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Submission + - Microsoft Windows 95 reboot chime and Minecraft soundtrack inducted into Nationa (betanews.com)

BrianFagioli writes: In a move that is sure to make longtime PC users do a double take, the Library of Congress has added two very unexpected sounds to its National Recording Registry. No, itâ(TM)s not another classic rock album or jazz staple. Believe it or not, itâ(TM)s actually the âoeReboot Chimeâ from Windows 95 (that played when the operating system started) and the soundtrack from Minecraft! I kid you not, folks. Both of these are linked to Microsoft, a company more known for software than symphonies.

Submission + - DOGE Is Planning a Hackathon at the IRS. It Wants Easier Access to Taxpayer Data (wired.com)

echo123 writes: DOGE operatives have repeatedly referred to the software company Palantir as a possible partner in creating a “mega API” at the IRS, sources tell WIRED. Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has plans to stage a “hackathon” next week in Washington, DC. The goal is to create a single “mega API”—a bridge that lets software systems talk to one another—for accessing IRS data, sources tell WIRED. The agency is expected to partner with a third-party vendor to manage certain aspects of the data project. Palantir, a software company cofounded by billionaire and Musk associate Peter Thiel, has been brought up consistently by DOGE representatives as a possible candidate, sources tell WIRED.

Two top DOGE operatives at the IRS, Sam Corcos and Gavin Kliger, are helping to orchestrate the hackathon, sources tell WIRED. Corcos is a health-tech CEO with ties to Musk’s SpaceX. Kliger attended UC Berkeley until 2020 and worked at the AI company Databricks before joining DOGE as a special adviser to the director at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Corcos is also a special adviser to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

Since joining Musk’s DOGE, Corcos has told IRS workers that he wants to pause all engineering work and cancel current attempts to modernize the agency’s systems, according to sources with direct knowledge who spoke with WIRED. He has also spoken about some aspects of these cuts publicly: "We've so far stopped work and cut about $1.5 billion from the modernization budget. Mostly projects that were going to continue to put us down the death spiral of complexity in our code base," Corcos told Laura Ingraham on Fox News in March.

Submission + - China launches HDMI and DisplayPort alternative GPMI (tomshardware.com)

AmiMoJo writes: The Shenzhen 8K UHD Video Industry Cooperation Alliance, a group made up of more than 50 Chinese companies, just released a new wired media communication standard called the General Purpose Media Interface or GPMI. This standard was developed to support 8K and reduce the number of cables required to stream data and power from one device to another. According to HKEPC, the GPMI cable comes in two flavors — a Type-B that seems to have a proprietary connector and a Type-C that is compatible with the USB-C standard.

Because 8K has four times the number of pixels of 4K and 16 times more pixels than 1080p resolution, it means that GPMI is built to carry a lot more data than other current standards. There are other variables that can impact required bandwidth, of course, such as color depth and refresh rate. The GPMI Type-C connector is set to have a maximum bandwidth of 96 Gbps and deliver 240 watts of power. This is more than double the 40 Gbps data limit of USB4 and Thunderbolt 4, allowing you to transmit more data on the cable. However, it has the same power limit as that of the latest USB Type-C connector using the Extended Power Range (EPR) standard. GPMI Type-B beats all other cables, though, with its maximum bandwidth of 192 Gbps and power delivery of up to 480 watts.

Submission + - Kawasaki unveils horse-like rideable robotic concept 4

backslashdot writes: Unveiled by Kawasaki Heavy Industries at the Osaka Kansai Expo in April 2025, it combines the company’s expertise in motorcycle engineering with advanced robotics. The Kawasaki Corleo is a futuristic, hydrogen-powered, four-legged robotic vehicle designed for off-road personal mobility. Unlike traditional wheeled vehicles, the Corleo moves using four independently articulated legs, each equipped with rubber hooves for enhanced grip on diverse terrains like grass, gravel, rocks, and mountains.

Riders control the Corleo through natural body movements—shifting their weight on adjustable footrests (similar to stirrups) and using a handlebar system that detects their center of gravity, mimicking the feel of riding a horse. A 150cc hydrogen engine powers electric motors in each leg, making it a clean-energy vehicle that produces water as a byproduct. It features an onboard display showing navigation, hydrogen levels, and posture feedback, and at night, it can project guiding markers onto the terrain. The rear legs swing independently from the front to absorb shocks and maintain rider stability on uneven ground or steep inclines.

Submission + - Human genetically identified as a dog (theguardian.com)

jd writes: A pet company has twice sent back dog breed results for human swab samples, prompting doubts surrounding the accuracy of dog breed tests.

On Wednesday, WBZ News reported its investigations team receiving dog breed results from the company DNA My Dog after one of its reporters sent in a swab sample – from her own cheek.

According to the results from the Toronto-based company, WBZ News reporter Christina Hager is 40% Alaskan malamute, 35% shar-pei and 25% labrador.

This, apparently, raises questions about the accuracy of dog breed identification by DNA. Actually, it kinda raises questions about claims linking human DNA to geographic places, too. (YDNA and MtDNA tracing is fine, but clearly the use of general markers leaves a lot to be desired.)

Submission + - McDonald's IT Systems Outage Shuts Some Restaurants Globally (bleepingcomputer.com)

An anonymous reader writes: McDonald's restaurants are suffering global IT outages that prevent employees from taking orders and accepting payments, causing some stores to close for the day. The outages started overnight and are impacting restaurants globally, including those in the USA, Japan, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Italy, New Zealand, and the UK. "We are aware of a technology outage, which impacted our restaurants; the issue is now being resolved," McDonald's said in a statement to BleepingComputer. "We thank customers for their patience and apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Notably, the issue is not related to a cybersecurity event."

Submission + - SPAM: Archaeologists Unearth a Secret Lost Language From 3,000 Years Ago. 3

schwit1 writes: And no, it's not COBOL

"A secret text has been discovered in Türkiye, scattered among tens of thousands of ancient clay tablets, which were written in the time of the Hittite Empire during the second millennium BCE.

No one yet knows what the curious cuneiform script says, but it seems to be a long-lost language from more than 3,000 years ago.

Experts say the mysterious idiom is unlike any other ancient written language found in the Middle East, although it seems to share roots with other Anatolian-Indo-European languages."

Link to Original Source

Comment If it hurts Facebooks bottom line ... (Score 1) 87

... what will it do to Facebooks competition?

Also "regulating" a company the size of Facebook could easily become a case of the tail wagging the dog, e.g. when "coordinating" policies, writing "drafts" for legislation, structuring this censoring apparatus and good old revolving door politics.

This could result in Facebook not only "regulating" their own content, but also defining the rules for others.

Submission + - Another project goes private: Amara stops being developed as Open Source

northar writes: Subtitling project Amara closes its repository as focus is shifting. Blog post. https://blog.amara.org/2020/01... . We have seen a few examples of projects that were Open Source changing their license to something else than an OSI approved license. Amara was AGPL up until going private. While future improvements to the code base from PCF will not be public, a copy of the last public code base has been preserved at Gitlab, should anyone be interested in the work done up until now. https://gitlab.com/hanklank/am... Note that no support is given from PCF for this code.

Submission + - Is there in truth no security? (threatpost.com)

shanen writes: This story reminded me of the original break and it's worth remembering why it matters. You thought your file hadn't been tampered with? Not so much if SHA-1 is the reason you think so. The full break implies that the file can be manipulated in an arbitrary way and still return the original checksum. I guess the main lesson is that you can never be too sure how long any form of security will remain secure.

For a historical review, I recommend The Code Book by Simon Singh. It's amazing how little cryptography changed over hundreds of years in contrast to how rapidly things started changing recently. Published before these recent attacks on checksums, so the book says almost nothing on those topics.

Submission + - EFF Files Amicus Brief in Google v. Oracle (eff.org)

Areyoukiddingme writes: EFF has filed an amicus brief with the US Supreme Court in Google v. Oracle arguing that APIs are not copyrightable.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today asked the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that functional aspects of Oracle’s Java programming language are not copyrightable, and even if they were, employing them to create new computer code falls under fair use protections.

Oral arguments before the US Supreme Court are scheduled for March 2020.

Comment So vegan is an ideology or religion (Score 1) 350

To my knowledge the vegan patties are grilled on another part of the grill, which means any animal fats "contaminating" them can only be mere trace amounts (and the 0% may still be valid if considered as a rounded number).

So what is the problem with an unnoticeable trace amount of animal fats in your food? They can't have any effect on health, and no animal will be saved if those patties are grilled on a different device.

That leaves only ideological or religious dogmatism as "reason" for the demand to use distinct cooking devices.

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