THURSDAY, 16 JANUARY 2025, 06:00
The FTC is issuing refunds for 6,764 customers who purchased Razer’s Zephyr face mask, which falsely advertised as meeting N95 standards. GameSpot reports: In May 2024, the FTC announced that a settlement was reached with Razer for more than $1 million. The fine occurred because Razer claimed its face mask met N95 requirements, even though it was never submitted for certification to test...
Roseltorg, Russia’s main electronic trading platform for government and corporate procurement, confirmed it was targeted by a cyberattack claimed by the pro-Ukraine hacker group Yellow Drift. The group allegedly deleted 550 terabytes of data, causing significant operational delays and client concerns. The Record reports: The company initially confirmed last Thursday that its services had been...
Diamond Comic Distributors, the world’s biggest English language comic book distributor, is filing for bankruptcy and scaling its business back in order to survive. The Verge reports: In a letter sent to comics retailers and publishers today, Diamond president Chuck Parker announced that the company has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy and plans to sell off its Alliance Game Distributors arm to...
Ed Miliband says funding pledge means Britain within ‘grasping distance’ of ‘secure, clean, unlimited energy’
The UK government has promised a record £410m investment in nuclear fusion which could help construct a world-leading fusion power project on the site of an old coal plant in Nottinghamshire.
Ministers hope the funding, which will be made available for the coming financial year, will...
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Lots of startups use Google’s productivity suite, known as Workspace, to handle email, documents, and other back-office matters. Relatedly, lots of business-minded webapps use Google’s OAuth, i.e. “Sign in with Google.” It’s a low-friction feedback loop — up until the startup fails, the domain goes up for sale, and somebody forgot to close...
After years of complaints about “unlawful” repairability policies, the FTC is suing tractor manufacturer Deere & Company. Repairability advocates are calling it a milestone for consumer rights.
GOG.com, a European digital distribution platform known for offering DRM-free video games, announced they’ve joined the European Federation of Game Archives, Museums and Preservation Projects (EFGAMP). From the release: “GOG was created with video game preservation in mind,” said Maciej Golebiewski, Managing Director at GOG. “Classic games and the mission to safeguard them for future...
Independent developer Sebastian Vogelsang is building a photo-sharing app for the decentralized social network Bluesky, leveraging its AT Protocol and his earlier app, Skeets. The app, called Flashes, will offer features like photo and short video posts while integrating seamlessly with Bluesky. TechCrunch reports: When launched, Flashes could tap into growing consumer demand for alternatives...
Mark Zuckerberg said content moderation teams in California will relocate to Texas to help reduce bias. In practice, employees aren’t expecting many forced relocations.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from TorrentFreak: In ‘piracy’ associated circles, Z-Library has one of the most followed Telegram channels of all. The shadow library’s official channel amassed over 630,000 subscribers over the years, who were among the first to read site announcements and other key updates. Z-Library previously had some of its messages removed due to copyright...
Change Healthcare has hidden its data breach notification webpage from search engines using “noindex” code, TechCrunch found, making it difficult for affected individuals to find information about the massive healthcare data breach that compromised over 100 million people’s medical records last year. The UnitedHealth subsidiary said Tuesday it had “substantially” completed notifying victims of...
LinkedIn has unveiled an AI-powered “Job Match” feature to discourage users from applying to positions they aren’t qualified for, aiming to address recruitment inefficiencies in a tight job market. The tool, the Microsoft-owned firm said, analyzes users’ experience against job requirements to provide detailed qualification summaries, going beyond basic keyword matching. Premium subscribers will...
As the push towards Windows 11 continues, Microsoft confirms Windows 10 users will lose support for apps including Word, Excel, and Outlook.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy called for a statewide ban on cellphones in K-12 classrooms during his State of the State address on Tuesday, citing concerns over student distraction and mental health. The Democratic governor, in his final year in office, also proposed full salary payments for state workers using parental leave and expanded full-day pre-K programs across the state. The...
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission sued Deere & Co on Wednesday for allegedly monopolizing the repair market for its farm equipment by forcing farmers to use authorized dealers, driving up costs and causing service delays. The lawsuit, joined by Illinois and Minnesota, claims Deere maintains complete control over equipment repairs by restricting access to essential software to its dealer...
After the devastation of the Los Angeles fires, officials are ready to rebuild. But defending against future fires requires thinking about more than buildings.
With a TikTok ban looming in the United States and the app’s future unknown, now might be a good time to save your work while you can.
Executives and researchers leading Meta’s AI efforts obsessed over beating OpenAI’s GPT-4 model while developing Llama 3, according to internal messages unsealed by a court in one of the company’s ongoing AI copyright cases, Kadrey v. Meta. From a report: “Honestly… Our goal needs to be GPT-4,” said Meta’s VP of Generative AI, Ahmad Al-Dahle, in an October 2023 message to Meta researcher Hugo...
With a TikTok shutdown all but inevitable, users are dedicating their final days on the app to fictional agents of the Chinese government.
Chinese drone maker DJI has removed software restrictions that previously prevented its drones from flying over sensitive areas in the United States, including airports, wildfires, and government buildings like the White House, replacing them with dismissible warnings. The policy shift comes amid rising U.S. distrust of Chinese drones and follows a recent incident where a DJI drone disrupted...
The costs and risk of having Tesla operations in South Africa far outweighs the benefit of Starlink approval. However, getting an EV battery plant up and running is nonetheless a no-brainer for the country’s existing automakers.