Catch up on stories from the past week (and beyond) at the Slashdot story archive

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×

Comment BigTech wants the Privacy Law passed in Virginia (Score 2) 51

by schwit1 (#62429148) Attached to: Big Tech To Congress: Forget About Antitrust, Pass a Privacy Law

There is no private right of action for consumers. Instead, the Virginia Attorney General will have exclusive authority to enforce violations. Violators will have a 30-day period to cure infractions, after which the Attorney General can seek damages of up to $7,500 per violation.

That's it. It has no teeth because Amazon wrote it. This is what BigTech wants federally to supersede state laws.

Comment What about door number 3? (Score 1) 64

by schwit1 (#62426678) Attached to: Canada Considers Law Requiring Online Giants To Compensate News Outlets

"require companies like Google and the Meta Platforms-owned Facebook -- and other major online platforms that reproduce or facilitate access to news content -- to either pay up or go through a binding arbitration process led by an arms-length regulator"

Door number 3 is they stop using feeds from Canadian sources.

Submission + - UK To Build 8 Nuclear Reactors Amid New Energy Strategy (go.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Britain plans to build eight new nuclear reactors and expand production of wind energy as it seeks to reduce dependence on oil and natural gas from Russia and other foreign suppliers following the invasion of Ukraine. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the plans Thursday as part of a new energy security strategy that will also accelerate development of solar power and hydrogen projects. The government said it wants to almost triple nuclear power generation capacity to 24 gigawatts by 2050.

“We’re setting out bold plans to scale up and accelerate affordable, clean and secure energy made in Britain, for Britain, from new nuclear to offshore wind, in the decade ahead,’’ Johnson said. “This will reduce our dependence on power sources exposed to volatile international prices we cannot control.” The strategy comes after oil and natural gas prices soared following the invasion of Ukraine amid concerns that energy supplies from Russia could be curtailed. High energy prices are fueling a cost-of-living crisis in Britain, where household gas and electricity prices jumped 54% this month.

Submission + - Inside the Bitcoin Bust of the Web's Biggest Child Abuse Site (wired.com)

Submitted by Z00L00K
Z00L00K writes: EARLY ONE FALL morning in 2017, in a middle-class suburb on the outskirts of Atlanta, Chris Janczewski stood alone inside the doorway of a home he had not been invited to enter.

Moments earlier, armed Homeland Security Investigations agents in ballistic vests had taken up positions around the tidy two-story brick house, banged on the front door, and when a member of the family living there opened it, swarmed inside. Janczewski, an Internal Revenue Service criminal investigator, followed quietly behind. Now he found himself in the entryway, in the eye of a storm of activity, watching the agents search the premises and seize electronic devices. ...

Over the previous few years, Janczewski, his partner Tigran Gambaryan, and a small group of investigators at a growing roster of three-letter American agencies had used this newfound technique, tracing a cryptocurrency that once seemed untraceable, to crack one criminal case after another on an unprecedented, epic scale. But those methods had never led them to a case quite like this one, in which the fate of so many people, victims and perpetrators alike, seemed to hang on the findings of this novel form of forensics. That morning’s search in the suburb near Atlanta was the first moment when those stakes became real for Janczewski. It was, as he would later put it, “a proof of concept.”

Submission + - Ukrainians use 'Find My' to track Russian troops who stole devices (cultofmac.com)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: Amid the carnage of an invasion, in addition to the horrific damage, displacement and loss of life, troops often take the spoils of war. Such thefts include coveted Apple products, of course.

And that’s what so easily lets Ukrainians see where their Apple devices are going. And because the device is usually on the person of the soldier who took it, Ukrainians can see where Russian troops are going, too.

“Ukrainians are locating their devices on the territory of the Homiel region, Belarus, where part of the Russian army retreated,” read a tweet from Franak Viaorka, senior adviser to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, democratic opposition leader in Belarus.

Submission + - K plans eight new nuclear reactors to boost production (bbc.com)

Submitted by AmiMoJo
AmiMoJo writes: Up to eight more nuclear reactors could be approved on existing sites as part of the UK's new energy strategy. The strategy, which aims to boost UK energy independence and tackle rising prices, also includes plans to increase wind, hydrogen and solar production. But experts have called for a bigger focus on energy efficiency and improving home insulation. Consumers are facing soaring energy bills after the Russian invasion of Ukraine pushed gas prices even higher.

Under the government's new plans, up to 95% of the UK's electricity could come from low-carbon sources by 2030. It outlines, for example, the hope of producing up to 50 gigawatts (GW) of energy through offshore wind farms, which the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Beis) said would be more than enough to power every home in the UK. The government hopes to have a new reactor approved each year until 2030 with the aim to have them up and running by 2050.

Submission + - Amazon signs multibillion-dollar Project Kuiper launch contracts (spacenews.com)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: In the largest commercial launch deal ever, Amazon is purchasing up to 83 launches from Arianespace, Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance to deploy most of its 3,236-satellite Project Kuiper broadband megaconstellation, contracts worth several billion dollars.

Amazon announced April 5 the agreements to launch an unspecified number of satellites on Ariane 6, New Glenn and Vulcan Centaur rockets over five years. The launches are in addition to nine Atlas 5 launches it purchased from ULA a year ago. Amazon did not disclose financial terms but said it is spending billions of dollars on these contracts as part of the constellation’s $10 billion overall cost.

Amazon is buying 38 Vulcan launches from ULA. The agreement includes additional investments in launch infrastructure to support a higher flight rate, such as a dedicated launch platform for Vulcan launches of Kuiper satellites. ULA will make its own investments to support processing two launch vehicles in parallel.

“With a total of 47 launches between our Atlas and Vulcan vehicles, we are proud to launch the majority of this important constellation,” Tory Bruno, chief executive of ULA, said in a company statement. “Amazon’s investments in launch infrastructure and capability upgrades will benefit both commercial and government customers.”

The Arianespace deal includes 18 Ariane 6 launches, a contract that Stéphane Israël, chief executive of Arianespace, described in a statement as the largest contract in his company’s history. Blue Origin is selling 12 New Glenn launches with an option for 15 more.

Notably absent is SpaceX, which in addition to its Falcon and Future Starship vehicles is developing its Starlink broadband constellation that will compete with Kuiper.

Submission + - SPAM: 'A Nail In The Coffin': Tech Workers Fleeing Russia. Impact Will Last For Years

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: Krupnik is just one of tens of thousands of Russian IT workers and entrepreneurs who have fled their homeland since the start of the war. The exodus continues — and it could have deep repercussions for Russia’s long-term economic growth and cybersecurity, experts say.

Artyom Saprykin, a 28-year-old software developer from Ufa, the capital of the Bashkortostan region on the Volga, fled to Armenia on March 15, following in the footsteps of many friends, he told RFE/RL’s Idel.Realities.

“I don’t see prospects for myself in Russia anymore. With such a set of sanctions, [the West] has essentially put a nail in the coffin of Russia’s IT industry,” Saprykin said. “It will not develop, only stagnate.”
Link to Original Source

Comment Unionization is a domestic jobs killer (Score 1, Insightful) 103

The offshore sweatshops and automation industries wish unionization well.

It's better to provide free training for jobs that are difficult to automate and have long term income: Electricians, welders, plumbers, HVAC techs, machinists, nursing, etc

Submission + - SPAM: IRS 5 Times More Likely to Audit Low-Income Filers than others, Including Top 1%

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: Data obtained by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) shows the federal tax agency is five times more likely to audit the lowest income bracket earners ($25K or less) than those in any of the other brackets. The IRS ignored my request for comment (surprise, surprise).

The guy ultimately in charge of the IRS often complains about billionaires who pay no taxes. Maybe that wouldn’t be the case if Biden told the auditors to pay attention to somebody other than the poorest filers.
Link to Original Source

Submission + - SPAM: Robot dog barking Covid safety measures in the streets of China

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: Sci-fi movie or real life? This robot dog walking the streets of Shanghai, China, is broadcasting COVID-19 safety protocols to residents under lockdown. According to Newsflare, the robot’s audio told residents to ‘wear a mask, wash hands frequently, check temperature,’ & more.
Link to Original Source

Slashdot Top Deals

Maybe you can't buy happiness, but these days you can certainly charge it.

Close