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Daniel Mthimkhulu, former chief "engineer" at South Africa's Passenger Rail Agency (Prasa), was sentenced to 15 years in prison for claiming false engineering degrees and a doctorate. His fraudulent credentials allowed him to rise rapidly within Prasa, contributing to significant financial losses and corruption within the agency. The BBC reports: Once hailed for his successful career, Daniel Mthimkhulu was head of engineering at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) for five years -- earning an annual salary of about [$156,000]. On his CV, the 49-year-old claimed to have had several mechanical engineering qualifications, including a degree from South Africa's respected Witwatersrand University as well as a doctorate from a German university. However, the court in Johannesburg heard that he had only completed his high-school education. Mthimkhulu was arrested in July 2015 shortly after his web of lies began to unravel. He had started working at Prasa 15 years earlier, shooting up the ranks to become chief engineer, thanks to his fake qualifications. The court also heard how he had forged a job offer letter from a German company, which encouraged Prasa to increase his salary so the agency would not lose him. He was also at the forefront of a 600m rand deal to buy dozens of new trains from Spain, but they could not be used in South Africa as they were too high. [...] In an interview from 2019 with local broadcaster eNCA, Mthimkhulu admitted that he did not have a PhD. "I failed to correct the perception that I have it. I just became comfortable with the title. I did not foresee any damages as a result of this," he said.

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An anonymous reader quotes a report from Wired: Jazmin Jones knowswhat she did. "If you're online, there's this idea of trolling," Jones, the director behindSeeking Mavis Beacon, said during a recent panel for her new documentary. "For this project, some things we're taking incredibly seriously ... and other things we're trolling. We're trolling this idea of a detective because we're also, like,ACAB." Her trolling, though, was for a good reason. Jones and fellow filmmaker Olivia Mckayla Ross did it in hopes of finding the woman behind Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing. The popular teaching tool was released in 1987 by The Software Toolworks, a video game and software company based in California that produced educational chess, reading, and math games. Mavis, essentially the "mascot" of the game, is a Black woman donned in professional clothes and a slicked-back bun. Though Mavis Beacon was not an actual person, Jones and Ross say that she is one of the first examples of Black representation they witnessed in tech. Seeking Mavis Beacon, which opened in New York City on August 30 and is rolling out to other cities in September, is their attempt to uncover the story behind the face, which appeared on the tool's packaging and later as part of its interface. The film shows the duo setting up a detective room, conversing over FaceTime, running up to people on the street, and even tracking down a relative connected to the ever-elusive Mavis. But the journey of their search turned up a different question they didn't initially expect: What are the impacts of sexism, racism, privacy, and exploitation in a world where you can present yourself any way you want to? Using shots from computer screens, deep dives through archival footage, and sit-down interviews, the noir-style documentary reveals that Mavis Beacon is actually Renee L'Esperance, a Black model from Haiti who was paid $500 for her likeness with no royalties, despite the program selling millions of copies. [...] In a world where anyone can create images of folks of any race, gender, or sexual orientation without having to fully compensate the real people who inspired them, Jones and Ross are working to preserve not only the data behind Mavis Beacon but also the humanity behind the software. On the panel, hosted by Black Girls in Media, Ross stated that the film's social media has a form where users of Mavis Beacon can share what the game has meant to them, for archival purposes. "On some level, Olivia and I are trolling ideas of worlds that we never felt safe in or protected by," Jones said during the panel. "And in other ways, we are honoring this legacy of cyber feminism, historians, and care workers that we are very seriously indebted to." You can watch the trailer for "Seeking Mavis Beacon" on YouTube.

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The Register's Brandon Vigliarolo reports: Microsoft's "acquihire" of Inflection AI was today cleared by UK authorities on the grounds that the startup isn't big enough for its absorption by Microsoft to affect competition in the enterprise AI space. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) confirmed the conclusion of its investigation by publishing a summary of its decision. While the CMA found that Microsoft's recruitment of Inflection co-founders Mustafa Suleyman and Karen Simonyan, along with other Inflection employees, in March 2024 to lead Microsoft's new AI division did create a relevant merger situation, a bit of digging indicated everything was above board. As we explained when the CMA kicked off its investigation in July, the agency's definition of relevant merger situations includes instances where two or more enterprises have ceased to be distinct, and when the deal either exceeds 70 million pounds or 25 percent of the national supply of a good or service. In both cases, the CMA determined [PDF], the Microsoft/Inflection deal met the criteria. As to whether the matter could lead to a substantial lessening of competition, that's where the CMA decided everything was OK. "Prior to the transaction, Inflection had a very small share of UK domain visits for chatbots and conversational AI tools and ... had not been able to materially increase or sustain its chatbot user numbers," the CMA said. "Competitors did not regard Inflection's capabilities with regard to EQ [emotional intelligence, which was an Inflection selling point] or other product innovation as a material competitive constraint." In addition, the CMA said Inflection's foundational model offering wouldn't exert any "material competitive constraint" on Microsoft or other enterprise foundational model suppliers as none of the potential Inflection customers the CMA spoke with during its probe identified any features that made Inflection's software more attractive than other brands. Ouch.

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Acer has announced its first Steam Deck and Asus ROG Ally competitor, the Acer Nitro Blaze 7. The Verge's Sean Hollister reports: Like Asus -- but unlike most rivals -- it features a seven-inch 1080p variable refresh rate IPS screen to keep things smooth, one that refreshes slightly faster at 144Hz. (Acer tells The Verge it's a landscape-native screen.) It's also got a newer Ryzen 7 8840HS chip, albeit with the same Radeon 780M integrated GPU as most other Windows handhelds. With 16GB of 7500 MT/s memory and a 50 watt-hour battery, it's a step ahead of the original Ally's 6400 MT/s memory and 40Wh pack, and it comes with up to 2TB worth of SSD storage. But with 24GB of memory and an 80Wh pack, the $800 Asus ROG Ally X is currently the Windows handheld to beat, so I suspect this Acer will need to cost quite a bit less to compete. The Nitro has no touchpads, but it also unusually has no back buttons; most PC handhelds now have at least two macro keys around back. But I suspect some people will be happy that it not only has two USB4 ports but that one of them is on the bottom. Hopefully, we'll get our choice of whether to charge and dock from top or bottom with this portable PC. Acer released a product launch video on YouTube but hasn't shared pricing or release information.

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An anonymous reader quotes a report from Wired: You might have a hard time stretching your memory to the Obama era, but back in 2013, Panasonic's plasma TVs were the critical darlings of the US market. They far outperformed their LED/LCD counterparts at a time when OLED was little more than a pipe dream for most. Then suddenly, under enormous pressure from ever-cheaper LED panels, Panasonic halted all plasma TV production. By 2016, the company had left the US TV space entirely. Now, over 10 years after its plasma models reigned supreme in the US, Panasonic TVs are back, baby. Outside the US, Panasonic has remained a global leader in the OLED era. Rumors about a stateside return have been swirling for nearly as long as the brand has been away, but a global partnership with Amazon announced at CES 2024 kicked things into high gear. Today, Panasonic officially revealed the US launch of three premium TVs powered by Amazon's Fire TV smart interface: the flagship Z95A and "core" Z85A OLED TVs, and the W95A flagship mini LED TV. All three models are available now in limited sizes, as Panasonic begins its slow walk back to competing against LG, Samsung, and Sony. There are three models now available in the US: 55- and 65-inch OLED options and a Mini LED TV that measures up to 85 inches. The Z95A is Panasonic's top OLED model featuring advanced gaming features, a 144-Hz refresh rate on select inputs, HDR10+, Dolby Vision support, and AI-powered picture modes. According to Wired, it boasts an impressive sound system developed with hi-fi audio brand Technics and employs Panasonic's proprietary microlens array technology for optimized brightness and heat management. The Z85A is a step-down model offering similar gaming specs and smart home integration at a lower price, lacking the Z95A's specialized brightness and sound enhancements. It includes a game mode, HDR10+, Dolby Vision support, and a Mark II processor but only supports up to 120 Hz and doesn't have a built-in microphone for Alexa. Last but not least is Panasonic's W95A flagship miniLED model, offering gaming-ready features like a 144-Hz refresh rate on two HDMI inputs and local dimming for deep contrast and high brightness. It includes the same smart-home integration as other models but features a more standard sound system, and Alexa control is available only through the remote.

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The latest Windows personal computers with AI features have "the best specs" on "all the benchmarks," Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella recently said. There is one problem: The chips inside current models are incompatible with many leading videogames. From a report: Microsoft and its partners this spring rolled out Copilot+ PCs that include functions such as creating AI-generated pictures and video. Under the hood of the new laptops is a hardware change. Instead of the Intel chips that have powered Microsoft Windows PCs for nearly four decades, the initial Copilot+ PCs to hit the market use Qualcomm chips, which in turn rely on designs from U.K.-based Arm. Most PC games, including popular multiplayer games such as "League of Legends" and "Fortnite," are made to work with Intel's x86, a chip architecture that has been the standard for many personal computers for decades. To make some of these programs function on the Qualcomm-Arm system, they must be run through a layer of software that translates Intel-speak into Arm-speak. Chip experts say the approach isn't perfect and can result in bugs, glitches or games simply not working. The problem is widespread. About 1,300 PC games have been independently tested to see if they work on Microsoft's new Arm-powered PCs and only about half ran smoothly, said James McWhirter, an analyst with research firm Omdia.

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An anonymous reader shares a report: It would be perfectly reasonable to expect Amazon's digital assistant Alexa to decline to state opinions about the 2024 presidential race, but up until recently, that assumption would have been incorrect. When asked to give reasons to vote for former President Donald Trump, Alexa demurred, according to a video from Fox Business. "I cannot provide responses that endorse any political party or its leader," Alexa responded. When asked the same about Vice President Kamala Harris, the Amazon AI was more than willing to endorse the Democratic candidate. "There are many reasons to vote for Kamala Harris," Alexa said. Among the reasons given was that Harris has a "comprehensive plan to address racial injustice," that she promises a "tough on crime approach," and that her record on criminal justice and immigration reform make her a "compelling candidate." Harris has been dividing Silicon Valley since she took up the Democratic nomination from President Joe Biden, with some leaders in the tech industry touting her potential as a pro-tech president, and others diving head-first into the misinformation circus that's being driven by new tools like AI. An Amazon spokesperson said this "was an error that was quickly fixed."

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Verizon is in advanced talks to acquire Frontier Communications in a deal that would bolster the company's fiber network to compete with rivals including AT&T, WSJ reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. From the report: An announcement could come this week, granted the talks don't hit any last-minute snags, the people said. A deal would be sizable, given Frontier's market value of over $7 billion. The company, cobbled together by several deals over the years, provides broadband connections to about three million locations across 25 states. Verizon, the top cellphone carrier by subscribers, has faced increased pressure from competitors and from cable-TV companies that offer discounted wireless service backed by Verizon's own cellular network. Verizon has its Fios-branded fiber network, and AT&T has focused on expanding its fiber network since shedding its WarnerMedia assets in 2022. Fiber M&A has heated up as telecom companies and financial firms pour capital into neighborhoods that lack high-speed broadband or offer only one internet provider, usually from a cable-TV company.

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After an initial euphoric rush to the cloud, admins are questioning the value and promise of the tech giant's services. The Register: According to a report published by UK cloud outfit Civo, more than a third of organizations surveyed reckoned that their move to the cloud had failed to live up to promises of cost-effectiveness. Over half reported a rise in their cloud bill. Although the survey, unsurprisingly, paints Civo in a flattering light, some of its figures may make uncomfortable reading for customers sold on the promises from hyperscalers. Like-for-like comparisons for a simple three-node cluster with 200 GB of persistent storage and a 5 TB data transfer showed prices going from $1,278.58 in 2022 to $1,458.68 in 2024 on Microsoft Azure. For Google, the price went from $1,107.61 to $1,250.35. According to Civo's figures, the cost at AWS increased from $1,142.46 to $1,234.59. "The Kubernetes prices were taken from the hyperscalers' very own pricing calculators," a Civo spokesperson told The Register. In the IT world, there is an expectation that bang for buck increases as time goes by, but in this example, prices are rising faster than the rate of inflation, and what customers receive for their money remains unchanged.

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A pair of devices launching Wednesday highlight a growing trend in consumer hardware: doing one thing well, Axios writes. From the report: The smartphone rendered many formerly standalone devices obsolete, but now some tech with a single purpose can offer an experience that a digital Swiss Army knife can't. GoPro announced its latest cameras on Wednesday. The $199 GoPro Hero is a smaller, simpler camera that presents fewer controls, while this year's flagship -- the $399 Hero 13 Black -- supports a series of add-on lenses without losing its core as a rugged, waterproof action camera. Meanwhile, the reMarkable tablet company is adding its first color model. ReMarkable's tablets allow creators to write and sketch without the distractions of more full-featured devices. ReMarkable's paper tablets are similar to Amazon's Kindle Scribe, but with a focus on creating and editing documents rather than reading digital books. In addition to adding color -- the most requested feature -- the Paper Pro has built-in illumination, a larger eInk display and an active digital pen, which allows digital ink to appear on the display within an imperceptible 12 milliseconds. The new Paper Pro ($579 or $629, depending on which pen is bundled) is still aimed at those who want to avoid notifications rather than those who want to multitask.

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Internet Archive's "controlled digital lending" system and removal of controls during the pandemic don't qualify as fair use, the Second Circuit affirmed Wednesday. Bloomberg Law: Four major book publishers again thwarted the online repository's defense that its one-to-one lending practices mirrored those of traditional libraries, this time at the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Copying books in their entirety isn't transformative, and lending them for free competes with the publishers own book and ebook offerings, the unanimous panel said. Internet Archive said in a statement: We are disappointed in today's opinion about the Internet Archive's digital lending of books that are available electronically elsewhere. We are reviewing the court's opinion and will continue to defend the rights of libraries to own, lend, and preserve books. Further reading: Full-text of court opinion [PDF].

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Snapchat will soon start "experimenting" with placing sponsored messages next to chat threads from friends, according to CEO Evan Spiegel. From a report: These "Sponsored Snaps" from brands will appear as unread messages in Snapchat's main Chat tab, implying that they'll sit above messages from a person's contacts until they're acted on. This is the first time Snap will show ads in the most used part of its app. In an employee memo also posted on the company's website, Spiegel says that Sponsored Snaps will appear âoewithout a push notification, and opening the message is optional." It's unclear how easy it will be to get rid of a Sponsored Snap without opening it, or if doing so will even be possible. "Sponsored Snaps empower advertisers to communicate visually with the Snapchat community, making the core functionality of Snapchat accessible to advertisers," writes Spiegel, who goes on to note that, "As always, your conversations with friends are private and are not used for advertising purposes."

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US job openings fell in July to the lowest since the start of 2021 and layoffs rose, consistent with other signs of slowing demand for workers. From a report: Available positions decreased to 7.67 million from a downwardly revised 7.91 million reading in the prior month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, known as JOLTS, showed Wednesday. The figure was lower than all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists. The decline in openings coincides with recent data that show the labor market is softening, which has raised concern among Federal Reserve officials. Job growth has been slowing, unemployment is rising and jobseekers are having greater difficulty finding work, fueling fears about a potential recession. Policymakers have made it clear they don't want to see further cooling in the labor market and are widely expected to start lowering interest rates at their next meeting in two weeks. After July's disappointing jobs figures and a large downward revision to payrolls in the past year, Fed officials and market participants are paying close attention to the August employment data due Friday -- especially if another weak report could prompt an outsize rate cut.

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Research by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, published on Tuesday, indicates that professional economic forecasters tend to overestimate their accuracy in long-term predictions while underestimating their short-term precision. The study, which analyzed data from the Survey of Professional Forecasters from 1982 to 2022, revealed that for forecasts two to four quarters ahead, actual errors were two to four times greater than the forecasters' estimated uncertainty ranges for both GDP growth and inflation. In contrast, for predictions less than three months out, forecasters typically overestimated potential errors. The study's author, Marco Del Negro, highlighted significant differences in uncertainty estimates among individual forecasters, suggesting that these findings challenge the rational expectations theory. Del Negro proposed that these discrepancies might stem from an over-reliance on varying models or priors in making longer-term forecasts.

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Europe's food and farming lobbies have recognized the need to eat less meat after hammering out a shared vision for the future of agriculture with green groups and other stakeholders. From a report: The wide-ranging report calls for "urgent, ambitious and feasible" change in farm and food systems and acknowledges that Europeans eat more animal protein than scientists recommend. It says support is needed to rebalance diets toward plant-based proteins such as better education, stricter marketing and voluntary buyouts of farms in regions that intensively rear livestock. The stakeholders also agreed on the need for a major rethink of subsidies, calling for a "just transition fund" to help farmers adopt sustainable practices, and targeted financial support to those who need it most. The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, who commissioned the report to quell furious farmer protests at the start of the year, said the results would feed into a planned vision for agriculture that she will present in the first 100 days of her new mandate. "We share the same goal," said Von der Leyen. "Only if farmers can live off their land will they invest in more sustainable practices. And only if we achieve our climate and environmental goals together will farmers be able to continue making a living." Animal agriculture is one of the biggest drivers of climate breakdown and the destruction of natural habitats, but European leaders have made little effort to steer diets heavy in meat and milk to whole grains and plant-based sources of protein. The report did not set targets for meat production, such as culling herds, but called for support to help shift dietary habits, such as free school meals, more detailed labels, and tax reductions on healthy and sustainable food products.

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The Biden-Harris administration's big bet on Intel to lead a US chipmaking renaissance is in grave trouble as a result of the company's mounting financial struggles, creating a potentially damaging setback for the country's most ambitious industrial policy in decades. From a report: Five months after the president traveled to Arizona to unveil a potential $20 billion package of incentives alongside Chief Executive Officer Pat Gelsinger, there are growing questions around when -- or if -- Intel will get its hands on that money. Intel's woes also may jeopardize the government's ability to reach its policy goals, which include establishing a secure supply of cutting-edge chips for the Pentagon and making a fifth of the world's advanced processors by 2030. Intel is mired in a sales slump worse than anticipated and hemorrhaging cash, forcing its board to consider increasingly drastic actions -- including possibly splitting off its manufacturing division or paring back global factory plans, Bloomberg reported last week. That threatens to further complicate its quest for government funding, at a time when Intel desperately needs the help. The Silicon Valley company is supposed to receive $8.5 billion in grants and $11 billion in loans from the 2022 Chips and Science Act, but only if the chipmaker meets key milestones -- and after significant due diligence. That process, which applies to all Chips Act winners, has been clear from the outset, and aims to ensure that companies only get taxpayer dollars once they've actually delivered on their promises. Intel, like other potential recipients, hasn't received any money yet.

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An anonymous reader quotes a report from Axios: The German company says it may close plants in its home country amid what CEO Oliver Blume reportedly called "a very demanding and serious situation" for the European automotive industry. That would mark the first-ever German plant closures in the company's nearly nine-decade history. VW is facing a pair of competition-related challenges -- one outside its control, and the other of its own making. Chinese automakers are wresting market share away from VW in China, where it once held the highest share of any automaker. The company's China sales have fallen from 4 million in 2017 to an estimated 2.5 million in 2024, according to Dunne Insights analyst Michael Dunne. And its Chinese competitors are bringing cheap electric vehicles to VW's other critical market: Europe. Another part of the problem is that VW is a bloated company compared with its competitors, meaning it has less margin for error. The company had some 684,000 employees in 2023. That's about 309,000 more than the ever-efficient Toyota, which sold about 2 million more vehicles than VW worldwide last year. The VW brand's profit margin fell from 3.8% in 2023 to 2.3% in the first half of 2024, moving in the wrong direction from the company's long-term target of 6.5%, according to Evercore ISI analyst Chris McNally. Hence the "drastic attempt to cut costs" as the company's bottom line suffers, McNally writes. But VW isn't just facing operational issues and increased competition in key markets -- it's also falling behind on technology. The company recently agreed to invest in Rivian to get help from the American startup on EV development despite having 40 times more employees than its new partner. And VW's long-awaited ID. Buzz -- its EV revival of its famed microbus -- recently disappointed enthusiasts with underwhelming battery range of 234 miles and a starting price of about $60,000.

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During a 2023 deployment, senior enlisted leaders aboard the Navy ship USS Manchester secretly installed a Starlink Wi-Fi network, allowing them exclusive internet access in violation of Navy regulations. "Unauthorized Wi-Fi systems like the one [then-Command Senior Chief Grisel Marrero] set up are a massive no-no for a deployed Navy ship, and Marrero's crime occurred as the ship was deploying to the West Pacific, where such security concerns become even more paramount among heightened tensions with the Chinese," reports Navy Times. From the report: As the ship prepared for a West Pacific deployment in April 2023, the enlisted leader onboard conspired with the ship's chiefs to install the secret, unauthorized network aboard the ship, for use exclusively by them. So while rank-and-file sailors lived without the level of internet connectivity they enjoyed ashore, the chiefs installed a Starlink satellite internet dish on the top of the ship and used a Wi-Fi network they dubbed "STINKY" to check sports scores, text home and stream movies. The enjoyment of those wireless creature comforts by enlisted leaders aboard the ship carried serious repercussions for the security of the ship and its crew. "The danger such systems pose to the crew, the ship and the Navy cannot be understated," the investigation notes. Led by the senior enlisted leader of the ship's gold crew, then-Command Senior Chief Grisel Marrero, the effort roped in the entire chiefs mess by the time it was uncovered a few months later. Marrero was relieved in late 2023 after repeatedly misleading and lying to her ship's command about the Wi-Fi network, and she was convicted at court-martial this spring in connection to the scheme. She was sentenced to a reduction in rank to E-7 after the trial and did not respond to requests for comment for this report. The Navy has yet to release the entirety of the Manchester investigation file to Navy Times, including supplemental enclosures. Such records generally include statements or interview transcripts with the accused. But records released so far show the probe, which wrapped in November, found that the entire chiefs mess knew about the secret system, and those who didn't buy into it were nonetheless culpable for not reporting the misconduct. Those chiefs and senior chiefs who used, paid for, helped hide or knew about the system were given administrative nonjudicial punishment at commodore's mast, according to the investigation. All told, more than 15 Manchester chiefs were in cahoots with Marrero to purchase, install and use the Starlink system aboard the ship. "This agreement was a criminal conspiracy, supported by the overt act of bringing the purchased Starlink onboard USS MANCHESTER," the investigation said. "Any new member of the CPO Mess which then paid into the services joined that conspiracy following the system's operational status." Records obtained by Navy Times via a Freedom of Information Act request reveal a months-long effort by Marrero to obtain, install and then conceal the chiefs Wi-Fi network from superiors, including the covert installation of a Starlink satellite dish on the outside of the Manchester. When superiors became suspicious about the existence of the network and confronted her about it, Marrero failed to come clean on multiple occasions and provided falsified documents to further mislead Manchester's commanding officer, the investigation states. "The installation and usage of Starlink, without the approval of higher headquarters, poses a serious risk to mission, operational security, and information security," the investigation states.

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Firefox 130 introduces several enhancements, including improved local translation handling, better Android page load performance, and the WebCodecs API for low-level audio/video processing on desktop platforms. Notably, it also supports third-party AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Google Gemini via the new Firefox Labs feature. Phoronix reports: The WebCodecs API is particularly useful for web-based apps like video/audio editors and video conferencing that may want control over individual frames of a video stream or audio chunks. For any web software interested in that low-level audio/video encode/decode handling there is now WebCodecs API working on the Firefox desktop builds. As for the third-party AI chatbots, here's what Mozilla's Ian Carmichael said back in June: "If you want to use AI, we think you should have the freedom to use (or not use) the tools that best suit your needs. Instead of juggling between tabs or apps for assistance, those who opt-in will have the option to access their preferred AI service from the Firefox sidebar to summarize information, simplify language, or test their knowledge, all without leaving their current web page." You can learn more about Firefox 130 via developer.mozilla.org. Binaries for Linux can be found at Mozilla.org.

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Sweden's Enerpoly has opened the world's first zinc-ion battery megafactory near Stockholm, aiming for a 100 MWh annual capacity by 2026. "According to Enerpoly, this megafactory will serve Europe's needs for safe energy storage, and also utilize an all-European supply chain to boot," reports New Atlas. From the report: If you're wondering why Enerpoly is bothering with zinc-ion and not lithium-ion batteries, it's because the former is a better choice for storage in several ways: - They use a water-based electrolyte, which makes them non-flammable, and reduces the risk of fires and explosions. - They're less expensive, because zinc is far more abundant than lithium (which is difficult and expensive to extract), and easier to handle. They can also operate across a wider temperature range and require less maintenance, making them cheaper than lithium-ion options. - They're more eco-friendly for the same reason. In contrast, extracting lithium currently requires extensive mining as well as the use of massive evaporation ponds before processing even begins. - They're said to last a whole lot longer. According to the International Zinc Association, a nonprofit trade association which counts Enerpoly as a member, zinc-based batteries can last up to 20 years, while lithium batteries manage about 12 years. The downside? They have a lower energy density than something like a Tesla 4680 battery, making them ideal for applications like load shifting and grid resilience.

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