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172261097 story


PYTHON COMMUNITY ANNOUNCES PODCAST, DEVELOPER'S SURVEY, PYCHARM DISCOUNT
(BLOGSPOT.COM) 1

Posted by EditorDavid on Saturday November 18, 2023 @10:34AM from the
Python-for-everybody dept.
The Python community is staying busy.
 * Three weeks ago a new podcast launched with Python core developer/steering
   council member Pablo Galindo and Python developer-in-residence Åukasz Langa.

 * This month the Python Sofware Foundation announced its seventh Python
   Developers Survey.

 * And for the fifth year in a row the foundation partnered with JetBrains to
   offer a 30% discount on JetBrains' dedicated Python Integrated Development
   Environment "PyCharm" — with all proceeds benefitting the Python Software
   Foundation ("The discount will be automatically applied when you check out.
   The promotion will only be available through November 27th...")
   
   A PSF blog post about the fundraiser notes you can also just make a direct
   donation to the Python Software Foundation, or sign up to become a foundation
   member to "help us sustain what we do."




172261001 story


FCC TIGHTENS TELCO RULES TO COMBAT SIM-SWAPPING (SECURITYWEEK.COM) 7

Posted by BeauHD on Saturday November 18, 2023 @08:00AM from the
cease-and-desist dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from SecurityWeek: Moving to clamp down on
the growing scourge of SIM-swapping and port-out fraud, the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) has unveiled new rules mandating telcos to give
consumers greater control of their mobile phone accounts. Under the new rules,
wireless carriers are required to notify customers of any SIM transfer requests,
a measure designed to thwart fraudulent attempts by cybercriminals. The FCC has
also revised its customer proprietary network information and local number
portability rules, making it more challenging for scammers to access sensitive
subscriber information.

The new protective measures (PDF) are meant to address SIM-swapping and port-out
attacks widely documented in cybercriminal attacks against businesses and
consumers. The attack technique is used to hijack mobile accounts, change and
steal passwords, bypass MFA roadblocks and raid bank accounts. Studies have
found that major mobile carriers in the US are vulnerable to SIM-swapping with
the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) receiving thousands of consumer
complaints every year.



172260975 story


WORLD'S LARGEST SINGLE-SITE SOLAR FARM GOES ONLINE (ELECTREK.CO) 34

Posted by BeauHD on Saturday November 18, 2023 @05:00AM from the great-PR dept.
The world's largest single-site solar farm has gone online in the United Arab
Emirates. Called the Al Dhafra solar farm, it features almost 4 million bifacial
solar panels and will power nearly 200,000 homes -- all while eliminating 2.4
million tons of carbon emissions annually. Electrek reports: Now that Al Dhafra
is online, the UAE's solar power production capacity has increased to 3.2 GW. In
September, EWEC called for proposals to develop a 1.5 GW solar farm in Al Khazna
near Abu Dhabi. UAE is aiming to triple its renewable energy capacity to 14 GW
by 2030. The UAE is hosting COP28 in Dubai, which kicks off on November 30, so,
understandably, its rulers would time the launch of the world's largest solar
farm just ahead of that event -- it's simply good PR.

UAE is rightly being criticized for putting the CEO of its state oil company,
the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company -- the world's 12th-biggest oil company by
production -- in charge of COP28. It's also being criticized for hosting COP28
yet having an all-of-the-above approach to energy. The UAE Energy Strategy 2050
targets an energy mix of 44% clean energy, 38% gas, 12% "clean coal" (yes, it
really says that), and 6% nuclear. It says it will become carbon neutral by
2050, but how it will do that on 50% fossil fuels is anyone's guess.



172260935 story


WHY US WOMEN NOW LIVE ALMOST 6 YEARS LONGER THAN MEN (TIME.COM) 87

Posted by BeauHD on Saturday November 18, 2023 @02:00AM from the widening-gap
dept.
According to a new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, women in the U.S.
are now projected to live about six years longer than U.S. men. TIME reports:
[T]he 2021 data represent the largest gender-based life expectancy gap in the
U.S. since 1996. The gulf began to widen before the COVID-19 pandemic, the
authors note, but the trend accelerated from 2019 to 2021. Deaths from COVID-19
and unintentional injuries, a category that includes accidental drug overdoses,
were the largest contributors to the widening of the gap, but differential rates
of homicide, heart disease, and suicide deaths also played a role, according to
the report. It's well-established that men die of these causes more frequently
than women, and in recent years, they have been some of the most common causes
of death overall. Heart disease, COVID-19, and unintentional injuries accounted
for three of the top five in 2021.

The gender gap would have been even wider, the authors note, but for factors
including increases in maternal mortality and decreases in cancer deaths among
men. Overall, the data underscore the continued importance of limiting
COVID-19's spread, and of finding better ways to improve national mental health
and prevent drug overdoses and suicides -- fatalities sometimes labeled by
experts as "deaths of despair."



172260827 story


VALVE CELEBRATES 25 YEARS OF HALF-LIFE WITH FEATURE-PACKED STEAM UPDATE
(ARSTECHNICA.COM) 36

Posted by BeauHD on Friday November 17, 2023 @10:30PM from the
time-to-wallow-in-nostalgia dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: This Sunday, November 19,
makes a full 25 years since the original Half-Life first hit (pre-Steam) store
shelves. To celebrate the anniversary, Valve has uploaded a feature-packed "25th
anniversary update" to the game on Steam, and made the title free to keep if you
pick it up this weekend. Valve's 25th Anniversary Update page details a bevy of
new and modernized features added to the classic first-person shooter,
including:

- Four new multiplayer maps that "push the limits of what's possible in the
Half-Life engine"
- New graphics settings, including support for a widescreen field-of-view on
modern monitors and OpenGL Overbright lighting (still no official ray-tracing
support, though-leave that to the modders)
- "Proper gamepad config out of the box" (so dust off that Gravis Gamepad Pro)
- Steam networking support for easier multiplayer setup
- "Verified" support for Steam Deck play ("We failed super hard" on the first
verification attempt, Valve writes)
- Proper UI scaling for resolutions up to 3840x1600
- Multiplayer balancing updates (because 25 years hasn't been enough to perfect
the meta)
- New entity limits that allow mod makers to build more complex mods
- A full software renderer for the Linux version of the game
- Various bug fixes
- "Removed the now very unnecessary 'Low video quality. Helps with slower video
cards' setting"

In addition, the new update includes a host of restored and rarely seen content,
including:

- Three multiplayer maps from the "Half-Life: Further Data" CD-ROM: Double
Cross, Rust Mill, and Xen DM
- Four restored multiplayer models: Ivan the Space Biker, Proto-Barney (from the
alpha build), a skeleton, and Too Much Coffee Man (from "Further Data")
- Dozens of "Further Data" sprays to tag in your multiplayer matches
- The original Half-Life: Uplink demo in playable form



172260865 story


SWEDISH WORKERS ARE UNITING AGAINST TESLA (WIRED.CO.UK) 140

Posted by BeauHD on Friday November 17, 2023 @08:40PM from the
this-could-get-ugly dept.
New submitter doc1623 shares a report from Wired: Swedish workers are uniting
against Tesla. [Starting Friday], cleaners will stop cleaning Tesla showrooms,
electricians won't fix the company's charging points, and dockworkers will
refuse to unload Tesla cargo at all Swedish ports. What started as a strike by
Tesla mechanics is spreading, in something Swedish unions describe as an
existential battle between Elon Musk's carmaker and the conventions they say
make the country's labor market fair and efficient. The standoff in Sweden is
the biggest union action the company has faced anywhere in the world. Sweden
doesn't have laws that set working conditions, such as a minimum wage. Instead
these rules are dictated by collective agreements, a type of contract that
defines the benefits employees are entitled to, such as wages and working hours.
For five years, industrial workers' union IF Metall, which represents Tesla
mechanics, has been trying to persuade the company to sign a collective
agreement. When Tesla refused, the mechanics decided to strike at the end of
October. Then they asked fellow Swedish unions to join them.

Some unions that joined the blockade are expanding their actions in an effort to
be more effective. Since November 7, union members working at four Swedish ports
have been refusing to unload Tesla cargo. Tomorrow, the blockade will be
extended to all ports in Sweden. "We don't want to unload any Tesla cars," says
Jimmy Asberg, who is president of the dockworkers' branch of Sweden's transport
union and works at Gavle port. "We are going to allow every other car [to dock],
but the Tesla cars, they will stay on the ship." He hopes Tesla will understand
how important this issue is for workers in the country. "Not just dockworkers
but for all workers in Sweden."

The Swedish Building Maintenance Workers' Union will also join the Tesla
blockade on Friday at 12 pm local time, "simply because the [IF] Metall Workers
Trade Union asked us to," says ombudsman Torbjorn Jonsson, adding that the union
has around 50 members who clean Tesla locations. Four showrooms and service
centers will be affected -- three around Stockholm and one in the city of Umea.
"Their workshops and showrooms will not be cleaned." Three days later, on
November 20, the Seko union, which represents postal workers, will stop
delivering letters, spare parts, and pallets to all of Tesla's addresses in
Sweden. "Tesla is trying to gain competitive advantages by giving the workers
worse wages and conditions than they would have with a collective agreement,"
said Seko's union president, Gabriella Lavecchia, in a statement. "It is of
course completely unacceptable."



172260701 story


USDA'S PLANT HARDINESS ZONE MAP SHOWS HALF THE COUNTRY HAS SHIFTED 29

Posted by BeauHD on Friday November 17, 2023 @08:00PM from the
compare-and-contrast dept.
The newly updated U.S. Department of Agriculture's "plant hardiness zone map"
has gardeners across the nation researching what new plants they can grow in
their warming regions, as the 2023 map is about 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit warmer
than the 2012 map. NPR reports: This week the map got its first update in more
than a decade, and the outlook for many gardens looks warmer. The 2023 map is
about 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the 2012 map across the contiguous
U.S., says Chris Daly, director of the PRISM Climate Group at Oregon State
University that jointly developed the map with the USDA. Daly says the new map
means about half the country has shifted into a new half zone and half hasn't.
In some locations, people may find they can grow new types of flowers, fruits,
vegetables and plants.

Daly says he is hesitant to explicitly attribute the specific changes from the
2012 map to the 2023 map to climate change because of the volatility of the key
statistic they used to create this map. They were mapping "the coldest night of
the year, each year, over the past 30 years", Daly says, and it's a highly
variable figure. In an email, a press officer for the USDA says, "Changes to
plant hardiness zones are not necessarily reflective of global climate change
because of the highly variable nature of the extreme minimum temperature of the
year." But Daly says, in the big picture, climate change is playing a role in
changing what grows where in the US: "Over the long run, we will expect to see a
slow shifting northward of zones as climate change takes hold."


172260309 story


ONLINE ATROCITY DATABASE EXPOSED THOUSANDS OF VULNERABLE PEOPLE IN CONGO
(THEINTERCEPT.COM) 4

Posted by BeauHD on Friday November 17, 2023 @07:20PM from the
basic-security-errors dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Intercept: A joint project of Human
Rights Watch and New York University to document human rights abuses in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo has been taken offline after exposing the
identities of thousands of vulnerable people, including survivors of mass
killings and sexual assaults. The Kivu Security Tracker is a "data-centric
crisis map" of atrocities in eastern Congo that has been used by policymakers,
academics, journalists, and activists to "better understand trends, causes of
insecurity and serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian
law," according to the deactivated site. This includes massacres, murders,
rapes, and violence against activists and medical personnel by state security
forces and armed groups, the site said. But the KST's lax security protocols
appear to have accidentally doxxed up to 8,000 people, including activists,
sexual assault survivors, United Nations staff, Congolese government officials,
local journalists, and victims of attacks, an Intercept analysis found. Hundreds
of documents -- including 165 spreadsheets -- that were on a public server
contained the names, locations, phone numbers, and organizational affiliations
of those sources, as well as sensitive information about some 17,000 "security
incidents," such as mass killings, torture, and attacks on peaceful protesters.

The data was available via KST's main website, and anyone with an internet
connection could access it. The information appears to have been publicly
available on the internet for more than four years. [...] The spreadsheets,
along with the main KST website, were taken offline on October 28, after
investigative journalist Robert Flummerfelt, one of the authors of this story,
discovered the leak and informed Human Rights Watch and New York University's
Center on International Cooperation. HRW subsequently assembled what one source
close to the project described as a "crisis team." Last week, HRW and NYU's
Congo Research Group, the entity within the Center on International Cooperation
that maintains the KST website, issued a statement that announced the takedown
and referred in vague terms to "a security vulnerability in its database,"
adding, "Our organizations are reviewing the security and privacy of our data
and website, including how we gather and store information and our research
methodology." The statement made no mention of publicly exposing the identities
of sources who provided information on a confidential basis. [...] The Intercept
has not found any instances of individuals affected by the security failures,
but it's currently unknown if any of the thousands of people involved were
harmed. "We deeply regret the security vulnerability in the KST database and
share concerns about the wider security implications," Human Rights Watch's
chief communications officer, Mei Fong, told The Intercept. Fong said in an
email that the organization is "treating the data vulnerability in the KST
database, and concerns around research methodology on the KST project, with the
utmost seriousness." Fong added, "Human Rights Watch did not set up or manage
the KST website. We are working with our partners to support an investigation to
establish how many people -- other than the limited number we are so far aware
of -- may have accessed the KST data, what risks this may pose to others, and
next steps. The security and confidentiality of those affected is our primary
concern."



172260235 story


META'S HEAD OF AUGMENTED REALITY SOFTWARE STEPPING DOWN (REUTERS.COM) 6

Posted by BeauHD on Friday November 17, 2023 @06:40PM from the
uncertain-road-ahead dept.
According to Reuters, Meta's head of augmented reality software is stepping down
from his role. From the report: VP of Engineering Don Box announced the end of
his tenure at Meta internally this week, without elaborating on what he would do
next, according to a source familiar with the matter. A Meta spokesperson
confirmed Box would be leaving the company at the end of this week and said he
was doing so for personal reasons. There would be no change in product roadmap
as a result of his decision, she added.

The departure of Box, a veteran engineer with experience building major
technology systems from their infancy, could be a setback to progress on the
operating system, a key component of Meta's AR glasses project, the source told
Reuters. Meta has been planning to deliver a first generation of its AR glasses
by next year, although those are meant to be used only internally and by a
select group of developers, the source said. It aims to ship its first AR
glasses to consumers in 2027. The Meta spokesperson declined to address the
roadmap or whether the OS that Box's team was building would be in the first
generation AR glasses. [...]

Meta initially hired Box in 2021 to chart a path forward after the failure of
its XROS project, which aimed to create a unified custom operating system for
its virtual reality headsets, Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses and planned
augmented reality glasses, the source said. Box broke up the 300-person XROS
unit into dedicated teams for each device line early last year and personally
took over the team focused on AR software, according to both the source and
Box's LinkedIn profile. Prior to joining Meta, Box had worked at Microsoft since
2002. In his final role at Microsoft, he ran engineering for mixed reality,
which involved developing software for the HoloLens2 headset and related AR/VR
services. Box is known for having led the creation of the Xbox One operating
system and later heading Microsoft's core operating system group, which works
across all Windows products.



172260199 story


CANADA COURT OVERTURNS GOVERNMENT RULING THAT SOME PLASTICS ARE TOXIC
(REUTERS.COM) 30

Posted by BeauHD on Friday November 17, 2023 @06:00PM from the
unreasonable-and-unconstitutional dept.
A court in Canada struck down a regulation classifying some plastic products as
toxic, "a ruling that could hurt a push by Ottawa to ban single-use plastic
items like bags, straws and forks." From the report: A ban on manufacturing and
importing "harmful" single-use plastics came into effect last December after the
federal government formally drew up a order that added them to a list of toxic
items. But the Federal Court in Ottawa overturned that decision, calling the
listing "unreasonable and unconstitutional." The case was brought by plastics
manufacturers such as Dow Inc as well as Imperial Oil.

The office of Environment Minister Stephen Guilbeault said it was considering an
appeal. "We strongly believe in taking action to tackle this crisis and keep
millions of garbage bags worth of trash off our beaches, out of our waters, and
away from nature," spokeswoman Kaitlin Power said in a statement.



172260165 story


UNAUTHORIZED 'DAVID ATTENBOROUGH' AI CLONE NARRATES DEVELOPER'S LIFE, GOES VIRAL
(ARSTECHNICA.COM) 20

Posted by BeauHD on Friday November 17, 2023 @05:16PM from the dev-finds-a-way
dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: On Wednesday, Replicate
developer Charlie Holtz combined GPT-4 Vision (commonly called GPT-4V) and
ElevenLabs voice cloning technology to create an unauthorized AI version of the
famous naturalist David Attenborough narrating Holtz's every move on camera. As
of Thursday afternoon, the X post describing the stunt had garnered over 21,000
likes. "Here we have a remarkable specimen of Homo sapiens distinguished by his
silver circular spectacles and a mane of tousled curly locks," the false
Attenborough says in the demo as Holtz looks on with a grin. "He's wearing what
appears to be a blue fabric covering, which can only be assumed to be part of
his mating display." "Look closely at the subtle arch of his eyebrow," it
continues, as if narrating a BBC wildlife documentary. "It's as if he's in the
midst of an intricate ritual of curiosity or skepticism. The backdrop suggests a
sheltered habitat, possibly a communal feeding area or watering hole."

How does it work? Every five seconds, a Python script called "narrator" takes a
photo from Holtz's webcam and feeds it to GPT-4V -- the version of OpenAI's
language model that can process image inputs -- via an API, which has a special
prompt to make it create text in the style of Attenborough's narrations. Then it
feeds that text into an ElevenLabs AI voice profile trained on audio samples of
Attenborough's speech. Holtz provided the code (called "narrator") that pulls it
all together on GitHub, and it requires API tokens for OpenAI and ElevenLabs
that cost money to run. During the demo video, when Holtz holds up a cup and
takes a drink, the fake Attenborough narrator says, "Ah, in its natural
environment, we observe the sophisticated Homo sapiens engaging in the critical
ritual of hydration. This male individual has selected a small cylindrical
container, likely filled with life-sustaining H2O, and is tilting it expertly
towards his intake orifice. Such grace, such poise."



172259937 story


SAM ALTMAN FIRED AS CEO OF OPENAI (THEVERGE.COM) 55

Posted by Slashdot Staff on Friday November 17, 2023 @04:23PM from the
im-sorry-sam-im-afraid-i-cant-do-that dept.
Sam Altman has been fired as CEO of OpenAI, the company announced on Friday.
Slashdot reader tagous submitted this statement from OpenAI's board: Mr.
Altman's departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which
concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the
board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities. The board no
longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI. The Verge
reports: Chief technology officer Mira Murati will be the interim CEO, effective
immediately. The company will be conducting a search for the permanent CEO
successor. Employees at OpenAI found out about the news when it was announced
publicly, according to multiple sources. This is an extremely sudden turn of
events as Altman has largely been the face of OpenAI, which arguably kickstarted
the current AI arms race with last year's hugely popular ChatGPT. Just last
week, Altman keynoted at the company's DevDay conference, where it announced a
suite of major new updates to compete with other big tech companies like
Microsoft and Google. Altman also spoke at Thursday's Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation conference. "I loved my time at OpenAI," Altman said in a post on X.
"It was transformative for me personally, and hopefully the world a little bit.
Most of all I loved working with such talented people. Will have more to say
about what's next later."

UPDATE: OpenAI President Greg Brockman and three senior researchers at OpenAI
resigned. According to The Information, Brockman "helped launch the artificial
intelligence developer and has been key to developing ChatGPT and other core
products." He was also a "member of the six-member board that fired Altman."



172258413 story


GOOGLE DELAYS RELEASE OF GEMINI AI THAT AIMS TO COMPETE WITH OPENAI
(THEINFORMATION.COM) 5

Posted by msmash on Friday November 17, 2023 @04:20PM from the
where-things-stand dept.
Google's company-defining effort to catch up to ChatGPT creator OpenAI is
turning out to be harder than expected. From a report: Google representatives
earlier this year told some cloud customers and business partners they would get
access to the company's new conversational AI, a large language model known as
Gemini, by November. But the company recently told them not to expect it until
the first quarter of next year, according to two people with direct knowledge.
The delay comes at a bad time for Google, whose cloud sales growth has slowed
while that of its bigger rival, Microsoft, has accelerated. Part of Microsoft's
success has come from selling OpenAI's technology to its customers.



172258575 story


EU ALLOWS USE OF CONTROVERSIAL WEEDKILLER GLYPHOSATE FOR 10 MORE YEARS
(NATURE.COM) 41

Posted by msmash on Friday November 17, 2023 @03:40PM from the tough-luck dept.
After months of wrangling, the European Commission says it has decided to renew
the license for the weedkiller compound glyphosate, approving its use in
European Union countries for ten more years. From a report: Following the
decision yesterday, the Commission released a statement saying that, on the
basis of comprehensive safety assessments carried out by the European Food
Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), it would renew
the licence, "subject to certain new conditions and restrictions." These include
a ban on the use of the chemical to dry crops before harvest, and "the need for
certain measures to protect non-target organisms." Governments can still
restrict the use of glyphosate in their own countries if they consider the risks
too high, particularly in regard to the need to protect biodiversity, the
statement added.

Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Roundup, the world's most widely used
herbicide. Over the years, a debate has developed about whether the chemical is
safe to use on food crops, as well as its possible environmental impacts. Some
studies point to a link between glyphosate and certain cancers; others suggest
that the way in which it is used should not harm consumers. Glyphosate has been
investigated extensively by food- and chemicals-safety agencies, but
disagreements among researchers remain. The license allowing glyphosate's use in
the EU was last renewed for five years in 2017. Ahead of the authorization's
expiry in last December, the European Union temporarily extended it for another
year to allow the EFSA to assess some 2,400 studies about the compound and to
make a recommendation to governments.



172258431 story


RACE CANNOT BE USED TO PREDICT HEART DISEASE, SCIENTISTS SAY (NYTIMES.COM) 83

Posted by msmash on Friday November 17, 2023 @03:00PM from the
improved-understanding dept.
Doctors have long relied on a few key patient characteristics to assess risk of
a heart attack or stroke, using a calculus that considers blood pressure,
cholesterol, smoking and diabetes status, as well as demographics: age, sex and
race. Now, the American Heart Association is taking race out of the equation.
From a report: The overhaul of the widely used cardiac-risk algorithm is an
acknowledgment that, unlike sex or age, race identification in and of itself is
not a biological risk factor. The scientists who modified the algorithm decided
from the start that race itself did not belong in clinical tools used to guide
medical decision making, even though race might serve as a proxy for certain
social circumstances, genetic predispositions or environmental exposures that
raise the risk of cardiovascular disease.

The revision comes amid rising concern about health equity and racial bias
within the U.S. health care system, and is part of a broader trend toward
removing race from a variety of clinical algorithms. "We should not be using
race to inform whether someone gets a treatment or doesn't get a treatment,"
said Dr. Sadiya Khan, a preventive cardiologist at Northwestern University
Feinberg School of Medicine, who chaired the statement writing committee for the
American Heart Association, or A.H.A. The statement was published on Friday
[PDF] in the association's journal, Circulation. An online calculator using the
new algorithm, called PREVENT, is still in development.



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