Comment Re: How did this article even get published? (Score 0) 154
Maintaining the low quality of Slashdot is a mysterious choice by its owners whose replacement by AI would be an upgrade.
Comment Why does his age matter? (Score 1) 61
Why was it somehow important to state his age?
A young adult criminal should surprise no one even in this era of grotesquely extended childish behavior.
Submission + - Video Game History Foundation Says Piracy Remains the Only Preservation Method (techspot.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Video Game History Foundation founder Frank Cifaldi recently supported claims that piracy is the only effective way to preserve video games. The comments lay the blame squarely on game companies' refusal to keep legacy content available or allow archivists to build legal repositories. Sony's announcement that all PlayStation games will be digital-only from 2028 onward has sparked concern that titles will become harder to preserve and more easily vanish, since the company's servers will become the sole point of distribution. In an official statement, Cifaldi noted that the end of physical PlayStation games has surprisingly little impact on the Foundation's efforts because the majority of games from the last two decades are already digital-only.
According to the Foundation, most games nowadays are not released for consoles, let alone on physical discs. Furthermore, many discs for major titles require downloading updates before they are playable, although the DoesItPlay database reveals that, even today, most are playable offline out of the box. Cifaldi claimed that the true reason piracy remains the best option for preservation is that the Entertainment Software Association, which lobbies for game publishers, has closed off other routes. For example, in 2018, the Association opposed efforts to grant copyright exemptions for museums, libraries, and archives to retain copies of abandoned online games for research.
This is the same organization that recently helped defeat a proposed California bill to preserve premium-priced online-only games by falsely claiming that community servers are illegal. The Foundation accused the ESA of repeatedly blocking attempts by cultural heritage institutions to reform DRM legislation. Cifaldi also described the Library of Congress' outdated software preservation process, which currently only requires tiny snippets of source code. For example, Capcom once asked the Foundation to provide the LoC with "the first and last ten pages of code" for a Mega Man game. Unable to discern where digital records began and ended, the group simply chose random segments. Platform holders' habit of closing online storefronts and removing media from users' accounts is also unhelpful.
According to the Foundation, most games nowadays are not released for consoles, let alone on physical discs. Furthermore, many discs for major titles require downloading updates before they are playable, although the DoesItPlay database reveals that, even today, most are playable offline out of the box. Cifaldi claimed that the true reason piracy remains the best option for preservation is that the Entertainment Software Association, which lobbies for game publishers, has closed off other routes. For example, in 2018, the Association opposed efforts to grant copyright exemptions for museums, libraries, and archives to retain copies of abandoned online games for research.
This is the same organization that recently helped defeat a proposed California bill to preserve premium-priced online-only games by falsely claiming that community servers are illegal. The Foundation accused the ESA of repeatedly blocking attempts by cultural heritage institutions to reform DRM legislation. Cifaldi also described the Library of Congress' outdated software preservation process, which currently only requires tiny snippets of source code. For example, Capcom once asked the Foundation to provide the LoC with "the first and last ten pages of code" for a Mega Man game. Unable to discern where digital records began and ended, the group simply chose random segments. Platform holders' habit of closing online storefronts and removing media from users' accounts is also unhelpful.
Submission + - First full synthetic cell created in Minnesota (biotic.org) 2
AleRunner writes: The First fully synthetic cell has been created in the Department of Genetics at the University of Minnesota. Strictly it's described as a "cell-like system constructed entirely from known chemical components that can perform a complete cell cycle" and is able to replicate, but only for approximately five generations. The key advance is that the cell is "built entirely bottom-up from individually purified, non-living components" although the cell still contains material from an e-coli bacteria. "PURE is a defined mixture of 36 purified enzymes from E. coli bacteria" which includes ribosomes and provides the infrastructure for genetic replication. CNN has article on the advance including interview material with Professor Kate Adamala who lead the research and says “I know the full ingredient list of the cell, I know exactly what chemicals, what molecules at what concentrations,” she said. “It is fully defined, which means we can engineer it.”
Submission + - Decades-Old Bash Tricks Expose AI Coding Agents to Supply Chain Attacks (securityweek.com) 1
wiredmikey writes: Researchers AI have uncovered a structural security flaw dubbed GuardFall that allows decades-old Bash shell tricks to bypass safeguards in most open source AI coding agents. By exploiting shell behaviors such as quote removal and variable expansion, attackers can hide malicious commands in repositories, README files, Makefiles, or other content consumed by AI agents. If executed—particularly in auto-approve or CI environments—the commands can steal credentials, compromise developer systems, or enable software supply chain attacks. According to researchers at Adversa AI, the 11 popular open source AI coding agents tested, only one successfully blocked all of the Bash trick techniques.
Submission + - County With 37 Data Centers Asks Schools to 'Conserve Electricity'
An anonymous reader writes: County With 37 Data Centers Asks Schools to ‘Conserve Electricity’
‘On June 26, the County Manager of Henrico County, Virginia, John Vithoulkas, sent an email to thousands of county employees asking them to help the local government conserve electricity.
“Beginning July 1st, the rate we pay for electricity used in all Henrico County government and school facilities will increase dramatically — by 25%, increasing costs by an estimated $5 million next fiscal year. We anticipate more rate increases for electricity in the years ahead,” a copy of the email obtained by 404 Media said (emphasis his).’
‘On June 26, the County Manager of Henrico County, Virginia, John Vithoulkas, sent an email to thousands of county employees asking them to help the local government conserve electricity.
“Beginning July 1st, the rate we pay for electricity used in all Henrico County government and school facilities will increase dramatically — by 25%, increasing costs by an estimated $5 million next fiscal year. We anticipate more rate increases for electricity in the years ahead,” a copy of the email obtained by 404 Media said (emphasis his).’
Submission + - Microsoft wants to kill Docker Desktop on Windows with WSL containers (nerds.xyz)
BrianFagioli writes: Microsoft has opened the public preview of WSL containers, bringing native Linux container support directly into the Windows Subsystem for Linux. The new wslc tool allows developers to build, run, and manage Linux containers without installing separate software such as Docker Desktop.
While Microsoft insists Docker Desktop, Podman Desktop, and Rancher Desktop remain important parts of the ecosystem, the direction seems obvious. If Windows eventually ships with a capable container platform built directly into WSL, many developers may decide they no longer need third-party container tools for everyday work.
The announcement also includes APIs that allow Windows applications to launch Linux containers programmatically, along with enterprise management features, improved file performance, new networking technology, and tighter integration with existing Windows tooling.
While Microsoft insists Docker Desktop, Podman Desktop, and Rancher Desktop remain important parts of the ecosystem, the direction seems obvious. If Windows eventually ships with a capable container platform built directly into WSL, many developers may decide they no longer need third-party container tools for everyday work.
The announcement also includes APIs that allow Windows applications to launch Linux containers programmatically, along with enterprise management features, improved file performance, new networking technology, and tighter integration with existing Windows tooling.
Comment Checks can be be useful. (Score 1) 183
Handed directly to recipient institutions or individuals they serve as a firewall against online account compromise.
Checks have use when internet is interrupted during natural disasters and I have so used them. I've never had a check problem in my many decades on the planet because I think before writing. I bank locally and those I pay are protected thereby.
Redundant payment methods including cash come in handy. I keep a couple thousand (small enough to lose, large enough to be useful) bucks handy because buying for cash is preferred at yard sales, estate sales, flea markets, Fecesbook Marketplace etc. It's nice to have an electronic fetish, but that does not address every use case.
I also have two bank accounts, one in each state where I own land. I don't believe in being one-deep where backup is an option.
Submission + - Privacy wins at SCOTUS on geofence warrants (supremecourt.gov)
schwit1 writes: The case Chatrie v. United States (No. 25-112), decided by the Supreme Court on June 29, 2026, centers on the constitutionality of "geofence warrants" under the Fourth Amendment.
The Background
The case originated from a 2019 armed robbery of a credit union in Midlothian, Virginia. Lacking leads, law enforcement obtained a "geofence warrant" directed at Google. This warrant required Google to provide location data for all mobile devices within a 150-meter radius of the bank during a one-hour window around the time of the robbery.
Through a three-step process, Google provided anonymized data for devices in the area, then narrowed the data to specific users, and finally "de-anonymized" three individuals. Okello Chatrie was one of those individuals, and the resulting location history was used to identify him as the suspect and secure his conviction.
The Supreme Court's Ruling
On June 29, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled (6–3) that the government's use of a geofence warrant to acquire this location data constitutes a "search" under the Fourth Amendment.
Reasonable Expectation of Privacy: Writing for the Court, Justice Elena Kagan held that an individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy in their cell phone location information, even when that data is held by a third party like Google.
Rejection of the Third-Party Doctrine: The Court rejected the government's argument that users "voluntarily" shared their location data with Google, noting that modern cell phone use essentially requires this data collection and that such sensitive, detailed tracking creates an expectation of privacy that the Fourth Amendment protects.
The Outcome: By establishing that these actions constitute a search, the Court essentially determined that such warrants must meet constitutional standards of probable cause and particularity. The Court vacated the lower court's decision and remanded the case, instructing the lower courts to determine if the specific warrant in this instance met those Fourth Amendment requirements.
In short, the decision represents a significant victory for privacy advocates, clarifying that the digital "sweeping" of location data through geofence warrants is subject to the same constitutional protections as other government searches.
The Background
The case originated from a 2019 armed robbery of a credit union in Midlothian, Virginia. Lacking leads, law enforcement obtained a "geofence warrant" directed at Google. This warrant required Google to provide location data for all mobile devices within a 150-meter radius of the bank during a one-hour window around the time of the robbery.
Through a three-step process, Google provided anonymized data for devices in the area, then narrowed the data to specific users, and finally "de-anonymized" three individuals. Okello Chatrie was one of those individuals, and the resulting location history was used to identify him as the suspect and secure his conviction.
The Supreme Court's Ruling
On June 29, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled (6–3) that the government's use of a geofence warrant to acquire this location data constitutes a "search" under the Fourth Amendment.
Reasonable Expectation of Privacy: Writing for the Court, Justice Elena Kagan held that an individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy in their cell phone location information, even when that data is held by a third party like Google.
Rejection of the Third-Party Doctrine: The Court rejected the government's argument that users "voluntarily" shared their location data with Google, noting that modern cell phone use essentially requires this data collection and that such sensitive, detailed tracking creates an expectation of privacy that the Fourth Amendment protects.
The Outcome: By establishing that these actions constitute a search, the Court essentially determined that such warrants must meet constitutional standards of probable cause and particularity. The Court vacated the lower court's decision and remanded the case, instructing the lower courts to determine if the specific warrant in this instance met those Fourth Amendment requirements.
In short, the decision represents a significant victory for privacy advocates, clarifying that the digital "sweeping" of location data through geofence warrants is subject to the same constitutional protections as other government searches.
Submission + - Microsoft fake Windows error ended in a $280 million secret settlement (makeuseof.com)
joshuark writes: Facing real competition from Digital Research's DR DOS, Microsoft secretly embedded a sabotaging mechanism known as "AARD code" into beta versions of Windows 3.1 to prevent it from running on Digital Research's competing DR DOS operating system.
This code triggered fake, alarming error messages to convince developers that DR DOS was unstable, effectively eliminating a significant market threat through fear, uncertainty, and doubt. Although the company disabled the feature in the final retail release, the California-based firm Caldera, Inc., which had acquired DR DOS assets, sued Microsoft for anti-competitive practices.
Microsoft settled the lawsuit out of court in 2000 for $280 million, a figure that remained sealed until it was unsealed in 2009. Nothing says taking ownership and responsibility than keeping it a sealed secret for a decade. Microsoft paid for being clumsy enough to write the intent down in an email. The lesson the industry took away wasn't "don't do it." It was "don't put it in writing." Something Bill Gates forgot with Epstein.
This code triggered fake, alarming error messages to convince developers that DR DOS was unstable, effectively eliminating a significant market threat through fear, uncertainty, and doubt. Although the company disabled the feature in the final retail release, the California-based firm Caldera, Inc., which had acquired DR DOS assets, sued Microsoft for anti-competitive practices.
Microsoft settled the lawsuit out of court in 2000 for $280 million, a figure that remained sealed until it was unsealed in 2009. Nothing says taking ownership and responsibility than keeping it a sealed secret for a decade. Microsoft paid for being clumsy enough to write the intent down in an email. The lesson the industry took away wasn't "don't do it." It was "don't put it in writing." Something Bill Gates forgot with Epstein.
Submission + - LA Schools Chief Resigns Amid FBI Probe Into Failed K-12 AI Chatbot Company
theodp writes: "Four years after leaving Miami-Dade County Public Schools for one of the nation’s most prominent education jobs, Alberto Carvalho has resigned as superintendent of Los Angeles schools amid an FBI investigation," reports the Miami Herald. "The FBI has conducted raids on Carvalho’s Los Angeles home and office as part of a probe into a multimillion-dollar contract awarded to a failed AI-focused education company [AllHere Education]. Investigators also raided the Broward County home of a lobbyist connected to the deal. Carvalho led Miami-Dade public schools for 14 years before joining Los Angeles Unified School District in Feb. 2022. The lobbyist, Debra Kerr, had previously sold hundreds of thousands worth of textbooks to the Miami-Dade County school district and was retained as a salesperson for the startup chatbot company when it dealt with the Los Angeles district."
In What Will It Take to Get A.I. Out of Schools?, The New Yorker's Jessica Winter points out that "Carvalho, who has denied any wrongdoing, is also on the board of [tech-backed nonprofit] Code.org [recently rebranded to CodeAI], purveyors of Mix & Move with AI," Code.org's signature tutorial for its 2025 Hour of AI, which was built on the Carvalho-endorsed Music Lab, Code.org's signature tutorial for its 2024 Hour of Code that was developed with Amazon ("Code.org has mastered the art of bringing joy and curiosity into the classroom," Carvalho gushed in a press release, "while preparing students with essential computer science skills, and Music Lab is the perfect example.”). Winter is not as big a fan of the nonprofit's edtech software as Carvalho, writing that the "Certificate of Completion," her 3rd grader brought home from school for "demonstrating an understanding of the basic concepts of Artificial Intelligence" was for "playing a computer game produced by the nonprofit Code.org in partnership with Amazon Future Engineer, called Mix & Move with AI, in which the student 'designs' a cartoon dancer and 'remixes' a popular song—available, needless to say, on Amazon Music. The game is an inane drag-and-drop affair that has little to do with A.I.; the certificate, it turned out, was merely a memento of a pointless and deceptive branding exercise [Amazon is a $30+ million Code.org Lifetime Supporter]."
Carvalho has been scrubbed from the Code.org Board of Directors page — archive.org webpage captures suggest a change was made on Wednesday, three days after his Sunday resignation and on the same day that Carvalho's replacement was named by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). Curiously, the Miami Herald earlier reported a firm registered to current Code.org Board Member and former Broward County (FL) Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie is listed as a creditor in bankruptcy files for AllHere Education, the provider of LAUSD's failed "Ed" AI chatbot that's at the center of the FBI investigation.
And on Tuesday — two days after Carvalho's resignation — LAUSD banned screen time before the second grade and enacted limited use for older students, among the strictest policies in the nation, reflecting growing backlash from parents and educators concerned about an over-reliance on computers and technology in K-12 learning.
In What Will It Take to Get A.I. Out of Schools?, The New Yorker's Jessica Winter points out that "Carvalho, who has denied any wrongdoing, is also on the board of [tech-backed nonprofit] Code.org [recently rebranded to CodeAI], purveyors of Mix & Move with AI," Code.org's signature tutorial for its 2025 Hour of AI, which was built on the Carvalho-endorsed Music Lab, Code.org's signature tutorial for its 2024 Hour of Code that was developed with Amazon ("Code.org has mastered the art of bringing joy and curiosity into the classroom," Carvalho gushed in a press release, "while preparing students with essential computer science skills, and Music Lab is the perfect example.”). Winter is not as big a fan of the nonprofit's edtech software as Carvalho, writing that the "Certificate of Completion," her 3rd grader brought home from school for "demonstrating an understanding of the basic concepts of Artificial Intelligence" was for "playing a computer game produced by the nonprofit Code.org in partnership with Amazon Future Engineer, called Mix & Move with AI, in which the student 'designs' a cartoon dancer and 'remixes' a popular song—available, needless to say, on Amazon Music. The game is an inane drag-and-drop affair that has little to do with A.I.; the certificate, it turned out, was merely a memento of a pointless and deceptive branding exercise [Amazon is a $30+ million Code.org Lifetime Supporter]."
Carvalho has been scrubbed from the Code.org Board of Directors page — archive.org webpage captures suggest a change was made on Wednesday, three days after his Sunday resignation and on the same day that Carvalho's replacement was named by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). Curiously, the Miami Herald earlier reported a firm registered to current Code.org Board Member and former Broward County (FL) Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie is listed as a creditor in bankruptcy files for AllHere Education, the provider of LAUSD's failed "Ed" AI chatbot that's at the center of the FBI investigation.
And on Tuesday — two days after Carvalho's resignation — LAUSD banned screen time before the second grade and enacted limited use for older students, among the strictest policies in the nation, reflecting growing backlash from parents and educators concerned about an over-reliance on computers and technology in K-12 learning.
Comment Why should a mere eight-mile gas pipeline be news? (Score 3) 51
It's the most efficient, safest way to move fuel without burdening rail and road nets with LNG tankers which are large mobile fire and explosion hazards.
That's why there are well over two million miles of natgas pipeline in the US so far. Eight miles should impress no one. Andrew Carnegie drilled natgas wells and built a twenty mile pipeline to Pittsburgh steel plants in the 1880s.
Submission + - Feds Want to Drop Requirement for Autonomous Cars to Have a Brake Pedal (caranddriver.com)
sinij writes:
Braking distance regulations would stick around, but the physical pedals would no longer be required for cars designed to be exclusively autonomous.
I would want any autonomous car to have emergency brake and/or shutoff.
Comment Discretionary income is situational. (Score 1) 125
~$25K is about ten grand less than the average used car price in many non-rich US states so it's obviously affordable for many, self included, of modest incomes.
I only make ~$70K but live below my means using enabling skills in an enabling location. I don't piss away money on new vehicles as a matter of economic principle.
Submission + - Non-invasive stimulation of the brain ends Opioid addiction, cigarette craving (jpost.com)
Bruce66423 writes: 'Doctors at the Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa have successfully treated their first Israeli opioid addiction patient using an experimental noninvasive brain technology, easing him through withdrawal in just 20 minutes.
'H., a 40-year-old family man from northern Israel, was injured in his neck several years ago. Because of the injury, he relied on painkillers and eventually became addicted to them....
'The patient himself reported a craving score of zero out of 10 for using the drug, and even another side effect, a drastic drop in the desire for cigarettes, from three packs a day to just a few cigarettes, and with no urge to use alcohol. In other words, in a treatment that lasted about 20 minutes net, our patient was completely freed from an extreme dependence that had accompanied him every day for years. This is nothing less than a medical and therapeutic revolution.”'
'H., a 40-year-old family man from northern Israel, was injured in his neck several years ago. Because of the injury, he relied on painkillers and eventually became addicted to them....
'The patient himself reported a craving score of zero out of 10 for using the drug, and even another side effect, a drastic drop in the desire for cigarettes, from three packs a day to just a few cigarettes, and with no urge to use alcohol. In other words, in a treatment that lasted about 20 minutes net, our patient was completely freed from an extreme dependence that had accompanied him every day for years. This is nothing less than a medical and therapeutic revolution.”'
