Pro-AI Group Launches First of Many Attack Ads for US Election
December 20, 2025 at 11:34PM
December 20, 2025 at 11:34PM
politics.slashdot.org
Pro-AI Group Launches First of Many Attack Ads for US Election
"Super PAC aims to drown out AI critics in midterms," the Washington Post reported in August, noting its intial funding over $100 million from "some of Silicon Valley's most powerful investors and executives" including OpenAI president Greg Brockman, his…
Firefox Will Ship With an 'AI Kill Switch' To Completely Disable All AI Features
December 21, 2025 at 12:34AM
December 21, 2025 at 12:34AM
news.slashdot.org
Firefox Will Ship With an 'AI Kill Switch' To Completely Disable All AI Features
An anonymous reader shared this report from 9to5Linux: After the controversial news shared earlier this week by Mozilla's new CEO that Firefox will evolve into "a modern AI browser," the company now revealed it is working on an AI kill switch for the open…
EV Battery-Swapping Startup That Raised $330 Million Files for Bankruptcy
December 21, 2025 at 01:34AM
December 21, 2025 at 01:34AM
hardware.slashdot.org
EV Battery-Swapping Startup That Raised $330 Million Files for Bankruptcy
In 2023 Slashdot covered a battery-swapping startup that promised to give EVs a full charge in about the same time it takes to fill a tank of gas. They just filed for bankruptcy, reports Inc: Ample was founded in 2014 with a goal of "solving slow charging…
'Subscription Captivity': When Things You Buy Own You
December 21, 2025 at 02:34AM
December 21, 2025 at 02:34AM
slashdot.org
'Subscription Captivity': When Things You Buy Own You
A reporter at Mother Jones writes about a $169 alarm clock with special lighting and audio effects. But to use the features, "you need to pay an additional $4.99 per month, in perpetuity." "Welcome to the age of subscription captivity, where an increasing…
Military Satellites Now Maneuver, Watch Each Other, and Monitor Signals and Data
December 21, 2025 at 03:34AM
December 21, 2025 at 03:34AM
news.slashdot.org
Military Satellites Now Maneuver, Watch Each Other, and Monitor Signals and Data
An anonymous reader shared this report from the Washington Post. (Alternate URL here): The American patrol satellite had the targets in its sights: two recently launched Chinese spacecraft flying through one of the most sensitive neighborhoods in space. Like…
Flock Executive Says Their Camera Helped Find Shooting Suspect, Addresses Privacy Concerns
December 21, 2025 at 04:34AM
December 21, 2025 at 04:34AM
yro.slashdot.org
Flock Executive Says Their Camera Helped Find Shooting Suspect, Addresses Privacy Concerns
During a search for the Brown shoogin suspect, a law enforcement press conference included a request for "Ring camera footage from residents and businesses near Brown University," according to local news reports. But in the end it was Flock cameras according…
Parrot OS Switches to KDE Plasma Desktop
December 21, 2025 at 05:34AM
December 21, 2025 at 05:34AM
tech.slashdot.org
Parrot OS Switches to KDE Plasma Desktop
"Yet another distro is making the move to the KDE Plasma desktop," writes Linux magazine. "Parrot OS, a security-focused Linux distribution, is migrating from MATE to KDE Plasma, starting with version 7.0, now available in beta." Based on Debian 13, Parrot…
Does AI Really Make Coders Faster?
December 21, 2025 at 07:38AM
December 21, 2025 at 07:38AM
developers.slashdot.org
Does AI Really Make Coders Faster?
One developer tells MIT Technology Review that AI tools weaken the coding instincts he used to have. And beyond that, "It's just not fun sitting there with my work being done for me." But is AI making coders faster? "After speaking to more than 30 developers…
Bell Labs 'Unix' Tape from 1974 Successfully Dumped to a Tarball
December 21, 2025 at 10:02AM
December 21, 2025 at 10:02AM
tech.slashdot.org
Bell Labs 'Unix' Tape from 1974 Successfully Dumped to a Tarball
Archive.org now has a page with "the raw analog waveform and the reconstructed digital tape image (analog.tap), read at the Computer History Museum's Shustek Research Archives on 19 December 2025 by Al Kossow using a modified tape reader and analyzed with…
Rust's 'Vision Doc' Makes Recommendations to Help Keep Rust Growing
December 21, 2025 at 01:34PM
December 21, 2025 at 01:34PM
developers.slashdot.org
Rust's 'Vision Doc' Makes Recommendations to Help Keep Rust Growing
The team authoring the Rust 2025 Vision Doc interviewed Rust developers to find out what they liked about the language — and have now issued three recommendations "to help Rust continue to scale across domains and usage levels." — Enumerate and…
Is America's Tech Industry Already Facing a Recession?
December 21, 2025 at 04:34PM
December 21, 2025 at 04:34PM
it.slashdot.org
Is America's Tech Industry Already Facing a Recession?
America's unemployment rate for tech jobs rose to 4% in November, and "has been steadily rising since May," reports the Washington Post (citing data from the IT training/certifications company CompTIA). Between October and November, the number of technology…
While Releasing 'Avatar 3', James Cameron Questions the Future of Movies
December 21, 2025 at 08:34PM
December 21, 2025 at 08:34PM
entertainment.slashdot.org
While Releasing 'Avatar 3', James Cameron Questions the Future of Movies
"If I get to do another Avatar film, it'll be because the business model still works," James Cameron tells CNN in a video interview — adding "That I can't guarantee, as I sit here today. That'll play out over the next month, really." He says theatre…
Trump Admin to Hire 1,000 for New 'Tech Force' to Build AI Infrastructure
December 21, 2025 at 11:34PM
December 21, 2025 at 11:34PM
news.slashdot.org
Trump Admin to Hire 1,000 for New 'Tech Force' to Build AI Infrastructure
An anonymous reader shared this report from CNBC: The Trump administration on Monday unveiled a new initiative dubbed the "U.S. Tech Force," comprising about 1,000 engineers and other specialists who will work on artificial intelligence infrastructure and…
FSF Says Nintendo's New DRM Allows Them to Remotely Render User's Device 'Permanently Unusuable'
December 22, 2025 at 12:34AM
December 22, 2025 at 12:34AM
games.slashdot.org
FSF Says Nintendo's New DRM Allows Them to Remotely Render User Devices 'Permanently Unusable'
"In the lead up to its Switch 2 console release, Nintendo updated its user agreement," writes the Free Software Foundation, warning that Nintendo now claims "broad authority to make consoles owned by its customers permanently unusable." "Under Nintendo's…
Will Work Change Over the Next 20 Years?
December 22, 2025 at 01:34AM
December 22, 2025 at 01:34AM
it.slashdot.org
Will Work Change Over the Next 20 Years?
What is the future of work? The Wall Street Journal asked five workplace experts and practitioners. So while AI "is already doing tasks once relegated to newly minted college graduates in many professions," the Journal predicts that in the next 20 years AI…
Inaugural 'Hour of AI' Event Includes Minecraft, Microsoft, Google and 13.1 Million K-12 Schoolkids
December 22, 2025 at 02:34AM
December 22, 2025 at 02:34AM
news.slashdot.org
Inaugural 'Hour of AI' Event Includes Minecraft, Microsoft, Google and 13.1 Million K-12 Schoolkids
Long-time Slashdot reader theodp writes: Last September, tech-backed nonprofit Code.org pledged to engage 25 million K-12 schoolchildren in an "Hour of AI" this school year. Preliminary numbers released this week by the Code.org Advocacy Coalition showed…
Package Forge: The Lesser Known Snap/Flatpak Alternative Without Distro Lock-In
December 22, 2025 at 03:34AM
December 22, 2025 at 03:34AM
linux.slashdot.org
Package Forge: The Lesser Known Snap/Flatpak Alternative Without Distro Lock-In
An anonymous reader shared this report from the site It's FOSS: Linux gives you plenty of ways to install software: native distro packages, Flatpak, Snap, AppImage, source builds, even curl-piped installers. The catch is that each one solves a different problem…
Do Gamers Hate AI? Indie Game Awards Disqualifies 'Clair Obscur' Over GenAI Usage
December 22, 2025 at 04:34AM
December 22, 2025 at 04:34AM
games.slashdot.org
Do Gamers Hate AI? Indie Game Awards Disqualifies 'Clair Obscur' Over GenAI Usage
"Perhaps no group of fans, industry workers, and consumers is more intense about AI use than gamers...." writes New York magazine's "Intelligencer" column: Just this month, the latest Postal game was axed by its publisher, which was "overwhelmed with negative…
'Confused' Waymos Stopped in Intersections During San Francisco Power Outage
December 22, 2025 at 05:34AM
December 22, 2025 at 05:34AM
tech.slashdot.org
'Confused' Waymos Stopped in Intersections During San Francisco Power Outage
"On Saturday, videos shared widely on social media showed Waymo vehicles stopped mid-intersection with hazard lights flashing, forcing other cars to maneuver around them," reports the San Francisco Chronicle. The Independent notes that "Without working traffic…
Are 'Geek Gifts' Becoming Their Own Demographic?
December 22, 2025 at 06:34AM
December 22, 2025 at 06:34AM
entertainment.slashdot.org
Are 'Geek Gifts' Becoming Their Own Demographic?
Long-time Slashdot reader destinyland wonders if "gifts for geeks" is the next big consumer demographic: For this year's holiday celebrations, Hallmark made a special Christmas tree ornament, a tiny monitor displaying screens from the classic video game "Oregon…