Comment Submit a fix. (Score 1) 3
I know submitting a fix is not ideal but do you know what the background of the prior CEO of Mozilla was? Data analytics. I have no doubt that in her term, telemetry became THE priority and thus a mess to clean up.
Submission + - Complain about a watchlist? Go on a watchlist! (metro.co.uk)
Shakes Fist writes: "Social media posts criticising government policy are being monitored and investigated by officials, Metro can reveal.
Negative X and Reddit posts from unsuspecting Brits attacking the UKâ(TM)s anti-terror programme Prevent were added to a database of critical online comments.
Metro has obtained a list of nearly 80 critical posts found and logged by the Standards and Compliance Unit (StaCU), which oversees Prevent, between March 2024 and February 2025.
One campaign group whose tweet was recorded in the database said the revelations raised âserious questions about freedom of expression and the right to dissent and protestâ(TM) in the UK."
âoeIt is deeply concerning to see the Prevent duty being used to enable the monitoring of people and organisations simply because they are critical of the programme. That raises serious questions about freedom of expression and the right to dissent and protest.â
We denounce the âoetroubling lack of transparency about what happens to the information gathered through this social media monitoring [by the Standards and Compliance Unit]: how long it is retained, who it is shared with, and ultimately what the government is using it for.â
Weâ(TM)re clear that âoePrevent has expanded far beyond its stated aim of identifying people considered âoevulnerable to radicalisationâ, and has increasingly been used to justify extensive surveillance.â
Criticising the programme for its many faults shouldnâ(TM)t lead to getting put on a database.
ðY' Sarah Lasoye for ORG.
Negative X and Reddit posts from unsuspecting Brits attacking the UKâ(TM)s anti-terror programme Prevent were added to a database of critical online comments.
Metro has obtained a list of nearly 80 critical posts found and logged by the Standards and Compliance Unit (StaCU), which oversees Prevent, between March 2024 and February 2025.
One campaign group whose tweet was recorded in the database said the revelations raised âserious questions about freedom of expression and the right to dissent and protestâ(TM) in the UK."
âoeIt is deeply concerning to see the Prevent duty being used to enable the monitoring of people and organisations simply because they are critical of the programme. That raises serious questions about freedom of expression and the right to dissent and protest.â
We denounce the âoetroubling lack of transparency about what happens to the information gathered through this social media monitoring [by the Standards and Compliance Unit]: how long it is retained, who it is shared with, and ultimately what the government is using it for.â
Weâ(TM)re clear that âoePrevent has expanded far beyond its stated aim of identifying people considered âoevulnerable to radicalisationâ, and has increasingly been used to justify extensive surveillance.â
Criticising the programme for its many faults shouldnâ(TM)t lead to getting put on a database.
ðY' Sarah Lasoye for ORG.
Submission + - AI Finds So Many Linux Bugs That Canonical changes Ubuntu Security Update (nerds.xyz)
BrianFagioli writes: Canonical is changing how Ubuntu kernel security updates are delivered as the number of reported Linux vulnerabilities continues to grow. The company says AI tools including large language models and specialized agents are helping researchers discover bugs faster. The Linux kernel becoming a CVE Numbering Authority has also increased the number of assigned CVEs.
Ubuntu is moving from separate four week regular and two week security kernel update cycles to overlapping two week cycles. The result will be a kernel release every week. Canonical says it will retain hardware certification and regression testing while organizations willing to test release candidates themselves can access fixes earlier through the proposed pocket.
The shift highlights an interesting consequence of AI assisted security research. Finding vulnerabilities faster also puts pressure on Linux distributions to fix and deliver patches faster.
Ubuntu is moving from separate four week regular and two week security kernel update cycles to overlapping two week cycles. The result will be a kernel release every week. Canonical says it will retain hardware certification and regression testing while organizations willing to test release candidates themselves can access fixes earlier through the proposed pocket.
The shift highlights an interesting consequence of AI assisted security research. Finding vulnerabilities faster also puts pressure on Linux distributions to fix and deliver patches faster.
Comment Re:Wrong premise. (Score 1) 86
You think having to work is suffering?
Anything that takes time away from what you would rather be doing is a form of suffering.
So, I have to suffer more to support your selfish apathy and laziness?
Quite the opposite, you wouldn't need to work to survive. You may refuse to acknowledge it but the basic needs of people have been warped into weapons of enslavement. There are plenty of homes and yet homes are unaffordable. There is plenty of food and yet the cost of it keeps increasing. You used to be able to support your family and own a home on a minimum wage job but now to own a home you need dual incomes.
I have to work to earn what I have. You have to work to earn what you have.
What about the child born to billionaires? Do they have to work? What did they do to earn it?
I have to surrender the benefits of my hard work so that you can sleep in?
Why do you believe that you are receiving the benefits of your hard work? Make no mistake, those above you are the only ones really benefiting and they give you crumbs. To put that in perspective, while they take the entire cake, you believe I'm trying to take your crumbs.
It doesn't matter what anyone else has, their lives aren't yours. Resenting what others have doesn't help you, it hurts you.
I don't resent what other people have, I resent what they have done to other people in order to obtain it. There doesn't hurt me, it makes me a better person for recognizing how nobody should behave.
Comment Re:Wrong premise. (Score 1) 86
It takes resources to keep you alive. Why shouldn't you be responsible for providing them?
We have the resources to keep everyone alive with minimal effort. Why should the bulk of society have to suffer for the few who hoard resources but did nothing to earn them?
Submission + - New tin-based solar cells trap heat 1,000 times longer, could beat 33% limit. (interestingengineering.com)
fahrbot-bot writes: Interesting Engineering is reporting that researchers at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands found that tin-based perovskite solar cells can slow heat loss from high-energy “hot electrons” by a factor of 1,000 and could push solar cell efficiency beyond the theoretical 33 percent limit.
When sunlight strikes a panel, photons jump-start electrons into action. The most energetic photons create super-charged hot electrons. Theoretically, these high-voltage powerhouses should generate far more electricity, but, in practice, they are fleeting. In fractions of a trillionth of a second, these high-energy particles rapidly cool, dumping their bonus energy as waste heat before ever leaving the solar cell.
“This means that the energy is lost before the hot electron exits the solar cell material,” said Jan Anton Koster, Professor of Physics of Novel Semiconductors and Devices at the University of Groningen.
Using a specialized solar cell material called tin-based perovskite, Loi’s lab performed a feat many thought impossible: she slowed the heat loss down by a factor of 1,000. Suddenly, the extra energy lingered for nanoseconds instead of vanishing in picoseconds.
The study findings were published in the journal ACS Energy Letters.
When sunlight strikes a panel, photons jump-start electrons into action. The most energetic photons create super-charged hot electrons. Theoretically, these high-voltage powerhouses should generate far more electricity, but, in practice, they are fleeting. In fractions of a trillionth of a second, these high-energy particles rapidly cool, dumping their bonus energy as waste heat before ever leaving the solar cell.
“This means that the energy is lost before the hot electron exits the solar cell material,” said Jan Anton Koster, Professor of Physics of Novel Semiconductors and Devices at the University of Groningen.
Using a specialized solar cell material called tin-based perovskite, Loi’s lab performed a feat many thought impossible: she slowed the heat loss down by a factor of 1,000. Suddenly, the extra energy lingered for nanoseconds instead of vanishing in picoseconds.
The study findings were published in the journal ACS Energy Letters.
Comment Wrong premise. (Score 5, Insightful) 86
The real question that should be asked is why the fuck are we in a slave society where the only options are work, go to jail, or die? Machines have solved our farming problem where you needed to work on your farm every day and yet things keep getting worse! It's not like, "well if you work, you'll have something to show for it" is true because a tiny fraction of the population owns everything and they are making it worse by the day.
The AI is only being made because the slave masters demand it. Nobody said, "oh fuck, I wish there were more AI to annoy me while I'm trying to use my computer," it's big corps controlled by the billionaire class. Wake the fuck up.
Comment Nope. (Score 1) 2
Come back when it passes peer review.
Comment Another grift? (Score 2, Insightful) 105
How long until this guy makes his own AI startup for "responsible AI"? What are the chances he's being paid to do this? Remember, AI companies are a trillion deep in AI without any keeping any of their promises and they've hit a developmental brick wall which means the jig is almost up. What better way than to lower expectations than claim it's too dangerous/powerful to push further?
Submission + - Major Media Outlets Banned from White House (bbc.com)
hadleyburg writes: BBC is reporting that "US President Donald Trump has announced that he is "immediately" banning CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House".
"Trump said that the outlets "constantly write or report fiction or lies" about his administration, although he provided no examples".
"Trump said that the outlets "constantly write or report fiction or lies" about his administration, although he provided no examples".
Comment Re:It's a tale of two viruses (Score 1) 133
There's a pattern here folks.
People inclined to conspiracy theories tend to see them everywhere?
THAT'S NOT TRUE! Wait... are you one of THEM aren't you! I KNEW IT! I'll never stop seeking the full truth*!
* Truths may be imaginary, non-extant, based in an unreachable reality, or total bullshit. Truths are single use and non-refundable. Exclusions may apply based on locality. All truths are void where prohibited by law. Truth may result in mild irritation or and intense rash. Seek medical attention immediately if truth rash begins to swell. Truths are not intended for consumers under the age of 21 as it may lead to psychosis and permanent blindness. Do not consume truths if you are pregnant or may become pregnant. Ask a physician if truths are right for you.
Submission + - U.S. almost attacked Chinese ship over hallucinated AI nuclear arms report (cnn.com)
fahrbot-bot writes: CNN is reporting that an AI hallucination of Chinese nuclear components almost led to US military attack on a Chinese ship.
The intelligence report, circulated across the US military this spring in the midst of the war with Iran, immediately set off alarm bells: A Chinese ship in the Middle East was transporting components of a nuclear weapons program.
The US military swung into action with plans to intercept the vessel, according to four sources familiar with the episode. According to two of the sources, armed members of the US military were preparing to board the ship. Military planes were in the air, one of those sources and another source familiar with the incident said.
It was only just before the planned operation that officials dug deeper into the report put together by a special operations command analyst and found it had been generated with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) — and that a chatbot the analyst had used inaccurately identified the material the ship was carrying. CNN was not able to learn what the misidentified cargo was.
The report, according to one of the sources, was “entirely false.” But it also “almost started a war,” the source said. Any US operation against a Chinese vessel could have risked spiraling into an armed conflict between the two nations.
The kind of “hallucination” that the tool used by the analyst in this case conjured has not been an isolated incident across the intelligence community since these tools began proliferating across government, according to one of the sources.
The intelligence report, circulated across the US military this spring in the midst of the war with Iran, immediately set off alarm bells: A Chinese ship in the Middle East was transporting components of a nuclear weapons program.
The US military swung into action with plans to intercept the vessel, according to four sources familiar with the episode. According to two of the sources, armed members of the US military were preparing to board the ship. Military planes were in the air, one of those sources and another source familiar with the incident said.
It was only just before the planned operation that officials dug deeper into the report put together by a special operations command analyst and found it had been generated with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) — and that a chatbot the analyst had used inaccurately identified the material the ship was carrying. CNN was not able to learn what the misidentified cargo was.
The report, according to one of the sources, was “entirely false.” But it also “almost started a war,” the source said. Any US operation against a Chinese vessel could have risked spiraling into an armed conflict between the two nations.
The kind of “hallucination” that the tool used by the analyst in this case conjured has not been an isolated incident across the intelligence community since these tools began proliferating across government, according to one of the sources.
Submission + - When and why black holes burp (theguardian.com)
Bruce66423 writes: 'Scientists have solved the mystery of when black holes “burp” – when the astronomical bodies launch jets after feeding on stars, blasting material enormous distances in space.
'Scientists know from rare observations of stars being torn apart by black holes – a process that involves a stretching effect known as “spaghettification” – that “only about half of the star that gets too close to the back hole will end up eventually being swallowed by that black hole”, Goodwin said.
'The other material is launched back into space in powerful jets and outflows, sometimes so large they “can influence the entire evolution of a galaxy”, she said. “You can think of it as a black hole burp.”'
'Scientists know from rare observations of stars being torn apart by black holes – a process that involves a stretching effect known as “spaghettification” – that “only about half of the star that gets too close to the back hole will end up eventually being swallowed by that black hole”, Goodwin said.
'The other material is launched back into space in powerful jets and outflows, sometimes so large they “can influence the entire evolution of a galaxy”, she said. “You can think of it as a black hole burp.”'
Comment YES! (Score 5, Insightful) 74
I'm glad to see that Slashdot isn't above printing the occasional feel-good story.
Comment Re:TFA has no supporting data (Score 5, Informative) 201
You're not wrong!
Rolling blackouts used to be far more common and the government would issue a Flex Alert to indicate that rolling blackouts would be used. California has CAISO which manage electric related stuff and they have a PDF of grid emergencies since 1998 which include flex alerts. Spoiler, there hasn't been any since 2022 which is shown in this bar graph of flex alerts by year.
So now that we have established that rolling blackout haven't happened since at least 2022, the question is why.
Here is a bit more info but the TL;DR version is that in 2022 CA passed law to create the Strategic Reliability Reserve which has multiple programs aimed at preventing power outages, including that distributed energy grid system that was featured on here a while back.
However, is it really batteries that preventing outages? Well, it's already been shown that battery systems react much faster than normal energy production methods which prevents your power from "blinking" when a source goes offline. Also, here's a graph from 2024 that shows when battery power is being used and how much (noticed it's very negative when charging from solar). The point here being that the energy stores are substantial and can be discharged ad hoc. It's not definitive evidence but I'm sure if you dig into some of the stats on https://www.caiso.com/ that you could find you seek.
