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Norway's Consumer Council targets enshittification

TheRegister - 9 hours 37 min ago
Its aim is wide, covering everything from social networks to genAI

Norway's Forbrukerrådet consumer council is taking aim at the creeping enshittification of modern life in a 100-page report – and a splendid four-minute video which we highly recommend.…

Categories: Linux fréttir

Microsoft finally gets around to fixing Windows 10 Recovery Environment after breaking it in October

TheRegister - 9 hours 44 min ago
Released from the curse of the update bork fairy

Microsoft has finally fixed a Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) bug it introduced in Windows 10's final update.…

Categories: Linux fréttir

UK Treasury not sure about ditching Oracle to join £1.7 billion shared services program it is funding

TheRegister - 9 hours 55 min ago
It promised £1.15B… but finance ministry yet to show 'formal commitment' to adopt Workday SaaS, watchdog says

The UK's Treasury is yet to fully commit to joining a multi-billion pound ERP and HR shared services program it has agreed to fund, potentially slashing any resulting savings, according to a report from the National Audit Office.…

Categories: Linux fréttir

Transport for London says 2024 breach affected 7M customers, not 5,000

TheRegister - 11 hours 16 sec ago
Attackers accessed systems holding data tied to millions of Oyster and contactless users

Transport for London has confirmed that a 2024 breach exposed the data of more than 7 million people – a far larger crowd than the few thousand customers originally warned that their details might be at risk.…

Categories: Linux fréttir

IBM Scientists Unveil First-Ever 'Half-Mobius' Molecule

Slashdot - 11 hours 22 min ago
BrianFagioli shares a report from NERDS.xyz: An international team of scientists has done something chemistry has never seen before. IBM, working alongside researchers from the University of Manchester, Oxford University, ETH Zurich, EPFL, and the University of Regensburg, has created and characterized a molecule whose electrons travel through its structure in a corkscrew-like pattern, fundamentally altering its chemical behavior. The findings were published today in Science. The molecule, known as C13Cl2, is the first experimental observation of what scientists call a half-Mobius electronic topology in a single molecule. To the researchers' knowledge, nothing like it has ever been synthesized, observed, or even formally predicted. And proving why it behaves the way it does required something equally extraordinary -- a quantum computer. The whole thing started at IBM, where the molecule was assembled atom by atom from a custom precursor synthesized at Oxford. Working under ultra-high vacuum at near-absolute-zero temperatures, researchers used precisely calibrated voltage pulses to remove individual atoms one at a time. The result is an electronic structure that undergoes a 90-degree twist with each circuit through the molecule, requiring four complete loops to return to its starting phase. That is a topological property that has no counterpart anywhere in chemistry's existing record. What makes it even more interesting to folks who follow materials science is that this topology can be switched. The molecule can move reversibly between clockwise-twisted, counterclockwise-twisted, and untwisted states. That means electronic topology is not just a curiosity to be stumbled upon in nature -- it can be deliberately engineered. That is a big deal. The quantum computing angle here is not just a supporting role. Electrons within C13Cl2 interact in deeply entangled ways, each influencing the others simultaneously. Modeling that requires tracking every possible configuration of those interactions at once -- something that causes computational demands to grow exponentially and can quickly overwhelm classical machines. A decade ago, researchers could exactly model 16 electrons classically. Today that number has crept to 18. Using IBM's quantum computer, the team was able to explore 32 electrons. Quantum computers can represent these systems directly rather than approximate them, because they operate according to the same quantum mechanical laws that govern electrons in molecules. In this case, that capability helped reveal helical molecular orbitals for electron attachment -- a fingerprint of the half-Mobius topology -- and exposed the mechanism behind the unusual structure: a helical pseudo-Jahn-Teller effect.

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Categories: Linux fréttir

UK mobilizes lawyers to keep report on Gatwick 'drone' chaos under wraps

TheRegister - 11 hours 24 min ago
Seven-year Freedom of Information battle heads to tribunal

Exclusive The UK's Department for Transport (DfT) is assembling government lawyers to fight the Information Commissioner's decision that it must release a document summarizing the lessons from the 2018 Gatwick drone chaos.…

Categories: Linux fréttir

Altman said no to military AI abuses – then signed Pentagon deal anyway

TheRegister - 12 hours 20 min ago
OpenAI CEO's principles lasted about 12 hours before $200M check arrived

Opinion A week ago today, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said he'd draw the same lines as Anthropic. By that night, he'd signed a Department of Defense deal that included no such AI protections. What's going on here?…

Categories: Linux fréttir

Techie was given strict instructions not to disrupt client. Then he touched one box and the lights went out

TheRegister - 13 hours 52 min ago
Discovering, and explaining, the bizarre cause was harder than the job he was sent to do

On Call Welcome to another instalment of On Call, The Register's weekly reader-contributed column that tells tales of times when tech support turned troublesome.…

Categories: Linux fréttir

Congress Extends ISS, Tells NASA To Get Moving On Private Space Stations

Slashdot - 14 hours 22 min ago
A recently-revised Senate authorization bill (PDF), co-sponsored by Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz, would extend the International Space Station's lifespan from 2030 to 2032 while pushing NASA to accelerate plans for commercial space stations to replace it. Ars Technica's Eric Berger reports: Regarding NASA's support for the development of commercial space stations, the bill mandates the following, within specified periods, of passage of the law: - Within 60 days, publicly release the requirements for commercial space stations in low-Earth orbit - Within 90 days, release the final "request for proposals" to solicit industry responses - Within 180 days, enter into contracts with "two or more" commercial providers for such stations Cruz is trying to inject urgency into NASA as several private companies -- including Axiom Space, Blue Origin, Vast, and Voyager -- are finalizing designs for space stations. All have expressed a desire for clarity from NASA on how long the space agency would like its astronauts to stay on board, the types of scientific equipment needed, and much more. These are known as "requirements" in NASA parlance. [...] Cruz and other senators on the committee appear to share those concerns, as their legislation extends the International Space Station's lifespan from 2030 to 2032 (an extension must still be approved by international partners, including Russia). Moreover, the authorization bill states, "The Administrator shall not initiate the de-orbit of the ISS until the date on which a commercial low-Earth orbit destination has reached an initial operational capability." With this legislation, the U.S. Senate is making clear that it views a permanent human presence in low-Earth orbit as a high priority. This version of the authorization legislation must still be passed by the full Senate and work its way through the House of Representatives.

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Categories: Linux fréttir

Microsoft previews tech to ease creation of keyboard-accessible websites

TheRegister - 15 hours 58 min ago
‘focusgroup’ has nothing to do with market research, offers devs faster coding and faster websites for everyone

Microsoft has started a preview of technology that eases the task of developing websites with complex navigation elements that don’t need a pointing device to operate.…

Categories: Linux fréttir

Iranian news service claims drone strikes on AWS were deliberate, to probe for US datacenter dependencies

TheRegister - 17 hours 48 min ago
Remember: Truth is the first casualty of war

Iranian publisher Fars News Agency, which is aligned with the country’s government, has claimed the drone strikes on Amazon Web Services’ Middle East datacenters were deliberate and had strategic significance.…

Categories: Linux fréttir

Microsoft Confirms 'Project Helix,' a Next-Gen Xbox That Can Run PC Games

Slashdot - 17 hours 52 min ago
An anonymous reader quotes a report from 80 Level: Microsoft has officially confirmed development of its next-generation Xbox console, currently known internally as Project Helix. While concrete details remain limited, early information suggests the company is positioning the device as a hybrid between a traditional console and a gaming PC, capable of running both Xbox titles and PC games. The codename was revealed recently by new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, who reaffirmed Microsoft's continued commitment to dedicated gaming hardware despite speculation that the company might shift entirely toward cloud or platform-based ecosystems. According to Sharma, Project Helix represents the next step in Xbox's console strategy. Although official specifications have not yet been announced, early reports indicate the system will likely rely on a new AMD system-on-chip combining Xbox hardware with PC-style architecture. The device is expected to emphasize high performance while maintaining compatibility with existing Xbox game libraries. [...] If the concept holds, Project Helix could mark a significant shift in how console ecosystems are structured, moving away from tightly closed hardware platforms toward something closer to a unified PC-console environment. Sharma wrote in a post on X: "Great start to the morning with Team Xbox, where we talked about our commitment to the return of Xbox, including Project Helix, the code name for our next generation console. Project Helix will lead in performance and play your Xbox and PC games. Looking forward to chatting about this more with partners and studios at my first GDC next week!"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Categories: Linux fréttir

China’s rubber-stamp parliament rubber stamps tech independence plan

TheRegister - 19 hours 59 min ago
Call to do better with chips and put AI everywhere is more than rhetoric because China’s scientists are sprinting ahead

China’s government has again made reducing reliance on imported digital technology a major goal.…

Categories: Linux fréttir

Chardlet dispute shows how AI will kill software licensing, argues Bruce Perens

TheRegister - 20 hours 21 min ago
Alarm bells are ringing in the open source community, but commercial licensing is also at risk

Earlier this week, Dan Blanchard, maintainer of a Python character encoding detection library called chardet, released a new version of the library under a new software license.…

Categories: Linux fréttir

Pentagon Formally Designates Anthropic a Supply-Chain Risk

Slashdot - 20 hours 22 min ago
The Pentagon has formally designated Anthropic as a "supply chain risk," ordering federal agencies and defense contractors to stop using its AI tools after the company sought limits on the military's use of its models. In a written statement, the department said it has "officially informed Anthropic leadership the company and its products are deemed a supply chain risk, effective immediately." Politico reports: The designation, historically reserved for foreign firms with ties to U.S. adversaries, will likely require companies that do business with the U.S. military -- or even the federal government in general -- to cut ties with Anthropic. "From the very beginning, this has been about one fundamental principle: the military being able to use technology for all lawful purposes," the Pentagon said in the statement. "The military will not allow a vendor to insert itself into the chain of command by restricting the lawful use of a critical capability and put our warfighters at risk." A spokesperson for Anthropic did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But the company said last week it would fight a supply-chain risk label in court.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Categories: Linux fréttir

Google says spyware makers and China-linked groups dominated zero-day attacks last year

TheRegister - Thu, 2026-03-05 23:52
Of the 90 zero-days GTIG tracked in 2025, 43 hit enterprise tech

Zero-day exploitation targeting enterprise tech products reached an all-time high last year, with China-linked cyber-espionage groups remaining the most prolific state-backed users, according to Google.…

Categories: Linux fréttir

Mac Studio 512GB RAM Option Disappears Amid Global DRAM Shortage

Slashdot - Thu, 2026-03-05 23:00
Apple has removed the 512GB RAM configuration for the Mac Studio, leaving 256GB as the new maximum. The remaining 256GB upgrade has also increased in price and now faces longer shipping delays as demand grows "due to consumers seeking machines suitable for running local AI agents," reports MacRumors. From the report: The Mac Studio starts with 36GB RAM, but there were upgrades ranging from 48GB to 512GB, with the higher tier upgrades limited to the M3 Ultra chip. Now there are options ranging from 48GB to 256GB, with wait times into May for the 256GB upgrade. Apple has also raised the price for the 256GB RAM upgrade option. It used to cost $1,600 to go from 96GB to 256GB on the high-end M3 Ultra machine, but now it costs $2,000. 512GB was $4,000 when it was available.

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Categories: Linux fréttir

Okta CEO ‘paranoid’ as vibe coders stir SaaS-pocalypse fears

TheRegister - Thu, 2026-03-05 22:16
It’s ok, Todd. You’re only paranoid if you’re wrong.

Okta chairman and CEO Todd McKinnon said he believes it would be difficult for an LLM alone to replicate the quality of SaaS applications his company provides, but that doesn’t stop him from worrying about competition from bots.…

Categories: Linux fréttir

United Airlines Can Now Boot Passengers Who Refuse To Use Headphones

Slashdot - Thu, 2026-03-05 22:00
United Airlines has updated its contract of carriage to require passengers to use headphones when playing audio or video on personal devices during flights. Travelers who refuse could be removed from the plane or even permanently banned from flying with the airline, reports CBS News. United notes that it will offer customers who forget theirs a free pair of wired earbuds. "Don't worry if you forget your headphones for your flight," the airline states on its website. "If they're available, you can request free earbuds." You'd better hope your device still has a headphone jack... Further reading: Flying Was Already the Worst. Then America Stopped Using Headphones.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Categories: Linux fréttir

Trump's TikTok Deal Benefited Firms That 'Personally Enriched' Him, Lawsuit Says

Slashdot - Thu, 2026-03-05 21:00
An anti-corruption group has filed a lawsuit (PDF) against Donald Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi over the deal that transferred TikTok's U.S. operations to a group of investors tied to the administration. The suit claims the arrangement violates a 2024 law requiring ByteDance to divest and alleges the deal financially benefited Trump allies while leaving the platform's algorithm under Chinese ownership. NBC News reports: The suit, filed by the Public Integrity Project, a law firm that seeks to raise the "reputational cost of corruption in America," argues the deal violates a law intended to prevent the spread of Chinese government propaganda and has enriched Trump's allies. That law, signed by then-President Joe Biden in 2024, said that TikTok couldn't be distributed in the United States unless the Chinese company ByteDance found an American-based corporate home by the day before Donald Trump returned to office. The law was upheld by the Supreme Court. "The law was clear, but it was never enforced," says the lawsuit, filed Thursday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. "Shortly after the deadline to divest passed, President Trump issued an executive order purportedly granting an extension for TikTok to find a domestic owner and directed his Attorney General not to enforce the law." The plaintiffs in the suit are two software engineers from California: One is a shareholder in Alphabet Inc., YouTube's parent company; the other is a shareholder in Meta Platforms, Inc., which is Instagram's parent company. Both say they suffered financially due to the non-enforcement of the law. "The original motivation for this law was to prevent the Chinese government from pushing propaganda onto American audiences," said Brendan Ballou, CEO of the Public Integrity Project and a former Justice Department prosecutor. "The deal that the president approved is the absolute worst of all possible worlds, because right now ByteDance continues to own the algorithm, which means that it can censor the content that it doesn't like, but at the same time Oracle controls the data and it can censor the information that it doesn't like. Really it's a situation that's going to be terrible for users, and terrible for free speech on the platform."

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Categories: Linux fréttir

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