OpenAI Insists Target Links in ChatGPT Responses Weren’t Ads But ‘Suggestions’ - But Turns Them Off
A hardware security response from ChatGPT ended with “Shop for home and groceries. Connect Target.”

But “There are no live tests for ads” on ChatGPT, insists Nick Turley, OpenAI’s head of ChatGPT. Posting on X.com, he said “any screenshots you’ve seen are either not real or not ads.” … ⌘ Read more

Grim outlook for river spanning four states if nothing is done to combat climate’s impact
Water needs for river communities will be under increasing pressure over the next 25 years, according to predictions from the Murray-Darling Basin Authority. ⌘ Read more

Live: Wall Street closes in on fresh record ahead of expected Fed rate cut, ASX poised to slip
Expectations of a rate cut pushed Wall Street higher, while the ASX looks unlikely to follow that positive lead. Follow the day’s events and insights from our business reporters on the ABC News live markets blog. ⌘ Read more

Abuse survivors meet to reflect and remember lives lost in two states
Newcastle and Ballarat are 1,100 kilometres apart but share a dark bond — scores of suicide deaths linked to historical Catholic clergy abuse. ⌘ Read more

How Home Assistant Leads a ‘Local-First Rebellion’
It runs locally, a free/open source home automation platform connecting all your devices together, regardless of brand. And GitHub’s senior developer calls it “one of the most active, culturally important, and technically demanding open source ecosystems on the planet,” with tens of thousands of contributors and millions of installations.

That’s confirmed by this year’s “Oct … ⌘ Read more

The US fired on survivors clinging to a ‘drug boat’ — who gave the order?
What happened in the lead-up to a second strike on a speedboat in the Caribbean — who knew what and when, and who gave what order — is now under scrutiny. ⌘ Read more

‘Sadly I’ve got a lot more seasons with him’: Piastri praised as future world champion
Oscar Piastri’s chief rival, new formula 1 world champion Lando Norris, says the Australian will “get the better of me” after their tension-filled title race decider in Abu Dhabi. ⌘ Read more

Former Two by Twos sect member manages hotline for child abuse survivors
Jillian Hishon has devoted hundreds of hours, listening to an estimated 280 victims of historical child sexual abuse from within the fundamentalist Christian church she grew up in. ⌘ Read more

Transwoman took on police and won after being referred to men’s help service
Victoria Police fought a legal battle with a transgender woman for more than two years before admitting it incorrectly referred her to men’s support services. ⌘ Read more

Patient ‘traumatised’ after doctor did not wear gloves during pap smear
Two women have told the ABC they believe the health regulator is failing to acknowledge the power imbalance between doctors and patients. ⌘ Read more

Syrians scrape by as cautious celebrations mark one year of ’liberation’
Today marks one year since the Assad dictatorship in Syria was toppled by Islamist rebels, bringing an end to nearly 14 years of civil war. Some are celebrating, while others continue to struggle. ⌘ Read more

Frank Finger and beloved muster dog Annie’s emotional final TV appearance
From hit series Muster Dogs to a new television show, Frank Finger and his beloved kelpie Annie’s unbreakable bond steals the spotlight once again. ⌘ Read more

Move aside sheep, crops are taking over in mixed-farming regions
Mixed farming, which involves growing crops and rearing livestock, used to be standard practice in Australia, but there are almost 100 million fewer sheep in Australia than there were 35 years ago. ⌘ Read more

Exploitation fears over SA government aged care changes
The South Australian government is trying to speed up the transfer of hospital patients into aged care, but advocates say they are “trampling on the rights of older people” in the process. ⌘ Read more

Russia ramps up recruitment of foreign fighters despite ceasefire talks
Through a targeted social media campaign, Russia is offering citizenship and money to foreigners who join its fight in Ukraine, but experts say this is a desperate measure from Moscow. ⌘ Read more

First-home owner’s highest offer declined as seller ‘put off’ by government scheme
When Regan buys his first home, the government will own around 30 per cent of it. But he is fast realising that for that to even happen, a lot of things have to fall into place. ⌘ Read more

How Europe is gearing up to follow Australia’s teen social media ban
The European Union says it will learn from Australia’s new laws to bar under-16s from social media, with steps to implement the world-first ban already underway and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen praising Australia’s “brave move”. ⌘ Read more

Sarra and Craig were bushfire prepared, but their home is now ash
Residents on the NSW coast are coming to terms with property loss after bushfires swept through the region on Saturday. ⌘ Read more

Why Gen Z is Using Retro Tech
“People in their teens and early 20s are increasingly turning to old school tech,” reports the BBC, “in a bid to unplug from the online world.”

Amazon UK told BBC Scotland News that retro-themed products surged in popularity during its Black Friday event, with portable vinyl turntables, Tamagotchis and disposable cameras among their best sellers. Retailers Currys and John Lewis also said they had seen retro gadge … ⌘ Read more

Have you been involved in an MLM business? Tell us your story
Multi-level marketing networks have been around for decades. But their business models are changing, with consumer advocates warning that the industry is rife with predatory tactics. We want to hear about your experiences with MLMs. ⌘ Read more

One of Australia’s biggest MLMs is cashing in on the manosphere
A global multi-level-marketing business that sells expensive water ionisers is shifting its target audience to Aussie tradies, but critics say some of their predatory sales tactics are tantamount to a pyramid scheme. ⌘ Read more

England has poked the bear. Australia is out for Ashes domination
The snarl on Steve Smith’s face proved conclusively that Australia doesn’t just want to beat the English in this Ashes series. It wants to break them. ⌘ Read more

Quiz: How well do you remember your December history?
From the world’s first traffic lights to a Sesame Street legend — how well will you do on our history quiz? ⌘ Read more

s it ever OK to leave a party or social event without saying goodbye?
We asked two experts for their advice on the etiquette of leaving a social gathering without notice and the best approaches to take if you do need to depart suddenly. ⌘ Read more

Families ‘devastated’ amid fears of Victorian group home closures
Parents of some of Victoria’s most vulnerable people fear what will happen to their loved ones if hundreds of group homes are forced to close. ⌘ Read more

Is Netflix Trying to Buy Warner Bros. or Kill It?
Why does Netflix want to buy Warner Bros, asks the chief film critic at the long-running motion-picture magazine Variety. “It is hard, at this moment, to resist the suspicion that the ultimate reason… is to eliminate the competition.”

[Warner Bros. is] one of the only companies that’s keeping movies as we’ve known them alive… Some people think movies are going t … ⌘ Read more

New FreeBSD 15 Retires 32-Bit Ports and Modernizes Builds
FreeBSD 15.0-RELEASE arrived this week, notes this report from The Register, which calls it the latest release “of the Unix world’s leading alternative to Linux.”

As well as numerous bug fixes and upgrades to many of its components, the major changes in this version are reductions in the number of platforms the OS supports, and in how it’s built and how its … ⌘ Read more

Homebrew Can Now Help You Install Flatpaks Too
“Homebrew, the package manager for macOS and Linux, just got a handy new feature in the latest v5.0.4 update,” reports How-To Geek.

Brewfile install scripts “are now more like a one-stop shop for installing software, as Flatpaks are now supported alongside Brew packages, Mac App Store Apps, and other packages.”

For those times when you need to install many software packages at on … ⌘ Read more

Many Privileged Students at US Universities are Getting Extra Time on Tests After ‘Disability’ Diagnoses
Today America’s college professors “struggle to accommodate the many students with an official disability designation,” reports the Atlantic, “which may entitle them to extra time, a distraction-free environment, or the use of otherwise-prohibited technology.”

Their st … ⌘ Read more

As Stokes questions England’s toughness, McCullum warns of ‘glass jaw’
England’s famed captain-coach duo aren’t going to let their relationship fray in the face of the biggest test of their polarising tenure. ⌘ Read more

Live: Three-way title battle set to igniite Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Lando Norris, Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri are all in the hunt for the Formula 1 drivers world championship title in the season finale at Adb Dhabi’s Yas Marina circuit. Follow live. ⌘ Read more

Five quick hits: Smith fires up, takes miracle catch as Bazball leaves the building
Smith “champs” Archer, Bazball leaves the building and the Australian captain breaks the game open with a miraculous grab. Here are the quick hits from the fourth and final day of the Gabba Ashes Test. ⌘ Read more

Japan and Australia urge calm after Chinese radar locks onto Japanese jets
Japan formally protests the incident, calling it “an extremely regrettable” and dangerous act that “exceeded the scope necessary for safe aircraft operations”. ⌘ Read more

@shinyoukai@neko.laidback.moe @prologic@twtxt.net Maybe that is helpful to you: https://git.mills.io/yarnsocial/twtxt2html/issues/12#issuecomment-20792

Nightclub fire kills at least 25 in India’s Goa state
At least 100 people were on the club’s dance floor when the fire broke out. ⌘ Read more

Is Ruby Still a ‘Serious’ Programming Language?
Wired published an article by California-based writer/programmer Sheon Han arguing that Ruby “is not a serious programming language.”

Han believes that the world of programming has “moved on”, and “everything Ruby does, another language now does better, leaving it without a distinct niche.

Ruby is easy on the eyes. Its syntax is simple, free of semicolons or brackets. More s … ⌘ Read more

Naked man smashes ambulance windscreen in Kalgoorlie-Boulder
A video circulated on social media shows a naked male using his head to smash the windscreen of a moving ambulance. ⌘ Read more

Man arrested, police searching for second person after fatal stabbing
Police are seeking out witnesses and searching for a second person believed to be involved in the fatal stabbing of a man in Melbourne’s north. ⌘ Read more

Prisoner ‘barely recognisable’ after alleged assault at SA jail, union says
A 20-year-old prisoner was so badly bashed at an Adelaide jail on Sunday morning that he was left “barely recognisable” and had to be rushed to hospital for treatment, a union says. ⌘ Read more

Teenager charged after passenger killed in early morning crash
A 16-year-old boy is alleged to have been the driver of a car which crashed into a pole early Sunday, killing a 17-year-old passenger. ⌘ Read more

Smith denied first Australian Open title as Neergaard-Petersen claims win
Cameron Smith falls agonisingly short of winning his first Australian Open, as Denmark’s Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen scores a thrilling one-stroke victory at Royal Melbourne. ⌘ Read more

Locals to be consulted on plan for new Alice Springs library
The location for the new Alice Springs Public Library was announced late last month, with residents soon able to have their say on what they want included in the $20 million facility. ⌘ Read more

New Jolla Phone Now Available for Pre-Order as an Independent Linux Phone
Jolla is “trying again with a new crowd-funded smartphone,” reports Phoronix:

Finnish company Jolla started out 14 years ago where Nokia left off with MeeGo and developed Sailfish OS as a new Linux smartphone platform. Jolla released their first smartphone in 2013 after crowdfunding but ultimately the Sailfish OS focus the pa … ⌘ Read more

Sixers down Strikers in final-ball thriller to secure WBBL finals berth
Ellyse Perry produced one of the best knocks of her career but the Sydney Sixers took until the final ball to see off the Adelaide Strikers and land a WBBL finals spot. ⌘ Read more

Despite another fire crisis, residents at ‘heaven on earth’ won’t live anywhere else
It is beautiful and remote, with one road in and out. And that is part of the deadly bushfire risk of living in this seaside community. ⌘ Read more

The sweet spirit ‘steeped in tradition’ that’s becoming trendy
South Australian distillers are tapping into a growing global thirst for Limoncello and finding a new market for lemons and grape spirit. ⌘ Read more

Fragile, inconvenient and low quality: Why are cassettes back in vogue?
For a supposedly obsolete music format, audio cassette sales seem to be set on fast forward at the moment. ⌘ Read more

Pangallo eyed deputy’s job as Liberal MPs back Ashton Hurn
High-profile SA Liberal recruit Frank Pangallo admits he sought advice about becoming deputy leader of the party, despite the incumbent in that role saying the position is not vacant. ⌘ Read more

Why Hollywood has called the Netflix-Warner Bros merger a disaster
A major deal between Netflix and Warner Bros has sent shock waves through Hollywood and sparked backlash. ⌘ Read more

Live: Ashes day of reckoning arrives as England great forecasts 5-0 whitewash
England captain Michael Vaughan says Australia could beat England 5-0 yet again if Ben Stokes’s team does not rapidly change course, starting on day four at the Gabba. Follow live. ⌘ Read more