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TUPE or not TUPE? Not for roles being sent overseas amid a push to meet post-merger rollout targets

Exclusive VodafoneThree has told some staff their roles may be offshored to India under new contracts with Ericsson and Nokia – and that employment protections won't apply.…

alternative_right shares a report from Phys.org: It is known in the scientific community that if you have a self-sustained oscillation, such as an arteriole, and you add an external stimulus at a similar but not identical frequency, you can lock the two, meaning you can shift the frequency of the oscillator to that of the external stimulus. In fact, it has been shown that if you connect two clocks, they will eventually synchronize their ticking. Distinguished Professor of Physics and Neurobiology David Kleinfeld found that if he applied an external stimulus to a neuron, the entire vasculature would lock at the same frequency. However, if he stimulated two sets of neurons at two different frequencies, something unexpected happened: some arterioles would lock at one frequency and others would lock at another frequency, forming a staircase effect. Searching for an explanation, Kleinfeld enlisted the help of his colleague, Professor of Physics Massimo Vergassola, who specializes in understanding the physics of living systems, and then recruited Ecole Normale Superieure graduate student Marie Sellier-Prono and Senior Researcher at the Institute for Complex Systems Massimo Cencini. Together, the researchers found they could use a classical model of coupled oscillators with an intestinal twist. The gut oscillates naturally due to peristalsis -- the contracting and relaxing of muscles in the digestive tract -- and provided a simplified model over the complex network of blood vessels in the brain. The intestine is unidirectional, meaning frequencies shift in one direction in a gradient from higher to lower. This is what enables food to move in one direction from the beginning of the small intestine to the end of the large intestine. "Coupled oscillators talk to each other and each section of the intestine is an oscillator that talks to the other sections near it," stated Vergassola. "Normally, coupled oscillators are studied in a homogeneous setting, meaning all the oscillators are at more or less similar frequencies. In our case, the oscillators were more varied, just as in the intestine and the brain." In studying the coupled oscillators in the gut, past researchers observed that there is indeed a staircase effect where similar frequencies lock onto those around it, allowing for the rhythmic movement of food through the digestive tract. But the height of the rises or breaks, the length of the stair runs or frequencies, and the conditions under which the staircase phenomenon occurred -- essential features of biological systems -- was something which had not been determined until now. The findings have been published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

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Surrey to be divided into two new councils in first phase of countrywide reorg

The UK government will replace Surrey County Council and its 11 borough and district councils with two new unitary councils, which will provide most local services to the area's 1.2 million residents.…

Ofcom 'disappointed' by decision that 'goes against the spirit of our rules'

Britian's comms regulator has criticized O2 for hiking prices beyond what customers agreed to, exploiting a loophole in rules designed to end unpredictable mid-contract increases.…

Hospitals told to upgrade, but some medical device makers haven't prescribed compatibility yet

NHS hospitals are being blocked from fully upgrading to Windows 11 by a small number of suppliers that have yet to make their medical devices compatible with Microsoft's latest operating system.…

schwit1 shares a report from Behind the Black: SpaceX is going to land this spaceship manned on the Moon, whether or not NASA's SLS and Orion are ready. And even if those expensive, cumbersome, and poorly designed boondoggles are ready for those first two Artemis landings, SpaceX is likely to quickly outmatch them with numerous other private missions to the Moon, outside of NASA. It has the funds to do it, and it knows it has the customers willing to buy the flights. The news comes from a detailed update SpaceX released today on the Starship lunar lander. Here's the section where SpaceX "made it clear that it sees Starship and Superheavy as its own space effort, irrelevant of NASA": "To return Americans to the Moon, SpaceX aligned Starship development along two paths: development of the core Starship system and supporting infrastructure, including production facilities, test facilities, and launch sites -- which SpaceX is self-funding representing over 90% of system costs -- and development of the HLS-specific Starship configuration, which leverages and modifies the core vehicle capability to support NASA's requirements for landing crew on and returning them from the Moon. SpaceX is working under a fixed-price contract with NASA, ensuring that the company is only paid after the successful completion of progress milestones, and American taxpayers are not on the hook for increased SpaceX costs. SpaceX provides significant insight to NASA at every stage of the development process along both paths, including access to flight data from missions not funded under the HLS contract. Both pathways are necessary and made possible by SpaceX's substantial self-investments to enable the high-rate production, launch, and test of Starship for missions to the Moon and other purposes. Starship will bring the United States back to the Moon before any other nation and it will enable sustainable lunar operations by being fully and rapidly reusable, cost-effective, and capable of high frequency lunar missions with more than 100 tons of cargo capacity."

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When tech support collides with Halloween, the results are scary

On Call Happy Halloween, dear reader! The Register wishes you a wonderfully scary day. To kick things off, we’ve twisted On Call, our weekly reader-contributed column about keeping computers alive despite the best efforts of zombie coworkers and demonic bosses, to bring tales of times tech support turned spooky.…

Because fewer people like banknotes, and payment sovereignty is a problem

The Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) has decided the bloc needs a digital version of the Euro, and ordered work that could see it enter circulation in 2029.…

An anonymous reader quotes a report from 404 Media: Someone recently managed to get on a Microsoft Teams call with representatives from phone hacking company Cellebrite, and then leaked a screenshot of the company's capabilities against many Google Pixel phones, according to a forum post about the leak and 404 Media's review of the material. The leak follows others obtained and verified by 404 Media over the last 18 months. Those leaks impacted both Cellebrite and its competitor Grayshift, now owned by Magnet Forensics. Both companies constantly hunt for techniques to unlock phones law enforcement have physical access to. "You can Teams meeting with them. They tell everything. Still cannot extract esim on Pixel. Ask anything," a user called rogueFed wrote on the GrapheneOS forum on Wednesday, speaking about what they learned about Cellebrite capabilities. GrapheneOS is a security- and privacy-focused Android-based operating system. rogueFed then posted two screenshots of the Microsoft Teams call. The first was a Cellebrite Support Matrix, which lays out whether the company's tech can, or can't, unlock certain phones and under what conditions. The second screenshot was of a Cellebrite employee. According to another of rogueFed's posts, the meeting took place in October. The meeting appears to have been a sales call. The employee is a "pre sales expert," according to a profile available online. The Support Matrix is focused on modern Google Pixel devices, including the Pixel 9 series. The screenshot does not include details on the Pixel 10, which is Google's latest device. It discusses Cellebrite's capabilities regarding 'before first unlock', or BFU, when a piece of phone unlocking tech tries to open a device before someone has typed in the phone's passcode for the first time since being turned on. It also shows Cellebrite's capabilities against after first unlock, or AFU, devices. The Support Matrix also shows Cellebrite's capabilities against Pixel devices running GrapheneOS, with some differences between phones running that operating system and stock Android. Cellebrite does support, for example, Pixel 9 devices BFU. Meanwhile the screenshot indicates Cellebrite cannot unlock Pixel 9 devices running GrapheneOS BFU. In their forum post, rogueFed wrote that the "meeting focused specific on GrapheneOS bypass capability." They added "very fresh info more coming."

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alternative_right shares a report from Phys.org: Today's cutting-edge theory -- quantum gravity -- suggests that even space and time aren't fundamental. They emerge from something deeper: pure information. This information exists in what physicists call a Platonic realm -- a mathematical foundation more real than the physical universe we experience. It's from this realm that space and time themselves emerge. "The fundamental laws of physics cannot be contained within space and time, because they generate them. It has long been hoped, however, that a truly fundamental theory of everything could eventually describe all physical phenomena through computations grounded in these laws. Yet we have demonstrated that this is not possible. A complete and consistent description of reality requires something deeper -- a form of understanding known as non-algorithmic understanding." "We have demonstrated that it is impossible to describe all aspects of physical reality using a computational theory of quantum gravity," says Dr. Faizal. "Therefore, no physically complete and consistent theory of everything can be derived from computation alone. Rather, it requires a non-algorithmic understanding, which is more fundamental than the computational laws of quantum gravity and therefore more fundamental than spacetime itself." "Drawing on mathematical theorems related to incompleteness and indefinability, we demonstrate that a fully consistent and complete description of reality cannot be achieved through computation alone," explains Dr. Mir Faizal, Adjunct Professor with UBC Okanagan's Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science. "It requires non-algorithmic understanding, which by definition is beyond algorithmic computation and therefore cannot be simulated. Hence, this universe cannot be a simulation." The findings have been published in the Journal of Holography Applications in Physics.

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HTV-X capsule is designed to hang around in space after delivering cargo to ISS

Japan’s Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is celebrating after its new cargo carrier docked at the International Space Station.…

Google and Magic Leap have extended their partnership for another three years to develop Android XR glasses. They also showed off a new prototype concept that combines Google's Raxium microLED light engine with Magic Leap's AR optics, resulting in a lightweight, stylish pair of glasses that blends real-world vision with multimodal AI. 9to5Google reports: As noted by Android Central, a press release shared by Magic Leap adds some further technical details. This includes mentioning that Google's "Raxium microLED light engine" integrates with Magic Leap's tech to bring "digital content seamlessly into the world." As pictured above, the "display" portion of the lens is visible at some angles, but it's largely impossible to see. Magic Leap and Google will show an AI glasses prototype at FII that will serve as a prototype and reference design for the Android XR ecosystem. The demo shows how Magic Leap's technology, integrated with Google's Raxium microLED light engine, brings digital content seamlessly into the world. The prototypes worn on stage illustrate how comfortable, stylish smart eyewear is possible and the video showed the potential for users to stay present in the real world while tapping into the knowledge and functionality of multimodal AI. During the presentation, text on the nearby screens suggests that Magic Leap is mainly working with Google on the technology here, rather than bringing its own glasses to market. Magic Leap further hints at this in its press release, calling itself "an AR ecosystem partner" focused on "supporting global technology leaders that want to enter the AR market and accelerate the production of AR glasses."

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The spending will continue until AI revenue improves

Despite a trickle of bad news from Amazon in recent weeks, the company's business is thrumming along, with AWS leading the way.…

PC Mag's Michael Kan writes: A "Keep Android Open" campaign is pushing back on new rules from Google that will reportedly block users from sideloading apps on Android phones. It's unclear who's running the campaign, but a blog post on the free Android app store F-Droid is directing users to visit the campaign's website, which urges the public to lobby government regulators to intervene and stop the upcoming restrictions. "Developers should have the right to create and distribute software without submitting to unnecessary corporate surveillance," reads an open letter posted to the site. [...] Google has described the upcoming change as akin to requiring app developers to go through "an ID check at the airport." However, F-Droid condemned the new requirement as anti-consumer choice. "If you own a computer, you should have the right to run whatever programs you want on it," it says. Additionally, the rules threaten third-party app distribution on F-Droid, which operates as a "free/open-source app distribution" model. In its blog post, F-Droid warns about the impact on users and Android app developers. "You, the creator, can no longer develop an app and share it directly with your friends, family, and community without first seeking Google's approval," the app store says. "Over half of all humankind uses an Android smartphone," the blog post adds. "Google does not own your phone. You own your phone. You have the right to decide who to trust, and where you can get your software from."

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An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Guardian: When Google and Amazon negotiated a major $1.2 billion cloud-computing deal in 2021, their customer -- the Israeli government -- had an unusual demand: agree to use a secret code as part of an arrangement that would become known as the "winking mechanism." The demand, which would require Google and Amazon to effectively sidestep legal obligations in countries around the world, was born out of Israel's concerns that data it moves into the global corporations' cloud platforms could end up in the hands of foreign law enforcement authorities. Like other big tech companies, Google and Amazon's cloud businesses routinely comply with requests from police, prosecutors and security services to hand over customer data to assist investigations. This process is often cloaked in secrecy. The companies are frequently gagged from alerting the affected customer their information has been turned over. This is either because the law enforcement agency has the power to demand this or a court has ordered them to stay silent. For Israel, losing control of its data to authorities overseas was a significant concern. So to deal with the threat, officials created a secret warning system: the companies must send signals hidden in payments to the Israeli government, tipping it off when it has disclosed Israeli data to foreign courts or investigators. To clinch the lucrative contract, Google and Amazon agreed to the so-called winking mechanism, according to leaked documents seen by the Guardian, as part of a joint investigation with Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and Hebrew-language outlet Local Call. Based on the documents and descriptions of the contract by Israeli officials, the investigation reveals how the companies bowed to a series of stringent and unorthodox "controls" contained within the 2021 deal, known as Project Nimbus. Both Google and Amazon's cloud businesses have denied evading any legal obligations.

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Universal Music Group has settled its copyright lawsuit with AI music startup Udio and struck a licensing deal to launch a new AI-powered music platform next year. The Verge reports: The deal includes some form of compensation and "will provide further revenue opportunities for UMG artists and songwriters," Universal says. Udio, the company behind "BBL Drizzy," will launch the platform as a subscription service next year. Universal, alongside other industry giants Sony and Warner, sued Udio and another startup Suno for "en masse" copyright infringement last year. Universal -- whose roster includes some of the world's biggest performers like Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny, and Ariana Grande -- says the new tool will "transform the user engagement experience" and let creators customize, stream, and share music. There's no indication of how much it will cost yet. Udio's existing music maker, which lets you create new songs with a few words, will remain available during the transition, though content will be held "within a walled garden" and security measures like fingerprinting will be added.

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OpenAI is reportedly preparing for a massive IPO that could value the company at up to $1 trillion. It follows a recent corporate restructuring that loosened its dependence on Microsoft and aligned its nonprofit foundation with financial success. Reuters reports: OpenAI is considering filing with securities regulators as soon as the second half of 2026, some of the people said. In preliminary discussions, the company has looked at raising $60 billion at the low end and likely more, the people said. They cautioned that talks are early and plans -- including the figures and timing - could change depending on business growth and market conditions. Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar has told some associates the company is aiming for a 2027 listing, the people said. But some advisers predict it could come even sooner, around late 2026. [...] An IPO would open the door to more efficient capital raising and enable larger acquisitions using public stock, helping to finance CEO Sam Altman's plans to pour trillions of dollars into AI infrastructure, according to people familiar with the company's thinking. With an annualized revenue run rate expected to reach about $20 billion by year-end, losses are also mounting inside the $500 billion company, the people said. During a livestream on Tuesday, Altman addressed the possibility of going public. "I think it's fair to say it is the most likely path for us, given the capital needs that we'll have," he said.

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No costume idea? We've got you covered

Hacking makes the holidays so much more enjoyable, and nothing says trick or treat quite like pwning LED Halloween masks belonging to every neighborhood kid during candy-collection hours.…

A critical security flaw in Chromium's Blink rendering engine can crash billions of browsers within seconds. Security researcher Jose Pino discovered the vulnerability and created a proof-of-concept exploit called Brash to demonstrate the bug affecting Chrome, Edge, OpenAI's ChatGPT Atlas, Brave, Vivaldi, Arc, Dia, Opera and Perplexity Comet. The flaw, reports The Register, exploits the absence of rate limiting on document.title API updates in Chromium versions 143.0.7483.0 and later. The attack injects millions of DOM mutations per second and saturates the main thread. When The Register tested the code on Edge, the browser crashed and the Windows machine locked up after about 30 seconds while consuming 18GB of RAM in one tab. Pino disclosed the bug to the Chromium security team on August 28 and followed up on August 30 but received no response. Google said it is looking into the issue.

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Company tells users concerned about exfiltration to 'stop it if you see it'

A researcher has found a way to trick Claude into uploading private data to an attacker's account using indirect prompt injection. Anthropic says it has already documented the risk, and its foolproof solution is: keep an eye on your screen.…