There was a time, not that long ago if you can believe it, when Microsoft could publish a news blog talking about its plans to make Xbox more environmentally friendly and nobody would really bat an eye. The world would move on, perhaps a little bit less polluted, and that would be that. But those days are gone. Now,…
Source: Kotaku – Ted Cruz Isn’t Really Mad About Your Xbox (He’s Full Of Crap)
schwit1 shares a report from NPR: A British man who planned to have a “robot lawyer” help a defendant fight a traffic ticket has dropped the effort after receiving threats of possible prosecution and jail time. […] The first-ever AI-powered legal defense was set to take place in California on Feb. 22, but not anymore. As word got out, an uneasy buzz began to swirl among various state bar officials, according to Browder. He says angry letters began to pour in. “Multiple state bar associations have threatened us,” Browder said. “One even said a referral to the district attorney’s office and prosecution and prison time would be possible.” In particular, Browder said one state bar official noted that the unauthorized practice of law is a misdemeanor in some states punishable up to six months in county jail.
“Even if it wouldn’t happen, the threat of criminal charges was enough to give it up,” [said Joshua Browden, the CEO of the New York-based startup DoNotPay]. “The letters have become so frequent that we thought it was just a distraction and that we should move on.” State bar associations license and regulate attorneys, as a way to ensure people hire lawyers who understand the law. Browder refused to cite which state bar associations in particular sent letters, and what official made the threat of possible prosecution, saying his startup, DoNotPay, is under investigation by multiple state bar associations, including California’s. “The truth is, most people can’t afford lawyers,” he said. “This could’ve shifted the balance and allowed people to use tools like ChatGPT in the courtroom that maybe could’ve helped them win cases.”
“I think calling the tool a ‘robot lawyer’ really riled a lot of lawyers up,” Browder said. “But I think they’re missing the forest for the trees. Technology is advancing and courtroom rules are very outdated.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – A Robot Was Scheduled To Argue In Court, Then Came the Jail Threats
Anyone who watched Lucasfilm’s new Disney+ show Willow won’t be surprised by this next sentence. The behind-the-scenes documentary, Willow: Behind the Magic, is only half-serious, much like the show it’s based on.
Source: Gizmodo – 16 Fun (and Sometimes False) Facts We Learned About the Making of Willow
The GNOME Project released today for public testing of the alpha version of the upcoming GNOME 44 desktop environment series, a major update that will introduce many new features and improvements.
Source: LXer – GNOME 44 Alpha Released with New Stream Deck App, File Chooser Grid View
Not getting the option to take screenshots in the menu options? Not to worry, we have four easy solutions for you to try out on your Linux machine.
The post 4 Ways to Take Screenshots With the Context Menu in Linux appeared first on Linux Today.
Source: Linux Today – 4 Ways to Take Screenshots With the Context Menu in Linux
Stripe, the fintech company once valued at $95 billion by private market investors, will make a decision on its plans to go public within the next year, CNBC has confirmed. From the report: Co-founders and brothers John and Patrick Collison told employees on Thursday that they will set a goal of taking the company public or letting staffers sell shares through a secondary offering, The Information first reported. In July, Stripe cut its internal valuation by 28%, from $95 billion to $74 billion. Earlier this month, The Information reported that Stripe again lowered its valuation to $63 billion.
Stripe, which provides payments software for e-commerce businesses, topped CNBC’s Disruptor 50 list in 2020. Founded in 2010, Stripe’s business took off as the U.S. economy and labor market began to recover from the financial crisis. Revenue was turbocharged during Covid from the boom in e-commerce. But in November, the company laid off roughly 14% of its staff as the Nasdaq headed for its worst year since 2008. Stripe is considering a direct listing or private market transaction and has hired Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan to advise on the deal, CNBC has learned.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Stripe Explores Going Public Within the Next Year
It’s subtle, but if you look hard enough, the difference is there: in the curve at the base of the lowercase L’s, the serifs on the uppercase I’s, and the slash through the zeros. Twitter has made some alterations to its font—specifically in site user’s handles. The change was first reported on by the Verge, and first…
Source: Gizmodo – Twitter Is Making Font Adjustments Again
After days of fan concerns about the state of the Kamen Rider Kuuga manga’s English translation, publishers Titan Comics and StoneBot have announced plans to fix the litany of errors and disparities in future releases and re-prints.
Source: Gizmodo – Titan Promises to Fix Kamen Rider Kuuga Manga After Translation Controversy
It might not be long before every ridesharing car in New York City is electric. Mayor Eric Adams has outlined an agenda that will require “high-volume for-hire” vehicles at Uber, Lyft and similar companies to be zero-emissions by 2030. There will be “no new costs” for drivers, the administration says. The initiative would build on the city’s plans to electrify its own fleet.
Adams didn’t detail how this transition would take place. The Vergenotes that the Taxi and Limousine Commission, which already regulates NYC ridesharing, would likely be responsible for implementing the EV strategy.
At least some companies are already onboard with the idea. Uber “applaud[s]” Adams’ plan, according to a statement, while Lyft says it’s “excited” to work with the city. It’s not a difficult target for them, however. Uber and Lyft were already planning to go completely electric by 2030. They also have programs in place to encourage EV adoption across the US, such as Uber’s rentals through Hertz as well as Lyft’s incentives. Pressure elsewhere might also leave services with little choice. California will require that most ride-hailing cars are EVs by 2030, for instance.
Drivers may face challenges, however. EVs are currently more expensive than their combustion engine counterparts, and workers may have trouble affording them even if the maintenance costs are ultimately lower. EV prices are declining, but it may be a while yet before they’re truly affordable to a driver base struggling to improve pay.
There’s also the question of infrastructure. A 2022 study led by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimated that NYC would need over 1,000 150kW fast charging stations to adequately power 20,000 rideshare and taxi cars, even if 15 percent of drivers could top up overnight. The mayor’s proposal would electrify “100,000-plus” rides — the city may need a major investment in charging facilities to make the switch.
Source: Engadget – NYC wants all Uber and Lyft cars to be electric by 2030
Yesterday, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the National Security Agency (NSA), and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) published a joint cybersecurity advisory warning network defenders about phishing attacks that leverage remote monitoring and management (RMM) software. This advisory
Source: Hot Hardware – CISA Warns Of Heightened Hacking Threat Using Legit Remote Desktop Tools
For the past year on the coast of France, the waves crashing ashore have borne evidence of an unsettling mystery. An untold number of tiny plastic pellets are landing on the beaches of Brittany, Pays de la Loire, and elsewhere.
Source: Gizmodo – France Is Facing a Mysterious ‘Nightmare’ of Tiny Plastic Pellets
HPC and hyperscale guys are excited for Intel’s Xeon Max processors with onboard HBM, but Sapphire Rapids comprises an entire line of processors spanning the whole range of Xeons. One of those chips has just shown up in the Geekbench database, spotted by the watchful eye of the Benchleaks bot.
The processor in question appears to be an
Source: Hot Hardware – Intel’s 56-Core Xeon W9-3495X Sapphire Rapids CPU Flexes Server Muscle In Early Benchmarks
Microsoft just forged a strategic alliance with a major solar panel manufacturer to try to make good on its clean energy goals. From a report: The deal comes as supply chain woes and allegations of labor abuse are making it increasingly difficult to deploy solar energy across the US. The plan is for solar energy heavyweight Qcells to provide more than 2.5 gigawatts of solar panels and related services to developers working with Microsoft. That’s enough to power some 400,000 homes, according to Microsoft, which hailed the collaboration as a “first-of-its-kind.” The company has a goal of cutting its greenhouse gas emissions by “more than half” by 2030 and to counteract its remaining pollution by trying to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. Microsoft also has a 2030 renewable energy commitment — one that it won’t be able to meet unless it can encourage more solar and wind energy to come online.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Microsoft Strikes ‘Strategic Alliance’ With Solar Manufacturer
Kicking off yet another earnings season, we once again start with Intel. The reigning 800lb gorilla of the chipmaking world is reporting its Q4 2022 and full-year 2022 financial results, closing the book on what has turned an increasingly difficult year for the company. As Intel’s primary client and datacenter markets have reached saturation on the back of record sales and spending is slowing for the time being, Intel is seeing significant drops in revenue for both markets. These headwinds, though not unexpected, have broken Intel’s 6-year streak of record yearly revenue – and sent the company back into the red for the most recent quarter.
Starting with quarterly results, for the fourth quarter of 2022, Intel reported $14.0B in revenue, which is a major, 32% decline versus the year-ago quarter. With Intel coming off of what was their best Q4 ever just a year ago, as the saying goes: the higher the highs, the lower the lows. As a result, Q4’22 will go down in the books as a money-losing quarter for Intel (on a GAAP basis), with the company losing $661M for the quarter, a 114% decline in net income. Overall, Intel’s revenue for the quarter was low end of their already conservative forecasted range.
Source: AnandTech – Intel Reports Q4 2022 and FY 2022 Earnings: 2022 Goes Out on a Low Note
You really only wear your waterproof gear when it’s raining, so you could be forgiven for thinking it’s not something you need to wash all the time. It’s practically getting a rinse every time you put it on, right? If only. As it turns out, the more water your raincoat keeps off of you, the less it will work over…
Source: LifeHacker – Don’t Use Detergent on Your Rain Gear (Do This Instead)
SpaceX’s freakishly reliable Falcon 9 continues to impress. The rocket delivered 56 Starlink satellites to Earth orbit this morning, and with a collective weight around 17.4 metric tons, it’s now the heaviest payload ever lifted by a Falcon 9 rocket.
Source: Gizmodo – Falcon 9 Rocket Sets New Payload Weight Record During SpaceX Starlink Launch
Beloved nerd, noted horror/comedy actor, and internet handsome man Rahul Kohli is going to be in a video game. I don’t mean he’s going to be voice acting (although, you know I wouldn’t hate that at all), but he’s actually going to be featured on a new Trooper Card in the upcoming English version of Sega’s Like a…
Source: Gizmodo – Rahul Kohli on How Fandom Can Bring Old Games Back
Dutch authorities arrested a hacker for obtaining and trying to sell the personal information of nearly every Austrian citizen in May 2020, according to Reuters. It includes almost nine million data sets, roughly lining up with Austria’s population.
The defendant, arrested in November in an Amsterdam apartment, was reportedly already known to international police. The 25-year-old defendant also offered “similar data sets” from Italy, the Netherlands and Colombia. Dutch police waited until now to announce the arrest to avoid hindering ongoing investigations.
Authorities say the hacker posted the information in an online forum. Police say the trove consists of “registration data,” essential info residents must provide to authorities. That includes their full name, address and date of birth — but not financial info, fortunately. Nevertheless, the police confirmed the material’s authenticity, adding that “since this data was freely available on the Internet, it must absolutely be assumed that these registration data are, in full or in part, irrevocably in the hands of criminals.”
Source: Engadget – Dutch hacker arrested for trying to sell the personal information of nearly every Austrian citizen
BuzzFeed is already jumping the gun trying to answer its upcoming quiz: Will AI Take Your Job Next?
Source: Gizmodo – AI Will Start Writing BuzzFeed’s Notorious Personalized Quizzes
