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As Microsoft default-encrypts Windows 11, Linux is set to get a huge performance boost  Neowin

As Microsoft default-encrypts Windows 11, Linux is set to get a huge performance boost  Neowin

As Microsoft default-encrypts Windows 11, Linux is set to get a huge performance boost  Neowin

An anonymous reader quotes a report from ZDNet: IBM managed the open sourcing of Granite code by using pretraining data from publicly available datasets, such as GitHub Code Clean, Starcoder data, public code repositories, and GitHub issues. In short, IBM has gone to great lengths to avoid copyright or legal issues. The Granite Code Base models are trained on 3- to 4-terabyte tokens of code data and natural language code-related datasets. All these models are licensed under the Apache 2.0 license for research and commercial use. It's that last word -- commercial -- that stopped the other major LLMs from being open-sourced. No one else wanted to share their LLM goodies. But, as IBM Research chief scientist Ruchir Puri said, "We are transforming the generative AI landscape for software by releasing the highest performing, cost-efficient code LLMs, empowering the open community to innovate without restrictions." Without restrictions, perhaps, but not without specific applications in mind. The Granite models, as IBM ecosystem general manager Kate Woolley said last year, are not "about trying to be everything to everybody. This is not about writing poems about your dog. This is about curated models that can be tuned and are very targeted for the business use cases we want the enterprise to use. Specifically, they're for programming." These decoder-only models, trained on code from 116 programming languages, range from 3 to 34 billion parameters. They support many developer uses, from complex application modernization to on-device memory-constrained tasks. IBM has already used these LLMs internally in IBM Watsonx Code Assistant (WCA) products, such as WCA for Ansible Lightspeed for IT Automation and WCA for IBM Z for modernizing COBOL applications. Not everyone can afford Watsonx, but now, anyone can work with the Granite LLMs using IBM and Red Hat's InstructLab.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Melinda French Gates announced today she is stepping down from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, three years after announcing her separation from Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. With her departure as co-chair, the foundation will change its name to Gates Foundation and Bill Gates will be its sole chairperson, said CEO Mark Suzman. NBC News reports: In a statement posted on her Instagram account, she said that as part of her agreement to step down from the foundation, she will retain $12.5 billion that she plans to put toward her ongoing work supporting women and families. "This is not a decision I came to lightly," French Gates wrote. "I am immensely proud of the foundation that Bill and I built together and of the extraordinary work it is doing to address inequities around the world." In a separate statement, Bill Gates said, "I am sorry to see Melinda leave, but I am sure she will have a huge impact in her future philanthropic work." Now worth $75.2 billion, the Gates Foundation has over the course of its three-decade lifespan made $77.6 billion worth of grant payments, making it one of the largest donor organizations in the world, with a focus on health and developmental goals. It is one of the largest contributors to the World Health Organization, and played a key role in efforts to address the Covid pandemic. "After a difficult few years watching women's rights rolled back in the U.S. and around the world, she wants to use this next chapter to focus specifically on altering that trajectory," Suzman said of French Gates. "I want to reassure you that the millions of people our work serves and the thousands of partners we work alongside can continue to count on the foundation. The foundation today is stronger than it has ever been." "I know we all wish Melinda the best in her next chapter," he added, noting that French Gates "will not be bringing any of the foundation's work with her when she leaves."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Linux Foundation Announces the Launch of the High Performance Software Foundation  HPCwire

AI is hitting the global labour market "like a tsunami" International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Monday. AI is likely to impact 60% of jobs in advanced economies and 40% of jobs around the world in the next two years, Georgieva told an event in Zurich. From a report: "We have very little time to get people ready for it, businesses ready for it," she told the event organised by the Swiss Institute of International Studies, associated to the University of Zurich. "It could bring tremendous increase in productivity if we manage it well, but it can also lead to more misinformation and, of course, more inequality in our society."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Supercomputer champ repeats, Infiniband tops Ethernet and Linux dominates  SDxCentral

Limited-time Referral Bonus Boost: The Raisin referral bonus for new accounts has been hiked for a limited time, doubled on some tiers and now up to $200. The new tiers are below. At the $5,000 and $10,000 amounts, the bonus works out to 1% of the deposit for a minimum 90 day hold, which works out to a 4% annualized boost above the existing interest rates. ($50k tier = 1.2% APY annualized boost, $100k tiers = 0.8% annualized boost). Here is my referral link and my personal referral code is jonathanp31786. Thanks if you use it.

Full review:

Updated rates for May 2024. Raisin (formerly SaveBetter) is a financial marketplace that allows you to access high-interest certificates of deposit and savings accounts from multiple different banks and credit unions without having to open up a new account at each one. Every participation institution is either FDIC-insured or NCUA-insured. The participating banks, product terms, and interest rates change regularly. SaveBetter is now Raisin, to better match the same popular service that runs in Europe. Here are the top Raisin offers as of 4/4/2024:

High-Yield CDs

• 5.05% APY for 14-month CD. CDs are for locking in a rate. I don’t really consider anything less than a year term to be useful. Minimum opening deposit is $1.
• View all available rates

No-Penalty CDs

• 5.10% APY for a 9-month No Penalty CD. Your rate will never go down, but there is also no early withdrawal penalty. Withdrawals may be made 30 days after opening.
• View all available rates

Liquid Savings

• 5.26% APY Savings Account. Minimum opening deposit is $1. No limit on number of transactions.
• View all available rates

Background on Raisin. Raisin is a marketplace for partner banks and credit unions looking to promote their deposit products. They offer liquid savings account, No-Penalty CDs, and High-Yield traditional CDs. Funds are held in a custodial account at the bank or credit union that is providing your selected savings product(s). The banks are all FDIC-insured and the credit unions are all NCUA-insured. Raisin does not charge any monthly maintenance fees. Raisin’s US operations are a subsidiary of Raisin GmbH, a German financial company that also offers high-interest deposit products across Europe.

The benefit for the consumer is that you can easily access promotional rates at a new bank or credit union without having to open yet another new account (and endure credit checks, identify verification hurdles, join partner organizations, leave funds in share savings accounts, etc). This makes it easier to chase higher savings accounts and CD rates. You must link a single external bank account and make all your deposits and withdrawals electronically through that linked account. You can only have one external bank account linked at a time, so choose carefully.

A drawback is that you do not get direct access to your Raisin sub-accounts via routing number and account number. You must go through the Raisin site to open accounts, make deposits, and make withdrawals. Your single linked external bank is your only access to Raisin, so in a way I mentally name it also as my “Raisin bank account”. Here is a simple illustration I made that helps me visualize this setup:

Here are some more details from the Raisin site:

5. What is a custodial account and how does it work?
Custodial accounts are involved in how Raisin directs the money transfers from customers to the banks and credit unions holding their savings. When a customer makes a deposit through their Raisin account into a savings product offered by a given financial institution, the funds move from the customer’s external bank account (also referred to as the reference account) to an omnibus custodial account held by Lewis and Clark Bank (functioning in the role as a custodian bank) at the financial institution offering the savings product.

6. How does pass-through deposit insurance work?
Although Raisin customers’ deposits are pooled in omnibus accounts, there is no impact on the eligible deposit insurance coverage you receive from the financial institution holding your savings. This is because the government entities providing federal deposit insurance — the FDIC for banks and NCUA for credit unions — permit pass-through coverage. So your money that’s pooled in a custodial account still has the coverage it would have were it held in an individual account in your name.

I suspect this setup is a lower cost structure for the banks as well, which in turn allows higher interest rates. After learning about omnibus accounts, I noticed that other places like Fidelity Investments also use them in their cash sweep accounts as temporary holding accounts. Search for “omnibus” in your terms and conditions. This is also similar to how “brokered CDs” are usually managed when you buy them through a broker like Vanguard and Fidelity – the funds are pooled together at the issuing bank and don’t include individual account numbers. Same with the FDIC-insured accounts inside many 529 plans.

Referral bonus ($5,000+ deposit required). The minimum deposit on Raisin for both their savings and CDs are usually as low as $1 (each product has different terms). However, if you are new to Raisin and plan to deposit at least $5,000, they do have a referral program if you open via a referral link and enter my personal referral code jonathanp31786. You must deposit $5,000 for 90 days to earn $25, and then additional $5 for every subsequent $5,000 deposit past that, up to a max of $125 bonus ($105,000 total deposit). Here’s the fine print:

Making $125 has never been so easy or rewarding. Simply enter in the code you received from your friend or family member when you sign up for an account with Raisin. Once you fund your account and maintain an initial balance of $5,000 or more for 90 days, you will earn a minimum bonus of $25 and a maximum bonus of $125 depending on the account balance you maintained after 90 days. The bonus will be paid out within 30 days of qualification. Funds will be deposited into your external bank account linked to Raisin.

The referral bonus has been temporarily been improved. Please see the top of the post for the current tiers during this limited-time offer.

“The editorial content here is not provided by any of the companies mentioned, and has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Opinions expressed here are the author's alone. This email may contain links through which we are compensated when you click on or are approved for offers.”

5.05% APY CDs, 5.10% APY No-Penalty CDs, 5.26% APY Savings via Raisin (Limited-Time Bonus Boost, up to $200) from My Money Blog.

Copyright © 2004-2022 MyMoneyBlog.com. All Rights Reserved. Do not re-syndicate without permission.

Update May 2024: Juno just sent out the following e-mail today, which may be the best of example of public relations double-speak that I’ve seen in a while. Look at all those meaningless words! 😳 Juno paid out a lot of above-average valuable perks for a while, even before their crypto pivot, and I’m still not sure where the money came from. Unfortunately, the music has finally stopped and the party looks to be over. 🎉 🙅 They are reporting banking interruptions (ACH transfers + debit cards) and are terminating their 5% APY interest and 5% cashback program with only 48 hours notice (5/15/24). If you still have money there, I would recommend starting the withdrawal process but also having some patience. I have no reason to expect any principal losses but these types of disruptions do occur with fintech apps at times, unfortunately. This tweet says they are looking to switch banking providers in the next 4 weeks (!), but when you allow something like this to happen, that may be too little too late.

Dear Jonathan,
Juno stands at the intersection of banking and cryptocurrency, providing the quickest and easiest access to over 20 blockchains in the United States through ACH, Wire, Cash App, and more. We pride ourselves on promoting self-custody by eliminating mandatory holding periods for crypto withdrawals, distinguishing us from many U.S. crypto exchanges.

The past 18 months have witnessed remarkable growth in crypto and stablecoin sectors. These innovations are essential for creating fair and transparent financial services. At Juno, we are committed to a future where financial control rests with the users, not the banks.

In the past few days, banking services on Juno have been temporarily disrupted. Our team is hard at work collaborating with our banking services provider, Evolve Bank & Trust, and brokerage partner, Synapse Brokerage LLC., to resolve the disruptions as quickly as possible. This disruption, however, further strengthens our commitment to build a future where you are in control of your money at all times, not the banks.

Introducing Juno 2.0 – Reimagining Banking for Tomorrow

In 2024, Juno will focus intensively on developing financial services centered around crypto and stablecoins to ensure that you are always in control of your money. Our goal is to seamlessly integrate banking and crypto infrastructures to foster innovative experiences in savings, payments, and investments, making crypto and stablecoins practical for everyday use.

As part of this strategic realignment, starting May 15, 2024:

Cash held in Juno accounts will no longer accrue the 5.00% bonus, regardless of the account balance.
Additionally, purchases made with the Juno card will no longer receive a 5% cashback.

We recognize that these changes might be disappointing. However, please be assured that this decision was made with careful consideration of our long-term vision to give Juno members financial freedom by placing crypto and stablecoins at the heart of banking and financial services.

Thank you for your understanding and continued support. Should you have any questions or need more information, our customer support team is always here to assist you.

Update January 2024: Juno is now paying a 5.00% annualized bonus on balances from $20,000 up to $250,000 and 3.00% annualized on balances below $20,000.

Original post below, now outdated, last updated circa 2023:

Juno.finance (formerly OnJuno) is a fintech that combines an FDIC-insured bank account and a crypto custodian. Details:

• New: Earn 5.00% annualized bonus on all cash deposits up to $250,000 and 3.00% annualized on balances below $20,000. This applies to traditional cash deposits (USD), which are FDIC-insured through Evolve Bank & Trust. Applies to both the Basic and Metal tiers. No transaction or direct deposit requirements.
• New: JCOIN Loyalty Program. Earn loyalty tokens “JCOIN” when you complete certain actions with Juno. Existing users should check their accounts as Juno may have given you a bunch for free that you must claim. These loyalty tokens are redeemable inside the app for various perks including gift cards.

OnJuno partners with Evolve Bank and Trust for FDIC insurance. A reminder that cryptocurrencies, including USDC stablecoins, are not covered by FDIC insurance even though the creators claim they are backed 1:1 by US dollars. Juno has added support for crypto and external wallets. Don’t confuse your FDIC-insured USD deposits with stablecoins.

Traditional Bank-to-bank transfers. OnJuno uses the Plaid service to link with external bank accounts for funding and free ACH transfers (both deposits and withdrawals). They also provide you with the full account number and routing number, which you can use to connect with other banks like Ally, Marcus, CapOne 360, etc. The routing number is 084106768 which is confirmed as that of Evolve Bank & Trust. I was able to make a deposit and withdrawal initiated at Ally without issue (subject to transfer limits of $20,000 daily/$500,000 monthly). As with some other fintechs, their in-house limits are lower.

Bonus rate, not APY? You may notice that they don’t use “APY” and instead say “bonus rate”. Here’s their reason:

The Bonus Rate is offered entirely by OnJuno and is not interest provided by Evolve Bank and Trust. The bonus rate You earn will be credited to Your account at the beginning of each month. Your funds begin generating a bonus rate once they are available on Your OnJuno Checking Account. Please note that OnJuno reserves the right to cancel, remove, and change this bonus at any time. OnJuno also reserves the rights, in sole discretion, to refuse this bonus without cause, reason, and notice.

I’ve been getting my bonus rate every month without issue at the proper annualized rate, so this just seems to be a legal thing. Your interest is still shown on a 1099-INT at the end of the year.

Additional details.

• Customer service. You can contact them via phone at 415-969-5775 (9am to 6pm Pacific) or online message (they replied to me within a few hours).
• No minimum balance requirement.
• Fee-free access to both Allpoint and Moneypass ATM networks (85,000+ locations).
• Free debit Mastercard.
• No mobile check deposit yet.

Bottom line. Juno is a fintech banking app with a high-interest checking account with no direct deposit or debit card usage requirements. FDIC-insurance from Evolve Bank and Trust. It does have ties with crypto, which may be either a plus or minus for you.

“The editorial content here is not provided by any of the companies mentioned, and has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Opinions expressed here are the author's alone. This email may contain links through which we are compensated when you click on or are approved for offers.”

Juno Finance App: Banking Interruptions, 5% APY and 5% Cashback Terminated from My Money Blog.

Copyright © 2004-2022 MyMoneyBlog.com. All Rights Reserved. Do not re-syndicate without permission.

Apple and Google have launched a new industry standard called "Detecting Unwanted Location Trackers" to combat the misuse of Bluetooth trackers for stalking. Starting Monday, iPhone and Android users will receive alerts when an unknown Bluetooth device is detected moving with them. The move comes after numerous cases of trackers like Apple's AirTags being used for malicious purposes. Several Bluetooth tag companies have committed to making their future products compatible with the new standard. Apple and Google said they will continue collaborating with the Internet Engineering Task Force to further develop this technology and address the issue of unwanted tracking.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

GameStop shares surged over 72% on Monday after Keith Gill, also known as "Roaring Kitty," returned to social media following a three-year hiatus. Gill gained notoriety for his role in the 2020 meme stock frenzy, where he encouraged amateur investors to buy GameStop shares, significantly driving up the stock price and challenging hedge funds. From a report: He resurfaced on X, Sunday night, with an image of a sketched man leaning forward in a chair, marking the end of a roughly three-year hiatus. He followed that post with several others featuring various comeback-themed videos featuring movie clips and charged music. GameStop had experienced declining sales amid an industrywide pivot from game cartridges to video game streaming and digital downloads, but with the help from meme stock investors, last March the company turned its first profit in two years. Before then, the company had posted seven straight quarterly losses. This January, GameStop reported its first annual profit since 2018. Roaring Kitty's post helped bump GameStop's share price to $28.25 on Monday. GameStop's all-time high stock price is $120.75 in January 2021.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Linux Kernel 6.9 Released — And It’s Packed with Improvements  OMG! Ubuntu!

An anonymous reader quotes a report from CBS News: Richard "Rick" Slayman, the first human to receive a genetically modified pig kidney transplant, has died almost two months after the procedure. Slayman, who had end-stage kidney disease, underwent the transplant in March at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston at age 62. The hospital said in a statement on Saturday that there was "no indication" that his death was the result of the transplant. The transplant surgeon had said he hoped the transplant would function for at least two years. "The Mass General transplant team is deeply saddened at the sudden passing of Mr. Rick Slayman," read the hospital statement. "Mr. Slayman will forever be seen as a beacon of hope to countless transplant patients worldwide and we are deeply grateful for his trust and willingness to advance the field of xenotransplantation." The surgery was a milestone for the field of xenotransplantation -- the transplant of organs from one species to another -- as a way to alleviate the organ shortage for people who need transplants. The effort to genetically modify animal organs is in hopes that the human body will not reject the foreign tissue. NPR notes that there are more than 100,000 people in the U.S. on the waitlist for organs.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Linux 6.9 arrives, plus Torvalds indicates Arm64 will get a bit more love  The Register

Linux supremo says 6.9 release has 'felt pretty normal'  The Register

An anonymous reader shares a report: Microsoft is attempting to solve the hassle of coordinating with colleagues on when everyone will be in the office. It's a problem that emerged with the increase in hybrid and flexible work after the recent covid-19 pandemic, with workers spending less time in the office. Microsoft Places is an AI-powered app that goes into preview today and should help businesses that rely on Outlook and Microsoft Teams to better coordinate in-office time together. "When employees get to the office, they don't want to be greeted by a sea of empty desks -- they want face-time with their manager and the coworkers they collaborate with most frequently," says Microsoft's corporate vice president of AI at work, Jared Spataro, in a blog post. "With Places, you can more easily coordinate across coworkers and spaces in the office."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

I Turned These 4 New Features On After Upgrading to Ubuntu 24.04 (and You Should Too)  How-To Geek

Rust 1.78 Upgrade For Linux 6.10, Dropping In-Tree "alloc" Fork To Save ~10k Lines  Phoronix

An anonymous reader shares a report: Meta Platforms is exploring developing AI-powered earphones with cameras, which the company hopes could be used to identify objects and translate foreign languages, according to three current employees. Meta's work on a new AI device comes as several tech companies look to develop AI wearables, and after Meta added an AI assistant to its Ray-Ban smart glasses. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has seen several possible designs for the device but has not been satisfied with them, one of the employees said. It's unclear if the final design will be in-ear earbuds or over-the-ear headphones. Internally, the project goes by the name Camerabuds. The timeline is also unclear. Company leaders had expected a design to be approved in the first quarter, one of the people said. But employees have identified multiple potential problems with the project, including that long hair may cover the cameras on the earbuds. Also, putting a camera and batteries into tiny devices could make the earbuds bulky and risk making them uncomfortably hot. Attaching discreet cameras to a wearable device may also raise privacy concerns, as Google learned with Google Glass.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.