Comment Re:So what? (Score 1) 88
And what does the language matter anyway when you can now type in pseudocode into Copilot and ask it to form perfect equivalent code in any language?
Submission + - Colorado's teen suicide prevention program funded by Bill Gates
An anonymous reader writes: Colorado's Teen Suicide Prevention Program Is Funded By Bill Gates
“A new mental health and suicide prevention program being rolled out in high schools is revealed to have financial ties to Big Pharma and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The investigation shows how these programs, which include mandatory depression screenings for students, can create a pipeline for pharmaceutical treatments like SSRIs. This is done through a complex network of non-profits and foundations, obscuring the financial conflict of interest from parents.”
“A new mental health and suicide prevention program being rolled out in high schools is revealed to have financial ties to Big Pharma and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The investigation shows how these programs, which include mandatory depression screenings for students, can create a pipeline for pharmaceutical treatments like SSRIs. This is done through a complex network of non-profits and foundations, obscuring the financial conflict of interest from parents.”
Submission + - What the Jaguar Land Rover cyberattack taught every manufacturer
An anonymous reader writes: What the Jaguar Land Rover Cyberattack Taught Every Manufacturer
“In late August 2025, a cyberattack hit Jaguar Land Rover, the UK's second-largest carmaker by volume. Within days, the company had shut down its IT systems and stopped vehicle production entirely across its three British plants in Solihull, Wolverhampton, and Halewood. The lines did not restart for roughly five weeks.”
“The attack is now widely described as the most financially damaging cyber event in British history, with an estimated total hit to the UK economy of around £1.9 billion and consequences felt across roughly 5,000 associated businesses, from tier-one suppliers down to dealerships”
“In late August 2025, a cyberattack hit Jaguar Land Rover, the UK's second-largest carmaker by volume. Within days, the company had shut down its IT systems and stopped vehicle production entirely across its three British plants in Solihull, Wolverhampton, and Halewood. The lines did not restart for roughly five weeks.”
“The attack is now widely described as the most financially damaging cyber event in British history, with an estimated total hit to the UK economy of around £1.9 billion and consequences felt across roughly 5,000 associated businesses, from tier-one suppliers down to dealerships”
Submission + - 39 New Passkey Authentication Compromises + Bad UI = Passwords on Paper? (bleepingcomputer.com)
eqteam writes: We all saw this coming: "There are now at least 39 publicly documented methods, attack paths, research techniques, and exploitation scenarios involving passkeys and the infrastructure around them. Many already have working proof of concept tools or published research showing exactly how the techniques can be executed. Some are already appearing in real world attack patterns."
According to the above-quoted (sponsored) Bleeping Computer article: "A modern passkey authentication ceremony crosses an extraordinary number of trust boundaries. It can involve the web application, browser, operating system, password manager, cloud synchronization service, mobile device, Bluetooth transport, account recovery system, enrollment process, help desk, and ultimately the human being approving the authentication.
Researchers are attacking almost every one of those layers. Published techniques now include assertion mining, assertion replay, circuit breaker attacks, assertion phishing, browser hooking, assertion capture, challenge injection, detour replay, user verification manipulation, and user presence manipulation."
Furthermore, intrepid users who enable Passkey authentication end up turning it off because they can't figure out how to make it work across devices (thanks to confusing implementations that aren't consistent across platforms and operating systems). Additionally, Passkey adoption is pretty slow, with only 872 websites implementing Passkey authentication per this research paper titled The State of Passkeys: Studying the Adoption and Security of Passkeys on the Web presented at the 2026 USENIX Security Symposium.
With 2FA being deprecated by many large orgs and biometric authentication options proving to look like Swiss cheese, what are we to do besides going back to writing down passwords on paper while we wait for the technology to get better?
According to the above-quoted (sponsored) Bleeping Computer article: "A modern passkey authentication ceremony crosses an extraordinary number of trust boundaries. It can involve the web application, browser, operating system, password manager, cloud synchronization service, mobile device, Bluetooth transport, account recovery system, enrollment process, help desk, and ultimately the human being approving the authentication.
Researchers are attacking almost every one of those layers. Published techniques now include assertion mining, assertion replay, circuit breaker attacks, assertion phishing, browser hooking, assertion capture, challenge injection, detour replay, user verification manipulation, and user presence manipulation."
Furthermore, intrepid users who enable Passkey authentication end up turning it off because they can't figure out how to make it work across devices (thanks to confusing implementations that aren't consistent across platforms and operating systems). Additionally, Passkey adoption is pretty slow, with only 872 websites implementing Passkey authentication per this research paper titled The State of Passkeys: Studying the Adoption and Security of Passkeys on the Web presented at the 2026 USENIX Security Symposium.
With 2FA being deprecated by many large orgs and biometric authentication options proving to look like Swiss cheese, what are we to do besides going back to writing down passwords on paper while we wait for the technology to get better?
Submission + - More Wisconsin Municipalities Cancel Flock Camera Contracts
MAurelius writes: Apparently Flock Safety was collecting five years of data from various cities, anonymizing it, and repackaging the data for corporate promotional purposes and training. The municipalities and university in the story were unaware of Flock's retention of five years of their data. Those twelve today announced they are canceling their contracts with Flock Safety. https://www.jsonline.com/story...
Submission + - Musk wins court order to block use of "Twitter," but not "tweet" and bird logo (arstechnica.com)
joshuark writes: Elon Musk’s X won a court order blocking Operation Bluebird from launching a new app taking over the Twitter name. Chief Judge Colm Connolly explained that Operation Bluebird was unlikely to prove that X had entirely abandoned the Twitter name. Therefore, X was likely to succeed on trademark infringement and dilution claims tied to the platform’s former name.
Most compellingly, X argued that it still uses the Twitter name in the current listing for the X app in Apple’s App Store. In the first sentence of that listing, written in the same size font as the rest of the text, a single clause clinched the early court win for X by stating, “Welcome to X (formerly known as Twitter).”
X was not as successful in its claims that it had not abandoned other Twitter marks, including uses of the term “tweet” and the bird logo.
Musk’s public claims that “soon we shall bid adieu to the Twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds” and “we’re cutting the Twitter logo off the building with blow torches” provided “compelling evidence that X Corp. harbors an intent not to resume use of the Tweet mark and Bird logo,” the judge found. Therefore, Operation Bluebird is likely to prove that X abandoned those trademarks.
For Operation Bluebird, the goal is to launch a service to rival Musk’s that is member-owned, rather than billionaire-owned and controlled. For $20, users can join and get rid of X’s “trust problem,” the tweet.app site said.
Most compellingly, X argued that it still uses the Twitter name in the current listing for the X app in Apple’s App Store. In the first sentence of that listing, written in the same size font as the rest of the text, a single clause clinched the early court win for X by stating, “Welcome to X (formerly known as Twitter).”
X was not as successful in its claims that it had not abandoned other Twitter marks, including uses of the term “tweet” and the bird logo.
Musk’s public claims that “soon we shall bid adieu to the Twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds” and “we’re cutting the Twitter logo off the building with blow torches” provided “compelling evidence that X Corp. harbors an intent not to resume use of the Tweet mark and Bird logo,” the judge found. Therefore, Operation Bluebird is likely to prove that X abandoned those trademarks.
For Operation Bluebird, the goal is to launch a service to rival Musk’s that is member-owned, rather than billionaire-owned and controlled. For $20, users can join and get rid of X’s “trust problem,” the tweet.app site said.
Comment Re:Integral layer of the Trusted-Computing/DRM sta (Score 1) 34
In the long term, the goal is for ISPs to use NAC/TNC to interrogate your computer for Trusted Computing compliance, and deny you any internet access whatsoever if your machine isn't compliant.
You said home ISPs sought to deploy Trusted Network Connect about 20 years ago. It hasn't happened. What's holding it up? The rise of mobile devices, smart TVs, and other devices incompatible with the remediation means available in quarantine?
Comment Re: They are all garbage is the problem (Score 1) 76
If likes and boosts are overrated, then is there a way to find others' posts about a topic or to get more replies to my posts?
Comment $5 to $20 games exist now; IARC self-rating (Score 1) 102
Digital games themselves did not lower prices, despite them being marketed as doing so without the cost of materials/packaging/handling/shipping
From the summary: "Current prices are tied to retail. Without physical discs holding digital hostage we'll see a larger spectrum of pricing." As I understand this, paid downloads did not lower prices of AAA games because of retail price parity contracts. Paid downloads did, however, make the $5 to $20 tier for indie game pricing viable.
One thing not mentioned in the summary is that publishers of games distributed in physical copies owe a royalty to the age rating agency of each region in which a game is published. Publishers of downloadable games do not, instead relying on self-certification through the IARC form. The age rating agencies allow this because it's a lot more practical to update a game once it is found to have been misclassified.
Comment Re: They are all garbage is the problem (Score 1) 76
Easy for me to find lots of interesting things on Mastodon. I think, despite what people say, they love the rage bait on the bigger networks. Mastodon is just normal people discussing normal topics.
Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person who ever posts in the tag for a particular toy line. Either I guessed the wrong tag, or I'm the only person on fedi interested in that topic. Which is more likely?
Comment Re:I don't understand why this is considered... (Score 1) 187
What exactly do they owe you?
The summary states that Reddit owes the OP a reason why the user was banned, as well as a complete, untruncated copy of the user's posting history.
Can you cite the law that says so?
The summary states that the relevant law is Article 17 of the EU's Digital Services Act.
Comment Toxoplasmosis, for example (Score 1) 209
Toxoplasma gondii infection can lead to a variety of neuropsychiatric conditions.
Comment Re: If you've been falsely accused of cheating (Score 1) 52
There's a difference:
- In the case of a remote test, those who fail are not out the cost of travel and accommodation.
- In the case of an in-person test, those who fail are out the cost of travel and accommodation.
Comment Re:If you've been falsely accused of cheating (Score 2) 52
Also note that these 58'000 students are only asked to prove their competence a 2nd time in person, they are not expelled or denied.
Not even denied for inability to afford last-minute travel to a city where the exam is held?
Comment GOG is for poaching more than launching (Score 1) 49
And like I said I don't see anyone talking about GOG.
How much of that is related to GOG's reputation for being selective about what games and genres they accept? I get the impression that GOG is a bit more "curated" than some other PC game stores. The curators don't really want visual novels (a style of menu-driven adventure game). And apart from new releases by CD Projekt (which owned GOG before the end of 2025), I suspect that GOG seeks to poach "catalog" games that have already been successful on the competing store Steam as opposed to having a game at day one.
