180335995
submission
joshuark writes:
Gizmodo reports that: Evidence That Humans Now Speak in a Chatbot-Influenced Dialect Is Getting Stronger. In theory, all organically grown utterances and snippets of text are safe from that label. But our shared linguistic ecosystem may be so AI-saturated, we now all sound like AI. Worse, in some cases AI-infected speech is being spouted by (ostensibly human) elected officials.
But two new, more anecdotal reports, suggest that our chatbot dialect isn’t just something that can be found through close analysis of data. It might be an obvious, every day fact of life now.
One can state pretty categorically, however, that the sign is written in a new style of annoying prose that has only existed since the release of ChatGPT. And at least some of that annoying new style may be embedded in all of our brains now whether we like it or not. The trend started with the infamous ELIZA.BAS BASIC program [https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.atariarchives.org%2Fbcc3%2Fshowpage.php%3Fpage%3D251] a friend programmed into their Atari 800XL home computer.
180286291
submission
joshuark writes:
Microsoft has silently "mitigated" a high-severity Windows LNK vulnerability exploited by multiple state-backed and cybercrime hacking groups in zero-day attacks.
Tracked as CVE-2025-9491, this security flaw allows attackers to hide malicious commands within Windows LNK files, which can be used to deploy malware and gain persistence on compromised devices. However, the attacks require user interaction to succeed, as they involve tricking potential victims into opening malicious Windows Shell Link (.lnk) files. Thus some element of social engineering, and user technically naive and gullibility such as thinking Windows is secure is required.
As Trend Micro threat analysts discovered in March 2025, the CVE-2025-9491 was already being widely exploited by 11 state-sponsored groups and cybercrime gangs, including Evil Corp, Bitter, APT37, APT43 (also known as Kimsuky), Mustang Panda, SideWinder, RedHotel, Konni, and others.
Microsoft told BleepingComputer in March that it would "consider addressing" this zero-day flaw, even though it didn't "meet the bar for immediate servicing."
ACROS Security CEO and 0patch co-founder Mitja Kolsek found, Microsoft has silently changed LNK files in the November updates in an apparent effort to mitigate the CVE-2025-9491 flaw. After installing last month's updates, users can now see all characters in the Target field when opening the Properties of LNK files, not just the first 260.
A Microsoft spokesperson was not immediately available for comment when contacted by BleepingComputer earlier today to confirm if this change is an attempt to mitigate the vulnerability. As the movie the Ninth Gate stated: "silentium est aurum"
180215907
submission
joshuark writes:
In a 2020 research project code-named “Project Mercury,” Meta scientists worked with survey firm Nielsen to gauge the effect of “deactivating” Facebook, according to Meta documents obtained via discovery. To the company’s disappointment, “people who stopped using Facebook for a week reported lower feelings of depression, anxiety, loneliness and social comparison,” internal documents said.
Rather than publishing those findings or pursuing additional research, the filing states, Meta called off further work and internally declared that the negative study findings were tainted by the “existing media narrative” around the company. Despite Meta’s own work documenting a causal link between its products and negative mental health effects, the filing alleges, Meta told Congress that it had no ability to quantify whether its products were harmful to teenage girls.
The allegation of Meta burying evidence of social media harms is just one of many in a filing by Motley Rice, a law firm suing Meta. Broadly, the plaintiffs argue the companies have intentionally hidden the internally recognized risks of their products from users, parents and teachers.
Meta spokesman Andy Stone said the study was stopped because its methodology was flawed and that it worked diligently to improve the safety of its products. “The full record will show that for over a decade, we have listened to parents, researched issues that matter most, and made real changes to protect teens,” he said.
"We strongly disagree with these allegations, which rely on cherry-picked quotes and misinformed opinions,” Stone said.
The underlying Meta documents cited in the filing are not public, and Meta has filed a motion to strike the documents. Stone said the objection was to the over-broad nature of what plaintiffs are seeking to unseal, not unsealing in its entirety.
A hearing regarding the filing is set for January 26 in Northern California District Court.
180199443
submission
joshuark writes:
Meta is looking to get into the business of trading electricity to accelerate the construction of new power plants needed to provide energy for its data centers.
Meta are asking for federal approval to trade power. According to Meta, this will allow it to make long-term commitments to buy electricity from new plants, while mitigating the risk by having the ability to resell some of that power on wholesale power markets.
Meta’s head of global energy, Urvi Parekh, states that power plant developers “want to know that the consumers of power are willing to put skin in the game.” “Without Meta taking a more active voice in the need to expand the amount of power that’s on the system, it’s not happening as quickly as we would like,” Parekh said.
Two Stupid Dogs captured the moment in the 1990s: https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3F...
180019502
submission
joshuark writes:
DHS head reportedly authorized purchase of 10 engineless Spirit Airlines planes that airline didn’t own– and that the aircraft lacked engines. The bizarre anecdote was contained in a Wall Street Journal report released on Friday, which recounted how Noem and Corey Lewandowski – who managed Donald Trump’s first winning presidential campaign – had recently arranged to buy 10 Boeing 737 aircraft from Spirit Airlines. People familiar with the situation told the paper that the two intended to use the jets to expand deportation flights – and for personal travel.
Complicating matters further, Spirit, which filed for bankruptcy protection for the second time, in August, did not own the jets and their engines would have had to be bought separately. Meanwhile, Democrats on the House appropriations committee said in October that during this fall’s record-long government shutdown, the DHS had already acquired two Gulfstream jets for $200m.
“It has come to our attention that, in the midst of a government shutdown, the United States Coast Guard entered into a sole source contract with Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation to procure two new G700 luxury jets to support travel for you and the deputy secretary, at a cost to the taxpayer of $200m,” Democratic representatives Rosa DeLauro and Lauren Underwood wrote in a letter to the DHS.
The American taxpayer's dollars at work for truth, freedom, justice, and the American $$$ way.
180013522
submission
joshuark writes:
The Minneapolis-based retailer has a new directive for store employees: If a shopper comes within 10 feet of you, then make sure you smile, make eye contact and greet or wave. If they come closer — within four feet — ask whether they need help or how their day is going, according to new guidance confirmed by Bloomberg News. This is part of the Forced Joy trend.
The new initiative — dubbed the 10-4 program internally — is among Target’s latest efforts to make its stores more welcoming and reverse its extended streak of weak sales. “Heading into the holiday, we’re making adjustments and implementing new ways to increase connection during the most important time of the year,” Chief Stores Officer Adrienne Costanzo said in a statement to Bloomberg News.
Target, which is set to report quarterly earnings later this month, recently cut 1,800 corporate roles to remove complexities and move faster. The company’s shares are down more than 30% year-to-date, compared to a 14% gain for the S&P 500. The retailer’s cheap chic allure has faded and customers have complained on social media about bare shelves and long lines.
Target has made trumped-up enthusiasm an expectation. Bugs Bunny said it best... https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3F...
179987926
submission
joshuark writes:
Mark Zuckerberg opend an unlicensed school named after the Zuckerbergs’ pet chicken, but it tipped neighbors over the edge the Wired magazine story reports. The school may have been operating as early as 2021 without a permit to operate in the city of Palo Alto. As many as 30 students might have enrolled, according to observations from neighbors.
Over time, neighbors became fed up with what they argued was the city’s lack of action, particularly with respect to the school. Some believed that the delay was because of preferential treatment to the Zuckerbergs. “We find it quite remarkable that you are working so hard to meet the needs of a single billionaire family while keeping the rest of the neighborhood in the dark,” reads one email sent to the city’s Planning and Development Services Department in February. “Just as you have not earned our trust, this property owner has broken many promises over the years, and any solution which depends on good faith behavioral changes from them is a failure from the beginning.”
In order for the Zuckerbergs to run a private school on their land, which is in a residential zone, they need a “conditional use” permit from the city. However, based on the documents WIRED obtained, and Palo Alto’s public database of planning applications, the Zuckerbergs do not appear to have ever applied for or received this permit.
Most of the Zuckerbergs’ neighbors did not respond to WIRED’s request for comment. However, the ones that did clearly indicated that they would not be forgetting the Bicken Ben saga, or the past decade of disruption, anytime soon.
179959108
submission
joshuark writes:
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently said that the company is doing “well more” than $13 billion in annual revenue — and he sounded a little testy when pressed on how it will pay for its massive spending commitments.
“First of all, we’re doing well more revenue than that. Second of all, Brad, if you want to sell your shares, I’ll find you a buyer,” Altman said, prompting laughs from Nadella. “I just — enough. I think there are a lot of people who would love to buy OpenAI shares.”
Altman acknowledged that there are ways the company “might screw it up” — for example by failing to get access to enough computing resources — but he said that “revenue is growing steeply.”
At the same time, he denied reports that OpenAI plans to go public next year.
“No no no, we don’t have anything that specific,” Altman said. “I’m a realist, I assume it will happen someday, but I don’t know why people write these reports. We don’t have a date in mind, we don’t have a board decision to do this or anything like that. I just assume it’s where things will eventually go.”
179928642
submission
joshuark writes:
The graphene-infused roads may pave the way into the future. According to Essex County officials, a pilot test outside of London indicates that lanes imbued with one of the world’s strongest known materials outperforms and outlasts traditional asphalt. The name of the new super-street combination? Gipave.
Asphalt is typically made from a mixture of stone aggregates held together with viscous, petroleum-based substance called bitumen. However, engineers recently began experimenting with adding the graphite-derived material graphene into the mix.
Road maintenance remains one of the most costly issues facing local, state, and federal governments. One of the most recognizable and frequent problems is comparatively mundane. Cracks are inevitable in any road due to weakening materials and repeated stress over time. Once enough cars have sped over these fissures, chunks begin breaking off to create those infamous potholes that pop tires and ruin shocks.
asphalt combined with graphene to form a paving material called Gipave. Workers subsequently laid over 165 tons of Gipave for a lane on a new highway entrance road near London. They also added a second lane using traditional asphalt for a control. The Gipave was then exposed to thousands of car and truck tires throughout every season’s changing weather and temperatures over the next three years.
At the end of the experiment, third-party engineers extracted core samples from both lanes for lab testing and analysis. More specifically, they measured how much pressure it took to distort each dry sample, then tested them again after a 72-hour immersion in water. The graphene-enhanced asphalt performed 10 percent better in stiffness tests, as well as 20 percent better when it came to water sensitivity.
If there is any immediately obvious weakness to Gipave, it’s the price tag. Engineers estimate it costs around 30 cents per square foot to use Gipave. It would cost around $124.3 billion to repave all US highways with Gipave.
179884380
submission
joshuark writes:
The mystery object that struck a plane at 36,000 feet is likely not space debris, as some speculated, but rather a Silicon Valley test project gone wrong.
WindBorne Systems, a Palo Alto startup that uses atmospheric balloons to collect weather data for AI-based forecast models, has come forward to say that they believe they may be responsible for the object that hit the windshield.
“Yes, I think this was a WindBorne balloon. We learned about UA1093 and the potential that it was related to one of our balloons at 11pm PT on Sunday and immediately looked into it,” WindBorne CEO John Dean posted on social media. “At 6am PT, we sent our preliminary investigation to both NTSB and FAA, and are working with both of them to investigate further.”
The National Transportation Safety Board said in a statement released on social media on Sunday that the windscreen was being sent to their lab for testing, using “radar, weather, flight recorder data” to determine the cause of the incident.
WindBorne said the company has launched more than 4,000 balloons and that it coordinates with the Federal Aviation Administration for every launch. After presenting one of its balloons as a possible cause of the collision, the company said in a statement on its website that it “immediately rolled out changes to minimize time spent between 30,000 and 40,000 feet.”
Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for a comment about the structural integrity of the windshields on its 737 Max planes.
179880134
submission
joshuark writes:
Microsoft says that the File Explorer (formerly Windows Explorer) now automatically blocks previews for files downloaded from the Internet to block credential theft attacks via malicious documents. This attack vector is particularly concerning because it requires no user interaction beyond selecting a file to preview and removes the need to trick a target into actually opening or executing it on their system.
For most users, no action is required since the protection is enabled automatically with the October 2025 security update, and existing workflows remain unaffected unless you regularly preview downloaded files.
"This change is designed to enhance security by preventing a vulnerability that could leak NTLM hashes when users preview potentially unsafe files."
It is important to note that this may not take effect immediately and could require signing out and signing back in.
179867236
submission
joshuark writes:
Paris-based Associated Press photographer Thibault Camus caught in his frame a dapperly dressed young man walking by uniformed French police officers.
But it did the job — showing French police sealing off the world’s most-visited museum after the brazen daylight robbery.
Camus figured, the guy walking past the officers was unusually well dressed, in a coat, a jacket and tie and wearing a fedora, adding a touch of Paris couture to the scene.
The photo was sent off to worldwide audiences from there, fertile imaginations sprung into high gear, fomenting a buzz on the Internet.
Posts on social media declared the debonair man to be a French detectiv a more dashing version of the famed Inspector Clouseau from “Pink Panther” movies.
“We’d rather keep the mystery alive ;)” the Paris prosecutor’s office said with a wink in an email response to AP questions.
Not Inspector Clouseau, but more akin to the fictional Belgian detective Hercule Poirot from Agatha Christie's mystery novels, or perhaps from a favorite novel, the detective Truman R. Klutz from the "Final Deadline: Foul Play without a Clue" murder mystery novel by Moses Carlton Kery. Or perhaps the character "Milo Perrier" from the play and movie "Murder by Death"... Undoubtedly there will be more sightings and photos to come.
179846578
submission
joshuark writes:
A new malicious campaign is targeting macOS developers with fake Homebrew, and other platforms.
The fake ads deliver infostealing malware like AMOS (Atomic macOS Stealer) and Odyssey.
Homebrew is a popular open-source package management system that makes it easier to install software on macOS and Linux. Threat actors have used in the past the platform's name to distribute AMOS in malvertising campaigns.
BleepingComputer discovered that in some cases the traffic to the sites was driven via Google Ads, indicating that the threat actor promoted them to appear in Google Search results.
AMOS, first documented in April 2023, is a malware-as-a-service (MaaS) available under a $1,000/month subscription. It can steal a broad range of data from infected hosts.
Recently, its creators added a backdoor component to the malware to give operators remote persistent access capabilities.
Odyssey Stealer, documented by CYFIRMA researchers this summer, is a relatively new family derived from the Poseidon Stealer, which itself was forked from AMOS.
It is strongly recommended that users don't paste in the Terminal commands found online if they don’t fully understand what they do.
179810338
submission
joshuark writes:
Not all jobs are created equal, according to the new American Job Quality Study.he nationally representative survey of roughly 18,000 Americans finds that just 40% of U.S. workers hold "quality jobs," "Quality jobs" re defined as roles with fair compensation, safe environments, growth opportunities, agency and manageable schedules.Quality jobs are linked to higher satisfaction and wellbeing, yet most U.S. workers face gaps in pay, advancement, scheduling and fairness.
As former obsolete technology COM guru Don Box stated: COM sucks but pays my bucks. Now it sucks and no bucks.
179774094
submission
joshuark writes:
Tesla is being investigated by the US government after reports the firm's self-driving cars had broken traffic laws, including driving on the wrong side of the road and not stopping for red lights. An estimated 2.9 million cars equipped with full self-driving tech will fall under the investigation.
According to the NHTSA report, there were six crashes caused by cars stopping at a traffic light before setting off while the light was still red. Four of the crashes resulted in injuries.
Tesla is already facing an investigation from the NHTSA over the cars' door locking mechanisms, after cases where children were reportedly trapped inside Model Y cars.
Perhaps this is a new "feature" to simulate teenagers learning to drive, or an homage to the movie "License to Drive" ???
