Comment Re:Maybe stick to the speed limit? (Score 2) 172
Related: Florida red light camera law is unconstitutional because tickets go to car owner and not driver.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Comment You don't see wars fought over solar panels (Score 1) 97
or wind turbines. That's because oil makes the world work.
Without oil, natgas and coal we live in the 18th century.
Submission + - Mount Everest Climbers 'Poisoned' by Guides in Insurance Fraud Scheme (kathmandupost.com)
schwit1 writes: Investigations reveal a vast network of trekking firms, helicopter operators, hospitals and agents staging fake evacuations, fabricating medical records and inflating bills to siphon millions from global insurers.
Submission + - Brazil Builds Free Payment System; US Wonders If That's Allowed (yahoo.com) 1
Suripat writes: Brazil’s instant payment system, Pix, has quickly changed how people handle money, making transfers free and nearly immediate. It’s become so widely used that cash and even card payments are losing ground. That success is now getting attention abroad, especially in the United States, where officials are looking into whether a government-backed system like Pix gives it an unfair edge over private payment companies. Supporters see it as efficient and accessible, while critics raise questions about competition. As Pix keeps growing, it’s starting to look less like a local innovation and more like something that could challenge established payment systems worldwide.
Submission + - We are nowhere near AGI (x.com)
schwit1 writes: Humans: 100%
Gemini 3.1 Pro: 0.37%
GPT 5.4: 0.26%
Opus 4.6: 0.25%
Grok-4.20: 0.00%
François Chollet just released ARC-AGI-3 — the hardest AI test ever created.
135 novel game environments. No instructions. No rules. No goals given.
Figure it out or fail.
Untrained humans solved every single one. Every frontier AI model scored below 1%.
Each environment was handcrafted by game designers. The AI gets dropped in and has to explore, discover what winning looks like, and adapt in real time.
The scoring punishes brute force. If a human needs 10 actions and the AI needs 100, the AI doesn't get 10%. It gets 1%. You can't throw more compute at this.
For context: ARC-AGI-1 is basically solved. Gemini scores 98% on it. ARC-AGI-2 went from 3% to 77% in under a year. Labs spent millions training on earlier versions.
ARC-AGI-3 resets the entire scoreboard to near zero.
Abstract and more here.
Gemini 3.1 Pro: 0.37%
GPT 5.4: 0.26%
Opus 4.6: 0.25%
Grok-4.20: 0.00%
François Chollet just released ARC-AGI-3 — the hardest AI test ever created.
135 novel game environments. No instructions. No rules. No goals given.
Figure it out or fail.
Untrained humans solved every single one. Every frontier AI model scored below 1%.
Each environment was handcrafted by game designers. The AI gets dropped in and has to explore, discover what winning looks like, and adapt in real time.
The scoring punishes brute force. If a human needs 10 actions and the AI needs 100, the AI doesn't get 10%. It gets 1%. You can't throw more compute at this.
For context: ARC-AGI-1 is basically solved. Gemini scores 98% on it. ARC-AGI-2 went from 3% to 77% in under a year. Labs spent millions training on earlier versions.
ARC-AGI-3 resets the entire scoreboard to near zero.
Abstract and more here.
Submission + - AI Scammer Exposed: "hold up three fingers in front of your face" (x.com)
An anonymous reader writes: A video is going viral showing scam baiter Jim Browning exposing an Indian scammer using AI deepfake to pretend to be a White man, with the scheme failing when he is asked to hold up three fingers in front of his face.
Submission + - Iran blocks accounts of Starlink users as crackdown continues (iranintl.com) 1
An anonymous reader writes: Iranian police said on Thursday they had blocked 61 bank accounts belonging to users of Starlink satellite internet in the central city of Yazd, as part of a broader crackdown on unauthorized connectivity.
A local police commander said six Starlink devices were seized and six people detained following searches carried out with judicial approval.
Authorities accused the suspects of trading access to the service, sharing information with foreign-based outlets and engaging in activities deemed hostile. The individuals were referred to prosecutors, police said.
The move comes amid a broader wave of arrests across Iran, with authorities detaining dozens in recent days on security-related charges, including alleged links to militant activity, contacts with foreign media and online activity. Officials have also reported seizing weapons, explosives and Starlink devices in multiple provinces.
Starlink is banned in Iran, where authorities have imposed a near-total internet blackout during the war. Monitoring group NetBlocks says connectivity has dropped to around 1% of normal levels, leaving satellite services among the few ways to access the global internet.
A local police commander said six Starlink devices were seized and six people detained following searches carried out with judicial approval.
Authorities accused the suspects of trading access to the service, sharing information with foreign-based outlets and engaging in activities deemed hostile. The individuals were referred to prosecutors, police said.
The move comes amid a broader wave of arrests across Iran, with authorities detaining dozens in recent days on security-related charges, including alleged links to militant activity, contacts with foreign media and online activity. Officials have also reported seizing weapons, explosives and Starlink devices in multiple provinces.
Starlink is banned in Iran, where authorities have imposed a near-total internet blackout during the war. Monitoring group NetBlocks says connectivity has dropped to around 1% of normal levels, leaving satellite services among the few ways to access the global internet.
Submission + - IBM quantum computer simulates real magnetic materials and matches lab data (nerds.xyz)
BrianFagioli writes: IBM says its quantum computer can now simulate real magnetic materials and match actual lab experiment results, which is something people have been waiting years to see. Instead of just theoretical output, the system reproduced neutron scattering data from a known material, meaning it lines up with real world physics. It still relies on a mix of quantum and classical computing and this is a narrow use case for now, but it is one of the first times quantum hardware has produced results that scientists can directly validate against experiments, which makes it a lot more interesting than the usual hype.
Submission + - This guy let an AI agent handle his scam texts for a week (x.com)
An anonymous reader writes: a scammer asked him to buy a $500 gift card
the agent spent 4 hours "driving" to target.
sent status updates like "i'm at the red light now, there's a very handsome squirrel on the sidewalk. do you think he's married?" ...
the agent spent 4 hours "driving" to target.
sent status updates like "i'm at the red light now, there's a very handsome squirrel on the sidewalk. do you think he's married?"
Submission + - Vostok, Antarctica: March 24th had the coldest March temperature ever recorded (theweathernetwork.com)
An anonymous reader writes: “Vostok, Antarctica, recorded -76.3C on March 24, 2026. That has beat out the previous March record, which was -75.7C in Dome Fuji, Antarctica, in 2013.”
But wait, it’s a cross-hemispheric phenomenon: “Three of the coldest locations in the Northern Hemisphere pushed it to a new level this winter, with one spot in Greenland dropping to about as cold as it gets. Here in Canada, the community of Braeburn, Yukon, saw readings fall to -55.7C on Dec. 23, 2025, marking the country’s coldest temperature since 1999.”
But since it's cold, it's just weather, not climate
But wait, it’s a cross-hemispheric phenomenon: “Three of the coldest locations in the Northern Hemisphere pushed it to a new level this winter, with one spot in Greenland dropping to about as cold as it gets. Here in Canada, the community of Braeburn, Yukon, saw readings fall to -55.7C on Dec. 23, 2025, marking the country’s coldest temperature since 1999.”
But since it's cold, it's just weather, not climate
Comment He's going to Kathleen Kennedy the LOTR (Score 2) 140
Can you short a franchise?
Submission + - SCOTUS: ISPs not liable for user copyright infringement (supremecourt.gov)
An anonymous reader writes: What the case was about:
Sony and other record labels sued Cox (an ISP) for contributory copyright infringement. They claimed Cox was liable because it kept providing internet service to customers it knew were illegally downloading music (after receiving 163,000+ notices).
The ruling (8-1):
Cox wins. The Supreme Court reversed the $1 billion verdict against Cox.
Key holding in plain English:
An internet provider is not automatically liable just because it knows some customers are pirating and doesn’t cut them off.
Contributory liability requires intent — either actively encouraging piracy or offering a service specifically designed for it.
Cox only sold ordinary high-speed internet (which has tons of legal uses), so it is not liable.
Mere knowledge of infringement by users is not enough.
The ruling (8-1):
Cox wins. The Supreme Court reversed the $1 billion verdict against Cox.
Key holding in plain English:
An internet provider is not automatically liable just because it knows some customers are pirating and doesn’t cut them off.
Contributory liability requires intent — either actively encouraging piracy or offering a service specifically designed for it.
Cox only sold ordinary high-speed internet (which has tons of legal uses), so it is not liable.
Mere knowledge of infringement by users is not enough.
Submission + - Hong Kong Police Can Demand Passwords Under New National Security Rules (bbc.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Hong Kong police can now demand phone or computer passwords from those who are suspected of breaching the wide-ranging National Security Law (NSL). Those who refuse could face up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $12,700, and individuals who provide "false or misleading information" could face up to three years in jail. It comes as part of new amendments to a bylaw under the NSL that the government gazetted on Monday.
The NSL was introduced in Hong Kong in 2020, in wake of massive pro-democracy protests the year before. Authorities say the laws, which target acts like terrorism and secession, are necessary for stability — but critics say they are tools to quash dissent. The new amendments also give customs officials the power to seize items that they deem to "have seditious intention."
Monday's amendments ensure that "activities endangering national security can be effectively prevented, suppressed and punished, and at the same time the lawful rights and interests of individuals and organisations are adequately protected," Hong Kong authorities said on Monday. Changes to the bylaw was announced by the city's leader, John Lee, bypassing the city's legislative council. The NSL also allows for some trials to be heard behind closed doors.
The NSL was introduced in Hong Kong in 2020, in wake of massive pro-democracy protests the year before. Authorities say the laws, which target acts like terrorism and secession, are necessary for stability — but critics say they are tools to quash dissent. The new amendments also give customs officials the power to seize items that they deem to "have seditious intention."
Monday's amendments ensure that "activities endangering national security can be effectively prevented, suppressed and punished, and at the same time the lawful rights and interests of individuals and organisations are adequately protected," Hong Kong authorities said on Monday. Changes to the bylaw was announced by the city's leader, John Lee, bypassing the city's legislative council. The NSL also allows for some trials to be heard behind closed doors.
Comment Re:Summary: TurboTax is not innocent per se (Score 1, Informative) 59
It is NOT what they were created to do. The agencies were not created to be judge AND jury.
Comment Lorem ipsum dolor sit, you drunken bastard (Score 1) 118
Not a surprise, seeing their lack of attention attention to detail.
Right now, on their home page under "We Make Getting Back on the Road Simple"
there's 4 testimonials, all with placeholder text.
I'd bet their automated billing for $75/mo is running just fine.
Parasites.
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