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Submission + - Meta reaches $16.68 billion settlement over social media harms to children (reuters.com)

Submitted by 2phar
2phar writes: Meta agreed to pay a maximum $16.68 billion as part of a settlement to resolve claims brought by states across the country that the company designed Facebook and Instagram to addict children, misled consumers about their safety, and improperly collected personal data of children who used its platforms, court papers show.

Meta also agreed to make changes for teenage users of Facebook and Instagram nationwide, including daily usage limits and nighttime blocks, court papers show.

The company denied wrongdoing in agreeing to settle. Shares of Meta rose 4.4% in pre-market trading.

Submission + - Citrix adds a Linux powered escape hatch for broken Windows PCs (nerds.xyz)

Submitted by BrianFagioli
BrianFagioli writes: Citrix has introduced a dual boot capability for UniconOS that installs a separate Linux based recovery environment alongside Windows. If ransomware, a failed update, or operating system corruption leaves Windows unavailable, an employee can reboot into UniconOS and reconnect to company applications through Citrix DaaS and SecurAccess. The feature is available with Citrix UniconOS Release 7 2607.

The recovery environment sits on its own partition and remains isolated from the Windows filesystem. It does not repair Windows, and it cannot help with failed hardware, missing network access, or unavailable Citrix infrastructure. However, it could give enterprises a faster way to keep employees working while IT investigates or repairs affected Windows installations.

Submission + - DOGE shared social security data, DoJ court filing reveals (theguardian.com)

Submitted by 2phar
2phar writes: The Guardian reports that after months of denials, the Trump administration has acknowledged in a federal court filing that employees working for Elon Musk’s supposed cost-cutting operation accessed and improperly shared Americans’ sensitive social security data.

The justice department court filing, submitted on Friday in an ongoing lawsuit, reveals that a member of the so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge) signed a secret data-sharing agreement with an unidentified political advocacy group.

“Based on its review of records obtained during or after October 2025,” the filing said, “SSA identified communications, use of data, and other actions by the then-SSA DOGE Team that were potentially outside of SSA policy and/or noncompliant with the District Court’s March 20, 2025, temporary restraining order.”

The court filing added that Doge members shared data with each other using Cloudflare, an unauthorized third-party server, and that the agency had been unable to determine what information was transmitted or whether it still exists on the server. In one instance, a Doge staffer sent an encrypted, password-protected file to Steve Davis, described as a senior adviser to the Doge operation, that the agency believes contained names and addresses of approximately 1,000 people derived from social security systems. Officials have been unable to access the file to confirm its contents.

Submission + - China's 'fizzy' method recovers 95% lithium from dead batteries with CO2+H2O (interestingengineering.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Chinese researchers have found a method to extract lithium from used lithium-ion batteries using a mix of carbon dioxide (CO) and water. This process is safer than others that involve harsh acids and harmful chemicals, allowing for the reuse of leftover metals while also capturing carbon dioxide.

The first step is to use CO and water to gently dissolve lithium from the batteries. The CO reacts with water to form carbonic acid, which is a very weak acid, a bit like fizzy water.

This, the researchers explain, is just strong enough to pull lithium out of the battery cathode. This resulted in over 95% lithium recovery, which matches harsh chemical methods.

The second part involves the use of cathodes that contain cobalt, nickel, and manganese. Following the process, instead of discarding them, the new method “upcycles” these materials into useful catalysts.

Those catalysts can be reused in energy and chemical reactions. Throughout the entire process, the CO is permanently locked away too.

This is achieved by some of the CO ending up chemically bound in solid by-products. That means carbon sequestration, not emissions.

Interestingly, unlike traditional methods, the new lithium recovery process is able to run at room temperature and normal pressure. No grinding agents or added leaching chemicals are required, making it safer, cheaper, and easier to scale.

“Conducted under ambient conditions without additional grinding aids or leaching agents, this method minimises environmental impact,” the research team explained.

Comment Distopia anyone? (Score 1) 129

by 2phar (#65361341) Attached to: Zuckerberg's Grand Vision: Most of Your Friends Will Be AI
From TFA: “The very platforms that have led to our social isolation and being chronically online are now posing a solution to the loneliness epidemic,” said Meghana Dhar, a former Instagram executive who thinks AI friends will only make such problems worse. “It almost seems like the arsonist coming back and being the fireman.”

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interlard - vt., to intersperse; diversify -- Webster's New World Dictionary Of The American Language

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