Tony Isaac shares a report from NPR: After a decade of explosive growth, body cameras are now standard-issue for most American police as they interact with the public. The vast majority of those millions of hours of video are never watched -- it's just not humanly possible. For academics who study the everyday actions of police, the videos are an ocean of untapped data. Some are now using 'large language model' AI's -- think ChatGPT -- to digest that information and produce new insights. [...] The research found the encounters were more likely to escalate when officers started the stop by giving orders, rather than reasons for the interaction. While academics are using AI from anonymized videos to understand larger processes, some police departments have started using it to help supervise individual officers -- and even rate their performance. An AI system mentioned in the report, called TRULEO, assesses police officers' behavior through automated transcriptions of body camera footage. It'll evaluate both positive and negative conduct during interactions, such as traffic stops, and provide feedback to officers. In addition to flagging issues like swearing or abusive language, the AI can also recognize instances of professionalism.

Automattic CEO and WordPress co-creator Matt Mullenweg unleashed a scathing attack on a rival firm this week, calling WP Engine -- a managed WordPress hosting provider that has raised nearly $300 million in funding over its 14-year history -- a "cancer to WordPress." From a report: Mullenweg criticized the company -- which has been commercializing the open source WordPress project since 2010 -- for profiteering without giving much back, while also disabling key features that make WordPress such a powerful platform in the first place.

[...] But speaking last week at WordCamp US 2024, a WordPress-focused conference held in Portland, Oregon, Mullenweg pulled no punches in his criticism of WP Engine. Taking to the stage, Mullenweg read out a post he had just published to his personal blog, where he points to the distinct "five for the future" investment pledges made by Automattic and WP Engine to contribute resources to support the sustained growth of WordPress, with Automattic contributing 3,900 hours per week, an WP Engine contributing just 40 hours.

While he acknowledged that these figures are just a "proxy," and might not be perfectly accurate, Mullenweg said that this disparity in contributions is notable, as both Automattic and WP Engine "are roughly the same size, with revenue in the ballpark of half-a-billion [dollars]." [...] Mullenweg published a follow up blog post, where he calls WP Engine a "cancer" to WordPress. "It's important to remember that unchecked, cancer will spread," he wrote. "WP Engine is setting a poor standard that others may look at and think is ok to replicate."

In 2022 about 346,000 electric cars were reportedly sold in California. But the same year its greenhouse gas emissions dropped a whopping 9.3 million metric tons — the amount produced by 2.2 million gas-powered cars — lowering emissions 2.4% from the year before. "The biggest drop came from transportation, due largely to the increased use of renewable fuels," according to the state's Air Resources Board, touting a newly-released report. (And electricity sector emissions also fell by 2.6 million metric tons, or 4.1%, "even as electricity usage rose," according to The Hill — "a dichotomy that the regulators attributed to an increase in solar and wind power generation.")

So despite a growing economy, "the latest data underscores a continued trend of steady emissions decline..." according to a statement from the Board. "Between 2000 to 2022, emissions fell by 20% while California's gross domestic product increased by 78%, pointing to the effectiveness of the state's climate change and air quality programs." And the amount of carbon dioxide equivalent emitted per unit of economic output ("carbon intensity") has also dropped 55% in the last 20 years: [In 2022] the electricity sector had its lowest carbon intensity since 2000. Wind and solar now represent 30% of generation and in-state solar increased by 15% from 2021, driven by requirements under the state's Cap-and-Trade Program and Renewables Portfolio Standard. Furthermore, California increased its battery storage by 757% from 2019 through 2023, bolstering its renewable energy efforts. The storage capacity is enough to power 6.6 million homes for up to four hours.

Industrial emissions declined by 2%, also falling to the lowest level in 22 years. While refinery emissions remained essentially flat, emissions from oil and gas extraction declined, as did emissions from other fuel use, cement manufacturing, and cogeneration facilities. [The Hill says 2022's industrial emissions were 21.7% below year-2000 levels, according to the report.]

Livestock emissions, which are responsible for 70% of agriculture's greenhouse gas emissions, peaked in 2012 and once again saw reductions in 2022. The decrease is driven by the use of methane digesters funded by the California Climate Investments and incentivized by the Low Carbon Fuel Standard, which capture emissions at the source and convert them to clean fuel.

Landfill methane emissions also continued to decline in 2022. This decline can be attributed in part to the state's efforts to reduce disposal of organic waste, as well as the California Landfill Methane Regulation, which requires landfill operators to monitor and capture emissions escaping from their facilities.
One local news site calls the drop in emissions "shocking," but adds that "the trend is expected to continue. In the second quarter of 2024, 118,181 zero-emission vehicles were purchased in the state, good for about one-quarter of all new car sales."

California governor Gavin Newsom said his state "is proving that climate action goes hand-in-hand with economic growth. We've slashed carbon pollution by a whopping 20% since the turn of the century all while building the world's fifth largest economy. Cleaner air, more good jobs — that's the California way."

First released on July 11th, the Firefox-based Zen browser is "taking a different approach to the user interface," according to the blog It's FOSS.

The Register says the project "reminds us strongly of Arc, a radical Chromium-based web browser... to modernize the standard web browser UI by revising some fundamental assumptions." [Arc] removes the URL bar from front and center, gets rid of the simple flat list of tabs, and so on. Zen is trying to do some similar things, but in a slightly more moderate way — and it's doing it on the basis of Mozilla's Firefox codebase... Instead of the tired old horizontal tab bar you'll see in both Firefox and Chrome, Zen implements its own tab bar... By default, this tab bar is narrow and just shows page icons — but there are some extra controls at the bottom of the sidebar, one of which expands the sidebar to show page titles too. For us, it worked better than Vivaldi's fancier sidebar.
The article concludes it's "a new effort to modernize web browsing by bringing tiling, workspaces, and so on — and it's blissfully free of Google code." One Reddit comment swooned over Zen's "extraordinary" implementation of a distraction-free "Compact Mode" (hiding things like the sidebar and top bar). And It's Foss described it as a "tranquil," browser, "written using CSS, C++, JavaScript, and a few other programming languages, with a community of over 30 people contributing to it." The layout of the interface felt quite clean to me; there were handy buttons on the top to control the webpage, manage extensions, and a menu with additional options... The split-view functionality allows you to open up two different tabs on the same screen, allowing for easy multitasking when working across different webpages... I split two tabs, but in my testing, I could split over 10+ tabs... If you have a larger monitor, then you are in for a treat...

The Zen Sidebar feature... can run web apps alongside any open tabs. This can be helpful in situations where you need to quickly access a service like a note-taking app, Wikipedia, Telegram, and others.

On the customization side of things, you will find that Zen Browser supports everything that Firefox does, be it the settings, adding new extensions/themes/plugins, etc.
The Register points out it's easy to give it a try. "Being based on Firefox means that as well as running existing extensions, it can connect to Mozilla's Sync service and pick up not just your bookmarks, but also your tabs from other instances."

And beyond all that, "There's just something satisfying about switching browsers every now and again..." argues the tech site Pocket-Lint: Zen Browser's vertical tabs layout is superb and feels much better than anything available in standard Firefox. [Firefox recently offered vertical tabs and a new sidebar experience in Nightly/Firefox Labs 131.] The tab bar can be set to automatically hide and show up whenever you hover near it, and it also contains quick access buttons to bookmarks, settings, and browsing history. The tab bar also contains a profile switcher...

One of the greatest parts of the Zen Browser is the community that has popped up around it. At its heart, Zen Browser is a community-driven project... Zen Browser themes are aesthetic and functional tweaks to the UI. While there aren't a ton available right now, the ones that are show a lot of promise for the browser's future... I've personally gotten great use out of the Super URL Bar theme, which makes your URL bar expand and become the focus of your screen while typing in it... There's a lot you can do to make Zen Browser feel nearly exactly like what you want it to feel like.
The "Business Standard calls it "an open-source alternative to Chromium-based browsers," adding "Where Zen truly shines is it offers a range of customisation, tab management, and workspace management..." Their theme store offers a range of options, including modifications to the bookmark toolbar, a floating URL bar, private mode theming, and removal of browser padding. In addition to these, users can also choose from custom colour schemes and built-in theming options... The Sidebar is another neat feature which allows you to open tabs in a smaller, smartphone-sized window. You can view websites in mobile layout by using this panel.
It's "focused on being always at the latest version of Firefox," according to its official site, noting that Firefox is known for its security features. But then, "We also have additional security features like https only built into Zen Browser to help keep you safe online." And it also promises automated Releases "to ensure security."

It's FOSS adds that you can get Zen Browser for Linux, Windows, and macOS from its official website (adding "They also offer it on the Flathub store for further accessibility on Linux.")

And its source code is available on GitHub.

The Washington Post reports that electric vehicles made by General Motors now can use Tesla's Superchargers. (GM's charger adapters "will first be made available to customers in the United States, followed by availability for Canadian customers later this year.") The Post writes that the move "expands the number of vehicles compatible with the North American Charging Standard developed by Tesla" — and also marks "another step forward for efforts to settle on a universal public charger network for battery-powered cars and trucks in the U.S.

"It could also allay some GM customers' concerns about a lack of charging options." The new changes take effect immediately, along with sales of the GM-approved power adapters... The deal makes roughly 17,800 Tesla Superchargers available to drivers of GM-manufactured vehicles such as the Chevy Bolt, Cadillac Lyriq and Silverado EV, with the help of an adapter that costs $225... GM estimates that the partnership with Tesla contributes to an overall network of 231,800 fast chargers across the United States available to drivers of its vehicles. GM is also part of IONNA, a joint venture of eight automakers that plans to build at least 30,000 high-powered chargers nationwide.
GM's statement calls it "a move that will help accelerate fast and convenient charging options for current and future EV drivers." And the move comes 15 months after GM announced it was adopting the standard — a move followed within weeks by similar announcements from Rivian, Ford, Volvo, Nissan, Hyundai and Kia. "Ford and Rivian have started distributing adapters for their EVs," the Washington Post points out, "while others, such as BMW, Honda, Hyundai and Mercedes-Benz have promised to start making their vehicles compatible this year or next."

"Knowing we will now have access to Tesla Supercharger locations means that range anxiety has now virtually evaporated..." argues a Chevy owner at CleanTechnica: This is mostly good news for drivers of electric cars from GM. Tesla and The General have been bitter enemies in the past, with GM opposing Tesla's direct sales model in many states. The once fierce battle has cooled in recent years, but GM essentially won by keeping Tesla from selling direct to the public in several US states, including its new home of Texas. Nevertheless, the two companies are now cooperating, which is a bonus for drivers...

Despite some niggling concerns, this is a big deal for EV drivers in North America. Tesla Superchargers are the gold standard in the industry today. There are fast, reliable, and always located in clean, well-lit places where restrooms and fresh foods are available. This could very well change the conversation about electric cars to the point where by the time GM, Ford, and Stellantis get their plug-in hybrids into showrooms, the demand for them will have shrunk considerably.
One GM executive says in this week's statement that "GM's ongoing efforts to help accelerate the expansion of public charging infrastructure is an integral part of our commitment to an all-electric future."

American Battery Technology and lithium-producer Albemarle are among 25 companies getting more than $3 billion in funding from the Biden administration to boost domestic production of advanced batteries and components. From a report: The funding -- part of a broader White House goal of creating an American battery supply chain -- is going to projects that are building, expanding or retrofitting facilities to process critical minerals, build components and batteries and recycle materials, the Energy Department said Friday.

American Battery Technology received $150 million to build a commercial-scale lithium-ion battery recycling facility in South Carolina. Albemarle is getting $67 million to retrofit a facility to manufacture commercial anode material for next-generation lithium-ion batteries around Charlotte, North Carolina. Other projects included $50 million for Cabot and $225 million for SWA Lithium, a joint venture of Standard Lithium and Equinor. Batteries -- which are used for electric vehicles as well as storing renewable energy for use on the electric grid -- are considered critical to reaching the administration's goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 and for boosting electric vehicles to half of all new light-duty vehicle sales by 2030.

Kenya signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the U.S. on nuclear technology cooperation during the 2024 IAEA General Conference in Vienna, with the aim of safely integrating nuclear power into Kenya's energy mix by 2035. The agreement focuses on collaboration in nuclear safety, regulatory experience, and research. The Standard reports: The historic pact came a day after Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi addressed the general session of the conference. Mudavadi had outlined Kenya's ambitious plans to integrate nuclear power into the country's energy mix by 2035, as part of a broader strategy to meet its growing energy demand. Kenya's current installed energy capacity, as of 2023, totals 3,321 MW, with significant contributions from geothermal (863 MW), hydroelectric power (838 MW), wind (436 MW), solar (173 MW), biomass (2 MW), and thermal energy (678 MW). However, despite these sources, the country still faces a shortfall in its energy supply. Experts say nuclear energy will be crucial in addressing this deficit and supporting Kenya's long-term industrialization goals.

The MoU was signed by the Kenya Nuclear Regulatory Authority (KNRA) and the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC), with both parties expressing optimism about the future of nuclear cooperation between the two nations. [...] Areas of cooperation will include sharing of operating experience and regulatory experience, cooperation in joint programs of nuclear safety research and trainings. Kenya, along with several other developing nations, is exploring the potential use of nuclear energy beyond electricity generation, including its applications in health and agriculture. As the country moves forward with its nuclear aspirations, experts highlight the importance of robust regulatory frameworks and international cooperation to ensure the safe and effective deployment.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica, written by Scharon Harding: TCL has come under scrutiny this month after testing that claimed to examine three TCL TVs marketed as quantum dot TVs reportedly showed no trace of quantum dots. [...] Earlier this month, South Korean IT news publication ETNews published a report on testing that seemingly showed three TCL quantum dot TVs, marketed as QD TVs, as not having quantum dots present. Hansol Chemical, a Seoul-headquartered chemicals company, commissioned the testing. SGS, a Geneva-headquartered testing and certification company, and Intertek, a London-headquartered testing and certification company, performed the tests. The models examined were TCL's C755, said to be a quantum dot Mini LED TV, the C655, a purported quantum dot LED (QLED) TV, and the C655 Pro, another QLED. None of those models are sold in the US, but TCL sells various Mini LED and LED TVs in the US that claim to use quantum dots. According to a Google translation, ETNews reported: "According to industry sources on the 5th, the results of tests commissioned by Hansol Chemical to global testing and certification agencies SGS and Intertek showed that indium... and cadmium... were not detected in three TCL QD TV models. Indium and cadmium are essential materials that cannot be omitted in QD implementation." The testing was supposed to detect cadmium if present at a minimum concentration of 0.5 mg per 1 kg, while indium was tested at a minimum detection standard of 2 mg/kg or 5 mg/kg, depending on the testing lab. [...]

In response to the results from SGS and Intertek, a TCL representative told ETNews and The Korea Times that TCL is "manufacturing TV sets with QD films supplied by three companies" and that "the amount of quantum dots... in the film may vary depending on the supplier, but it is certain that cadmium is included." TCL also published testing results on May 10 commissioned by Guangdong Region Advanced Materials, one of TCL's quantum dot film suppliers. Interestingly, SGS, one of the companies that found that TCL's TVs lacked quantum dots, performed the tests. This time, SGS detected the presence of cadmium in the TV films at a concentration of 4 mg/kg (an image of the results can be seen via ETNews here). TCL also said that it "confirmed the fluorescent characteristics of QD," per Google's translation, and provided a spectrogram purportedly depicting the presence of quantum dots in its TVs' quantum dot films. [...]

TCL obviously has reason to try to push results that show the presence of cadmium. However, some analysts and publications have pointed out that Hansol could have reason to push results claiming the opposite. As mentioned above, Hansol is in the chemical manufacturing and distribution business. It notably does not sell to TCL but does have a customer in TCL rival Samsung. Taking a step back further, Hansol is headquartered in Seoul and is considered a chaebol. TV giants Samsung and LG are also chaebols, and the South Korean government has reported interest in Samsung and LG continuing to be the world's biggest TV companies—titles that are increasingly challenged by Chinese brands. It has previously been reported that the South Korean government urged Samsung and LG to meet with each other to help ensure their leadership. The talks resulted in a partnership between the two companies reportedly centered on counteracting high prices that Samsung was facing for TV components sold by Chinese companies. With this background in mind, Hansol could be viewed as a biased party when it sought testing for TCL quantum dot TVs. "I'm really puzzled by Hansol's results," said Eric Virey, principal displays analyst at Yole Intelligence. "I have a very hard time believing that TCL would go through the troubles of making ... 'fake' QD films without QDs: this would cost almost as much as making a real QD films but without the performance benefits."

Ars Technica concludes: "As previously stated, it's possible that TCL is indeed using quantum dots but is using them in a small amount alongside phosphor. If true, the performance may not be as high as it would be with other designs, but it would also mean that TCL's quantum dot TVs aren't bogus. As it stands, the situation could benefit from more, preferably third-party, testing..."

Apple has increased its out-of-warranty battery replacement fee for iPhone 16 Pro models. From a report: Apple Stores can replace the battery inside an iPhone 16 Pro or iPhone 16 Pro Max for $119 in the U.S., which is up from $99 for the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. This is a 20% increase to the fee, which includes the cost of a new battery and service by an Apple Store. The fee may vary at third-party Apple Authorized Service Providers. The fee remains $99 for the standard iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus. Customers with AppleCare+ can still get an iPhone 16 Pro battery replaced for free, but only if the battery retains less than 80% of its original capacity.

Apple says all four iPhone 16 models are equipped with larger batteries, and all of the devices received an internal redesign for improved heat dissipation, according to the company. A metal enclosure was rumored for at least some iPhone 16 batteries, but we are still waiting for teardowns to get a proper look inside of the devices.

NASA will coordinate with U.S. government stakeholders, partners, and international standards organizations to establish a Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC) following a policy directive from the White House in April. From a report: The agency's Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) program is leading efforts on creating a coordinated time, which will enable a future lunar ecosystem that could be scalable to other locations in our solar system. The lunar time will be determined by a weighted average of atomic clocks at the Moon, similar to how scientists calculate Earth's globally recognized Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Exactly where at the Moon is still to be determined, since current analysis indicates that atomic clocks placed at the Moon's surface will appear to 'tick' faster by microseconds per day. A microsecond is one millionth of a second. NASA and its partners are currently researching which mathematical models will be best for establishing a lunar time. To put these numbers into perspective, a hummingbird's wings flap about 50 times per second. Each flap is about .02 seconds, or 20,000 microseconds. So, while 56 microseconds may seem miniscule, when discussing distances in space, tiny bits of time add up.

An EFF article calls out a "brazen attempt to privatize" a wireless frequency band (900 MHz) which America's FCC's left " as a commons for all... for use by amateur radio operators, unlicensed consumer devices, and industrial, scientific, and medical equipment." The spectrum has also become "a hotbed for new technologies and community-driven projects. Millions of consumer devices also rely on the range, including baby monitors, cordless phones, IoT devices, garage door openers." But NextNav would rather claim these frequencies, fence them off, and lease them out to mobile service providers. This is just another land-grab by a corporate rent-seeker dressed up as innovation. EFF and hundreds of others have called on the FCC to decisively reject this proposal and protect the open spectrum as a commons that serves all.

NextNav [which sells a geolocation service] wants the FCC to reconfigure the 902-928 MHz band to grant them exclusive rights to the majority of the spectrum... This proposal would not only give NextNav their own lane, but expanded operating region, increased broadcasting power, and more leeway for radio interference emanating from their portions of the band. All of this points to more power for NextNav at everyone else's expense.

This land-grab is purportedly to implement a Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) network to serve as a US-specific backup of the Global Positioning System(GPS). This plan raises red flags off the bat. Dropping the "global" from GPS makes it far less useful for any alleged national security purposes, especially as it is likely susceptible to the same jamming and spoofing attacks as GPS. NextNav itself admits there is also little commercial demand for PNT. GPS works, is free, and is widely supported by manufacturers. If Nextnav has a grand plan to implement a new and improved standard, it was left out of their FCC proposal. What NextNav did include however is its intent to resell their exclusive bandwidth access to mobile 5G networks. This isn't about national security or innovation; it's about a rent-seeker monopolizing access to a public resource. If NextNav truly believes in their GPS backup vision, they should look to parts of the spectrum already allocated for 5G.

The open sections of the 900 MHz spectrum are vital for technologies that foster experimentation and grassroots innovation. Amateur radio operators, developers of new IoT devices, and small-scale operators rely on this band. One such project is Meshtastic, a decentralized communication tool that allows users to send messages across a network without a central server. This new approach to networking offers resilient communication that can endure emergencies where current networks fail. This is the type of innovation that actually addresses crises raised by Nextnav, and it's happening in the part of the spectrum allocated for unlicensed devices while empowering communities instead of a powerful intermediary. Yet, this proposal threatens to crush such grassroots projects, leaving them without a commons in which they can grow and improve.

This isn't just about a set of frequencies. We need an ecosystem which fosters grassroots collaboration, experimentation, and knowledge building. Not only do these commons empower communities, they avoid a technology monoculture unable to adapt to new threats and changing needs as technology progresses. Invention belongs to the public, not just to those with the deepest pockets. The FCC should ensure it remains that way.

NextNav's proposal is a direct threat to innovation, public safety, and community empowerment. While FCC comments on the proposal have closed, replies remain open to the public until September 20th. The FCC must reject this corporate land-grab and uphold the integrity of the 900 MHz band as a commons.

"A two-day AI Labor Summit between AFL-CIO leaders and Microsoft executives this week reflects the tech giant's revamped approach to unions," writes GeekWire, "which includes a pledge by the company to incorporate feedback from labor unions and their members into the development of artificial intelligence."

But just two days later, "Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer announced it was game over for the jobs of another 650 Microsoft staffers (on top of an earlier 1,900 employee staff reduction)," writes long-time Slashdot reader theodp, "cuts that Spencer made clear were related to Microsoft's $69B acquisition of Activision Blizzard in 2023." Interestingly, Microsoft's Smith in October 2023 affirmed a "groundbreaking neutrality agreement" with the Communications Workers of America union (CWA) — designed to go into effect if Microsoft was successful in its acquisition of Activision Blizzard — in which Microsoft acknowledged the rights of its employees to unionize and pledged to work constructively with any who did. At the same time, Microsoft made it clear that it hoped its employees wouldn't feel the need to form or join unions, saying they would "never need to organize to have a dialogue with Microsoft's leaders."

In July 2023, the AFL-CIO applauded Microsoft's Activision Blizzard acquisition and the Microsoft-CWA agreement, which AFL-CIO union federation president Liz Shuler said "sets a new standard for respecting workers' rights in the video game industry and the larger technology sector." And in December 2023, Shuler thanked Smith for Microsoft's "absolutely historic partnership" on AI and the Future of the Workforce, which Shuler suggested "can be mutually beneficial for workers, for businesses, and for our country as a whole."
Thursday the CWA union issued critical remarks about the layoffs at Microsoft Gaming (which were later retweeted by the @AFLCIO Twitter account).

"While we would hope that a company like Microsoft with $88 billion in profits last year could achieve 'long-term success' without destroying the livelihoods of 650 of our colleagues, heartless layoffs like these have become all too common."

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Earlier this year, we got a look at something unusual: the results of an internal investigation conducted by Harvard Business School that concluded one of its star faculty members had committed research misconduct. Normally, these reports are kept confidential, leaving questions regarding the methods and extent of data manipulations. But in this case, the report became public because the researcher had filed a lawsuit that alleged defamation on the part of the team of data detectives that had first identified potential cases of fabricated data, as well as Harvard Business School itself. Now, the court has ruled (PDF) on motions to dismiss the case. While the suit against Harvard will go on, the court has ruled that evidence-backed conclusions regarding fabricated data cannot constitute defamation -- which is probably a very good thing for science.

The researchers who had been sued, Uri Simonsohn, Leif Nelson, and Joe Simmons, run a blog called Data Colada where, among other things, they note cases of suspicious-looking data in the behavioral sciences. As we detailed in our earlier coverage, they published a series of blog posts describing an apparent case of fabricated data in four different papers published by the high-profile researcher Francesca Gino, a professor at Harvard Business School. The researchers also submitted the evidence to Harvard, which ran its own investigation that included interviewing the researchers involved and examining many of the original data files behind the paper. In the end, Harvard determined that research misconduct had been committed, placed Gino on administrative leave and considered revoking her tenure. Harvard contacted the journals where the papers were published to inform them that the underlying data was unreliable.

Gino then filed suit alleging that Harvard had breached their contract with her, defamed her, and interfered with her relationship with the publisher of her books. She also added defamation accusations against the Data Colada team. Both Harvard and the Data Colada collective filed a motion to have all the actions dismissed, which brings us to this new decision. Harvard got a mixed outcome. This appears to largely be the result that the Harvard Business School adopted a new and temporary policy for addressing research misconduct when the accusations against Gino came in. This, according to the court, leaves questions regarding whether the university had breached its contract with her. However, most of the rest of the suit was dismissed. The judge ruled that the university informing Gino's colleagues that Gino had been placed on administrative leave does not constitute defamation. Nor do the notices requesting retractions sent to the journals where the papers were published. "I find the Retraction Notices amount 'only to a statement of [Harvard Business School]'s evolving, subjective view or interpretation of its investigation into inaccuracies in certain [data] contained in the articles,' rather than defamation," the judge decided.

More critically, the researchers had every allegation against them thrown out. Here, the fact that the accusations involved evidence-based conclusions, and were presented with typical scientific caution, ended up protecting the researchers. The court cites precedent to note that "[s]cientific controversies must be settled by the methods of science rather than by the methods of litigation" and concludes that the material sent to Harvard "constitutes the Data Colada Defendants' subjective interpretation of the facts available to them." Since it had already been determined that Gino was a public figure due to her high-profile academic career, this does not rise to the standard of defamation. And, while the Data Colada team was pretty definitive in determining that data manipulation had taken place, its members were cautious about acknowledging that the evidence they had did not clearly indicate Gino was the one who had performed the manipulation. Finally, it was striking that the researchers had protected themselves by providing links to the data sources they'd used to draw their conclusions. The decision cites a precedent that indicates "by providing hyperlinks to the relevant information, the articles enable readers to review the underlying information for themselves and reach their own conclusions."

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: One of the things enterprise storage and destruction company Iron Mountain does is handle the archiving of the media industry's vaults. What it has been seeing lately should be a wake-up call: roughly one-fifth of the hard disk drives dating to the 1990s it was sent are entirely unreadable. Music industry publication Mix spoke with the people in charge of backing up the entertainment industry. The resulting tale is part explainer on how music is so complicated to archive now, part warning about everyone's data stored on spinning disks. "In our line of work, if we discover an inherent problem with a format, it makes sense to let everybody know," Robert Koszela, global director for studio growth and strategic initiatives at Iron Mountain, told Mix. "It may sound like a sales pitch, but it's not; it's a call for action."

Hard drives gained popularity over spooled magnetic tape as digital audio workstations, mixing and editing software, and the perceived downsides of tape, including deterioration from substrate separation and fire. But hard drives present their own archival problems. Standard hard drives were also not designed for long-term archival use. You can almost never decouple the magnetic disks from the reading hardware inside, so that if either fails, the whole drive dies. There are also general computer storage issues, including the separation of samples and finished tracks, or proprietary file formats requiring archival versions of software. Still, Iron Mountain tells Mix that "If the disk platters spin and aren't damaged," it can access the content.

But "if it spins" is becoming a big question mark. Musicians and studios now digging into their archives to remaster tracks often find that drives, even when stored at industry-standard temperature and humidity, have failed in some way, with no partial recovery option available. "It's so sad to see a project come into the studio, a hard drive in a brand-new case with the wrapper and the tags from wherever they bought it still in there," Koszela says. "Next to it is a case with the safety drive in it. Everything's in order. And both of them are bricks." "Optical media rots, magnetic media rots and loses magnetic charge, bearings seize, flash storage loses charge, etc.," writes Hacker News user abracadaniel in a discussion post about the article. "Entropy wins, sometimes much faster than you'd expect."

Scientists at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory have observed the first neutrino interactions in the Short-Baseline Near Detector (SBND), marking a significant milestone in their efforts to explore neutrino oscillations and search for a potential fourth neutrino flavor that could challenge the Standard Model of particle physics. Phys.org reports: SBND is the final element that completes Fermilab's Short-Baseline Neutrino (SBN) Program and will play a critical role in solving a decades-old mystery in particle physics. Getting SBND to this point has been an international effort. The detector was built by an international collaboration of 250 physicists and engineers from Brazil, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. [...] The Short Baseline Neutrino Program at Fermilab will perform searches for neutrino oscillation and look for evidence that could point to this fourth neutrino. SBND is the near detector for the Short Baseline Neutrino Program while ICARUS, which started collecting data in 2021, is the far detector. A third detector called MicroBooNE finished recording particle collisions with the same neutrino beamline that same year.

The Short Baseline Neutrino Program at Fermilab differs from previous short-baseline measurements with accelerator-made neutrinos because it features both a near detector and far detector. SBND will measure the neutrinos as they were produced in the Fermilab beam and ICARUS will measure the neutrinos after they've potentially oscillated. So, where previous experiments had to make assumptions about the original composition of the neutrino beam, the SBN Program will definitively know. "Understanding the anomalies seen by previous experiments has been a major goal in the field for the last 25 years," said Schmitz. "Together SBND and ICARUS will have outstanding ability to test the existence of these new neutrinos."

Apple plans to release the next versions of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS to the general public on September 16, the company announced via its website following its iPhone-centric product event earlier today. From a report: We should also see updates for tvOS and the HomePod operating system on the same date. The new releases bring a number of new features and refinements to Apple's platforms: better texting with Android devices thanks to support for the RCS standard, iPhone Mirroring that allows you to interact with your iPhone via your Mac, more UI customization options for iPhones and iPads, and other improvements besides. What won't be included in these initial releases is any hint of Apple Intelligence, the batch of generative AI and machine learning features that Apple announced at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June. Apple is testing some of the Apple Intelligence features in betas of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS 15.1, updates that will be released later this fall.

Digital rights activists want device manufacturers to disclose a "guaranteed minimum support time" for devices — and federal regulations ensuring a product's core functionality will work even after its software updates stop.

Influential groups including Consumer Reports, EFF, the Software Freedom Conservancy, iFixit, and U.S. Pirg have now signed a letter to the head of America's Consumer Protection bureau (at the Federal Trade Commision), reports The Register: In an eight-page letter to the Commission (FTC), the activists mentioned the Google/Levis collaboration on a denim jacket that contained sensors enabling it to control an Android device through a special app. When the app was discontinued in 2023, the jacket lost that functionality. The letter also mentions the "Car Thing," an automotive infotainment device created by Spotify, which bricked the device fewer than two years after launch and didn't offer a refund...

Environmental groups and computer repair shops also signed the letter... "Consumers need a clear standard for what to expect when purchasing a connected device," stated Justin Brookman, director of technology policy at Consumer Reports and a former policy director of the FTC's Office of Technology, Research, and Investigation. "Too often, consumers are left with devices that stop functioning because companies decide to end support without little to no warning. This leaves people stranded with devices they once relied on, unable to access features or updates...."

Brookman told The Register that he believes this is the first such policy request to the FTC that asks the agency to help consumers with this dilemma. "I'm not aware of a previous effort from public interest groups to get the FTC to take action on this issue — it's still a relatively new issue with no clear established norms," he wrote in an email. "But it has certainly become an issue" that comes up more and more with device makers as they change their rules about product updates and usage.
"Both switching features to a subscription and 'bricking' a connected device purchased by a consumer in many cases are unfair and deceptive practices," the groups write, arguing that the practices "infringe on a consumer's right to own the products they buy." They're requesting clear "guidance" for manufacturers from the U.S. government. The FTC has a number of tools at its disposal to help establish standards for IoT device support. While a formal rulemaking is one possibility, the FTC also has the ability to issue more informal guidance, such as its Endorsement Guides12 and Dot Com Disclosures.13 We believe the agency should set norms...
The groups are also urging the FTC to:

• Encourage tools and methods that enable reuse if software support ends.

• Conduct an educational program to encourage manufacturers to build longevity into the design of their products.

• Protect "adversarial interoperability"... when a competitor or third-party creates a reuse or modification tool [that] adds to or converts the old device.

Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader Z00L00K for sharing the article.

Slashdot reader echo123 shared a new article from Wired titled "Signal Is More Than Encrypted Messaging. Under Meredith Whittaker, It's Out to Prove Surveillance Capitalism Wrong." ("On its 10th anniversary, Signal's president wants to remind you that the world's most secure communications platform is a nonprofit. It's free. It doesn't track you or serve you ads. It pays its engineers very well. And it's a go-to app for hundreds of millions of people.") Ten years ago, WIRED published a news story about how two little-known, slightly ramshackle encryption apps called RedPhone and TextSecure were merging to form something called Signal. Since that July in 2014, Signal has transformed from a cypherpunk curiosity — created by an anarchist coder, run by a scrappy team working in a single room in San Francisco, spread word-of-mouth by hackers competing for paranoia points — into a full-blown, mainstream, encrypted communications phenomenon... Billions more use Signal's encryption protocols integrated into platforms like WhatsApp...

But Signal is, in many ways, the exact opposite of the Silicon Valley model. It's a nonprofit funded by donations. It has never taken investment, makes its product available for free, has no advertisements, and collects virtually no information on its users — while competing with tech giants and winning... Signal stands as a counterfactual: evidence that venture capitalism and surveillance capitalism — hell, capitalism, period — are not the only paths forward for the future of technology.

Over its past decade, no leader of Signal has embodied that iconoclasm as visibly as Meredith Whittaker. Signal's president since 2022 is one of the world's most prominent tech critics: When she worked at Google, she led walkouts to protest its discriminatory practices and spoke out against its military contracts. She cofounded the AI Now Institute to address ethical implications of artificial intelligence and has become a leading voice for the notion that AI and surveillance are inherently intertwined. Since she took on the presidency at the Signal Foundation, she has come to see her central task as working to find a long-term taproot of funding to keep Signal alive for decades to come — with zero compromises or corporate entanglements — so it can serve as a model for an entirely new kind of tech ecosystem...

Meredith Whittaker: "The Signal model is going to keep growing, and thriving and providing, if we're successful. We're already seeing Proton [a startup that offers end-to-end encrypted email, calendars, note-taking apps, and the like] becoming a nonprofit. It's the paradigm shift that's going to involve a lot of different forces pointing in a similar direction."
Key quotes from the interview:

• "Given that governments in the U.S. and elsewhere have not always been uncritical of encryption, a future where we have jurisdictional flexibility is something we're looking at."

• "It's not by accident that WhatsApp and Apple are spending billions of dollars defining themselves as private. Because privacy is incredibly valuable. And who's the gold standard for privacy? It's Signal."

• "We also see growth in response to things like what we call a Big Tech Fuckup, like when WhatsApp changed its terms of service. We saw a boost in desktop after Zoom announced that they were going to scan everyone's calls for AI. And we anticipate more of those."

• "AI is a product of the mass surveillance business model in its current form. It is not a separate technological phenomenon."

• "...alternative models have not received the capital they need, the support they need. And they've been swimming upstream against a business model that opposes their success. It's not for lack of ideas or possibilities. It's that we actually have to start taking seriously the shifts that are going to be required to do this thing — to build tech that rejects surveillance and centralized control — whose necessity is now obvious to everyone."

The United States, United Kingdom and European Union have signed the first "legally binding" international AI treaty on Thursday, the Council of Europe human rights organization said. Called the AI Convention, the treaty promotes responsible innovation and addresses the risks AI may pose. Reuters reports: The AI Convention mainly focuses on the protection of human rights of people affected by AI systems and is separate from the EU AI Act, which entered into force last month. The EU's AI Act entails comprehensive regulations on the development, deployment, and use of AI systems within the EU internal market. The Council of Europe, founded in 1949, is an international organization distinct from the EU with a mandate to safeguard human rights; 46 countries are members, including all the 27 EU member states. An ad hoc committee in 2019 started examining the feasibility of an AI framework convention and a Committee on Artificial Intelligence was formed in 2022 which drafted and negotiated the text. The signatories can choose to adopt or maintain legislative, administrative or other measures to give effect to the provisions.

Francesca Fanucci, a legal expert at ECNL (European Center for Not-for-Profit Law Stichting) who contributed to the treaty's drafting process alongside other civil society groups, told Reuters the agreement had been "watered down" into a broad set of principles. "The formulation of principles and obligations in this convention is so overbroad and fraught with caveats that it raises serious questions about their legal certainty and effective enforceability," she said. Fanucci highlighted exemptions on AI systems used for national security purposes, and limited scrutiny of private companies versus the public sector, as flaws. "This double standard is disappointing," she added.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Wired: You might have a hard time stretching your memory to the Obama era, but back in 2013, Panasonic's plasma TVs were the critical darlings of the US market. They far outperformed their LED/LCD counterparts at a time when OLED was little more than a pipe dream for most. Then suddenly, under enormous pressure from ever-cheaper LED panels, Panasonic halted all plasma TV production. By 2016, the company had left the US TV space entirely. Now, over 10 years after its plasma models reigned supreme in the US, Panasonic TVs are back, baby.

Outside the US, Panasonic has remained a global leader in the OLED era. Rumors about a stateside return have been swirling for nearly as long as the brand has been away, but a global partnership with Amazon announced at CES 2024 kicked things into high gear. Today, Panasonic officially revealed the US launch of three premium TVs powered by Amazon's Fire TV smart interface: the flagship Z95A and "core" Z85A OLED TVs, and the W95A flagship mini LED TV. All three models are available now in limited sizes, as Panasonic begins its slow walk back to competing against LG, Samsung, and Sony. There are three models now available in the US: 55- and 65-inch OLED options and a Mini LED TV that measures up to 85 inches.

The Z95A is Panasonic's top OLED model featuring advanced gaming features, a 144-Hz refresh rate on select inputs, HDR10+, Dolby Vision support, and AI-powered picture modes. According to Wired, it boasts an impressive sound system developed with hi-fi audio brand Technics and employs Panasonic's proprietary microlens array technology for optimized brightness and heat management.

The Z85A is a step-down model offering similar gaming specs and smart home integration at a lower price, lacking the Z95A's specialized brightness and sound enhancements. It includes a game mode, HDR10+, Dolby Vision support, and a Mark II processor but only supports up to 120 Hz and doesn't have a built-in microphone for Alexa.

Last but not least is Panasonic's W95A flagship miniLED model, offering gaming-ready features like a 144-Hz refresh rate on two HDMI inputs and local dimming for deep contrast and high brightness. It includes the same smart-home integration as other models but features a more standard sound system, and Alexa control is available only through the remote.