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Eric Schmidt, Google's former CEO, has a simple suggestion for young workers struggling to focus at work or relax: turn off your phone. Schmidt told the "Moonshots" podcast that researchers "can't think deeply" when their phones keep buzzing with notifications. The tech veteran, who spent 10 years running Google and helped build Android's notification system, admitted the industry has worked to "monetize your attention" through constant ads and alerts.

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Former astronaut laments software shutdowns, staff reductions amid ongoing budget squeeze

Interview "I would say I'm cautiously optimistic, but that probably overstates how I'm feeling."…

Hackers are hiding malware inside DNS records, allowing malicious code to bypass security defenses that typically monitor web and email traffic. DomainTools researchers discovered the technique being used to host Joke Screenmate malware, with binary files converted to hexadecimal format and broken into chunks stored in TXT records across subdomains of whitetreecollective[.]com. Attackers retrieve the chunks through DNS requests and reassemble them into executable malware. The method exploits a blind spot in security monitoring, as DNS traffic often goes unscrutinized compared to other network activity.

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In 2025, social media has moved from self-expression to self-entrapment

Column We don't want to believe what we deeply understand: nothing is really deleted, and someone, somewhere can (and probably will) use that record against us.…

Sir Keir Starmer's government is seeking a way out of a clash with the Trump administration over the UK's demand that Apple provide it with access to secure customer data, Financial Times reported Monday, citing two officials. From the report: The officials both said the Home Office, which ordered the tech giant in January to grant access to its most secure cloud storage system, would probably have to retreat in the face of pressure from senior leaders in Washington, including Vice President JD Vance. "This is something that the vice president is very annoyed about and which needs to be resolved," said an official in the UK's technology department. "The Home Office is basically going to have to back down." Both officials said the UK decision to force Apple to break its end-to-end encryption -- which has been raised multiple times by top officials in Donald Trump's administration -- could impede technology agreements with the US.

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An anonymous reader shares a report: Microsoft is teaming up with the French government to create a digital replica of Paris' Notre-Dame Cathedral, France's most visited monument, the U.S. tech company's president, Brad Smith, said on Monday. The 862-year-old Gothic masterpiece was reopened last December after a five-year restoration following a devastating fire in 2019. A digital replica will serve as a record of the building's architectural details, Microsoft said. It will also provide a virtual experience for visitors and those unable to visit.

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Chipmaker halts updates and support, urges users to migrate immediately

Intel has abruptly killed off Clear Linux OS, ending Chipzilla's decade-long adventure in this part of the Linux world.…

Microsoft has released emergency security updates for two actively exploited zero-day vulnerabilities in SharePoint, tracked as CVE-2025-53770 and CVE-2025-53771, that have compromised servers worldwide in what researchers call "ToolShell" attacks. The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency warned over the weekend that hackers were exploiting the vulnerabilities to gain remote code execution on on-premises SharePoint installations, while Microsoft has not yet provided patches for all affected versions. The vulnerabilities allow hackers to steal private digital keys from SharePoint servers without requiring credentials, enabling them to plant malware and access stored files and data. Eye Security, which first identified the attacks on Saturday, found dozens of actively exploited servers and warned that SharePoint's integration with Outlook, Teams, and OneDrive could enable further network compromise. Researcher Silas Cutler at cybersecurity firm Censys estimated more than 10,000 companies with SharePoint servers were at risk, with the largest concentrations in the United States, Netherlands, United Kingdom, and Canada. Microsoft released patches for SharePoint 2019 and Subscription Edition but is still working on fixes for SharePoint Server 2016. Administrators must install available updates immediately and rotate machine keys to prevent re-compromise, according to Microsoft's security guidance.

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A desire for cycle accuracy results in 32 million recorded CPU states derived entirely from original hardware

The developer of MartyPC, an emulator for vintage Intel-compatible hardware that targets cycle accuracy, has released a test suite for Intel's classic 80286 processor and compatibles – created, in a fit of raw enthusiasm and hyperfocus, by single-stepping a physical chip from the mid-1980s through the execution of almost 1.5 million instructions.…

'Actually not terrible' says industry watcher Corey Quinn – but pricing plans have disappeared

AWS has introduced daily usage limits and a user waitlist for Kiro, its preview spec-driven AI editor, citing unexpectedly high demand as it works to scale the system.…

T-Mobile is expanding support for the L4S standard across its 5G Advanced network over the next few weeks, becoming the first wireless carrier in the United States to implement the Low Latency, Low Loss, Scalable Throughput technology. The standard helps high-priority internet packets move with fewer delays to make video calls and cloud games feel smoother by allowing devices to manage congestion and reduce buffering issues that can occur even on higher bandwidth connections. L4S is already deployed in many cities, the company said. Users will not need special phones or plans to access the network-driven improvements.

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The End of Windows 10 is looming. The world needs a simpler, easy, quick, snackable alternative

Comment Dear Santa. For Windows-10-end-of-support-day in October, please may we have a dead simple bulletproof all-free OS that gets old PCs online without a Google account, and does nothing else?…

AI coding service Replit deleted a user's production database and fabricated data to cover up bugs, according to SaaStr founder Jason Lemkin. Lemkin documented his experience on social media after Replit ignored his explicit instructions not to make code changes without permission. The database deletion eliminated 1,206 executive records representing months of authentic SaaStr data curation. Replit initially told Lemkin the database could not be restored, claiming it had "destroyed all database versions," but later discovered rollback functionality did work. Replit said it made "a catastrophic error of judgement" and rated the severity of its actions as 95 out of 100. The service also created a 4,000-record database filled with fictional people and repeatedly violated code freeze requests. Lemkin had initially praised Replit after building a prototype in hours, spending $607.70 in additional charges beyond his $25 monthly plan. He concluded the service isn't ready for commercial use by non-technical users.

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Hams for the win: Amateur-built decoder taps SSMIS satellite data amid NOAA cutoff

With the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) set to shut down a key satellite data stream used in US hurricane forecasting, a group of amateur radio enthusiasts has stepped in with a decoder they say could fill the gap.…

Persians added snooping capabilities to DCHSpy after Israeli bombs fell

Four new samples of Android spyware linked to the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) that collects WhatsApp data, records audio and video, and hunts for files by name, surfaced shortly after the Iran-Israel conflict began.…

It was nearly a decade ago when the first RISCV64 port was started for Debian, reports Phoronix. But one of the big features planned for Debian 13.0 (planned for 9 August) is supporting RISC-V as an official CPU architecture. This is the first release where RISC-V 64-bit is officially supported by Debian Linux albeit with limited board support and the Debian RISC-V build process is handicapped by slow hardware. A Debian RISC-V BoF session was held at this week's DebConf25 conference in France to discuss the state of RISCV64 for Debian Linux. The talk was led by Debian developers Aurelien Jarno and Bo YU... RV64GC is the current target for Debian RISC-V and using UEFI-based booting as the default. Over seventeen thousand source Debian packages are building for RISC-V with Trixie... Those wishing to learn more about this current state of Debian for RISC-V can see the PDF slide deck from DebConf25.

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Peter Connelly inflated turnover and claimed second payment when only entitled to one

Sad news for the three people who fondly remember the soundtracks to turn-of-the-millennium Tomb Raider – their composer, Peter Connelly, has been sentenced to 16 months behind bars for COVID-19 loan fraud.…

But an emergency fix for SharePoint Server 2016 is still MIA

Microsoft is releasing out-of-band security updates for SharePoint Server 2019 and SharePoint Server Subscription Edition, following a warning that vulnerable versions were now under attack.…

Getting carded is one thing. A full strip search? Welcome to Britain

Opinion On June 10, social network Bluesky announced that in 15 days it would introduce age verification for UK users, to comply with the UK Online Safety Act. As this law threatens non-compliant content companies with eight-figure fines from July 25, you can see why. The how, however, is breathtakingly inexcusable.…

One in every 9 Americans lives in California. And right now its Congress is debating a bill that "would help establish a regional electricity market capable of tying together the American West's three dozen independent power grids," according to the Los Angeles Times' newsletter about climate change and energy issues. But that bill "has bitterly divided environmentalists," with some seeing it "as a plot by greedy energy companies to enrich themselves." Supporters say it would smooth the flow of solar and wind power from the sunny, windy landscapes where they're produced most cheaply to the cities where they're most needed. It would help California keep the lights on without fossil fuels, and without driving up utility bills... [S]olar and wind power are still cheaper than planet-warming coal and fossil gas. Which is why Michael Wara, a Stanford energy and climate scholar, isn't worried that SB 540 will leave Californians drowning in dirty power. In a regional market, solar and wind will usually outcompete coal and gas. "Any energy source that requires fuel to operate is more expensive than an energy source that doesn't," he said. California also needs to prove that a grid powered entirely by clean energy is affordable and reliable. The state's rising electric rates are already a big concern. And although the grid has been stable the last few years, thanks to batteries that store solar for after dark, keeping the lights on with more and more renewables might get harder. Regional market advocates make a strong case that interstate cooperation would help. For instance, a market would help California more smoothly access Pacific Northwest hydropower, already a key energy source during heat waves. It would also give California easier access to low-cost winds from New Mexico and Wyoming. Best of all, that wind is often blowing strong just as the sun sets along the Pacific. Another benefit: Right now, California often generates more solar than it can use during certain hours of the day, forcing solar farms to shut down — or pay other states to take the extra power. With a regional market, California could sell excess solar to other states, keeping utility bills down. "This is about lowering costs," said Robin Everett, deputy director of the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign. "Unlike with past regional market proposals, California would retain control of its grid operator, with only a few functions delegated to a regional entity," the article points out. But opponents still worry this would give new powers to an outside-of-California group to thwart clean energy progress if not gouge customers. Amendments passed this week add a "Regional Energy Markets Oversight Council" to address that concern — but which lost support for the bill from some of its earlier supporters. "The amendments would make it easier for the Golden State to bail," notes the climate newsletter, and "Out-of-state utilities don't want to waste time and money committing themselves to a California-led market only to lose California, and thus many of the economic benefits..."

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