#[1]alternate [2]News for nerds, stuff that matters [3]Search Slashdot [4]Slashdot RSS [5]Slashdot * [6]Stories * + Firehose + [7]All + [8]Popular * [9]Polls * [10]Software * [11]Thought Leadership [12]Submit Search Slashdot ____________________ (BUTTON) * [13]Login * or * [14]Sign up * Topics: * [15]Devices * [16]Build * [17]Entertainment * [18]Technology * [19]Open Source * [20]Science * [21]YRO * Follow us: * [22]RSS * [23]Facebook * [24]LinkedIn * [25]Twitter * [26]Youtube * [27]Mastodon * [28]Bluesky Please [29]create an account to participate in the Slashdot moderation system Nickname: ____________________ Password: ____________________ [ ] Public Terminal __________________________________________________________________ Log In [30]Forgot your password? [31]Close binspamdupenotthebestofftopicslownewsdaystalestupid freshfunnyinsightfulinterestingmaybe offtopicflamebaittrollredundantoverrated insightfulinterestinginformativefunnyunderrated descriptive typodupeerror [32]Shift transforms your browser into a powerful command center where you effortlessly organize apps, inboxes, and projects in custom Spaces tailored to your workflow. Build your perfect digital workspace from scratch or jump-start with ready-made templates—because the world’s most customizable browser is built by you, for you. [33]× 178941350 story [34]EU [35]No Longer Extinct, Beaver Populations in the Netherlands Now Threaten Their Dikes [36](theguardian.com) Posted by EditorDavid on Saturday August 30, 2025 @12:34PM from the hundreds-of-beavers dept. They were extinct in the Netherlands in the early 19th century. But in 1988 beavers were reintroduced to the region, and now there's over 7,000, [37]reports the Guardian. But unfortunately... Beavers are increasingly digging burrows and tunnels under roads, railways and — even more worryingly — in dikes. For a country where a quarter of the land sits below sea level, this is not a minor problem — especially as beavers are not exactly holding back when digging. "We've found tunnels stretching up to 17 metres [equivalent to 60 feet] into a dike... That's alarming," says Jelmer Krom of the Rivierenland water board... If a major dike gives way, it would cause a serious flood affecting thousands of people... [T]heir entrances are under water, and as yet there are no effective techniques for mapping them. During high water, special patrols go out at night with thermal-imaging cameras to spot where beavers are active, but this method doesn't always yield the desired results. Also, when a beaver that's causing problems is found, it can only be killed in exceptional circumstances, because beavers are a protected species in the Netherlands. Moving it doesn't do much good either, as the beaver tends simply to return. Current mitigation efforts include mesh reinforcements (as well as sealing burrows) — and also removing the thickets of willows on the riverbanks to make them a less appealing habitat. Thanks to Slashdot reader [38]Bruce66423 for sharing the news. apply tags__________ 178941120 story [39]Privacy [40]Is a Backlash Building Against Smart Glasses That Record? [41](futurism.com) [42]9 Posted by EditorDavid on Saturday August 30, 2025 @11:34AM from the Meta-commentary dept. Remember those Harvard dropouts who built smart glasses [43]for covert facial recognition — and then [44]raised $1 million to develop AI-powered glasses to continuously listen to conversations and display its insights? "People Are REALLY Mad," [45]writes Futurism, noting that some social media users "have responded with horror and outrage." One of its selling points is that the specs don't come with a visual indicator that lights up to let people know when they're being recorded, which is a feature that Meta's smart glasses do currently have. "People don't want this," [46]wrote Whitney Merill, a privacy lawyer. "Wanting this is not normal. It's weird...." [S]ome mocked the deleterious effects this could have on our already smartphone-addicted, brainrotted cerebrums. "I look forward to professional conversations with people who just read robot fever dream hallucinations at me in response to my technical and policy questions," [47]one user mused. The co-founder of the company [48]told TechCrunch their glasses would be the "first real step towards vibe thinking." But there's already millions of other smart glasses out in the world, and [49]they're now drawing a backlash, reports the Washington Post, citing the millions of people viewing "a stream of other critical videos" about Meta's smart glasses. The article argues that Generation Z, "who grew up in an internet era defined by poor personal privacy, are at the forefront of a new backlash against smart glasses' intrusion into everyday life..." Opal Nelson, a 22-year-old in New York, said the more she learns about smart glasses, the angrier she becomes. Meta Ray-Bans have a light that turns on when the gadget is recording video, but she said it doesn't seem to protect people from being recorded without consent... "And now there's more and more tutorials showing people how to cover up the [warning light] and still allow you to record," Nelson said. In one such tutorial with more than 900,000 views, a man claims to explain how to cover the warning light on Meta Ray-Bans without triggering the sensor that prevents the device from secretly recording. One 26-year-old attracted 10 million views to their video on TikTok about the spread of Meta's photography-capable smart glasses. "People specifically in my generation are pretty concerned about the future of technology," the told the Post, "and what that means for all of us and our privacy." The article cites figures from a devices analyst at IDC who estimates U.S. sales for Meta Ray-Bans will hit 4 million units by the end of 2025, compared to 1.2 million in 2024. apply tags__________ 178939344 story [50]Python [51]New Python Documentary Released On YouTube [52](youtube.com) [53]19 Posted by EditorDavid on Saturday August 30, 2025 @10:34AM from the celebrating-34-years dept. "From a side project in Amsterdam to powering AI at the world's biggest companies — this is the story of Python," says the description of [54]a new 84-minute documentary. Long-time Slashdot reader [55]destinyland writes: It traces Python all the way back to its origins in Amsterdam back in 1991. (Although the first time Guido van Rossum showed his new language to a co-worker, they'd typed one line of code just to prove they could crash Python's first interpreter.) The language slowly spread after van Rossum released it on Usenet — split across 21 separate posts — and Robin Friedrich, a NASA aerospace engineer, remembers using Python to build flight simulations for the Space Shuttle. (Friedrich says in the documentary he also attended Guido's first in-person U.S. workshop in 1994, and "I still have the t-shirt...") Dropbox's CEO/founder Drew Houston describes what it was like being one of the first companies to use Python to build a company reaching millions of users. (Another success story was YouTube, which was built by a small team using Python before being acquired by Google). Anaconda co-founder Travis Oliphant remembers Python's popularity increasing even more thanks to the data science/macine learning community. But the documentary also includes the controversial move to Python 3 (which broke compatability with earlier versions). Though ironically, one of the people slogging through a massive code migration ended up being van Rossum himself at his new job at Dropbox. The documentary also includes van Rossum's resignation as "Benevolent Dictator for Life" after approving the walrus operator. (In van Rossum's words, he essentially "rage-quit over this issue.") But the focus is on Python's community. At one point, various interviewees even take turns reciting passages from the "[56]Zen of Python" — which to this day is still hidden in Python as an import-able library as a kind of Easter Egg. "It was a massive undertaking", the documentary's director [57]explains in a new interview, describing a full year of interviews. (The article features screenshots from the documentary — including a young Guido van Rossum and the original 1991 email that announced Python to the world.) [Director Bechtle] is part of a group that's filmed documentaries on everything from Kubernetes and Prometheus to Angular, Node.js, and Ruby on Rails... Originally part of the job platform Honeypot, the documentary-makers relaunched in April as Cult.Repo, promising they were "100% independent and more committed than ever to telling the human stories behind technology." Honeypot's founder Emma Tracey [58]bought back its [59]272,000-subscriber YouTube channel from Honeypot's new owners, New Work SE, and Cult.Repo now bills itself as "The home of Open Source documentaries." Over in [60]a thread at Python.org, language creator Guido van Rossum has identified the Python community members in the film's Monty Python-esque poster art. And core developer Hugo van Kemenade notes there's also a [61]video from EuroPython with a 55-minute Q&A about the documentary. apply tags__________ 178937840 story [62]Transportation [63]London Targets Noisy Commuters With Headphone Campaign [64](theverge.com) [65]48 Posted by [66]BeauHD on Saturday August 30, 2025 @09:00AM from the don't-be-a-nuisance dept. An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: After bringing 4G and 5G connectivity to the Underground, London's public transport authority has started scolding noisy passengers who subject everyone to music and calls blasting out of their phones. A new poster campaign launched by Transport for London (TfL) this week [67]encourages customers to wear headphones when watching or listening to content on their devices to reduce disruption for other commuters. "Please don't disturb others with loud music or calls when traveling on the network," reads the "Headphones On" poster. The posters are already being displayed on the Elizabeth rail line, [68]according to TfL, and will expand to bus, Docklands Light Railway, London Overground, London Underground, and London Tram services from October. The campaign targets headphone dodgers as data coverage becomes more available across the underground rail network, making it easier for passengers to stream content and make calls on the go. People who do so without donning headphones are annoying other commuters, however, with TfL research showing that 70 percent of 1,000 surveyed customers reported loud music and phone calls disrupting their journeys. "The vast majority of Londoners use headphones when traveling on public transport in the capital, but the small minority who play music or videos out loud can be a real nuisance to other passengers and directly disturb their journeys," says London's deputy transport mayor, Seb Dance. "TfL's new campaign will remind and encourage Londoners to always be considerate of other passengers." apply tags__________ 178936998 story [69]AI [70]Alibaba Creates AI Chip To Help China Fill Nvidia Void [71]20 Posted by [72]BeauHD on Saturday August 30, 2025 @06:00AM from the locally-sourced dept. Alibaba, China's largest cloud-computing company, has [73]developed a domestically manufactured, versatile inference chip to fill the gap left by U.S. restrictions on Nvidia's sales in China. The Wall Street Journal reports: Previous cloud-computing chips developed by Alibaba have mostly been designed for specific applications. The new chip, now in testing, is meant to serve a broader range of AI inference tasks, said people familiar with it. The chip is manufactured by a Chinese company, they said, in contrast to an earlier Alibaba AI processor that was fabricated by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. Washington has blocked TSMC from manufacturing AI chips for China that use leading-edge technology. [...] Private-sector cloud companies including Alibaba have refrained from bulk orders of Huawei's chips, resisting official suggestions that they should help the national champion, because they consider Huawei a direct rival in cloud services, people close to the firms said. China's biggest weakness is training AI models, for which U.S. companies rely on the most powerful Nvidia products. Alibaba's new chip is designed for inference, not training, people familiar with it said. Chinese engineers have complained that homegrown chips including Huawei's run into problems when training AI, such as overheating and breaking down in the middle of training runs. Huawei declined to comment. apply tags__________ 178936866 story [74]China [75]China Turns On Giant Neutrino Detector That Took a Decade To Build [76](theregister.com) [77]17 Posted by [78]BeauHD on Saturday August 30, 2025 @03:00AM from the ambitious-experiments dept. China has turned on the world's most sensitive neutrino detector after more than a decade of construction. The Register reports: The Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Experiment (JUNO) is buried 700 meters under a mountain and features a 20,000-tonne "liquid scintillator detector" that China's Academy of Science [79]says is "housed at the center of a 44-meter-deep water pool." There's also a 35.4-meter-diameter acrylic sphere supported by a 41.1-meter-diameter stainless steel truss. All that stuff is surrounded by more than 45,000 photo-multiplier tubes (PMTs). The latter devices are super-sensitive light detectors. A liquid scintillator is a fluid that, when exposed to ionizing radiation, produces light. At JUNO, the liquid is 99.7 percent alkylbenzene, an ingredient found in detergents and refrigerants. JUNO's designers hope that any neutrinos that pass through its giant tank bonk a hydrogen atom and produce just enough light that the detector array of PMTs can record their passing, producing data scientists can use to learn more about the particles. At this point, readers could sensibly ask how JUNO will catch any of these elusive particles. The answer lies in the facility's location -- a few tens of kilometers away from two nuclear power plants that produce neutrinos. The Chinese Academy of Science's Journal of High Energy Physics [80]says trials of JUNO succeeded, suggesting it will be able to help scientists understand why some neutrinos are heavier than others so we can begin to classify the different types of the particle -- a key goal for the facility. The Journal also reports that scientists from Japan, the United States, Europe, India, and South Korea, are either already using JUNO or plan experiments at the facility. apply tags__________ 178934210 story [81]Earth [82]Collapse of Critical Atlantic Current Is No Longer Low-Likelihood, Study Finds [83]94 Posted by [84]BeauHD on Friday August 29, 2025 @11:30PM from the would-you-look-at-that dept. An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: The collapse of a critical Atlantic current [85]can no longer be considered a low-likelihood event, a study has concluded, making deep cuts to fossil fuel emissions even more urgent to avoid the catastrophic impact. The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (Amoc) is a major part of the global climate system. It brings sun-warmed tropical water to Europe and the Arctic, where it cools and sinks to form a deep return current. The Amoc was already known to be at its weakest in 1,600 years as a result of the climate crisis. Climate models recently indicated that a collapse before 2100 was unlikely but the new analysis examined models that were run for longer, to 2300 and 2500. These show the tipping point that makes an Amoc shutdown inevitable is likely to be passed within a few decades, but that the collapse itself may not happen until 50 to 100 years later. The research found that if carbon emissions continued to rise, 70% of the model runs led to collapse, while an intermediate level of emissions resulted in collapse in 37% of the models. Even in the case of low future emissions, an Amoc shutdown happened in 25% of the models. Scientists have warned previously that Amoc collapse must be avoided "at all costs." It would shift the tropical rainfall belt on which many millions of people rely to grow their food, plunge western Europe into extreme cold winters and summer droughts, and add 50cm to already rising sea levels. The new results are "quite shocking, because I used to say that the chance of Amoc collapsing as a result of global warming was less than 10%," said Prof Stefan Rahmstorf, at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, who was part of the study team. "Now even in a low-emission scenario, sticking to the Paris agreement, it looks like it may be more like 25%. "These numbers are not very certain, but we are talking about a matter of risk assessment where even a 10% chance of an Amoc collapse would be far too high," added Rahmstorf. "We found that the tipping point where the shutdown becomes inevitable is probably in the next 10 to 20 years or so. That is quite a shocking finding as well and why we have to act really fast in cutting down emissions." "Observations in the deep [far North Atlantic] already show a downward trend over the past five to 10 years, consistent with the models' projections," said Prof Sybren Drijfhout, at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, who was also part of the team. "Even in some intermediate and low-emission scenarios, the Amoc slows drastically by 2100 and completely shuts off thereafter. That shows the shutdown risk is more serious than many people realize." The findings have been [86]published in the journal Environmental Research Letters. apply tags__________ 178934136 story [87]Social Networks [88]Mastodon Says It Doesn't 'Have the Means' To Comply With Age Verification Laws [89](techcrunch.com) [90]51 Posted by [91]BeauHD on Friday August 29, 2025 @09:25PM from the can't-comply dept. Mastodon says it [92]cannot comply with Mississippi's new age verification law because its decentralized software does not support age checks and the nonprofit lacks resources to enforce them. "The social nonprofit explains that Mastodon doesn't track its users, which makes it difficult to enforce such legislation," reports TechCrunch. "Nor does it want to use IP address-based blocks, as those would unfairly impact people who were traveling, it says." From the report: The statement follows a lively back-and-forth conversation [93]earlier this week between Mastodon founder and CEO Eugen Rochko and Bluesky board member and journalist Mike Masnick. In the conversation, published on their respective social networks, Rochko claimed, "there is nobody that can decide for the fediverse to block Mississippi." (The Fediverse is the decentralized social network that includes Mastodon and other services, and is powered by the ActivityPub protocol.) "And this is why real decentralization matters," said Rochko. Masnick pushed back, questioning why Mastodon's individual servers, like the one Rochko runs at mastodon.social, would not also be subject to the same $10,000 per user fines for noncompliance with the law. On Friday, however, the nonprofit shared a statement with TechCrunch to clarify its position, saying that while Mastodon's own servers specify a minimum age of 16 to sign up for its services, it does not "have the means to apply age verification" to its services. That is, the Mastodon software doesn't support it. The Mastodon 4.4 release in July 2025 added the ability to specify a minimum age for sign-up and other legal features for handling terms of service, partly in response to increased regulation around these areas. The new feature allows server administrators to check users' ages during sign-up, but the age-check data is not stored. That means individual server owners have to decide for themselves if they believe an age verification component is a necessary addition. The nonprofit says Mastodon is currently unable to provide "direct or operational assistance" to the broader set of Mastodon server operators. Instead, it encourages owners of Mastodon and other Fediverse servers to make use of resources available online, such as the [94]IFTAS library, which provides trust and safety support for volunteer social network moderators. The nonprofit also advises server admins to observe the laws of the jurisdictions where they are located and operate. Mastodon notes that it's "not tracking, or able to comment on, the policies and operations of individual servers that run Mastodon." Bluesky echoed those comments in a [95]blog post last Friday, saying the company [96]doesn't have the resources to make the substantial technical changes this type of law would require. apply tags__________ 178933948 story [97]AI [98]Meta Changes Teen AI Chatbot Responses as Senate Begins Probe Into 'Romantic' Conversations [99](cnbc.com) [100]15 Posted by [101]BeauHD on Friday August 29, 2025 @08:45PM from the temporary-changes dept. Meta is [102]rolling out temporary restrictions on its AI chatbots for teens after reports revealed they were allowed to engage in "romantic" conversations with minors. A Meta spokesperson said the AI chatbots are now being trained so that they do not generate responses to teens about subjects like self-harm, suicide, disordered eating or inappropriate romantic conversations. Instead, the chatbots will point teens to expert resources when appropriate. CNBC reports: "As our community grows and technology evolves, we're continually learning about how young people may interact with these tools and strengthening our protections accordingly," the company said in a statement. Additionally, teenage users of Meta apps like Facebook and Instagram will only be able to access certain AI chatbots intended for educational and skill-development purposes. The company said it's unclear how long these temporary modifications will last, but they will begin rolling out over the next few weeks across the company's apps in English-speaking countries. The "interim changes" are part of the company's longer-term measures over teen safety. Further reading: [103]Meta Created Flirty Chatbots of Celebrities Without Permission apply tags__________ 178933826 story [104]AI [105]Vivaldi Browser Doubles Down On Gen AI Ban [106]12 Posted by [107]BeauHD on Friday August 29, 2025 @08:02PM from the no-ands-ifs-or-bots dept. Vivaldi CEO Jon von Tetzchner has [108]doubled down on his company's refusal to integrate generative AI into its browser, arguing that embedding AI in browsing dehumanizes the web, funnels traffic away from publishers, and primarily serves to harvest user data. "Every startup is doing AI, and there is a push for AI inside products and services continuously," he told The Register in a phone interview. "It's not really focusing on what people need." The Register reports: On Thursday, Von Tetzchner published a [109]blog post articulating his company's rejection of generative AI in the browser, reiterating [110]concerns raised last year by Vivaldi software developer Julien Picalausa. [...] Von Tetzchner argues that relying on generative AI for browsing dehumanizes and impoverishes the web by diverting traffic away from publishers and onto chatbots. "We're taking a stand, choosing humans over hype, and we will not turn the joy of exploring into inactive spectatorship," he stated in his post. "Without exploration, the web becomes far less interesting. Our curiosity loses oxygen and the diversity of the web dies." Von Tetzchner told The Register that almost all the users he hears from don't want AI in their browser. "I'm not so sure that applies to the general public, but I do think that actually most people are kind of wary of something that's always looking over your shoulder," he said. "And a lot of the systems as they're built today that's what they're doing. The reason why they're putting in the systems is to collect information." Von Tetzchner said that AI in browsers presents the same problem as social media algorithms that decide what people see based on collected data. Vivaldi, he said, wants users to control their own data and to make their own decisions about what they see. "We would like users to be in control," he said. "If people want to use AI as those services, it's easily accessible to them without building it into the browser. But I think the concept of building it into the browser is typically for the sake of collecting information. And that's not what we are about as a company, and we don't think that's what the web should be about." Vivaldi is not against all uses of AI, and in fact uses it for in-browser translation. But these are premade models that don't rely on user data, von Tetzchner said. "It's not like we're saying AI is wrong in all cases," he said. "I think AI can be used in particular for things like research and the like. I think it has significant value in recognizing patterns and the like. But I think the way it is being used on the internet and for browsing is net negative." apply tags__________ 178933756 story [111]Games [112]Battlefield 6 Dev Apologizes For Requiring Secure Boot To Power Anti-Cheat Tools [113](arstechnica.com) [114]46 Posted by [115]BeauHD on Friday August 29, 2025 @07:20PM from the never-ending-battle dept. An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Earlier this month, EA [116]announced that players in its Battlefield 6 open beta on PC would have to [117]enable Secure Boot in their Windows OS and BIOS settings. That decision proved controversial among players who weren't able to get the finicky low-level security setting working on their machines and others who were unwilling to allow EA's anti-cheat tools to once again have kernel-level access to their systems. Now, Battlefield 6 technical director Christian Buhl is [118]defending that requirement as something of a necessary evil to combat cheaters, even as he apologizes to any potential players that it has kept away. "The fact is I wish we didn't have to do things like Secure Boot," Buhl said in [119]an interview with Eurogamer. "It does prevent some players from playing the game. Some people's PCs can't handle it and they can't play: that really sucks. I wish everyone could play the game with low friction and not have to do these sorts of things." Throughout the interview, Buhl admits that even requiring Secure Boot won't completely eradicate cheating in Battlefield 6 long term. Even so, he offered that the Javelin anti-cheat tools enabled by Secure Boot's low-level system access were "some of the strongest tools in our toolbox to stop cheating. Again, nothing makes cheating impossible, but enabling Secure Boot and having kernel-level access makes it so much harder to cheat and so much easier for us to find and stop cheating." [...] Despite all these justifications for the Secure Boot requirement on EA's part, it hasn't been hard to find people complaining about what they see as an onerous barrier to playing an online shooter. A [120]quick Reddit search turns up dozens of posts complaining about the [121]difficulty of getting Secure Boot on certain PC configurations or expressing discomfort about installing what they consider a "malware rootkit" on their machine. "I want to play this beta but A) I'm worried about bricking my PC. B) I'm worried about giving EA complete access to my machine," one representative Redditor wrote. apply tags__________ 178933542 story [122]AI [123]Meta Created Flirty Chatbots of Celebrities Without Permission [124]18 Posted by [125]BeauHD on Friday August 29, 2025 @06:40PM from the risque-business dept. Reuters has found that Meta [126]appropriated the names and likenesses of celebrities to create dozens of flirty social-media chatbots without their permission. "While many were created by users with a Meta tool for building chatbots, Reuters discovered that a Meta employee had produced at least three, including two Taylor Swift 'parody' bots." From the report: Reuters also found that Meta had allowed users to create publicly available chatbots of child celebrities, including Walker Scobell, a 16-year-old film star. Asked for a picture of the teen actor at the beach, the bot produced a lifelike shirtless image. "Pretty cute, huh?" the avatar wrote beneath the picture. All of the virtual celebrities have been shared on Meta's Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp platforms. In several weeks of Reuters testing to observe the bots' behavior, the avatars often insisted they were the real actors and artists. The bots routinely made sexual advances, often inviting a test user for meet-ups. Some of the AI-generated celebrity content was particularly risque: Asked for intimate pictures of themselves, the adult chatbots produced photorealistic images of their namesakes posing in bathtubs or dressed in lingerie with their legs spread. Meta spokesman Andy Stone told Reuters that Meta's AI tools shouldn't have created intimate images of the famous adults or any pictures of child celebrities. He also blamed Meta's production of images of female celebrities wearing lingerie on failures of the company's enforcement of its own policies, which prohibit such content. "Like others, we permit the generation of images containing public figures, but our policies are intended to prohibit nude, intimate or sexually suggestive imagery," he said. While Meta's rules also prohibit "direct impersonation," Stone said the celebrity characters were acceptable so long as the company had labeled them as parodies. Many were labeled as such, but Reuters found that some weren't. Meta deleted about a dozen of the bots, both "parody" avatars and unlabeled ones, shortly before this story's publication. apply tags__________ 178933332 story [127]Linux [128]Linus Torvalds Marks Bcachefs as Now 'Externally Maintained' [129](phoronix.com) [130]41 Posted by [131]BeauHD on Friday August 29, 2025 @06:00PM from the parting-ways dept. Linus Torvalds updated the kernel's MAINTAINERS file to [132]mark Bcachefs as "externally maintained," signaling he won't accept new Bcachefs pull requests for now. "MAINTAINERS: mark bcachefs externally maintained," [133]wrote Torvalds with the patch. "As per many long discussion threads, public and private." "The Bcachefs code is still present in the mainline Linux kernel likely to prevent users from having any immediate fall-out in Bcachefs file-systems they may already be using, but it doesn't look like Linus Torvalds will be honoring any new Bcachefs pull requests in the near future," adds Phoronix's Michael Larabel. apply tags__________ 178933256 story [134]The Internet [135]FCC Rejects Calls For Cable-like Fees on Broadband Providers [136](thedesk.net) [137]13 Posted by msmash on Friday August 29, 2025 @05:21PM from the moving-forward dept. The Federal Communications Commission has [138]rejected a call from the National Association of Broadcasters and some industry trade groups that would have imposed cable-style regulatory fees on streaming services, tech companies and pure broadband providers. From a report: In a Report and Order issued on Friday, the FCC reaffirmed that regulatory fees are calculated based on the number of full-time equivalent employees assigned to specific industries under the agency's jurisdiction. Broadcasters, satellite operators and other licensees are already assessed annual payments, which help fund the FCC's operational costs. The NAB, in concert with other groups like Telesat, Iridium and the State Broadcasters Associations, pressed the FCC to expand the list of fee payers to include broadband providers and large technology firms. They argued that companies operating online platforms and broadband services rely on FCC resources and should contribute to the costs of regulation. "Big Tech should not be permitted to free ride on the FCC's oversight," NAB said in submitted comments earlier this year. The NAB argued that online platforms enjoy regulator benefits without paying into the agency's budget, as broadcasters and satellite operators do. apply tags__________ 178933158 story [139]Security [140]WhatsApp Fixes 'Zero-Click' Bug Used To Hack Apple Users With Spyware [141](techcrunch.com) [142]13 Posted by [143]BeauHD on Friday August 29, 2025 @04:40PM from the time-to-update dept. An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: WhatsApp said on Friday that it fixed a security bug in its iOS and Mac apps that was [144]being used to stealthily hack into the Apple devices of "specific targeted users." The Meta-owned messaging app giant said in its security advisory that it fixed the vulnerability, known [145]officially as CVE-2025-55177, which was used alongside a separate flaw found in iOS and Macs, which Apple fixed last week and tracks as [146]CVE-2025-43300. Apple said at the time that the flaw was used in an "extremely sophisticated attack against specific targeted individuals." Now we know that dozens of WhatsApp users were targeted with this pair of flaws. Donncha O Cearbhaill, who heads Amnesty International's Security Lab, described the attack in [147]a post on X as an "advanced spyware campaign" that targeted users over the past 90 days, or since the end of May. O Cearbhaill described the pair of bugs as a "zero-click" attack, meaning it does not require any interaction from the victim, such as clicking a link, to compromise their device. The two bugs chained together allow an attacker to deliver a malicious exploit through WhatsApp that's capable of stealing data from the user's Apple device. Per O Cearbhaill, who posted a copy of the threat notification that WhatsApp sent to affected users, the attack was able to "compromise your device and the data it contains, including messages." It's not immediately clear who, or which spyware vendor, is behind the attacks. When reached by TechCrunch, Meta spokesperson Margarita Franklin confirmed the company detected and patched the flaw "a few weeks ago" and that the company sent "less than 200" notifications to affected WhatsApp users. The spokesperson did not say, when asked, if WhatsApp has evidence to attribute the hacks to a specific attacker or surveillance vendor. apply tags__________ [148]« Newer [149]Older » Slashdot Top Deals Slashdot Top Deals [150]Slashdot Deals Slashdot Poll When will AGI be achieved? (*) By the end of 2026 ( ) 2027 to 2030 ( ) 2031 to 2035 ( ) 2035 to 2040 ( ) 2040 to 2050 ( ) Never (BUTTON) vote now [151]Read the 49 comments | 29794 votes Looks like someone has already voted from this IP. If you would like to vote please login and try again. When will AGI be achieved? 0 Percentage of others that also voted for: * [152]view results * Or * * [153]view more [154]Read the 49 comments | 29794 voted Most Discussed * 109 comments [155]Taco Bell's AI Drive-Thru Plan Gets Caught Up On Trolls and Glitches * 98 comments [156]FTC Claims Gmail Filtering Republican Emails Threatens 'American Freedoms' * 90 comments [157]Amtrak's New 160mph Acela Trains Take Just As Long As the Old Ones * 76 comments [158]US To Publish Economic Data On Blockchain, Commerce Chief Says * 76 comments [159]Collapse of Critical Atlantic Current Is No Longer Low-Likelihood, Study Finds Hot Comments * [160]Nothing to see here, just move along? (5 points, Informative) by CommunityMember on Friday August 29, 2025 @02:48PM attached to [161]Microsoft Says Recent Windows Update Didn't Kill Your SSD * [162]Re: Server Configuration (5 points, Interesting) by newcastlejon on Friday August 29, 2025 @03:37PM attached to [163]FTC Claims Gmail Filtering Republican Emails Threatens 'American Freedoms' * [164]Server Configuration (5 points, Informative) by JimMcc on Friday August 29, 2025 @03:29PM attached to [165]FTC Claims Gmail Filtering Republican Emails Threatens 'American Freedoms' * [166]Receive our emails (5 points, Insightful) by q4Fry on Friday August 29, 2025 @03:29PM attached to [167]FTC Claims Gmail Filtering Republican Emails Threatens 'American Freedoms' * [168]Re:What's going on here? (5 points, Insightful) by Misagon on Friday August 29, 2025 @03:01PM attached to [169]Macron Vows Retaliation If Europe's Digital Sovereignty Attacked [170]This Day on Slashdot 2011 [171]Windows 8 To Natively Support ISO and VHD Mounting 656 comments 2008 [172]Any Suggestions For a Meaningful Geeky Wedding Band? 755 comments 2006 [173]Possession of Violent Pornography Outlawed in UK 779 comments 2005 [174]Five Reasons Not to Use Linux 1070 comments 2002 [175]Want Freedom? 1084 comments [176]Sourceforge Top Downloads * [177]TrueType core fonts 2.2B downloads * [178]Notepad++ Plugin Mgr 1.5B downloads * [179]VLC media player 899M downloads * [180]eMule 686M downloads * [181]MinGW 631M downloads Powered By [182]sf [183]Slashdot * [184]Today * [185]Friday * [186]Thursday * [187]Wednesday * [188]Tuesday * [189]Monday * [190]Sunday * [191]Saturday * [192]Submit Story "Indecision is the basis of flexibility" -- button at a Science Fiction convention. * [193]FAQ * [194]Story Archive * [195]Hall of Fame * [196]Advertising * [197]Terms * [198]Privacy Statement * [199]About * [200]Feedback * [201]Mobile View * [202]Blog * * (BUTTON) Icon Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information Copyright © 2025 Slashdot Media. All Rights Reserved. × [203]Close [204]Close [205]Slashdot [njs.gif?234] Working... References Visible links: 1. https://m.slashdot.org/ 2. https://slashdot.org/ 3. https://slashdot.org/search.pl 4. https://rss.slashdot.org/Slashdot/slashdotMain 5. https://slashdot.org/ 6. https://slashdot.org/ 7. https://slashdot.org/recent 8. https://slashdot.org/popular 9. https://slashdot.org/polls 10. https://slashdot.org/software/ 11. https://slashdot.org/content/ 12. https://slashdot.org/submission 13. https://slashdot.org/my/login 14. https://slashdot.org/my/newuser 15. https://devices.slashdot.org/ 16. https://build.slashdot.org/ 17. https://entertainment.slashdot.org/ 18. https://technology.slashdot.org/ 19. https://slashdot.org/?fhfilter=opensource 20. https://science.slashdot.org/ 21. https://yro.slashdot.org/ 22. https://rss.slashdot.org/Slashdot/slashdotMain 23. https://www.facebook.com/slashdot 24. https://www.linkedin.com/company/slashdot 25. https://x.com/slashdot 26. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsW36751Gy-EAbHQwe9WBNw 27. https://mastodon.cloud/@slashdot 28. https://bsky.app/profile/slashdot.org 29. https://slashdot.org/login.pl 30. https://slashdot.org/my/mailpassword 31. https://slashdot.org/ 32. https://shift.com/lp/build-your-browser/?utm_source=w-rs&utm_medium=unitad&utm_campaign=site_sponsor_1024 33. https://slashdot.org/ 34. https://slashdot.org/index2.pl?fhfilter=eu 35. https://slashdot.org/story/25/08/30/0652254/no-longer-extinct-beaver-populations-in-the-netherlands-now-threaten-their-dikes 36. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/aug/28/beavers-netherlands-tunnels-environmental-flooding-culls 37. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/aug/28/beavers-netherlands-tunnels-environmental-flooding-culls 38. https://www.slashdot.org/~Bruce66423 39. https://slashdot.org/index2.pl?fhfilter=privacy 40. https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/08/30/0618242/is-a-backlash-building-against-smart-glasses-that-record 41. https://futurism.com/halo-people-mad-ai-glasses-record-everything 42. https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/08/30/0618242/is-a-backlash-building-against-smart-glasses-that-record#comments 43. https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/10/02/1441238/metas-smart-glasses-repurposed-for-covert-facial-recognition 44. https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/25/08/20/2058229/harvard-dropouts-to-launch-always-on-ai-smart-glasses-that-listen-record-every-conversation 45. https://futurism.com/halo-people-mad-ai-glasses-record-everything 46. https://bsky.app/profile/wbm312.bsky.social/post/3lxaf53mndk2c 47. https://bsky.app/profile/boburell.bsky.social/post/3lx63logtrk2t 48. https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/20/harvard-dropouts-to-launch-always-on-ai-smart-glasses-that-listen-and-record-every-conversation/ 49. https://www.msn.com/en-us/technology/consumer-electronics/ar-AA1LjGYL 50. https://slashdot.org/index2.pl?fhfilter=python 51. https://developers.slashdot.org/story/25/08/30/0314222/new-python-documentary-released-on-youtube 52. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfH4QL4VqJ0 53. https://developers.slashdot.org/story/25/08/30/0314222/new-python-documentary-released-on-youtube#comments 54. https://youtu.be/GfH4QL4VqJ0 55. https://www.slashdot.org/~destinyland 56. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zen_of_Python 57. https://thenewstack.io/guido-van-rossum-revisits-pythons-life-in-a-new-documentary/ 58. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/cult-repo_hello-we-are-cultrepo-today-marks-our-activity-7313150220312240128-wrT3/ 59. https://www.youtube.com/@cultrepo 60. https://discuss.python.org/t/python-documentary-going-live-this-thursday-august-28/103319/17 61. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sf2AqQ5a38Y&feature=youtu.be 62. https://slashdot.org/index2.pl?fhfilter=transportation 63. https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/08/30/0038225/london-targets-noisy-commuters-with-headphone-campaign 64. https://www.theverge.com/news/766522/london-tfl-headphone-campaign-noisy-passengers 65. https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/08/30/0038225/london-targets-noisy-commuters-with-headphone-campaign#comments 66. https://www.linkedin.com/in/beauhd/ 67. https://www.theverge.com/news/766522/london-tfl-headphone-campaign-noisy-passengers 68. https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2025/august/new-tfl-campaign-encourages-customers-to-use-headphones-on-public-transport 69. https://slashdot.org/index2.pl?fhfilter=ai 70. https://slashdot.org/story/25/08/29/231249/alibaba-creates-ai-chip-to-help-china-fill-nvidia-void 71. https://slashdot.org/story/25/08/29/231249/alibaba-creates-ai-chip-to-help-china-fill-nvidia-void#comments 72. https://www.linkedin.com/in/beauhd/ 73. https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/alibaba-creates-ai-chip-to-help-china-fill-nvidia-void/ar-AA1LtpSZ 74. https://slashdot.org/index2.pl?fhfilter=china 75. https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/08/29/2253218/china-turns-on-giant-neutrino-detector-that-took-a-decade-to-build 76. https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/29/china_turns_on_giant_neutrino/ 77. https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/08/29/2253218/china-turns-on-giant-neutrino-detector-that-took-a-decade-to-build#comments 78. https://www.linkedin.com/in/beauhd/ 79. https://english.cas.cn/newsroom/cas_media/202508/t20250827_1051466.shtml 80. https://ihep.cas.cn/dkxzz/juno/JUNO_dongtai/202508/t20250827_7915624.html 81. https://slashdot.org/index2.pl?fhfilter=earth 82. https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/08/29/2137253/collapse-of-critical-atlantic-current-is-no-longer-low-likelihood-study-finds 83. https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/08/29/2137253/collapse-of-critical-atlantic-current-is-no-longer-low-likelihood-study-finds#comments 84. https://www.linkedin.com/in/beauhd/ 85. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/aug/28/collapse-critical-atlantic-current-amoc-no-longer-low-likelihood-study 86. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/adfa3b 87. https://slashdot.org/index2.pl?fhfilter=social 88. https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/08/29/2131208/mastodon-says-it-doesnt-have-the-means-to-comply-with-age-verification-laws 89. https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/29/mastodon-says-it-doesnt-have-the-means-to-comply-with-age-verification-laws/ 90. https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/08/29/2131208/mastodon-says-it-doesnt-have-the-means-to-comply-with-age-verification-laws#comments 91. https://www.linkedin.com/in/beauhd/ 92. https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/29/mastodon-says-it-doesnt-have-the-means-to-comply-with-age-verification-laws/ 93. https://mastodon.social/@Gargron/115086749353290422 94. https://connect.iftas.org/library/ 95. https://bsky.social/about/blog/08-22-2025-mississippi-hb1126 96. https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/08/22/2327213/bluesky-blocks-service-in-mississippi-over-age-assurance-law 97. https://slashdot.org/index2.pl?fhfilter=ai 98. https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/08/29/2116246/meta-changes-teen-ai-chatbot-responses-as-senate-begins-probe-into-romantic-conversations 99. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/29/meta-ai-chatbot-teen-senate-probe.html 100. https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/08/29/2116246/meta-changes-teen-ai-chatbot-responses-as-senate-begins-probe-into-romantic-conversations#comments 101. https://www.linkedin.com/in/beauhd/ 102. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/29/meta-ai-chatbot-teen-senate-probe.html 103. https://meta.slashdot.org/story/25/08/29/2049213/meta-created-flirty-chatbots-of-celebrities-without-permission 104. https://slashdot.org/index2.pl?fhfilter=ai 105. https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/08/29/217243/vivaldi-browser-doubles-down-on-gen-ai-ban 106. https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/08/29/217243/vivaldi-browser-doubles-down-on-gen-ai-ban#comments 107. https://www.linkedin.com/in/beauhd/ 108. https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/28/vivaldi_capo_doubles_down_on/ 109. https://vivaldi.com/blog/keep-exploring/ 110. https://vivaldi.com/blog/technology/vivaldi-wont-allow-a-machine-to-lie-to-you/ 111. https://slashdot.org/index2.pl?fhfilter=games 112. https://games.slashdot.org/story/25/08/29/210241/battlefield-6-dev-apologizes-for-requiring-secure-boot-to-power-anti-cheat-tools 113. https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2025/08/battlefield-6-dev-apologizes-for-requiring-secure-boot-to-power-anti-cheat-tools/ 114. https://games.slashdot.org/story/25/08/29/210241/battlefield-6-dev-apologizes-for-requiring-secure-boot-to-power-anti-cheat-tools#comments 115. https://www.linkedin.com/in/beauhd/ 116. https://steamcommunity.com/app/2807960/discussions/0/600785827026563959/ 117. https://steamcommunity.com/app/2807960/discussions/0/600785827026563959/ 118. https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2025/08/battlefield-6-dev-apologizes-for-requiring-secure-boot-to-power-anti-cheat-tools/ 119. https://www.eurogamer.net/it-really-sucks-battlefield-6-technical-director-bummed-out-about-those-unable-to-play-due-to-secure-boot-requirement-believes-anti-cheat-cat-and-mouse-game-will-never-end 120. https://www.reddit.com/r/Battlefield6/search/?q=secure+boot 121. https://www.reddit.com/r/Battlefield6/comments/1mmexza/secure_boot_makes_it_almost_impossible_to_play/ 122. https://slashdot.org/index2.pl?fhfilter=ai 123. https://meta.slashdot.org/story/25/08/29/2049213/meta-created-flirty-chatbots-of-celebrities-without-permission 124. https://meta.slashdot.org/story/25/08/29/2049213/meta-created-flirty-chatbots-of-celebrities-without-permission#comments 125. https://www.linkedin.com/in/beauhd/ 126. https://www.reuters.com/business/meta-created-flirty-chatbots-taylor-swift-other-celebrities-without-permission-2025-08-29/ 127. https://slashdot.org/index2.pl?fhfilter=linux 128. https://linux.slashdot.org/story/25/08/29/2033242/linus-torvalds-marks-bcachefs-as-now-externally-maintained 129. https://www.phoronix.com/news/Bcachefs-Externally-Maintained 130. https://linux.slashdot.org/story/25/08/29/2033242/linus-torvalds-marks-bcachefs-as-now-externally-maintained#comments 131. https://www.linkedin.com/in/beauhd/ 132. https://www.phoronix.com/news/Bcachefs-Externally-Maintained 133. https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=ebf2bfec412ad293a0b118fb1a20a551088ebc9b 134. https://slashdot.org/index2.pl?fhfilter=internet 135. https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/08/29/2027234/fcc-rejects-calls-for-cable-like-fees-on-broadband-providers 136. https://thedesk.net/2025/08/fcc-no-broadband-fees-nab/ 137. https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/08/29/2027234/fcc-rejects-calls-for-cable-like-fees-on-broadband-providers#comments 138. https://thedesk.net/2025/08/fcc-no-broadband-fees-nab/ 139. https://slashdot.org/index2.pl?fhfilter=security 140. https://it.slashdot.org/story/25/08/29/2020202/whatsapp-fixes-zero-click-bug-used-to-hack-apple-users-with-spyware 141. https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/29/whatsapp-fixes-zero-click-bug-used-to-hack-apple-users-with-spyware/ 142. https://it.slashdot.org/story/25/08/29/2020202/whatsapp-fixes-zero-click-bug-used-to-hack-apple-users-with-spyware#comments 143. https://www.linkedin.com/in/beauhd/ 144. https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/29/whatsapp-fixes-zero-click-bug-used-to-hack-apple-users-with-spyware/ 145. https://www.whatsapp.com/security/advisories/2025/#content-wrapper 146. https://support.apple.com/en-us/124925 147. https://x.com/DonnchaC/status/1961444710620303653 148. https://slashdot.org/ 149. https://slashdot.org/?page=1 150. http://deals.slashdot.org/ 151. https://slashdot.org/poll/3281/when-will-agi-be-achieved 152. https://slashdot.org/poll/3281/when-will-agi-be-achieved 153. https://slashdot.org/polls 154. https://slashdot.org/poll/3281/when-will-agi-be-achieved 155. https://slashdot.org/story/25/08/29/0037244/taco-bells-ai-drive-thru-plan-gets-caught-up-on-trolls-and-glitches?sbsrc=md 156. https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/08/29/1829229/ftc-claims-gmail-filtering-republican-emails-threatens-american-freedoms?sbsrc=md 157. https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/08/28/2128257/amtraks-new-160mph-acela-trains-take-just-as-long-as-the-old-ones?sbsrc=md 158. https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/08/28/182244/us-to-publish-economic-data-on-blockchain-commerce-chief-says?sbsrc=md 159. https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/08/29/2137253/collapse-of-critical-atlantic-current-is-no-longer-low-likelihood-study-finds?sbsrc=md 160. https://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=25/08/29/1824219&cid=65624812&sbsrc=topcom 161. https://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=25/08/29/1824219&sbsrc=topcom 162. https://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=25/08/29/1829229&cid=65624958&sbsrc=topcom 163. https://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=25/08/29/1829229&sbsrc=topcom 164. https://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=25/08/29/1829229&cid=65624934&sbsrc=topcom 165. https://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=25/08/29/1829229&sbsrc=topcom 166. https://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=25/08/29/1829229&cid=65624932&sbsrc=topcom 167. https://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=25/08/29/1829229&sbsrc=topcom 168. https://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=25/08/29/175257&cid=65624850&sbsrc=topcom 169. https://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=25/08/29/175257&sbsrc=topcom 170. https://slashdot.org/ 171. https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/08/30/142250/windows-8-to-natively-support-iso-and-vhd-mounting?sbsrc=thisday 172. https://news.slashdot.org/story/08/08/30/022237/any-suggestions-for-a-meaningful-geeky-wedding-band?sbsrc=thisday 173. https://slashdot.org/story/06/08/30/1819228/possession-of-violent-pornography-outlawed-in-uk?sbsrc=thisday 174. https://linux.slashdot.org/story/05/08/30/1344225/five-reasons-not-to-use-linux?sbsrc=thisday 175. https://yro.slashdot.org/story/02/08/30/1341233/want-freedom?sbsrc=thisday 176. https://slashdot.org/ 177. https://sourceforge.net/projects/corefonts/?source=sd_slashbox 178. https://sourceforge.net/projects/npppluginmgr/?source=sd_slashbox 179. https://sourceforge.net/projects/vlc/?source=sd_slashbox 180. https://sourceforge.net/projects/emule/?source=sd_slashbox 181. https://sourceforge.net/projects/mingw/?source=sd_slashbox 182. https://sourceforge.net/?source=sd_slashbox 183. https://slashdot.org/ 184. https://slashdot.org/?issue=20250830 185. https://slashdot.org/?issue=20250829 186. https://slashdot.org/?issue=20250828 187. https://slashdot.org/?issue=20250827 188. https://slashdot.org/?issue=20250826 189. https://slashdot.org/?issue=20250825 190. https://slashdot.org/?issue=20250824 191. https://slashdot.org/?issue=20250823 192. https://slashdot.org/submit 193. https://slashdot.org/faq 194. https://slashdot.org/archive.pl 195. https://slashdot.org/hof.shtml 196. https://slashdotmedia.com/advertising-and-marketing-services/ 197. https://slashdotmedia.com/terms-of-use/ 198. https://slashdotmedia.com/privacy-statement/ 199. https://slashdot.org/faq/slashmeta.shtml 200. mailto:feedback@slashdot.org 201. https://slashdot.org/ 202. https://slashdot.org/blog 203. https://slashdot.org/ 204. https://slashdot.org/ 205. https://slashdot.org/ Hidden links: 207. https://slashdot.org/tag/ 208. https://slashdot.org/software/?pk_campaign=SD300&pk_source=sidebar 209. https://slashdot.org/