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New Cosmological Model Proposes Dark Matter Production During Pre-Big Bang Inflation Published on December 01, 2024 at 02:20AM To explain the origins of dark market, a new model of the universe has been proposed by researchers, reports Phys.org. "Their idea is that dark matter would be produced during a infinitesimally short inflationary phase when the size of the universe quickly expanded exponentially..." Although inflation is mostly accepted by cosmologists as part of the Big Bang picture based on some evidence (though there is meaningful dissent), the driver of inflation is still unknown... [T]o-date research has not considered the possibility that a significant [amount] of dark matter could be produced during the inflationary expansion and not be diluted away. In the paper's WIFI model — Warm Inflation via ultraviolet Freeze-In — dark matter is created through small and rare interactions with particles in a hot, energetic environment. It contains a new mechanism wh...

WordPress Anti-Spam Plugin Vulnerability Exposes 200,000 Sites to RCE Attacks Published on December 01, 2024 at 01:04AM "A flaw in a WordPress anti-spam plugin with over 200,000 installations allows rogue plugins to be installed on affected websites," reports Search Engine Journal. The authentication bypass vulnerability lets attackers gain full access to websites without a username or password, according to the article, and "Security researchers rated the vulnerability 9.8 out of 10, reflecting the high level of severity..." The flaw in the Spam protection, Anti-Spam, FireWall by CleanTalk plugin, was pinpointed by security researchers at Wordfence as caused by reverse DNS spoofing... [T]he attackers can trick the Ant-Spam plugin that the malicious request is coming from the website itself and because that plugin doesn't have a check for that the attackers gain unauthorized access... Wordfence recommends users of the affected plugin to update to version 6.44 ...

US Insurers Are Still Charging for HIV Prevention Pills That Should Be Free Published on December 01, 2024 at 12:04AM The Washington Post reports on tens of thousands of Americans "forced to pay for medication" to prevent the HIV infections, "despite federal requirements guaranteeing free access to treatment...according to multiple studies and interviews with medical professionals, activists and patients." Insurance companies are skirting rules compelling them to pay for pre-exposure prophylaxis treatment, known as PrEP, researchers and HIV advocacy organizations say — leaving patients to shell out hundreds of dollars each year for medication co-pays, doctor visits and screenings required to stay on drugs that reduce the risk of contracting HIV through sex by 99 percent. Under the Affordable Care Act, commercial insurers must cover certain preventive health services. This is supposed to include at least one form of oral PrEP and related health services, such as re...

Riot Games is Cracking Down on Players' Off-Platform Conduct Published on November 30, 2024 at 05:31AM Riot Games has announced sweeping changes to its terms of service, expanding penalties for player misconduct beyond in-game behavior to include content creation and social media activities. The new rules, Engadget reports, enable "Riot-wide bans" for violations across platforms where players discuss or stream Riot games. The company will not actively monitor social media but will respond to reported violations, particularly during game livestreams. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

UK Lawmakers Vote in Support of Assisted Dying Published on November 29, 2024 at 07:31AM British members of parliament have voted to legalize assisted dying, approving a contentious proposal that would make the United Kingdom one of a small handful of nations to allow terminally ill people to end their lives. From a report: Lawmakers in the House of Commons voted by 330 to 275 to support the bill, after an hours-long debate in the chamber and a years-long campaign by high-profile figures that drew on emotional first-hand testimony. Britain is now set to join a small club of nations to have legalized the process, and one of the largest by population to allow it. The bill must still clear the House of Lords and parliamentary committees, but Friday's vote marked the most important hurdle. It allows people with a terminal condition and less than six months to live to take a substance to end their lives, as long as they are capable of making the decision themselves. Two doctors, and t...

Canada's Major News Organizations Band Together To Sue OpenAI Published on November 30, 2024 at 04:48AM A broad coalition of Canada's major news organizations, including the Toronto Star, Metroland Media, Postmedia, The Globe and Mail, The Canadian Press and CBC, is suing tech giant OpenAI, saying the company is illegally using news articles to train its ChatGPT software. From a report: It's the first time all of a country's major news publishers have come together in litigation against OpenAI. The suit, filed in Ontario's Superior Court of Justice Friday morning, seeks punitive damages, disgorgement of any profits made by OpenAI from using the news organizations' articles, and an injunction barring OpenAI from using any of the news articles in the future. "Journalism is in the public interest. OpenAI using other companies' journalism for their own commercial gain is not. It's illegal," said a joint statement from the media organizations, whi...

Both KDE and GNOME To Offer Official Distros Published on November 30, 2024 at 02:25AM king*jojo writes: KDE and GNOME have decided that because they're not big and complicated enough already, they might work better if they have their own custom distributions underneath. What's the worst that could happen? A talk from this year's KDE conference, Akademy 2024, looks like it's going to become real. The talk, by KDE developer Harald Sitter, was entitled An Operating System of Our Own, and the idea sounds simple enough: Sitter proposed an official KDE Linux distribution. Now the proposal is gathering steam and a plan is coming together for an official KDE Linux -- codenamed "Project Banana." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Google's Chrome Worth Up To $20 Billion If Judge Orders Sale Published on November 29, 2024 at 07:40AM Alphabet's Chrome browser could go for as much as $20 billion if a judge agrees to a Justice Department proposal to sell the business, in what would be a historic crackdown on one of the world's biggest tech companies. From a report: The department will ask the judge, who ruled in August that Google illegally monopolized the search market, to require measures related to artificial intelligence and its Android smartphone operating system, according to people familiar with the plans. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

NHS Major 'Cyber Incident' Forces Hospitals To Use Pen and Paper Published on November 29, 2024 at 04:30AM The ongoing cybersecurity incident affecting a North West England NHS group has forced sites to fall back on pen-and-paper operations. From a report: The Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Trust updated its official line on the incident on Wednesday evening, revealing new details about the case, but remains coy about the true nature of the attack. "After detecting suspicious activity, as a precaution, we isolated our systems to ensure that the problem did not spread. This resulted in some IT systems being offline," the updated statement said. "We have reverted to our business continuity processes and are using paper rather than digital in the areas affected. We are working closely with the national cybersecurity services and we are planning to return to normal services at the earliest opportunity." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Canada's Antitrust Watchdog Sues Google Alleging Anti-Competitive Conduct in Advertising Published on November 29, 2024 at 04:08AM Canada's Competition Bureau is suing Alphabet's Google over alleged anti-competitive conduct in online advertising, the antitrust watchdog said on Thursday. From a report: The Competition Bureau, in a statement, said it had filed an application with the Competition Tribunal seeking an order that, among other things, requires Google to sell two of its ad tech tools. It is also seeking a penalty from Google to promote compliance with Canada's competition laws, the statement said. Google said the complaint "ignores the intense competition where ad buyers and sellers have plenty of choice and we look forward to making our case in court." [...] "Our advertising technology tools help websites and apps fund their content, and enable businesses of all sizes to effectively reach new customers," Dan Taylor, VP of Global Ads, Goog...

Coffee at Highest Price in 47 years Published on November 29, 2024 at 12:02AM An anonymous reader shares a report: Coffee beans hit their highest price in 47 years, driven by bad weather in Vietnam and Brazil, the biggest producers of robusta and arabica beans respectively. Brazil saw its worst drought in 70 years this year followed by heavy rains, raising fears that next season's output will drop, further pinching already tight global supplies. Vietnam has itself had three years of low output. Arabica beans hit $3.18 a pound on Wednesday, leading Nestle, the world's biggest coffee company, to increase prices. As well as climate concerns, future prices are being raised by worries about tariffs: Roasters "will try to import now, because otherwise you will be paying tariffs later," one trade analyst told the Financial Times. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

LinkedIn Posts Are Now Mostly AI-Written, Study Shows Published on November 28, 2024 at 02:11AM More than half of longer English posts on LinkedIn are likely generated by AI, according to research from AI detection firm Originality AI. The company analyzed nearly 9,000 public posts over 100 words published between 2018 and 2024, finding AI usage surged 189% after ChatGPT's launch in early 2023, Wired reported Wednesday. LinkedIn, which also offers AI writing tools to premium subscribers, told Wired that it does not track AI-generated content levels but maintains "robust defenses" against low-quality and duplicate posts. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Leica Just Recorded the Highest Revenue in Its Entire 100-Year History Published on November 28, 2024 at 01:31AM PetaPixel: Leica Camera announced that its 2023/2024 fiscal year saw it achieve the highest revenue in the entire history of the company. It saw 14% growth to 554 million euros ($586.3 million) over last year's already spectacular 485 million euros. Last winter, Leica announced that it had set a sales record for the 2022/23 financial year and it has shattered that achievement now in 2024. The company says it was able to build on its successful business and sustain the growth of its earnings. The biggest driver of the company's success remains unchanged: cameras. While Leica has bolstered its business with its Mobile Imaging segment (smartphone technology and partnerships), the core of its business remains stand-alone cameras and the support of photography. Specifically, Leica says that the most potent revenue driver this year was the Leica Q3. However, it did not e...

RIP Delicious Library Published on November 28, 2024 at 12:51AM Wil Shipley, announcing the end of Delicious Library, a media cataloging app: Amazon has shut off the feed that allowed Delicious Library to look up items, unfortunately limiting the app to what users already have (or enter manually). I wasn't contacted about this. I've pulled it from the Mac App Store and shut down the website so nobody accidentally buys a non-functional app. John Gruber of DaringFireball adds: The end of an era, but it's kind of surprising it was still functional until now. (Shipley has been a full-time engineer at Apple for three years now.) It's hard to describe just what a sensation Delicious Library was when it debuted, and how influential it was. Delicious Library was simultaneously very useful, in very practical ways, and obsessed with its exuberant UI in ways that served no purpose other than looking cool as shit. It was an app that demanded to be praised just for the way it look...

Philippines Recruits Civilian Tech Talent To Fend Off Cyber Attacks Published on November 28, 2024 at 12:11AM The Philippine Army is recruiting civilian hackers to bolster its cybersecurity defenses amid rising digital threats from China, army officials said. The 120-member Cyber Battalion has hired 70 tech experts in their 20s and 30s since 2020, offering them military training and the opportunity to serve the nation despite lower wages than private sector jobs. The initiative follows cyber attacks on Philippine government servers, including those of the Coast Guard and President Marcos Jr., which authorities traced to China. Beijing denies involvement. The Philippines ranks among the countries most vulnerable to cyber threats, with recent attacks compromising millions of citizens' data through state and private institutions. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Forbes 30 Under 30 Founder Who Sold AI Chatbot To Schools Charged With Fraud Published on November 27, 2024 at 01:55AM An anonymous reader quotes a report from the New York Times: The founder of an artificial intelligence start-up focused on education was arrested and charged with defrauding her investors, lying about the company's profits and falsely claiming that some of the largest school districts in the country, including New York City's, were her customers. The founder, Joanna Smith-Griffin, started the company, AllHere Education, in 2016, with the goal of using artificial intelligence to increase student and parent engagement and curb absenteeism. In the years that followed, Ms. Smith-Griffin, 33, misrepresented AllHere's revenue and customer base to fraudulently raise almost $10 million in funds, according to the indictment. Once the company's valuation had climbed, she sold some of her stake in it and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on a down payment f...

Anthropic Says Claude AI Can Match Your Unique Writing Style Published on November 27, 2024 at 01:15AM Anthropic is adding a new feature to its Claude AI assistant that will give users more control over how the chatbot responds to different writing tasks. From a report: The new custom styles are available to all Claude AI users, enabling anyone to train it to match their own communication style or select from preset options to quickly adjust the tone and level of detail it provides. This update aims to personalize the chatbot's replies and make them feel more natural or appropriate for specific applications, such as writing detailed technical documents or professional emails. Three preset styles are available: Formal for "clear and polished" text, Concise for shorter and more direct responses, and Explanatory for educational replies that need to include additional detail. If these don't suit your requirements, Claude can also generate custom styles that are trained ...

US Senators Propose Law To Require Bare Minimum Security Standards Published on November 27, 2024 at 12:35AM American hospitals and healthcare organizations would be required to adopt multi-factor authentication (MFA) and other minimum cybersecurity standards under new legislation proposed by a bipartisan group of US senators. From a report: The Health Care Cybersecurity and Resiliency Act of 2024 [PDF], introduced on Friday by US Senators Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), Mark Warner (D-Virginia), John Cornyn (R-Texas), and Maggie Hassan (D-New Hampshire), would, among other things, require better coordination between the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) around cybersecurity in the healthcare and public health sector. This includes giving HHS a year to implement a cybersecurity incident response plan and update the types of information displayed publicly via the department's breach reporting portal. Currently...

Interpol Clamps Down on Cybercrime and Arrests Over 1,000 Suspects in Africa Published on November 27, 2024 at 12:01AM Interpol arrested 1,006 suspects in Africa during a massive two-month operation, clamping down on cybercrime that left tens of thousands of victims, including some who were trafficked, and produced millions in financial damages, the global police organization said Tuesday. From a report: Operation Serengeti, a joint operation with Afripol, the African Union's police agency, ran from Sept. 2 to Oct. 31 in 19 African countries and targeted criminals behind ransomware, business email compromise, digital extortion and online scams, the agency said in a statement. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Apple Snubs AI in Its 'iPhone App of the Year' Finalists Published on November 26, 2024 at 02:15AM An anonymous reader shares a report: On Monday, Apple's list of finalists for its coveted "iPhone App of the Year" award once again reveals how the iPhone maker is downplaying the impact of AI technology on the mobile app ecosystem. As it did last year, Apple's 2024 list of top iPhone finalists favors more traditional iOS apps, including those that help iPhone users perform specific tasks like recording professional video (Kino), tailoring their running plans (Runna), or organizing their travels (Tripsy). Other AI apps like ChatGPT, Anthropic's Claude, Microsoft Copilot, and those that create AI photos or videos were not nominated for iPhone App of the Year. Given the popularity of ChatGPT, also now an Apple partner for its Siri improvements, it's surprising to find the app has not earned any official year-end accolades from Apple's App Store editor...

Nvidia Claims New AI Audio Generator Makes Sounds Never Heard Before Published on November 26, 2024 at 12:51AM Nvidia has introduced Fugatto, an AI music editor that can generate never-head-of audio combinations, including instruments mimicking animal sounds. The tool processes both text and audio inputs to create music, sound effects, and modified speech. The system can isolate vocals, swap instruments, and alter voice characteristics. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

QNAP NAS Users Locked Out After Firmware Update Snafu Published on November 26, 2024 at 12:11AM A firmware update has left QNAP network-attached storage device owners unable to access their systems, with standard reset procedures failing to resolve the issue. The problematic update, QTS 5.2.2.2950 build 20241114, was released last week before being partially withdrawn, according to user reports on QNAP's community forums. QNAP, the Taiwan-based storage manufacturer, has not specified which models are affected by the faulty firmware. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

World Agrees on $300B Climate Aid Financial Deal - After COP29 Summit 'Nearly Implodes' Published on November 25, 2024 at 07:18AM "At points there was fear the talks would implode, as groups representing vulnerable small island states and the least-developed countries walked out of negotiations Saturday," according to a new report from CNN. But after weeks of international climate talks at COP29, "the world agreed to a new climate deal... "with wealthy countries pledging to provide $300 billion annually by 2035 to poorer countries to help them cope with the increasingly catastrophic impacts of the climate crisis." The amount pledged, however, falls far short of the $1.3 trillion economists say is needed to help developing countries cope with a climate crisis they have done least to cause — and there has been a furious reaction from many developing countries. a fiery speech immediately after the gavel went down, India's representative Chandni Raina...

Microsoft's Controversial 'Recall' Feature is Already Experiencing Some Issues Published on November 25, 2024 at 04:58AM Microsoft's controversial "Recall" feature (in a public preview of Windows 11) already has some known issues, Microsoft admitted Friday. For example: - Recall can be enabled or disabled from "Turn Windows features on or off". We are caching the Recall binaries on disk while we test add/remove. In a future update we will completely remove the binaries. - You must have Secure Boot enabled for Recall to save snapshots. - Some users experience a delay before snapshots first appear in the timeline while using their device. If snapshots do not appear after 5 minutes, reboot your device. If saving snapshots is enabled, but you see snapshots are no longer being saved, reboot your device. - Clicking links within Recall to submit feedback may experience a delay in loading the Feedback Hub application. Be patient and it will display. CNBC a...

Coding Boot Gamp Graduates Find tough Prospects In an AI-Powered World Published on November 25, 2024 at 03:34AM An anonymous reader shared this report from the New York Times: Between the time [construction worker Florencio] Rendon applied for the coding boot camp and the time he graduated, what Mr. Rendon imagined as a "golden ticket" to a better life had expired. About 135,000 start-up and tech industry workers were laid off from their jobs, according to one count. At the same time, new artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT, an online chatbot from OpenAI, which could be used as coding assistants, were quickly becoming mainstream, and the outlook for coding jobs was shifting. Mr. Rendon says he didn't land a single interview. Coding boot camp graduates across the country are facing a similarly tough job market. In Philadelphia, Mal Durham, a lawyer who wanted to change careers, was about halfway through a part-time coding boot camp late last year when its organiz...