Technology
- Strengthening Community Bonds: business@lemmy.world
Greetings everyone,
We wanted to take a moment and let everyone know about the !business@lemmy.world community on Lemmy.World which hasn't gained much traction. Additionally, we've noticed occasional complaints about Business-related news being posted in the Technology community. To address this, we want to encourage our community members to engage with the Business community.
While we'll still permit Technology-related business news here, unless it becomes overly repetitive, we kindly ask that you consider cross-posting such content to the Business community. This will help foster a more focused discussion environment in both communities.
We've interacted with the mod team of the Business community, and they seem like a dedicated and welcoming group, much like the rest of us here on Lemmy. If you're interested, we encourage you to check out their community and show them some support!
Let's continue to build a thriving and inclusive ecosystem across all our communities on Lemmy.World!
- Weekly tech discussion and tech support thread
Hey everybody, feel free to post any tech support or general tech discussion questions you have right here.
As always, be excellent to each other.
Yours truly, moderators.
- IFIXIT: Victory Is Sweet - We Can Now Fix McDonald’s Ice Cream Machineswww.ifixit.com Victory Is Sweet: We Can Now Fix McDonald’s Ice Cream Machines
The Copyright Office just handed down a big Right to Repair win: we can now legally repair commercial food preparation equipment, including McDonald’s machines.
This is a nice win for self-repair hardware rights.
For context, see their old video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uCpY3tFTIA
- Norwegian government to set 15-year age limit for using social mediawww.euractiv.com Norwegian government to set 15-year age limit for using social media
"It's about big tech giants versus small children's brains," Norwegian Prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre said.
- Microsoft CEO's pay rises 63% to $79m, despite devastating year for layoffs: 2550 jobs lost in 2024www.eurogamer.net Microsoft CEO's pay rises 63% to $79m, despite devastating year for layoffs
Microsoft boss Satya Nadella will earn a wallet-busting $79.1m (£60.9m) this financial year, up 63 percent on his compe…
>2024 has seen two mass layoffs at Microsoft, with 1900 staff laid off in January, before a further 650 Xbox employees were shown the door in September. > >Regardless, Microsoft's shares are up and the company's market value is now higher than $3tn, as it works to capitalise on the rise of AI.
- Why Surgeons Are Wearing The Apple Vision Protime.com Why Surgeons Are Wearing The Apple Vision Pro
More than 20 surgeries have recently been completed by headset-wearing surgeons at UC San Diego Health
> As a result, most surgeons report experiencing discomfort while performing minimal-access surgery, a 2022 study found. About one-fifth of surgeons polled said they would consider retiring early because their pain was so frequent and uncomfortable. A good mixed-reality headset, then, might allow a surgeon to look at a patient’s surgical area and, without looking up, virtual screens that show them the laparoscopy camera and a patient’s vitals.
- Bluesky’s upcoming premium plan won’t give paid users special treatmentwww.engadget.com Bluesky’s upcoming premium plan won’t give paid users special treatment
Bluesky says it's working on premium subscriptions as it looks to start generating revenue. The platform added that it won't add support for the likes of crypto trading or NFTs.
Bluesky has revealed how it plans to start making money without necessarily having to rely on ads. The platform will remain free to use for everyone, though it’s working on a premium subscription that will provide access to profile customization tools (remember when Myspace offered that for free?) and higher quality video uploads.
One thing that you won't get as a paid user, though, is any preferential treatment. Unlike certain other social platforms, Bluesky won’t boost the visibility of premium members’ posts. Nor will they get any kind of blue check, according to chief operating officer Rose Wang.
- Healthiest way to charge Lithium Ion
When charging a phone wirelessly, there is sometimes significant heat generated. That combined with higher charging rates that are now coming out with the Qi 2 standard make me wonder what the ideal charge for the battery would be.
Most of the time I just toss my phone onto a wireless charger before bed, and don’t really care how quickly it charges. Would it be better to use a 5W brick with a charging pad? Should wireless be avoided and usb used instead?
- Cable companies ask 5th Circuit to block FTC’s click-to-cancel rule | Cable companies worry rule will make it hard to talk customers out of cancelingarstechnica.com Cable companies ask 5th Circuit to block FTC’s click-to-cancel rule
Cable companies worry rule will make it hard to talk customers out of canceling.
>Cable companies, advertising firms, and newspapers are asking courts to block a federal "click-to-cancel" rule that would force businesses to make it easier for consumers to cancel services. Lawsuits were filed yesterday, about a week after the Federal Trade Commission approved a rule that "requires sellers to provide consumers with simple cancellation mechanisms to immediately halt all recurring charges."
>The 5th Circuit is generally regarded as the nation's most conservative, but the 6th Circuit also has a majority of judges appointed by Republican presidents. When identical lawsuits are filed in multiple circuits, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation randomly selects a court to handle the case.
>The NCTA cable lobby group, which represents companies like Comcast and Charter, have complained about the rule's impact on their ability to talk customers out of canceling. NCTA CEO Michael Powell claimed during a January 2024 hearing that "a consumer may easily misunderstand the consequences of canceling and it may be imperative that they learn about better options" and that the rule's disclosure and consent requirements raise "First Amendment issues."
>"Too often, businesses make people jump through endless hoops just to cancel a subscription," FTC Chair Lina Khan said. "The FTC's rule will end these tricks and traps, saving Americans time and money. Nobody should be stuck paying for a service they no longer want."
- Elon Musk's X further squeezes developers with apparent new API feesmashable.com Elon Musk's X further squeezes developers with apparent new API fees
X will reportedly charge third-party developers extra monthly 'per account' fees
- X Payments delayed after Musk’s X weirdly withdrew application for NY licensearstechnica.com X Payments delayed after Musk’s X weirdly withdrew application for NY license
Will X Payments launch this year? Outlook not so good.
- How Intel Got Left Behind in the A.I. Chip Boom [NYT]
cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/45804450
- Google’s DeepMind is building an AI to keep us from hating each otherarstechnica.com An AI designed to help humans reach agreement
The AI manages repeated rounds of discussion to get people to agree on a final statement.
- Google, Microsoft, and Perplexity promote scientific racism in AI search resultsarstechnica.com Google, Microsoft, and Perplexity promote scientific racism in AI search results
AI-powered search engines are surfacing deeply racist, debunked research.
- Annoyed Redditors tanking Google Search results illustrates perils of AI scrapers | "Spreading misinformation suddenly becomes a noble goal," Redditor says.arstechnica.com Annoyed Redditors tanking Google Search results illustrates perils of AI scrapers
“Spreading misinformation suddenly becomes a noble goal,” Redditor says.
>A trend on Reddit that sees Londoners giving false restaurant recommendations in order to keep their favorites clear of tourists and social media influencers highlights the inherent flaws of Google Search’s reliance on Reddit and Google's AI Overview.
>Apparently, some London residents are getting fed up with social media influencers whose reviews make long lines of tourists at their favorite restaurants, sometimes just for the likes. Christian Calgie, a reporter for London-based news publication Daily Express, pointed out this trend on X yesterday, noting the boom of Redditors referring people to Angus Steakhouse, a chain restaurant, to combat it.
>Again, at this point the Angus Steakhouse hype doesn’t appear to have made it into AI Overview. But it is appearing in Search results. And while this is far from being a dangerous attempt to manipulate search results or AI algorithms, it does highlight the pitfalls of Google results becoming dependent on content generated by users who could very easily have intentions other than providing helpful information. This is also far from the first time that online users, including on platforms outside of Reddit, have publicly declared plans to make inaccurate or misleading posts in an effort to thwart AI scrapers.
- Linus Torvalds affirms expulsion of Russian maintainerswww.theregister.com Linus Torvalds affirms expulsion of Russian maintainers
Removal of kernel maintainers linked to Russia attributed to sanctions
- Location tracking of phones is out of control. Here’s how to fight back.arstechnica.com Location tracking of phones is out of control. Here’s how to fight back.
Unique IDs assigned to Android and iOS devices threaten your privacy. Who knew?
- Disability Rights Are Technology Rights | It’s bad enough when DRM infects your video streams, but when it comes for hardware, things get really uglywww.eff.org Disability Rights Are Technology Rights
During Disability Employee Awareness month, we call out the medical tech industry for fighting disabled people's right to repair or modify the tech that they own.
>Powered wheelchairs – a sector dominated by a cartel of private-equity backed giants that have gobbled up all their competing firms – have a serious DRM problem. > >Powered wheelchair users who need even basic repairs are corralled by DRM into using the manufacturer’s authorized depots, often enduring long waits during which they are unable to leave their homes or even their beds. Even small routine adjustments, like changing the wheel torque after adjusting your tire pressure, can require an official service call.
>People with disabilities don’t just rely on devices that their bodies go into; gadgets that go into our bodies are increasingly common, and there, too, we have a DRM problem. DRM is common in implants like continuous glucose monitors and insulin pumps, where it is used to lock people with diabetes into a single vendor’s products, as a prelude to gouging them (and their insurers) for parts, service, software updates and medicine.
>Even when a manufacturer walks away from its products, DRM creates insurmountable legal risks for third-party technologists who want to continue to support and maintain them. That’s bad enough when it’s your smart speaker that’s been orphaned, but imagine what it’s like to have an orphaned neural implant that no one can support without risking prison time under DRM laws.
>Imagine what it’s like to have the bionic eye that is literally wired into your head go dark after the company that made it folds up shop – survived only by the 95-year legal restrictions that DRM law provides for, restrictions that guarantee that no one will provide you with software that will restore your vision.
>Every technology user deserves the final say over how the systems they depend on work. In an ideal world, every assistive technology would be designed with this in mind: free software, open-source hardware, and designed for easy repair. > >But we’re living in the Bizarro world of assistive tech, where not only is it normal to distribute tools for people with disabilities are designed without any consideration for the user’s ability to modify the systems they rely on – companies actually dedicate extra engineering effort to creating legal liability for anyone who dares to adapt their technology to suit their own needs. > >Even if you’re able-bodied today, you will likely need assistive technology or will benefit from accessibility adaptations. The curb-cuts that accommodate wheelchairs make life easier for kids on scooters, parents with strollers, and shoppers and travelers with rolling bags. The subtitles that make TV accessible to Deaf users allow hearing people to follow along when they can’t hear the speaker (or when the director deliberately chooses to muddle the dialog). Alt tags in online images make life easier when you’re on a slow data connection. > >Fighting for the right of disabled people to adapt their technology is fighting for everyone’s rights.
- New Kindle e-readers no longer appear on computersgoodereader.com New Kindle e-readers no longer appear on computers
The latest generation, Kindle Paperwhite, Kindle Scribe 2, Kindle Scribe 1, and Kindle and the upcoming Kindle Colorsoft, all have something in common. When you plug them into USB into your PC or MAC, they no longer appear as external drives. This prevents users from using file managers to back up t...
- What are your AI use cases?
I've seen a lot of sentiment around Lemmy that AI is "useless". I think this tends to stem from the fact that AI has not delivered on, well, anything the capitalists that push it have promised it would. That is to say, it has failed to meaningfully replace workers with a less expensive solution - AI that actually attempts to replace people's jobs are incredibly expensive (and environmentally irresponsible) and they simply lie and say it's not. It's subsidized by that sweet sweet VC capital so they can keep the lie up. And I say attempt because AI is truly horrible at actually replacing people. It's going to make mistakes and while everybody's been trying real hard to make it less wrong, it's just never gonna be "smart" enough to not have a human reviewing its' behavior. Then you've got AI being shoehorned into every little thing that really, REALLY doesn't need it. I'd say that AI is useless.
But AIs have been very useful to me. For one thing, they're much better at googling than I am. They save me time by summarizing articles to just give me the broad strokes, and I can decide whether I want to go into the details from there. They're also good idea generators - I've used them in creative writing just to explore things like "how might this story go?" or "what are interesting ways to describe this?". I never really use what comes out of them verbatim - whether image or text - but it's a good way to explore and seeing things expressed in ways you never would've thought of (and also the juxtaposition of seeing it next to very obvious expressions) tends to push your mind into new directions.
Lastly, I don't know if it's just because there's an abundance of Japanese language learning content online, but GPT 4o has been incredibly useful in learning Japanese. I can ask it things like "how would a native speaker express X?" And it would give me some good answers that even my Japanese teacher agreed with. It can also give some incredibly accurate breakdowns of grammar. I've tried with less popular languages like Filipino and it just isn't the same, but as far as Japanese goes it's like having a tutor on standby 24/7. In fact, that's exactly how I've been using it - I have it grade my own translations and give feedback on what could've been said more naturally.
All this to say, AI when used as a tool, rather than a dystopic stand-in for a human, can be a very useful one. So, what are some use cases you guys have where AI actually is pretty useful?
- Passport-less clearance fully available at Changi Airport, average clearance time of 10 seconds: ICAwww.straitstimes.com Passport-less clearance fully available at Changi Airport, average clearance time of 10 seconds: ICA
Almost 1.5 million travellers have cleared immigration here without having to present a passport. Read more at straitstimes.com.
- Denuvo respond to their rep for tanking games - "I'm a gamer myself, and therefore I know what I'm talking about"www.rockpapershotgun.com Denuvo respond to their rep for tanking games - "I'm a gamer myself, and therefore I know what I'm talking about"
Denuvo Product Manager Andreas Ullmann speaks to RPS about public perception, misconception, and the recent Discord controversy.
- Lexar doubles up the NM790 series SSDs max capacity to 8TB — new drives spotted at retail for approx $1,000www.tomshardware.com Lexar doubles up the NM790 series SSDs max capacity to 8TB — new drives spotted at retail for approx $1,000
PCIe Gen 4x4 drive is suitable for laptops, desktops, as well as consoles.
- Arc Browser - Changing focus when the main product isn't even finished?www.theverge.com The company behind Arc is now building a second, much simpler browser
The Arc browser isn’t dead — it’s just finished.
Just switched to arc on windows. It's really buggy but I wanted to still give it a chance because it feels really nice when it does what it should. I hoped it will get better over time. Still hope so but I don't believe anymore...
- Apple teases “week of announcements” about the Mac starting on Mondayarstechnica.com Apple teases “week of announcements” about the Mac starting on Monday
Announcements will almost certainly include the first wave of M4-powered Macs.
Most people get excited about new iPhones. I’m always more interested in Apple’s October Mac updates.
- Of course telecom companies are suing the FTC to block the new 'click-to-cancel' rulewww.engadget.com Of course telecom companies are suing the FTC to block the new 'click-to-cancel' rule
Telecom companies sue FTC to block the ‘click-to-cancel’ rule. The mandate requires organizations to offer simple cancellation methods for subscriptions.
- Contractors training Amazon, Meta and Microsoft’s AI systems left without pay after Appen moves to new platformwww.theguardian.com Contractors training Amazon, Meta and Microsoft’s AI systems left without pay after Appen moves to new platform
Appen says nearly one-third of payments were not paid on time as a result of issue with payment processing integration
- AI-powered weapons scanners used in NYC subway found zero guns in one month testapnews.com AI-powered weapons scanners used in NYC subway found zero guns in one month test
A pilot program testing AI-powered weapons scanners inside some New York City subway stations this summer did not detect any passengers with firearms — but falsely alerted more than 100 times.
- Bluesky Announces Series A to Grow Network of 13M+ Users - Blueskybsky.social Bluesky Announces Series A to Grow Network of 13M+ Users - Bluesky
Bluesky now exceeds 13 million users, the AT Protocol developer ecosystem continues to grow, and we’ve shipped highly requested features like direct messages and video.
Alternative Title: "Bluesky pretty sure these leopards won't eat their face."
- Nvidia to ship a billion of RISC-V cores in 2024www.tomshardware.com Nvidia to ship a billion of RISC-V cores in 2024
Nvidia quietly adopts RISC-V and replaces proprietary microcontrollers.
- Fujitsu claims world's lightest laptop title at 634 grams • The Registerwww.theregister.com Fujitsu claims world's lightest laptop title at 634 grams
Lightweight 'FMV Zero' is only sold online in Japan, dammit
cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/45750766 >
- China's GNE develops lithium-sulfur battery with energy density of 700Wh/kg - Energy Storagewww.ess-news.com China's GNE develops lithium-sulfur battery with energy density of 700Wh/kg - Energy Storage
The energy density of the newly developed lithium-sulfur prototype far exceeds the one of common lithium -ion batteries.
cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/45711414 >
- San Francisco will spend $212 million to bid 5.25-inch floppy disks goodbye — Muni Metro light rail upgrade represents a $700 million investmentwww.tomshardware.com San Francisco will spend $212 million to bid 5.25-inch floppy disks goodbye — Muni Metro light rail upgrade represents a $700 million investment
A new $212 million contract with Hitachi Rail will replace the original floppy disk-based system, with the remaining $488 million going toward other key maintenance tasks.
- What Ever Happened to Netscape?www.techspot.com What Ever Happened to Netscape?
It was a magical time, hearing the scrambling sound of your phone line connecting you to the Internet. Launching Netscape and staring at the throbber animation while...
- Peter Todd in hiding after being “unmasked” as bitcoin creatorarstechnica.com Peter Todd in hiding after being “unmasked” as bitcoin creator
An HBO documentary says he is the real Satoshi Nakamoto.
> Todd’s urgent dismissal of the documentary reads to Hoback like an attempt to throw Satoshi-hunters off the scent. “It doesn’t surprise me at all that Peter would go on the offense. He’s a master of game theory—it’s what he does. He has spent a lot of years now muddying the waters,” says Hoback. “He’s an unbelievable genius.”
I haven't seen the docu, but I did like his (Hoback's) docu about Qanon, Q: Into the Storm.
- LinkedIn fined $335 million in EU for tracking ads privacy breachestechcrunch.com LinkedIn fined $335 million in EU for tracking ads privacy breaches | TechCrunch
Bad news for LinkedIn in Europe where the Microsoft-owned social network has been reprimanded and fined €310 million for privacy violations related to its
>The administrative penalties, which are worth around $335 million at current exchange rates, have been issued by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) under the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The regulator found a raft of breaches, including beaches to the lawfulness, fairness and transparency of its data processing in this area. > >The GDPR requires that uses of people’s information have a proper legal basis. In this case, the justifications LinkedIn had relied upon to run its tracking ads business were found to be invalid. It also did not properly inform users about its uses of their information, per the DPC’s decision. > >LinkedIn had sought to claim (variously) “consent”-, “legitimate interests”- and “contractual necessity”-based legal bases for processing people’s information — when obtained directly and/or from third parties — to track and profile its users for behavioral advertising. However, the DPC found none were valid. LinkedIn also failed to comply with the GDPR principles of transparency and fairness.
- “I am still alive”: Users say T-Mobile must pay for killing “lifetime” price lockarstechnica.com “I am still alive”: Users say T-Mobile must pay for killing “lifetime” price lock
We obtained 900 complaints the FCC received about T-Mobile’s infamous price hike.