iFixit Tears Down the iPhone Air, Finds That It's Mostly Battery

SlashDot - Mon, 09/22/2025 - 19:10
iFixit's teardown of Apple's iPhone Air reveals a device dominated by its battery, which occupies approximately two-thirds of the internal space while critical components including the logic board cluster at the top. The battery matches the component used in Apple's iPhone Air MagSafe battery pack and can be swapped between devices. The top-heavy component layout addresses the bendgate vulnerability that damaged logic boards in previous thin iPhone models when pressure was applied to the device's middle section. Despite the iPhone Air's thinner profile, iFixit awarded it a 7 out of 10 repairability score, citing reduced component layering that provides more direct access to the USB-C connector, battery, and other serviceable parts compared to standard iPhone models. The dual-entry system further contributes to the device's serviceability.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Tylenol, Autism and Vaccines: What to Know After Trump’s Announcement

NY Times - Mon, 09/22/2025 - 19:04
For decades, researchers have looked for links. Most believe the disorder springs from a complex interplay of genetics and environmental factors.

Man Who Shined a Laser at Marine One With Trump Aboard Is Arrested, U.S. Says

NY Times - Mon, 09/22/2025 - 18:57
Jacob Winkler aimed a laser pointer at the presidential helicopter as it took off from the White House on Saturday, the authorities said. He was charged with a felony.

F.D.A. to Relabel Leucovorin for Autism Treatment

NY Times - Mon, 09/22/2025 - 18:47
The F.D.A. announced Monday that it would change the drug’s label to reflect potential benefits in reducing autism symptoms.

Top Economists Agree That Gen Z's Hiring Nightmare Is Real

SlashDot - Mon, 09/22/2025 - 18:30
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Fortune: The dramatic rise in unemployment among Americans under 25 -- especially recent graduates -- has become one of the most troubling economic headlines of 2025. Recent insights from economists, central bankers, and labor market analysts signal that this appears to be a uniquely American challenge, underpinned by a "no hire, no fire" economy rather than solely by the rapid ascent of artificial intelligence. For many Gen Z workers, the struggle to land a job can feel isolating and fuel self-doubt. But that frustration recently got some high-level validation: Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell echoed economists' concerns about the cooling labor market, telling reporters at his regular press conference following the Federal Open Market Committee that it's an "interesting labor market" right now, adding that "kids coming out of college and younger people, minorities, are having a hard time finding jobs." Noting a low job finding rate, along with a low redundancy rate, he said, "you've got a low firing, low hiring environment." and noting that it's harder than ever for young jobseekers to break in. While recent months have been dubbed by Deutsche Bank "the summer AI turned ugly," and some major studies find AI adoption disrupting some entry-level roles, Powell was less sure. AI "may be part of the story," but he insisted the main drivers are a broadly slowed economy and hiring restraint. Top economists at Goldman Sachs and UBS tackled the subject soon after and found Powell to be mostly on the money. This isn't an AI story, at least not yet. "The U.S. labor market experience is peculiar," said Paul Donovan, UBS Chief Economist. "Young Euro area workers have a record low unemployment rate. In the UK, the young persons' unemployment rate has fallen steadily. Employment participation by young Japanese workers is near all-time highs. It seems highly implausible that AI uniquely hurts the employment prospects of younger US workers." "It might be tempting to blame technology... Machines, robots, or computers replacing humans is an ever-popular dystopian scenario." Donovan concludes that the U.S. pattern "more convincingly fits a broader hiring freeze narrative, affecting new entrants to the workforce." Goldman Sachs economist Pierfrancesco Mei said last Thursday that "finding a job takes longer in a low-turnover labor market." He argued that "job reallocation," or the pace at which new jobs are created and existing ones destroyed, has been on the decline since the late 1990s... "almost all the variation in turnover since the Great Recession mostly falls on younger workers" and is taking place as "churn." Goldman found that in 2019, it took a young unemployed worker about 10 weeks to find a new job in a low-churn state; now that's 12 weeks on average.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Jimmy Kimmel to Return to Air After Suspension Over Kirk Remarks: What to Know

NY Times - Mon, 09/22/2025 - 18:06
The late-night show will return to the air on Tuesday, nearly a week after ABC suspended it in response to Mr. Kimmel’s remarks about the shooting of Charlie Kirk.

LinkedIn Set To Start To Train Its AI on Member Profiles

SlashDot - Mon, 09/22/2025 - 17:50
LinkedIn has said it will start using some member profiles, posts, resumes and public activity to train its AI models from November 3, 2025. From a report: Users are rightly frustrated with the change, with the biggest concern isn't the business networking platform will do so, but that it's set to be enabled by default, with users instead having to actively opt out. Users can choose to opt out via the 'data for generative AI improvement' setting, however it will only apply to data collected after they opt out, with data up until that point still retained within the training environment.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Ron DiMenna, Ron Jon Surf Shop Founder, Dies at 88

NY Times - Mon, 09/22/2025 - 17:42
As the founder of a national chain, he was a key figure in surfing’s expansion into mainstream culture, with a life said to be “the stuff of folklore.”

Meta's AI System Llama Approved For Use By US Government Agencies

SlashDot - Mon, 09/22/2025 - 17:10
The U.S. General Services Administration has approved Meta's AI system Llama for use by federal agencies, declaring that it meets government security and legal standards. Reuters reports: "It's not about currying favor," [said Josh Gruenbaum, the GSA's procurement lead, when asked whether tech executives are giving the government discounts to get President Donald Trump's approval]. "It's about that recognition of how do we all lock in arms and make this country the best country it could possibly be." Federal agencies will be able to deploy the tool to speed up contract review or more quickly solve information technology hiccups, among other tasks, he said.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Supreme Court Allows Trump to Fire F.T.C. Commissioner

NY Times - Mon, 09/22/2025 - 17:03
The justices said they will consider whether to overrule a landmark Supreme Court precedent that has limited the president’s ability to fire top officials at the agency.

TikTok Algorithm To Be Retrained On US User Data Under Trump Deal

SlashDot - Mon, 09/22/2025 - 16:30
The Trump administration has struck a deal requiring TikTok's algorithm to be copied, retrained, and operated in the U.S. using only U.S. user data, with Oracle auditing the system and U.S. investors forming a joint venture to oversee it. The BBC reports: It comes after President Donald Trump said a deal to prevent the app's ban in the US, unless sold by its Chinese parent company ByteDance, had been reached with China's approval. White House officials claim the deal will be a win for the app's US users and citizens. President Trump is expected to sign an executive order later this week on the proposed deal, which will set out how it will comply with US national security demands. The order will also outline a 120-day pause to the enforcement deadline to allow the deal to close. It is unclear whether the Chinese government has approved this agreement, or begun to take regulatory steps required to deliver it. However, the White House appears confident it has secured China's approval. Data belonging to the 170m users TikTok says it has in the US is already held on Oracle servers, under an existing arrangement called Project Texas. It saw US user data siphoned off due to concerns it could fall into the hands of the Chinese government. A senior White House official said that under President Trump's deal, the company would take on a comprehensive role in securing the entirety of the app for American users. They said this would include auditing and inspecting the source code and recommendation system underpinning the app, and rebuilding it for US users using only US user data.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

High Holiday Reflections on the State of American Jews

NY Times - Mon, 09/22/2025 - 16:22
“I never would have imagined the splinters inside of the Jewish community,” said Rabbi Elan Babchuck, whose work includes research on polarization.

Trump’s H-1B Visa Fee Knocks Down Bridge Between India and the U.S.

NY Times - Mon, 09/22/2025 - 15:54
The H-1B visa lured a generation of Indian professionals to take part in the American dream. A $100,000 fee has forced a rethink of the route.

Palestinian Statehood Seems More Remote Than Ever

NY Times - Mon, 09/22/2025 - 15:51
Even before the war in Gaza, negotiations failed to produce peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

California Issues Historic Fine Over Lawyer's ChatGPT Fabrications

SlashDot - Mon, 09/22/2025 - 15:50
An anonymous reader quotes a report from CalMatters: A California attorney must pay a $10,000 fine for filing a state court appeal full of fake quotations generated by the artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT. The fine appears to be the largest issued over AI fabrications by a California court and came with a blistering opinion (PDF) stating that 21 of 23 quotes from cases cited in the attorney's opening brief were made up. It also noted that numerous out-of-state and federal courts have confronted attorneys for citing fake legal authority. "We therefore publish this opinion as a warning," it continued. "Simply stated, no brief, pleading, motion, or any other paper filed in any court should contain any citations -- whether provided by generative AI or any other source -- that the attorney responsible for submitting the pleading has not personally read and verified." The opinion, issued 10 days ago in California's 2nd District Court of Appeal, is a clear example of why the state's legal authorities are scrambling to regulate the use of AI in the judiciary. The state's Judicial Council two weeks ago issued guidelines requiring judges and court staff to either ban generative AI or adopt a generative AI use policy by Dec. 15. Meanwhile, the California Bar Association is considering whether to strengthen its code of conduct to account for various forms of AI following a request by the California Supreme Court last month. The Los Angeles-area attorney fined last week, Amir Mostafavi, told the court that he did not read text generated by the AI model before submitting the appeal in July 2023, months after OpenAI marketed ChatGPT as capable of passing the bar exam. A three-judge panel fined him for filing a frivolous appeal, violating court rules, citing fake cases, and wasting the court's time and the taxpayers money, according to the opinion. Mostafavi told CalMatters he wrote the appeal and then used ChatGPT to try and improve it. He said that he didn't know it would add case citations or make things up.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Harris-Biden Rift Outlined in ’107 Days’ Reflects Long Pattern of History

NY Times - Mon, 09/22/2025 - 15:14
Many presidents and vice presidents fall out by the end of their tenures, a fraught dynamic that goes back to the early days of the republic.

Apple's iPhone 17 Pro Can Be Easily Scratched

SlashDot - Mon, 09/22/2025 - 15:13
An anonymous reader shares a report: The iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max appear to provide little resistance to scratches and scuffs around the sharp edges of the camera bump. Tech blogger Zack Nelson demonstrates this weakness in a durability test on his JerryRigEverything YouTube channel, explaining that the anodized aluminium layer on the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max "does not stick to corners very well" -- creating a weak point in the coating. This is a known issue with the electrochemical anodizing process, so it was a design decision Apple knowingly made. "For some reason, Apple didn't add a chamfer, fillet, or radius around the camera plateau, and I think it was intentional, so it looks cooler," Nelson says in the video. "But that decision to look cool out of the box is going to plague everyone who owns this phone down the road." The video shows that everyday objects, like a coin or house key carried in the same pocket as the iPhone 17 Pro, can chip away at the anodized coating around the sharp corners of the camera bump. However, that same mildly aggressive scratching on the flat surface of the camera plateau only produced dust that could be easily wiped away.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Uber CEO Says Robotaxis Could Displace Drivers in 10 To 15 Years and Create 'a Big, Big Societal Question'

SlashDot - Mon, 09/22/2025 - 14:05
The rise of self-driving cars could eventually cost many ride-hailing drivers their jobs -- and that's a big problem, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said. From a report: Khosrowshahi spoke about the issue onstage this month at a summit hosted by the "All-In" podcast, which posted a video of the conversation on Wednesday. At the summit, Khosrowshahi was asked about concerns that gig workers, who have played a key role in Uber's development, will eventually lose their jobs as self-driving cars become more prevalent. The Uber CEO said he expects human drivers to continue working alongside self-driving cars in Uber's network in the coming years. "For the next five to seven years, we're going to have more human drivers and delivery people, just because we're going so quickly," Khosrowshahi said. "But, I think, 10 to 15 years from now, this is going to be a real issue," he said about drivers losing their jobs.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Microsoft is Bringing Video Wallpapers To Windows 11

SlashDot - Mon, 09/22/2025 - 13:26
Microsoft is working on bringing support for setting a video as your desktop wallpaper on Windows 11. From a report: Hidden in the latest Windows 11 preview builds, the feature lets you set an MP4, MOV, AVI, WMV, M4V, or MKV file as your wallpaper, which will play the video whenever you view the desktop. For many years, users have wanted the ability to set a video as a desktop background. It's a feature that many Linux distributions support, and macOS also supports the ability to set a moving background as your lock screen. Windows Vista did support setting videos as your wallpaper, but only as part of the Ultimate SKU via a feature called DreamScene.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Nvidia To Invest $100 Billion in OpenAI

SlashDot - Mon, 09/22/2025 - 12:37
Nvidia will invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI as the AI lab builds data centers requiring 10 gigawatts of power capacity. The 10-gigawatt deployment equals 4 to 5 million GPUs -- the same number Nvidia will ship globally this year. Building one gigawatt of data center capacity costs $50 to $60 billion, including approximately $35 billion for Nvidia chips and systems. The first phase begins in the second half of 2026 using Nvidia's next-generation Vera Rubin systems. The investment adds Nvidia to OpenAI's investor roster alongside Microsoft, SoftBank, and Thrive Capital at a $500 billion valuation. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang described the investment as "additive to everything that's been announced and contracted."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Pages

Back to top