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Submission + - AI now writes 25% of Google's code, says CEO Sundar Pichai (arstechnica.com) 1

yuvcifjt writes: On Tuesday during Google's Q3 2024 earnings call, CEO Sundar Pichai revealed that AI systems now generate more than a quarter of new code for its products, with human programmers overseeing the computer-generated contributions, showing how AI tools are already having a sizeable impact on software development.

"We're also using AI internally to improve our coding processes, which is boosting productivity and efficiency," Pichai said during the call. "Today, more than a quarter of all new code at Google is generated by AI, then reviewed and accepted by engineers. This helps our engineers do more and move faster."

ArsTechnica goes on to state:

Google developers aren't the only programmers using AI to assist with coding tasks. It's difficult to get hard numbers, but according to Stack Overflow's 2024 Developer Survey, over 76 percent of all respondents "are using or are planning to use AI tools in their development process this year," with 62 percent actively using them. A 2023 GitHub survey found that 92 percent of US-based software developers are "already using AI coding tools both in and outside of work."

"Whether you think coding with AI works today or not doesn't really matter," posted former Microsoft VP Steven Sinofsky in September. Sinofsky has a personal history of coding going back to the 1970s. "But if you think functional AI helping to code will make humans dumber or isn't real programming just consider that's been the argument against every generation of programming tools going back to Fortran."

Iphone

Apple Launches the iPhone 16E, With In-House Modem and Support For AI (theverge.com) 82

Apple has launched the iPhone 16E, featuring a 6.1-inch OLED display, Face ID, an A18 chipset, USB-C, 48MP camera, and support for Apple Intelligence. Gone but not forgotten: the home button, Touch ID and 64GB of base storage. The Verge reports: The 16E includes the customizable Action Button, but not the new Camera Control you'll find on the 16 series. It does swap its Lightning port for USB-C, now a requirement for the phone to be sold in the EU. On the inside, there's an A18 chipset, the same chip as the iPhone 16. That makes the 16E powerful enough to run Apple Intelligence, the suite of AI tools that includes notification summaries. Even the non-Pro iPhone 15 can't do that, so the 16E is one of the most capable iPhones out there. Apple has previously confirmed that 8GB RAM was the minimum to get Apple Intelligence support in the iPhone 16 series, so it's likely that the 16E also boasts at least that much memory. It's also been bumped to a baseline of 128GB of storage, meaning there's no longer a 64GB iPhone.

There's only a single 48-megapixel rear camera; the lack of additional cameras is the biggest downgrade compared to the company's other handsets. With support for wireless charging and a water-resistant IP rating, there's little you have to give up elsewhere. The iPhone 16E is also the first iPhone to include a modem developed by Apple itself. The company has spent years trying to move away from modems developed by Qualcomm, and we're finally seeing the fruits of that labor. The big questions now are how well the new modem performs and whether Apple is ready to roll out its own connectivity components in the iPhone 17 line later this year.
It's available for Friday starting at $599 with 128GB of storage.

Submission + - Trump to impose 25% to 100% tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, impacting TSMC (tomshardware.com)

DrunkenTerror writes: Donald Trump announced plans Monday night to impose massive tariffs on Taiwan-made chips in an attempt to incentivize companies to relocate production to the United States. On the one hand, this could reduce American companies' reliance on Taiwan in general and TSMC in particular. On the other hand, building a semiconductor fab takes three to four years, so the effect of production moving to the US due to tariffs may not be felt for some time.
The Almighty Buck

MyFitnessPal Paywalls Barcode Scanner That Made Counting Calories Easy (theverge.com) 62

The popular nutrition and weight loss app MyFitnessPal is moving its free barcode scanning feature behind the paywall. The Verge reports: For years, users with free accounts have been able to use this tool to scan food barcodes for easy logging and tracking of daily calorie intake, but the company recently announced that beginning October 1st, a premium account will be required. MyFitnessPal's daily calorie counting is a key component of the app, with the barcode scanner offering a shortcut to finding nutritional value for a specific food item in the app's vast database of food. Much of that database is user-generated, with both free and premium users able to add any food by entering the nutrition facts and barcode off a label. Once October 1st rolls around, free users will still be able to search the database for their food entries, but the barcode scanner will cost $19.99 per month or $79.99 for an annual plan, along with other premium features. And any new users that create a free account on or after September 1st will be shut out from scanning barcodes even earlier unless they pay. "By losing the barcode scanner, MyFitnessPal is doing its users an egregious disservice," writes The Verge's Antonio G. Di Benedetto. "Losing weight and being cognizant of what you eat is hard enough."

"MyFitnessPal is obviously looking to maximize profits, but if the popular r/loseit subreddit is any indication, many users may consider switching to competing apps like Cronometer, Loseit, or Macros over this loss."

Submission + - Researchers Solve Mystery of the Galaxy With No Dark Matter (phys.org)

An anonymous reader writes: A group of researchers from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) has clarified a 2018 mystery in the field of extragalactic astrophysics: The supposed existence of a galaxy without dark matter. Galaxies with no dark matter are impossible to understand in the framework of the current theory of galaxy formation, because the role of dark matter is fundamental in causing the collapse of the gas to form stars. In 2018, a study published in Nature announced the discovery of a galaxy that apparently lacked dark matter. Now, according to an article published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS) a group of researchers at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) has solved this mystery via a very complete set of observations of KKS2000]04 (NGC1052-DF2).

The researchers, perplexed because all the parameters that depended on the distance of the galaxy were anomalous, revised the available distance indicators. Using five independent methods to estimate the distance of the object, they found that all of them coincided in one conclusion: The galaxy is much nearer than the value presented in the previous research. The original article published in Nature stated that the galaxy is at a distance of some 64 million light years from the Earth. However, this new research has revealed that the real distance is much less, around 42 million light years. Thanks to these new results, the parameters of the galaxy inferred from its distance have become "normal," and fit the observed trends traced by galaxies with similar characteristics.

Comment Re:Wrong Question (Score 1) 220

This is my "First Post (reaction)" for over 20 years I never answered, posted or reacted on whatever post, opinion or reaction. I was extremely passive. Now I feel it is time to support the "Wrong Question". I fully commit and agree to his post. For me, Assange could be punished for his hiding in the Ecuador embassy. But he already had his time in this embassy, so he could be freed immediately. For being a non American all other accusations are void.

Submission + - New Windows XP Zero-Day Under Attack (securityweek.com) 1

wiredmikey writes: A new Windows kernel zero-day vulnerability is being exploited in targeted attacks against Windows XP users. Microsoft confirmed the issue and published a security advisory to acknowledge the flaw after anti-malware vendor FireEye warned that the Windows bug is being used in conjunction with an Adobe Reader exploit to infect Windows machines with malware.

Microsoft described the issue as an elevation of privilege vulnerability that allows an attacker to run arbitrary code in kernel mode. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full administrative rights.

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