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Submission + - Ask Slashdot: Printer recommendation for family with kids in elementary school? 3

Submitted by jalvarez13
jalvarez13 writes: My venerable HP Officejet Pro 8600 Plus is showing its age and it has become expensive to operate due to the cost of the original cartridges. I tried some alternative cartidges but the printer rejects them.

Now that schools still require kids to print stuf at home (mine are in 2nd and 4th grade), and my wife also needs to use the priner, I think it may be wise to invest in a good quality printer that has a lower cost per page (maybe laser?).

I that context, I'd love to have unbiased information about brand quality, printing technology, cost efficiency, and other factors that I might have missed. Any thoughts?

Submission + - Netflix documentary: Titan devles into OceanGate disaster (netflix.com)

Submitted by UnknowingFool
UnknowingFool writes: A new documentary released last week on Netflix goes into detail about events leading up to the destruction of OceanGate's submersible, Titan that imploded on June 18, 2023 while attempting to visit the wreckage of the RMS Titanic off the coast of Newfoundland. The Titan used a carbon-fiber hull instead of more traditional materials like steel or titanium.

Through exclusive access to whistleblower testimony, pivotal audio recordings, and footage from the company’s early days, the film provides an unprecedented look at the technical challenges, moral dilemmas, and shockingly poor decisions that culminated in the catastrophic expedition.

Some highlights:

  • Titan's original carbon-fiber hull had been replaced with a second carbon-fiber one after the first one developed noticeable cracks.
  • Three scale models of the second hull failed tests. OceanGate decided to manufacture the second hull regardless of these failures.
  • Loud pops were heard in many dives; CEO Stockton Rush dismissed these as "seasoning".
  • Many employees raised numerous safety concerns. They were fired like lead pilot and head of marine operations, David Lochridge. Or they quit.
  • Some employees like Emily Hammermeister wanted to quit earlier, but external conditions like the COVID pandemic made it difficult. After the scale models failed, she refused to bolt anyone in the future submersible. She was given the two options of being fired or quit; she quit in the middle of the pandemic.
  • Rush's blindness to inconvenient facts: After the crack was discovered, Rush questioned Director of Engineering, Tony Nissen, about why Nissen did not anticipate the possibility of a crack. Nissen: "I wrote you a report that showed you it was there." Nissen had warned repeatedly that the hull's fibers were breaking (the pops) with each dive. Rush: "Well, one of us has to go."
  • Poor decisions by Rush extended beyond engineering decisions. After Rush fired Lochridge for raising safety concerns , Rush wanted Bonnie Carl, the company's accountant, to be his replacement pilot. While Carl was an experienced scuba diver, she quit as she was extremely uncomfortable being a pilot. Her explanation: "Are you nuts? I'm an accountant."

Submission + - A major Canadian battery recycler just declared bankruptcy (www.cbc.ca)

Submitted by sinij
sinij writes:

But just last month, the Toronto-based company filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. and Canada after years of struggling to get a facility off the ground in Rochester, N.Y. The company said the planned hub would have been able to extract lithium and other critical minerals from recycled material

While battery recycling is possible, in practice EV battery recycling continues to be undressed problem.

Submission + - ICE Taps into Nationwide AI-Enabled Camera Network, Data Shows (404media.co) 3

Submitted by ArchieBunker
ArchieBunker writes: Data from a license plate-scanning tool that is primarily marketed as a surveillance solution for small towns to combat crimes like car jackings or finding missing people is being used by ICE, according to data reviewed by 404 Media. Local police around the country are performing lookups in Flock’s AI-powered automatic license plate reader (ALPR) system for “immigration” related searches and as part of other ICE investigations, giving federal law enforcement side-door access to a tool that it currently does not have a formal contract for.

The massive trove of lookup data was obtained by researchers who asked to remain anonymous to avoid potential retaliation and shared with 404 Media. It shows more than 4,000 nation and statewide lookups by local and state police done either at the behest of the federal government or as an “informal” favor to federal law enforcement, or with a potential immigration focus, according to statements from police departments and sheriff offices collected by 404 Media. It shows that, while Flock does not have a contract with ICE, the agency sources data from Flock’s cameras by making requests to local law enforcement. The data reviewed by 404 Media was obtained using a public records request from the Danville, Illinois Police Department, and shows the Flock search logs from police departments around the country.

As part of a Flock search, police have to provide a “reason” they are performing the lookup. In the “reason” field for searches of Danville’s cameras, officers from across the U.S. wrote “immigration,” “ICE,” “ICE+ERO,” which is ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, the section that focuses on deportations; “illegal immigration,” “ICE WARRANT,” and other immigration-related reasons. Although lookups mentioning ICE occurred across both the Biden and Trump administrations, all of the lookups that explicitly list “immigration” as their reason were made after Trump was inaugurated, according to the data.

Submission + - US Treasure to Kill the Penny (cnn.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The US Treasury is phasing out production of the penny and will stop putting new one-cent coins into circulation. The US Treasury has made its final order of penny blanks this month, and the mint will continue to manufacture pennies as long as its supply of penny blanks exist. President Donald Trump stated that production of pennies are wasteful, as the coins cost more to produce than their one-cent value.

Submission + - NSW Education Department Unaware as Teams Collects Student Biometrics (theguardian.com)

Submitted by optical_phiber
optical_phiber writes: In March 2025, the New South Wales (NSW) Department of Education discovered that Microsoft Teams had begun collecting students' voice and facial biometric data without their prior knowledge. This occurred after Microsoft enabled a Teams feature called "voice and face enrollment" by default, which creates biometric profiles to enhance meeting experiences and transcriptions via its CoPilot AI tool. The NSW department learned of the data collection a month after it began and promptly disabled the feature and deleted the data within 24 hours. However, the department did not disclose how many individuals were affected or whether they were notified. Despite Microsoft’s policy of retaining data only while the user is enrolled and deleting it within 90 days of account deletion, privacy experts have raised serious concerns. Rys Farthing of Reset Tech Australia criticized the unnecessary collection of children's data, warning of the long-term risks and calling for stronger protections. A concerned parent highlighted the lack of transparency, fearing that others may remain unaware of the data collection. Microsoft has declined to comment on the issue.

Submission + - Dying satellites can drive climate change and ozone depletion, study finds (theguardian.com)

Submitted by AmiMoJo
AmiMoJo writes: Right now there are more than 9,000 satellites circumnavigating overhead, keeping track of weather, facilitating communications, aiding navigation and monitoring the Earth. By 2040, there could be more than 60,000. A new study shows that the emissions from expired satellites, as they fall to Earth and burn up, will be significant in future years, with implications for ozone hole recovery and climate.

Satellites need to be replaced after about five years. Most old satellites are disposed of by reducing their altitude and letting them burn up as they fall, releasing pollution into Earth’s atmosphere such as aerosolised aluminium. To understand the impact of these growing emissions from expired satellites, researchers simulated the effects associated with an annual release of 10,000 tonnes of aluminium oxide by 2040 (the amount estimated to be released from disposal of 3,000 satellites a year, assuming a fleet of 60,000 satellites).

The results, which are published in Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres, show that the re-entry material will accumulate at high latitudes and could result in temperature anomalies of up to 1.5C in the middle to upper atmosphere, reduction of wind speeds and ozone depletion, which could jeopardise ozone hole recovery. Other metals including titanium, lithium, iron and copper will also be released and their impact is yet to be modelled.

Submission + - FDA did not notify the public of deadly E. coli outbreak across 15 states (nbcnews.com)

Submitted by joshuark
joshuark writes: The outbreak is linked to romaine lettuce killed one person and sickened at least 88 more, including a 9-year-old boy who nearly died of kidney failure.

“There were no public communications related to this outbreak,” the FDA said in its report, which noted that there had been a death but provided no details about it.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported in February that it had closed the investigation without publicly detailing what had happened, or which companies were responsible for growing and processing the contaminated lettuce.

The FDA said its staff members “continue to provide critical communications to consumers associated with foodborne outbreaks,” including information about recalls and investigations.

Submission + - Digital Activists Code Tarpits to Trap and Poison AI (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by IonOtter
IonOtter writes: Digital activists, skirting the edge of the law, are coding web-based "tarpits" that not only trap unscrupulous AI in an endless loop, the malicious code causes the AI to become hopelessly contaminated with useless gibberish.

Aaron clearly warns users that Nepenthes is aggressive malware. It's not to be deployed by site owners uncomfortable with trapping AI crawlers and sending them down an "infinite maze" of static files with no exit links, where they "get stuck" and "thrash around" for months, he tells users. Once trapped, the crawlers can be fed gibberish data, aka Markov babble, which is designed to poison AI models.

Submission + - Car prices could jump $6,000 as Trump's 25% import tariff kicks in (techspot.com)

Submitted by jjslash
jjslash writes: President Trump has introduced a new 25% tariff on imported cars and auto parts, sparking debate about its effects on the U.S. auto industry. TechSpot reports:

While supporters argue that the policy will spur growth, attract investment, and create jobs domestically, critics warn that it will lead to significantly higher prices for shoppers.

The new tariff on imported cars will take effect on April 2, while the import duty on car parts will go into effect on May 3. The components subject to the new policy include engines and engine parts, transmissions and powertrain components, and electrical systems.

Under the plan, imported vehicles will be taxed only on their non-US content.

Submission + - French Scientist Reportedly Denied U.S. Entry Due to Trump Criticism (newrepublic.com) 1

Submitted by ArchieBunker
ArchieBunker writes: A French scientist on his way to a conference in the United States was allegedly denied entry by Customs and Border Patrol over messages found on his phone that criticized President Trump’s science cuts.

The French newspaper Le Monde reports that on March 9, a space researcher was randomly selected upon arrival in Houston for a search, and CBP found messages criticizing the Trump administration’s treatment of scientists, which, according to the agency, “conveyed hatred of Trump & could be qualified as terrorism.”

The researcher’s phone and computer were allegedly confiscated, and he was sent back to Europe the next day. The news prompted the attention of the French government, which expressed alarm.

“I was told with concern that a French researcher, on a mission for the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), who was going to a conference near Houston, was banned from entering the US before being expelled,” said France’s Minister of Higher Education and Research Philippe Baptiste, in a statement Wednesday. “This would have been taken by the US authorities because the researcher’s phone contained exchanges with colleagues and friendly relations in which he expressed a personal opinion on the Trump administration’s research policy.”

According to one source cited by Agence France-Presse, CBP said that the French researcher expressed “hate and conspiracy messages,” prompting an FBI investigation, only for the charges to be dropped later. Another source said the scientist was banned due to messages “that can be described as terrorism.”

The incident marks a disturbing change in how visitors to the United States are treated. Legitimate criticism of the Trump administration occurs everywhere, and it’s no secret that Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency effort has resulted in millions of dollars in cuts to scientific research. The idea that criticism of this would rise to the level of terrorism and result in someone being barred from the U.S. is absurd.

Submission + - Elon Musk's doge.gov website hacked (fortune.com) 1

Submitted by ArchieBunker
ArchieBunker writes: Hackers wasted no time in infiltrating the Department of Government Efficiency’s website.

After a hasty launch this week, at least two pages of the site have been defaced by critics who seemingly have accessed a database the page draws from. Two messages appeared on two separate pages of the site, reading “this is a joke of a .gov site” and “THESE ‘EXPERTS’ LEFT THEIR DATABASE OPEN -roro.”

The hacked pages, though still accessible as of 10:00 a.m. ET on Friday morning, no longer appear to people who navigate to the DOGE website in traditional methods.

404 Media, which first discovered the hacked pages, quoted anonymous experts who said the DOGE page does not appear to be hosted on government servers and was pulling data from a database that can be accessed by third parties. That opened the doors for the embarrassing criticism.

Submission + - California Reservoir Dams Opened At Trump's Order 2

Submitted by Petersko
Petersko writes: At the order of the President, 2.2 billion gallons of water were released from reservoirs in Central California on Friday. The goal, according to his posts on Truth Social, was to provide water to "farmers throughout the state, and to Los Angeles."

https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2025%2F02%2F03...

"There are two major problems, water experts said: The newly released water will not flow to Los Angeles, and it is being wasted by being released during the wet winter season."

“They were holding extra water in those reservoirs because of the risk that it would be a dry summer,” Heather Cooley, director of research for California water policy organization the Pacific Institute. “This puts agriculture at risk of insufficient water during the summer months.”

According to Trump, an additional 3 billion gallons will follow.

"The US Army Corps of Engineers and the White House did not respond to CNN’s request for comment."

Submission + - Millions of Windows 10 PCs face security disaster as Microsoft ends support (betanews.com)

Submitted by BrianFagioli
BrianFagioli writes: Millions of computers are heading towards a security crisis as Microsoft plans to end support for Windows 10 on October 14, 2025. Despite this impending deadline, 32 million devices — roughly 65 percent of household computers in Germany — are still running the aging operating system. In the DACH region, including Austria and Switzerland, over 35 million systems rely on Windows 10, leaving millions of users exposed to potential cyberattacks once updates stop. By contrast, only about 33 percent of German devices have transitioned to Windows 11, and over a million are still running even older systems like Windows 8, 7, or XP.

Thorsten Urbanski, an IT security expert at ESET, is sounding the alarm. âoeItâ(TM)s five minutes to midnight to prevent a security fiasco in 2025. We strongly urge users not to wait until October. Upgrade to Windows 11 now or choose an alternative operating system if your device cannot support the latest version. Otherwise, users are exposing themselves to significant security risks, including dangerous cyberattacks and data breaches.â

Submission + - FBI investigating reports of an effort to bomb SpaceX's Boca Chica Facility (behindtheblack.com)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: According to news stories from several sources tonight, the FBI is investigating a reported threat to bomb SpaceX's Boca Chica Starship facility.

The source to the story comes from a local.

The report was made by Calvin Wehrle of Galveston, who frequently camps along Texas 4 near the Starship launch site.

In an interview Friday, he said he was there on the afternoon of Christmas Eve when an SUV pulled up with five male passengers who rolled down their windows to converse. They said they were from the Middle East. “I said something like, ‘What are y’all here for? ’ and the driver said, ‘Oh, we’re here to blow (Starship) up,’ ” Wehrle said. “I just went stone cold, and he said, ‘Oh, I got you. I was joking.’ ”

As the conversation went on, though, Wehrle’s visitors said at least three times they were in South Texas to attack Starship. He reported the incident to SpaceX and the sheriff’s office and said he was contacted later by an investigator.

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