Comment Why bother then? (Score 1) 57
There are many less precarious ways to make a living.
Submission + - Bank of America kindly asks that you don't share your password with your AI asst (techcrunch.com)
schwit1 writes: In an email blast to customers titled “Protecting your finances in the Al World,” Bank of America urged customers to never share their username and password with another person or an outside service, “including an Al-enabled tool or agent that offers to act on your behalf.”
You can practically sense the frustration in the person sending the email. Still, customers are increasingly handing over their log-ins as personal AI assistants grow more popular. Sharing your banking username and password with an AI assistant runs the risk that it could do something with your finances without your knowledge, or that your bank thinks someone’s raiding your account and locks you out of it. Worse, a security flaw in the AI assistant could result in it leaking your banking credentials elsewhere, giving financially motivated hackers a way into your bank account.
You can practically sense the frustration in the person sending the email. Still, customers are increasingly handing over their log-ins as personal AI assistants grow more popular. Sharing your banking username and password with an AI assistant runs the risk that it could do something with your finances without your knowledge, or that your bank thinks someone’s raiding your account and locks you out of it. Worse, a security flaw in the AI assistant could result in it leaking your banking credentials elsewhere, giving financially motivated hackers a way into your bank account.
Submission + - New Discovery Reveals Shakespeare Co-Wrote Play With His Famous Rival Marlowe (greekreporter.com)
joshuark writes: Nisha Zahid of the Greek Reporter writes that new research has found that William Shakespeare collaborated with Christopher Marlowe on Edward III, a historical play published anonymously in 1596. The findings suggest Shakespeare was the main author, while Marlowe contributed several sections. The discovery challenges the long-held belief that the two playwrights were primarily rivals.
Dr. Rory Loughnane, a Shakespeare scholar at the University of Kent, said the research establishes Shakespeare’s leading role “beyond any reasonable doubt.” The findings could settle a centuries-old debate over the play’s authorship. Scholars had previously linked Shakespeare to several scenes but remained uncertain about how much of the work he wrote.
The researchers used computer-based text analysis to compare Edward III with confirmed works by 10 playwrights active between the late 1580s and mid-1590s.
In one test, the analysis attributed 23 sections of the play to Shakespeare and nine to Marlowe. The results suggest Shakespeare wrote most of the work, with Marlowe contributing a smaller portion. The findings build on earlier research into the play’s disputed authorship.
A 2016 study had already identified Marlowe as a co-author of Shakespeare’s three Henry VI plays. Combined with the new findings, that research suggests Shakespeare and Marlowe maintained a working relationship across several plays during their early careers. Their collaboration on Edward III, believed to have been written around 1592, suggests the two writers worked together while both were in their 20s.
The findings add to scholarly understanding of Shakespeare’s early career and the collaborative nature of Elizabethan theater. The research is expected to appear in the winter issue of the academic journal Shakespeare Quarterly.
Dr. Rory Loughnane, a Shakespeare scholar at the University of Kent, said the research establishes Shakespeare’s leading role “beyond any reasonable doubt.” The findings could settle a centuries-old debate over the play’s authorship. Scholars had previously linked Shakespeare to several scenes but remained uncertain about how much of the work he wrote.
The researchers used computer-based text analysis to compare Edward III with confirmed works by 10 playwrights active between the late 1580s and mid-1590s.
In one test, the analysis attributed 23 sections of the play to Shakespeare and nine to Marlowe. The results suggest Shakespeare wrote most of the work, with Marlowe contributing a smaller portion. The findings build on earlier research into the play’s disputed authorship.
A 2016 study had already identified Marlowe as a co-author of Shakespeare’s three Henry VI plays. Combined with the new findings, that research suggests Shakespeare and Marlowe maintained a working relationship across several plays during their early careers. Their collaboration on Edward III, believed to have been written around 1592, suggests the two writers worked together while both were in their 20s.
The findings add to scholarly understanding of Shakespeare’s early career and the collaborative nature of Elizabethan theater. The research is expected to appear in the winter issue of the academic journal Shakespeare Quarterly.
Submission + - Rubin Telescope discovers a new solar system planet (behindtheblack.com)
schwit1 writes: Using data from the Rubin Telescope in Chile, astronomers have discovered a new planet in the outer solar system beyond Neptune, joining Pluto, Eris, Haumea, and Makemake as the five known large Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNO) so far discovered.
On the evening of 13 October, [Matthew] Holman was running data collected by Rubin earlier in 2026 through a search code he developed with CfA colleague Kevin Napier. The code is built to look at billions of detections of moving objects, compare them, and find the detections that correspond to the same object. Using this method, Holman uncovered ED138, and he immediately noticed that its brightness and distance indicated that it is unusually large. “My first reaction was one of excited disbelief,” says Holman. “Objects like this are very rare, so I immediately started checking whether I or the code had done something wrong.”
To remove any doubt, a detailed search through the data began in the hopes of uncovering more observations of ED138. Juri searched Rubin’s catalogs and images and found 20 more observations, going back to 4 March 2026. In all, Rubin observed ED138 30 times on 20 nights between 4 March and 11 July. Additional archival images from the DOE-fabricated Dark Energy Camera (DECam), and uncovered by the Asteroid Institute’s ADAM Precovery service, provided data going all the way back to 2016. These data allowed the team to trace more than 10 years of ED138's orbit. DECam is mounted on the NSF Victor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab.
ED138 is currently at a distance of about 46 astronomical units (au), where 1 au is the average distance between the Earth and the Sun. For reference, dwarf planet Pluto has an average distance of 40 au. This classifies ED138 as a trans-Neptunian object (TNO) — objects that orbit the Sun at a distance greater than Neptune’s.
The data suggests this new planet is the largest TNO object so far discovered, though at present the size estimate is very uncertain, from 350 to 1400 miles in diameter.
Comment Current news cycle (Score 1) 100
That's why it's on Slashdot. High value thefts are increasing but most are by traditional methods. Fraudulent pickups and carrier impersonation are simple, easy and allow ample time to unload cargo.
Value rose ~725 million dollars for 2025 so a drop in the economic swimming pool. That's hardly impressive in an economy the size of the US.
High value load tracking and hiring private security guards will be natural responses.
Comment Predictable reddit outcome was obvious (Score 1) 146
Reddit drama is hardly "news" and but does drive monetizable view counts. Posting reddit drama on Slashdot drives views because Slashdot is a general news site.
Ideological communities are prone to infighting because humans enjoy competing virtue displays. Weak communities will render themselves irrelevant. Effective communities will thrive. Water is wet.
Where AI proves sufficiently useful it will be used but there is no need for everyone to use AI.
Comment Re:If AI will dominate, why teach mathematics at a (Score 1) 150
But that's exactly my point: if all you want or need is competence, then according to the professor's own admission, an AI will do that. No need for your job, no need for grants, no need to teach. What is the purpose of teaching future generations if an AI will be better at mathematics than you ever can be?
And what I am saying is that either (1) the framing of AI as being the hyper-competent replacement for everything intellectual that we do is fundamentally flawed, and/or (2) it is necessary to understand, for the well-being of our own species, that "competence" and "results" are not the end-all and be-all of a task.
If we fail to appreciate the importance of doing and learning things for their own sake, and to find satisfaction in that process, then we will cede the task of thinking to machines. We can already see early signs of this. And the consequences of this short sightedness is catastrophic.
Comment If AI will dominate, why teach mathematics at all? (Score 2) 150
Let's be clear about the nature of education. Before a student reaches a particular level of self-discipline during their formative educatoinal years, homework is assigned because it is an effective mechanism to have them practice the concepts being taught to them, and to do this outside of the structured classroom environment. This activity promotes the crystallization of learning objectives and prepares the student for the next lesson, which builds upon the previous.
After a student becomes largely self-sufficient, the homework model becomes less about enforcement through grading, and becomes more about preparing the student to manage their own academic development outside of the lectures and office hours. The student goes to class because they understand they NEED to be there to learn, unlike a child who must be TOLD to be there.
In this regard, whether or not homework is graded, and whether or not a student feels a need to cheat or take shortcuts with homework, is really just a reflection of the student's maturity and sense of responsibility for their own intellectual development. Typically, a professor should not need to police what a student does on their own time; what matters is the ability to certify that a student has met the learning objectives--and that is done through examination.
So, what I find disturbing is not the question of whether this professor should grade his students' homework, or whether the students are using AI to do their homework for them instead of actually learning the material. As the old adage goes, cheaters are only cheating themselves--at least, that's what I would still like to believe.
No, what I actually find most disturbing is this apparent disconnect in the professor's views on the future of AI as they pertain to professional mathematics, and the impact of AI use on the education of humanity. He predicts that AI will be better than professional human mathematicians, and I think this belies a deeply mistaken perspective on the purpose of learning and doing mathematics, one that I am extremely surprised that a working professional mathematician would make.
Even if AI models far exceed the human capacity to prove theorems, will it ever FEEL enjoyment and excitement about doing mathematics? Because if it can't stir something in you, then why do it, and why bother teaching it to others? Why would you ever need to teach another student, if you could just always ask a computer instead? In fact, why will anyone in the future ever need to learn anything, if AI will be the replacement for our brains?
I am a human being and I feel. I dream, and I love. I love mathematics, and it is not simply the result or the answer that I love, but the entire process. The struggle, the failure, the questioning and working away at it until at last, there is UNDERSTANDING. And the flaw that I see my fellow humans are making, over and over, is this crazy focus on RESULTS. ANSWERS. GOALS. They seem to have forgotten how to enjoy the process of doing things, whether it is the restoration of a classic car, or composing a musical score, or deciding what to cook for dinner.
I mean, why spend months and months on taking apart a 1957 Buick engine, lovingly cleaning every component, repairing and sometimes manufacturing replacements, and reassembling it? Why, when you can have a new electric car that is far safer and more efficient, with more functions and conveniences? Let me be clear; I don't work on classic cars or have any experience with automotive mechanics. But even from my outsider's perspective, I instantly know, at a visceral level, why they do it. It is for the love of the process; to take this machine and build it with your bare hands so that you have a complete understanding of it; and that this machine is an embodiment of engineering, aesthetics, and a symbolism of the freedom of movement.
That's what AI will not, and will never, do. It can't fall in love with the process, because to do so is what it means to love learning, and is part of what it means to be human. And for a professor of mathematics to not appreciate this is, to me, very misguided, and does not bode well for the education of future generations.
Comment Ukraine needs to find the kompromat (Score 1) 171
Then ensure it's wisely leaked by a third party.
Comment "Luser" awareness matters and fear works (Score 1) 82
Automated defenses have value, but so does making distrust the default it should have been in the first place.
Clueful people don't expect others to be intelligent. We've seen who they elect.
Comment Re:How is the Ukraine war going? (Score 1) 64
I don't know if you're a russian bot or some deluded idiot, but it amuses me to do a breakdown of your post.
NATO turned what was originally intended to be a mostly peaceful show of force like the temporary invasion of Georgia into a war of attrition.
First of all the "peaceful show of force" "temporary" invasion of Georgia involved a few hundred dead in the first two days, and another 5000+ civilians killed in the ethnic cleansing after that, all for a land-grab to seize control of territory covering half of Georgia's coastline that Putin wanted.
Secondly, the "peaceful show of force" "temporary" invasion of Ukraine involved hundreds dead, ballistic and cruise missile attacks on all of Ukraine's largest cities, and Putin publicly admitting the goal of overthrowing the Ukrainian government... and that's just within the first 36 hours. Within two and a half months Russian officials began admitting the intent to permanently annex parts of Ukraine, proceeding with a constitutional amendment a few months later claiming to annex vast territories that Russian had not remotely taken control of, and which Russia is not remotely capable of capturing. Donetsk alone has a population of over a million, two million if you include the metro-area. Russia spent months and many thousand of lives to capture, and later lose, villages in the range of low tens of thousands.
Remember WWI when the lines were pretty much static for years and then suddenly it was all over?
Yes, I remember. As I recall it wasn't exactly "sudden". As I recall... Russian casualties were around five million killed, wounded, or captured, the Russian economy was collapsing, Russia was running out of food, and Russian literally lost it's own capital to civilian rebellion. A few months later the Russian government collapsed and surrendered vast territories including Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, parts of Poland and Ukraine to Germany and its allies (known as the Central Powers). Right about that point the U.S. joined the war reinvigorating the Allied Powers. Germany&friends knew they couldn't win a protracted war. They attempted a quick win, and, in short, they failed. The Allied powers steadily beat them down, with the allies eventually breaking through the lines and progressively liberating territory. With the Allies steadily advancing and the war obviously lost, German forces began rebelling and Germany surrendered.
That's what's happening here. Russia has most of Donbas plus a buffer zone in some other regions that directly border Russia. Ukraine is throwing men at the front lines for Russia to kill but is running out. Territory held is largely irrelevant compared to the number of men killed and weapons destroyed.
So much to unpack there, but it's amusing how you cite "territory held is largely irrelevant" given that the tide has turned and Ukrainians are now the ones breaking through lines and liberating territory from Russian occupation. It's not much yet, but all the map trackers show the reversal. Russia is now officially loosing more territory than they gain. Russia WAS slowly gaining small bits of land, largely through sending meat waves of untrained ill equipped soldiers at Ukrainian lines until the Ukrainians ran out of ammo and had to fall back. However now 7 out of 10 Russians killed are killed by drones. The "no man's land" between the two sides is now many kilometers wide. Any Russian trying to advance gets hit by a drone. Russia has also losing on average 1 air defense system every day, and rapidly depleting. Russian supply lines are getting pummeled by drones. Russian refineries are getting pummeled by drones, with progressively worsening fuel shortages for both the military and for the increasingly rebellious population. Cheap advanced Ukrainian drones are taking out expensive crappy Russian drones, including Russian's new jet-drones. Practically every country on earth is asking Ukraine for their military drone tech, the Russians can't remotely match it. Russian's economy is also fucked, but that topic pretty needs a separate book to cover.
Interesting side notes on weapons destroyed. Russia is destroying it's aircraft almost as fast as Ukraine is, between incompetence and maintenance failures and friendly fire shooting down their own aircraft. Also the nation that is the biggest donor of tanks to Ukraine is... Russia. Ukraine captured countless Russian tanks intact because the Russian military is so abysmal incompetent and corrupt. And as I mentioned, Russian air defense units are depleting. The war is now approaching 5 years, longer than the entirety of WW1. Ukraine is a small fraction of Russia's size, and Russian is literally losing and headed towards another soviet-union-style collapse. The biggest shock to the world of this entire war is just how worthless Putin has made Russian military, through systemic corruption and systemic incompetence.
Polls show the Ukrainian population isn't interested in surrendering. They are defending their homes. It's simple, the war will end when all the soldiers go home. When Russian soldiers go back to their homes in Russia, and when Ukrainian soldiers go back to their homes in the currently occupied parts of Ukraine. Although that's not likely to happen until Putin either expires or is overthrown. Not only is he fanatical enough to drive his country to collapse in the attempt, he knows if he did end the war in failure he'd get killed or overthrown for it.
Anyway, pointless reply to a bot or a useful idiot. But maybe some random passer-by will find some bits interesting. I don't know about the rest of the world, but mainstream US news rarely mentions the Ukraine war anymore, and certainly not in any detail.
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Comment Insightful use of protest as self-promotion (Score 1) 120
Not jumping ship until a politically fashionable trigger event offers itself is a fine way to profit from a system to which one expediently objects. That's an admirably shrewd career move, not rage against anyones machine.
Bailing out "in protest" when you're making phat bank to go make even phatter bank is great self-promotion with no downside. Seriously capable people don't stay unemployed long. The departing will be easily replaced which reinforces corporate policies they object to. No one loses anything because nothing is sacrificed.
Comment Proprietary tech has its price long after purchase (Score 2) 41
https://www.pcmag.com/news/bos...
"In addition, the SoundTouch app will no longer function after Feb. 18, 2026, though it will still be available for download until then in markets outside of Japan. Users' My Bose accounts will remain active.
As for why itâ(TM)s cutting support now, Bose says technology has evolved since the speakers first launched in 2013 and that itâ(TM)s âoeno longer able to sustain the development and support of the cloud infrastructure that powers this older generation of products.â
This likely isnâ(TM)t welcome news for audiophiles who have spent large sums of money on the SoundTouch rangeâ"particularly as units such as the SoundTouch 30 retailed for north of $1,000. One Reddit user claims heâ(TM)s now sitting on âoe$4,000 worth of bricks" following the move. Meanwhile, others called the ending of support "exploitative,â shared links to a petition calling on Bose to renew support for the SoundTouch range, and asked their fellow users to send emails to Bose's management team."
Comment Bose is a Boomer lifestyle brand, not high end. (Score 4, Informative) 41
Bose survives on lifestyle marketing and nostalgia. They made decent small dorm and barracks systems when I bought 901s at the Ramstein audio photo club, but that era is ancient history.
Comment Must be nice to be so entitled+10% actually fight! (Score 1) 120
So you have a very high paying and glamorous job and you don't like it because boo hoo, the military may use it? I am not upset at these folks. I'm jealous. I wish I had so few responsibilities in life that I could just fuck with my livelihood around over something soo stupid. You're just going to go to another AI company. But they totally pinky swear never to contract to the DoD???
Finally, what are they using AI for? I'll wager it's just for mundane, boring shit. It's not designing super bombs to destroy orphanages. They probably are just using it to go through old records....probably trying to ensure the things they are already doing regarding intelligence assessment are more accurate. A goal we can all agree on is military accuracy. The heinous thing about military action is collateral damage, not the concept of war. I think what asshole hippies forget is that better military intelligence and handling would have prevented 9/11. Better military intelligence ensures they capture the right people, not the innocent.
Finally, remember that the US military is a giant logistics company that dabbles in warfare. Approx 10% of solider experience combat in a fucking war. Only 35% of US soliders saw combat in WW2. More servicepeople are doing DHL/UPS stuff than aiming weapons, even in a hot war. I'd imagine the first use of AI is to ensure smoother operations of getting servicepeople paid, getting soldiers fed, ensuring military sites have proper upkeep. The military hires more active duty troops as cooks, dentists, medics, truck drivers, vehicle repair specialists, trainers, fucking projectionists at the base movie theater. Most soldiers do not kill and are not killers. Most are just doing the best they can to ensure safe and smooth operations for the military goals.
Similarly, I think AI will be less about killing foreigners and more about automating performance reviews, digitizing archives, more efficient warehousing, ensuring less payroll and contracting mistakes, etc...the dull, mundane things every large business does....probably a huge portion of it will go to analyzing soldier health data to take care of the veterans who risked their safety and lives to do things you find abhorrent...which most of the rest of the world would do to you without any hesitation...if only they could. I'm massive liberal...but I never forget. The only reason I can think about the bigger picture and higher ideals is because a fuckton of US soldiers convinced the rest of the world's armies that if they harm Americans, we will make sure it's a painful and costly mistake. Ukraine is a constantly reminder. The only reason no one has invaded us like Russia invaded the Ukraine is because they lack the ability, not the desire. And the US Military is the reason why I can be who I am and every entitled spoiled child working for Google can whine like a little bitch about this. I know they'd change their tune if they were living in Ukraine, hearing air raid sirens constantly, and haunted by the ghosts of friends, neighbors, and loved ones who died at the hands of another military.
Finally, what are they using AI for? I'll wager it's just for mundane, boring shit. It's not designing super bombs to destroy orphanages. They probably are just using it to go through old records....probably trying to ensure the things they are already doing regarding intelligence assessment are more accurate. A goal we can all agree on is military accuracy. The heinous thing about military action is collateral damage, not the concept of war. I think what asshole hippies forget is that better military intelligence and handling would have prevented 9/11. Better military intelligence ensures they capture the right people, not the innocent.
Finally, remember that the US military is a giant logistics company that dabbles in warfare. Approx 10% of solider experience combat in a fucking war. Only 35% of US soliders saw combat in WW2. More servicepeople are doing DHL/UPS stuff than aiming weapons, even in a hot war. I'd imagine the first use of AI is to ensure smoother operations of getting servicepeople paid, getting soldiers fed, ensuring military sites have proper upkeep. The military hires more active duty troops as cooks, dentists, medics, truck drivers, vehicle repair specialists, trainers, fucking projectionists at the base movie theater. Most soldiers do not kill and are not killers. Most are just doing the best they can to ensure safe and smooth operations for the military goals.
Similarly, I think AI will be less about killing foreigners and more about automating performance reviews, digitizing archives, more efficient warehousing, ensuring less payroll and contracting mistakes, etc...the dull, mundane things every large business does....probably a huge portion of it will go to analyzing soldier health data to take care of the veterans who risked their safety and lives to do things you find abhorrent...which most of the rest of the world would do to you without any hesitation...if only they could. I'm massive liberal...but I never forget. The only reason I can think about the bigger picture and higher ideals is because a fuckton of US soldiers convinced the rest of the world's armies that if they harm Americans, we will make sure it's a painful and costly mistake. Ukraine is a constantly reminder. The only reason no one has invaded us like Russia invaded the Ukraine is because they lack the ability, not the desire. And the US Military is the reason why I can be who I am and every entitled spoiled child working for Google can whine like a little bitch about this. I know they'd change their tune if they were living in Ukraine, hearing air raid sirens constantly, and haunted by the ghosts of friends, neighbors, and loved ones who died at the hands of another military.
