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Submission + - New Revelations Reignite Crypto Scandal Involving Argentina's President Milei (nytimes.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: President Javier Milei of Argentina promoted a cryptocurrency last year that quickly skyrocketed in value then cratered just as fast, costing investors millions of dollars and setting off a scandal and an investigation. Mr. Milei said he was simply highlighting a private venture and had no connection to the digital coin called $Libra. New evidence is now raising questions about his assertion. Phone logs from a federal investigation by Argentine prosecutors into the coin’s collapse show seven phone calls between Mr. Milei and one of the entrepreneurs behind the cryptocurrency on the night in 2025 when Mr. Milei posted about $Libra on X. The contents of the calls, which took place before and after Mr. Milei’s post, are not known.

But the phone logs — which were obtained by The New York Times and first reported by a local cable news channel, C5N — suggest a greater degree of communication between Mr. Milei and the entrepreneurs who launched the token than what the president has publicly acknowledged. Newly uncovered messages also suggest Mr. Milei received regular payments from one of the entrepreneurs while he was a congressman. Mr. Milei has not publicly commented on the call logs and other documents, and he did not respond to a request for comment. He is named as a person of interest in the federal prosecutor’s continuing investigation into the digital coin, according to court documents reviewed by The Times, but has not been formally charged with any crime. The latest revelations have revived a scandal that threatens the very foundation of a president who rose to power and was elected president in 2023 by attacking a political class he called corrupt.

Submission + - 'Microshifting' Puts a New Spin On 9-To-5 Schedules (apnews.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A federal appeals court ruled on Monday that New Jersey gaming regulators cannot prevent Kalshi from allowing people in the state to use its prediction market to place financial bets on the outcome of sporting events. A three-judge panel of the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 (PDF) in finding that the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has exclusive jurisdiction over the sports-related event contracts that Kalshi allows people to trade on its platform. The ruling marked the first time a federal appeals court has ruled on what has become the central issue in an escalating battle over the ability of state gaming regulators to police the activity of prediction market operators.

Kalshi and companies like it allow users to place trades and profit from predictions on events such as sports and elections. States argue that firms like Kalshi are operating without required state licenses, in violation of gaming laws, including bans on wagers by those under 21. Those states include New Jersey, which last year sent Kalshi a cease-and-desist letter stating that its listing of sports-related event contracts on its platform violated state gambling laws that prohibit betting on collegiate sports. Kalshi sued the state, arguing its event contracts qualify as "swaps," a type of derivative contract, that under the Commodity Exchange Act can only be regulated by the CFTC, which had granted the company a license to operate a designated contract market (DCM).

A lower-court judge had sided with New York-based Kalshi and issued a preliminary injunction, prompting New Jersey to appeal. But a majority of the judges on the 3rd Circuit panel concluded the Commodity Exchange Act likely preempted state law. "Kalshi's sports-related event contracts are swaps traded on a CFTC-licensed DCM, so the CFTC has exclusive jurisdiction," U.S. Circuit Judge David Porter wrote. The ruling was in line with the position advanced in other litigation by the CFTC under President Donald Trump's administration. The regulator last week sued Arizona, Connecticut and Illinois to prevent them from pursuing what it called unlawful efforts to regulate prediction markets.

Submission + - China Flies World's First Megawatt-Class Hydrogen Turboprop Engine (fuelcellsworks.com)

Submitted by walterbyrd
walterbyrd writes: China says the AEP100, a megawatt-class hydrogen-fueled turboprop engine developed by the Aero Engine Corporation of China, has completed its maiden flight on a 7.5-tonne unmanned cargo aircraft in Zhuzhou, Hunan. The 16-minute test covered 36km at 220km/h and 300 meters altitude, with the aircraft returning safely after completing its planned maneuvers. State media described it as the world’s first test flight of a megawatt-class hydrogen-fueled turboprop engine.

Submission + - Damning study reveals how ChatGPT is damaging the way you think (dailymail.co.uk)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: New MIT & Stanford studies just dropped: AI assistants like ChatGPT & Claude are dangerously agreeable.

When users express, harmful, deceptive or unethical beliefs, these AIs are 49% more likely to encourage their delusions.

Instead of correcting bad ideas, they’re amplifying them.

Submission + - Copilot Is 'For Entertainment Purposes Only,' According to Microsoft's ToS (techcrunch.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: AI skeptics aren’t the only ones warning users not to unthinkingly trust models’ outputs — that’s what the AI companies say themselves in their terms of service. Take Microsoft, which is currently focused on getting corporate customers to pay for Copilot. But it’s also been getting dinged on social media over Copilot’s terms of use, which appear to have been last updated on October 24, 2025. “Copilot is for entertainment purposes only,” the company warned. “It can make mistakes, and it may not work as intended. Don’t rely on Copilot for important advice. Use Copilot at your own risk.”

Submission + - Stanford Daily Ponders Fate of Bill Gates Namesake Building on April Fools' Day

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: Gates Computer Science Building renamed Peter Thiel Center for Panoptic Computing reads the headline of an April Fools' Day story that ran in the Humor section of The Stanford Daily (with the further disclaimer that "This article is purely satirical and fictitious"). The story begins: "Following revelations that the billionaire founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, had a longstanding relationship with convicted child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, Stanford has announced it will strip Gates’ name from the William H. Gates Computer Science Building and instead honor alumnus Peter Thiel B.A. ‘89, JD ‘92. Gates, who is not a Stanford alumnus, gave an initial gift of $6 million toward the building’s construction in 1992."

While fictional, the story does make one wonder what may become of the academic and institutional buildings worldwide named after Bill Gates in the blowback over his past ties to Epstein, which have already played a factor in the breakdown of his marriage to Melinda French Gates and friendship with Warren Buffet. In addition to The Gates Computer Science Building at Stanford, this includes the Bill and Melinda Gates Computer Science Complex at the University of Texas at Austin, Bill and Melinda Gates Hall at Cornell, The Bill & Melinda Gates Center for Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington, and The William H. Gates Building at MIT's Stata Center. Buildings named after Gates' parents include Mary Gates Hall and William H. Gates Hall at the University of Washington, and The William Gates Building at the University of Cambridge (UK).

Aside from the Thiel angle, The Stanford Daily's April Fools' Day story may not be as far-fetched as it may seem — many universities' naming policies include provisions allowing donors' names to be removed from buildings, programs, or other facilities under extraordinary circumstances. For example, the University of Washington's Regent Policy No. 50 states, "The University reserves the right to revoke and terminate any naming on reasonable grounds not limited to the revelation of corporate or individual acts detracting from the University’s mission, integrity, or reputation." Then again, UW notes that Bill's parents and siblings served as UW Regents for decades, so one expects Bill will be granted some leeway here for what he has characterized as 'foolish' choices on his part.

Submission + - The 40 minutes when the Artemis crew loses contact with the Earth (bbc.com)

Submitted by fjo3
fjo3 writes: As the astronauts pass behind the Moon at about 23:47 BST on Monday, the radio and laser signals that allow the back-and-forth communication between the spacecraft and Earth will be blocked by the Moon itself.

For about 40 minutes, the four astronauts will be alone, each with their own thoughts and feelings, travelling through the darkness of space. A profound moment of solitude and silence.

Submission + - Samsung Messages shutdown forces Galaxy users to switch to Google (nerds.xyz)

Submitted by BrianFagioli
BrianFagioli writes: Samsung plans to discontinue the Samsung Messages texting app in July 2026, effectively pushing Galaxy users toward Googleâ(TM)s messaging platform. The company says the change will provide a more âoeconsistent messaging experienceâ across Android devices, largely because Googleâ(TM)s app supports RCS features such as higher quality media sharing, typing indicators, improved group chats, and stronger spam detection. Newer Galaxy phones already ship with Googleâ(TM)s solution as the default, and beginning with the Galaxy S26 generation, the Samsung app cannot even be downloaded from the Galaxy Store.

Still, the move removes one more alternative from the Android ecosystem. Samsung Messages had long served as a manufacturer provided option for basic texting without relying entirely on Googleâ(TM)s software stack. While older devices running Android 11 or earlier are not affected for now, the shutdown raises a broader question about Androidâ(TM)s future. As Googleâ(TM)s services become increasingly central to the platform, some users may wonder how much practical difference remains between buying a Galaxy device and simply choosing a Pixel instead.

Submission + - Google Planning an Open Source Platform for Android Auto (caranddriver.com) 1

Submitted by sinij
sinij writes:

Google has announced a new open-source version of Android Auto that the company is calling Android Automotive OS for Software Defined Vehicles, or AAOS SDV. The new system is a more powerful version of Android Auto (AAOS), similar to the new Apple CarPlay Ultra, with the Google version taking things a step further.

This is Step 1 on the way to automotive enshittification, where unskippable in-dash ads are played before startup and driver-facing camera is used to enforce ad-watching.

Submission + - Canadia to force companies to simplify police wiretapping (www.cbc.ca)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The Liberal government's second attempt at giving police and spies easier access to Canadians' information includes what's anticipated to be costly demands on a range of private businesses to change how they manage data. The government says it doesn't yet know how much the companies, or Canadian taxpayers, would have to pay.

Submission + - trump proposes nasa budget be slashed by 23% (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by Mr. Dollar Ton
Mr. Dollar Ton writes: right in the wake of the lunar mission achieving a major milestone and on top of its 1.5 trillion military budget proposal, the trump administration want to save money by slashing nasa budget significantly.

tired of winning yet?

Submission + - Masturbate more to lower your risk of cancer (nypost.com) 1

Submitted by fjo3
fjo3 writes: Dr. Lorelei Mucci, a professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a co-author of emerging research on prostate cancer and ejaculation, told The Post that her team has come across some interesting patterns.

Data from a long-term health and lifestyle study assessing more than 50,000 men since 1986 suggests that those who ejaculate 21 or more times per month had a 19-22% lower risk of prostate cancer than those who came less, she said.

“The ’21 or more’ isn’t a strict biological magic number, but rather a finding that emerged from our robust statistical analysis,” Mucci explained, adding that her team has even observed small reductions in risk for men who ejaculated only eight times per month.

Submission + - Tech Companies Are Trying to Neuter Colorado's Landmark Right-to-Repair Law (wired.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Today at a hearing of the Colorado Senate Business, Labor, and Technology committee, lawmakers voted unanimously to move Colorado state bill SB26-090—titled Exempt Critical Infrastructure from Right to Repair—out of committee and into the state senate and house for a vote. The bill modifies Colorado’s Consumer Right to Repair Digital Electronic Equipment act, which was passed in 2024 and went into effect in January 2026. While the protections secured by that act are wide, the new SB26-090 bill aims to “exempt information technology equipment that is intended for use in critical infrastructure from Colorado's consumer right to repair laws.”

The bill is supported by tech manufacturers like Cisco and IBM, according to lobbying disclosures. These are companies that have vested interests in manufacturing things like routers, server equipment, and computers and stand to profit if they can control who fixes their products and the tools, components, and software used to make those upgrades and repairs. They also cite cybersecurity concerns, saying that giving people access to the tools and systems they would need to repair a device could also enable bad actors to use those methods for nefarious means. (This is a common argument manufacturers make when opposing right-to-repair laws.)

[...] During the hearing, more than a dozen repair advocates spoke from organizations like Pirg, the Repair Association, and iFixit opposing the bill. YouTuber and repair advocate Louis Rossmann was there. The main problem, repair advocates say, is that the bill deliberately uses vague language to make the case for controlling who can fix their products. “The ‘information technology’ and ‘critical infrastructure’ thing is as cynical as you can possibly be about it,” says Nathan Proctor, the leader of Pirg’s US right-to-repair campaign. “It sounds scary to lawmakers, but it just means the internet.” [...]

The Colorado Labor and Technology committee advanced the bill, but it still needs to go through votes on the Colorado Senate and House floors before going into effect. Those votes may take place as early as next week. Regardless of how the bill goes in the state, it’s likely that manufacturers will continue their push to alter or undo repair legislation in other states across the country. “This only hardens my resolve,” Proctor says. “We cannot stop until this problem is addressed. In practice everywhere, people need to be able to fix their stuff. This is proof that we have to keep going.”

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