Submission + - John C. Dvorak, an early and influential technology journalist, 80 (talkingbiznews.com)
sandbagger writes: Dvorak loomed large in the 1980s and 1990s in the computer industry press.
Submission + - 32/35 students failed professor's midterm because he used a white text trap (xcancel.com)
An anonymous reader writes: 32/35 students failed this professor's midterm because he secretly hid an AI command in white font in his text.
Comment Re:"now" ? (Score 1) 172
Use of this sort of thing for anything that does NOT involve a search warrant is very very illegal.
So someone is going to jail for it?
Because if ordinary people do something that is very very illegal, they do.
Comment "now" ? (Score 1) 172
Seriously, "now" ?
These types of vans exist for a decade at least. Maybe not this specific model from that specific manufacturer, but I don't think that's the point here.
Yes, your government is spying on you. While hiding from you some of its most serious and worrying internals. Don't we just love how we are the people and in charge? lol.
Comment Nobody asked for this (Score 1) 1
Nobody wants this, f--k right off and vote these people out of office immediately
Submission + - LibreOffice Once Again Slams Microsoft For Using 'Lock-In' With Office Files (xda-developers.com)
An anonymous reader writes: One of the founding members of The Document Foundation and handler of LibreOffice's PR and media relations, Italo Vignoli, took to the LibreOffice blog to call out Microsoft's practices with its Office application. The last time we saw Vignoli take to the stage, we saw him accusing Euro-Office of being just as bad as Microsoft with its practices. Vignoli's new post focuses entirely on Microsoft's strategy. He says that "the dominant format for office documents" is owned by Microsoft Office, particularly the DOCX, XLSX, and PPTX formats. The problem with these formats, Vignoli states, is that they "belong to Microsoft, are controlled by Microsoft and serve Microsoft’s interest." This makes it difficult for other formats to take hold.
Vignoli explains his point by stating that open document formats don't hide anything. People developing their own apps can use the format to both read and write the document format with perfection. Meanwhile, proprietary formats such as Microsoft's "contain undocumented features, private extensions or behaviours" that developers can't fully adapt to. That means that a presentation that looks great in the source software comes out strange when rebuilt in a third-party app. This, Vignoli says, is a huge issue [...]. Vignoli claims this creates a huge issue with document preservation. If a Word document was saved in one version of Office, will it still be readable in 20 years? Microsoft has added legacy support to its software before, but the company can one day decide that it's not worth the effort anymore and cut it out. When that happens, you have old documents that are either jumbled or unable to be opened at all.
Vignoli explains his point by stating that open document formats don't hide anything. People developing their own apps can use the format to both read and write the document format with perfection. Meanwhile, proprietary formats such as Microsoft's "contain undocumented features, private extensions or behaviours" that developers can't fully adapt to. That means that a presentation that looks great in the source software comes out strange when rebuilt in a third-party app. This, Vignoli says, is a huge issue [...]. Vignoli claims this creates a huge issue with document preservation. If a Word document was saved in one version of Office, will it still be readable in 20 years? Microsoft has added legacy support to its software before, but the company can one day decide that it's not worth the effort anymore and cut it out. When that happens, you have old documents that are either jumbled or unable to be opened at all.
Comment play more games (Score 1) 42
It's a strange fight. The robots sometimes seem unaware of where their opponent is, facing the wrong direction or throwing kicks and punches in the air.
Not strange if you've ever played a fighting game against someone not into computer games. They learn quickly that by just mashing buttons randomly they can often get a win without actually learning anything about the game. Same principle.
Comment Re:Well Duh! (Score 2) 103
I have to wonder if the geniuses who started these services ever consulted cab companies and drivers before the fact to have a better understanding of what they were taking on.
Of course they didn't. The name of the game is "disrupting an industry". Because on paper and in investor pitches, everything is straightforward, simple, and was practically waiting for them.
That reality is more messy, has more edge cases, doesn't always follow your process, is something you don't tell the investors and don't consider in your service until you've had the chance to cash out.
Comment oh no ! (Score 1) 103
It's almost as if having humans around can sometimes have advantages.
But I'm sure this'll just be seen to add one more robot to the robot taxi. A humanoid co-pilot bot?
Comment Oh great... (Score 1) 1
Next-gen kids are gonna want RealDolls because they're "hot for teacher"
Comment Re:Can I pay him not to post? (Score 2) 215
Well, yes. For many years, presidential candidates, both Democratic and Republican, referred to the United States as "the indispensible nation". And my reaction was always, "Doesn't that mean the US is a single point of failure for civilization?"
We are currently performing an experiment which addresses this question: can the US enjoy the benefits of soft power without the cost? That's the whole point of obeying *norms*. No individual force is going to punish you if you are treacherous, mercurial, foul-mouthed, disrespectful and generally unpredictable. Everyone will punish you.
I think an inevitable cost of this experiment will be that the world will decide that the US can't be a single point of failure for global democracy any longer. In many ways, that's something that will be good for us. But it's also going to cost us in painful ways. When the world decides to move away from the dollar as the international reserve currency, you will see both inflation and higher interest rates on everything from credit cards to mortgages, to business loans that will offset the export advantages. We will need *more* business investment to shift the economy to producing low value goods again, so the transition will be rocky.
Submission + - Steve Wozniak's foundation partners with RealDoll maker to make teacherbots (nysfocus.com) 1
Hentes writes: Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak's foundation is partnering with Realbotix, best known for their RealDoll brand artificial companions, to deploy AI powered robotic tutors in classrooms. The doll will serve as a sort of artificial teacher's assistant, helping students that get stuck, or generating lessons. Students will be assigned an ID code, allowing the robot to provide personalized mentoring.
The female robot, named Sally, will have a “lifelike appearance” with silicone skin and long brown hair, Kiguel said in an interview with New York Focus. It will be stationary in a seated position but have a wide range of upper-body movements and facial expressions.
Submission + - AI Executives Add Personal Security as Backlash Turns Violent (aiweekly.co)
fjo3 writes: In April, someone threw a Molotov cocktail at Sam Altman's San Francisco home, and within days a second attack put gunfire into the property. The Wall Street Journal reports that AI executives are hardening personal security as opposition to the industry moves from online posts into the physical world.
Prosecutors say Daniel Moreno-Gama, the 20-year-old accused in the first attack, traveled from Texas to San Francisco intending to kill Altman, and had writings on him about AI's purported risk to humanity. He faces two counts of attempted murder and attempted arson in California state court. Two more suspects were later arrested in connection with the second incident. Around the same time, The Information described Silicon Valley leaning into a new breed of bodyguards for AI leadership.
The pressure isn't only on the people at the top. According to the Data Center Watch Q1 2026 report, organized opposition groups roughly doubled from 396 at the end of last year to 833 by the end of March, spanning 49 states, and opponents blocked or delayed at least 75 projects worth about $130 billion in a single quarter. That is a very different problem from a viral tweet. It is permits denied, votes lost, sites relocated.
Prosecutors say Daniel Moreno-Gama, the 20-year-old accused in the first attack, traveled from Texas to San Francisco intending to kill Altman, and had writings on him about AI's purported risk to humanity. He faces two counts of attempted murder and attempted arson in California state court. Two more suspects were later arrested in connection with the second incident. Around the same time, The Information described Silicon Valley leaning into a new breed of bodyguards for AI leadership.
The pressure isn't only on the people at the top. According to the Data Center Watch Q1 2026 report, organized opposition groups roughly doubled from 396 at the end of last year to 833 by the end of March, spanning 49 states, and opponents blocked or delayed at least 75 projects worth about $130 billion in a single quarter. That is a very different problem from a viral tweet. It is permits denied, votes lost, sites relocated.
Comment Re:Not sure what the answer is? (Score 1) 109
And related to Authors and others, yea they got robbed, but when it comes to LLM generated material not sure how it gets stopped now.
That's not an argument.
"Yeah, that guy is dead now. We have a pretty solid idea who did it. But not sure if that'll make him alive again, so let's not bother with catching them."
Comment Hopefully this kneecaps the Sept. APK lockdown (Score 1) 41
... but I'm not hopeful. In a way I hope Google still turns the screws on installing apps, including the proposed 24-hr delay on 3rd-party apps. Linux smartphones are coming, and the more they squeeze us, the more incentive to finish truly open phone platforms.
