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New York Introduces Legislation To Crack Down On 3D Printers That Make Ghost Guns

Slashdot.org - 20 min 38 sec ago
New York Governor Kathy Hochul is proposing first-of-its-kind legislation that would require 3D printers sold in the state to include built-in software designed to block the printing of gun parts used to make "ghost guns." The plan would also add criminal penalties for making 3D-printed firearms and hold printer owners or manufacturers liable if safety controls aren't in place. 3D Printing Industry reports: "From the iron pipeline to the plastic pipeline, these proposals will keep illegal ghost guns off of New York streets, and enhance measures to track and block the production of dangerous and illegal firearms in our state," Hochul said. In addition to mandating printer-level safeguards and restricting access to CAD files, the proposed legislation would require law enforcement agencies to report any recovered 3D printed firearms to a statewide database. The measure also includes a provision requiring commercial gun manufacturers to redesign pistols so they cannot be easily converted for automatic fire. "These illegal firearms are being manufactured in homes and used in crimes right now, which is why I have been working with my colleagues in Albany and the private sector over the past several years to stop their proliferation. Passing these measures will reduce crime and strengthen public safety for all New Yorkers," said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

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Iran's Internet Shutdown Is Now One of the Longest Ever

Slashdot.org - 1 hour 38 sec ago
Iran has imposed one of the longest nationwide internet shutdowns in its history, cutting more than 92 million people off from connectivity for over a week as mass anti-government protests continue. TechCrunch reports: As of this writing, Iranians have not been able to access the internet for more than 170 hours. The previous longest shutdowns in the country lasted around 163 hours in 2019, and 160 hours in 2025, according to Isik Mater, the director of research at NetBlocks, a web monitoring company that tracks internet disruptions. Mater said that the current shutdown in Iran is the third longest on record, after the internet shutdown in Sudan in mid-2021 that lasted around 35 days, followed by the outage in Mauritania in July 2024, which lasted 22 days. "Iran's shutdowns remain among the most comprehensive and tightly enforced nationwide blackouts we've observed, particularly in terms of population affected," Mater told TechCrunch. The exact ranking depends on how each organization measures a shutdown. Zach Rosson, a researcher who studies internet disruptions at the digital rights nonprofit Access Now, told TechCrunch that according to its data, the ongoing shutdown in Iran is on a path to crack the top 10 longest shutdowns in history. Further reading: Iran Shuts Down Musk's Starlink For First Time

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Astronauts Splash Down To Earth After Medical Evacuation From ISS

Slashdot.org - 1 hour 43 min ago
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC: Four astronauts evacuated from the International Space Station (ISS) have landed back on Earth after their stay in space was cut short by a month due to a "serious" medical issue. The crew's captain, Nasa astronaut Mike Fincke, exited the spacecraft first, smiling and wobbling slightly on his feet before lying down on a gurney, following normal procedures. Nasa's Zena Cardman, Japan's Kimiya Yui and cosmonaut Oleg Platonov followed, waving and beaming at cameras. "It's so good to be home!", said Cardman. It is the first time astronauts have been evacuated due to a health issue since the station was put into Earth's orbit in 1998. The team, known as Crew-11, will now receive medical checks before being flown back to land after the splash down off the coast of California. In a news conference after splash-down, Nasa administrator Jared Isaacman said the sick astronaut is "fine right now" and in "good spirits." Judging by past Nasa communications about astronauts' health, it is unlikely that the identity of the crew member or details of the health issue will be released to the public. Control of the ISS has been handed over to Russian cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and two other crew members. The astronauts arrived on the ISS on August 1 expecting to complete a standard six and a half month stay. They were due to come home in mid-February. But last week, a scheduled spacewalk by Fincke and Cardman was called off at the last minute. Hours later, Nasa revealed a crew member had become ill.

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ASUS Stops Producing Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti and 5060 Ti 16GB

Slashdot.org - 2 hours 25 min ago
Reports suggest ASUS has effectively ended production of NVIDIA's RTX 5070 Ti and 5060 Ti 16GB GPUs due to a severe memory crunch driven by AI infrastructure demand, even as NVIDIA insists it's still shipping all GeForce SKUs. YouTube channel Hardware Unboxed broke the news in its most recent video where it states ASUS "explicitly" told them the RTX 5070 Ti is "currently facing a supply shortage" and has "placed the model into end of life status." The shift leaves PC gamers facing fewer high-VRAM options just as modern games increasingly demand more than 8GB. Engadget reports: Hardware Unboxed also spoke to retailers in Australia, who told the channel the 5070 Ti is "no longer available to purchase from partners and distributors," adding they expect that to be the case throughout at least the first quarter of the year. The 5060 Ti 16GB "is almost done as well," with ASUS stating it no longer plans to produce that model going forward either. Both GPUs are 16GB models, making them more expensive to produce in the current economic climate. And while there might be some hope of the 5070 Ti and 5060 Ti 16GB returning later this year, the channel suggests both are unlikely to make a comeback. NVIDIA will reportedly focus on 8GB models like the RTX 5050, 5060, and 5060 Ti 8GB, with the 12GB 5070 set to stick around for now. The 5080 and 5090 are seemingly safe as well, as more expensive, higher margin models, they offer more space for manufacturers to absorb component price increases. "Demand for GeForce RTX GPUs is strong, and memory supply is constrained. We continue to ship all GeForce SKUs and are working closely with our suppliers to maximize memory availability," a NVIDIA spokesperson told Engadget. The company did not say 5070 Ti and 5060 Ti 16GB are going out of production. However, it also didn't confirm they're sticking around either. ASUS did not immediately respond to Engadget's comment request.

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Italy's Privacy Watchdog, Scourge of US Big Tech, Hit By Corruption Probe

Slashdot.org - 3 hours 5 min ago
The powerful data privacy watchdog in Italy long known for aggressively policing U.S. and Chinese AI giants is under investigation for possible corruption and embezzlement. Reuters reports: Rome prosecutors are investigating the agency's president, Pasquale Stanzione, and three other board members over alleged excessive spending and possible corruption behind its decisions, Italian news agencies including ANSA as well as the judicial source, who did not wish to be named, said. Stanzione, when asked by reporters to comment on the investigation, said he was "absolutely serene." The opposition 5-Star Movement said the agency's credibility had been undermined and called for Stanzione to resign. Stanzione declined to answer when asked repeatedly by reporters whether he would step down. The data privacy authority, known in Italy as the Garante, is one of the European Union's most proactive regulators in assessing AI platform compliance with the bloc's data privacy regime. It frequently takes initiatives -- such as requesting information or imposing fines or bans -- on matters affecting high-tech multinationals operating in the country.

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Oracle Trying To Lure Workers To Nashville For New 'Global' HQ

Slashdot.org - 3 hours 43 min ago
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: Oracle is trying -- and sometimes struggling -- to attract workers to Nashville, where it is developing a massive riverfront headquarters. The company is hiring for more roles in Nashville than any other US city, with a special focus on jobs in its crucial cloud infrastructure unit. Oracle cloud workers based elsewhere say they've been offered tens of thousands of dollars in incentives to move. Chairman Larry Ellison made a splash in April 2024 when he said Oracle would make Nashville its "world headquarters" just a few years after moving the software company from Redwood City, California, to Austin. His proclamation followed a 2021 tax incentive deal in which Oracle pledged to create 8,500 jobs in Nashville by 2031, paying an average salary above six figures. "We're creating a world leading cloud and AI hub in Nashville that is attracting top talent locally, regionally, and from across the country," Oracle Senior Vice President Scott Twaddle said in a statement. "We've seen great success recruiting engineering and technical positions locally and will continue to hire aggressively for the next several years." Still, Oracle has a long way to go in its hiring goals. Today, it has about 800 workers assigned to offices in Nashville, according to documents seen by Bloomberg. That trails far behind the number of company employees in locations including Redwood City, Austin and Kansas City, the center of health records company Cerner, which Oracle acquired in 2022. A lack of state income tax and the city's thriving music scene are touted by Oracle's promotional materials to attract talent to Nashville. Some new hires note they moved because in a tough tech job market, the Tennessee city was the only place with an Oracle position offered. To fit all of these workers, Oracle is planning a massive campus along the Cumberland River. It will feature over 2 million square feet of office space, a new cross-river bridge and a branch of the ultra high-end sushi chain Nobu, which has locations on many properties connected to Ellison, including the Hawaiian island of Lanai. [...] Oracle has been running recruitment events for the new hub. But a common concern for employees weighing a move is that Nashville is classified by Oracle in a lower geographic pay band than California or Seattle, meaning that future salary growth is likely limited, according to multiple workers who asked not to be identified discussing private information. A weaker local tech job market also gives pause to some considering relocation. In addition, many of the roles in Nashville require five days a week in the office, which is a shift for Oracle, where a significant number of roles are remote. For a global company like Oracle, the exact meaning of "headquarters" can be a bit unclear. Austin remains the address included on company SEC filings and its executives are scattered across the country. The city where Oracle is hiring for the most positions globally is Bengaluru, the southern Indian tech hub. Still, Oracle is positioning Nashville to be at the center of its future. "We're developing our Nashville location to stand alongside Austin, Redwood Shores, and Seattle as a major innovation hub," Oracle writes on its recruitment site. "This is your chance to be part of it."

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Boeing Knew About Flaws in UPS Plane That Crashed in Louisville, NTSB Says

Slashdot.org - 4 hours 23 min ago
The National Transportation Safety Board said in a report this week that a UPS cargo plane that crashed in Louisville, Ky., last year, killing 15, had a structural flaw that the manufacturer Boeing had previously concluded would not affect flight safety. The New York Times: The N.T.S.B. has said that cracks in the assembly holding the left-side engine in place may have contributed to the November crash, though it has not officially cited a cause. The part had fractured in similar fashion on at least four other occasions, on three different airplanes, according to the report, which cited a service letter that Boeing issued in 2011 regarding the apparent flaw. In the service letter, which manufacturers issue to flag safety concerns or other problems to aircraft owners, Boeing said that fractures "would not result in a safety of flight condition," N.T.S.B. investigators wrote. The plane that crashed was an MD-11F jet, made by McDonnell Douglas, a company that Boeing acquired in the 1990s. It was taking off from Louisville and bound for Hawaii on Nov. 4 when a fire ignited on its left engine shortly after takeoff. The plane crashed into several buildings, including a petroleum recycling facility, on the outskirts of the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport. The three crew members on board and 11 people on the ground were killed in the crash; a 12th person on the ground died of injuries sustained during the episode.

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Raspberry Pi's New Add-on Board Has 8GB of RAM For Running Gen AI Models

Slashdot.org - 5 hours 38 sec ago
An anonymous reader shares a report: Raspberry Pi is launching a new add-on board capable of running generative AI models locally on the Raspberry Pi 5. Announced on Thursday, the $130 AI HAT+ 2 is an upgraded -- and more expensive -- version of the module launched last year, now offering 8GB of RAM and a Hailo 10H chip with 40 TOPS of AI performance. Once connected, the Raspberry Pi 5 will use the AI HAT+ 2 to handle AI-related workloads while leaving the main board's Arm CPU available to complete other tasks. Unlike the previous AI HAT+, which is focused on image-based AI processing, the AI HAT+ 2 comes with onboard RAM and can run small gen AI models like Llama 3.2 and DeepSeek-R1-Distill, along with a series of Qwen models. You can train and fine-tune AI models using the device as well.

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Why Go is Going Nowhere

Slashdot.org - 5 hours 43 min ago
Go, the ancient board game that China, Japan and South Korea all claim as part of their cultural heritage, is struggling to expand its global footprint because the three nations that dominate it cannot agree on something as basic as a common rulebook. When Go was registered with the International Mind Sports Association alongside chess and bridge, organizers had to adopt the American Go Association's rules because the East Asian trio failed to reach consensus. In 2025, China's Ke Jie withdrew from a title match at a Seoul tournament after receiving repeated penalties for violating a rule that the South Korean Go association had introduced mid-tournament. China's Go association responded by barring foreign players, most of them South Korean, from its domestic competitions. It also doesn't help that the game's commercial appeal is fading. Japan's Nihon Ki-in, the country's main Go association, has started exploring a potential sale of its Tokyo headquarters. Young people across the region are gravitating toward chess, shogi, and video games instead.

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Students Increasingly Choosing Community College or Certificates Over Four-Year Degrees

Slashdot.org - 6 hours 23 min ago
DesScorp writes: CNBC reports that new data from the National Student Clearinghouse indicates that enrollment growth in four year degree programs is slowing down, while growth in two year and certification programs is accelerating: Enrollments in undergraduate certificate and associate degree programs both grew by about 2% in fall 2025, while enrollment in bachelor's degree programs rose by less than 1%, the report found. Community colleges now enroll 752,000 students in undergraduate certificate programs -- a 28% jump from just four years ago. Overall, undergraduate enrollment growth was fueled by more students choosing to attend community college, the report found. "Community colleges led this year with a 3% increase, driven by continued rising interest in those shorter job-aligned certificate programs," said Matthew Holsapple, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center's senior director of research. For one thing, community college is significantly less expensive. At two-year public schools, tuition and fees averaged $4,150 for the 2025-2026 academic year, according to the College Board. Alternatively, at four-year public colleges, in-state tuition and fees averaged $11,950, and those costs at four-year private schools averaged $45,000. A further factor driving this new growth is that Pell Grants are now available for job-training courses like certifications.

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Microsoft is Closing Its Employee Library and Cutting Back on Subscriptions

Slashdot.org - 7 hours 4 min ago
An anonymous reader shares a report: Microsoft's library of books is so heavy that it once caused a campus building to sink, according to an unproven legend among employees. Now those physical books, journals, and reports, and many of Microsoft's digital subscriptions to leading US newspapers, are disappearing in a shift described inside Microsoft as an "AI-powered learning experience." Microsoft started cutting back on its employee subscriptions to news and reports services in November, with some publishers receiving an automated email cancellation of a contract. [...] Strategic News Service (SNS), which has provided global reports to Microsoft's roughly 220,000 employees and executives for more than 20 years, is no longer part of Microsoft's subscription list.

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Many People Who Come Off GLP-1 Drugs Regain Weight Within 2 Years, Review Suggests

Slashdot.org - 7 hours 43 min ago
Many people who stop using weight loss drugs will return to their previous weight within two years, a new review of existing research has found. CNN adds: This rate of weight regain is significantly faster than that seen in those who have lost weight by changing other lifestyle factors, such as diet and exercise, rather than relying on GLP-1 medications, researchers from the University of Oxford report in a paper published Wednesday in The BMJ journal. GLP-1, which stands for glucagon-like peptide-1, is a hormone naturally made by the body that helps signal to the brain and the gut that it's full and doesn't need to eat any more. Weight loss drugs mimic the action of this hormone by increasing the secretion of insulin to lower blood sugar. They also slow the movement of food through the digestive tract, which helps people feel full more quickly and for longer, and they work in the brain to reduce appetite.

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Amazon Threatens 'Drastic Action' After Saks Bankruptcy

Slashdot.org - 8 hours 24 min ago
Amazon wants a federal judge to reject Saks Global's bankruptcy financing plan, writing in court papers the beleaguered department store "burned through hundreds of millions of dollars in less than a year" and failed to hold up their agreement. From a report: When Saks acquired Neiman Marcus for $2.7 billion in December 2024, Amazon invested $475 million into the venture on the grounds the retailer would start selling its products on Amazon's website and the tech company would offer technology and logistics expertise. "That equity investment is now presumptively worthless," Amazon's attorneys wrote in a Wednesday filing, hours after Saks filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. "Saks continuously failed to meet its budgets, burned through hundreds of millions of dollars in less than a year, and ran up additional hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid invoices owed to its retail partners." As part of the deal, Saks launched a branded "Saks at Amazon" storefront on the e-commerce company's website featuring a range of luxury fashion and beauty items. It also agreed to pay a referral fee for Saks-branded goods sold on the platform, guaranteeing at least $900 million in payments to Amazon over eight years.

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Campaign total budgets are now available in Search, Performance Max and Shopping campaigns.Campaign total budgets are now available in Search, Performance Max and Shopping campaigns.Group Product Manager

GoogleBlog - 8 hours 45 min ago
Managing budgets for specific campaign flights — like product launches, sales events or promotional bursts — shouldn't require constant manual adjustments. Campaign tota…
Categories: Technology

TranslateGemma: A new suite of open translation modelsTranslateGemma: A new suite of open translation modelsStaff Research ScientistProduct Manager

GoogleBlog - 8 hours 45 min ago
TranslateGemma is a new family of open translation models built on Gemma 3.TranslateGemma is a new family of open translation models built on Gemma 3.
Categories: Technology

The United States Needs Fewer Bus Stops

Slashdot.org - 8 hours 57 min ago
American buses in cities like New York and San Francisco crawl along at about eight miles per hour -- barely faster than a brisk walk -- and one surprisingly simple fix could make them faster without requiring new infrastructure or controversial policy changes. The issue, according to a Works in Progress analysis, is that US bus stops sit far too close together. Mean spacing in American cities is roughly 313 meters, about five stops per mile, while older cities like Philadelphia, Chicago and San Francisco pack stops even tighter at 214, 223 and 248 meters respectively. European cities typically space stops at 300 to 450 meters. Each stop costs time: passengers boarding and exiting, acceleration and deceleration, buses kneeling for wheelchairs, missed traffic light cycles. Buses spend about 20% of their operating time just stopping and starting, and since labor accounts for the majority of transit operating costs, slower buses translate directly to higher expenses. Cities that have tried spacing stops further apart have seen results. San Francisco recorded a 4.4 to 14% increase in travel speeds by reducing from six stops per mile to two and a half. Vancouver's pilot removed a quarter of stops and cut average trip times by five minutes while saving about $500,000 annually on a single route. A McGill study found that even substantial stop consolidation reduced overall system coverage by just 1%.

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Download of the day: GIMP 3.0 is FINALLY Here!

nixCraft - 9 hours 10 min ago
Wow! After years of hard work and countless commits, we have finally reached a huge milestone: GIMP 3.0 is officially released! I am excited as I write this and can't wait to share some incredible new features and improvements in this release. GIMP 2.10 was released in 2018, and the first development version of GIMP 3.0 came out in 2020. GIMP 3.0 released on 16/March/2025. Let us explore how to download and install GIMP 3.0, as well as the new features in this version. Love this? sudo share_on: Twitter - Facebook - LinkedIn - Whatsapp - Reddit The post Download of the day: GIMP 3.0 is FINALLY Here! appeared first on nixCraft. 2025-03-18T03:45:26Z 2025-03-18T03:45:26Z Vivek Gite

How to list upgradeable packages on FreeBSD using pkg

nixCraft - 9 hours 10 min ago
Here is a quick list of all upgradeable packages on FreeBSD using pkg command. This is equivalent to apt list --upgradable command on my Debian or Ubuntu Linux system. Love this? sudo share_on: Twitter - Facebook - LinkedIn - Whatsapp - Reddit The post How to list upgradeable packages on FreeBSD using pkg appeared first on nixCraft. 2025-03-16T20:25:39Z 2025-03-16T20:25:39Z Vivek Gite

Ubuntu to Explore Rust-Based “uutils” as Potential GNU Core Utilities Replacement

nixCraft - 9 hours 10 min ago
In a move that has sparked significant discussion within the Ubuntu Linux fan-base and community, Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, has announced its intention to explore the potential replacement of GNU Core Utilities with the Rust-based "uutils" project. They plan to introduce new changes in Ubuntu Linux 25.10, eventually changing it to Ubuntu version 26.04 LTS release in 2026 as Ubuntu is testing Rust 'uutils' to overhaul its core utilities potentially. Let us find out the pros and cons and what this means for you as an Ubuntu Linux user, IT pro, or developer. Love this? sudo share_on: Twitter - Facebook - LinkedIn - Whatsapp - Reddit The post Ubuntu to Explore Rust-Based “uutils” as Potential GNU Core Utilities Replacement appeared first on nixCraft. 2025-03-16T12:17:36Z 2025-03-16T12:17:36Z Vivek Gite

How to install KSH on FreeBSD

nixCraft - 9 hours 10 min ago
Installing KSH (KornShell) on FreeBSD can be done with either FreeBSD ports or the pkg command. The ports collection will download the KSH source code, compile it, and install it on the system. The pkg method is easier, and it will download a pre-compiled binary package. Hence, it is recommended for all users. KornShell (KSH) has a long history, and many older Unix systems and scripts rely on it. As a result, KSH remains relevant for maintaining and supporting legacy infrastructure. Large enterprises, especially those with established Unix-based systems, continue to use KSH for scripting and system administration tasks. Some industries where KSH is still commonly used include finance and telecommunications. While Bash has become the dominant shell in many Linux distributions, KSH still holds a significant presence in Unix-like environments, particularly in legacy systems. Therefore, installing KSH and practicing with it is worthwhile if you plan to work in such environments. Love this? sudo share_on: Twitter - Facebook - LinkedIn - Whatsapp - Reddit The post How to install KSH on FreeBSD appeared first on nixCraft. 2025-03-03T23:50:59Z 2025-03-03T23:50:59Z Vivek Gite

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