improved dramatically over t … ⌘ Read more
New York Becomes First State To Require Disclosure of AI Performers in Ads
New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Thursday signed two bills aimed at regulating the use of AI in entertainment, requiring disclosure when ads feature AI-generated performers and mandating consent from heirs before a deceased person’s likeness can be used commercially. Hochul described both measures as “first in the nation” pol … ⌘ Read more
Uber Pulls Back From Electric Cars, Slashing Incentives for Drivers
Uber has discontinued its monthly electric vehicle bonuses for drivers in the United States and Canada, marking the latest in a series of rollbacks from a company that once pledged to pour $800 million into helping its drivers transition away from gasoline-powered cars. The ride-hailing giant had previously eliminated its $1-per-ride EV perk … ⌘ Read more
GPT-5.2 Arrives as OpenAI Scrambles To Respond To Gemini 3’s Gains
OpenAI on Thursday released GPT-5.2, its latest and what the company calls its “best model yet for everyday professional use,” just days after CEO Sam Altman declared a “code red” internally to marshal resources toward improving ChatGPT amid intensifying competition from Google’s well-received Gemini 3 model. The GPT-5.2 series ships in three tiers: … ⌘ Read more
College Campuses Have Become a Front Line in America’s Sports-Betting Boom
Since the Supreme Court struck down the federal prohibition on sports betting in 2018, 39 states have legalized the activity, and college campuses have emerged as ground zero for what appears to be a generational gambling problem among young men. A 2023 NCAA survey found that 60% of college students have gambled on sports, and 1 … ⌘ Read more
The Game Awards Are Losing Their Luster
The Game Awards, which broadcasts tonight on Twitch, YouTube, and Prime Video, has become the biggest night on the video game calendar since launching in 2014, but the show’s treatment of developers has drawn increasing criticism. At the 2023 ceremony, acceptance speeches were often cut off after roughly 30 seconds while Hideo Kojima received five minutes to discuss his upcoming game OD – enou … ⌘ Read more
Why Switzerland Is Weighing a 10 Million Population Limit
An anonymous reader shares a report: Growing support for far-right parties is pressuring European governments to introduce stricter controls on immigration. Switzerland is set to vote on a proposal that would take the idea to the next level – imposing a cap on its population [non-paywalled link]. The initiative could lead eventually to a blanket ban on new … ⌘ Read more
AI Hackers Are Coming Dangerously Close to Beating Humans
Stanford researchers spent much of the past year building an AI bot called Artemis that scans networks for software vulnerabilities, and when they pitted it against ten professional penetration testers on the university’s own engineering network, the bot outperformed nine of them. The experiment offers a window into how rapidly AI hacking tools have improved aft … ⌘ Read more
Disney Puts $1 Billion Into OpenAI, Licenses 200+ Characters for AI-Generated Videos and Images
Disney is investing $1 billion in OpenAI and has entered into a three-year licensing deal that will let users generate AI-powered short videos and images featuring more than 200 characters from its Disney, Marvel, Star Wars and Pixar franchises.
The new features are expected to launch in 2026 … ⌘ Read more
Opera Wants You To Pay $20 a Month For Its AI Browser
Opera has opened its AI-powered browser Neon to the public after a couple of months of testing, and anyone interested in trying it will need to pay $19.90 per month. The Norway-based company first unveiled Neon in May and launched it in early access to select users in October. Like Perplexity’s Comet, OpenAI’s Atlas, and The Browser Company’s Dia, Neon bakes an AI chat … ⌘ Read more
US Could Ask Foreign Tourists For Five-Year Social Media History Before Entry
Tourists from dozens of countries including the UK could be asked to provide a five-year social media history as a condition of entry to the United States, under a new proposal unveiled by American officials. From a report: The new condition would affect people from dozens of countries who are eligible to visit the US for … ⌘ Read more
New OpenAI Models Likely Pose ‘High’ Cybersecurity Risk, Company Says
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Axios: OpenAI says the cyber capabilities of its frontier AI models are accelerating and warns Wednesday that upcoming models are likely to pose a “high” risk, according to a report shared first with Axios. The models’ growing capabilities could significantly expand the number of people able to carry … ⌘ Read more
KDE Gear 25.12 Released For Shipping The Latest KDE Applications
KDE Gear 25.12 is out today as the collection of the latest KDE desktop/mobile applications for running nicely on the Plasma 6 desktop… ⌘ Read more
Sperm Donor With Cancer-Causing Gene Fathered Nearly 200 Children Across Europe
schwit1 shares a report from CBS News: perm from a donor who unknowingly carried a cancer-causing gene has been used to conceive nearly 200 babies across Europe, an investigation by 14 European public service broadcasters, including CBS News’ partner network BBC News, has revealed. Some children conceived using th … ⌘ Read more
NASA Loses Contact With MAVEN Mars Orbiter
NASA has lost contact with its MAVEN Mars orbiter after it passed behind Mars. When it remerged from behind the planet, the spacecraft never resumed communications. SpaceNews reports: MAVEN launched in November 2013 and entered orbit around Mars in September 2014. The spacecraft’s primary science mission is to study the planet’s upper atmosphere and interactions with the solar wind, inc … ⌘ Read more
ChatGPT Is Apple’s Most Downloaded App of 2025
An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Apple on Wednesday released its annual list of the most downloaded apps and games for the year. For the U.S. market, OpenAI’s ChatGPT topped the ranks of free iPhone apps (not including games) with the most installs in 2025. The AI app was followed by Threads, Google, TikTok, WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, Google Maps, Gmail, and … ⌘ Read more
Operation Bluebird Wants To Relaunch ‘Twitter’ For a New Social Network
A startup called Operation Bluebird is petitioning the US Patent and Trademark Office to strip X Corp of the “Twitter” and “tweet” trademarks, hoping to relaunch a new Twitter with the old brand, bird logo, and “town square” vibe. “The TWITTER and TWEET brands have been eradicated from X Corp.’s products, services, and marketing, effe … ⌘ Read more
Google Faces Fines Over Google Play If It Doesn’t Make More Concessions
EU regulators say Google’s Play Store changes still don’t meet fairness rules and are preparing a potentially hefty 2026 fine unless Google makes deeper concessions. Reuters reports: Google Play has been in the European Commission’s crosshairs since March, with regulators singling out technical restrictions preventing app developers … ⌘ Read more
India Proposes Charging OpenAI, Google For Training AI On Copyrighted Content
An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: On Tuesday, India’s Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade released a proposed framework that would give AI companies access to all copyrighted works for training in exchange for paying royalties to a new collecting body composed of rights-holding organ … ⌘ Read more
Bring Falling Snow & Christmas Lights to Mac with Snowy
If you ever wished your Mac could feel a bit more seasonal and festive for the holidays and Christmas, you might just appreciate a fun app called Snowy. Snowy brings falling snow, twinkling Christmas lights, and some holiday ambiance, directly to your Mac desktop. You can have dangling twinkling Christmas lights hanging from your menu … Read More ⌘ Read more
Qualcomm Acquires RISC-V Chip Designer Ventana Micro Systems
Qualcomm has acquired RISC-V startup Ventana to strengthen its CPU ambitions beyond mobile, “reinforcing its commitment and leadership in the development of the RISC-V standard and ecosystem,” the company said in a press release. CRN Magazine reports: The San Diego-based company said Ventana’s expertise in RISC-V, a free and open alternative to the A … ⌘ Read more
Ubuntu Will Have Native AMD ROCm AI/ML and HPC Libraries In Next LTS Release
Longtime Slashdot reader MadCow42 writes: Canonical just announced that they’re packaging AMD’s ROCm libraries (for AIML and HPC with both data-center GPUs as well as desktop/laptop GPUs), directly into the Ubuntu Universe archive. You can run ROCm on Ubuntu today but you have to install it via a script from AMD and manuall … ⌘ Read more
Adobe Integrates With ChatGPT
Adobe is integrating Photoshop, Express, and Acrobat directly into ChatGPT so users can edit photos, design graphics, and tweak PDFs through the chatbot. The Verge reports: The Adobe apps are free to use, and can be activated by typing the name of the app alongside an uploaded file and conversational instruction, such as “Adobe Photoshop, help me blur the background of this image.” ChatGPT users won’t have to specify th … ⌘ Read more
Cable Channel Subscribers Grew For the First Time In 8 Years Last Quarter
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: On Monday, research analyst MoffettNathanson released its “Cord-Cutting Monitor Q3 2025: Signs of Life?” report. It found that the pay TV operators, including cable companies, satellite companies, and virtual multichannel video programming distributors (vMVPDs) like … ⌘ Read more
Wells Fargo CEO Says More Job Cuts Coming at the Bank as AI Prompts ‘Efficiency’
Wells Fargo expects more job cuts and higher severance costs in this quarter that ends in three weeks, bank CEO and President Charlie Scharf said Tuesday at an investors conference in New York. He’s also betting on AI to drive efficiency and, eventually, further workforce reduction.From a report: “As we’ve gone through th … ⌘ Read more
Democrats Warn Their Party May Try To Unravel Any Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery Deal
As the battle over Warner Bros. Discovery grows, two Democratic lawmakers are warning that their party may try to block or unravel any
acquisition by Paramount when it returns to power. Semafor: In a letter to the WBD board and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent first shared with Semafor, Reps. Sam Li … ⌘ Read more
Too little, too late: Europa aprova meta de redução de emissões de 85% em 2040 (90%, mas 5% podem ser “compados” em créditos de carbono).
Isto é um bocado ridículo, contudo, porque a Europa é signatária do acordo de Paris, e para o poder cumprir, a ciência diz que não só esta redução de emissões tem de existir, como até tem de ser maior.
Mas pronto, continuamos nas proclamações enquanto adiamos as ações…
Amazon Changes How Copyright Protection is Applied To Kindle Direct’s Self-Published Ebooks
Amazon says it will allow authors to offer their DRM-free ebooks in the EPUB and PDF formats through its self-publishing platform, Kindle Direct Publishing. Starting on January 20, 2026, authors who set their titles as DRM-free will see their books made available in these more open formats. Fro … ⌘ Read more
HDMI Forum Continues To Block HDMI 2.1 For Linux, Valve Says
New submitter emangwiro shares a report: The HDMI Forum, responsible for the HDMI specification, continues to stonewall open source. Valve’s Steam Machine theoretically supports HDMI 2.1, but the mini-PC is software-limited to HDMI 2.0. As a result, more than 60 frames per second at 4K resolution are only possible with limitations. In a statement to Ars T … ⌘ Read more
Meta’s New AI Superstars Are Chafing Against the Rest of the Company
Meta’s newly recruited AI “superstars” have developed an us-versus-them mentality against the company’s longtime executive leadership, creating internal friction over whether the team should focus on catching up to rivals like OpenAI and Google or improving Meta’s core advertising and social media businesses. Alexandr Wang, the 28-year-old … ⌘ Read more