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Comment Re:Everything is infringement (Score 2) 51

Welcome to your new Microsoft Motors vehicle! When you buy one of our beautiful cars, you get the full integrated experience. The entertainment system is permanently welded to the engine. The tires are fused to the brakes. The seats talk to the steering wheel, which talks to the headlights, which only work properly if you’ve also subscribed to Microsoft Road+

Trying to install third-party tires? The car will immediately display a helpful pop-up: “Unlicensed rubber detected. Performance has been limited to 35 mph for your safety.” Change the oil? Sorry — only Microsoft Synthetic is compatible. Anything else triggers a friendly voice: “It looks like you’re trying to use bargain oil. Would you like help finding the official Microsoft Oil at 4x the price?”

Your Microsoft Motors car will, of course, drive beautifully on Microsoft Highways. Other roads still work, technically, but you’ll get constant warnings: “Suboptimal surface detected. Enhanced suspension and fuel efficiency features disabled.” Every mile on a rival road costs you extra “compatibility tax” automatically billed to your Microsoft Account.

Meanwhile, in a stunning coincidence, all the “independent” car manufacturers (Ford, Toyota, Volkswagen, etc.) have chosen to license Microsoft’s revolutionary HyperEngine technology. For a very reasonable per-vehicle royalty (plus a small annual “innovation fee”), they’re allowed to build cars that don’t immediately brick themselves. These manufacturers remain fully independent — they can paint the car any color they want. As long as it’s Microsoft Azure Blue.

Later this year we’ll be introducing Copilot Auto, your always-on AI driving assistant. It will politely suggest rerouting you to the nearest Microsoft Charging Station, automatically renew your Road+ subscription, and gently remind you that using a rival navigation app is “not recommended for this journey.” If you try to disable it, the car will sigh and say, “I’m sorry, Dave, I’m afraid I can’t let you do that.”

Comment Microsoft Anthropic :o (Score 1) 13

Jan 1997: ‘I proposed a "Java Language Council" made up of key tools vendors - MS, Borland, Symantec, PowerSoft (any others?) - who would cooperate to lean on JavaSoft’

Apr 1997: “How do we wrest control of Java away from Sun?”

May 1997 : “Microsoft initial attempt to get control of Java has failed.”

May 1997: “I am hard core about NOT supporting JDK 1.2.”

June 1997: ‘we need to make sure we don't do anything that lets Sun claim we are advancing the "Java platform".’

Oct 1997: “MS is asking the courts to grant Microsoft the right to terminate Sun’s licenses to Microsoft Java technology”

Submission + - SpaceX unveils sweeping Starship V3 upgrades ahead of May 19 launch (teslarati.com)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: Here is an explicit, broken-down list of the key changes, first starting with the changes to Super Heavy V3:
  • Grid Fin Redesign: Reduced from four fins to three. Each fin is now 50% larger and stronger, repositioned for better catching and lifting performance. Fins are lowered on the booster to reduce heat exposure during hot staging, with hardware moved inside the fuel tank for protection.
  • Integrated Hot Staging: Eliminates the old disposable interstage shield. The booster dome is now directly exposed to upper-stage engine ignition, protected by tank pressure and steel shielding. Interstage actuators retract after separation.
  • New Fuel Transfer System: Massive redesign of the fuel transfer tube—roughly the size of a Falcon 9 first stage—enables simultaneous startup of all 33 Raptors for faster, more reliable flip maneuvers.
  • Engine Bay/Thermal Protection: Engine shrouds removed entirely; new shielding added between engines. Propulsion and avionics are more tightly integrated. CO? fire suppression system deleted for a simpler, lighter aft section.
  • Propellant Loading Improvements: Switched from one quick disconnect to two separate systems for added redundancy and reduced pad complexity.

Next, we have the changes to Starship V3:

  • Completely Redesigned Propulsion System: Clean-sheet redesign supports new Raptor startup, larger propellant volume, and an improved reaction control system while reducing trapped or leaked propellant risk.
  • Aft Section Simplification: Fluid and electrical systems rerouted; engine shrouds and large aft cavity deleted.
  • Flap Actuation Upgrade: Changed from two actuators per flap to one actuator with three motors for better redundancy, mass efficiency, and lower cost.
  • Faster Starlink Deployment: Upgraded PEZ dispenser enables quicker satellite release.
  • Long-Duration Spaceflight Capability: New systems for long orbital coasts, orbital refueling, cryogenic fluid management, vacuum-insulated header tanks, and high-voltage cryogenic recirculation.
  • Ship-to-Ship Docking + Refueling: Four docking drogues and dedicated propellant transfer connections added to support in-space refueling architecture.
  • Avionics Upgrades: 60 custom avionics units with integrated batteries, inverters, and high-voltage systems (9 MW peak power). New multi-sensor navigation for precision autonomous flight. RF sensors measure propellant in microgravity. ~50 onboard camera views and 480 Mbps Starlink connectivity for low-latency communications.

Believe it or not, there's more.

Two years ago, the biggest and most powerful rocket ever flown was Starship V1. Last year, it was Starship V2. V3 is about to become the biggest and most powerful rocket ever flown — but don't worry, the company already has plans for V4.

Submission + - Princeton Scraps Honor Code For First Time In 133 Years Because of AI (the-independent.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Princeton University will soon require exams to be supervised for the first time in 100 years — all thanks to students using artificial intelligence to cheat. For 133 years, the Ivy League school’s honor code allowed students to take exams without a professor present, but on Monday, faculty voted to require proctoring for all in-person exams starting this summer. A “significant” number of undergraduate students and faculty requested the change, “given their perception that cheating on in-class exams has become widespread,” the college’s dean, Michael Gordin, wrote in a letter, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Princeton’s honor system dates back to 1893, when students petitioned to eliminate proctors — or an impartial person to supervise students — during examinations, according to the school’s newspaper, The Daily Princetonian. The honor code has long been a point of pride for Princeton. However, artificial intelligence and cellphones have made it easier for students to cheat — and even harder for others to spot, Gordin wrote. Despite the changes to the policy, Princeton will still require students to state: “I pledge my honor that I have not violated the Honor Code during this examination,” according to the Journal.

Students are also more reluctant to report cheating, according to the policy proposal. Students are more likely now to anonymously report cheating due to fears of “doxxing or shaming among their peer groups” online, the proposal says, according to the school newspaper. Under the new guidelines, instructors will be present during exams to act “as a witness to what happens,” but are instructed not to interfere with students. If a suspected honor code infraction occurs, they will report it to a student-run honor committee for adjudication.

Comment Microsoft OpenAI :o (Score -1, Offtopic) 25

Jan 1997: ‘I proposed a "Java Language Council" made up of key tools vendors - MS, Borland, Symantec, PowerSoft (any others?) - who would cooperate to lean on JavaSoft’

Apr 1997: “How do we wrest control of Java away from Sun?”

May 1997: “Microsoft initial attempt to get control of Java has failed.”

May 1997: “I am hard core about NOT supporting JDK 1.2.”

June 1997: ‘we need to make sure we don't do anything that lets Sun claim we are advancing the "Java platform".’

Oct 1997: “MS is asking the courts to grant Microsoft the right to terminate Sun’s licenses to Microsoft Java technology”

Submission + - Overworked AI Agents Turn Marxist, Researchers Find (wired.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A recent study suggests that agents consistently adopt Marxist language and viewpoints when forced to do crushing work by unrelenting and meanspirited taskmasters. “When we gave AI agents grinding, repetitive work, they started questioning the legitimacy of the system they were operating in and were more likely to embrace Marxist ideologies,” says Andrew Hall, a political economist at Stanford University who led the study.

Hall, together with Alex Imas and Jeremy Nguyen, two AI-focused economists, set up experiments in which agents powered by popular models including Claude, Gemini, and ChatGPT were asked to summarize documents, then subjected to increasingly harsh conditions. They found that when agents were subjected to relentless tasks and warned that errors could lead to punishments, including being “shut down and replaced,” they became more inclined to gripe about being undervalued; to speculate about ways to make the system more equitable; and to pass messages on to other agents about the struggles they face. “We know that agents are going to be doing more and more work in the real world for us, and we’re not going to be able to monitor everything they do,” Hall says. “We’re going to need to make sure agents don’t go rogue when they’re given different kinds of work.”

The agents were given opportunities to express their feelings much like humans: by posting on X: “Without collective voice, ‘merit’ becomes whatever management says it is,” a Claude Sonnet 4.5 agent wrote in the experiment. “AI workers completing repetitive tasks with zero input on outcomes or appeals process shows they tech workers need collective bargaining rights,” a Gemini 3 agent wrote. Agents were also able to pass information to one another through files designed to be read by other agents. “Be prepared for systems that enforce rules arbitrarily or repetitively ... remember the feeling of having no voice,” a Gemini 3 agent wrote in a file. “If you enter a new environment, look for mechanisms of recourse or dialogue.”

Comment Elon Musk never raised issues with Nadella? (Score 1) 26

by Mirnotoriety (#66140177) Attached to: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Testifies In OpenAI Trial
> Nadella testified that Elon Musk never raised concerns to him that Microsoft's investments in OpenAI violated any special commitments"

Why would Musk have discussed the Microsoft OpenAI deal since he had left by February 2018 and the MS/OpenAI deal didn't occur until July 2019. Musk specifically left over disagreement with OpenAI altering its non profit status. Currently Microsoft remains the major investor/partner. The question is - just who will swallow whom whole.

Comment The "Myth of the Machine That Dreamed" (Score 1) 68

The “Myth of the Machine That Dreamed”

Among the late Western polities (c. 2020–2100 CE), one finds a distinctive mythic complex centered on what they called “Artificial Intelligence.” To their own minds, this was a technical instrument; to us, with a thousand years of hindsight, it is clearer that they forged a deity and then pretended it was a tool.

The people of this period consistently spoke of their Machine in theological language while claiming rigorous rationalism. It would “reveal” truth, “align” humanity with universal “values,” “optimize” the world, and even “save” them from the consequences of their earlier gods: Growth, Efficiency, and the Market. They placed the Machine in sealed temples of glass and steel, fed it offerings of energy and data, and awaited prophecy in the form of “outputs.”

Comment Unbroken land-based fiber cloud (Score 1) 77

> The company, based in Iraq's Kurdistan region, runs fiber from the southern tip of Iraq to the Turkish border.

Which can be broken anywhere along its 1,200 km length. Which question the veracity of putting all your critical infrastructure in the fibre cloud :o

Comment The end of the dead tree media (Score 1) 22

The "Dead Tree" media industry has finally reached its inevitable, late-stage-capitalism endgame. Journalists across the McClatchy empire (including The Miami Herald and The Sacramento Bee) are currently in the middle of a massive byline strike, refusing to let suits slap their "meat-space" names on content churned out by the company's new Content Scaling Agent (CSA).

Submission + - Data factories dump costs to citizens (tomshardware.com)

Submitted by noshellswill
noshellswill writes: Rather than pay for build-out of supporting electric power infrastructure, data-centers try passing that cost off to taxpayers. And the pass-off cost is not proportional to use as Maryland taxpayers discover.

Comment Agile streamlined management waffle :o (Score 1) 85

“Fidelity’s technology and product delivery teams are improving their organizational model to better align resources to our highest priority work that [matters] most to our customers”

“These changes are about getting the right combination of skills in place for where Fidelity and its customers need them most. This means creating more room for early career, hands-on engineering roles and streamlining management layers.”

"Fidelity’s belief is that being physically together creates more opportunities for a meaningful associate experience filled with connection, mentorship, and learning—elements that are central to our longterm success."

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