Submission + - Microsoft faces new complaint for allegedly aiding Israeli war crimes in Gaza (aljazeera.com)
Alain Williams writes: The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has announced it filed a complaint against Microsoft, accusing the global tech giant of unlawfully processing data on behalf of the Israeli military and facilitating the killings of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
In the complaint, the council asked the Data Protection Commission – the European Union’s lead data regulator for the company – to “urgently investigate” Microsoft Ireland’s processing.
“Microsoft’s technology has put millions of Palestinians in danger. These are not abstract data-protection failures — they are violations that have enabled real-world violence,” Joe O’Brien, ICCL’s executive director, said in a statement.
“When EU infrastructure is used to enable surveillance and targeting, the Irish Data Protection Commission must step in — and it must use its full powers to hold Microsoft to account.”
After months of complaints from rights groups and Microsoft whistleblowers, the company said in September it cancelled some services to the Israeli military over concerns that it was violating Microsoft’s terms of service by using cloud computing software to spy on millions of Palestinians.
In the complaint, the council asked the Data Protection Commission – the European Union’s lead data regulator for the company – to “urgently investigate” Microsoft Ireland’s processing.
“Microsoft’s technology has put millions of Palestinians in danger. These are not abstract data-protection failures — they are violations that have enabled real-world violence,” Joe O’Brien, ICCL’s executive director, said in a statement.
“When EU infrastructure is used to enable surveillance and targeting, the Irish Data Protection Commission must step in — and it must use its full powers to hold Microsoft to account.”
After months of complaints from rights groups and Microsoft whistleblowers, the company said in September it cancelled some services to the Israeli military over concerns that it was violating Microsoft’s terms of service by using cloud computing software to spy on millions of Palestinians.
Comment Liability (Score 5, Interesting) 139
Ages ago I worked for a company that developed car stereos. Car companies were insanely paranoid about driver distraction. There were industry standards on minutiae like how fast song titles scroll on the screen, and a complete ban on flashing or pop-up anything.
Car companies being OK with anything flashing up on the screen that isn't absolutely critical to driving is mind boggling. All it takes is one diver glancing down for a split second to look at an ad, hitting someone walking out from between parked cars, and you have a slam-dunk lawsuit that will evaporate any money made from the advertising. Lawyers salivate at this kind of thing. Standing in front of a jury with a client all bandaged up "This callous car company thought it was more important to make money while distracting this driver by selling ads than to make sure the driver was paying attention to the road..."
Car companies being OK with anything flashing up on the screen that isn't absolutely critical to driving is mind boggling. All it takes is one diver glancing down for a split second to look at an ad, hitting someone walking out from between parked cars, and you have a slam-dunk lawsuit that will evaporate any money made from the advertising. Lawyers salivate at this kind of thing. Standing in front of a jury with a client all bandaged up "This callous car company thought it was more important to make money while distracting this driver by selling ads than to make sure the driver was paying attention to the road..."
Submission + - European Union May Not Ban Combustion Cars After All (caranddriver.com)
sinij writes:
The European Union's plan to ban new combustion cars starting in 2035 may be over before it has a chance to go into effect, if Germany's leader has anything to say about it.
2035 target was simply infeasible with current technology. While some promising new developments, like solid state batteries, are being worked on, they are not yet ready for mass production.
Comment Any Jobs (Score 1) 77
If you want *any* manufacturing jobs brought back to the US, they are going to be in mostly automated plants. Car companies can barely hire enough workers to cover existing shifts. People don't want to work in factories, and companies don't want to spend $100,000 a year paying workers to stick an automatic torque wrench onto a bolt.
Even completely automated factories large-scale need a few thousand employees to maintain and ship stuff.
Even completely automated factories large-scale need a few thousand employees to maintain and ship stuff.
Comment Re:I haven't followed this case too much... (Score 2) 33
There is no practical way to do that. Seriously.
You could use AI to do it.
Submission + - Russian astronaut kicked out of the U.S. for stealing proprietary SpaceX designs (behindtheblack.com)
schwit1 writes: Russian cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev has been removed from the prime crew of SpaceX’s Crew-12 mission to the International Space Station and replaced by fellow Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev after sources alleged he photographed confidential SpaceX materials in California in violation of US export control rules, according to The Insider on December 2.
The outlet reported that Trishkin also said NASA did not want the controversy around Artemyev to become public, while Artemyev was removed from training at SpaceX’s Hawthorne California, facility last week after allegedly photographing SpaceX engines and other internal materials on his phone and taking them off-site.
The outlet reported that Trishkin also said NASA did not want the controversy around Artemyev to become public, while Artemyev was removed from training at SpaceX’s Hawthorne California, facility last week after allegedly photographing SpaceX engines and other internal materials on his phone and taking them off-site.
Submission + - Micron is killing Crucial SSDs and memory in AI pivot — company refocuses (tomshardware.com)
thesinfulgamer writes: Memory prices are already up 500%+ due to the shortage created by AI, now Crucial is leaving the consumer game to focus on AI, further exasperating the shortage which will inevitably raise prices even faster even faster than the current AI powered rocket.
Submission + - Microsoft Lowers AI Software Sales Quota As Customers Resist New Products (reuters.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Multiple divisions at Microsoft have lowered sales growth targets for certain artificial intelligence products after many sales staff missed goals in the fiscal year that ended in June, The Information reported on Wednesday. It is rare for Microsoft to lower quotas for specific products, the report said, citing two salespeople in the Azure cloud unit. The division is closely watched by investors as it is the main beneficiary of Microsoft's AI push. [...]
The Information report said Carlyle Group last year started using Copilot Studio to automate tasks such as meeting summaries and financial models, but cut its spending on the product after flagging Microsoft about its struggles to get the software to reliably pull data from other applications. The report shows the industry was in the early stages of adopting AI, said D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria. "That does not mean there isn't promise for AI products to help companies become more productive, just that it may be harder than they thought."
The Information report said Carlyle Group last year started using Copilot Studio to automate tasks such as meeting summaries and financial models, but cut its spending on the product after flagging Microsoft about its struggles to get the software to reliably pull data from other applications. The report shows the industry was in the early stages of adopting AI, said D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria. "That does not mean there isn't promise for AI products to help companies become more productive, just that it may be harder than they thought."
Comment "... not really challengers but replacements," (Score 1) 110
Excellent:
"In the US, the two major parties are indistinguishable in intent, that is, to keep their jobs."
Attacks by President Trump cause many people in government to avoid saying what they actually think. They don't want to lose their jobs.
"In the US, the two major parties are indistinguishable in intent, that is, to keep their jobs."
Attacks by President Trump cause many people in government to avoid saying what they actually think. They don't want to lose their jobs.
Comment We see technological improvements every day. (Score 1) 7
Technology is moving ahead very fast!
Submission + - new high-temp superconducting material (nature.com) 1
bobdevine writes: A Chinese group found superconductivity up to 96 K under high pressure in bilayer nickelate single crystals. The difference is that they synthesized the material at ambient pressure.
Submission + - new high-temp superconducting material (nature.com) 1
bobdevine writes: A Chinese group found superconductivity up to 96 K under high pressure in bilayer nickelate single crystals. The difference is that they synthesized the material at ambient pressure.
Submission + - How Long Poop Stays in Your Body Could Impact Your Health, Study Finds (sciencealert.com)
alternative_right writes: According to a 2023 review that brought together data from dozens of studies, distinct differences can be seen between the gut microbiomes of 'speeders' and 'slowpokes'.
Since the human gut microbiome is intrinsically linked to health, this could have implications that have gone unnoticed before now.
In particular, slow transit times and constipation have been linked with metabolic and inflammatory disorders, as well as neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease.
Since the human gut microbiome is intrinsically linked to health, this could have implications that have gone unnoticed before now.
In particular, slow transit times and constipation have been linked with metabolic and inflammatory disorders, as well as neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease.
Submission + - How Long Poop Stays in Your Body Could Impact Your Health, Study Finds (sciencealert.com)
alternative_right writes: According to a 2023 review that brought together data from dozens of studies, distinct differences can be seen between the gut microbiomes of 'speeders' and 'slowpokes'.
Since the human gut microbiome is intrinsically linked to health, this could have implications that have gone unnoticed before now.
In particular, slow transit times and constipation have been linked with metabolic and inflammatory disorders, as well as neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease.
Since the human gut microbiome is intrinsically linked to health, this could have implications that have gone unnoticed before now.
In particular, slow transit times and constipation have been linked with metabolic and inflammatory disorders, as well as neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease.
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