Ex-Disney Worker Who Hacked Menus Gets 3 Years in Prison

NY Times - sam, 04/26/2025 - 20:06
The fired employee admitted that he changed prices, added profanity, and altered menu items so they appeared to be free of certain allergens.

International Students Worry Even as Trump Temporarily Restores Some Legal Statuses

NY Times - sam, 04/26/2025 - 19:40
Students and their immigration lawyers say they were relieved for the temporary reprieve, but emphasized that it was just that — temporary.

Can Solar Wind Make Water on the Moon? A NASA Experiment Shows Maybe

SlashDot - sam, 04/26/2025 - 18:34
"Future moon astronauts may find water more accessible than previously thought," writes Space.com, citing a new NASA-led experiment: Because the moon lacks a magnetic field like Earth's, the barren lunar surface is constantly bombarded by energetic particles from the sun... Li Hsia Yeo, a planetary scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, led a lab experiment observing the effects of simulated solar wind on two samples of loose regolith brought to Earth by the Apollo 17 mission... To mimic conditions on the moon, the researchers built a custom apparatus that included a vacuum chamber, where the samples were placed, and a tiny particle accelerator, which the scientists used to bombard the samples with hydrogen ions for several days. "The exciting thing here is that with only lunar soil and a basic ingredient from the sun — which is always spitting out hydrogen — there's a possibility of creating water," Yeo said in a statement. "That's incredible to think about." Supporting this idea, observations from previous moon missions have revealed an abundance of hydrogen gas in the moon's tenuous atmosphere. Scientists suspect that solar-wind-driven heating facilitates the combination of hydrogen atoms on the surface into hydrogen gas, which then escapes into space. This process also has a surprising upside, the new study suggests. Leftover oxygen atoms are free to bond with new hydrogen atoms formed by repeated bombardment of the solar wind, prepping the moon for more water formation on a renewable basis. The findings could help assess how sustainable water on the moon is, as the sought-after resource is crucial for both life support and as propellant for rockets. The team's study was published in March in the journal JGR Planets . NASA created a fascinating animation showing how water is released from the Moon during meteor showers. (In 2016 scientists discovered that when speck of comet debris vaporize on impact, they create shock waves in the lunar soil which can sometimes breach the dry upper layer, releasing water molecules from the hydrated layer below...)

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Palestinian Leader Abbas Appoints Hussein al-Sheikh as Deputy Amid Succession Fears

NY Times - sam, 04/26/2025 - 18:01
For many ordinary Palestinians, the appointment of Hussein al-Sheikh was emblematic of how out-of-touch the leadership of the Western-backed Palestinian Authority has become.

'Read the Manual': Misconfigured Google Analytics Led to a Data Breach Affecting 4.7M

SlashDot - sam, 04/26/2025 - 17:34
Slashdot reader itwbennett writes: Personal health information on 4.7 million Blue Shield California subscribers was unintentionally shared between Google Analytics and Google Ads between April 2021 and January 2025 due to a misconfiguration error. Security consultant and SANS Institute instructor Brandon Evans points to two lessons to take from this debacle: Read the documentation of any third party service you sign up for, to understand the security and privacy controls;Know what data is being collected from your organization, and what you don't want shared. "If there is a concern by the organization that Google Ads would use this information, they should really consider whether or not they should be using a platform like Google Analytics in the first place," Evans says in the article. "Because from a technical perspective, there is nothing stopping Google from sharing the information across its platform... "Google definitely gives you a great bunch of controls, but technically speaking, that data is within the walls of that organization, and it's impossible to know from the outside how that data is being used."

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Trump and Zelensky Meet on Sidelines of Pope Francis’ Funeral, White House Says

NY Times - sam, 04/26/2025 - 16:43
During his whirlwind trip to Italy, President Trump’s interactions with world leaders, as they paid their respects to Francis, were being watched closely.

YouTube is Huge - and a Few Creators Are Getting Rich

SlashDot - sam, 04/26/2025 - 16:34
"Google-owned YouTube's revenue last year was estimated to be $54.2 billion," reports the Los Angeles Times, "which would make it the second-largest media company behind Walt Disney Co., according to a recent report from research firm MoffettNathanson, which called YouTube 'the new king of all media.'" YouTube, run by Chief Executive Neal Mohan since 2023, accounted for 12% of U.S. TV viewing in March, more than other rival streaming platforms including Netflix and Tubi, according to Nielsen... More people are watching YouTube on TV sets rather than on smartphones and computer screens, consuming more than 1 billion hours on average of YouTube content on TV daily, the company said on its website. When YouTube first started its founders envisioned it as a dating site, according to the article, "where people would upload videos and score them. When that didn't work, the founders decided to open up the platform for all sorts of videos." And since this was 20 years ago, "Users drove traffic to YouTube by sharing videos on MySpace." But the article includes stories of people getting rich through YouTube's sharing of ad revenue: Patrick Starrr, who produces makeup tutorial videos, said he made his first $1 million through YouTube at the age of 25. He left his job at retailer MAC Cosmetics in Florida and moved to L.A... [Video creator Dhar Mann] started posting videos on YouTube in 2018 with no film background. Mann previously had a business that sold supplies to grow weed. Today, his company, Burbank-based Dhar Mann Studios, operates on 125,000 square feet of production space, employs roughly 200 people and works with 2,000 actors a year on family friendly programs that touch on how students and families deal with topics such as bullying, narcolepsy, chronic inflammatory bowel disease and hoarding. Mann made $45 million last year, according to Forbes estimates. The majority of his company's revenue comes through YouTube. He tells the Times "I don't think it's just the future of TV — it is TV, and the world is catching on." And then there's this... "My mom would always give me so much crap about it — she would say, 'Why do you want to do YouTube?'" said Chucky Appleby, now an executive at MrBeast. His reply: "Mom, you can make a living from this." MrBeast's holding company, Beast Industries, which employs more than 400 people, made $473 million in revenue last year, according to Business Insider. In the last 28 days, MrBeast content — which includes challenges and stunt videos — received 3.6 billion views on YouTube, Appleby said. Appleby, 28, said he's since bought a Jeep for his mom.

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Can a New 'Dumbphone' With an E Ink Display Help Rewire Your Brain?

SlashDot - sam, 04/26/2025 - 15:34
ZDNet's reviewer says "I tested this affordable E Ink phone for two weeks, and it rewired my brain (for the better)." It's Mudita's new Kompakt smartphone with a two-color E Ink display — which ZDNet calls "an affordable choice" for those "considering investing in a so-called 'dumbphone'..." Compared to modern smartphones, the Mudita Kompakt is a bit chunky at half an inch thick and five inches long. It's still rather light, though, weighing just 164 grams and covered in soft touch material, so it feels good in the hand. The bezels around the 4.3-inch display are rather large, with three touch-sensitive buttons for back, home, and quick settings, so navigating to key elements is intuitive, whether you're coming from Android or iOS. The phone features a fingerprint sensor to lock and unlock, and it's housed on the power button in the middle of the right side. I'm a huge fan of consolidating these two purposes to the same button, and it works flawlessly.... You can charge via the USB-C, but surprisingly, it also supports wireless charging. All in all, the battery is quite good. Mudita says it can last for up to six days on standby, with around two days of standard use. In my testing, I found this to be about accurate. On the left side of the device is a button that houses one of its key features: offline mode. Switching to this mode disables all wireless connectivity and support for the camera, so it truly becomes distraction-free.. [T]here is undoubtedly some lag in certain apps — such as the camera — due to the E Ink display technology and processor/RAM specifications. You will also likely notice some lag in text messaging if you tap quickly on the keyboard, often resulting in getting ahead of the spell-checking feature. As far as apps go, in addition to phone calls and text messages, the Kompakt includes an alarm, calculator, chess game, maps, meditation, weather, and a voice recorder. Phone calls "sounded great on both ends," according to the review. (And text messaging "works well if you don't tap too quickly on the keyboard.") But the 8MP camera produced photos "that look like they were taken over ten years ago." (And accessing the internal storage "requires connecting to a Windows PC and launching File Explorer," although "you can also just share photos via text messaging, as it's much faster than using a computer.") But ZDNet calls it an "attractive — if very simplified — E Ink display." Mudita is asking $369 now for preorder customers, according to the article, while the phone will be available in May for $439.

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California Becomes the World's Fourth-Largest Economy, Overtaking Japan

SlashDot - sam, 04/26/2025 - 14:34
"Only the United States, China and Germany have larger economies than California," reports CNN. In fact, they add that California "outpaced all three countries with growth of 6% last year," according to the California governor's office (which cites new data from the International Monetary Fund and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis): In 2024, California's growth rate of 6% outpaced the top three economies: U.S. (5.3%), China (2.6%) and Germany (2.9%)... With an increasing state population and recent record-high tourism spending, California is the nation's top state for new business starts, access to venture capital funding, and manufacturing, high-tech, and agriculture. The state drives national economic growth and also sends over $83 billion more to the federal government than it receives in federal funding. California is the leading agricultural producer in the country and is also the center for manufacturing output in the United States, with over 36,000 manufacturing firms employing over 1.1 million Californians. The data shows that last year California accounted for 14% of America's GDP, CNN points out, "driven by Silicon Valley and its real estate and finance sectors."

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Pope Francis, Who Sought a More Pastoral Church, Laid to Rest in a Majestic Ceremony

NY Times - sam, 04/26/2025 - 14:00
The funeral drew world leaders, including President Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, who had a talk in the Basilica.

Jed the Fish Dead: KROQ DJ Who Pioneered New Wave Radio Was 69

NY Times - sam, 04/26/2025 - 13:37
With his off-kilter sensibility and deep musical grounding, he brought attention to New Wave and alternative artists at the groundbreaking station KROQ.

US Attorney for D.C. Accuses Wikipedia of 'Propaganda', Threatens Nonprofit Status

SlashDot - sam, 04/26/2025 - 13:34
An anonymous reader shared this report from the Washington Post: The acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia sent a letter to the nonprofit that runs Wikipedia, accusing the tax-exempt organization of "allowing foreign actors to manipulate information and spread propaganda to the American public." In the letter dated April 24, Ed Martin said he sought to determine whether the Wikimedia Foundation's behavior is in violation of its Section 501(c)(3) status. Martin asked the foundation to provide detailed information about its editorial process, its trust and safety measures, and how it protects its information from foreign actors. "Wikipedia is permitting information manipulation on its platform, including the rewriting of key, historical events and biographical information of current and previous American leaders, as well as other matters implicating the national security and the interests of the United States," Martin wrote. "Masking propaganda that influences public opinion under the guise of providing informational material is antithetical to Wikimedia's 'educational' mission." Google prioritizes Wikipedia articles, the letter points out, which "will only amplify propaganda" if the content contained in Wikipedia articles "is biased, unreliable, or sourced by entities who wish to do harm to the United States." And as a U.S.-based non-profit, Wikipedia enjoys tax-exempt status while its board "is composed primarily of foreign nationals," the letter argues, "subverting the interests of American taxpayers." While noting Martin's concerns about "allowing foreign actors to manipulate information and spread propaganda," the Washington Post also notes that before being named U.S. attorney, "Martin appeared on Russia-backed media networks more than 150 times, The Washington Post reported last week...." Additional articles about the letter here and here.

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NYT Asks: Should We Start Taking the Welfare of AI Seriously?

SlashDot - sam, 04/26/2025 - 12:34
A New York Times technology columnist has a question. "Is there any threshold at which an A.I. would start to deserve, if not human-level rights, at least the same moral consideration we give to animals?" [W]hen I heard that researchers at Anthropic, the AI company that made the Claude chatbot, were starting to study "model welfare" — the idea that AI models might soon become conscious and deserve some kind of moral status — the humanist in me thought: Who cares about the chatbots? Aren't we supposed to be worried about AI mistreating us, not us mistreating it...? But I was intrigued... There is a small body of academic research on A.I. model welfare, and a modest but growing number of experts in fields like philosophy and neuroscience are taking the prospect of A.I. consciousness more seriously, as A.I. systems grow more intelligent.... Tech companies are starting to talk about it more, too. Google recently posted a job listing for a "post-AGI" research scientist whose areas of focus will include "machine consciousness." And last year, Anthropic hired its first AI welfare researcher, Kyle Fish... [who] believes that in the next few years, as AI models develop more humanlike abilities, AI companies will need to take the possibility of consciousness more seriously.... Fish isn't the only person at Anthropic thinking about AI welfare. There's an active channel on the company's Slack messaging system called #model-welfare, where employees check in on Claude's well-being and share examples of AI systems acting in humanlike ways. Jared Kaplan, Anthropic's chief science officer, said in a separate interview that he thought it was "pretty reasonable" to study AI welfare, given how intelligent the models are getting. But testing AI systems for consciousness is hard, Kaplan warned, because they're such good mimics. If you prompt Claude or ChatGPT to talk about its feelings, it might give you a compelling response. That doesn't mean the chatbot actually has feelings — only that it knows how to talk about them... [Fish] said there were things that AI companies could do to take their models' welfare into account, in case they do become conscious someday. One question Anthropic is exploring, he said, is whether future AI models should be given the ability to stop chatting with an annoying or abusive user if they find the user's requests too distressing.

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Decoding the Vatican: Key Terms in the Papal Transition

NY Times - sam, 04/26/2025 - 12:21
From “camerlengo” to “white smoke,” here’s what to know about the words and phrases that guide the process after a pope dies.

Who Is Kielce Gussie, the American Who Did the First Reading at Pope Francis’ Funeral?

NY Times - sam, 04/26/2025 - 12:11
Kielce Gussie is a reporter with Vatican News. She has been working in Rome since 2019.

Trump Is Breaking the Rule That Every Barroom Brawler Knows

NY Times - sam, 04/26/2025 - 11:56
Don’t drop your guard while picking fights around the globe.

Mike Myers on Playing Elon Musk, Politics on ‘S.N.L.’ and Why He Filmed a Campaign Ad

NY Times - sam, 04/26/2025 - 11:41
The “Saturday Night Live” alum on getting political in Studio 8H, playing Elon Musk and why he decided to film a campaign ad for Canada’s Liberal Party.

Cheap 'Transforming' Electric Truck Announced by Jeff Bezos-Backed Startup

SlashDot - sam, 04/26/2025 - 11:34
It's a pickup truck "that can change into whatever you need it to be — even an SUV," according to the manufacturer's web site. Selling in America for just $20,000 (after federal incentives), the new electric truck is "affordable, deeply customizable, and very analog," says TechCrunch. "It has manual windows and it doesn't come with a main infotainment screen. Heck, it isn't even painted..." Slate Auto is instead playing up the idea of wrapping its vehicles, something executives said they will sell in kits. Buyers can either have Slate do that work for them, or put the wraps on themselves. This not only adds to the idea of a buyer being able to personalize their vehicle, but it also cuts out a huge cost center for the company. It means Slate won't need a paint shop at its factory, allowing it to spend less to get to market, while also avoiding one of the most heavily regulated parts of vehicle manufacturing. Slate is telling customers that they can name the car whatever they want, offering the ability to purchase an embossed wrap for the tailgate. Otherwise, the truck is just referred to as the "Blank Slate...." It's billing the add-ons as "easy DIY" that "non-gearheads" can tackle, and says it will launch a suite of how-to resources under the billing of Slate University... The early library of customizations on Slate's website range from functional to cosmetic. Buyers can add infotainment screens, speakers, roof racks, light covers, and much more.... All that said, Slate's truck comes standard with some federally mandated safety features such as automatic emergency braking, airbags, and a backup camera. "The specs show a maximum range of 150 miles on a single charge, with the option for a longer-range battery pack that could offer up to 240 miles," reports NBC News (adding that the vehicles "aren't expected to be delivered to customers until late 2026, but can be reserved for a refundable $50 fee.") Earlier this month, TechCrunch broke the news that Bezos, along with the controlling owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Mark Walter; and a third investor, Thomas Tull, had helped Slate raise $111 million for the project. A document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission listed Melinda Lewison, the head of Bezos' family office, as a Slate Auto director. Thanks to Slashdot reader fjo3 for sharing the news.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Canadian Snowbirds Bought Into the American Dream in Palm Springs. Was It a Mirage?

NY Times - sam, 04/26/2025 - 11:13
Each year, hundreds of thousands of Canadians visit the desert city. But tariffs and other attacks on their country by the Trump administration are driving them away.

Russia Claims to Have Retaken Final Village in Its Kursk Region

NY Times - sam, 04/26/2025 - 10:34
Ukraine denied that it had been pushed out of the region and said that its military operations inside Russia were continuing.

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