Forgot your password?
typodupeerror

Submission + - VLC blames Windows 11 bug for slow performance, defends open source and calls ou (windowslatest.com) 9

Misanthrope writes: VLC can take 33 seconds to start playing an MP3 on some Windows PCs, and VideoLAN, the developers behind the open-source media player, says a Microsoft Defender bug is to blame.
Jonathan Blow, the game designer and programmer behind Braid and The Witness, said he had finally switched from VLC to Microsoft’s Media Player because the former had become painfully slow, then used the moment to declare that “a large sector of open source software is in a truly embarrassing place now.”

VideoLAN couldn’t let this criticism slide and accused Microsoft, saying a Windows 11 Defender update was interfering with VLC’s plugin cache. However, we checked VLC’s bug reports and found several users on Windows 10 and Windows 11 describing the same startup problem.

Note that the criticism is for MP3 files and not videos, which is what VLC is typically associated with. I have already sold my soul to streaming services like Spotify, and didn’t have any experience of a delay like this despite using VLC every other day.

But for those of you who use VLC to listen to music and have experienced a 33-second delay, the supposed reason is VLC’s plugin cache.

Submission + - Ordinary WiFi can now identify you with near-perfect accuracy (sciencedaily.com) 2

alternative_right writes: Ordinary WiFi networks could quietly become powerful surveillance tools, allowing people to be identified without cameras, special sensors, or even carrying a connected device. Researchers showed that unencrypted signals routinely exchanged between WiFi devices and routers can be used to create radio-based images of people and recognize them within seconds. In tests involving 197 participants, the system identified individuals with nearly 100% accuracy, even from different angles and regardless of how they walked.

Submission + - Massive Debian 13 Linux Kernel Security Update Patches 68 Vulnerabilities (9to5linux.com)

prisoninmate writes: Linux blog 9to5Linux reports: "The new Debian 13 Linux kernel security update is a massive one, and it patches no less than 68 security vulnerabilities in the Linux 6.12 LTS kernel. Most of these security vulnerabilities are smaller, individually scoped fixes, ranging from use-after-free and out-of-bounds access to NULL-pointer bugs across networking, storage, and filesystem drivers. Nonetheless, these may lead to a privilege escalation, denial of service, or information leaks.

The most severe vulnerabilities patched in the new Debian 13 “Trixie” kernel security update are CVE-2026-64530, a use-after-free in the traffic-control subsystem leading to remote denial-of-service with potential for remote code execution, and CVE-2026-64531 (a.k.a. OVSwrap), a local-root vulnerability in the Open vSwitch datapath leading to local privilege escalation to root.

CVE-2026-64532 and CVE-2026-64533 are a pair of NTFS3 bugs that could lead to denial-of-service with potential memory corruption or information leak triggered by mounting a crafted NTFS filesystem, and CVE-2026-64534 and CVE-2026-64535 are two flaws in the NVMe-over-TCP target that may lead to denial-of-service."

Submission + - China wants physical buttons on cars instead of touchscreens (autobuzz.my)

cantle2000 writes: The Chinese Government has mandated physical buttons on Chinese built cars instead of using touchscreens, from July 1st 2027. Essential functions such as the demister, defogger, power windows, lighting,and gear shifting will be button controlled instead of touchscreen controlled.

Slashdot Top Deals

You have a tendency to feel you are superior to most computers.

Working...