Rust Updates For Linux 6.19, Rust Minimum Baseline To Likely Follow Debian Stable
Miguel Ojeda has already submitted the core Rust programming language infrastructure updates intended for the Linux 6.19 merge window. In the pull request he also notes that moving forward the minimum supported Rust version for compiling the Linux kernel will likely follow whatever the minimum Rust version currently in use by the latest Debian stable release… ⌘ Read more

Teens in court charged over Adelaide shopping centre stabbing
Prosecutors are “likely” to consider asking for the case against two teenagers charged over a stabbing — which sent an Adelaide shopping centre into lockdown — to be moved to an adult court. ⌘ Read more

Linux 6.18 Released With Many New Features, Likely This Year’s LTS Kernel
Linux 6.18 stable is now available! Linux 6.18 ushers in many new features and changes while also is expected to become this year’s Long Term Support “LTS” kernel version… ⌘ Read more

The first ever Ashes Test in Brisbane was ‘disastrous’ for Australia
Australia’s Ashes domination in Brisbane is almost total, with England winless at the Gabba since 1986. It wasn’t always like this though, with the first visit to Brisbane resulting in the heaviest defeat in cricket history. ⌘ Read more

The Ozempic effect reshaping supermarkets and stock markets
The explosive rise of drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro is shifting consumption patterns, health outcomes and pushing pharmaceutical giants into trillion-dollar valuations. ⌘ Read more

Features Expected For Linux 6.19: ASUS Armoury, Many Intel Bits, AMD GCN 1.0/1.1 Enhanced
With the Linux 6.18 kernel likely being released later today, here is a look at some of the features on the table for the next kernel cycle, Linux 6.19. The list is based on changes queued in various “-next” branches ahead of the Linux 6.19 merge window. There’s always the possibility of last minute change of plans or objections raised by Linus Torvalds, but this should provide an early look at some of the features more … ⌘ Read more

Benedict Cumberbatch Films Two Bizarre Holiday Ads: for ‘World of Tanks’ and Amazon
“There are times when World of Tanks feels less like a videogame and more like a giant ad budget looking for something to be spent on,” writes PC Gamer.

This year, all those huge sacks with dollar signs on them have been thrown Benedict Cumberbatch’s way, making him the game’s newest “Holiday Ambassador” and t … ⌘ Read more

Browser Extension ‘Slop Evader’ Lets You Surf the Web Like It’s 2022
“The internet is being increasingly polluted by AI generated text, images and video,” argues the site for a new browser extension called Slop Evader. It promises to use Google’s search API “to only return content published before Nov 30th, 2022” — the day ChatGPT launched — “so you can be sure that it was written or produced by the human han … ⌘ Read more

Why tiny Barbados said good by to the royal family
With countries like Australia still debating whether or not the time has come to become a republic, what prompted tiny Barbados with its population of less than 300,000, to take the leap? ⌘ Read more

@prologic@twtxt.net Tada! There you once hope for your flight and ride to be delayed and then of course they are right on time! :-D You gotta wait either way. ;-) Looks like you got some good drinks, though.

Scientists Think They’ve Solved Why One of History’s Most Advanced Civilizations Vanished
A new study published in Communications Earth & Environment has reconstructed the climate conditions of the ancient Indus River Valley civilization between 3000 and 1000 B.C., finding that four intense droughts – each lasting more than 85 years – likely drove the gradual decline of one of the w … ⌘ Read more

Damage from Cyclone Fina exposes NT’s need for new Darwin hospital
A new Royal Darwin Hospital would cost more than $1 billion to build, and likely take a decade or more to deliver. So who has the political bravery to commit? ⌘ Read more

What would it be like to visit the proposed Hobart stadium?
From potential gridlock to an “immersive” viewing experience, let’s set aside the politics — just for a moment — and look at what planning documents tell us about the building at the heart of Tasmania’s fiery stadium debate. ⌘ Read more

As someone that almost exclusively uses “Discover”, that is. If you do use it like I do, you know I mean.

Australia’s Streaming Quotas Become Law
Australia’s streaming quotas have become law. Legislation requiring the likes of Netflix, Disney+ and HBO Max to spend a portion of their local earnings on original Australian content has been passed in parliament, and now comes into effect. From a report: The quotas were announced earlier this month. This will see global streamers with more than one million Australian subscribers made t … ⌘ Read more

Black Friday Reminder For Those Hating Ads But Loving Linux Hardware/Software
As the one and last friendly reminder, if you enjoy the daily and original content found on Phoronix.com but not liking ads and wanting to view multi-page articles on a single page, native dark mode, and more: the 2025 Black Friday / Cyber Week deal is ending Monday to help support the site while enjoying a discounted rate… ⌘ Read more

@movq@www.uninformativ.de All good! 👌 Likely bug on my end (bridge)

Why Can’t ChatGPT Tell Time?
ChatGPT can browse the web, write code and analyze images, but ask it what time it is and you might get the correct answer, a confident wrong answer, or a polite refusal – sometimes all three within minutes of each other.

The problem stems from how large language models work. These systems predict answers based on training data and don’t receive constant real-time updates about things like time unless they specifically se … ⌘ Read more

AMD ISP4 Linux Webcam Driver Updated For HP ZBook Ultra G1a & Future Ryzen Laptops
We eagerly await to see if the AMD ISP4 driver will be ready for mainlining in the imminent Linux v6.19 merge window but it’s getting down to the wire and thus looking less likely it will make it unless action is taken in the coming days. Today though a sixth version of this AMD ISP4 image signal processor driver was posted for this last piece of the puzzle in enabling the web camera on the HP ZBook Ultra G1a Strix Halo laptop as well as … ⌘ Read more

@lyse@lyse.isobeef.org Oh yeah, there’s lots of them here. Even in winter when it’s freezing outside. I’m always baffled to see parrots in the snow … feels like a paradox. 🥴

Plastic can be programmed to have a lifespan of days, months or years
Inspired by natural polymers like DNA, chemists have devised a way to engineer plastic so it breaks down when it is no longer needed, rather than polluting the environment ⌘ Read more

DNA samples found near Toyah Cordingley burial site scrutinised
The former nurse accused of the 2018 murder of Toyah Cordingley was 3.7 billion times more likely than not to have contributed to a DNA sample found on a stick where she was buried, his trial has heard. ⌘ Read more

Black Friday Reminder For Those Hating Ads But Loving Linux Hardware/Software
As the one and last friendly reminder, if you enjoy the daily and original content found on Phoronix.com but not liking ads and wanting to view multi-page articles on a single page, native dark mode, and more: the 2025 Black Friday / Cyber Week deal is ending Monday to help support the site while enjoying a discounted rate… ⌘ Read more

Epic’s Sweeney Says Platforms Should Stop Tagging Games Made With AI
The CEO of Epic Games, Tim Sweeney, has argued that platforms like Steam should not label games that are made using AI. From a report: Responding to a post on Twitter from a user who suggested that storefronts drop this tag, the industry exec said that it “makes no sense” to flag such content. Sweeney added that soon AI will be a part of … ⌘ Read more

Better Technology, Worse Motivation: GenAI’s Mediocrity Trap

While generative AI (GenAI) promises productive efficiency, it can paradoxically lead to lower-quality work. We conducted an experiment with professional illustrators and found that AI assistance flattens the quality curve—it accelerates initial gains but sharply diminishes the returns on sustained effort. Faced with this, a significant number of professionals made a strategic choice: they sacrificed the final quality to save time.

From http://www.jin-li.org/uploads/1/1/4/5/114595093/ai_and_motivation.pdf

I haven’t read this and can’t vouch for it; seems vaguely AI-boostery. Still, the conclusions are interesting. This seems to be the picture that is emerging about generative AI generally: most people don’t like it and find that degrades the quality of work. Coders seem to like it and think that it helps them, but in fact it makes the slower, less productive, and more bug prone.

By all measures it’s a bad technology. We should just be honest about it. There is no need to make excuses for multi-trillion-dollar corporations.

@prologic@twtxt.net it would have been so much easy to run your own. I guess we all like to suffer every once and then, and this time is your turn. 😅

Common Desktop Environment “CDE” 2.5.3 Released After Two Years
Two years and one week since the prior point release, Common Desktop Environment 2.5.3 is now available as the latest iteration of this Unix desktop environment built around the Motif toolkit. CDE has been open-source for more than a decade now but its development not exactly brisk. But for those resisting the likes of Wayland and other modern display tech – especially with KDE announcing today Plasma 6.8 will be Wayland-exclusive – CDE 2.5.3 is now avail … ⌘ Read more

Google’s AirDrop Support For Pixel 10 Likely Exists Because of EU’s Apple Ruling
Last week, Google surprised the tech world when it announced AirDrop support on Pixel 10 devices – all without Apple’s involvement. “While it initially seemed like this was a rogue move made by Google to coerce Apple into another boundary-breaking decision, it might actually be part of the repercussions that also l … ⌘ Read more

Newegg Sparks Debate With New PayPal-Integrated AI Shopping Push
BrianFagioli writes: Newegg’s new partnership with PayPal is another sign that mainstream e-commerce is shifting control from users to AI-driven intermediaries. Instead of shoppers visiting Newegg directly, PayPal’s agentic commerce system pushes product discovery through AI platforms like Perplexity where recommendations, checkout, and fraud che … ⌘ Read more

Oh fuck me! I had basically turned off the route to git.mills.io last night and went ot bed at ~2AM after unsuccessfully trying to control the attacks (bad bots) that were behaving like a DDoS attack. Tried to re-enable the route this monring and *BOOM, they’re back! As-if they never stopped?! what da actual fuq?! Anyone have any clever ideas of what I can do here to allows normal users, like you nice folk and block ths obnoxious traffic?!

More Than Half of New Articles On the Internet Are Being Written By AI
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Conversation: The line between human and machine authorship is blurring, particularly as it’s become increasingly difficult to tell whether something was written by a person or AI. Now, in what may seem like a tipping point, the digital marketing firm Graphite recently published a study sho … ⌘ Read more

Live: ASX to rise as Wall St extends rally on growing bets of Fed rate cut
A rally on Wall Street is likely to send Australian stocks higher as revived tech strength and the growing probability of a December interest rate cut from the US Federal Reserve put investors in a buying mood the day before the Thanksgiving holiday. Follow the latest updates in our live blog. ⌘ Read more

Bamboo scaffolding, flames and wind. Here’s what we know about the Hong Kong fire
The blaze in Tai Po that engulfed multiple high-rise apartment blocks is still burning, and authorities say it likely began in bamboo scaffolding that encased the buildings. ⌘ Read more

China’s Dual Squeeze on European Industry Intensifies
European manufacturers are facing a two-front assault from China that has German industry associations warning of deindustrialisation: on one side, artificially cheap Chinese goods are flooding into Europe, and on the other, Beijing has demonstrated its willingness to abruptly cut off access to critical inputs like rare earths and semiconductors.

The alarm intensified in O … ⌘ Read more

NASA Rover Makes a Shocking Discovery: Lightning on Mars
An anonymous reader shares a report: It is shocking but not surprising. Lightning crackles on Mars, scientists reported on Wednesday. What they observed, however, were not jagged, high-voltage bolts like those on Earth, arcing thousands of feet from cloud to ground. Rather, the phenomenon was more like the shock you feel when you scuff your feet on the carpet … ⌘ Read more

Man accused of student’s murder ‘likely’ had intellectual disability, court hears
A neuropsychologist has told the Northern Territory Supreme Court a man accused of murdering an international student in Darwin “likely” had an intellectual disability that impacted his ability to exercise self-control. ⌘ Read more

China Launches An Emergency Lifeboat To Bring Three Astronauts Back To Earth
China launched an uncrewed Shenzhou 22 spacecraft to serve as an emergency lifeboat for three astronauts aboard the Tiangong space station after a docked return craft was found to have a cracked window likely caused by space debris. “A Long March 2F rocket fired its engines and lifted off with the Shenzhou 22 spacecraft, … ⌘ Read more

When I try to login to PayPal I now see:

Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker

Here’s the thing. PayPal takes fees from transactions and payments received and sent.

I have very right not have ads shoved in my face for something that isn’t actually free in the first place and costs money to use. If PayPal would like to continue to piss off folks me like, then I’ll happily close my PayPal account and go somewhere else that doesn’t shove ads in my face and consume 30-40% of my Internet bandwidth on useless garbage/crap.

#PayPal #Ads

Warner Music Group Partners With Suno To Offer AI Likenesses of Its Artists
Warner Music Group has reached a licensing deal with Suno that will let users create AI-generated music using the voices and likenesses of artists who opt in. WMG says participating artists will have “full control” over how their likeness and music are used. “These will be new creation experiences from artists who do opt in, … ⌘ Read more

Australians with dementia urged to revisit the past like Hemsworth family
Helena Popovic took her father on a trip home to Serbia after he was diagnosed with dementia and believes its reminiscence therapy slowed the condition’s progress. ⌘ Read more

One day I’ll like to elaborate why I’m against the usage of Anubis (and its derivatives) for the rampant crawlers

Hacker Conference Installed a Literal Antivirus Monitoring System
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Wired: Hacker conferences – like all conventions – are notorious for giving attendees a parting gift of mystery illness. To combat “con crud,” New Zealand’s premier hacker conference, Kawaiicon, quietly launched a real-time, room-by-room carbon dioxide monitoring system for attendees. To get the system u … ⌘ Read more

Google Denies ‘Misleading’ Reports of Gmail Using Your Emails To Train AI
An anonymous reader shares a report: Google is pushing back on viral social media posts and articles like this one by Malwarebytes, claiming Google has changed its policy to use your Gmail messages and attachments to train AI models, and the only way to opt out is by disabling “smart features” like spell checking.

But Google spok … ⌘ Read more

@movq@www.uninformativ.de I think you will like this one: https://gibberifier.com/

Was the Moon-Forming Protoplanet ‘Theia’ a Neighbor of Earth?
Theia crashed into earth and formed the moon, the theory goes. But then where did Theia come from? The lead author on a new study says “The most convincing scenario is that most of the building blocks of Earth and Theia originated in the inner Solar System. Earth and Theia are likely to have been neighbors.”

Though Theia was completely destroyed in th … ⌘ Read more

How do you call it when a cat greets you like this? ⌘ Read more

Mozilla Announces ‘TABS API’ For Developers Building AI Agents
“Fresh from announcing it is building an AI browsing mode in Firefox and laying the groundwork for agentic interactions in the Firefox 145 release, the corp arm of Mozilla is now flexing its AI muscles in the direction of those more likely to care,” writes the blog OMG Ubuntu:

If you’re a developer building AI agents, you can sign up to get early acces … ⌘ Read more

Could High-Speed Trains Shorten US Travel Times While Reducing Emissions?
With some animated graphics, CNN “reimagined” what three of America’s busiest air and road travel routes would look like with high-speed trains, for “a glimpse into a faster, more connected future.”

The journey from New York City to Chicago could take just over six hours by high-speed train at an average speed of 160 mph, cutting … ⌘ Read more

** Sticker party, November **
Some random thoughts including how the band Imagine Dragons is kinda like Metal for kids; distributing apps, even without involving Apple at all, is deeply annoying on macOS; Pokemon ZA is fun, but I think that I’m a turn-based girlie at heart; my partner has been playing a lot of Tears of the Kingdom lately, it has been a lot of fun for me to watch, and hair-pullingly frustrating for our nearly 10 year old who has strong opinions about the correct order of operations in that game; I wrote, but am cu … ⌘ Read more

How the Internet Rewired Work - and What That Tells Us About AI’s Likely Impact
“The internet did transform work — but not the way 1998 thought…” argues the Wall Street Journal. “The internet slipped inside almost every job and rewired how work got done.”

So while the number of single-task jobs like travel agent dropped, most jobs “are bundles of judgment, coordination and hands-on work,” and in … ⌘ Read more