vitus_wagner | Reading

Posted by msmash

https://it.slashdot.org/story/26/01/02/192248/dells-xps-brand-may-return-just-a-year-after-being-retired-report-claims?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed

Dell is planning to bring back its XPS laptop branding, according to a news report, just one year after the company retired the storied name in favor of a simplified naming scheme that organized its consumer and professional lineup into Dell, Dell Pro and Dell Pro Max tiers. VideoCardz reported this week that Dell has presented an updated XPS lineup during prebriefings ahead of CES 2026, though the company has not officially confirmed the badge's return. The reported reversal would come after Dell launched the Dell 14 Premium and Dell 16 Premium in mid-2025 as flagship consumer models meant to carry the XPS legacy forward. Those machines replaced the XPS 14 and XPS 16 in Dell's lineup.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

https://it.slashdot.org/story/26/01/02/192248/dells-xps-brand-may-return-just-a-year-after-being-retired-report-claims?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed

slashdot_feed

Posted by msmash

https://slashdot.org/story/26/01/02/1851202/microsoft-ceo-time-to-move-beyond-the-arguments-of-slop-vs-sophistication?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed

The tech industry needs to move "beyond the arguments of slop vs sophistication" and develop a new "theory of the mind" that accounts for humans now equipped with "cognitive amplifier tools," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella wrote in a year-end reflection blog. The post frames 2026 as yet another "pivotal year for AI" -- but one that "feels different in a few notable ways." Nadella claims the industry has moved past the initial discovery phase and is now "beginning to distinguish between 'spectacle' and 'substance.'" He argues for evolving beyond Steve Jobs' famous "bicycles for the mind" framing, positioning AI instead as "scaffolding" for human potential rather than a substitute. "We will evolve from models to systems when it comes to deploying AI for real world impact," Nadella writes, adding that these systems must consider their societal impact on people and the planet. "For AI to have societal permission it must have real world eval impact."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

https://slashdot.org/story/26/01/02/1851202/microsoft-ceo-time-to-move-beyond-the-arguments-of-slop-vs-sophistication?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed

slashdot_feed

Posted by msmash

https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/26/01/02/1832200/mtvs-music-only-channels-go-off-the-air?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed

An anonymous reader shares a report: MTV shut down many of its last dedicated 24-hour music channels Dec. 31. The move, announced back in October, affected channels around the world, with the U.K. seeing five different MTV stations going dark. These include MTV Music, MTV 80s, MTV 90s, Club MTV, and MTV Live. As Consequence notes, MTV Music -- which launched in 2011 -- notably ended its run by airing the Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star," the first visual to air when MTV launched in the United States in 1981. MTV's parent company, Paramount Skydance, is also expected to shutter music-only channels in Australia, Poland, France, and Brazil. Despite axing much of its dedicated music programming, MTV's flagship channels are still expected to keep broadcasting in the U.K. and elsewhere. Like in the U.S., these channels primarily air massively popular reality programs, as opposed to music videos.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/26/01/02/1832200/mtvs-music-only-channels-go-off-the-air?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed

bruce_schneier_feed

Posted by Bruce Schneier

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2026/01/friday-squid-blogging-squid-found-in-light-fixture.html

https://www.schneier.com/?p=71309

Probably a college prank.

As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven’t covered.

Blog moderation policy.

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2026/01/friday-squid-blogging-squid-found-in-light-fixture.html

https://www.schneier.com/?p=71309

slashdot_feed

Posted by msmash

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/01/02/188203/google-ai-overviews-put-people-at-risk-of-harm-with-misleading-health-advice?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed

A Guardian investigation published Friday found that Google's AI Overviews -- the generative AI summaries that appear at the top of search results -- are serving up inaccurate health information that experts say puts people at risk of harm. The investigation, which came after health groups, charities and professionals raised concerns, uncovered several cases of misleading medical advice despite Google's claims that the feature is "helpful" and "reliable." In one case described by experts as "really dangerous," Google advised people with pancreatic cancer to avoid high-fat foods, which is the exact opposite of what should be recommended and could jeopardize a patient's chances of tolerating chemotherapy or surgery. A search for liver blood test normal ranges produced masses of numbers without accounting for nationality, sex, ethnicity or age of patients, potentially leaving people with serious liver disease thinking they are healthy. The company also incorrectly listed a pap test as a test for vaginal cancer. The Eve Appeal cancer charity noted that the AI summaries changed when running the exact same search, pulling from different sources each time. Mental health charity Mind said some summaries for conditions such as psychosis and eating disorders offered "very dangerous advice." Google said the vast majority of its AI Overviews were factual and that many examples shared were "incomplete screenshots," adding that the accuracy rate was on par with featured snippets.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/01/02/188203/google-ai-overviews-put-people-at-risk-of-harm-with-misleading-health-advice?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed

slashdot_feed

Posted by msmash

https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/01/02/182247/trump-signs-defense-bill-prohibiting-china-based-engineers-in-pentagon-it-work?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed

President Donald Trump signed into law this month a measure that prohibits anyone based in China and other adversarial countries from accessing the Pentagon's cloud computing systems. From a report: The ban, which is tucked inside the $900 billion defense policy law, was enacted in response to a ProPublica investigation this year that exposed how Microsoft used China-based engineers to service the Defense Department's computer systems for nearly a decade -- a practice that left some of the country's most sensitive data vulnerable to hacking from its leading cyber adversary. U.S.-based supervisors, known as "digital escorts," were supposed to serve as a check on these foreign employees, but we found they often lacked the expertise needed to effectively supervise engineers with far more advanced technical skills. In the wake of the reporting, leading members of Congress called on the Defense Department to strengthen its security requirements while blasting Microsoft for what some Republicans called "a national betrayal." Cybersecurity and intelligence experts have told ProPublica that the arrangement posed major risks to national security, given that laws in China grant the country's officials broad authority to collect data.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/01/02/182247/trump-signs-defense-bill-prohibiting-china-based-engineers-in-pentagon-it-work?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed

luz_das_estrelas

Сегодня, в день рождения Айзека Азимова, отмечается день НФ (или день чтения НФ, как его еще называют). И к этому дню я хочу выложить ссылки на историю моего знакомства с НФ -- https://istanaro.livejournal.com/264065.html -- и две части своей лекции по НФ -- https://istanaro.livejournal.com/123673.html и https://istanaro.livejournal.com/124445.html . Что же до самого Азимова, то среди его книг мне больше всего нравятся, наверно, "Конец вечности" и "Три закона роботехники".

vladimir000

Плохой зимний день на юге Португалии == хороший зимний день в Дублине == плохой летний день в Дублине

Мелкие нюансы соотношения температура/ветер/осадки опускаем, оцениваем интегрально

slashdot_feed

Posted by msmash

https://slashdot.org/story/26/01/02/1719244/amd-closes-in-on-intel-in-latest-steam-hardware-survey?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed

AMD's share of processors among Steam users climbed to 47.27% in December 2025, a 4.66% jump in a single month that continues the company's steady encroachment on Intel's once-dominant position in the gaming CPU market. Intel held roughly 77% of the Steam Hardware Survey five years ago, and that lead has eroded considerably as AMD broke the 40% threshold in the third quarter of 2025 and kept climbing. The gains came despite an ongoing memory shortage that has pushed DDR5 prices to record highs -- AMD's AM5 platform requires DDR5 exclusively, while Intel's Raptor Lake Refresh chips support both DDR4 and DDR5. Many gamers are turning to older AMD Zen 3 processors like the Ryzen 5 5800X, which topped Amazon's bestseller lists during the holiday period and work on DDR4-compatible platforms. Meanwhile, the proportion of Steam users running 32GB of RAM rose to 39.07%, nearly matching the 40.14% still on 16GB, as gamers likely rushed to upgrade before prices climbed further amid AI's demand for memory.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

https://slashdot.org/story/26/01/02/1719244/amd-closes-in-on-intel-in-latest-steam-hardware-survey?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed

slashdot_feed

Posted by msmash

https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/01/02/1649208/reading-is-a-vice?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed

The International Publishers Association spent the past year promoting the slogan "Democracy depends on reading," but Atlantic senior editor Adam Kirsch argues that this utilitarian pitch fundamentally misunderstands why people become readers in the first place. The most recent Survey of Public Participation in the Arts found that less than half of Americans read a single book in 2022, and only 38% read a novel or short story. A University of Florida and University College London study found daily reading for pleasure fell 3% annually from 2003 to 2023. Among 13-year-olds, just 14% read for fun almost every day in 2023, down from 27% a decade earlier. Kirsch says to stop treating reading as civic medicine. "It would be better to describe reading not as a public duty but as a private pleasure, sometimes even a vice," he writes. When literature was considered transgressive, moralists couldn't stop people from buying dangerous books. Now that books are deemed virtuous, nobody picks them up. He points to Don Quixote and Madame Bovary -- novels whose protagonists are ruined by their reading habits. Great writers, he notes, never idealized literature the way educators do. The pitch to young readers should emphasize staying up late reading under the covers by flashlight, hoping nobody finds out.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/01/02/1649208/reading-is-a-vice?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed

slashdot_feed

Posted by msmash

https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/01/02/1542232/a-decade-of-bbc-question-time-data-reveals-imbalance-in-journalist-guests?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed

A new study [PDF] from Cardiff University analyzing a decade of the popular topical debate programme BBC Question Time found that the broadcaster's flagship political debate show relies disproportionately on journalists and pundits from right-wing media outlets, particularly those connected to The Spectator magazine. Researcher Matt Walsh examined 391 editions and 1,885 panellist appearances between 2014 and 2024. Journalists from right-leaning publications accounted for 59.59% of media guest slots, compared to just 16.86% for left-leaning outlets. The Spectator, a conservative magazine with a circulation of roughly 65,000, had an outsized presence among the most frequently booked guests. The study's list of top non-politician appearances reads like a roster of right-wing media figures. Isabel Oakeshott appeared 14 times, Julia Hartley-Brewer 13, Kate Andrews (formerly of the Institute for Economic Affairs and now at The Spectator) 13, and Tim Stanley of The Telegraph and Spectator also 13. No equivalent frequency existed for left-wing journalists; Novara Media's Ash Sarkar and podcaster Alastair Campbell each appeared six times. Walsh said that the programme's need to be entertaining may explain some of these choices, as columnists unconstrained by party talking points tend to generate livelier debate. The BBC maintains that Question Time aims to present a "breadth of viewpoints," but the data suggests the programme's construction of impartiality tilts notably in one direction.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/01/02/1542232/a-decade-of-bbc-question-time-data-reveals-imbalance-in-journalist-guests?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed

slashdot_feed

Posted by msmash

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/01/02/1449227/results-were-fudged-departing-meta-ai-chief-confirms-llama-4-benchmark-manipulation?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed

Yann LeCun, Meta's outgoing chief AI scientist and one of the pioneers credited with laying the groundwork for modern AI, has acknowledged that the company's Llama 4 language model had its benchmark results manipulated before its April 2025 release. In an interview with the Financial Times, LeCun said the "results were fudged a little bit" and that the team "used different models for different benchmarks to give better results." Llama 4 was widely criticized as a flop at launch, and the company faced accusations of gaming benchmarks to make the model appear more capable than it was. LeCun said CEO Mark Zuckerberg was "really upset and basically lost confidence in everyone who was involved" in the release. Zuckerberg subsequently "sidelined the entire GenAI organisation," according to LeCun. "A lot of people have left, a lot of people who haven't yet left will leave." LeCun himself is departing Meta after more than a decade to start a new AI research venture called Advanced Machine Intelligence Labs. He described the new hires brought in for Meta's superintelligence efforts as "completely LLM-pilled" -- a technology LeCun has repeatedly called "a dead end when it comes to superintelligence."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/01/02/1449227/results-were-fudged-departing-meta-ai-chief-confirms-llama-4-benchmark-manipulation?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed

slashdot_feed

Posted by msmash

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/01/02/0720202/ghana-tries-to-regulate-online-prophecies?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed

Ghana has decided to deal with the viral spread of prophetic content on social media by setting up an official reporting mechanism for sensitive predictions, a move triggered by the August 2025 helicopter crash that killed the country's defence and environment ministers along with six others. After the accident, TikTok clips circulated showing pastors who claimed to have foreseen the disaster before it happened. Elvis Ankrah, the presidential envoy for inter-faith and ecumenical relations, now asks prophets to submit their predictions for review. Charismatic preacher-prophets have been a fixture of Ghanaian public life since Pentecostalism arrived in the 1980s, but social media has amplified their reach and made their claims increasingly outlandish. Police have threatened to arrest prophets who cannot prove their predictions eventually came true. Some two-thirds of Ghanaians favor giving divine intervention a role in politics. Ankrah recently declared that most prophecies submitted to him are "total bunk."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/01/02/0720202/ghana-tries-to-regulate-online-prophecies?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed

slashdot_feed

Posted by msmash

https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/01/02/074243/the-atlanta-journal-constitution-prints-final-newspaper-shifts-to-all-digital-format?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed

CBS News: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has printed its final newspaper, marking the end of a 157-year chapter in Georgia history and officially transitioning the longtime publication into a fully digital news outlet. The front-page story of the final print edition asks a fitting question: "What is the future of local media in Atlanta?" The historic last issue is also being sold for $8, a significant increase from the typical $2.00 price. Wednesday, Dec. 31, marks the last day The AJC will be delivered to driveways across metro Atlanta. Starting Jan. 1, 2026, the newspaper will exist exclusively online, a move its leadership says reflects how readers now consume news and ensures the organization's future. AJC President and Publisher Andrew Morse said the decision was not made lightly, especially given how deeply the paper is woven into daily life for generations of readers. The move makes Atlanta the only major U.S. city without a daily printed newspaper.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/01/02/074243/the-atlanta-journal-constitution-prints-final-newspaper-shifts-to-all-digital-format?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed

alex0rozoff

[цитирую] Главным прорывом 2025 года Science считает рост использования возобновляемых источников энергии: солнечной, ветровой и гидроэнергетики. Возобновляемая энергия во многих странах мира стала дешевле любой другой — за последние пятнадцать лет ее стоимость снизилась на 70–90 процентов. Основным добытчиком энергии из солнечного света и ветра стал Китай, который уже долгое время является лидером по годовым выбросам углекислого газа в атмосферу. Сегодня КНР производит более 80 процентов всех солнечных панелей в мире, их комплектующих и сырья (поликремния, кремниевых пластин, фотоэлектрических элементов), а также около 60 процентов ветряных турбин. Солнечные панели Китай активно экспортирует почти во все страны мира — половина экспорта приходится на Европу, четверть — на Азию и Австралию, около 10–15 процентов покупает Америка и малую часть — Ближний Восток и Африка. Турбины тоже идут на экспорт — в основном в Азиатские страны.[конец цитаты]*
....
Теперь вдумаемся (наивно считая, будто написанное в журнале Science - не вранье):
1) Возобновляемая энергия во многих странах мира стала дешевле любой другой
2) КНР производит более 80 процентов всех солнечных панелей в мире, их комплектующих и сырья, а также около 60 процентов ветряных турбин
...
При таких вводных невозможно представить себе иной картины, кроме как Китай, полностью (или почти полнотсью) перешедший на "зеленую энергетику", отказавшись от сжигания ископаемого углеродного топлива...
АВХ!
3) Китай, который уже долгое время является лидером по годовым выбросам углекислого газа в атмосферу
...
Вот оно: расщепление здравого смысла
И кстати, по приколу: представим себе, что в мире миновал бум "зеленой энергетики". Публика, включая политиков и бизнесменов, внезапно заметила, что все эти ВИЭ (за исключением нишевых решений вроде солнечных панелей для бунгало на экваториальных островах) на самом деле безумно дорогие и к тому же крайне ненадежные.
Бац - и перестали покупать у Китая эту порву солнечных панелей и ветровых роторов
Что произойдет с экономикой КНР?...
( Read more... )

bruce_schneier_feed

Posted by Bruce Schneier

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2026/01/flock-exposes-its-ai-enabled-surveillance-cameras.html

https://www.schneier.com/?p=71404

404 Media has the story:

Unlike many of Flock’s cameras, which are designed to capture license plates as people drive by, Flock’s Condor cameras are pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras designed to record and track people, not vehicles. Condor cameras can be set to automatically zoom in on people’s faces as they walk through a parking lot, down a public street, or play on a playground, or they can be controlled manually, according to marketing material on Flock’s website. We watched Condor cameras zoom in on a woman walking her dog on a bike path in suburban Atlanta; a camera followed a man walking through a Macy’s parking lot in Bakersfield; surveil children swinging on a swingset at a playground; and film high-res video of people sitting at a stoplight in traffic. In one case, we were able to watch a man rollerblade down Brookhaven, Georgia’s Peachtree Creek Greenway bike path. The Flock camera zoomed in on him and tracked him as he rolled past. Minutes later, he showed up on another exposed camera livestream further down the bike path. The camera’s resolution was good enough that we were able to see that, when he stopped beneath one of the cameras, he was watching rollerblading videos on his phone.

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2026/01/flock-exposes-its-ai-enabled-surveillance-cameras.html

https://www.schneier.com/?p=71404

prokhozhyj

Да, если кому интересно: подзамки я не практикую, так что тут их нету.

slashdot_feed

Posted by msmash

https://slashdot.org/story/26/01/02/070257/how-nokia-went-from-iphone-victim-to-1-billion-nvidia-deal?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed

Nokia, the Finnish company whose iconic ringtone was played an estimated 1.8 billion times daily at the height of its mobile phone dominance and whose 3310 "brick" sold 126 million units, has reinvented itself again -- this time as a key piece of AI infrastructure. In October, Nvidia announced a $1 billion investment in Nokia and a strategic partnership to incorporate AI into telecommunications networks. The company that was once worth $335 billion and controlled more than a quarter of the global handset market seemed destined for irrelevance after the iPhone's 2007 arrival. A last-ditch bet on Microsoft's Windows phone system in 2011 failed, and Nokia sold its devices division to Microsoft for $6.34 billion in 2014. Revenues had fallen from $44.27 billion in 2007 to $12.56 billion. Nokia rebuilt around its $2 billion acquisition of Siemens' networks stake in 2013, then added French network provider Alcatel-Lucent for $18.32 billion in 2015. Current CEO Justin Hotard, who took over in April, has pushed the company further into cloud services, data centers and optical networks. Nokia acquired optical specialist Infinera for $2.3 billion in February. The company's optical technology enables information to pass between data centers, and it produces routers for cloud-based services.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

https://slashdot.org/story/26/01/02/070257/how-nokia-went-from-iphone-victim-to-1-billion-nvidia-deal?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed